7.14: 9:00pm - 10:00pm - Regret

7.14: 9:00p.m. - 10:00p.m.

~ Regret ~
2009.03.16

9:00

Jack is trying to get away from the FBI. He runs into a parking garage while holding onto his side. He slows slightly and sirens come by. Jack ducks behind a car and hides wile they pass. He continues to hold onto his ribs while he squints. Jack looks up to see what’s going on and catches a glimpse of a laptop sitting on the seat not very well hidden. Jack moves around to the drivers’ side and smashes the back seat window. He reaches forward and unlocks the door and then gets in. He quickly pulls out the black Mac-top and then starts working on the car. He reaches under the steering column and then successfully hotwires the car. It starts and Jack backs out of the parking spot and speeds away.

Morris O’Brien stands in the FBI office demanding to know where his wife is. He brought her in there 5 hours ago and no one will tell him where she is. Janice is running intercept with Morris and says that she is fine. He wants to know where she is then and she finally tells him that Chloe is in a holding room on the third floor. She has been arrested. Morris says that’s absurd. He wants to see her but Janice has told him more than she should have already. She wants him to wait in the conference room until Agent Moss returns. She asks the other agent to escort Morris to the conference room.

An agent calls Janice and says that Moss is on line 3, it’s urgent.

Yet another agent briefs Renee about the terms of her suspension. She isn’t really paying attention until he calls her and she tells him she is listening.

Janice is on the phone with Moss who explains that Burnett is dead. He is walking outside the hospital in the dark. Moss is unwilling to say that Bauer killed Burnett but he does know that Bauer has escaped and he said it was a set up and he won’t come in. Moss runs his hand through his hair and blames himself. He lost him and it’s on him to find Jack. He wants an all agency APB out and he is coming into the office to coordinate from there. Janice calls to an agent nearby that she wants an all agency channel with a flag for immediate action on Jack Bauer. Renee is coming by and asks what is going on with Jack, what he got out of Burnett. Janice can’t discuss it but its Renee’s case. Janice tells her Burnett is dead. Renee asks what happened and she explains that Bauer was there and now he is missing. The agent has the channel open for Janice and she has to get back to work. Renee leaves and Janice calls to have Jack Bauer’s profile added to the APB.

Jack shoves the security CD into the laptop and starts working though the images while he drives. In very little time he has the image of the killer. Jack plugs a portable USB wireless internet drive into the laptop and pulls out the cell phone. He dials and drives, infrequently checking the road.

Renee is packing up her office and her cell rings. She answers it and Jack tells her not to hang up, please. He explains that whatever they told her, he didn’t kill Burnett. Renee says yeah and sits back down. Jack continues that Bill was right. There are some very powerful people involved that were not named on the list. In order to cover their tracks they killed Burnett and framed Jack. Renee argues that even if she wanted to help him she can’t. Every law enforcement agency in 100 miles is looking for Jack and she has been suspended. Jack has emailed Renee a frame grab of the man who killed Burnett. It’s in her inbox. Renee is hesitant and Jack tries to convince her. He knows that she doesn’t agree with some of the things that he did today but he is telling her the truth. Renee has no response for Jack and he calls her a few times and then shakes his head. He says awkwardly, ‘You know what, forget it, I’m sorry, I made a mistake.’ He is just about to hang up when Renee says that she will call him back at this number. She sighs and starts working on her laptop.

Quinn listens to the police band radio and hears that Jack Bauer escaped custody. He turns down the radio and calls Hodges. He answers and puts Quinn on speaker. Quinn tells him that Bauer got away. Hodges wants to know how and Quinn answers, ‘He’s an extremely impressive operative.’ Hodges doesn’t need to be told this. The FBI has launched an effort to apprehend Bauer, he will keep Hodges apprised of the situation. They hang up. Greg worries that if Bauer connects them to Juma it will impede their operation. Hodges knows it could and asks if the shipment is on time. It is due in port in the next hour. Hodges figures once they have the weapons it’s not going to matter what Mr. Bauer or anyone else knows. He asks Greg if something is wrong. Hodges sees that he appears unhappy and so he explains that he gets no pleasure from the knowledge that people will die at his hands. One single soul, the loss of one soul is tragic to him, let alone the numbers they are talking about. Hodges rages on, ‘But don’t forget that every war worth fighting involves collateral damage and what we’re doing is fundamentally and absolutely necessary.’ Hodges is basically preaching at Greg now when he says, ‘And I know you understand that.’ Greg nods of course. Hodges seems uncomfortable and turns around. He tells Greg to wake up their colleagues and have them assembled in one hour, “And tell them to pack their pyjamas, and their toothbrushes. It’s going to be a long night.”

Renee has gotten in and found the ID on John Quinn. She calls Jack and fills him in. Quinn is a Black Op’s combat vet with tours all over the world. Now he works for Starkwood. Jack clarifies, ‘The defence consultants?’ Renee says they started out as consultants but over the past few years while Jack was out of the country the Pentagon outsourced billions of dollars of contracts to them. Jack asks what kind of contracts and Renee says manpower. Starkwood is basically a private army that recruits soldiers and ex swat team members from around the world and they hire them back to the military security teams. There are thousands of men here and abroad. Jack asks, “Starkwood work with Juma?” Renee sees if they did it wasn’t on the books. Renee tells Jack if anyone knows it Senator Meyer. Jack takes a second and looks up before asking, “Why Meyer?” Renee tells Jack after he dismantled CTU he launched several other investigations and one of them was looking at Starkwood. The hearings are classified but Meyer has enough to put them out of business. Jack asks her to access the CIRG logs and find out where he is. Renee will send it as soon as she has it.

Moss comes through FBI and asks if Walker is still in her office. Janice says she was there and tries to tell Moss about Morris in the conference room. Moss ignores her and keeps walking to Renee’s office.

Renee pulls up the info on Meyer and drops it and Quinn’s bio into an email going out to “THEMOUX”. Moss comes in and Renee watches him and the laptop as she says she has some forms to fill out and then she is out of there. He asks if she heard what happened at the hospital. Renee asks him, ‘After everything that Jack’s done today do you really believe he murdered Burnett?’ Moss doesn’t know and claims not to care, he’s a federal fugitive and needs to be found. Renee states more than asks that Moss thinks its possible Jack did this. She is not sure she does. Renee glances to the screen and sees the email is gone. Moss tells her she has had a long day and she should go home and get some sleep. He will call her in the morning. Renee says okay and packs her stuff up.

Moss comes back out and Janice finally gets to tell him that Morris O’Brien is in the conference room and want to know why his wife is in holding. Moss leans on a post and says that Renee talked to Bauer. He tells Janice to access her phone logs from the last fifteen minutes and get into her work station to find out what she has been doing. If they want to catch Bauer she is their best shot.

9:11

9:15

Olivia is in her mothers’ office watching the TV coverage of the White House attack and rescue. She turns to Taylor who works on her speech, Angela is there with them. They discuss the time the press needs and then Angela leaves. Olivia has been thinking about the speech and thinks that she is missing an opportunity solely talking about reassurance. She thinks that Taylor should claim victory that standing up to tyranny works and they were right sending the troops into Sangala. Taylor isn’t sure this is the time, they lost a lot of lives today. Olivia thinks this will show that these heroes died in a war worth fighting. Taylor is convinced and agrees to work it in.

Kanin comes in the room and Olivia takes the opportunity to shoot him a dirty look. He claims to have troubling news and wants to speak to Taylor alone. She says he can speak freely in front of Olivia. She stares at him. Kanin obviously doesn’t want to continue and checks the floor before admitting to the President that he authorized Jack Bauer to question Burnett after he came forward with the disturbing claim that people involved in the conspiracy were still at large. He now sees that it was a terrible mistake and Taylor asks him, “What happened, Ethan?” He tells her that Burnett is dead and the evidence suggests that he was killed by Bauer. Taylor doesn’t believe it. Kanin tells her, ‘His claim of another party being part of the attacks appears to have been a fabrication. It may have something to do with Bill Buchanan’s death.’ Kanin shakes his head, ‘No one knows.’ Taylor leans forward with her head in her hands. Kanin is ready to take full responsibility for this, he was trying to insulate her and create deniability in case anything went wrong. Olivia pipes up asking if that’s true of if it’s because he knew she would say no. Taylor looks at Olivia and warns her off by using her name. Kanin tells them that Bauer is at large now and the FBI is dedicating its full resources to the man hunt. Taylor wants to know the minute they find him. Olivia watches Kanin take a few steps and then turn back and apologize. Taylor looks at him and then away. Kanin sighs and leaves.

Renee turns her badge and gun in. Janice is conspicuously watching Renee from behind and speaking into her headset. Renee sees this and Janice says she’s on the move. Renee has all her items and looks quickly at Janice before she leaves the main office. She picks up to a jog and sees security agents coming to her. She turns to go the other way and runs into Larry and more agents. He’s coming at her and demands to know where Bauer is. He tells her not to lie, there were 2 calls from her cell phone to a phone that was reported stolen and she accessed the government database and sent names to Bauer. He tells her that she is an accessory after the fact and wants to know where Bauer is. Renee isn’t telling, she can’t. Larry lets a ‘dammit’ go and Renee says she doesn’t believe he did this. Moss doesn’t know why he didn’t turn himself in and let them find the third party. Renee stands by that Bauer was framed and ‘he doesn’t trust our ability to work through it. And you know what? After what we put him through how can you blame him?’ Moss turns back to her and says, ‘You’re actually going to sacrifice everything to protect him.’ Renee holds steady, ‘Once Jack finds the evidence he will call us.’ Moss closes in on her and says that Janice is decrypting what Renee sent. It’s not going to take her a long time and they are going to find him. Moss offers a deal, if she tells him whose information she sent he will let the AG know that she cooperated. Renee is sorry and he orders her put in holding and mirandized. They lead Renee away and Moss looks at the ground.

Meyer is driven home and his chauffer lets him out of the back of the car. Meyer will see him in the morning. He unlocks the door to his impressive house and the alarm is beeping at him. He closes the door and goes to the alarm panel and punches in the code. He closes the little door and puts his briefcase down on a table in the entryway. There is piano music going and Meyer takes off his jacket and puts it on a plant. Next are his glasses, as he walks he takes them off and rubs his hand over his face. He enters the den and hears a printer going as well as sees curtains moving in the wind. Quinn’s face is on the computer screen, but Meyer can’t see it. Meyer calls hello but gets no answer so he goes to the phone. The French door moves closed and Jack appears behind it. Somewhat respectfully, Jack tells the Senator to keep his hands where he can see them. Meyer breathes Bauer’s name and Jack tells him to take a seat. Jack has a golden letter opener and Meyer sees it. ‘I know what you did to Ryan Burnett. You’re not going to butcher me like you did him. If you want me dead you’ll have to kill me where I stand.’ Jack shoots back at him, ‘If I wanted to kill you, Senator, you’d be dead already. Take a seat.’ Meyer goes to the couch and sits down. Jack heads over to the desk showing pain with his back to Meyer. Meyer tells him, ‘You’re a real enigma, Bauer. An hour after you save the President from terrorists you murder a federal witness in cold blood.’ Jack claims he didn’t kill Burnett. He shows Meyer the photo of Quinn and says that this man did. He asks if Meyer recognizes him. Meyer doesn’t and asks who he is. Jack says his name is John Quinn and he works for Starkwood. Meyer asks what Starkwood has to do with this but Jack doesn’t know. He does know they sent someone to kill Burnett and frame him to cover up their involvement in everything that’s happened today, including the attack on the White House. Jack heads back over to the computer and Meyer says that’s a hell of a theory. Jack sits and starts working while Meyer tells him he will have to spin a better theory than that to get off the hook for what he’s done. Jack looks up at Meyer sounds almost offended when he says that he is not here to clear his name. He is trying to connect Juma to Starkwood. Meyer spent six months investigating Starkwood and if there was a connection to Juma or Sangala, Meyer would know. Jack wants to see all the files about the investigation. Meyer takes his glasses off again and says that Starkwood has let their security teams run amok all over the world with no oversight. They bribed their way into large contracts, they’ve tried to influence foreign policy to their own benefit. All good reasons why this country should not be outsourcing its military operations to private corporations. Jack appears to agree and Meyer says matter of factly, ‘I am going to shut them down.’ He continues that there is nothing to remotely suggest that they are involved in terrorist attacks on their own country for any amount of money. Jack thinks maybe they have different reasons for helping Juma. Meyer asks why but Jack doesn’t know. He gets up and walks over to Meyer saying that he believes this country is still under attack and there has to be a reason. Meyer asks, “And I’m supposed to believe this coming from a man who’s holding me hostage?” Jack stares down at him and says he needs access to those files. Meyer now gets up as well, taller than Jack he states, “And if the connection between Juma and Starkwood isn’t there. Will you turn yourself in then?” Jack stares at Meyer, thinking. He grits his teeth and swallows before moving aside saying, ‘Just open the files, sir.’ Meyer back off, sighs and passes by Jack who looks at the ground.

9:24

9:29

Taylor is behind the scenes before her press conference. Olivia wishes her good luck and they hug. Taylor is introduced and she goes out to the podium. They all applaud and stand until she finally gets them to be quiet and sit down. Kanin is at the back as Taylor begins to speak about the White House blessings that saw them through the attack. A reporter sees Kanin in the back and goes over to him. He says he is from CNB and he wants Kanin to confirm reports that Jack Bauer is the prime suspect in the murder of Ryan Burnett after interrogating him. Kanin takes his arm and leads him out asking where he got this. The reporter concludes that it’s true, then. Kanin will not confirm this and Kendall continues that Kanin was the one that granted Bauer’s access to the victim. Kanin turns back to the Presidents speech and Kendall calls him. Kanin tells him no comment and heads over to Olivia. She forces a smile at him and he accuses her of being up to her old tactics again, she leaked Burnett’s murder and Kanin’s involvement to the press. She doesn’t know what he is talking about but he tells her not to bother denying it. Very few people knew about this. They are outside the conference and she tells him that another one of his errors in judgment has come to bite him in the ass and he is trying to lay blame on her. He asks angrily if she realizes what she has done. Trying to hurt him will have caused damage to her mother. She has gone on record saying that torture is unacceptable under any circumstances and Bauer was sent for that. It is a political disaster. He says she has gone too far. She starts to leave but he grabs her by the arm. She tells him to get his hands off of her. He is not going to let her get away with this. She leaves him there and Kanin ponders his problems. He closes his eyes and then looks at the ground.

Moss delegates troops over the phone looking for Jack. Janice comes in and says she can’t get past the header on the email that Renee sent out. She used her own computer and it’s very serious encryption. Only someone with a high level skill can do it, like Chloe O’Brien. They know she is loyal to Bauer but Moss asks if her husband is still there. Janice says he is waiting to see Moss; he’s a level 6 programmer too.

Morris sits in the conference room on the phone. He instructs the babysitter to make sure they give Prescott his babu before they put him down. He sees Moss and Janice and says he will call back. Moss ID’s himself to Morris who says he wants to see his wife. She is being held for obstruction and evidence tampering but Morris should be more concerned about what he can do to get her out. They want him to help them find Jack Bauer. They briefly explain about the email and that he can crack it. They need his help. Morris tells them the last thing he heard Jack Bauer was working for the bureau, which, if he’s not mistaken, is them. Moss says he was until he snapped and killed a federal witness. Morris sits back and finds that hard to believe. Moss says that Morris’s wife will be prosecuted unless he helps them find Jack. Morris looks away and says, ‘You have to understand, Jack Bauer and my wife have a long history. I consider him a friend.’ Moss says that Jack will have his day in court but the case against Chloe is rock solid. She will serve 15 years at least and their son will be 19 by the time she gets out of prison. Morris considers this, he touches his beard and then shakes his head. He wants a guarantee of full immunity and not jail time, expulsion of all charges. He points at Janice and says she is a witness to this. Morris gets up and rounds the table to the computer asking Janice questions about the encryption. He tells them that the designer of this algorithm built a backdoor into the code. If you know the override it’s a piece of cake. Moss asks if Morris knows the override and he says ‘yeah.’ Moss asks if it will take long and Morris answers, ‘Of course not.’ After a short pause Moss asks Morris directly, ‘Mr. O’Brien, can you tell me specifically when you’ll have the file decrypted.’ Morris answers, ‘Yes.’ He pauses and Moss looks tense until Morris finishes, “Now.” Meyer’s image has come up on the screen with the address and information. He reads it off to Moss who wants field teams and Metro PD on the way. Morris is left alone.

9:36

9:40

Janice comes to Larry and says they had no luck reaching Meyer on his cell and at the house, the phone company said the line was shorted out on site. Moss puts a jacket on and walks saying its Bauer. Janice wants to know why he is doing this. Moss says it’s because Meyer spent the last six months trying to send Bauer to prison for the rest of his life. Moss checks his gun and then meets up with a handful of other agents dressed in FBI jackets as well. Moss says that Metro PD is closing in on Meyer’s residence; I’ve authorized them to move in as soon as they’re in position and at strength. Moss continues, “I told them and I’m telling you. It is impossible to overestimate Bauer. He has more training and more experience than anybody in this room, and that includes myself.” He gives the go to move. Janice tells her earpiece that Moss will be running point with tactical. Everything goes through Janice. She watches Chloe led into the conference room where Morris waits.

The two guards let Chloe go and Morris grabs her arm as she says she can’t believe him, that he is helping them catch Jack. Morris says he did it for her but it’s the last thing she wanted. Morris was trying to spare Prescott from the inconvenience of having a convict for a mother. Chloe doesn’t seem to care, Jack saved Morris’s life. Morris doesn’t deny that he owes him but his child and marriage come first and they should for Chloe too. Morris thinks that Chloe has helped Jack enough, she can’t go deciding to make this sacrifice on her own anymore. Chloe stands by that he didn’t do what they are saying he did. Morris is adamant that he can prove that when they take him into custody. Chloe looks out the window and watches a team of agents leave before saying, ‘If they give him the chance.’ Morris looks too and then looks back at his wife, thinking.

Meyer watches Jack work silently while he looks through the files. He can’t be quiet any more and asks Jack about the hearing this morning, Jack said he had no regrets about what he has done, but what Meyer saw was a man full of regret. Jack tells him, ‘Of course I have regrets, Senator.’ Jack pauses his work and looks down, thinking. He turns to Meyer and says quietly, ‘I regret losing my family. My wife was murdered because I was responsible for protecting David Palmer during an assassination attempt.” Jack’s voice softens as he continues, “My daughter can’t even look at me.” Unsteadily, he says, “Every day I regret looking into the eyes of men, women and children knowing that any moment, their lives might be deemed expendable in an effort to protect the greater good.” Meyer sighs and Jack tells him, “I regret every decision, or mistake I might have made that resulted in the loss of a single innocent life.” Meyer almost looks like he doesn’t want to hear anymore as Jack asks him, “But do you know what I regret the most, is that this world even needs people like me.” Meyer asks outright, “So you think I’m naïve to think that we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard of combat?” Jack is back at work and brushes it off, “It doesn’t even matter what I think, Senator. You just need to understand that where I work, things get a lot messier than where you work on the hill.” Meyer sympathizes with Jack, ‘What you’ve lost, Mr. Bauer, is tragic. What you’ve been compelled to do in the name of saving innocent life is tragic.” Meyer leans forward and puts his hands on the desk. “But sometimes we need to incur the most horrible losses in order to uphold the ideals that this country was founded on. How can we presume to lead the world unless we set an example?” Jack looks back at Meyer again, now close to him, and actually smiles, “You make it sound so simple.” Meyer answers, “Maybe it’s simpler than you think. Maybe the things that you’ve seen and all the things that you’ve done have clouded your vision.”

Meyer had Jack’s complete attention until he flipped to a photo on the computer. Jack asks Meyer to look at this. It’s an image of a car accident, officers milling around a singed body. Jack wants to know about this car accident. Meyer says it has nothing to do with Juma, the victim was a source inside Starkwood, a whistleblower who also was a drunk. He wrecked his car on the way home from Atlantic City and his blood alcohol was off the charts. Jack brings forward one of the officers faces and clears it, it’s Quinn. Jack says this was no accident, his informant was murdered by the same man that that killed Burnett. Meyer asks what this means, Jack says they were scared of what he had to say. Jack asks what the informant said and Meyer says it was a lot of wild accusations but none of them panned out. Jack thinks maybe he didn’t dig deep enough, he wants to know exactly what he told Meyer. Meyer tells Jack that he alleged Starkwood was blackmailing pentagon officials that they were involved in assassination plots and seeking to acquire their own WMD’s. Jack asks specifically what and Meyer says his interview transcript should be there. Jack pulls it up and reads some of it. He whispers, “Oh my God, that’s it.” Meyer asks what. Jack explains that the bioweapon that the informant talks about his the connection to Juma. Meyer sits and says he doesn’t understand. Jack says when Juma was in power it was rumoured that he was running an illegal weapons program, that he was looking to buy a bioweapon but no one could prove it. The people that Jack knew in Sangala believed that he was testing these weapons on his own population. Juma used a remote village and used some kind of pathogen. Everyone there was struck with dementia, paralysis and eventually died. Meyer wants to know why it wasn’t pursued and Jack says Juma destroyed the evidence. He firebombed the village before anyone could get there and UN officials had a hard time believing that Juma had the technology or expertise to develop such a weapon but Starkwood had both. Technology and expertise. Meyer wants to know what Juma had to offer Starkwood and Jack answers, ‘A safe haven to develop the weapon and an endless supply of victims to test it on. Meyer adjusts himself and asks, “Even if all this is true, why would Starkwood want a bioweapon?” Jack pulls the CD out of the drive and says, “Senator, you’ve been trying to dismantle Starkwood for the last six months. Maybe they planned on fighting back, but regardless, if they have a weapon like this, you better believe they intend to use it.” I knock comes at the door and Jack looks worried. A voice calls Senator Meyer identifying himself as Metro PD. Jack tells Meyer not to move and fishes out the letter opener again. Jack heads to the door and Meyer follows him telling him to hold up. Meyer grabs Jack’s arm and Jack looks at him. Meyer says, “You’re obviously onto something. They can help you find the evidence you need to prove your case.” Jack looks to Meyer, “Right now everyone thinks I killed Ryan Burnett. No one’s going to listen to me.” Meyer offers, “I can protect you. I can order them to help us.” Jack stares at Meyer, disbelieving. “Starkwood infiltrated the White House. As soon as they find out you’re going after them for a bioweapon, they’ll bury the evidence.” Meyer says they will keep the circle small. The knocking is more persistent as Meyer tries to convince Jack, “I can make this happen. It’s time for you to start trusting the institutions that you’ve sacrificed so much to protect.” Jack looks deadpan at Meyer, “Trust isn’t my greatest asset.” Meyer kindly responds, “Son, you have to start somewhere.” Jack looks at him and then out the window. Jack asks him, “You really think you can do this?” Meyer answers, “I know I can.” Jack looks over Meyer with one eye and then whispers, “Let him in.” Jack opens the doors and lets Meyer by. Meyer goes to the alarm panel and punches in the code. He steps into the entryway and opens the door out of Jack’s sight. When he opens the door, Quinn is on the other side. He fires three shots at the Senator who goes down against the wall. Jack screams, “No!” Quinn makes his way around the corner but Jack turns and runs right out a set of glass doors into Meyer’s backyard. Quinn follows leading with his gun. Jack hops the fence and goes down on the other side. He crawls to his feet and starts running looking back. Quinn is a little more graceful and manages to land on his feet but encounters police cars. Quinn has to double back and hide before he can chase Jack. He looks out and sees Jack running full out down a dark street. Quinn goes after him.

9:48

9:53

Kanin and Taylor are in Taylor’s office and Olivia comes in and shuts the door. They wanted to see her. Taylor says that Ethan came to her with a very disturbing problem. They go over the leak regarding Jack Bauer and Olivia immediately says that she told Kanin she had nothing to do with it. Taylor says given her past, Ethan doesn’t believe her. Olivia asks what she thinks. Taylor wants to hear what Olivia has to say. Olivia has already called CNB and found out that the source came out of the federal marshal’s office. She has the name of someone that will verify that it didn’t come from the White House or her. She has a card for Charlie Isakson and she hands it out to Kanin. He can call if he wants. Kanin stares at the card but doesn’t take it so Olivia retracts it. She says she spoke to Isakson and he agreed to hold onto the story until they catch Bauer in exchange for an interview with Taylor. Taylor seems okay with all of this and says that she is convinced she was mistaken; she asks Kanin if he agrees. Olivia looks at him and he stonily agrees and apologizes. Taylor wants to know if the FBI is any closer to finding Bauer. Kanin has no answers but heads out. Taylor is left with Olivia and apologizes for putting her on the spot. Olivia just hopes that they get Bauer before things get worse.

Jack runs from Quinn and he pauses and looks around. It’s dark and he seems to be looking for an out. He finds what he is looking for and tosses his jacket over the top of a barbed wire fence. Before he climbs it Jack assesses a cut on the side of his hand. He winces and then climbs up.

Quinn follows and when he gets out into the light, he sees blood on the ground. Quinn follows the blood trail. He sees the fence Jack just climbed and the blood on it. He shoots the lock off and lets himself in. Quinn finds a trailer with the door open and blood on the handle. Quietly, he opens the door and goes in. It’s a small trailer with a few rooms, offices for a construction site. Quinn shoots up the other rooms from the outside, loading the walls with bullets. Quinn goes into the nearest room and almost immediately hears the start of something big and diesel outside. Jack has gotten himself into a tractor and used it to push the trailer over on its side. Quinn falls back against the wall. Jack gets out of the trailer outside. Quinn finds a way up and breaks the window on what used to be the wall. He pulls himself up out of the trailer.

Once Quinn is standing Jack jumps down from the bucket of the tractor landing on Quinn. Jack is on top and hits him in the face a few times before Quinn pushes Jack off. He uses his leg to hold Jack down while he punches him in the midsection. Jack bucks Quinn off of him and he falls off the trailer, onto a truck parked below and then lands on the ground. He gets up and Jack jumps onto the roof of the truck and then down onto Quinn knocking them both down again. They both get up and square off. Quinn gets some punches in on Jack before Jack finds an opening and goes for his neck. Jack holds on but Quinn knees Jack a couple of times and spins him around into the side of the truck. Jack bounces off it hard and Quinn goes for a crowbar. He swings at Jack and breaks the window but Jack manages to hit Quinn again. Jack head buts him and Quinn goes down. He heads for him but Quinn pushes Jack overtop. Jack lands away from him and Quinn gets up again. Jack finds a screwdriver and throws it at Quinn, it lands in his chest. Jack gets up and picks up a 2x4. He swings it baseball bat style at Quinn and hits him square in the face. Jack goes down on a knee and then goes to Quinn who is huddled on the ground. He turns him over and leans down over him. Quinn’s face is covered in blood and he is choking. Jack breathes hard and tells him, ‘You’re dying. Just tell me when the weapons are coming in, when are they getting here.’ Quinn finds his voice and says that they’re already here. Jack looks on as Quinn dies in front of him. Jack sits back and looks around thinking. He leans in and searches Quinn’s pockets finding his cell phone. Jack opens it and finds a text message: ‘Port of Alexandria. Yard C. 2230’. Jack stares at it and digs out his own cell and dials.

In the split screen we see Olivia, Renee waiting, Moss who radios to Janice that they are too late, Bauer murdered Meyer. They are to escalate the search for him to region wide and he wants every branch within 50 miles brought into this. Janice copies as we see Mayer dead. Moss continues, “At this point, orders are to shoot on site.”

At an outside table at a bistro, a cell pone rings. Tony sits in front of a table with a cup, little plant and candle. He appears the be alone. Tony answers the phone and Jack breathlessly identifies himself. Tony springs up and heads to his car saying he’s been monitoring the FBI bandwidth, he asks what the hell is going on. Jack is still looking through Quinn’s stuff and says he needs Tony’s help. He asks where Tony is and he gives him an intersection. Jack needs him to meet him at the Port of Alexandria. He needs weapons and a surveillance package. Get there as soon as possible. Tony tells Jack to wait but Jack can’t. “I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m on route.” Jack hangs up and stands. He puts his foot on Quinn’s chest and pulls the screwdriver out. Jack walks over to a nearby truck and uses the screwdriver to start it. He looks around, puts the truck in drive and breaks through the gate.

10:00

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

-And yet again, no Tony in the previouslys. I’ll stop pointing it out when Tony reappears.

-The good news is, we’re back to Jack being last previously. Where he should be.

-It’s interesting how as soon as someone is running in a suit, the thing that everyone thinks about is James Bond, myself included.

-I’m trying to figure out what’s going on with Jack at the beginning of this episode. He is showing pain in his side. I’m wondering if it’s residual from the episode where he killed Vossler and had some rib problems. Either that or that stuff that Quinn used to gas Jack last hour has more effects than he bargained for.

-Jack hit the jackpot with the car he picked to hide behind. It has a laptop and mobile wireless. Although, I tend to feel like he could have done better by not picking a car with a Mac-Top in it. I hate those things.

-That was quite the car he found too. It sounds mean.

-Yeah Morris! It’s good to see him again. His beard is shaggier than I remember but I am still glad to see him.

-I’m also happy too see him being so true to his character, ticked off that his wife has been out of contact and putting the screws on Janice.

-IT would be better if FBI had a situation room like CTU because Morris has a situation on his hands.

-For the record, Mary Lynn Rajkskub who plays Chloe, had to disappear for a while so she could go have her baby. Then she comes back at the end of this episode not pregnant. She looks very different but we can accept it because hey, what else are you going to do in a year long break in shooting other than get pregnant?

-There’s seems to be a plethora of ‘not important enough to name’ agents around the FBI doing all kinds of menial jobs.

-Good to see Renee is listening intently to the terms of her suspension. Anyone else think she’s heard it all before? I wonder how many times she’s been suspended since she started with the FBI.

-So Moss. Instead of running the ground looking for Jack like a real agent, Moss is coming back to the office to run stuff from there. Pansy.

-At least he is taking the onus on himself.

-In 5 minutes Janice gives information out that she shouldn’t twice. Once to Morris and once to Renee. Does she even have a security clearance? No wonder there’s leaks.

-Renee doesn’t even find out that Jack says he was framed and she doesn’t believe Jack could kill Burnett.

-Jack wins the worst driver award for this hour. They talk about talking on the phone while driving. How about using a foreign laptop while searching security footage, emailing AND talking on the phone while driving. He only has a glance every 30 seconds or so to spare.

-Renee gets around the security pretty fast for someone that is suspended.

-Where did Jack get Renee’s email address? Also, where did he get her cell phone number?

-Wow, Jack actually doubted that he did the right thing by calling Renee. It was so sad to see him back down and apologize thinking he made a mistake. He even stutters. At least she changes her mind in the end.

-Well, Renee is using a Dell computer for her personal machine. Too bad the FBI is using Macs.

-Even the other impressive operatives have respect for Jack’s abilities. There was something nice about hearing Quinn call Jack ‘an extremely impressive operative.’

-Hodges’ monologue is interesting. I wonder what his objective is. Why is he doing this? We know what he’s planning but not why.

-Hodges sounds really passionate about his cause.

-Line of the week contender: Hodges to Greg: “tell them to pack their pyjamas, and their toothbrushes.” It just brings great images of a bunch of old guys podding around in flannel pyjamas in Hodges’ office.

-So Starkwood recruits ex military and police types to run their own units. Tony was the one that initially got the information that led to this from Jack from one of Emerson’s operatives. What’s the connection? Why is Tony so insistent to tell Jack something at the end of the episode?

-This all just seems so very close to what Tony has been doing with Emerson.

-Jack looks like things couldn’t possibly get any worse when Renee tells him that Meyer would be the one to know about Starkwood.

-Meyer has been busy putting people out of business.

-Moss can be one determined guy. He doesn’t even pay attention to Janice as she talks about Morris. I guess I wouldn’t listen to her either though. She’s darn annoying.

-I was doing some searching around on ‘THEMOUX’ the name they gave Jack for his email. If anyone has any leads let me know.

-Renee gave it away pretty well that she had been communicating with Jack. On the first time though I missed the tells but upon a second viewing it was pretty obvious.

-The more Renee pushes that Jack is good the more Larry stands by that he is bad.

-Larry does a good job of caring and getting Renee to think he is interested in calling her tomorrow. Especially since he already must know that he is going to arrest her.

-I’m already tired of Olivia and her channelling of Sherry Palmer. I loved Sherry Palmer, but she didn’t eat screen time.

-For some reason, I thought Angela died in the attack.

-Don’t take this the wrong way but Olivia is like two completely different people. There’s the nice, sweet helpful Olivia and then there’s the raging lunatic bitch that deals with Kanin. I don’t really mind option A but option B is going to drive me up the wall. I can see it already.

-Olivia is honestly acting like a little child. She might as well stick her tongue out behind Kanin’s back.

-Kanin looks like he would rather go a round with Jack than speak freely in front of Olivia. Especially about his latest screw up.

-I wonder how much information about this whole situation that Kanin has. He seems to not really be aware that Jack is saying he was framed. It seems that he believes Jack went off the deep end with no explanation at all.

-Although, it was kind of nice to hear Kanin say that Buchanan’s death might be the reason Jack came up a couple cards short.

-Taylor’s words say she doesn’t believe Jack could kill Burnett but her lack of action says otherwise. I can’t believe she was so quick to write off Jack after he was ready to sacrifice his life for her less than an hour ago.

-Good thing Janice is not a UC agent. She would get killed in about 15 seconds judging by the way she was totally un-covert talking about Renee to Moss.

-Moss is getting really good at stopping people in that hallway. That’s 2 now.

-That security guard at the hospital is on it reporting his cell stolen that quick. I guess that he wasn’t out that long after Jack knocked him out.

-Moss is becoming a dammit pro. My favourite is still the one at the end of the last episode.

-How very nice that Renee stands up for Jack to Moss.

-They’re giving Renee some great one liners about Jack. First it was that they should have stayed out of the way and now she defends him by asking if they can blame that he doesn’t trust them.

-Didn’t see Renee’s bag get taken away but all of a sudden the security had it.

-Moss definitely thinks that Jack is going to steal is woman.

-That holding at FBI is going to be very busy.

-That has got to be the worst alarm system ever that Meyer has. Jack got in and it didn’t go off until Meyer came home. Did they neglect to set it up on anything but the front door?

-Did anyone else laugh about the coat in the plant? You could actually hear it snapping as he threw his coat into it. That plant won’t live there long. Not to mention Meyer’s jacket will be dirty.

-What’s the deal with the piano music going as well? Was it on a sensor or did Jack feel like a little mood music in Meyer’s house to calm him down?

-Loved Jack’s entrance at Meyer’s house. I was wondering how he was going to enter.

-Meyer is wearing a wedding ring but there’s no sign of his wife.

-Enigma: n.

1. One that is puzzling, ambiguous, or inexplicable.
2. A perplexing speech or text; a riddle.

[Latin aenigma, from Greek ainigma, from ainissesthai, ainig-, to speak in riddles, from ainos, fable.]

-It was impressive that Jack was as nice as he was to Meyer. Especially since we’ve spent the last 13 hours waiting for a chance to rip his face off.

-This episode has to be a record for the length of time Jack has gone without a gun in a situation where he could use one. When he is taken hostage he doesn’t tend to have one, but he’s not usually in a combat situation then.

-Add Starkwood to the list of ridiculously long names that I hate having to type.

-‘Starkwood’ is not in my Microsoft Word dictionary. Closest suggestion? ‘Stinkwood’.

-Jack’s reaction to Meyer accusing him of coming to his house to try and clear his name was so Jack. He is so willing to take responsibility for what he has done but he is not willing to take the fall for something he didn’t do or let a potential attack go uninvestigated. If Meyer knows so much about Jack he should know that Jack was ready to willingly surrender himself to the Chinese after that op went south. It was just unfortunate that he was marked for death by his own people before that.

-Jack sounds like he’s almost pleading for there to be a reason that they are still coming after the country.

-Meyer is hardly being held hostage by Jack. The guy has a letter opener for shits sake. Meyer could probably grab a stapler and take him on. Plus Meyer seems like he would be the type to have a gun in the house. You know, whatever amendment that is where you can have a gun.

-Interesting question for Meyer to ask Jack about turning himself in.

-I gained a lot of respect for Meyer based on just the first scene with him and Jack. His opinions might not align with Jack but he is smart and believes in doing what he thinks is right. He lets Jack into the files even though he doesn’t get what he wants from Jack because it’s for the greater good.

-Blah blah press conference scene. I could have summed it up in less than 10 words, and the next scene. ‘Olivia squeals, denies, makes Kanin look like an ass.’

-That was seriously triumphant touchy feely press conference music. I think it was also recycled.

-Oh NOW Moss wants to talk to Morris, now that he needs something from him.

-Something about hearing Morris say the word ‘Babu’ made me almost fall out of my seat with laughter. Then made me think of his other show, ‘Little Mosque on the Prairie.’ There’s a character called Baber there.

-Ah Morris is still Morris. He makes a joke to the humourless Moss and Janice.

-That didn’t really seem like ‘level 6’ programmer work. It just seemed like smart programmer work since he knew the backdoor trick.

-Obviously, Morris hasn’t spent a lot of time negotiating deals. Rule #1, your witness shouldn’t be the same person that is trying to convince you to take the deal. Not reliable.

-Okay, one more time I’m going to point out the difference between Morris and Chloe’s (poorly named) child’s age and the gap between the seasons. Chloe was pregnant at the end of Season 6. She had at least 7 months left of her pregnancy (at the very least). Prescott is 4 now because if Chloe goes away for 15 years he will be 19 when she gets out, that equals 4. That would mean the distance between Seasons 6 and 7 is almost 5 years. It’s illogical since Tony has been working with Emerson ever since he was revived and he says that’s 3 years. And that was the season before 6, and between that season Jack spent 18 months in China. Inconsistencies drive me crazy.

-No kidding Jack and Chloe have a long history. It takes a big man to accept that relationship completely.

-Morris is going to SO be in trouble when they get home. No sex for him for a while.

-If Moss really believes that Bauer killed Burnett he should be having a cow right now when he realizes that Jack is going after Meyer. He is set to be one dead senator.

-There’s something really disturbing watching Moss prep his gun and cock it when he is going to track down Jack. Knowing that he is prepping to go after Jack just makes it kind of eerie.

-Nice little speech Moss gives. He should have just said, “Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

-And again I am struck by the terrible acting of Chloe. She’s good at being awkward and funny but any kind of serious scene just makes me cringe. Especially beside Carlo Rota who’s great. Wow.

-They are really bringing Jack full circle this year. They keep bringing up Teri and her death. It’s nice.

-Jack with some meaningful dialogue was so nice. It was very refreshing to have him open up to the senator of all people. Their conversation shed an interesting light on both the characters and their motives. For me it let me see both sides of the coin.

-This is one of the most telling lines of the entire series from Jack: “But do you know what I regret the most, is that this world even needs people like me.” Wow. For Jack to give that insight into himself, especially to Meyer, was extraordinarily deep and telling. Jack doesn’t even really approve of what he does but he does what he needs to do because he can do it. Not everyone can, as evidenced by Buchanan earlier.

-Line of the week: Meyer to Jack: “What you’ve lost, Mr. Bauer, is tragic.” Finally someone acknowledges what Jack has lost in all of this. Of all people, it was Meyer.

-Meyer does make it sound simple and following Jack around for this time we know that it is not that simple. The answer is not as easy as sitting back and doing nothing. If that’s the choice that’s made, people will die. Jack is not the type to accept that kind of loss.

-I don’t want to spend a lot of talk about the conversation with Meyer and Jack but it was such deep conversation. I have a feeling that it will set the tone for Jack and his actions for the rest of the season. IT also turned my feelings about him around to let me see what he is thinking

-SO much explaining about Juma and Starkwood between Jack and Meyer. Wow. IT makes me even more suspicious of Tony and Emerson and where they fit in.

-That sounds like a nasty kind of thing that Juma had developed. I hope there wasn’t a hint of that in the stuff that Quinn gassed Jack with earlier.

-Did you guys see that? Meyer actually laid a hand on Jack and lived. Wow. It was a kind hand, but a hand nonetheless.

-Line of the Week contender: Jack to Meyer: “Trust isn’t my greatest asset.” Gee, I wonder why Jack would be untrusting? Possibly because everyone that has ever had a chance has basically screwed him over? No.

-I was SO devastated when Meyer was shot. It was so 24 and I didn’t see it coming.

-It was especially bad after he called Jack ‘son’. You could see that there was a relationship developing there. I’m not saying that he would change his opinions but he could be a real ally for Jack. Especially after the protection offer.

-Jack basically voiced my displeasure as well, ‘NOOOOOOO!’

-Ah, Jack, those little round things on the front of the doors, they’re called knobs. They OPEN the door so you don’t have to run through the glass.

-Actually, I’m impressed that Jack escaped that meeting with the glass door with only a cut on his hand.

-I guess Jack just isn’t wearing the right shoes to go over a fence like that. Quinn’s good, see? He made a jump that Jack didn’t.

-The Jack/Quinn fight was pretty epic. Starting right from the second Jack got the tractor out.

-I’m going to assume that Jack didn’t mean to leave a blood trail until he noticed that he already was and then decided to use it for his advantage.

-Jack seems to be loving the upper deck fly off this season. We’ve seen it twice now, once with Tony and once with Quinn.

-I was sitting there when Quinn shot up the portable just hoping that Jack wasn’t in there somewhere.

-I really cringed seeing Jack bounce off the side of that truck. It looked terrible.

-I can’t let the screwdriver shot go un-mocked. That was a touch on the crazy side. Quinn is wearing a Kevlar vest but the screwdriver penetrates it still. I would buy maybe it getting embedded when Quinn falls on it but not at a throw like that.

-Batter up on the 2x4 though.

-This show is definitely gorier this year.

-Jack is seriously labouring after taking Quinn out.

-So, clarification on the text message on Quinn’s phone. 2230 can’t be a time because that would mean the weapons still aren’t there but Quinn said otherwise.

-Jack is so screwed. Shoot to kill? Not good.

-It took Jack bloody long enough to call Tony. FINALLY.

-Tony should have left with Cubbie. That should have been his cup.

-So, I guess Tony hung out for a bit and then went and got a bite to eat. When Jack asked him where he was he should have told him he was at a restaurant. He might have wanted something to eat you know.

-Did we forget (or were we supposed to forget) that Tony is a wanted man?

-I’m going to hope that Tony was drinking coffee out of that mug.

-Does Tony know that Buchanan is dead?

-The Jack Bauer multitool – a screwdriver. It tightens things, it kills people, it starts cars. It does it all.

-What was Tony wanting to tell Jack? Was it about the FBI order on him? To do with Buchanan? Or maybe to do with Starkwood and Emerson. Gah, I can’t wait a week!

-On a total aside, was very grateful for the 24 folks this week. I also quite like Without A Trace and saw a fight scene in that show last night. It was so poorly put together I just wanted to give all those 24 guys a great big hug for their spectacular work.

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