Anything for Love Chapter 4

Chapter 4!!! The beach finally comes into play in this one. Oh, and don't think it's over. 'Cause it's not. We've got some stuff to deal with in the aftermath. Thanks again to sparky_girl82  for being the lovely slave-driver that she is. 

Title: Anything For Love (Chapter 4)
Rating: same as the other chapters
Part: 4/? (maybe 5 or 6???)
Prompt: Beach

            Jack watched in dismay as men set up camera equipment around Chloe. She was blinking her eyes against the harsh lights that surrounded her, trying to conceal her fear about what was going to happen next. Cables were set up and tripods assembled as Jack tried to think of something – anything – he could do to save her. All he knew was that he couldn’t stand there and let them torture her. He struggled to keep his emotions in check – she deserved so much better than this.

 

***

 

            When everything was in place, Cheng ordered everyone out of the room. His men all shuffled out, closing the heavy door behind them. Cheng secured the locks and then went to stand in front of Chloe.

            "Well, Miss O'Brian. Have you figured out what's going to happen? I'm sure you have – you're a smart girl."

            Chloe glared up at him with unconcealed hatred. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing her fear.

            "It's all very simple," Cheng continued, ignoring the daggers in her eyes. "When my men come back in, they're going to turn all of this equipment on. Then, we're going to employ all of those interrogation techniques we used on Mr. Bauer on you." He leaned down, bringing his face level with hers. "The only difference is, we don't want any information from you. We're going to broadcast it, so that Bauer has to watch you die, painfully – and there will be no way for him to save you." He smiled cruelly. "Now, why don't we take off that vest you're wearing?"

 

***

 

            Jack snapped. The sight of Cheng's fingers touching Chloe enraged him past any coherent thought and he ran from his hiding place. Snatching up one of the tripods, he swung it at Cheng, taking out his knees. The man fell to the floor, his cry cut off as Jack was on top of him, hands around his throat. He squeezed tighter, as all the anger from the past two years came spilling out of him.

            "How dare you touch her?" he seethed between clenched teeth. "You want revenge? You take it out on me. You don’t go after the people I love. You don't go after the one person I have left in this world. Your biggest mistake, Cheng? Was going after Chloe."

 

***

 

            At first Chloe thought she was imagining things. She knew that Jack couldn't possibly be there. But then he had knocked Cheng down and started to choke him, and she knew that he was really there, that he was going to save her.

            His words shocked her, but she was even more stunned by the anger in them. She knew that he was furious about what they done to him, for taking Audrey to use against him. But when he mentioned her name, she heard a deeper rage. She watched as he slowly choked the life out of Cheng, his attention focused solely on the other man's face.

 

***

 

            Everything fell away as Jack watched Cheng's face turn purple. He channeled all the anger and pain into his hands as they squeezed tighter and tighter. He envisioned Cheng's hands once again reaching for Chloe, and his mouth twisted into a snarl, his fingers closing in even more.

            "Jack?" a small voice behind him tore his attention away. The red faded from his eyes as he remembered that Chloe was still there, still tied to a chair, still waiting for him. With one swift movement, he snapped Cheng's neck, putting an end to the man's power over him.

            Standing up, he looked over at Chloe with a reassuring smile on his face. "Let's get you out of here," he said gently.

 

***

 

            Chloe rubbed at her wrists, thankful that the ropes were finally gone. Jack starting opening the crates he had been hiding behind, looking for something that would help them escape. Finally he stopped, staring into one with a smile on his face.

            "What is it?" Chloe asked, walking over to him.

            He pulled something out of the crate and looked at her. "C4."

 

***

 

            This time Jack didn't care who knew he was on the boat. His only priority was getting Chloe to safety. The men they ran into didn't last long, Jack taking them out quickly with a few well-aimed bullets. They ran up to the main deck amidst shouts from the men that they passed. Jack led Chloe by the hand and they raced to the end of the boat. Taking out one more guard with his gun trained on them, the two jumped into the water.

 

***

 

            It wasn't long before Cheng was found. There was a flurry of activity as messages were relayed across the boat. When it was known by Cheng's top lieutenants that Bauer had escaped with their hostage, they immediately ordered for them to be chased and recaptured.

 

***

 

            Jack swam as fast as he could, with Chloe keeping pace as best she could. The salt water stung her wounds, and she was still bleeding, but she knew that their survival depended on them getting as far away as they could. She redoubled her efforts and surged ahead.

            The explosion caused a surge of waves that pulled them under, threatening to drown them despite their best efforts. But neither was willing to give up after their escape, and they fought the water until it acquiesced, accepting that there were two who refused to made victims that day.

            With the boat gone and the threat of chase eliminated, they swam to shore.

 

***

 

            Chloe had never been so happy to see a beach in her entire life. Generally she hated them. It was the sand – it got everywhere, and you could never really be rid of it. But as she fell onto the ground, caking her body with the offending sand, she suddenly thought that she could spend the rest of her life there.

            She saw Jack fall down next to her, and they both rolled onto their backs, trying desperately to catch their breath. The sun was out and strong, and they soon felt their clothes drying and hardening against their bodies. The sand dried onto their skin too, but both were past the point of caring.

            Chloe closed her eyes, just thankful to be alive. She had known all along that they wouldn't fail getting Audrey out, but she hadn't actually expected to survive the mission. She started thinking about what had to come next. It was time to leave CTU, she knew that much. She just couldn't be there anymore when Jack came back, needing her help. She knew that her feelings for him bordered on pathetic, and it was just time to move on. And she would have to do that somewhere outside of California.

            Her thoughts were suddenly swept aside as she felt a weight on her body and looked up to see a very angry Jack Bauer on top of her, his faces barely an inch away from hers.

            "What the hell were you thinking?" he growled at her.

            "Jack-"

            "You go in there, with only Curtis for backup. You don't tell anyone where you're going. They were going to torture you Chloe. How could you be so stupid?"

            This time it was Chloe's turn to be angry. Her eyes went cold and her voice lowered to match his. "How dare you?" she seethed. "I went in there for you. I went in there to save Audrey so that you could be happy. I didn't tell you because it would have killed you if I had been wrong. This was the only way. And she's safe now. So why don't you just go be with her and leave me the hell alone?"

            She hadn't meant to say all that. She hadn't meant to lose her temper with him. But his anger had been too much. She knew that she didn't deserve that.

            Shocked from her outburst, the anger slid out of Jack. He had been angry because he was scared. He had almost lost her today, and he couldn't forget the feeling in his chest when Curtis had told him that she wasn't coming back. His eyes softened as he looked down at her and the tears finally came, sliding silently down his cheeks.

            "I thought I had lost you," he whispered. The emotion in his voice brought her up short, and she lost all inclination to yell at him. "Curtis told me that you hadn't made it…and…oh God, Chloe…I couldn't breathe." He took her face in his hands, leaning his forehead against hers. "Don't ever do something like that ever again. I can live without Audrey. I can't live without you."

            Chloe's eyes widened in shock at his words, but before she could respond, three SUV's pulled up beside them. They looked up to see Curtis jump out of a vehicle before it completely stopped, rushing over to them. Jack got off of Chloe and helped her to her feet.

            "That's it," he said as he came up to them. "I'm not leaving either of you unsupervised ever again. You come up with hare-brained ideas like stealing people from the Chinese or sneaking onto their boats."

            "They stole Audrey first," Chloe pointed out.

            "Chloe…" Curtis sighed.

            "Besides, we blew it up," she continued absent-mindedly.

            "You what?"

            "Their boat. We blew it up, Curtis. Long story," Jack told him.

            Chloe scowled at him. "No it's not. Bad guys wanted to kill us. We set C4 and then ran. End of story."

            Jack rolled his eyes at her and was about to retort when Curtis cut them off. "Enough, you two. You can continue this later. Right now I have orders from Bill to get you back to CTU medical – and to strap you both to a hospital bed."

            Turning around, he led them to the waiting vehicle. 


Chapter 5