Fighting for Salvation (11)

Title: Fighting for Salvation (11)
Rating: R
A/N: Firstly, this is a shorter, transitioning chapter. Don't worry, the action will be back! Also, the icon I'm using is Tony/Ava. I've decided that Eliza Dushku (from Buffy and Angel) would make the perfect Ava. So now you all know what she looks like! If anybody likes to make graphics and wants to make some more icons, let me know!



Chapter 11

            Ava did not enjoy her first helicopter ride. She wasn't a fan of flying in the best circumstances, and the chopper didn't exactly offer her a smooth ride. The bumping and jostling caused pain to shoot through her body as she cradled her left arm, a rag pressed against it in an effort to stem the bleeding. All in all, she had decided that she didn't enjoy getting shot.

            Her eyes snapped open, and she realized that she had dozed off for most of the ride. She was feeling somewhat lightheaded, and she knew that she had lost a lot of blood. The helicopter landed, and Jack shepherded his family out, turning and extending a hand to Ava.

            "Go," she whispered, struggling to push herself up.

            "You're family too," he said quietly. "And they're okay. We need to get you down to Medical."

            Too tired to argue, Ava nodded and let him lift her from the seat and carry her across the pavement and toward CTU. Once inside, he walked straight to Medical, Teri and Kim trailing behind him as they watched their friend with worry in their eyes.

            Gently, Jack laid her on the first bed he came across. The doctor was already striding toward them, a nurse in tow.

            "What happened?" he asked.

            "Gunshot wound to the left shoulder," Jack explained. "Bastard stepped on it afterward, too."

            The doctor nodded. "We'll need you to clear the room."

            Jack put his hand on the man's shoulder. "Take care of her."

            His eyes softened as he took in how worried and tired the agent was. "I will."

 

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            As he walked out with his family, Jack saw Teri wince out of the corner of his eye. He was by her side immediately.

            "Are you alright?"

            He missed the look his wife exchanged with Kim.

            "I'm fine," she lied. "Just tired."

            He nodded, distracted as Nina came over to them.

            "Are you guys alright?" she asked.

            "I need you to take them to a clinic."

            "What? Why?" Kim demanded.

            Jack turned to her. "You need to get checked out. Make sure that you're completely okay."

            "I don't want to leave you," she protested.

            "I know, sweetheart. But I have some things I have to finish up here. I need to make sure that the people behind this are found."

            She thought for a moment before nodding. "Okay. But we'll see you soon, right?"

            Jack hugged his daughter, holding her tightly.

            "Yes, baby. This will all be over soon."

 

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            As soon as Tony heard that Jack and Ava were back, he raced down to Medical, knowing that Jack would take her there right away. He slowed his approach as he neared the door, hearing voices arguing on the other side. Cautiously, he pushed the door open and stuck his head in.

            Ava was sitting up on the bed, arguing heatedly with the doctor. Her shoulder looked ghastly, with dried blood running down her arm. There was blood spatter on her jeans and tank top, along with dirt and grass stains. Her hair that had been so perfectly pinned early that morning was starting to fall out of it's pins. She looked like she had been in an all-out brawl.

            "Just do it!" she yelled.

            "You need surgery," the doctor insisted. "And antibiotics. And most all, you need rest!"

            "I'm fine," she asserted.

            "No, you're not. You've been in a car accident today, you've been shot, and you've gotten the crap kicked out of you!"

            "I'd like to point out that I won that fight."

            "I'm betting that Agent Bauer helped more than just a little."

            "Only by putting a few bullets in the guy. I did all the hard work."

            "Ava," Tony said gently as he came all the way into the room. "Just let him take care of you."

            She turned her hard gaze on him. "No. I'm fine." She looked back at the doctor. "You don't need to do surgery. Just fish out the bullet, give me some antibiotics and let me go!"

            "Why? What's so important that you can't let your body heal?" the doctor asked.

            "Have you not noticed the national crisis today? There are bad guys to catch. And I'm not going to sleep in a hospital bed while they're still out there."

            "I'm not letting you back out into the field."

            "Then I'm not letting you touch me," Ava retorted, crossing her arms and ignoring the jolt of pain that shot through her.

            Tony sighed.

            "You're serious, aren't you?"

            She looked at him, her eyes pleading. "Yes."

            He turned to the doctor. "Patch her up," he shrugged.

            "This is against medical advice," he warned her.

            "Yeah, I got that."

            "Agent Almeida, I'll need you to leave the room while I do this."

            Tony nodded. "I'll come back in a little bit to get her."

            Giving her a long, worried look, he turned around and walked out.

 

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            It was much quieter when Tony went back. He opened the door slowly, noting that while Ava was still sitting up, her face was much paler than it had been. He knew that extracting a bullet while the patient was awake was painful, and he wondered if she regretted her decision to refuse full surgery. His eyes drifted to her shoulder, which was now bandaged, the dried blood washed from her skin. He opened his mouth to greet her, but then stopped as the sound of her voice reached him.

 

            Twisted every way, what answer can I give?

            Am I to risk my life to win the chance to live?

            Can I betray the man who once inspired my voice?

            Do I become his prey? Do I have any choice?

            He kills without a thought. He murders all that's good.

            I know I can't refuse, and yet, I wish I could.

            Oh God, if I agree, what horrors wait for me

            In this, the Phantom's opera?

 

            Tony smiled as he recognized the song. Unable to stop himself, he answered her quietly.

 

            Christine, Christine don't think I that I don't care.

            But every hope and every prayer rests on you now.

 

            Ava's head snapped up when she heard him finish the lyrics, and when she saw who it was, she gave him a small smile.

            "Cue the big instrumental music," she said.

            Tony laughed and walked the rest of the way into the room.

            "Do you normally burst into song in the middle of the day?"

            "It's just something I do," she said quietly. "When things start to get crazy. It centers me."

            "I didn't know you were a Phantom fan."

            Ava shrugged. "There's a lot you don't know about me."

            He nodded, walking closer. "That's something I'd like to change after this is all over."

            "You want to be friends?" she asked in mock incredulity.

            He laughed. "Yeah. Is that okay?"

            She nodded and opened her mouth to speak when Alberta Green came striding into the room.

            "Agent Connelly," she greeted a tight smile. "I was told you were injured. I didn't expect to see you up and about."

            "Takes more than a bullet to keep me down," Ava replied.

            "Good to hear." Her smile disappeared. "I've been trying to find you."

            "You could have called. I do have a cell phone."

            "I asked Agent Almeida about your whereabouts."

            Ava didn't miss a beat. "Well that was silly."

            "Excuse me?"

            "Tony didn't know where I was."

            A predatory gleam shone in Green's eyes. "He didn't?"

            "No. I lied to him."

            "Why would you do that?"

            Ava shrugged. "I knew that if he knew where I was going, he would try to stop me. And I knew that if things took a turn, he'd be asked about where I was. I didn't want to put him in that position."

            "So you lied about a family emergency? Have you heard about the boy who cried wolf?"

            "I have an alcoholic father. And for all I know, he might be passed out somewhere and need someone to collect him. That person just won't be me. But it was a plausible lie. Getting to Jack's family was more important than worrying about the chain of command."

            She and Green held each other's gaze, neither wanting to back down. But Alberta knew she needed the agent – at least until the threat against Palmer was completely neutralized.

            "I want to know where you are from now on, Agent Connelly," she said.

            "Yes ma'am," Ava replied sullenly.

 

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            Jack looked up as Ryan Chappelle walked into the room. After sending his family to the clinic with Nina, he had immediately been placed in a holding room to wait for a debrief. He knew that there was going to be fallout from his actions, but whatever they threw at him, it had been worth it – his family was safe, and that was all that mattered.

            "Jack," Ryan greeted as he took the seat across from him. "You've been busy today."

            "The threat isn't over, Ryan. The people who want Palmer dead are still out there."

            "I thought you killed Gaines."

            "Gaines was just a pawn. He's not the brains behind this."

            "Then who is?"

            "I don't know. But I think it's connected to a mission I ran in Serbia."

            "What makes you think that?"

            "I interrogated a man today who spoke Serbian. That's not a common language for any businessman to be fluent in. And Gaines said that whoever was behind this wanted to make it personal."

            "What do you think he meant by that?"

            "I don't know. Look, Ryan. I understand why you have to keep me on a short leash. But I can help. I've been working this case all day and there's obviously some connection with me. Let me help."

            "I don't know if I can do that, Jack."

            "Please, Ryan."

            "We'll talk about this later. I need to oversee what's happening on the floor. Alberta Green will come in to do your debrief."

            Jack sat back in his chair and sighed and Chappelle walked out of the room.

 

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            "So what have I missed?" Ava asked as she slid off the hospital bed gingerly. Green watched her closely, but made no comment.

            "We know that there are three shooters," Tony answered. "But we only know two of their names."

            "I don't like the sound of that. We have no idea who it is?"

            "Milo is working on it now. Hopefully we'll have a name soon."
            "That would be helpful." She paused. "So Palmer is definitely not out of the woods yet."

            "Not until we've neutralized this third shooter."

            "Well, we may not have a plan, but at least we have a general direction."

            "You really think you're fit for duty?" Green asked suddenly.

            Ava gave her a rueful smile. "I can hold my own."

            Green seemed to mull that over before finally nodding. Then she turned toward Tony.

            "I'd like to talk to you about Jack Bauer's actions today."

            "What about them exactly?"

            "His blatant disregard for authority. His endangering the life of a senator in order to save his family."

            Tony opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by his cell phone ringing. Gesturing for Alberta to wait a minute, he answered.

            "Almeida."

            "Hey Tony."

            "Nina? Is everything okay?"

            "Well, I'm not sure."

            "What does that mean?"

            "I have a bad feeling. I ran into an FBI agent a little while ago, but when I mentioned it to another agent, they said they didn't know who I was talking about."

            "You think that means something?"

            "I don't know. Look, can you send a guy over here to dust the room for fingerprints? I just want to make sure all the bases are covered."

            "Yeah, I'll do that right now."

            "Good." She paused. "How's Ava."

            "She'll live."

            "How long will she be out?"

            "Actually, she refused surgery."

            "What?" Nina exclaimed.

            "She ordered the doctor to pull the bullet out and patch her up. She's going back into the field."

            "What does she think she's proving?"

            Tony shrugged, even though Nina couldn't see it. "I don't know. But I feel better with her back on the case. We're gonna need all hands on deck."

            He heard her take a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right. So you'll send that guy."

            "I'll do it now."

            "Bye."

            "What's going on?" Ava asked as soon as he hung up.

            "Nina wants me to send a fingerprint tech over to the clinic. There's somebody suspicious over there."

            "It's probably nothing," Green interjected. "But keep me posted. I need to go do Jack's debrief."

            Without another word, she left the room.

            "I don't like her," Ava said as soon as the door shut.

            "Yeah, well, you need to watch your tone with her. She's in charge now, and your attitude is just going to get you in trouble."

            "You think Nina's on to something?"

            Tony thought for a second. "She might be. We don't know all the players involved in this yet. Teri and Kim might still be in danger." He sighed. "But Green won't let us do anything about it."

            Ava shrugged. "So go over her head. Talk to Chappelle."

            "He's not much better."

            "Tell him it was my idea."

            "You think that will make him listen?"

            She shrugged again. "He likes me more than you."

            Tony sighed. "Fine. But you have to stay here until we figure out where we need you. Get whatever rest you can."

            She glared at him, but relented. "Fine."

            Giving her a small smile, he left the room to find Chappelle.

 

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            "I need to talk to you," Tony said as he approached Chappelle on the floor.

            "What is it Tony?"

            "It's about Jack's family. Can we step off the floor?"

            Chappelle regarded him for a moment before nodding and leading them to a more secluded spot.

            "Is there a problem?" he asked.

            "Nina just called. She said there's somebody suspicious lurking around."

            "Do you think she's just jumping at shadows?"

            Tony shrugged. "I talked it over with Ava. She thinks that since the kidnappings and the attempts on Palmer's life are connected, we have a better shot at finding these guys if we keep a close eye on the Bauers."

            He was shocked when Ryan started nodding right after he mentioned Ava's name. "Connelly is right. We need to watch them, see if these guys make another move on them."

            "So can I move them to a safe house? Put some agents on them?"

            "That's a good plan, Tony. You did the right thing by bringing this to me." He paused. "If you have a minute, I'd like to talk to you about Bauer's actions today."

            "You're not the first," Tony sighed. "Look, I know he went against protocol. I know he ignored the chain of command. It's no secret that I can't stand the guy. I think he's an ass and he flouts the rules whenever they suit him." He paused, looking down at the floor for a few seconds before raising his eyes to Ryan's. "But I think he made the right decisions today."

            "You're going to stand by that?"

            "Yeah, I am."

            "Alright, Tony. I think you're wrong, but you're entitled to your own opinions."

            Chappelle moved away then, leaving Tony to stand there with a frown. He wondered at how easily the man had agreed to the safe house idea. Ava had been right – he definitely softened up when he heard that the idea had come from her. For a brief moment, he entertained the thought that maybe there was something going on between them. The image was so ludicrous that he almost burst out laughing. Shaking his head, he turned to return to Medical. A commotion across the floor caught his eye though, and he watched to see what was going on.

            His mouth nearly dropped open as Senator Palmer strode into CTU.