Kim was listening to the exchange when she heard a gunshot and Tony scream, "Michelle!"

Chloe, who was monitoring the radios, had looked up at Adam, as if unable to believe what was happening. "It's Michelle," she said. "She's down."

Kim's hands had stilled over the keyboard. Michelle couldn't be dead. Tony, I'm so sorry, she thought and took a deep breath to steady herself. Be professional and strong, there will be plenty of time to mourn.

Adam's face broke into a small smile a few minutes later. "We got Saunders and he's given us all 11 locations. It's over." He pulled off the headphones and rubbed his eyes. "It's over," he repeated and then seemed to remember his de facto position.

As Adam stood to address the entirety of CTU, Kim excused herself and made her way to the bathroom.

She leaned against the door of a stall and covered her face with her hands. It was all over. Soon, Chase would be back and she could start the long but extremely necessary process of reconciling with her dad. First, she would make sure he got help. Then, they would talk, not as a daughter trying to protect her dad from negative feelings or as a dad constantly trying to protect his daughter from reality, but as people who loved each other and wanted to tell each other the truth.

Kim pressed her fingertips against her eyes. Michelle. This is going to destroy Tony, she thought. Memories of her dad's reaction to her mom's death seeped back into her consciousness like a bad movie.

Tony wasn't a traitor. She knew he reacted out of love and vowed to stand by him. She wasn't sure what a low level analyst could do to save his life, but she was determined to try.

So many things were up in the air, but she hoped the answers would become clear after a few hours of sleep.

She took her time washing her hands and patting her face with a wet paper towel. Time, she had that now. All danger was past. Her watch read 12:08, if she hurried home she could even get in a load of laundry before collapsing from exhaustion.

As she left the bathroom, her phone rang. She saw the caller ID and even though part of her wanted to do nothing more than sink down and cry for the lives lost during the day, she couldn't help but smile. She would tell Chase that they could work out Angela, she loved him and would eventually grow to love the little girl with such an adorable smile. It wasn't what she planned in life but if she had learned anything over the past few years it was that she never knew what was going to happen in the future.

She flipped open her phone, "Hi Chase,"

But something was wrong, his breathing sounded labored. "Kim, I'm so sorry, oh God, I'm so sorry, I tried to get there in time, I should have known that...."

She shut her eyes, he was talking about Michelle, thinking he should have been able to save her. He blamed himself for her death. She could imagine her dad standing next to him, leaning against the car with his eyes closed and arms folded over his chest, giving his mind a few seconds to rest before the world started up again.

"It's not your fault," she whispered.

"I tried to stop him, Kim, I really did, I just lost track of him and I'm just so sorry-- "

"Saunders was the only person who knew the location of the vials, we had to deal with him. There was nothing you could have done. I love you and I'm so proud of you. Is my dad there? I'd really like to speak to him."

A few seconds of silence. "You don't know?"

Kim felt a familiar tingling on the back of her neck and in her fingertips. "Know what?" Speaking was suddenly difficult. "Is he out collecting the vials?"

She heard a shuddering breath and her body steeled itself for news. Her eyes open, her back against the wall, her heart pounding. Hold onto yourself for this is gonna hurt like hell.

"I knew I should have been watching him but it was Tony and I thought he'd stay in one place but he didn't and after everything was over and I should have watched him but I didn't think he'd -- "

Chase's words were flowing into each other. Chase never rambled; he always knew what to say or said nothing at all. Something had happened. Something bad.

"What happened?"

She wrapped one arm around her midsection, anticipating his next words but needing to hear them.

"After everything, Jack...your dad...he ran off and I don't know why, but he did and I lost track of Tony and, Kim, I'm so sorry, God, I'm so fucking sorry."

"Chase, please, just tell me."

"I ran after them and when I got there Tony was kneeling on the ground and your dad...your dad wasn't moving."

His words were misshapen puzzle pieces that refused to fit together.

She bit her lip and sniffled. "But he's okay? My dad, he's going to be okay?" Her voice sounded much younger, even to herself.

"There was a lot of blood, nothing anyone could do..."

"Tony killed my dad?" She held her hand over her heart, wanting to hear that she was wrong, anything to stop the reality of the situation from falling on her.

"I tried to stop him. I was a few minutes too late. I would have taken that bullet myself, you know that, but I'm so sorry I couldn't get there in time and I couldn't protect him."

Dad's gone. He's dead. After everything that has happened, he's gone and dead and never coming back and I'm an orphan and I miss him already and he died without knowing how much I love him and Tony killed him. Tony killed my dad. Tony shot my dad. Tony shot him in cold-blood. I want to see him dead. He deserves to die.

Part of her shut off, there was no other way to describe it. She could feel her emotions slipping away. Her heart stopped racing, she relaxed her grip on the phone, and stared straight ahead.

A cold, clear place in her mind opened up. She only felt the white hot rage and despair that was her inheritance.

"I don't blame you, I could never blame you. I love you," she forced herself to say, but her world had narrowed down to one idea: Revenge.

Later, there would be plenty of time to mourn.

Note: "Hold onto yourself for this is gonna hurt like hell" is from "Hold On" by Sarah McLachlan

END

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