Some hours past midnight…

Part I: Interrogations

"Hey!"

His hand slammed down on the table in front of her and Nina opened her eyes, jerking her head up. She had to have closed them for a moment...

She sat up straight and rolled her shoulders back, trying to find something to focus on. Exhaustion was finally catching up with her.

While the guy kept yelling at her, sitting on the edge of the table now, his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath and smell the coffee he had probably been drinking before coming in, she wondered what time it could be. Five? Six? Or later? She had no idea. How long had she been here?

When they had dragged her through the CTU corridors, she had caught sight of a clock. Four minutes past midnight. They had been in a hurry to get her out of there, and she was sure she knew why. He found her.

But he hadn't come after her or at least not caught up with her in time. She wondered if he had tried. If they had stopped him. Not that anyone would have cared about what Jack did to her. Maybe Tony. And Mason. Masonwould never have let him come near her. Not that he cared much either but things had to go by the book. Some things could be counted on.

But sitting in the van, waiting for them to get going, she had worried anyway. She knew how hard it was to stop Jack once he made up his mind. And he had probably made up his mind to go after her. He had already wanted to kill her when he had just thought she had betrayed him. She had no illusions about what he was going to do to her now. What he wanted to do anyway. She had counted the minutes. How long would it take him? He would be too shocked and shaken at first, slumped down somewhere and broken. But after a few minutes he would get back on his feet, focusing on the issue at hand, on whatever it was that was left to do. Could be done. It was the way he always handled things. She had felt a lot safer when the van had finally moved.

They had brought her to Division, no surprises there. Shoved her into an interrogation room and given her the standard treatment, knowing of course that she hadn't slept in nearly 40 hours and hoping it would make their job easier.

The first guy had just yelled at her, threatened her with what they should be doing to her, what could and would happen to her if she didn't start talking. A casual attempt to intimidate her but mostly it was just to keep her busy. Busy and awake. She had just sat there, looked at him with a void expression, listened but not said a word.

When had Drazen approached her? How? Had she been in direct contact? How? Had she been recruited inside the agency? What had her exact orders been? How long had she known what was going to go down today? Did she really wanna make things even worse for herself?

After a while he had left and the next guy had taken over. Already a bit better informed about the whole case, even a bit familiar with her file. He had taken a softer approach, tried to convince her that talking was the only way for her out of this. She had smiled at him, remembering the speech she and Tony had given Jamey earlier. He had even made the same helpless offer in the end, that everything she said might help cut her a deal. Again she had smiled and he had given up, shrugging his shoulders, stating he was sorry she didn't let him help her. Please, she had thought to herself. At least send someone in who has an idea on how to do this job.

The door hadn't even been closed for twenty seconds before the next guy had been standing in the room, whom she almost believed had simply tried to bore her into a confession. Her mind had wondered off and soon he had been dismissed, replaced by her present interrogator. But after yelling at her for a prolonged period of time without getting any response, he was ordered to leave now as well. With a last glare at her, he turned around and walked out.

She used the short break to close her eyes again, trying to rest while she still could. She was getting more and more tired now and it would inevitably make her weaker. They knew how to use it and soon they would send someone in who would know how to handle her. She had to be on her guard then.

She heard the door open and close again, footsteps to her right, just a few, then nothing. She took her time before she opened her eyes, looking right at the mirror wall in front of her. Then she turned her head around, slowly, casually, indifferently.

She could tell right away he had done his homework. It was something about him that simply told her he was familiar with her file and with the case, knew what had been going down today. Yesterday. Whatever...

He just stood there for a while, studying her features and then her profile when she turned her head back again, incuriously, demonstrating she wasn't impressed or particularly interested. After a few seconds he came closer, sitting down across from her, resting his hands on the table. The sleeves of his white shirt rolled up to his elbows, his tie a bit loosened. His last shaving had been a while ago so it couldn't be morning yet. He didn’t have to miss out on breakfast to come in. He hadn't been up as long as she had but he was definitely working overtime.

"You need anything?" he asked in a casual, almost friendly tone, trying to get her to say her first words, coax a reaction out of her since she hadn't shown any so far. She didn't now either.

"Alright," he sighed, leaning back a little. "We both know I'm just here to cover until they find someone who they think can get to you."

Finally. Finally someone who acknowledged that she wasn't new to the game.

He tilted his head and looked at her with a slightly amused expression.

"I imagined you taller."

He paused and smiled at her, giving her time to react, but she didn't. Just kept looking back at him with the same blank expression. Of course he had expected something else.

"I mean, I kinda would have expected a guy to be honest. Or at least someone more... ." He shrugged. "What can I say, I'm conservative."

Again he paused, still smiling but displaying a thoughtful expression then.

"I read you went to John Jay?"

She knew he wasn't just chitchatting, trying to kill time while he was stuck with her. But he surely was good at pretending he was. Not so much his words but the way he was sitting, his hands folded behind his head, looking as if he was bored and simply had nothing else to do. It surely was wasted on her but it was interesting to watch him.

"Criminal psychology, Master of Arts," he continued, not bothering to try and make it look like an effort to remember her CV. "I went there too, you know."

She displayed a faint sigh, letting him know she couldn't care less.

"Master of Arts in law, Fletcher School, Tufts University, Bachelor of Arts in history," he kept on citing from her file, "Harvard." He gave her a thoughtful look. "Worked hard, huh?"

She started to lose interest. And for a moment she wondered if he actually really wasn't out for anything in particular.

"Can I ask you a question? How the hell did you end up at CTU? I mean, RAND, the National Security Council - can't have been easy to get in there. And then you become a federal agent in one of the least known agencies this country has?" He looked at her as if he really expected an answer. As if he really was curious. "I mean, if I didn't miss something here it was your free decision."

She lowered her gaze, feeling the tiredness pressing on her eyelids. Her own, free decision. Yeah, she probably should have stayed at RAND, doing research and development analysis. Or she should have gone back to university, an a academic career, lecturing...

She had thought about it but it hadn't seemed to suit her. It didn't. It still wouldn't. She would make the same choices all over again. And the NSC, sure, it had been exciting at first. But in the end it had led her here just as much as Division or CTU.

She met his eyes again, knowing where he was going.

"If I had your potentialities, I wouldn't be here now," he sighed and leaned further back, looking up to the ceiling now, making an expression as if he really regretted not having had her options. "The job is disturbing, the payment is lousy. Considering the puny private life though, it doesn't matter, I guess."

He looked at her again, his hands still at the back of his head.

"Just out of curiosity: if you had gotten away, you wouldn't have to worry about money anymore, right?"

She had been sure it would be either the money or her private life he would pick up on. She wondered when he would start asking her about Jack.

"Oh, come on," he exclaimed with a helpless gesture. "No harm in telling me. I know you're tired and exhausted and you think that once you start talking, you run into the danger of saying something you don't wanna say and give something away you don't want them to know." He gave her a sympathetic look. "But you will have to break your silence eventually. They'll make you. They always do." Another little pause to give his words time to sink in. "I know how many interrogations you've witnessed, monitored or supervised. Hell, you know that stuff better than I do."

Of course, she did. He was right. Maybe she wouldn't tell them what they wanted to hear, maybe she wouldn't give anything away, but she would have to open her mouth eventually. Everyone did.

"See, you think it's easier if you hold out as long as possible, right?" he stated as if he wanted to debate a theory with her. "But isn't it just getting harder? I mean, you must be holding back so much. I know the kinds of amateurs they sent in here before they got a hold of me. You gotta be annoyed, irritated, angry maybe. With your background you deserve better than that, right?" He leaned forward now, laying his elbows on the table, folding his hands. "Now, once you start talking, isn't the risk of revealing something just getting higher? I mean, the more there is you don't wanna say, the harder it gets to separate between what is really important and what you could say without any harm for yourself."

She thought about it for a second. But she knew he was just trying to confuse her. He knew how tired she was. Getting her to question her strategy was smart but she wouldn't fall for it. She remained silent, knowing her expression hadn't given away that she had been doubting for a second. Not doubting, just considering. Maybe he wouldn't succeed but he knew what he was doing. He knew her analytical mind wouldn't just pass over his words. He was good.

She sighed soundlessly and lowered her gaze once again. She understood, of course, what he was doing. He was feeling her up. Exploring the ground for the next interrogator, who ever that would be. Who did they think could get to her? And how?

For a second she wondered what Jack was doing. Under different circumstances he would be the obvious choice. But now - would they just send him home? Had they already let him go? Normally, he would have to be debriefed as soon as possible but in regard of his loss it was more than likely they would make an exception. Would they at least have someone keeping an eye on him? He wasn't stupid. It wouldn't take him long to figure out where they had brought her. Chappelle had probably made sure he couldn't get anywhere near her but...Jack had made a new friend today. A friend who had already used his influence once to supersede Chappelle. And that even before Jack had saved his life. What if Jack could get Palmer to...

She shook her head inwardly. She was getting paranoid. Palmer was so self-righteous in his moral beliefs, he would never help Jack to get to her. It had to be clear even to him that there was only one thing Jack could be interested in. He certainly wouldn't ask her anything. There was enough she could tell him if her life depended on it but it wasn't her knowledge or the identity of her employer that had saved her back at CTU. She knew that much. And the one thing that had saved her down in the garage, what she had seen in Jack’s eyes – it would never save her again.

Wouldn't he be with Kim now? After all, she had just lost her mother.

"I see I've already lost your interest."

She didn't even look up, closing her eyes instead for a moment, squeezing them shut and opening them again, trying to clear her vision. She knew it was a sign of weakness but who was she kidding? It was obvious what state she was in. And just like more than twelve hours ago, in the holding room at CTU, she felt like getting up and walking around, stretching to fight the tiredness out of her body and her mind. Only that this time she was restrained to the chair.

At least you are not depending on what happens next door. She tried to think positively. This time she didn't have to hope Tony would hold out long enough for Jack to call in or… Sitting there all by herself, helpless, powerless, she had known he would talk eventually. He surely had been committed not to, but he would have turned her in. To save his job, his career, his future. He would have hated himself for hanging her out to dry but he wouldn't have taken the risk. She couldn't blame him. If there was one thing Alberta Green was really good at, it was making an impression on people. She hadn't had any proof of course, not against Tony, as there never was any. And if he had only thought it through, he would have come to the same conclusion. He had always been safe, the only job at stake being Nina's. But she could imagine how Alberta had put the screws on him. And somewhere along the way it had probably mattered as well that Tony had thought she was doing all this to help Jack. And not just as a friend.

Tony. She wondered how he was holding up, now that… But she had other things to think about. This time she was in control.

"Been a long day, huh?" he asked and snapped her back into the now and there. "I can imagine it's been a tough ride for you. All the ups and downs, keeping your stories straight, pretending to do your job while following your own agenda." He almost looked impressed. "Must have been a piece of work."

It surely was. It had taken her half of the day to figure out what was going on. And ups and downs? There had been a good many of those. When Jack had taken her out of CTU, his gun at her - the despair in his eyes when he had told her it was her or Teri and Kim. She had noticed the flak jacket, of course, but suddenly she hadn't been too sure anymore if he had put it on her on purpose. And it wouldn't protect her if he really wanted to kill her. Then when they had found out about Jamey, trying to figure out who Gaines was and why he had wanted Jack to kill her, how she had ended up in the middle of all this. And once she had gotten her orders, finally been told what was expected of her, things had only gotten more and more out of control.

"Guess it didn't get any easier when Jamey Farrel got exposed."

Jamey. Of course. They must still think I recruited her. Her eyes when she had realized that she was done. That Tony was right, that Gaines would go after her and eventually her son. That she was screwed either way. Nina, please. Her tears. Her begging. Please, Nina. She had helped her, hadn't she? She had done the best she could. Kyle would be safe.

She looked up to him again, still maintaining her indifferent expression, still not giving anything away. She knew what he was doing. Feeding her mind these little appetizers, making her go through everything that had happened. He was tiring her out. They probably didn't expect him to get anything substantial out of her but he was wearing her down. Hoping to get at least a glimpse of a weakness that could be used against her later. He would bring up other names as well, mention other facts, events, hoping she would react at some point. She was so tired and it was so easy to follow his lead, pick up on the catch words he gave her. Subtle, cunning, never touching the issue too obviously. Partly because she might see what he was up to, partly because he had to be careful not to reveal to her how much they had or hadn't figured out yet. He was trying to manipulate her. And it was so easy to let her mind drift off and the thoughts just flow through her conscience. But sooner or later he would hit a nerve. Or at least he would think he had. Sooner or later she wouldn't just think along the path he directed her on. She would show an emotion, object to something he said, voice her thoughts. That was what he was waiting for.

She had to stop thinking about it. At least she couldn't afford to attach any feelings to it. The moment they knew she had regrets or second thoughts, that she was worried about something or even felt the merest hint of guilt, they would use it against her. She couldn't let that happen. Keeping her mouth shut was still her best option. There was a good chance that her employer would send someone to take care of her right away, as long as he could still get to her. But in that case talking wouldn't keep her safe either. Her best chance was to hope that she would be trusted. Not a good chance exactly. Trust wasn't a highly prized attribute in her line of work, leverage weighing much heavier. But for the moment she had no intention of using hers.

"Looked pretty nasty to me when you got rid off her."

She didn't understand and frowned. Seeing the hesitation in her face, he had to feel some satisfaction. Finally some reaction. But now it was his turn not to let it show.

"I saw the footage from the surveillance camera," he explained after a while, realizing she wasn't gonna ask.

She tried to fathom the implications of his words while reminding herself to be careful now.

The surveillance camera. The surveillance camera in ITS of course. So she had missed something in the rush. They had proof against her for that as well. But what difference did it make. The murder count against Jamey was the least of her worries. It wasn't what would bring her down.

What had brought her down was Drazen. She had never had a choice whether to help him or not but she should never have agreed to telling Jack that Kim was dead. She had known right away that it was too risky, but she hadn't seen any point in trying to explain to Drazen what psychological impact such a message would have on Jack, not to mention what it might cause him to do. Trying to explain that he was only more dangerous if he felt that he had nothing to lose anymore. Instead she had simply hoped Drazen would keep his promise and kill Jack. It would have been a clean solution.

But Drazen had failed. And what of course ultimately had brought her down was the fact that she hadn't made it out of the car park in time. A minute would have been enough, thirty seconds maybe for Jack to be delayed. Or if he had pulled into the garage a few seconds earlier, if she had caught sight of him before starting the car. She could have duck down, waited for him to get out of the way or even until he was out of the car. She could have shot him herself or used the few seconds it would take him to find the dead guard and figure out she had already gotten past him.

"Did you simply not know there was one or did you forget it in all the fuss? Or did you not care?"

Just a few seconds, she thought, almost amused. In the end what really had brought her down was bad luck. Nothing more, nothing less. Just bad luck.

"Man, that was a lot of blood."

He was prying, not willing to let it go yet. Did he believe he had hit a nerve by bringing up Jamey?

She was tempted to lift her chin up and stare right back into his eyes, letting him know that she knew, that she was seeing through his little tactic. But she was too tired and just let her gaze wander off, travel through the room and down on the table. Don't waste energy on defying him.

"I bet killing Teri was easier," he moved on. Still trying to sound unmoved, bored, casual. But she could tell by the way he said her name that it wasn't coming that easy. "I mean, shooting someone seems like...less personal, isn't it? You don't get your hands dirty, you don't even have to be close to the other person. You just twitch your finger and that's it." But he didn't know Teri. He was talking about a complete stranger, using her first name because he wanted Nina to anticipate something with it. If he had said Mrs. Bauer or the wife of your boss - it would have been easier for her to dismiss it, emotionally detach herself. From her crime, from her victim. But this way he could be sure Teri's face would surface in her mind.

The way she had stared at her when she had understood. Teri had defied her. She hadn't resisted or fought her but the look in her eyes, the expression on her face - she had been afraid but she had been angry as well. Just giving her that impeaching look, glaring at her. As if she wanted to say: how could you? Full of contempt. He trusted you. We trusted you.

She became beware of his gaze on her again. His scrutinizing eyes on her face, trying to figure out if she responded, how.

She sighed scornfully. Teri should have been relieved, shouldn't she? After all, there had been no reason for her anymore to fear Nina could steal her precious husband, apparently her sole concern the second she had learned that Kim and Jack were safe. But maybe that had been the problem. Finding out that Jack had been seeing her, his partner, the woman he still saw at work every single day had hit Teri hard. But also knowing that Jack had chosen his family over Nina had probably relieved her. And assured her enough to show some generosity and 'forgive' her. The past is the past. I have nothing but respect for you. Right. But realizing that Jack had slept with the enemy, that everything that had happened to her and Kimberly was even more Jack's fault than she had already thought - maybe that was why Teri had seemed rather angry than afraid. Maybe I saved you some trouble, Jack.

She closed her eyes. No. Teri hadn't blamed Jack. Maybe herself, for trusting you. For thanking her for saving their lives. For actually starting to like her over these last few hours. And she had been angry because it had been no one else but Nina who had almost gotten her and Kimberly killed. No one else but her who had betrayed them all, gained their trust and sold them out.

It was you. Wasn't it?

Nina’s eyelids felt like lead again and her vision became blurry. For a moment she tried to keep her eyes open, fight, keep it together. Why again? Sleep seemed like such a release. If she could only... .

"Hey."

She heard him, his voice calm, not the least bit aggressive, not yelling at all. But she didn't care. Kept her eyes closed and felt herself drifting off.

"Hey." Again. “Nina." And she jerked her head up to stare at... But it was just him. For a second she had thought… But it was just her tired, worn out mind playing tricks on her.

Still, there was something strange in the way he used her first name. As if… It seemed to come easy. Easier than Teri’s or Jamey’s names earlier. But then again, there was nothing strange about that. He had studied her file, probably watched her for some time before walking in, and if she was right then it was his job to connect with her, get into her mind, establish some sort of bond, even if only for a short while. She knew what it took to deal with that.

"Sorry," he said, looking back at her, slightly knitting his brows. "I can't let you sleep."

She tilted her head back and to the sides, trying to stretch her tensed muscles while taking a deep breath. What time could it be? She had reached her lowest point now, but it would pass. She would feel better again. Soon. At least for a while.

She had to keep her mind focused. On anything but his voice, anything but his words. On everything but what he wanted her to focus on.

"So, Jack," he sighed, leaning back in his chair again. "Just between you and me - is there anything to those rumors?"

Treason. A breach of allegiance to one's government, usually committed through levying war against such government or by giving aid or comfort to the enemy, she cited in her head.The act of treason requires the disclosure of government security secrets to other countries, friendly or unfriendly, when the information could cause harm to American security.

"You really slept with him?"

A person commits the crime of treason if he or she is spying for a foreign power or doing damage to the government's operation and its agencies, particularly those involved in security.

"And what was that other guy's name...Almeida...?"

Treason is a crime under federal and some state laws. She sighed. It wasn't like she hadn't been perfectly aware of what she was doing.

"Tony?"

And of the consequences. Treason is made a high crime, punishable by death, under federal law by Article III, section 3 of the U.S. Constitution.

"Seems you had them all under control."

No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. She almost smiled. Not quite likely. Neither the confession nor the open court. But it wouldn't get them into any trouble to come up with the necessary evidence. She had destroyed everything that led to her employer but besides the video footage of the surveillance cameras, the dead guards and her failed attempt to run, she had carried enough proof on her to make a case against herself. The disc.

"But then it didn't really work out in the end, huh?"

She met his eyes again. No, it hadn't. She had done her best but it just hadn't been enough. And it was no consolation at all that it hadn't even been her fault.

"So what do you think is gonna happen to you now?"

She would have to play her cards smart. Disregarding the problem with her employer for a moment, she would try to hold out and await her sentence. Not that she was keen on federal prison but ironically enough it was the only place where she would be safe for the time being. Safe from her employer, from Jack, from whoever else might have an interest in seeing her dead. And if she was patient and waited for her time to come, she would find a way to get herself out of this situation. With everything she knew - time was on her side.

Only if they were really gonna send her on death row, she would have no choice but to disclose some of her knowledge. Important enough for them to offer her something in return but of course harmless enough not to venture her own life. If she wanted to benefit from any deal, she would have to make sure she'd live through it. But maybe it wouldn't be necessary. Maybe it would just be enough to let them know she did know something. Too much to kill her, too important to miss.

She knew where that would get her of course. They wouldn't just lock her up and wait. The interrogations would continue and her interrogators would become more 'insistent'. And she wasn't sure if she was up for that. She was trained to withstand torture but she knew there was only so much she could take until she would reach her breaking point. Everybody breaks.

Her training. She suppressed another smile. She had been trained, prepared for this situation. Not by CTU or Division of course. Her office job didn’t exactly require those skills. But her employer had taken care of it and she still remembered the details about her fake vacation that fall two years ago. The places she'd never been to, the hotels she had never stayed in, the trip across country she had never made. Nice memories compared to where she really had been.

"...murder charge...", she picked up two words. Of course he was still talking to her. She saw his lips moving, heard his voice, felt it flowing into her head, but it was just passing through. She wasn't really listening.

Murder is the unlawful killing of another human being with premeditated intent or malice aforethought.

Killing Jamey had been premeditated. She had have enough time to make a conscious decision, to realize there was no other way out. But malice? Malice aforethought. She wondered if the word was appropriate.

A person commits the crime of murder if he, with intent, causes the death of another person, or under circumstances manifests extreme indifference to human life.

Had she manifested extreme indifference to human life? Probably.

Engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person other than himself, and thereby causes the death of another person.

She certainly had created a grave risk of death to Teri and Kim when she had helped the Drazens to get to them again at the safe house.

Murder may also be committed in the course of and in furtherance of the crime that is committed or attempted to commit, or in immediate flight there from.

Had she really killed Teri in premeditation? Had she really thought it through? Or had she actually just panicked with the alarm going off and knowing Jack was on his way and that he would piece it together once Teri mentioned Germany. Legally the answer was clear, but she wondered.

In the State of California, murder is the unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus, with malice aforethought.

The fetus...

If Jack knew? Probably. Teri had been so excited when she had told her. And then Jack had called a little later. Of course she had told him. He would be even more devastated. If that was possible.

Her eyes fell shut again and she quickly opened them before her head could drop down. They would have to let her sleep eventually. It would soon feel better. It would all get better.

She lingered in the thought and only after a while she noticed that it was quiet. He was quiet.

Looking up, she met his eyes and wasn't sure how to interpret the expression she saw on his face. Had he given up? Or was he just considering a change of tactics? A different approach? Or was he thinking about all the things he would rather do than being stuck here with her?

And why was he here in the first place? She was absolutely positive she had never seen the guy before, so, either he was a freshman or an outsider. He was referring to ‘them’ all the time which could be a sign for the latter one but it could also be on purpose. To make him seem neutral and less of an enemy. However, if he was an outsider, he wasn’t here to stall.

The way he had been treating her the entire time - how long had he been sitting there? -, it almost had something respectful. But she knew, of course, that it was just an attempt to make her relax a little. Not seeing him as the enemy. Not create a hostile atmosphere. Right now, he wasn't disgusted by her or her actions because he couldn't afford to be. He had to try and see things through her eyes, think like her, feel like her. Well, sorry. Not much there to feel. Despising her would have to wait until later and even then it would come in a lesser degree. Just like a doctor who had seen too many smashed bodies to still be touched by it in the same way everyone else would, he had probably studied and analyzed too many twisted minds to still be appalled by them like normal people would. It was a gradual, step-by-step change. Slowly at first, and then suddenly you were right in the middle of it and the part of you that reacted with natural aversion and detestation just...faded. Dwindled. It was still there of course, and sometimes it would hit you when you least expected it. At other times it wouldn't come at all no matter how much you wanted it to. Funny how certain things could still disgust her while others couldn't.

It was of course different for everyone and he was sitting at the other side of the table for a reason.

"Not afraid of anything, are you?" he asked, almost smiling at her.

Afraid? She had been afraid earlier. Running down the corridor, shooting the first guard, getting inside the elevator and into the garage, she had felt her heart beating faster, the adrenaline pounding through her veins. Not the kind of fear that could slow you down, paralyze you and be your worst enemy but the kind of fear that told her she was in trouble and things had taken a bad turn. The kind of fear that was her friend, made her brain work even quicker.

She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut for a second, again bending her head forward and backward, stretching her muscles, rolling her shoulders in their joints. Stay focused.

"All right, I think we're through here." He tilted his head a little, definitely smiling now. "So what does it take?” he asked playfully. “To make you talk? Say anything? One word?" He was almost cute. "Come on," he exclaimed, waving his hand through the air. "I'll feel really stupid if I have to walk out now and didn't even hear your voice."

She had to struggle not to frown. What was this? She suddenly felt 16 again, being asked out on a date. He was young. She had thought so when he had entered the room. And thought he either had to be really good or Division was shorthanded for the night. Of those two options, she had dismissed the latter one a while ago.

He sighed, folding his hands together and pulling a face. "Alright. You win." He glanced at his wristwatch. "Surely could have done something better with my time but hey - at least I'm getting paid for this." He winked at her. "Guess I'm gonna go home now, get some sleep."

He got up and moved his chair closer to the table, making a point that he was done, and her eyes followed him for a few steps on his way to the door until he slipped out of her field of vision. Too tired to turn her head, she let her gaze wonder back and then closed her eyes. Sleep. It seemed like a promise of heaven.

"I wonder what Jack's doing now."

She abruptly opened her eyes, staring at the table in front of her for a second before she noticed he had turned around again and was watching her reaction. Her first impulse was to close her eyes again, turn away, but it would be admitting she had something to hide. That mentioning Jack had finally triggered something in her.

She took her time to lift her chin a little bit, stem her eyelids against the lead that seemed to lie upon them, turning her head around to him slowly, meeting his gaze. Her expression blank, displaying nothing but exhaustion.

He sneered. Standing there and looking down at her, he sneered. And took a few steps towards her again.

"Ever wondered who's gonna come in here after me?"

She knew it was just a last effort to pry a reaction out of her. But she couldn't stop the slight note of terror emerging in her mind.

They would never let him in here. They couldn't. They would never find out anything if they let Jack kill her. We need her alive. Mason had said it himself.

He was bluffing, of course, playing on a hunch probably. She hinted a sneer as well and turned her head away. Had she reacted in any way at his words? She didn't think so but given her condition, she couldn't be sure her features – and her entire body really - were still obeying her mind.

"They'll break you." He shoved his hands into his pockets, the amused expression still on his face. "You know that, don't you?"

She kept her gaze at the table in front of her, trying to maintain a bored expression.

"I mean, as impressing as this silent treatment number is - where do you think it'll get you?"

He was trying to break her. When she had already thought he was giving up. She had let her guard down too early.

"Let me tell you what I think.” He moved up and sat down on the corner of the table. “I think right now, you think if you just keep your mouth shut, you'll get away because you know too much to get death penalty. And you think if you can resist long enough, you might be able to cut yourself some sort of deal. Am I right?"

Should she be impressed because he had figured that out?

"Someone with your intelligence, your expertise, your experience - you think you're invincible? You think they've got nothing to work with, nothing to use against you?"

She looked up at him, displaying annoyance and scorn she didn’t really feel. She knew he was having a point. She knew what was gonna come to her.

He shrugged. "We'll see about that. But I can promise you one thing. At some point," he said, his voice lower now and almost a whisper, "you'll wish Jack had pulled that trigger." He nodded to underline his remark and smiled confidently whilst she tried not to let him see that she was afraid he could be right.

He stared at her a moment longer before he got up. "You'll remember my words."

With a last sneer, he turned around and left, and this time she waited until the door had closed behind him before she closed her eyes and tried to relax. You’ll wish Jack had pulled that trigger. Oh, she would wish for a lot of things but never for that. She would stick to her plan and one day it would pay off.

But it was hard to lose the image of Jack’s finger clenched around the trigger, the muzzle of his gun not even an inch away from her face.

¤¤¤

Nick closed the door behind him and took a few steps to sit down on one of the chairs, glancing through the mirror first and then letting his gaze wander to the close-up on the monitor.

"So? What do you think?"

He stared at her for a long moment before he turned to his superior.

"I think psychology alone won't get us anywhere. She knows the game, all the moves. She knew exactly what I was doing."

As expected, his new boss took it without batting an eyelid. He didn't know him too well yet, after all, he wasn't supposed to start working until next week. They had called him in a few hours ago, but he already had a pretty good idea about what kind of person Ryan Chappelle was. And he wasn't as tough as he made everyone believe. Then again – who was?

"So your recommendation would be?"

Well, maybe she is, he thought to himself, looking at the screen again.

"How fast do you need her to talk?"

"The sooner we find out what she knows the better, but we can't see an acute threat at this point. However, we need to know her contacts, what kind of intel she has, so we can be sure who she's working for."

He nodded and contemplated the options.

"Well, I think it's safe to assume that it's not Drazen."

"Why?" Chappelle asked.

"He's dead, and so are his sons if I didn't miss anything in this report." He lifted the file in front of him and let it drop back on the table. "My guess is she's not talking because she believes whoever she works for will come after her. So it has to be someone who's still very much alive."

"And powerful enough to get to her while she's in our custody?"

He heard the skepticism in Chappelle's voice.

"Doesn't matter," he replied. "As long as she believes it, she won't talk. Unless you go all the way."

"I understand." Chappelle got up. "Well, we’ve got some time left before she's going to be sentenced."

"What do you think it'll be?" he asked, still not taking his eyes off the monitor.

"That’s for others to decide and I won’t speculate about it."

He felt Chappelle moving to turn around and stopped him.

"She worked for you, didn't she?"

Chappelle gave him a disapproving look, as if he was offended that he dared to ask his superior such a question. But then his eyes wandered off to the mirror as well and he stared through it for a few seconds.

"Yes."

If anyone had told you this was gonna happen, would you have believed it? The question was on Nick’s mind, but he got his answer when he saw the expression on Chappelle's face.

"Anything else?" his superior asked curtly.

Nick hesitated for a second.

"If you want her to talk, you'll have to scare her. Properly. And as far as I could see, there's only one thing she’s afraid of."

"And what's that?"

"Jack Bauer."

Chappelle sneered. "She killed his wife, and from what I heard from George Mason, Bauer was already close to killing her before he was aware of that detail. I would be afraid too if I was her."

It was silent for a moment.

"Use it," Nick suggested and leaned back in his chair, folding his hands behind his head.

"What?" Chappelle asked as if to make sure he had understood him correctly.

"Use it," he repeated. "Don't let him kill her but make her believe he will."

"Sure. There's only one problem. I know Bauer too. You obviously don't. The man's not exactly easy to control. If we let him in here, she's dead for real. And that's not what we want."

He didn't object. Chappelle was right. He didn't know Bauer. Reading through the file and looking into the events of the day, he had concentrated on Nina Myers.

"You want to try again?"

Nick shook his head. "No. Let her get some rest. Think about it. Probaby won’t change her mind but you never know."

Chappelle nodded and went for the door, but the handle was pressed down before he could reach it.

"Ryan," a woman said as she entered, looking at Chappelle first and then at Nick. Another new face.

"Alberta," Chappelle replied without enthusiasm. "What can I do for you?" What can I do to get you out of my face, was more what it sounded like.

"I want to talk to her."

Nick examined her quickly. There was something about her that made him want to get up, click his heals, and salute. She seemed determined and intent on getting things her way. He let his gaze wander to Chappelle, a bit curious to see his reaction. But his superior just glanced at his wristwatch and seemed to shrug his shoulders.

"Fine. Nick here did the profiling," he said with a nod in his direction. "Work with him."

"I don't think I’ll need a profile," she objected coldly, and Nick tried to remember at what point he had come across her name in the file on his table.

Right. She had been called in some time around noon, replacing Bauer while he had been on the run. As acting head of CTU, she had been Nina Myers superior for a few hours.

"Work with him," Chappelle insisted tiredly and turned his head around. "It's your call, Nick."

He nodded and watched his superior walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Feeling Alberta Green staring at him, he met her eyes. Her turn to examine him, looking him up and down frankly, obviously trying to figure out if Chappelle really had that much faith in him or was just putting an obstacle in her way.

"Just so we are clear: I don't think you can tell me anything about Nina Myers that I don't already know. But I'm willing to let you try."

Her voice was low and just a bit gravelly, her pronunciation clear and exact. If there hadn't been this touch of arrogance and self-assertion, he would have liked it.

He gave her a heads-up anyway, and she listened without interrupting, not making any remarks. Only when he was finished did she state her own assessment. He dismissed it, but it would be interesting to watch the woman next door hearing it.

"You worked with her?" he asked pointedly.

"Correct."

She left it at that, not giving any further explanations but he didn't need anything else. There was some history between the two women, and something told him the recent clash about Jack Bauer's whereabouts hadn't been their first one.

"Well, she's all yours then. I'll watch if you don't mind." It wasn't a question of course.

"Go ahead," Green replied icily and walked to the door that led to the interrogation room. He focused on the monitor and smiled. He doubted that she would get any substantial results but maybe she would succeed where he had failed and get her adversary to finally break her silence. It was worth a shot, and it was worth staying around to watch. Maybe Green would trigger a reaction in Myers and that way give him something he could use. He couldn’t claim that he had learnt much from talking to her that he hadn’t already known from studying the files, but if Green could accomplish what he hadn’t been able to pull off, he wouldn’t mind at all.

Leaning forward in his chair, Nick focused his attention on the monitor showing the small woman in her chair. Maybe he wasn’t done with her just yet.

¤¤¤

The sound of the door startled her and Nina looked up. She didn't even try to hide her surprise when she saw Alberta Green walk in. You gotta be joking, she thought. This is who you think can break me? She smiled and straightened up in her chair, feeling some of her strength coming back to her. This could be interesting.

Alberta took her seat across the table, eyeing her with the usual expression on her face. Just a bit too self-assured, a bit too arrogant. Alberta was working hard and she did a good job most of the time, but she would never understand that it was her attitude that often set her back. Neither superiors nor subordinates appreciated her and for the time being there was probably no one less popular at Division than Alberta Green. Well, of course, that was about to change.

"I underestimated you, Nina. I give you that," Alberta stated after taking some time to look her up and down, displaying the hint of a condescending smile. "I didn't think you had the dignity to get over Jack, let alone the guts to stand up to him. But you turning on him - that was unexpected."

She had her legs crossed, her hands loosely folded, resting in her lap, and made the impression that she was perfectly comfortable in her position.

"From what I hear he's devastated. They couldn't get him away from his dead wife’s body until his daughter showed up," she added, obviously trying to trigger a reaction. "What was her name?" It was a lame attempt.

Why are you here, Alberta? This really isn’t your specialty.

"Apparently they had to sedate her."

Nina tilted her head, not paying attention to what was being said. No one at Division could seriously think that... .

Again Nina didn't bother to hide her amusement when she realized what she should have known all along. No one was expecting anything from Alberta. For whatever reason she was here, she was not important. And there was no one else to come after her.

“You find that amusing?” Alberta’s eyebrows were slightly raised. “You want to tell me you don’t care? Try harder, Nina.”

Nina frowned, still a bit amused. She had an idea this was about to become entertaining.

“You may have fooled everybody else with this charade, but not me. As I had already told you: I can detect BS. And this has BS written all over it.”

Nina allowed herself to break into a smile, turning her head and letting her gaze wander around, resting it on the mirror for a second. She wondered who was watching her, watching Alberta, listening to what she was so eager to share.

“You want to tell me this whole letting-Jack-screw-you-while-he-was-bored-with-his-wife was just a part of the plan? All the times you put your job on the line while covering for him, the way you successfully ruined your own reputation, the office-flirting, the rebound-thing with Tony – everything just an act, just to deepen your cover? Come on, Nina, how credible or how likely is that? What would have happened if you had really lost your position? If Tony had talked before Jack called in?” Alberta smiled widely. “I don’t think your ‘employer’ would have appreciated that.”

Just the way she emphasized the word ‘employer’ was enough to tell Nina where Alberta was going with this. If it hadn’t been obvious enough already. She considered playing along, just for the satisfaction of fooling Alberta one more time. But it wasn’t worth the risk.

And she had to admit a part of her didn’t want to give Alberta the satisfaction of thinking she was right. She knew she shouldn’t care but she was only human.

Human. Indifferent to human life.

“So why would you take all those risks if it wasn’t indeed for Jack,” Alberta continued. “For your naïve belief in that man. I’ve always agreed with George: what did you see in him?”

Alberta. Interesting enough you and George have been discussing this.

“But I guess you woke up one day wondering that yourself. And I would imagine it was a painful realization. What you let him do to you. Actually it’s quite understandable that you wanted some payback.”

Trying to sympathize, Alberta? Are we talking woman-to-woman now? Reassuring me I’m just a victim who fought back and went too far? Nina couldn’t hold back the smile even if she had wanted to. You want to use psychology on me? She shook her head inwardly.

“I guess he paid all he could. I hear he claims his wife was pregnant. Did you know that?”

This was it. This was the moment she had to act if she wanted to play Alberta. All it would take was showing a hint of an emotion, act a little surprised and in shock or guilty. Not too openly, it had to look like she was trying to hide it. Again she felt the temptation, embracing the distraction from the core of the issue, but again she reminded herself that it wasn’t worth the trouble it could cause. She remained indifferent.

Alberta leaned forward, placing her hands on the table, obviously disappointed over the lack of response on Nina’s part.

“You can act cool all you want, Nina. Maybe you can fool those so-called experts with your little performance but I know you better than that and I can tell a lie when I see one. This wasn’t about some ominous employer or you being a deep-undercover mole.”

Nina smiled but closed her eyes, trying to hold on to the thought that had just crossed her mind. But it was getting harder again to concentrate. Careful. Something about Alberta’s words had alarmed her.

“This was about Jack rejecting you and going back to his wife. At some point it was too much for you to put up with anymore, and when the Drazens made their offer you accepted, seeing a chance for payback. You wanted Jack to suffer, and I would say you’ve done that pretty well. And now you’re seeing a chance to get off, thinking if you can make the right people believe there is someone behind all this, you can get away with it. Or maybe you’re simply embarrassed about your real motives.”

Still keeping her eyes closed and the sneer on her face, Nina reconsidered. Either Alberta really believed all this or… She could only hope no one would be convinced by this argument. Otherwise, she would be in trouble. She couldn’t confirm that there really was someone behind her any more than she already had, but she needed them to assume there was for obvious reasons.

Looking up again, she tried to fathom if Alberta was using this fact against her. Did I underestimate you?

“I’m not sure you’ve thought this through, Nina, so let me help you to see things clearly.” Emphasizing her words with a little gesture, Alberta leaned forward. “You’re not doing yourself a favor by making things look worse than they are. You’re in deep trouble enough as it is. You will be charged with murder and treason, and trust me – this is not going to be a carrots and sticks game. You’re not going to get anything out of this. I’ll personally see to that.”

Don’t underestimate my influence, Nina almost expected her to say, just like she had told her once, a couple of years ago.

“Although I don’t think I’ll even bother. Eventually everybody will see this for what it really is.”

She still didn’t know what to think. Was Alberta simply not able to admit that she had been wrong about her? That she had been fooled just like everybody else? Should, could she be that unprofessional about the whole thing? Or was she actually trying to play her, to turn the tables on her, and make her reveal more than she intended to. Not that she would. She wasn’t worried enough. But she was curious.

Now she tilted her head and had a remark on her lips. But she still didn’t want to start talking and - most of all - she didn’t want to reward Alberta like that. It would be an insult to all her other interrogators and to herself to break her silence now of all times.

¤¤¤

Nick folded his hands behind his head and sank back in his chair.

From what he could tell Nina Myers was everything but a nutcase. She hadn’t freaked out about an affair with her boss, she hadn’t killed and betrayed because she was heartbroken. But there were some things about her he couldn’t piece together. Not yet.

He opened the folder in front of him and flipped through the file, preliminary reports, debriefs and statements, reading some passages again here and there. Then he put them back on the table and frowned. She indeed seemed to have taken a lot of risks to cover for her boss in the past. Nick had a hard time believing that she had done it because she was in love, but Alberta Green had a point. By risking her own position like that, Myers had either made an already dangerous game even riskier or her priority had always been to keep Jack Bauer in his position. For a long time already in that case. But why? How long had this been planned? And how long had she been part of it? If she really had been involved from the beginning, it was more likely that she was working for Drazen after all. Or that her employer was someone close to Drazen. Dammit, some things just didn’t make sense.

In his statements earlier that day, Mason had been convinced that Bauer was up to something and that Myers was covering for him. Almeida had supported the first point but had been silent about the latter one. Obviously because he had been involved with Myers on a personal level. Then he had stated that she had played a crucial role in freeing Bauer’s wife and daughter. But if she had been working for Drazen, why should she do that? Both Green and Mason had argued that Myers and Almeida were still in contact with Bauer and acting against direct orders, withholding information from their superiors. Almeida had denied that and still was, but what else could he do? By admitting the opposite now, he would only put himself in trouble. Bauer hadn’t been debriefed yet, but Nick wondered if they would ever find out everything that had happened yesterday. Probably not, but without more information he wasn’t gonna get anywhere. He couldn’t do more than speculate.

Well, why bother. His job was done. He had made his evaluation and given his recommendations. Someone else would take it from here and sooner or later they would break her and find out if she really had another employer and if so, who he or she was. He was simply curious now but it would pass once he had another assignment to focus on. Nina Myers wasn’t his problem anymore.