6.04: 9:00am - 10:00am - Death and Destruction

6.04: 9:00am - 10:00am 
~ Death and Destruction ~
2007.01.14

9:00

Buchanan is on the phone with an officer at the site of the prisoner plane. He stresses that if Fayed needed Numair they never would have let him outside the borders of their country. The officer agrees with Buchanan who asks where Numair is. He has escaped. The officer figures that it has to be on the bus on the way there, there is a sergeant missing as well. The officer will call when they know anything. Chloe works nearby and she says she has some satellite coverage of the bus route but it is not continuous. Also the bus went through a few tunnels, including the one she has on her screen where the coverage is partial. Buchanan’s stress shows as he whispers at the ceiling, ‘Dammit.’ He sums up that there are known terrorists in possession of nuclear bombs and the man they need to arm the nukes has escaped in broad daylight. Buchanan turns to the general population of CTU and bellows, ‘We HAVE to do better than we’re doing and we have to do it faster!’ This creates a flurry of activity with the minions in CTU. Milo sits with Nadia and looks unhappy. He explains to Buchanan that Numair is an engineer who was trained in Germany before he moved to the Middle East. He knows all the systems and is current. If he gets his hands on the nuclear bombs he will be able to prep them on site. Buchanan tells them that this needs to be at the top of their list, they must capture Numair, it’s their number 1 priority. Buchanan walks away and Milo stands rubbing the back of his neck. Nadia tells him they aren’t going to be able to get satellite coverage on the area around the bus, it’s too wide. Milo knows. He looks at Morris on the phone and then at the floor like he doesn’t want to do this. He tells Nadia to partition the grid and send half to him and half to Morris. Nadia questions, ‘Morris?’ Milo walks over to Morris’s station and Morris puts his hand up to stop Milo from talking while he is on the phone. He explains to the person on the other end that as soon as he has anything he will share it with him like he is talking to a child. He hangs up and Milo asks Morris what he is working on. Morris is doing image processing for Cal Trans and Milo wants Dobbins to do that, he wants Morris on something else. Morris tells Milo not to pull rank on him, Chloe assigned him a task and he needs to find someone else to do whatever Milo needs. Milo walks away and catches Chloe crossing the floor. He asks her what Morris is doing for her. Chloe doesn’t know what Milo is talking about, Morris isn’t on a task for her. Milo wastes no time turning around asking Morris if this is a joke. Morris observes that Milo is upset and Milo snaps that the alert level is as high as it gets and he is playing games. He tells Morris if he can’t work for him then quit. The files are on his system, he needs to filter them now. Morris will.

Wayne strolls around his office which is full of his advisors. They have to assume that the rogue nuke is still on US soil, all agencies will proceed with that assumption. Wayne is briefed that they are dealing with suitcase nukes from the former Soviet Union, they are portable and have a detonation size of one kiloton or less. The kill radius is a half of a mile but the radiation extends beyond that based on winds and conditions at the time. Tom asks how many casualties they are talking about and Karen brings up some images showing that in a city, many thousands would die instantly. She shows this and then explains that if they take radiation into account the number of deaths and serious injuries would be in the hundreds of thousands. More figures appear on the screen. Wayne contemplates these images. After a few seconds he grumbles ‘Get me Jack Bauer, immediately.’

Jack, Assad, Curtis and others work in the explosion site. Assad watches the men work and vocalizes that there is nothing there, they are wasting their time. Curtis sourly corrects him that he keeps saying ‘we’ but there is no we, there is him and them. Jack’s phone rings and with dirty fingers he picks it up. The voice on the other end instructs him to hold for the President. In Wayne’s office he is told that Jack Bauer is on the line. They are connected and Wayne explains to Jack that he is in the process of verifying what Assad told him about wanting peace. So far everything Jack has said has been true. Jack had no reason to doubt Assad. Jack walks away from the storage facility and down a hallway out of the sun. He winces as Wayne explains he is also calling because he wants Jack to take charge of the search for the bombs. Jack is surprised at this request and stutters, ‘Mr. President, I,’ before Wayne cuts him off saying that after the way the country treated him this morning, the way he treated him, he knows he doesn’t have the right to ask anything of him. Jack slides down the wall into a crouch looking stressed. Wayne continues that he knows Jack is on top of everything already, he just wants to make it official. Jack softly tells Wayne, ‘Mr. President, the truth is, I don’t think I’m up to it.’ Wayne tries to convince Jack, they are behind the curve but without him they would be nowhere, he needs Jack to lead this search. Realizing that Wayne is not giving up Jack agrees saying he will do his best. Wayne instructs him to report to Bill Buchanan at CTU and Jack is to call Wayne anytime he thinks it’s necessary. They hang up and Wayne holds onto the phone for a few seconds. Jack squeezes the bridge of his nose in stress.

Curtis rounds the corner and finds Jack still crouched down. He quickly gets up and tells Curtis grimly that the President wants him to run the search for Fayed and Numair but he can’t do it without Curtis’ help. Jack asks Curtis to accept Assad as part of this investigation, he knows these people and he knows what to look for, he might see things that they could miss. Curtis snaps back that he knows what they are doing because he is one of them. Jack asks Curtis to trust him, they need his help. Jack walks away leaving Curtis standing there in disbelief. He calls after Jack, ‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this. There was a time you would have seen through this guy in a minute.’ Jack turns back to look at Curtis and he finishes his thoughts by saying, “What’d the Chinese do to you?” Jack walks back to Curtis and gets in his face. Jack asks angrily, ‘Is there something you need to tell me?’ Curtis asks, ‘Like what’ and Jack clarifies asking if there is a history between Curtis and Assad. Before Curtis can answer Assad appears around the corner and he calls Jack. Assad tells him that they found a PDA, it is damaged but they can still read some of it. Jack asks what it says and Assad explains they pulled the phrase, ‘The visitor arrived on Thursday.’ Jack asks if it is Numair they are referring to and Assad says no, Visitor is code and it means ‘weapon’, the suitcase nuke arrived last Thursday. Jack doesn’t understand why, if they had it on Thursday they need Numair now. He must be the key to making it operational. Realizing they are pressed for time now, Jack wants everything from here packed up and sent to CTU, there is nothing more important right now than finding Fayed and Numair, Jack asks if Curtis understands. Curtis nods and leaves. Jack gets out his phone and calls Chloe at CTU. Jack asks her to do something for him, he wants her to run a cross check on Curtis and Assad. Chloe is swamped and asks if this is important. Jack explains that Curtis has a problem with Assad and it’s personal, he needs to get them to work together. Chloe will look as soon as she has time.

One of Fayed’s lackeys tells him that Numair is there, he comes in and exchanges kisses on the cheek with Fayed. Fayed says he was starting to worry but Numair says that everything went as planned, he just had to be careful crossing the city. Getting right to the point Numair asks where it is. Another lackey comes over and puts the bomb down and Numair opens it up and sees what’s inside. Another briefcase is brought out with the tools. Numair looks inside and quickly finds that he is missing what he needs to repair the trigger. Fayed assures him it will be there soon. Numair wants to know by what means and Fayed says a boy by the name of Achmed.

Achmed sits on the chair at his neighbours’ house. He is bleeding still from the injury to his leg and shaking as he takes some pills. Jill tells Ahmed that he has known the family for so long, she can’t believe that he would want to do this. Ahmed corrects her that it is not what he wants to do, he is a soldier. Jill asks about his father, he knows nothing about this and when he finds out does Ahmed think this will make him proud? The phone rings and its Ray telling Ahmed that he has what he wants. Ahmed says he is going to deliver it to a man named Fayed but Ray snaps no, he is not going anywhere until Ahmed lets his family go. Ahmed threatens to shoot them but Ray says that he will destroy the component and there are men that want it. Ray says that he just killed a man for this package and he will not deliver it until he knows his family is safe. Ahmed agrees to release one of his family members, he will not release both because if he does he will then have no leverage and Ray knows it. Ahmed lets Ray decide which one he wants him to release, his wife or his son. Ray thinks about it for a few seconds and then chooses his son. Ahmed will release his wife. Ray is angry but Ahmed says that he just told him who he valued most. His wife will call him when she is clear of the house, he needs to deliver the component and then he will release his son. Ahmed tells Jill to go, get in the car and drive and then call Ray and tell him that she is alright. He gives her the number he called from and she says she can remember it. Ahmed warns that if he sees any police he will shoot Scott. Jill hugs Scott and says she loves him and then leaves the house.

Jill goes outside and gets in the van and she calls the pay phone number. Ray is waiting and she says that Scott is with Ahmed, she relays that if they go to the police he said he would kill Scott. Ray thinks they should do what he says and hope he will release Scott. They can’t take a chance. Ray will call Ahmed back, he says not to call the police. They hang up.

Ray calls Ahmed back and tells him that he heard from his wife. Ahmed gives Ray the address, 351 Old Mill Road in Valencia. Ray writes it on the box and Ahmed says to call when he gets there, it shouldn’t take longer than 30 minutes and Ahmed begins a threat but Ray understands. He hangs up the phone and runs to the car.

Jill pulls over the van and looks around. She looks at her bag and her cell phone hanging out. She picks it up and dials telling the emergency operator that a terrorist is holding her son hostage.

9:13

9:19

Milo approaches Morris and tells him that he didn’t want the information he asked for in tables but Morris argues he told him he works faster with tabs and that’s what he thought Milo wanted. Milo accuses him of just being a pain in the ass. Morris has heard enough and he stands up to Milo threatening that no one speaks to him like that. Milo just did. Chloe approaches the pair and whines that they have to stop this, they are extremely busy and when they do this they are distracting everyone around them. Milo crankily asks Chloe how she gets Morris to follow directions. Morris does follow directions but accuses Milo of being on a power trip. Chloe interjects again and claims to know what this is about. She turns to Milo and says that they dated a few times before Morris and she got back together. They saw a couple of good movies but they agreed that it was not happening. She turns on Morris with a pointed, “And you.” She admits she dated Milo a couple of times but Morris needs to get over it and stop trying to beat him up, she picked him. Morris almost becomes angry at Chloe asking if she is saying this is about his insecurities and Chloe asks, ‘Yeah, isn’t it?’ Quickly, and happily, Morris spits, ‘Okay, fine’ he plops down in front of his computer and says that Milo will get the information in both formats, ‘lets just stop his mad psychotic terrorist bad guy before he detonates a nuke on Wilshire Boulevard.’ Chloe thanks them and leaves. Morris casually apologizes to a stunned Milo and tells him there’s no lingering jealousy about any films that he and Chloe might have seen together. Milo grunts a ‘No problem.’

Jack’s phone rings as he and Curtis drive and Buchanan has a call from a woman who says that she and her son were held by terrorists. Jack asks if she is credible and Bill doesn’t know yet but she said he let her go. Jack wants to be patched into the call. When Jack is put through to her, Jill explains everything; that her husband was supposed to deliver a package that she doesn’t know anything about. She gives them Achmed’s name and that he did mention one other name, Fayed. Jack asks about reaching her husband but she tells him that he isn’t carrying his cell. She begs them not to let him hurt her son. Jack instructs her to stay away from the house and he will get back to her. Once she is off the line, Buchanan asks Jack what he thinks. Jack says that she had Fayed’s name, he asks for the location. Buchanan gives it to him and Jack wants a team sent there. Buchanan points out that Jack and Curtis are as close as anyone. Jack will take his team and they hang up. Curtis asks about the lead and Jack explains it. Curtis expresses concern taking Assad, who is sitting right behind them, on a tactical mission. Jack figures they might need him when they get there.

The Ambassador of some country they won’t tell us shows up to meet with Wayne and his entourage. He shakes hands with Karen and Tom and expresses his sympathies for the events of the last few weeks and if there is anything he can do he offers help. Wayne says that he can help them right now by having a very candid conversation with them. The Ambassador claims to always be candid. Wayne explains that they have been in contact with Assad. The Ambassador knows him and Wayne says that Assad is claiming to want out of terrorism and shifting to political means to get what he wants. The Ambassador has reason to believe that he is telling the truth. Tom wants to know how much influence Assad would have over other terrorists if he were to work with them. The Ambassador tells them that there are hundreds of groups that support him and many of them, but not all of them, would probably follow his lead. They agree that this could be a big step toward peace. The Ambassador makes another round of handshakes and leaves them.

Once the ambassador is gone Wayne mulls that this corroborates what Jack Bauer said about Assad. Wayne asks Tom’s opinion and he admits that he has a problem with a partnership with someone that is responsible for the death of so many innocents. Wayne wants Jack Bauer on the phone; he thinks Assad is still with him. When Jack is connected Wayne asks if they have any leads. Jack is following up on one now but it’s too early to tell if it’s meaningful. Wayne has been meeting with the Ambassador to confirm Assad’s intentions and he would like to make an arrangement with him, he would like to speak to Assad. Jack hands the phone back to Assad and Curtis watches.

Wayne gives Assad the protection and pardon conditions and what he is expected to give in exchange. Assad finds the terms agreeable in principle but he needs to see it in writing. Wayne promises it within the hour. Tom and Karen both stand getting ready to get to work. Wayne asks Assad to speak to Jack again and he hands the phone back. Curtis again watches closely. When Jack is back on the line Wayne admits that this was not an easy thing to do but the greater good requires it. He asks if Jack agrees. Jack answers carefully, “I’m glad I didn’t have to make the call, sir.” Wayne thanks him. When they hang up Assad asks if Jack believes his president is an honourable man. Jack does.

Sandra is driving in her car and wants to talk to Wayne, it’s important. Tom says that he’s busy and asked not to be disturbed. She admits it’s about Walid and says he is still in custody. They argue about the value of arresting innocent people versus the safety of the country. He condescendingly tells her that she has the makings of a splendid law review article. Sandra swears that she will do whatever it takes to protect her client and if that means embarrassing the administration, so be it. Tom asks if he detects a threat and she admits flat out that he does. She is also holding Tom personally responsible for whatever happens to Walid. She hangs up.

Walid is let into the compound where men wait around. One man nearby speaks to another and Walid asks if they have a drink of water. One of the men helps him out and calls him brother. Walid thanks him and the man thanks Walid for helping him earlier. He asks Walid if he told them anything, which he says ‘Of course not.’ The man comments, ‘Good,’ he continues that before the day is over they will pay. Walid wants to know what that means. Another man comes over and looks at Walid but the man says that he is a friend. They speak and walk away but Walid moves to within earshot of the conversation.

Ray stops his car and gets out. A man works on the bomb. Ray walks in looking around and a man approaches him wielding a gun. Ray looks unthreatening and tells the man to take it easy, he has the package from Ahmed. More men have converged around Ray and they lead him to Fayed. He gives his name to Fayed and says that Ahmed should have told him that he was coming. Ray asks Fayed to call Ahmed and let his son go. They tell Ray to be quiet and Fayed turns his attention to the tech working on the bomb. It is the component he needs and he can have it ready in a little less than 20 minutes. Fayed tells his men that they will strike a blow that the Americans will never forget. He tells them not to kill Ray until they are ready to leave, he can still be a bargaining chip if something goes wrong. Ray again asks about his son, he’s just a boy and he has done everything he has asked of him. Fayed agrees that if he remains cooperative he will spare his son. Fayed tells the men that when they are finished they are to meet him at the safe house.

Ahmed’s phone rings and Fayed is calling. He tells him that the part arrived but it was still wrong to involve anyone else. Ahmed had no choice. Fayed confirms that he has a hostage and it is Ray’s son. He is of no further use so Fayed tells him to leave and go join the others but before he goes, he must kill the boy. Ahmed asks if it is really necessary and Fayed says yes, he has seen and heard too much. Ahmed reluctantly says he understands and he hangs up.

9:31

9:37

Wayne signs the paper in front of him and closes the folder. A woman enters and tells Wayne that Mr. Lennox and Ms. Hayes are there. Wayne wants them shown in. Once they have arrived he tells them that he just approved the written agreement with Assad. Tom observes that this happened fast but Wayne doesn’t have time for ceremony and he knows that Tom disagrees but he has to put it behind him. The question now is how they are going to present this to the public. Tom pipes up that this must be kept from the public but that is not practical, word will lead out and they will know that they worked with Assad. They agree not to use the words ‘pardon’ or ‘amnesty’; he is not a terrorist but someone that has renounced terrorism and wants peace. Tom muses, ‘A terrorist turned statesman.’ They mull the idea that the point is saving lives, for every life lost, 10 more will be saved. Tom agrees reluctantly that one the face of it the logic is compelling. Wayne assigns Karen to get the information to the media. She leaves the room. Tom turns to Wayne saying that he still doesn’t like this. Wayne understands and it makes him appreciate his loyalty even more.

CTU arrives at the Wallace house where Scott is still being held hostage. Curtis is at the back of the house with the teams and Jack is there as well. He warns them that they need to take the hostile alive, he is their best chance at finding the nukes. Jack gives the okay to slowly move into position now. Jack draws his gun and goes up and over the fence. Once he has cleared the area the agent behind follows. Jack tells him to cover him and they close in on the house.

Ahmed sits on the chair in silence. Scott asks why he is not talking, he wants to know what’s going on. Ahmed confirms that Scott’s father delivered the package, he did exactly what Ahmed told him to do and he is fine. Scott asks if he is going to be let go. Ahmed tells Scott to get up and he pulls himself up painfully. Ahmed waves the gun around and instructs Scott again to get up. Scott asks why and Ahmed doesn’t answer. Scott starts to panic saying that his father did exactly what he told him to, he promises not to tell anyone what he knows. Ahmed is distraught by having to shoot his friend but tells him not to make this harder than it already is. He wants him to kneel.

Outside, Jack can’t see anything, the rest of the teams are almost in position. Jack opens a squeaky gate to move around the back of the house.

Inside, Ahmed tells Scott to turn around and he argues that he doesn’t have to do this. Ahmed wants him to do it now. Scott does and gets ready.

The CTU team is set, Curtis makes the call for them to go in.

Ahmed apologizes to his friend and prepares to shoot him. Before he squeezes the trigger CTU storms the house. Ahmed takes off running and one of the agents sees him coming Jack’s way. Ahmed trains his gun on Jack but before Jack can do anything another agent takes Ahmed down. Jack yells for them to hold their fire and checks Ahmed’s vitals. He is barely alive and Jack wants EMT right away, they need to find out where he was taking the package. Scott, still on his knees and recovering from the surge, stammers that he might know where it is going. He sputters that he told his father to take it to an address. He tells the agents 351 Old Mill Road, Valencia. Jack gets on the phone to Buchanan and gives him the address. Buchanan writes it down on a nearby paper and takes it to Nadia ordering the Tac Teams to that target. Scott asks if they are going to save his dad. Jack says they will do everything they can.

9:42

9:48

Buchanan works in the situation room with Nadia. Chloe enters and says that she has a satellite download and no one has entered or exited the premises. They advise the tac teams to approach without being seen.

Wayne speaks with his advisors and tells them not to give any specific information but have all first responders in LA briefed on nuclear response. Wayne is told he has an urgent call from Buchanan at CTU. Buchanan will take the call and he answers on speaker. Buchanan’s voice fills the room saying that he has good news, he believes with a high level or probability that they have found the nuke. Buchanan explains the location and they have teams on the way. Wayne wants to know when the feed is up.

Walid is led into a room that appears to be an unused classroom. Sandra waits in there and a guard follows a cuffed Walid. She asks for a moment alone with him. Once the guard is out of the room Sandra vows to get him out of there. Walid isn’t going anywhere, he thinks the people in there have a connection with what is going on today. Sandra asks how he knows and he explains that they have been speaking Arabic but they repeated a phrase several times. He tells her the phrase and asks her to pass it on to the FBI, it might help. Sandra starts to argue that the information was obtained illegally from this camp but Walid snaps at her to stop being a lawyer for one damned minute. He sits near her and kisses her hand. Softly he says that they may be planning something to harm people. Walid has to go and she warns him to be careful.

Jack is finishing up on the phone with Buchanan, they will know more about the location as the teams arrive. Jack passes by Ahmed as he is wheeled out of the house to waiting ambulance and he then goes and sits next to Assad. Jack hands Assad a folder saying that it represents everything that he and the President talked about, he will get protection in exchange for helping them stop the attacks and bring his organization to work with the west. Assad would like a moment to look it over and Jack has to get back to work, he tells Assad that Agent Bornman will take him back to CTU. They shake hands as Curtis watches from the other room.

Jack goes to the kitchen where Curtis waits and explains that he wanted to talk to him before the whole thing was executed but he didn’t think it would happen this fast. Jack comes clean and says that ‘we made a deal with Assad.’ Curtis asks who ‘we’ is and Jack says the US Government, authorized by the President, it is in exchange for his full cooperation which he has given them. Curtis sums that, ‘In other words, he walks.’ Jack reiterates what he told the President, he is glad it’s not his call. Jack absently rubs his scarred hand and tells Curtis that it’s not his call either, the responsibility lies with the President alone. Curtis says he agrees, if that’s the way it has to he, that’s the way it has to be. Jack looks away and says yeah. He grabs Curtis’ shoulder on the way by and heads toward the door. Scott’s mom comes running past Jack and finds her son asking if she is alright. Jack talks to Mrs. Wallace saying that with her son’s help they think they know where the package is. The agents are on route and are going to do everything they can to protect her husband.

Jack’s phone rings and Chloe is calling him. She tells him that he was right about Curtis and Assad having a past connection. She explains that Curtis was in the army right after Desert Storm and his squad was ambushed by Assad’s people. They killed 5 of Curtis’ men and took two of them hostage. Curtis was badly injured and couldn’t go after them. The next day a tape was sent to a local TV station. Assad’s people forced the men from Curtis’ patrol to beg for their lives and then beheaded them both. Jack breathes, “Oh my God.”

Assad finishes signing the papers from the President and shuts the folder. He stands up and prepares to leave as an agent follows. Curtis watches.

Chloe is calling for Jack on his phone but he says he will get back to her. He hangs up and asks the agent in the room where Assad was where Agent Manning is. The agent says he was just there a second ago and looks around like he expects to see him.

Curtis walks out of the house after Assad and the agent that is escorting him. He tells the agent he has Assad and comes behind growling, ‘You still don’t remember?’ Curtis turns Assad around and shoves him up against the SUV holding him by the neck. He snarls, ‘Special Forces Battalion, 32 nd support group.’ Deliberately Curtis pulls his gun out and puts it to Assad’s head. The nearby agents watch.

Jack comes out from the house ordering Curtis to put his weapon down. Curtis has grabbed Assad and is using him as a shield. Jack’s gun is drawn and on them as Curtis tells Jack he can’t do that. Jack yells, ‘By order of the President of the United States, put down your weapon.’ Emotions flaring, Curtis tells Jack to stay out of this. Jack calmly tells Curtis that he gave Assad his word he would protect him. Curtis didn’t. Jack begs him to not do this. Curtis looks more like he is going to do it and Jack raises his gun aiming carefully and whispers, ‘Please Curtis.’ He has made his decision, “I can’t let this animal live.” He starts to begin to pull the trigger and a shot rings out. Instead of Assad, it’s Curtis that goes down grabbing at his neck and Jack’s gun that is smoking. Agents converge in a flurry and grab Assad rushing him into a vehicle. Curtis looks sadly at Jack who has stepped forward. A medic comes to Curtis’ aid as Jack stares with his mouth open. Curtis lies back on the curb and Jack becomes upset knowing that there’s nothing he can do. Jack pulls both his arms on top of his head and he watches the scene. Assad is driven away and the men working on Curtis seem to give up. Jack walks away from the scene, taking his hands down and then putting one back on his forehead, and then back on top of his head again, the sun streams behind him. Wandering slowly Jack suddenly bends and falls to his knees, vomiting on the lawn. He crawls to a tree and uses it to pull himself up as he continues to cough and wheeze.

Jack’s phone rings and he pulls it out, revealing wet knees from the morning lawn. Still leaning on the tree and not attempting to control his emotion he answers the phone with a rough, “Yeah.” Buchanan is calling and gravely says that it’s Bill, “Sprick told me what happened, Curtis didn’t leave you any choice.” Jack mumbles, “That’s what I keep trying to tell myself.” Buchanan assures Jack that he did the right thing, they need Assad alive. He’s on his way in and Buchanan thinks Jack should come in, too. Defeated, Jack cries, ‘Tell the president I’m sorry. I can’t do this any more.’ Urgently, Buchanan answers, ‘The hell you can’t. We’re gonna find that suitcase nuke because of you, you’ve done great work today.’ Jack sobs that that’s good, they’re not going to need him anymore then. Buchanan isn’t giving up and tells Jack he will send a car for him, come back to CTU and they will talk. Jack sighs, “I’m done.” He hangs up. His tears come again as he leans heavier onto the tree. He grabs his hair and pulls his head down.

Buchanan stands in his office taking in what has happened when his phone rings. He answers it and the voice on the other end tells him that Ahmed Amar, the terrorist that held the Wallace family hostage, died on route to the hospital.

CTU comes up on the warehouse where they have the bomb. Chloe tells Buchanan that the tac team is ready, the White House is connected to the same feed so they can watch the assault. Karen, Tom and Wayne all watch from the White House as well as Nadia and Morris from CTU. Chloe comes in and watches as well. The team moves in and we hear them giving the go to attack the warehouse. They creep in and come up on some terrorists.

In the warehouse they are almost done the bomb, he is just finished reconnecting the fuse. Ray watches and they are all tense. A terrorist comes and says that he saw someone out there, the police or someone. He is finished with the bomb anyway, he can detonate it now.

CTU engages the hostiles and starts firing. Samir, the tech, takes cover behind the table the bomb sits on while the agents and the terrorists fire at each other. Ray watches as Samir tinkers with the nuke. Realizing what he is doing, Ray starts to shake his head. Samir looks directly at him and Ray screams, “No!” but is helpless, Samir presses the button.

Jack is still on the lawn when his head snaps up. Eyes red he looks in horror as a mushroom cloud rises into the sky.

At the White House Karen, Wayne and Tom stand shoulder to shoulder. Tom brings his hands up to his face and Karen breathes, “Oh my God.” Wayne stares and then, still gaping at the image on the monitors, says to alert all first responders in LA and the surrounding counties and get in touch with the military, “Tell them, tell them the resources of the entire nation are at their disposal. Whatever it is they need.” No one responds and he calls to Karen. She snaps out of her thoughts and tells him, “Yes, Mr. President.”

CTU watches the same feed the White House has and Buchanan, Nadia and Morris stare at the screen. Milo rushes into the room and calls Buchanan. He says that they just got a message from the FBI, they said it was important, some Arabic phrase. Nadia walks over and looks at the paper as Milo says it’s from the detention centre, someone overheard it but he doesn’t know the pronunciation. Nadia reads it and translates it, it means ‘Five visitors.’ Buchanan mumbles that Assad said visitor was a code for weapon. Voice dying, he says, “There’s four more of these things out there.”

Jack watches the mushroom cloud in shock as it continues to rise.

10:00

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

-Chloe says schematics Arabic and Russian in previously. Look out for that.

-After seeing the rest of the season the family and the Waleed/Sandra storylines are just SO pointless. So is the Assad/Extortion plotline.

-I’m thinking that if they knew that Numair was one of the few that could arm the nukes, not only would they not have let him out of the country, they would have put him under heavy guard in some lonesome cell somewhere until they fixed this problem.

-Ah, another ‘Dammit’ from Buchanan. I’d really like to see what they would say in this show if it wasn’t on Fox. I’m sure we’d have some colourful variations of ‘dammit’, especially from Jack.

-…and then he quickly looses his crap by yelling at the staff. Does he honestly think that they don’t WANT to do better than what they’re doing? I mean, it’s their potentially-nuked asses on the line too if they don’t find the bomb.

-I love how Morris talks to whoever he’s talking to on the phone. I’m sure the guy wanted to reach through the phone and smack him upside the head.

-Not really too sure what Morris was trying to prove by jacking Milo around like that. Why doesn’t he just do what he’s supposed to do and stop whining?

-Morris tells Milo: “You’re upset.” Well, thank you Capitan Obvious.

-The little people that Karen uses to talk about casualties are reminiscent of Season 2 when Tony talks about the nuclear bomb.

-Wayne still has faith in Jack, you can tell by the he demands to speak to Jack Bauer, “Immediately.”

-Curtis just keeps getting crankier and crankier, doesn’t he? I can’t decide if I’m happy he’s actually showing some emotion or if he’s just annoying.

-Jack is never going to get his cell phone clean after having his hands that dirty and using it.

-Wow, the White House actually realizes that Jack is right most of the time. I think that was record time.

-Poor Jack, his country forgot about him and let him rot in a Chinese prison for almost two years and he still can’t say no, not to the President.

-Jack has got to be in some serious pain and be seriously hungry.

-Well, that’s good, now that its official Jack is in charge he encounters resistance right away from Curtis.

-Jack doesn’t seem too happy when he tells Curtis that he is in charge.

-What Curtis said to Jack about being in China affecting him is brutal. Actually, the fact that Jack didn’t haul off and slug him right then and there I guess proves that he might be a little slower to resort to violence.

-How good can the code be if Assad hasn’t been in contact with these guys for a long long time and ‘visitor’ still means ‘weapon’. How does the US not know this yet?

-Wouldn’t it suck if they had in fact changed the code and visitor really does mean visitor? Like, grandma or something?

-Knowing a regular ‘24’ day, Chloe is not going to have time to check on Curtis and Assad anytime soon.

-Wouldn’t that suck for Fayed, if Numair got pulled over for having a broken tail light or something after getting released from jail in that elaborate plan?

-Ahmed’s pretty good at this whole terrorist and terrorist-negotiator thing for such a young guy.

-Jill has a good memory to be able to take remember that cell phone number like that. Her son must have inherited that from her.

-Well, good job not calling the cops there, Jill. I mean, it did good in the end but it really could have gone south, and fast.

-For the record, Jill did not dial 9-1-1.

-Also, Ray never put a quarter in that pay phone.

-I could (and hopefully will now) go the rest of the season without having to hear Milo and Morris fight about something stupid and petty. I almost WANT them to blow the nuke in LA just to shut them UP.

-Morris has the perfect personality, and Carlo Rota has the perfect delivery, to change Morris’s mind and have him go on like everything’s fine at the drop of a hat.

-Line of the Week Contender: Morris to Milo: “Let’s just stop his mad psychotic terrorist bad guy before he detonates a nuke on Wilshire Boulevard.”

-I love Milo’s look of semi-confusion when Morris starts talking to him like a normal person.

-It’s funny, all these years having Jack order people around and be a leader, it’s weird to think about his ‘team’ when Buchanan says it. He’s usually a one man show.

-So much for being discrete, there, Curtis. I think he should just turn around and tell Assad exactly what the thinks of him because not telling isn’t doing him, Assad or Jack much good.

-Jack has made so many tough calls over the years, he usually is okay making choices at crunch time. It’s interesting that he is glad he didn’t have to make the one about Assad.

-I would hope that Jack thinks Wayne is an honourable man. His brother certainly was.

-I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Sandra is a pain in the ass. I don’t like her and I’d love it if she disappeared entirely. Even though Tom isn’t my favourite person, he is right, the President is busy, running the country and shouldn’t be disturbed, especially with this trivial crap.

-Don’t get me wrong that I still think what is happening to Walid is inappropriate, but I just hate Sandra.

-Figuring out that quickly that those guys are involved in this stuff, Walid could have a career with CTU, that is, if Sandra could possibly let him.

-Does Ray really think they are going to let his son go? Honestly, when he gets there they are planning to blow some serious stuff up. Obviously they don’t care about innocent lives.

-Ahmed needs to do something soon because he’s looking pretty rough there.

-Points for Tom on being able to put the whole deal behind him and help Wayne to come up with something to say, the right way to present it to the public.

-The White House guys and Wayne do a really good job of coming up with creative ways for them to pitch this to the public. I guess that’s what they get paid for, right?

-Jack goes a good job of getting over that fence for a guy that just spent 2 years getting tortured in China.

-I know Ahmed is all about the cause, yadda, yadda, yadda, but hey, the kid is his friend AND he only got involved because he offered to help. If he let him go Fayed would never know the difference.

-That squeaky gate should have been a giveaway on Jack and the agents.

-Does Scott really need to ask what’s going to happen? I know he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer but it was pretty obvious.

-That agent may have saved Jack’s life when he shot Ahmed before he could shoot Jack. At the same time, he didn’t really need to shoot to kill.

-Scott has a pretty good memory for a teenager that almost just died.

-Did anyone else laugh when Scott just spat out that address, everything else is stutter except that address.

-I think the 1 st responders in LA need to be briefed on nuclear protection or else anyone within the blast radius is going to get nuked.

-Wayne takes all of this very well, even after the nuke goes off he is rather composed.

-Walid volunteers to do a very noble thing by helping the good guys that just threw him in jail for no reason.

-I’m glad Walid snapped at Sandra to stop being such a lawyer. That’s exactly what I was thinking … well, maybe not exactly.

-How did Jack get that folder? Did they fax the secure government document to the Wallace house or what?

-Although Jack is glad he didn’t have to make the choice about Assad Curtis would have loved to have made the decision, and I don’t think it would have been the same one as Wayne made.

-The Curtis/Assad connection was about the most pointed explanation of anything we’ve ever seen Chloe give. Impressive.

-Curtis seems to have bad chi with getting hurt. He has been hurt a few times during the show as well and then when he was in the army.

-That’s quite the background between Curtis and Assad.

-Well, a whole lot of good the agents nearby did for Assad or Curtis. They all just kind of stood stunned and let Jack do the dirty work.

-Couldn’t one of the agents at Curtis’ side get a cleaner and less lethal shot than the one that Jack had?

-Speaking of Jack, that’s some impressive marksmanship.

-Another spectacularly acted scene by Sutherland when Jack had to shoot Curtis. Another sub-par acting job by Roger Cross.

-That was the most useless medic I’ve ever seen that went after Curtis. He didn’t do anything at all.

-That was some well filmed, poetic stuff after Jack shot Curtis. I love the image of the sun behind Jack.

-Jack suddenly is starting to show the wear of being in China. The way he is unable to control his emotions and his actions tells us that he is not at 100%. We have seen him upset before, and we have seen him actually be ill before but never sick from grief over an action that he had to take. I think maybe he realizes that like it or not, he is back in the game. He’s back making sacrifices for the country that let him stay as a prisoner in China for so long.

-Jack looks so sad and pathetic on the lawn. Possibly the most disgusting thing is that his knees are wet. I hope it’s from the morning dew and not from the vomit.

-Buchanan gets word fast, doesn’t he? Jack hasn’t even really processed this yet and Buchanan’s already trying to fix it up.

-It’s nice to see Buchanan on Jack’s side immediately, no questions asked. I’m sure Buchanan cared for Curtis too but it’s Jack he’s worried about.

-A funny line in Jack’s patheticness. He tells Buchanan that he ‘keeps trying to tell himself’ that Curtis left him no choice. Like it HASN’T been about 30 seconds? His gun is still practically smoking.

-Scary words from Jack again, “I can’t do this any more.”

-Buchanan talks to Jack like he’s trying to convince a kindergartner to colour in the lines.

-As usual in the world of 24, it’s too bad they didn’t have a few extra minutes. They might have arrived in time to stop the bomb from going off.

-I don’t know what I expected Ray to do other than scream, “NO!” but it really felt like he should have done something else.

-And the hits just keep on comin’ for Jack.

-Kudos to Wayne for recovering that fast. Karen has a response that I expected, utter shock and disbelief.

-Are they trying to convince us that no one else that that phrase passed through could translate it before Nadia? Riiight.

*All stories, characters, plots and ideas © 20th Century Fox. No infringement intended or implied.*