5.13: 7:00pm - 8:00pm - Demise

5.13: 7:00pm - 8:00pm
~ Demise ~2005-03-13

7:00

The nerve gas is pushed through CTU with the help of a fan. A voiceover comes on inside the building stating that the facility has been contaminated with a sentox VX Nerve gas. The safe zones are on the main floor in the situation room and medical, the upstairs CTU directors’ office and holding 4. They are to remain sealed pending the arrival of the Chemical Response Team and are not to leave the room until CRT clears them. Chloe sits on the floor of the Situation Room staring at Edgar’s body.

Curtis drives and speaks on the phone with Buchanan. Buchanan is locked in his office alone and Curtis is with the CRT team, it will be 20 to 30 minutes before they can get there. Buchanan wants them to get there as fast as he can but he understands. Curtis will call with updates. Buchanan calls down to the others in the situation room and Jack answers the phone. Buchanan updates them that he just got off the phone with Curtis, he’s with the CRT team and he will be at least 30 minutes before he can get there since most of them were sent to the hospital to help there and the rest were sent to high probability targets. The computers and phones are up so they can get some work done, Buchanan will coordinate with division. Jack asks if there is a way for him to find out if Henderson is alive. Buchanan says he can pull up a building grid. They discuss medical supplies, Buchanan says that the gas masks are in the armoury and the atropine is in medical storage, both areas are compromised and they can’t get to the items without being exposed to the gas. Jack will get back to Buchanan and heads to Chloe. She sits on the floor staring at Edgar. Jack comes and crouches next to her. He says that he knows that this is difficult but there is nothing they can do for him. He needs Chloe to go back to work. Still staring Chloe mumbles she can’t Jack asks her to tell him how to pull up a building grid. Chloe can’t do that either. Audrey offers to try to pull it up and Jack explains to Chloe that CTU is immobile and everything has to run through COM, that’s her, he needs her to get back to work. She defiantly says that she can’t. Jack says she can. Barry calls Jack ‘Mr. Bauer’ and with malice Jack gets up, strides over to Barry and demands, “What?” Barry can help Chloe, he’s a clinical psychologist. Jack stares at him; his gaze softens and simply thanks Barry. Barry goes over to Chloe, Jack appears uncomfortable with the entire situation but Barry crouches next to Chloe and introduces himself as Dr. Landis. He motions to Edgar and asks her what her friends name was. Chloe answers ‘Edgar’. Barry asks Chloe to turn away from Edgar and focus on him. He guides her gently with his hands saying to focus on him. He explains that she is in shock and he would like to help her get through it. The only thing he’s going to ask her to do is to sit in a nearby chair and collect her breath. Again he guides her to the chair and she sits down. Jack watches Barry’s small success as does Kim. He holds on to her hands and says to collect her breath now. After a few seconds Chloe spits out that ‘He was a good guy and I just treated him like crap all day’. Audrey, Kim and Jack look at Chloe.

Lynn paces the holding room, he is inside with a security guard. Lynn sighs that this is all his fault. The guard asks what he’s talking about and Lynn says that someone used his key card to get into the building. It was missing and he didn’t say anything. The guard, Harry, asks why Lynn didn’t say anything. Lynn says that he thought his wallet was stolen for the money. Harry is baffled how Lynn could not report it. Lynn admits to being embarrassed, he didn’t want anyone to know that he got beat up. Harry concludes that all those people died because Lynn was embarrassed.

Tony is sealed in the clinic. He moves out of bed and Dr. Besson heads to him trying to stop him. Tony wants to know what is going on, he’s not going to sit in that damn bed if CTU is under attack. Tony asks how long they are going to be locked in like this, Besson has no news. Tony has made his way to the door and sees a girl on the other side of the glass dead on the floor.

Audrey has pulled up the grid of the building. Jack calls Buchanan and says that he needs to call the isolated zones. Buchanan says that they should have called in with survivors. 2 are logged in, Jack can try medical. Jack calls the clinic and Besson answers. Jack explains that terrorists have infiltrated CTU and released Sentox Nerve Gas, Jack needs to know if Burke got to the clinic with Henderson. Tony, who has been listening to the call on speaker, asks if Henderson is there now. Jack is surprised to hear his friends’ voice and asks if that is Tony. He doesn’t respond and Besson asks Jack how long they are going to be locked down for. Jack is working on it but meanwhile Tony has made a decision, he grabs the doctor from behind and knocks him unconscious. Jack calls for Dr. Besson but of course, he doesn’t answer. Jack then calls for Tony and Tony walks by the phone and hangs it up. Jack is angry and senses what is going on, Tony gets into the room with Burke and Henderson who is pretty out of it from all the torture. Burke is checking Henderson’s pulse to his watch and Tony grabs a gun lying on the table nearby. Jack asks Audrey to pull the video up so he can see what’s going on and once it comes up he whispers, ‘He’s got a gun.’ Jack wants to be patched into the room, right now those in the situation room can hear what is happening in the clinic but Tony can’t hear them. They watch as Tony points the gun at Henderson and prepares to fire. Burke pleads with Tony saying that they need to get the information out of Henderson but Tony whispers that Henderson killed his wife, he tells Burke to move, he doesn’t want to shoot him but he will if he forces him.

Tony turns his attention to Henderson and introduces himself as Tony Almeida, ‘You killed my wife, Michelle this morning.’ He struggles to continue and whispers, ‘She was my life and you took her, and now I’m going to take yours.’ Tony is crying and Jack is watching from the other end in a near panic, he knows they are almost out of time. Finally they get an audio feed into the clinic and Jack hurriedly identifies himself before Tony can do anything. Tony tells Jack to stay out of this but Jack implores Tony that he can’t do this. Jack sympathizes with Tony, ‘I know exactly how you feel right now, I lost Teri the exact same way, to one of our own,’ Jack chances a glance at Kim and continues, ‘I know what it feels like but Henderson has information that can save thousands and thousands of lives. I know it doesn’t make you feel better but I know you. You and I know that you don’t want to make this situation any more serious.’ Jack begs Tony to let them finish their interrogation. Tony says to hurry up. Jack wants Burke to continue and when he starts to talk focus on how to find the canisters and how to find Bierko. Burke will do this and starts injecting more into Henderson. He asks where to find Bierko. He injects more and asks again, where are the canisters. Henderson has no response except a series of groggy ‘no’s’. He asks about the computer password and doesn’t get anywhere with that either. Tony watches with hatred in his eyes and Jack asks if they can increase the dose. Burke says not without killing him. He will take a short break and then start again, he will contact Jack if he has anything.

A woman from Homeland Security, Karen Hayes is on the phone with Logan and Gardner, the Vice President. She tells them that CTU has been hit and early reports indicate that at least 40% of the personnel have been taken out. They have partial containment inside the building as well. Logan clarifies that they have been killed. She confirms it and Logan starts to worry. CTU has been protecting the city from the nerve gas outbreak and they have been seriously compromised. There are terrorists with canisters of Nerve Gas, who is going to stop them? Karen suggests an emergency restructuring, she will take a team there herself and personally manage them. Logan turns to Hal, CTU is still somewhat operational but Hal supports Karen. Also, he thinks they should impose martial law now. Logan thinks that could create mayhem but Hal argues that it’s only a matter of time before more gas is released and then there will be mayhem but there will not be anyone to contain it. They can tie the martial law to the release of the nerve gas in the mall earlier. The Vice President tries hard to persuade Logan, ‘We may have to swallow some salt water but if we can keep the people off the streets we can keep the terrorists off the streets and they won’t be able to move as freely as they are right now. We might be able to stop further attacks.’

Bierko is told that CTU is not a problem any more. Bierko gives the go to move the nerve gas to the new target. He is asked how much of it to move and is told ‘All of it.’

7:17

Barry is still talking with Chloe and Jack has seen enough. He goes to Barry and asks to be excused. Barry is out of the way and Jack asks Chloe if she is ready to go back to work. Chloe asks what he needs and Jack, sliding the laptop over to in front of Chloe, says that they need her. They can’t break Henderson and they need her to keep trying to decrypt the files. Chloe wants Jack to get someone else to do it but there is no one else, she is the only one qualified. He pleads with her not to shut down, he knows she is upset about what is happening but they need to keep working until it’s over, that’s how things work at CTU. Barry interrupts saying that Jack is not making things better, he is making it worse. Jack, keeping himself calm, tells Barry that he is sure that he is qualified to help someone with this kind of situation over and extended period of time but they do not have an extended period of time, he wants Barry to step aside to se can to his job. Bravely, Barry tells Jack dryly, ‘You don’t have to be qualified to help people, you just have to be there for them.’ Jack asks quietly, ‘Like you were there for my daughter?’ Barry seems confused and Jack gets up and goes over to Barry. Getting very close to Barry he whispers that Barry is 20 years older than her, he knows exactly what he’s doing. Barry defends their relationship, he is not doing anything except helping her try to deal with her loss, he reprimands Jack for insinuating that he took advantage of her. Jack says Barry did and grabs Barry by the throat, holding him up against the wall. No one else in the room tries to stop Jack except Kim. She snaps at Jack ‘You can be mad all you want but before I met Barry I didn’t want to live. Do you understand?’ Having seen enough Chloe pipes up that she will get back to work if everyone will relax. Alarms are set off in the computer system and Audrey says there’s a problem. Jack finally lets go of Barry and asks what it is. Kim is immediately at Barry’s aide. Chloe explains that the nerve gas has been mixed with a corrosive agent, an acid and it’s breaking down the seal between the rooms. Buchanan, on speakerphone, asks how long they have until it breaks through. They don’t know but it will deteriorate quickly, 15 to 20 minutes. Barry asks what will happen then. The gas will permeate the seals and then it enters the rooms. It’s over. Jack asks for schematics of all of the isolated zones.

Mike haggles on the phone with Hal, the Vice President. Mike is not trying to usurp his position; he is simply trying to serve the President the best that he can. He hangs up the phone and Martha is standing nearby. She asks Mike what that was about and Mike says he was trying to convince Gardner to let him help write the President’s statement. Martha is horrified that Logan would let Gardner write the statement for him, Mike says he insisted. The Vice President is essentially making policy. Logan is under a lot of pressure and Hal is more than eager to help out. He has his eye on the oval office and anything he can do to speed up Logan’s downfall is fine with him. They saw it at the WTO conference and in Chicago, Hal works on things and when they work out he takes the credit. When they don’t Logan takes the heat. Martha asks if Mike has reminded Logan of that, but he is unable, Hal is the Vice President, Mike is just the Chief of Staff. Martha has the ability here to be outside the chain of command, now is the time to use it. Martha wants to see that statement as soon as possible.

Buchanan works from his office, he has checked the readings in all the rooms and in all zones the air is consistent. Buchanan explains over the intercom to all the rooms that the gas is eating away at the seals and he is not going to pull any punches, Chemical Response Team is not going to get there in time, only they can help themselves. They need to find a way to neutralize and flush out the gas before it enters the safe zones. He wants all personnel working on this problem and there is not much time. They are going to do what they can and hope for the best. Jack asks Chloe to access the ventilation system and he wanders over towards the door. Audrey comes over to Jack and speculates that it might not be as bad as they think, the numbers might be off or CRT could get there in time. Jack is more concerned about Kim, he says quietly that the only reason she is still there is because he asked her to stay. If something happens to her it is going to be because of him, because of what he did. Audrey says that there is no way that he could have known. Chloe thinks that she can flush out the nerve gas using the air conditioning. Jack says to do it but she then realizes that something is wrong with the control panel, it’s not responding, it’s been locked by a program on a terminal near holding 4. Jack looks over her shoulder and looks at the schematics. He realizes that the wall in the room they are in is a false wall but once he gets out of there he’s in a contaminated area. Kim interrupts saying blatantly that he can’t go through a contaminated area. Jack figures that it won’t penetrate his skin in such a short amount of time, all he has to do is hold his breath. Audrey has come over and sees the distance, she says he can’t hold his breath that long. Jack sees that he can seal one of the vents off and then he would only have to hold his breath until Chloe clears the room which would be about 20 seconds after he is back in it. Realizing it’s his only choice Jack grabs his bag and prepares to go. He works to open up a panel in the wall and Audrey says that she and Chloe will both be on channel 1 if he needs to communicate with them. Jack tells another guy in the room to replace the panel as soon as he is through. Chloe says that it’s time to go now.

7:24

7:28

Jack makes his way through the vent systems at CTU, in a split screen we see Henderson who is still unconscious and Tony watching him.

Jack caries his flashlight in his mouth and comes upon a ladder which he climbs up and out a small door into the floor of another room. Turning behind him Jack takes some duct tape from a toolbox nearby and seals the cracks around the door he just came through. In the situation room Kim waits and watches. Jack tells them over his COM that the air lock is completed and he is getting ready to go in. He will tap his COM unit 3 times once he is back. Chloe makes sure the room is sealed, if the seal is not complete all the others will be dead in 3 minutes. Jack assures her that it’s not going to leak, he is going in. He pulls up the hood on his sweater and leans back on the wall near the exit. He takes a few deep breaths and holds on. He opens the door and is careful to shut it behind him. He moves past the bodies of CTU employees on the ground, killed by the nerve gas. He gets to the false wall and uses his knife to run around a square in it. He pulls out the panel and finds bars on the other side. Stretching sideways Jack can see the computer that he needs to get to but he is unable to get past the bars. In the situation room Chloe says that the seals are continuing to corrode. Kim asks if there is anything they can do from there and Chloe says that there’s nothing they can do to get her dad out any faster. Kim warns Chloe not to talk down to her. Barry, sensing the tension, tells everybody just to breathe. Chloe snaps, ‘What’s with you and the breathing? Is that your thing?’ Audrey hears Jack tap on the intercom and says that he is back in the room. Chloe starts to work to clear the room but says that it was too fast, he couldn’t have done the computer work that fast. Barry thinks it might be good but Chloe again snaps at him that she doesn’t know. Jack waits, unable to breathe as the air is equalized in the room. Soon Audrey tells Jack that he can breathe and he takes a series of breaths, Audrey asks if he is okay. Jack explains the situation with the bars, he can’t get through. Chloe doesn’t see it on her diagram but Jack assures her it’s there. Chloe finds it, it was done in a security upgrade in the last 2 years, it was filed wrong and that’s why she didn’t see it. Jack wants to know what’s nearby but it’s above holding 4, there is nothing nearby, not even another room that they can ventilate. Realizing what this means Jack leans his head back against the wall and asks to be patched through to Holding 4. Once they are connected Jack explains what has been going on and they can get to the computer in the next few minutes they can stop the gas from getting in. Lynn is happy about the ability to fix the problem until Jack says that he is the only one close enough to get to the computer, Jack wants Chloe to explain. She starts that it is located right above them, he has to take the stairs and it’s around the corner on the left. Starting to catch on Lynn asks how they could do that. Jack regretfully says that he would do it himself if he could but he is not close enough, only Lynn can do this and he has to ask him to do it without protection. As soon as they open the door the room will be contaminated and there is no where to send him, they can’t air lock him. Lynn grimly says that there are 2 of them in there. The guard identifies himself as Harry Swinton and asks for clarification, Jack is saying that if he does this they are both going to die. Jack is very sorry, Lynn doesn’t think they have a choice. Harry, losing his head slightly, asks how they know Jack is not making this up so he doesn’t have to sacrifice himself. Jack quietly says that he doesn’t, all he can ask is that he believes him that he is telling the truth. Harry snaps that ‘That’s easy for you to say, you’re not the one about to die.’ Jack forcefully corrects him that it is not easy for him to say. Lynn says to hang on and turns to Harry. He has realized that they have to do this. If they don’t they’re going to die anyway, if they don’t do it everyone in CTU will die as well. They have to do this. Harry turns away from Lynn who goes back to the phone. He gives Jack the okay, go ahead. Jack says it’s in the room on the right side, Chloe says the program is running, he needs to quit out of it and then Chloe can take it from there. There is not a lot of time, Lynn will do it.

7:34

7:39

In the situation room people pace around, Jack is still in the vents. Kim heads to the seat across from Chloe and Kim says that she is sorry about how she acted earlier and about her friend that died. Chloe accepts the apology and Kim wants to know of Chloe was in contact with her dad when he was gone. Chloe admits to sending information to him about once a month. Kim wants to know what kind of information, was it about her? Chloe says that almost all of it was, her break up with Chase, her depression. Kim asks how she got that information but Chloe says she is really good at finding information, she adds that she doesn’t judge it, she just passes it on. She is sorry about Chase, she realizes that it was probably hard. Kim asks if Chloe talks to him too and she says no but offers to find out where he is if she wants. Kim says no, Barry thinks it would be better if she just let it go. Chloe observes that shrinks always give advice but they don’t often follow it themselves. Kim changes the subject to Chloe. She says ‘I woke up this morning with a guy in my bed that I’ll probably never see again, I watched one of my best friends die right in front of me. I guess not that great.’ Kim says ‘yeah’ and Jack comes back into the room. He climbs through the panel and says to replace it. He asks for the security feed from the observation room.

Harry speaks tearfully on the phone to his daughter, he cries to be a good girl for mommy and go to bed when she asks her to. His daughter asks when he is going to be home and Harry doesn’t know. She wants to be woken up and he says that of course she will. Lynn, knowing that they’re running out of time, says that they have to go. They exchange I love you’s and hang up. Lynn is going in. Chloe says good luck and adds awkwardly ‘Thanks for doing this.’

Lynn puts his hand on the knob ready to open it and exchanges looks with Harry. They both take a breath in and have small pieces of cloth in their hand to put in front of their mouth as well. Lynn exits and closes the door behind him. He goes right upstairs past dead agents and gets to the computer that is beeping away. He uses one hand to get into it and log off the system. It restarts and Chloe knows right away. She starts the fans and says it will be 15 minutes before the air is neutralized but the gas will stop eating at the seals right away. They will hold until all the zones are clear. Jack speaks into the phone to Lynn and Harry who are now in the room again. He doesn’t know if they can hear him but what they did was successful, the seals are holding. He will personally notify their families and tell them of the sacrifices they have made. Jack says he is sorry and doesn’t know what else to say. The thanks them. Harry, unable to hold out any longer, breathes in and out a few times. He pants for a few seconds that he’s okay but then the gas kicks in and he starts to choke. He falls to the floor and Lynn watches with wide eyes as Harry dies. Jack whispers, ‘Oh my God’ and looks at the floor. Lynn is also unable to hold out and breathes in as well. He rolls onto the ground and as all in the situation room and Buchanan look on he dies, all effected by what they are seeing. Jack asks in a gravely voice for them to pull up the video to medical and steps away from the others. He locks his fingers behind his neck and then pulls his hands forward covering his eyes briefly and sniffling.

Burke is still working on Henderson, he asks if he can still her him and to tell him his name. Tony, still watching, says that he is wasting his time. Jack comes on and identifies himself; Burke says that Henderson is not talking. He wants Burke to keep working, as soon as the barriers go up he is going to get back to him. Jack turns to Chloe and says that he doesn’t think they are going to be able to break Henderson, keep trying to decrypt the files. Chloe observes that most of her team is gone, how is she going to do that. Jack wants her to focus on Henderson’s computer.

Jack speaks to Kim next. Speaking quietly he asks her to go to the clinic when the barriers are lifted and get checked out. Kim defiantly says that when the barriers go up she’s leaving. Jack still wants to talk but Kim has nothing to talk about. Jack asks her not to be in such a hurry to cut him off but she thinks he cut her off. She tells her father that she is not angry, she loves him but there is nothing left to say. She ploughs ahead, ‘I don’t want to be around you, every time I am horrible things happen, people die. I know it’s not your fault but I can’t be a part of it.’ Jack doesn’t want her to be a part of it, ‘All I want is for one day for you and I to spend some time together.’ He’s already given her up once and he’s not going to do it again. She can’t and turns around leaving Jack alone. She goes right past Chloe who is watching and to the arms of Barry. He sighs and observes that that was close. He kisses her on the top of the head and Jack stares, crushed. He turns around and looks out into CTU. Audrey comes up behind him and stands for a second before reaching out and taking his hand in hers. He doesn’t react and she asks if he is alright. Without moving he mumbles, “No.”

7:46

7:51

Logan speaks with Mike and Martha about the choices he is making. They are calling it an Emergency Peacekeeping Edict and Logan says Hal came up with it. Martha wonders if he is afraid that this kind of action would cause more damage than any chemical weapon ever could. Logan says that CTU has been attacked, their first line of defence is shut down and people have been killed because of the chemical weapon. This is not worse than what would happen if more of the nerve gas was released, he asks for ideas from her or Mike if they have any. He would be glad to hear them. Mike takes this as a cue to leave and leaves the Logan’s alone. Choosing her words carefully, Martha says that if he truly believes that martial law is the only option then she will support him but what she will not stand by and watch is Hal Gardner use her to promote his own agenda. Logan would like some credit but Martha reminds him that Hal has done this before and he is not the president, Logan is. Logan is confused, he admits to his wife, ‘I don’t know how much more of this I can take, I really don’t.’ He sighs and looks down and continues, ‘David’s assassination, the nerve gas, the murder of all the hostages at the airport, Walt Cummings betrayal and you, I almost lost you.’ His voice breaks and asks, ‘I didn’t lose you, did I?’ He looks intently at his wife and she starts to cry herself and she takes his hand, she says no, he didn’t lose her, she is still there.

One of Bierko’s men is on the phone, he needs the schematics. Bierko makes a call to a girl named Colette Stenger. She is not wearing very much and comes to the phone which is next to a laptop. She puts a few more items of clothing on and looks at the phone number. A man lying in bed named Theo Stoller asks who it is. She says it’s a client and answers. Bierko asks if she has it yet, she said she would call as soon as she has everything, she is still waiting on a few more items. He reminds her he is paying her a lot of money and she says that if he could have gotten detailed specs for the facility he would have gotten them from someone else but he didn’t. She will call back in a few minutes. She hangs up and Theo asks what is going on. She brushes it off as a difficult client and he wishes that he knew exactly that she did, he may be able to help her. She heads over to Theo, gets on top of him and kisses him. She can’t do this, she has to finish something. He grabs on to her and says to finish this. They kiss again.

Buchanan talks on the phone, the air will be safe momentarily. The phone rings again for another line and when he answers it he finds Karen Hayes from Homeland Security. She wants the damage assessment and body count and he will know more when CRT gets there and the barriers are lifted. He estimates that they will need 20 people in COM and about 35 in tactical and other departments. She is on her way with a core team, they can make the adjustments when she gets there. Buchanan is surprised, she’s coming now? She is and will be there soon.

Karen turns to the man in the back seat, Miles, who has reformatted the main server to all of their specs, all their tactical protocols will go through him, he will be replacing some of their people with his, is that going to be a problem? Karen says absolutely not, some of their people will not be able to continue after what they have been through, they need to identify these people and send them home. He is told that he won’t need approval from Buchanan, they are going to be in charge. For all intents and purposes CTU is no longer an operational entity, it is a building with workers who report to them.

At CTU the barriers lift and Jack is going back to medical. Jack stops by Kim and says that he has to finish this now, she knows. She says goodbye to her and he stands awkwardly for a second before leans in and kisses her on the forehead. He looks at Barry and heads out. Barry comes after Jack and says that he just wanted to thank him for saving their lives; they couldn’t have gotten through it without him. Jack tells Barry to take Kim outside of the city and don’t make any stops. Jack leaves the room and after a pause Kim and Barry follow and then another CTU worker.

At the clinic Burke stands over Henderson taking his pulse. Tony observes that he looks dead, Burke explains that his nervous system is shut down. Tony wants to know if he will wake up, he will not. The phone rings and Tony and Burke both go for it, Tony gets there first. Jack is running to the clinic, he says he’s on his way. Tony whispers, ‘Yeah, Jack, Henderson is in a coma and he’s not coming out of it. You had your chance, he’s mine now.’ Jack swears at Tony and says to wait until he gets there. Tony isn’t waiting but Jack argues that he doesn’t want to do this; it’s not going to bring back Michelle. Tony answers ‘No, but I’ll feel better.’ Jack argues that he won’t, trust him. Tony says that he is probably right, but he’ll let him know. Tony hangs up and Jack yells ‘Dammit!’ Burke asks what Jack has to say and Tony says they will figure it out when he gets there. Burke asks what Tony means, there’s nothing they can do, he’s cooked, but Tony has come up behind Burke and hits him in the head knocking him out. Tony goes to the supplies that Burke was working on Henderson with. He grabs a large needle and fills it up nearly all the way, all the while watching Henderson. Tony steps over to Henderson’s bedside and puts his hand on his chest preparing to inject the liquid into him. Tony pauses and doesn’t do anything. Watching Henderson Tony struggles internally and after a few seconds his eyes well up with tears. Unable to do it, Tony sighs and breaths in. He looks down and shakes his head and while he’s not paying attention, Henderson wakes up. With a fast movement he grabs Tony’s hand and shoves the needle in Tony’s chest instead, emptying the contents. Tony falls to the ground and Henderson pulls out his IV and grabs Burke’s gun from the table nearby. He is groggy but manages to get up and run out of the room leaving Tony lying on the floor. Jack arrives seconds later and finds Tony lying splayed out on the ground, needle just out of his hand. Henderson is out of sight and Jack drops to his knees over his fallen friend. Jack calls Tony’s name and Tony weakly mumbles to Jack ‘I couldn’t do it.’ Jack comforts him, it’s alright. He picks Tony half up and begs him to just stay with him. Jack gently rocks back and forth and screams that he needs help. Feeling Tony starting to slip Jack whispers ‘no, no’ and pulls him back to look at him again. He tells Tony to hang on but Tony responds with a shallow whisper, “She’s gone, Jack.” Jack still holding him, Tony loses consciousness. Jack pulls him close holding on tightly to his friend. Jack grips Tony harder in his arms and, knowing what’s happening, Jack looses control and begins to cry.

8:00

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

-That was a great way to sum up last episode, having the P.A. Announcement over CTU about the gas. Instead of some useless dialogue we got that. I like it.

-Just a tip, I don’t think they really needed to do that since all of the people out in the CTU are dead.

-That’s a conveniently long tome before the chemical response team can get to CTU. Let’s think about their job, to RESPOND to CHEMICAL situations. There’s no way that they should be taking that long to get there.

-Well, that’s really a good place for gas masks, in an area that is not protected from gas attacks. Whoever thought that up, well, let’s hope they ended up out in the CTU.

-Hmm, it seemed that Jack was going to punch Barry, I wonder what changed his mind?

-Well, that’s interesting. Chloe actually knows that she treats people like crap but she still doesn’t do anything about it. All this time I just thought she was inept and didn’t get it. I’m not sure if this revelation makes me like her more or less.

- Lynn must have been beat up lots as a child at school. That’s probably why he has a complex about it now.

-I like Harry the guard. Too bad the minute I saw him I realized that he was just friendly bait for the writers to kill.

-Did Tony not hear the announcement that went through all of CTU? It would seem strange if it didn’t broadcast in the clinic.

-How long was Besson out for? Tony knocked him out in the first 10 minutes and he was gone for the whole episode.

-So I guess no one did tell Jack that Tony was awake. Why wasn’t he angrier?

-Tony is all ready to shoot Henderson at the start of the hour. He even had the stance down.

-Why did Tony introduce himself to Henderson, they used to work together at CTU, at least that’s what Buchanan said. Maybe he just wanted to make sure Henderson knew who it was.

-A couple of brilliant pieces of acting by Carlos Bernard in this show. Both times he chooses not to kill Henderson were vintage Tony moments. More proof that he’s a hopeless romantic but also has a level head. He knows that he can’t kill Henderson and kill their only lead but it’s obvious that he wants to avenge the death of his wife.

-Jack and Tony have had many similar experiences. That makes it even worse that Tony is now gone.

-For some reason, it sounded weird for Jack to reference Teri by name. It makes it all the more powerful while trying to talk Tony down off the figurative ledge. Rarely he actually calls her ‘Teri’, especially when talking about her death. Usually it’s “my wife” or while talking to Kim, “your mother.” The only other time I can remember him actually saying ‘Teri’ is in Season 2 when he was on the plane with Nina remembering the week before she died.

- Logan must know the right thing to do with all this Martial Law business. He just has to convince himself that it’s the right thing.

-That is one scary look in Tony’s eyes. Pure and complete loathing.

-I’m curious about the possibility of a hidden agenda for Hal. He is very anxious to get Martial Law going and to get CTU out of the way. Also, is Karen just power hungry or is she in on it too?

-All of the nerve gas in one place. I wonder where it’s going.

-The reaction of Chloe when Jack slides the laptop over in front of her is priceless, like the laptop itself is contaminated with gas.

-“Only one qualified” read as “The only one still alive.”

-You know, Barry has known Jack for about 3.4 minutes. How is he able to make all these judgements about Jack and him not being supportive. Sure, he knows what Kim may have told him in therapy but we all know that Kim, well, she’s Kim. She likes to make a big deal of things and blame others for her problems. Jack blames himself for everything already, he is not helping Jack’s situation, in fact, he is making it worse.

-Jack was so right to call Barry on the relationship with Kim. To be perfectly clear it seems that Barry and Kim are not having any sort of physical relationship, he is just looking out for her and acting as, surprise surprise, a father.

-The thing that surprised me more that Jack holding Barry by the throat was no one in the room even trying to stop him. Even Kim didn’t put up much of a fight.

-What exactly was Barry thinking going up against Jack like that? Everyone else on the planet has read his file, Barry should have as well. If not, he at least would know what Jack does from Kim. He’s lucky Jack didn’t toss him out the door

-For Jack it may have been better if Kim committed suicide before Jack came back. Then she wouldn’t have to completely shatter the little pieces left of his heart after Audrey had her way with it last year.

-Chloe seems to enjoy awkward social situations, it was surprising that she tried to alleviate the one with Jack and Kim.

-Hal obviously is very familiar with Logan’s M.O. which is why he’s so eager to help out and take over when Logan will allow him to.

-Chief of Staff seems to be another damned position. Mike was in the second season and ended up unemployed, then Wayne was in Season 3, unemployed. Now Walt ended up dead. Hopefully the trend doesn’t continue for Mike.

-The order to work on the gas problem from Buchanan comes as casually as an order to open a socket. It was strange since his and everyone else’s lives are on the line.

-I sense that Kim didn’t say that Jack can’t go through a contaminated area not because she cares about what happens to him but because of how ridiculous that sounds.

-Does Chloe really think Jack would be stupid enough not to seal the room properly?

-Even before Audrey takes Jack’s hand it seems that she really does still care for him. Apparently more than anyone else in Jack’s life with maybe the exception of Tony.

-It was good to see Kim challenge Chloe. It’s nice that someone put her in her place. Bad timing, though, especially since they are supposed to be helping Jack.

-I don’t know if this makes a difference, but Jack’s mouth is open while he’s in the contaminated area.

-The internal ‘Dammit’ from Jack when he realizes he can’t get through is great.

-Line of the week contender, Chloe to Barry, “What’s with you and the breathing?”

-Even if Jack was close enough to get to the computer it still should be Lynn that does it. He is the reason they have a problem.

-When Harry the guard snapped at Jack I was almost not sad at all that he was going to die. The daughter thing was kind of a last ditch-effort to make him likeable and a real person. It worked for me.

-I still can’t get over the whole Chase leaving Kim thing. Maybe it was something like the Tony/Michelle thing where they were driven apart. Too bad, I was looking forward to seeing Chase again, and to see if his hand worked or not.

-Why is Jack always the one that has to deliver the bad news? Buchanan would be the logical choice to speak to Lynn, the head of CTU.

-Lynn and Harry were ugly deaths. What a mess at CTU.

-Buchanan’s hard outer shell seems to even crack in this episode with all the death around him.

-Jack’s tone to Kim was surprising when he said to not be in such a hurry to cut him off. He’s right of course but he seems angry.

-Kim must be out to hurt Jack. She’s got to know that saying people die when he’s around and because of that she doesn’t want to be around him is just going to kill him inside. It’s not his fault, it’s just the way it is.

-So Barry is pseudo-daddy. He even comforts her like Jack did at one time.

-For a long time I was anti Jack and Audrey. Seeing her try and comfort him made me feel better about their relationship.

-That’s the second time ever that Jack has admitted to not being okay, first time was last year after Audrey blew up at him for killing Paul. More signs that this stuff is catching up with Jack.

-I still don’t trust Barry and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was sent to Kim by Henderson.

-Speaking of stuff catching up with people. Logan’s about ready to completely flip out. He’s due for a total meltdown in the next couple of hours.

-Colette reminds me of Mandy. A sexy assassin-for-hire. I wonder if they couldn’t afford Mia Kirshner this year.

-The whole Homeland Security angle is interesting. Not THAT interesting but somewhat. Let met guess, people going against Jack

-I think Barry thanking Jack is the shrink in him talking. He didn’t seem like the type that would thank Jack like that.

-Bets on if Barry really will take Kim out of the city?

-Jack definitely knows how Tony feels. So, I guess that killing Nina didn’t really avenge the death of his wife

-Anyone else find it really funny when Burke said “Cooked”?

-Creepy similarity when Tony was holding his hand on Henderson’s chest and when last season he did the same thing to Jack.

-I thought Henderson was cooked? How the heck did he wake up if his nervous system had shut down? The only thing I can think of is if Burke doesn’t have all the equipment he needs because of the lockdown. Or, maybe Henderson caused his own vitals to do what he wanted them to do.

-Burke escaping after the torture was nearly as impressive as Jack running off after being killed via torture in Season 2.

-That’s so Tony, realizing that it’s not going to bring Michelle back to not kill Henderson. Tony is not a cold blooded killer no matter how angry he may be.

-How many times has Jack used the phrase “Stay with me”? How many times has it meant as much as it probably did when he said it to Tony? Stay with him as in ‘stay awake’ and/or stay with him as in ‘You’re one of the last people I have, don’t leave me alone.’

-For such a spectacular long-running character, Tony deserved a better death. It was appropriate that Jack was the one that found him but it just seemed very quick and cheap. Killed by a man that was supposed to be in a coma. I don’t know. I feel betrayed by the writers that they would kill (in my opinion) the second best character on the show and not even give him a silent clock. It’s frustrating and makes me angry and unhappy. It also makes me wonder about the direction of the show as a whole. Jack now has absolutely not one left unless you count Audrey.

-Why, why, oh why did they even bother to bring Tony back if they were just going to kill him? He's part of the regular cast this year and I think he had about 4 minutes of screen time. What a tragic waste of a great character.

-I'm hoping that this is not the first step down a slippery slope that could ultimately lead to the demise of this show.