Afterlife - Nina/Various other characters

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A/N - Spoilers for Season Three onwards.

She didn't expect this at all. Then again, she didn't expect to wake up. As she sat up, Nina noticed that not only had the bullet wounds disappeared, but she wasn't even on the dusty floor of CTU anymore. She was floating in a sea of tulips, with the sun caressing her ivory skin and a sweet breeze flowing through her ebony hair. Unsure of what the hell was going on, Nina looked around, a look of pure confusion on her face. Standing up slowly, she stretched her arms and legs and noticed a cluster of buildings close by. Walking towards the buildings, which appeared to be houses, she heard a female voice calling her name. Looking around to see who it was, she was shocked to see that it was someone she had assumed she would never see again.

"Hello, Nina. I see your time finally ran out", said Teri to a shocked Nina. Nina looked at her with confusion, and gently touched Teri's arm, as if to prove she was more than an hallucination.

"I guess it did, Teri", Nina replied, trying not to show any emotion in her voice or face. She had no idea why a long dead woman and herself, who was almost certainly dead as well, were stood in a field having a conversation.

"Did he do it, Nina?", Teri asked, and Nina wondered which answer Teri wanted.

"He shot me, once in the shoulder and then three times when I was lying on the floor. That's the last thing I remember, but the bullet wounds are gone", Nina explained. Teri's reaction was to sigh sadly.

"Lovely. Nina, I never wanted him to kill you to avenge me, even in my last few minutes", Teri told her, her eyes welling up with tears. She had died violently and certainly didn't want or need Jack to kill Nina in revenge. Noticing Nina looking down at where the bullet wounds had once been, she explained their situation.

"We're dead, Nina, and now we live in what is known as the Afterlife", Teri spoke, to which Nina raised her head quickly. Although not religious, she had assumed that if there were an afterlife, that she would never be in the same place as Teri Bauer, or any of the many people she had slaughtered.

"We all come here? No matter what a person did in their life?", Nina asked, shocked at the fact.

"Yeah. Everyone who has ever lived and died is here. We're in Nueva Los Angeles, in the Nueva California region", Teri informed her.

As Nina's body was respectfully placed into a black body bag, Jack sighed quietly to himself. He took one last look at Nina's now grey face before the bag was zipped up, and tried to put Nina out of his mind, telling himself that he could obsess over her after the virus threat was over. Making sure he had wiped all emotion from his face, he walked back into CTU and returned, as determined as ever, to his job.

Nina and Teri had walked into the town, with Nina looking at the faces of everyone they passed. Knowing that these people were now dead, she wondered if she would find anyone else she knew in her life. That was answered when a small and angry young woman came up to her.

"Nina Myers! So you finally join us in the Afterlife, then?", Jamey Farrell asked, her voice full of anger towards the woman who had took way her life and tore her away from her son. Nina looked at Jamey and decided to be sympathetic in her reply.

"Hello, Jamey. If it's any consolation, it was because of you that I was caught. There was a camera in that room, and even though I deleted the footage, I didn't know of the digital backup", she explained, and was glad to see that it calmed Jamey down somewhat.

"I know why I did what I did, Nina, but why did you?", Jamey asked. Although she had died hours before Nina had been discovered as the mole, she had been given information from Teri as well as CTU agents who had died after her.

"I made some bad choices, some bad mistakes, Jamey. I don't think I could explain it much more than that", Nina told her. She had indeed made some bad choices and mistakes, but she also knew that a normal life was not what she wanted. She craved excitement, and killing people just happened to have been part of that.

The car lit up the early morning sky as it burst into flames, completely incinerating Amador and his driver. Saunders had managed to place a bomb into the briefcase of money he had given Amador, and the plan to get rid of the greedy worm had worked. As for Amador and his driver, the biggest shock was not when they first discovered the bomb, or when it went off, but when they woke up surrounded by flowers.

"What the bloody hell is this?!", Amador spoke in his English accent, catching the attention of Nina, who made a beeline for him.

"Amador! Nice to see you again", Nina shouted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Amador looked nervous as she approached, and closed his eyes in fear and as soon as he opened them, Nina gave him one hell of a slap.

"Are we dead?', Amador asked, the question sounding strangely normal.

"Yes. Let's swap death stories, shall we? Jack killed me when I attempted to escape from CTU because you double crossed me. Now, who can I thank for killing you?", Nina spoke, one of her famous smirks growing on her face as she finished.

"Saunders, the man who was going to buy the virus from me", Amador explained. Nina snorted at the irony.

"So, the double crosser becomes the double crossee, Michael?", she replied, with no effort to hide her amusement.

Gael Ortega groaned in pain as the virus ripped the life right out of him. Praying silently in Spanish, he thanked God that his suffering was over and that he had been strong enough not to kill himself, being a devout Catholic and therefore a strong believer in the sanctity of life. As he closed his eyes for the last time, he thought of his wife.

As if he had just taken a nap inside the hotel, Gael Ortega woke up in the field just outside Nueva Los Angeles. He wondered if the place was Heaven, if he had been rewarded for his faith. Recognising Nina Myers, however, he began to doubt that.

"Hello, I'm Nina. Long story short, you're dead and this is the Afterlife", Nina told him. Gael stared at her for a few minutes in shock.

"I assume this is neither Heaven or Hell?', Gael spoke. He didn't know Nina personally, but he had heard of her and had been horrified at what she had done. Even so, he was angry at Jack for thinking he was God, thinking he had the right to take life for his own selfish reasons. Even so, he had not voiced his anger to Jack because he was not just a Catholic, but also a CTU agent and he knew that innocents needed his full attention.

"No. Who are you, by the way?", Nina asked. She had seen him at CTU, but had no idea of who he was.

"Gael Ortega. I'm, well, I was, a CTU agent. I was trying to deactivate this device that would have spread the virus through the air ventilation system of a hotel, but I was too late and I was one of the first to die", he replied. Nina looked at him and allowed herself to feel sorry for him

Ryan Chappelle looked down at the gravel with fear in his eyes. he was knelt down in the train yard, with Jack Bauer standing behind him. Saunders had ordered him to be killed and he was trying to be brave, trying to not let himself look weak or cowardly in his last few moments, although noone would have blamed him id he did. Offering to kill himself rather than place the burden on Jack, he placed the cold gun against the side of his head and tried to build up the courage, but to no avail. Handing back the gun, he closed his eyes and prayed for a quick death. The last words he heard were those of Jack pleading with God to forgive him for the sin of murdering a innocent.

Ryan Chappelle looked up at the cloudless blue sky with a mix of confusion and joy. He was still apparently alive, although the last thing he remembered was falling towards the gravel. Now, he was lying on his back in a field of flowers, with no bullet wound evident in his head. Someone staring at him caught his eyes, which widened as he recognized Nina Myers. Thanking her as she helped him up, Ryan looked around and Nina could guess what his first question would be.

"I'm sorry, Ryan, but you're dead. What happened?", Nina spoke, and both of them were shocked to hear the sincerity of Nina's words.

"Jack, he killed me. He had to, though, the terrorist who has the virus demanded my death because I was getting close to him", he explained. Noticing Amador, and then noticing that Nina had no bullet wounds and that Amador didn't have severe burns, he wondered what had happened.

"It seems that when we die, we all come here, to this place. This town we're in, it's called Nueva Los Angeles", Nina explained, pre-empting Ryan's question.

"I suppose Jack is off the hook for my murder?", Nina asked, a look of sadness as well as anger in her eyes. She couldn't care less about vengeance, but it angered her that Jack could get away with some much more than everyone else, that he didn't have to live up to the high moral standards he imposed on everyone else.

"Yes. I'm sorry, but there were no other witnesses, and Jack blocked the camera", Ryan informed her. Although he didn't really have any sympathy for the terrorist and mass murderer, he didn't believe that she deserved to be murdered.

Theresa Ortega was silently crying as she took Gael's possessions out of his desk. She had been told about his heroic actions inside the hotel, and this had comforted her greatly. Noticing the gun and a chance to take it without anyone seeing, she stood up and made her way down the stairs. Watching the man responsible for her husbands death, she looked at him with angry eyes, before pulling out the gun and shooting him twice in the chest. Dissolving into tears as she was apprehended, she screamed out that he was a murderer, that he had killed her husband and, as Stephen Saunders passed away, even though they had not identified the last courier, noone in the office blamed Theresa Ortega for her actions.

Glad to be out of his shackles, Saunders stretched his arms and closed his eyes as he did. When he opened them again, four people whose deaths he was ultimately responsible four were gazing down at him. He recognized Nina, the victim of Amador' greed and Bauer's angry vengeance. Ryan, a dedicated and very by the book government employee, whose death was supposed to slow down CTU's efforts to find Saunders but in reality had little effect. Amador, the greedy and vile arms dealer who Saunders had very little sympathy for. The fourth, he didn't know, but he knew that the man had died in severe pain because of his plot.

"Welcome to the Afterlife, Stephen", Amador stated.

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It had been a very strange few days, to say the least. Nina still hadn't gotten used to the idea that not only was there an afterlife, but that she wasn't burning in Hell like she had assumed she would be. Not being religious in life, she didn't really believe in Hell, but she had known since the day she killed for the first time that she was definitely on her way there and no amount of redeeming herself would help. So far, she liked the Afterlife, but she was troubled by a small part of her that constantly told her that she didn't belong there, didn't deserve to be living free of suffering. The scars from her numerous encounters with torturers had vanished, her porcelain skin free of the man-made blemishes she had proudly considered trophies -after all, she knew that torture was used by angry people, people who lacked the intelligence or wit to extract the information in any way that didn't involve inflicting unnecessary violence on another human being. Chuckling to herself as she realised that, in some way, she herself was a torturer - not of terrorists, of course, but of souls - she looked around the busy street she was standing in. Nueva Los Angeles was populated by people who were so different in so many aspects that the only constant was that they were dead. Noticing the CTU agent known as Gael, she wandered over to him and sat down on the marble bench next to him.

"You seem conflicted", Nina asked him, sounding strangely like a psychiatrist. She knew almost everything there was to know about psychology, but she had never imagined herself playing the part of a contemplative shrink. Gael looked at her with some confusion - the Nina he had heard about didn't seem to have time for the feelings or troubles or others, and why should she be any different now that she was dead?

"When a person lives his whole life as a devout Catholic, when he attends church regularly, when he places faith in an all mighty and all knowing God, he expects that people like him will be rewarded after death, in Heaven. People like you, at least according to my religion, should burn in Hell, suffering for their sins, but I am not in Heaven, and you are not in Hell. I have never questioned my faith, but when the good and the bad live together after death in the same place, it feels like a cruel, cruel joke", Gael replied, his eyes fixed on the cross he held in his hands. He had fashioned it out of two sticks and a string. Nina looked at him and contemplated her answer. Even though she would never understand the fervent faith religious people had, she did understand that Gael's whole belief system had been shaken. Hell, even hers had been too, what with the existence of an afterlife and all.

"Maybe this is just temporary, maybe it's like a second chance, even for the most faithful", Nina suggested, hoping that it would comfort Gael in some way. She didn't know him at all, and didn't really care much about him, but she had seen him praying, seen him holding the cross in his hands as he whispered a Spanish prayer. Gael looked at her and couldn't help but smile. Maybe he had misjudged Nina Myers, maybe there was a human within that shell.

Back in the Living World, and Jack Bauer was stood outside CTU. The sun was setting on what had been one of the more peaceful days Jack had experienced in recent years, and he was enjoying the sight of the sky and it's performance art, as the colourful clouds floated past the retreating sun. Memories of the events of a few days ago were forgotten, and he couldn't care less. Since that day, it had been painful. Trying to keep off the heroin, his crutch for months. Trying to repair the damage he had caused between him, Kim and Chase. Trying to be a friend to a distraught Michelle after Tony's arrest. Trying not to remember the few moments he had shared with Nina before he took her life from her. Although he didn't enjoy murdering people, he told himself that her death was necessary, that innocent lives could be saved if she was gone. He knew that he regretted it but then again, he had a lot of regrets when it came to Nina Myers.

The Afterlife had shorter days and nights than the Living World, and it had been night-time for a few hours now. Although sleep was no longer a necessity, the vast majority of the population still indulged in a few hours of slumber, as if it were one of the few thin strands of the rope that connected them to their previous lives as mortal human beings. Gael had slept little since his untimely arrival, and tonight was no different. Walking along the side of the gentle stream that ran through the middle of Nueva Los Angeles, he held his makeshift cross in his hands and whispered to himself in Spanish. He considered the implications of the entirety of humankind coming to the Afterlife, not being judged by a higher power, not being punished for their sins or rewarded for lives well led. He looked up at the stars that illuminated his face - the Afterlife shared the same sky as the Living World, and he could recognise the constellations - and he decided that Nina's theory could very well be right, that it was a sort of second life, second chance. He could only wonder what he had done to require such a chance.

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After a few days of being in the Afterlife, Nina had grown used to the idea of this celestial immortality, and had started to spend hours sitting beneath a huge palm tree that sheltered her from the often blazing sun that warmed the Afterlife. Most of this time was spent thinking, and most of these thoughts were about nothing in particular, although Nina found it hard to resist not thinking about Jack. She knew that by the end, he had grown to hate her with a passion few could comprehend, but that didn't stop her thinking about how it had all been when they had had the affair. Drunken nights of wild sex had been followed by mellow mornings of sweet love, and although both knew that they were never going to have more than a quick fling between them, it felt so much more special than that.

As for Chappelle, he had begun to love the Afterlife, and to his surprise found it much easier to make friends than it had been in the Living World. Maybe it was because he wasn't a bureaucrat anymore, or maybe it was because everyone was dead and everyone knew that they were going to spend eternity with each other. He had had an emotional reunion with his parents, a couple he had always admired and looked up to. He remembered his first day as a federal agent - his parents had been so proud and they had made sure that he knew about it. Rising up the ranks was easy for Ryan and he had soon found himself high up in a new federal agency, the Counter Terrorist Unit. It had been set up after the first Word Trade Centre attacks in 1993, and Ryan knew that terrorists were getting closer and closer to a major attack on US soil. Thinking back not his first day at CTU, but to his last both as a federal agent and a living mortal, he knew that he couldn't blame anyone for his death but Stephen Saunders. He had heard from people who had died after him that his death was pretty much unnecessary in the end, but he had seen and heard enough in his life and career to know that in times of crisis, sometimes you had to make hard decisions in the heat of the moment, in order to prevent a disaster.

Gael had decided not to give up his religious faith, and he had begun to construct a small church. It was actually a very impressive structure for something made by one man who had never even put up a shelf, never mind build a church. It was about the same size as a garden shed, with a wooden cross above the door and a window on one of the side walls. Inside was a bench and a notepad on which Gael was trying to write down as much of the Bible as he could think of. Although the Afterlife did have books from the Living World, it didn't have any religious texts as the Afterlife was pretty much the final destination for all of humanity.

Cale, who had met his fate at the treacherous hands of Nina in that old Mexican church, noticed her sitting under the tree, and decided to join her. Nina looked surprised as he sat down.
"Did it work out?", Cale asked. He hadn't been told about Nina's last few hours, and he didn't know for sure whether he wanted Jack to have been telling the truth or not.
"No, it didn't. I didn't have a choice, Cale. We would have both been dead in that church if I hadn't gone along with Jack", Nina replied. Although the decision to kill Cale was not one she really regretted, she had liked, and trusted, Cale a lot more than she liked or trusted her other bodyguards. Maybe it was because Cale himself was like her - he had betrayed a close confidant himself, had had to live a lie for years working undercover. Course, he was nowhere near her level, but he hadn't needed to be. Cale accepted her answer, and moved on.
"That Bauer guy, he still alive?", Cale asked, as if it were as simple as that. Jack wasn't the kind of person you could get rid of easily, and it was even harder to kill him.
"Yeah, as far as I know. He knows how to survive, it's one of the many things we had in common", Nina replied. They had been each other's other half, the yin and yang, the lightness and the darkness. Nina knew that Jack would never face any other enemy who was so like him, and maybe that was a bad thing for Jack. She knew that her being alive had given him a reason to fight, a reason for what he did for CTU and his country, and now that she was gone, he would have to find more fuel for his fire.

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Shot in the back. By his own son. For most people, that would constitute the ultimate betrayal. Although this was also true for Navi Araz, he had felt betrayed by Behrooz many times before and once more wouldn't matter a bit. As he died, he didn't think of his family, he thought of the cause he considered himself a martyr for.

A confused Navi wandered through the field, wondering if this was all just some strange hallucination. He considered the possibility of being in a coma, but he hoped that that wasn't the case. Feeling for the gunshot on his back, he was surprised to find nothing out of the ordinary. Heading for a nearby town,. he hoped that he could find some answers to the growing number of questions he was asking himself.

Looking at her oxygen tank with a sense of urgent determination, Lucy Stiles was fighting hard against a naive will to live. She told herself that death at her own hands would be far more preferable than death by nuclear fallout. Victory came and with shaking hands, she turned off her oxygen and closed her eyes to await death.

Opening her eyes, Lucy was pleasantly surprised to see not her home, but a field of flowers basking under a warm sun, and a sky of deepest blue. The scene was heavenly, but the secular Lucy was careful not to assume anything about this strange new place. Laughing with delight as she breathed unaided for the first time in years, she closed her eyes and laid amongst the flowers.

When something takes over your life and doesn't want to let go, it can cause great pain and anguish. For Dina Araz, it proved fatal. As she was shoved into another room and unceremoniously put down like a dog, she regretted only one thing - that her son had been dragged into this whole mess. Taking her final breath, she prayed that Behrooz would escape from the murky terrorist circles that he had been forced into.

A sunny sky and sweet flowers were a welcome change in scenery from the dank warehouse where Dina had met her untimely end. Standing up and surveying her surroundings, she noticed her husband. The romantic in her wanted to run and kiss him with all the passion she could find inside her. The mother in her wanted to hurt him badly for putting her beloved son in danger. As they met, both were unsure how they would react, before Dina swiftly slapped Navi hard across the face. Glaring at him, she walked away, ignoring him as he called out her name.

For Paul Raines, his death was a rather unremarkable event, seeing as he was unconscious at the time. For the people who loved him and the people who witnessed his death it was a terrible loss, one which only darkened an already bleak night.

Opening his eyes slowly, Paul quickly squinted as the light attacked his eyes. As his eyes got used to the light, he realised that it was not the light of the operating theatre, but was in fact the sun. Sitting up, he realised that he was sat in the middle of a forest of flowers, which made him think that he was high on some sort of drug. This misconception only lasted minutes, before he realised that his wounds were gone. Standing up shakily, he spotted a town and slowly made his way there.

Just inches from death, Habib Marwan was deciding whether his cause or his life should be spared. To him, the answer was never - could never - be in question and he would rather die than be captured by the Americans. Letting go of the concrete ledge, he couldn't help but laugh as he saw the shocked face of Jack Bauer as he hurtled towards the ground.

When Marwan awoke, there was no high rise parking lot in sight. All he could see as he laid on his back were tall flowers and a pure blue sky crowned by a glorious sun. Puzzled, he stood up, and the fanatic within him concluded that he had been rewarded by god for his actions and that he was in paradise. The religious man inside him was more sceptical. Islam's idea of paradise was vastly different from this place, no matter how peaceful and beautiful it was.

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A/N - The chess game between Teri and Nina is actually that of one played between Paul Morphy (who played white) and Eugene Rousseau (who played black) in New Orleans, USA in 1849. The title for the chapter is apt, as Black Queen is a nickname given to Nina Myers on the Internet. You can see this match on the Internet, but I would read this first if you want to look at the match, as it would spoil the ending.

Nina and Teri were sat at the large oak table in Teri's cottage, which was in the northern outskirts of Nueva Los Angeles. In between them was a chessboard and a gulf of anger, hatred and despair. Setting up their pieces, Nina playing black and Teri white, it was as if the last moments of Teri's life were wiped from their memories. They stole quick glances at each other, neither of them willing to break the silence and speak first.

Their first moves were solely concentrated on pawns, and it was only when Teri captured one of Nina's pawns that the conversation they had planned to have commenced.

"If I hadn't heard where you were going to go, Nina, would you have spared my life?", Teri asked, finding it hard to control her emotions as she did.

'Killing you, that is my biggest regret. Not because of Jack or because you were a civilian, but because it was unnecessary and overcautious. All you heard was one simple word, but you died because of it", Nina replied with sincerity.

Returning to their game, they began a long streak of movement across the ornately carved board. Each move was calculated well and, as both had a considerable talent for playing chess, it was proving to be a fiercely fought match. Eventually another piece was taken as Nina's queen captured Teri's knight.

"Can you forgive me for the affair?", was Nina's question, and Teri was shocked. Like Nina had done before, she took a few minutes to contemplate her answer.

"I still hate you for it, Nina, and I probably always will in some way, but when Jack comes here, I will certainly try to forgive you", Teri responded. She wasn't sure if she could ever truly forgive Nina, but knew that she had forever to think about it.

The next move was another capture as Teri's king took one of Nina's pawns, and it was her turn to ask a question.

"Were you always a terrorist, even before you worked at CTU?", Teri asked.

"I was approached in college and soon became a sleeper agent. i was activated a few times over the years whilst I worked both at Division and at CTU and I killed many people, but I never killed a civilian before I murdered you, Teri", Nina responded with great honesty.

The game continued, with the tense atmosphere now far more relaxed now that they both understood each other a little bit more. Nina's queen captured one of Teri's pawns.

"Are you glad that Jack avenged your death?", Nina asked, but the aghast look on Teri's face soon made her regret asking the question.

"Seriously, Nina? You think I'm glad that you were murdered to avenge my death? No, Nina, I'm not at all glad, and I'm upset that you could ever think that", Teri responded, anger in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Teri, I know I shouldn't have asked that question. I mean, you didn't even seem that angry with me when I first arrived here", Nina replied, and the change in Teri's features was a relief, and she and Teri silently decided to move on.

Carrying on with their game, the next piece to be captured was soon taken, as Teri's bishop moved in to grab Nina's knight.

"What if your cover was never blown? Would you have carried on working at CTU?", Teri asked. It was a far less emotionally charged question than the last.

"Yes, for as long as my employers needed me to", Nina replied, a rather mundane answer for a rather mundane question.

Returning to their game, it wasn't long before Nina's king captured Teri's rook.

"Were you and Jack happy again?", Nina asked.

"Yes, we were. There were still a few problems that we still needed to work out, but for the most part we were happy. We will be happy again one day, Nina", Teri replied. The Afterlife had a way of making mortal problems so insignificant, and both women knew that whatever happened on Earth did not have to be carried around like an albatross around the neck in the Afterlife.

The game was coming to it's conclusion and, a few moves later, Teri's knight captured one of Nina's pawns. She had held back so far, but Teri wanted so much to ask one question, and decided that it was now or never.

"Did you love him?", Teri asked, much to Nina's shock.

"In some way, yes I did, but I always knew that he loved you more and that the affair was just a way of helping preserve my cover", Nina replied. Teri smiled as she listened to Nina and, for the first time in so many years, she felt respect for her.

A couple of moves later, and Teri moved her queen to take victory.

"Checkmate", she said with a smile.

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A/N – These are the Season Five deaths. Although he did “die” in S5, I haven't included Tony Almeida for obvious reasons.

It was a fine morning and David Palmer was enjoying the sun soaked scene from the window of his brother Wayne's penthouse apartment in Los Angeles. Sadly for him, decisions made and secrets known struck him down in bullet form. Dead before he even hit the floor, on of America's greatest Presidents of recent times was the victim of a nameless, faceless assassin. As Wayne Palmer cradled his dead brother's head in his arms, he yelled for help.

Although he had been indoors and several floors up, David awoke to find himself lying in a field. Standing up and realising the impossibility of the situation he found himself in, he could only assume that he was indeed dead, and if any part of him was still unsure of this, it was sated by the sight of a small woman staring at him.

“David?”, Sherry called as she walked towards him. She knew that it had only been a few years since her own death, and that David Palmer was fairly young and healthy. Wrapping her slight frame around him, she couldn't bear to wonder what had happened to him.

“I was shot, Sherry, in the neck by a sniper. Oh God, what Wayne must be going through right now!”, David spoke, his voice tinged with sorrow and concern. Sherry lifted her head to look at his face.

“Wayne? Did he witness it?”, Sherry enquired. She knew that Wayne had witnessed her death, and wouldn't have wished witnessing two murders on anyone.

As David and Sherry walked into Nueva Los Angeles, people were astonished to see the former President. Those who had lived through his term in office had only positive things to say about David Palmer. Many people welcomed him as he passed them by, and David couldn't help but feel as if he were President again.

The assassination of David Palmer was now major news across America, if not the world, and Michelle Dessler and Tony Almeida had both been horrified by the news of his death. Michelle, ever the patriot, had decided to go to CTU and offer her help, even though the couple were meant to attend a meeting regarding the future of their private security firm. She knew that Tony would decide to go with her and she was proven right as Tony followed her out of the door. Seconds later, the explosion destroyed their hopes, their future and their lives. The last thing Michelle sensed was the voice of her husband. The last thing Tony Almeida sensed before losing conciousness was the sound of the distant sirens of an ambulance.

The front garden of her house was not exactly a gardener's paradise, and as Michelle opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed were the flowers. Groaning as she slowly stood up, she remembered the blast and collapsed back onto the ground, where she sat for a while, wondering what was happening to her.

“Tony?”, she called out, before repeating herself when he didn't reply.

“He's not here, Michelle', a female voice spoke from a short distance away. Recognising the voice, she stood up again and looked straight at Nina Myers, the women who had used Tony, betrayed him and hurt him when all he had done was love her.

“Nina? Where are we? What's going on?”, Michelle spoke in a neutral, emotionless tone. Although she would readily admit to detesting Nina, she reasoned that Nina could be of great help to her at that point in time.

“Whever we go when we die, Michelle”, Nina responded. It could only have been a few years since she was murdered, and already so many people she had known via CTU had come to the Afterlife since then.

“Is there a god, Nina?”, Michelle asked. Not that she was religious, but seeing as there was an afterlife, maybe there was indeed some sort of higher power at work in the universe.

“As far as anyone here knows, no”, Nina replied, and she couldn't care less, as she wasn't about to start believing in any such thing.

“Do you know what happened to Palmer, Michelle?”, Nina enquired.

“Yeah, I was on my way to CTU, to see if they needed mine and Tony's help”, Michelle replied. Nina nodded then pointed towards the town.

“Come on, I'll take you to Nueva Los Angeles. There's so many people there that have a connection to CTU”, Nina said. Michelle thought of Mason, Paula, Gael. The people she had worked with who had lost their lives and now were living free of the terrorist threat.

The terrorists had managed to gain access to the building, and they left a present for CTU – one whole canister of Sentox nerve gas. By the time people had managed to get to the airtight rooms made for such situations, it was already too late for many, who suffocated to death and soon found themselves in the Afterlife. Edgar Stiles was running through the bullpit, desperate to reach one of the rooms, but his efforts would go unrewarded. As the gas took hold of him, his eyes met Chloe's, and the gaze they shared together comforted him as he died

Having breathed in toxic gas, Edgar could only assume that he was hallucinating when he found himself in a field of flowers. Slowly getting up, he wondered just how much detail could be found in a hallucination when he noticed the town on the horizon, complete with people and vehicles. As he walked into the town, he passed people that he thought he recognised, and he was shocked to hear someone calling out his name.

“Edgar?”, Michelle called as she noticed him. She felt sorry for him, as he was harmless and had only done his best to help his country. Turning around, Edgar's face lit up as he noticed Michelle.

“Michelle? But I thought you were dead?”, Edgar spoke, before coming to the logical conclusion that he himself was also dead, before Michelle confirmed it.

“We both are. Did something happen at CTU?”, Michelle asked. There had been a large influx of CTU staff over the past hour or so, and it wasn't hard to assume that something had happened inside CTU.

“The terrorists got in and put Sentox nerve gas in the ventilation system”, Edgar explained, and Michelle could only think of the bomb attack that killed so many of CTU's best agents, the hotel where hundreds had died due to or because of the Cordilla virus.

“If we're dead, do you think I could find my mother?”, Edgar asked hopefully. His mother had had to take the brave decision to kill herself rather than suffer the effects of nuclear fallout just a year and a half before.

“Sure, Edgar. It shouldn't be too hard to find her”, Michelle replied, only too happy to help him.

Knowing that he was to blame for this whole mess, Lynn McGill died also knowing that he had no choice in the matter. Having managed to regain control of CTU's ventilation system, he felt redeemed in some way, but knew that he could never make up for the deaths of nearly 60 people. As the gas infected him, he told himself that it was the least he deserved.

Lynn rubbed his eyes as he struggled to comprehend his situation. Standing up and looking around his new surroundings, he could only wonder where he was. Was god so merciful, so forgiving, thet he would allowed him to ascend to Heaven, even if he did sacrifice his life for the greater good? Lynn noticed the nearby town and realised that any questions he had would be answered there.

For one short, sweet, blissful moment, Harry Swinton believed that he had been saved from a painful death. For one wonderful moment, he knew that he would see his family again, and that he had worried about death for nothing. Then he died, and Harry didn't believe in miracles, or anything, anymore.

Hearing Lynn mumbling to himself, Harry stood up and saw where Lynn was, before deciding to approach him.

“Lynn?”, he called out, catching the other man's attention.

“Don't ask me where we are, Harry. All I know is that we're dead for sure, and that the town over there may hold the answers to our questions”, Lynn replied. Both of the men continued on towards Nueva Los Angeles.

Standing on top of the submarine, Christopher Henderson was face to face with Jack Bauer. He knew that Jack was a tough guy to escape from under normal circumstances, but if you had killed someone he loved, or betrayed him, then you were dead no matter what. Knowing that if he wanted to live, he had to kill Jack Bauer, he raised his gun and fired at Jack. The problem for Christopher was that the gun jammed, and as Jack returned his fire from a gun that didn't jam, Christopher wondered if he deserved it or not.

When the last thing you remember is watching the stars whilst dying of gunshot wounds on top if a submarine late at night, the last thing you expect is to suddenly find yourself lying in a field staring into a sunny sky. Christopher had no idea how he was supposed to react to this place. Was this Heaven? Inspecting his body and finding no bullet wounds, he could have considered himself to be slightly crazy, or maybe dismiss the shooting as some twisted dream. Instead, he decided to consider himself a dead man, and that he was now standing in the life after death.

[skycloud86]

Under a majestic oak tree on the edge of town was an ornate stone bench. Sat on the bench were two men, both of whom had enjoyed a position of power and authority during their lives. One of these men was Ryan Chappelle, former director of CTU Los Angeles, shot dead on the orders of some psychopathic terrorist. The other was former President David Palmer, shot by a sniper in a place he should have felt safe.

“It's good to properly meet you, Ryan”, David spoke sincerely. Although they had met a couple of times before back in the Living World, their meetings were always part of their jobs, never as two men who could see each other as more than just another bureaucrat or just another politician. Ryan nodded in agreement. He too was glad to meet the man who had authorised his death, because he sought answers to questions that had stayed with him ever since he was told of his impending death.

“There was something I was meaning to ask you, David. Why did you give in to Saunders?”, Ryan asked, hoping that the former President would answer as a human and not as a politician.

“Because I believed, for just one moment, that one death was an acceptable price to pay to save thousands of lives. That one moment of weakness cost you your life, Ryan. America does not, should not, negotiate with terrorists, but I did that day”he said, not with the voice of a politician, but with the voice of a human owning up to his mistake.

“When Jack Bauer shot me, do you know what he said? He asked for forgiveness from god, yet he never did that when he killed Nina Myers, or Victor Drazen, or anyone else. To be honest, I feel sorry for him, because if he had been in your position, he would have sacrificed my life without consideration”, Ryan said sadly. He wondered how long it would be before death caught up with Bauer, and thought of the day when he, and all Jack's other victims, could confront their murderer and demand answers.

“That day you died, my ex wife Sherry was shot dead, and I decided not to run for another term in office. Not only had the mother of my children been murdered, but I had failed so many Americans that day and I knew that, no matter what, that I never wanted to experience another day like that again”, David told him.

As the sun sank into the horizon and the sky darkened, David and Ryan watched as the day died. It was silent apart from distant voices from the town, and they relaxed and enjoyed the view. Minutes later, the conversation began once more.

“Why did you not tell me? Why leave it up to Jack?”, Ryan enquired. He had heard of Saunders' demand from his executioner rather than his judge, and he had felt like nothing more than a pawn on a chessboard.

“I always knew that it was wrong to obey Saunders' demand. Deep down, I regretted my decision from the very moment I had made it. Making someone else tell you was probably my way of distancing myself from my incorrect judgement”, David replied. That decision had affected him for years. To those close to him, it was obvious why he became a recluse on the same day each and every year. Nothing had gone right that day, and it didn't feel like a victory at all. Almost a thousand dead, lives torn apart, people never the same again. David knew that the Nightfall operation was the butterfly that had caused the hurricane with a flap of its fateful wings, just like it had years earlier when Jack's wife was killed and David's marriage was destroyed.

“I tried to do it myself, you know. I even had the gun pressed against my own head and I was struggling with myself to pull the trigger and not to delay the inevitable, but I couldn't do it. Even though I knew I was going to die, at my own hands or at someone else's, the will to survive was too strong. Perhaps I realised that I hadn't done a lot of the things I wanted to do with my life, that I was scared that I wasn't leaving behind anything to the world, even though I had three beautiful children who I couldn't have loved more”, Ryan said, glad to be expressing feelings he had kept caged inside his mind so long.

“I thought you told Jack that you had no family?”, David asked, wondering why Ryan would fail to remember his family in the minutes before his death.

“I did tell him that, but only because I didn't want them to know the truth, that I died because a terrorist decided I had to. Kinda silly really, seeing as they would have found out anyway, plus I always had my wedding ring on. Me and Victoria, we were childhood sweethearts just like you and Sherry. Went to the same schools, lived in the same street, had the same interests”, Ryan replied, a smile growing on his face as he reminisced.

Standing up, David bid Ryan goodbye before setting off to his hotel. As he walked off, Ryan felt peace for the first time since he had arrived in the Afterlife as he sat there alone on the ornate bench under the majestic oak tree and, as he allowed himself to shed a tear for the people he had left behind in the Living World, he smiled for the people he had in the Afterlife. He thought of the future for himself, and resolved that it should not be filled with sorrow over what had happened in the Living World, but instead filled with happiness that he could spend eternity free from the violence and horrors of the world he had witnessed.

[skycloud86]

Michelle watched as the cab pulled up nearby. On the side was an advertisement for a newspaper called the New Boston Times, so she assumed that the cab had come from New Boston, which was many hundreds of miles to the east. Out of the vehicle came a middle aged man, with dark brown hair and expressive blue eyes and a woman of similar age who had long black hair and cat-like green eyes. She watched them as they got their luggage out of the cab. Spotting Michelle, the couple walked up to her.

“Hello, miss. My name is Donald Myers, and this is my wife, Marylyn. We're here to visit out daughter, Nina. Do you know her?”, Donald asked, putting down his luggage and holding out his hand to shake Michelle's. Shocked to meet Nina's parents but trying hard to hide it, Michelle cleared her throat.
“Yeah, I know her both now and back when we were alive, in a way. She's over there, in that small wood”, Michelle replied, pointing to a group of oak trees to the west.
“Thanks, miss?”, Marylyn asked, her Chicago accent contrasting with Donald's Boston accent.
“Michelle. Michelle Dessler”, Michelle replied. As they bid her goodbye and walked towards the wood, Michelle could only wonder how much they knew about what Nina had done in her life. Had they heard about any of the crimes she had committed? If so, was this the first time they had seen her in years?

Under her favourite tree, Nina was sat with her eyes closed, enjoying the peaceful solitude she had grown to love in the Afterlife. A voice called out her name, and her eyes slowly opened, before widening as she saw her parents.

“Hello, Nina”, Donald spoke, helping his daughter to her feet. Having heard all about Nina's terrorism, he was trying hard to keep loving his daughter like a father should, but he knew that on some days that was just impossible for him. Thankfully for him, today wasn't one of those days.

“Hello dad, mom”, Nina replied almost without emotion. She could only wonder how much they heard, and she found herself almost embarrassed to be with her parents again.

In Nueva San Gabriel, another reunion was taking place between parent and child. Edgar Stiles was ecstatic to see his mother again as they embraced each other. It had been a terrible day when the San Gabriel Island power plant had gone into meltdown. Even though he had tried his best to get help for his mother, resources had been stretched thin and he had had to say goodbye to his mother in a tearful last telephone conversation. Deciding not to let the nuclear fallout decide how and when she should die, Lucy Stiles had made the brave choice to take her own life.

Nina and her parents were now in a hotel room and, knowing that her parents would have many questions to ask her, Nina was considering how she should act and what she should say. Should she be truthful and give them honest answers, no matter how bad those answers would be, or should she sugarcoat it, make her and her actions seem less evil?

“Did we do something wrong, Nina? Why did you do the things you did?”, Marylyn Myers asked her daughter a question that had been haunting her since she had learnt the truth about her daughter's actions. Nina was trying hard not to roll her eyes at this oh so predictable question. Of course they had done nothing wrong – apart from her dad dying when she was just 14, her childhood had been close to perfect.

“No, you didn't do anything wrong, mom. I just made some bad choices, silly choices, and I got sucked in to a murky world from which I couldn't escape”, Nina replied honestly. She really hadn't realised just how deep she had gone until it was too late, and had forced herself to control her feelings and emotions so tightly that they could only be shown in moments of true happiness or safety. She wondered if this was why, when her employers had offered her the sleeper agent job at CTU, she had taken it immediately.

In Nueva San Gabriel, Edgar and his mother were talking about almost anything. Lucy had been so proud of her son due to his job at CTU, and knew that he had made a big difference. Looking at him lovingly, she realised that now her whole family were in the Afterlife, free forever from the Living World.

“Your father would love to meet you again, Edgar”, Lucy said. His father, also called Edgar, had died many years before his mother did in a car crash that had left the family torn apart and emotionally shattered. The last memory that Edgar had of his father was waving goodbye as he left for college that morning. The last time he had seen his father was at the funeral, where his father had looked so lifelike in his coffin, but Edgar knew that his father was truly dead, because there was no smile on his face.

The conversation between Nina and her parents had gone on for some hours now, and Nina was feeling more and more relieved, perhaps even more human again. Now that she had talked to her parents about her terrorist activity, she felt like she could let it go and never feel like a terrorist again. She realised just how much her parents loved her, how much she loved them, and that she had been given a new life free from the darkness she had once been a part of.

[Kasia]

I've become addicted to this fanfic series. I can't wait until Michelle meets David Emerson.

A couple of points. I think the chess game is my fave chapter so far, and Black Queen was the nickname given to Nina by this website in paricular. Matt and I used to play a lot of chess together on Yahoo games during the season one.

When Christopher Henderson died, I don't think his gun jammed, I think Jack had removed the bullets from the clip and given him an unloaded gun.

Anyway, I am really enjoying Ryan Chappelle's more joyful and optimistic persona in the Afterlife, as well as the humanization of Nina and her quest to forgive herself and seek forgiveness from those she wronged.

I am looking forward to seeing some Mason action in the afterlife. I can't wait until Palmer meets Henderson. And Graem Bauer. And what will Teri say to Phillip Bauer?

What will teri say when Paul Raines tells her that jack moved on with Audrey.

I think the idea of a fic series featuring only dead characters is really clever. Oh and can you make Milo and Jamey meet in the afterlife? I'd love to see them have a relationship.

[skycloud86]

I've become addicted to this fanfic series. I can't wait until Michelle meets David Emerson.

A couple of points. I think the chess game is my fave chapter so far, and Black Queen was the nickname given to Nina by this website in paricular. Matt and I used to play a lot of chess together on Yahoo games during the season one.

When Christopher Henderson died, I don't think his gun jammed, I think Jack had removed the bullets from the clip and given him an unloaded gun.

Anyway, I am really enjoying Ryan Chappelle's more joyful and optimistic persona in the Afterlife, as well as the humanization of Nina and her quest to forgive herself and seek forgiveness from those she wronged.

I am looking forward to seeing some Mason action in the afterlife. I can't wait until Palmer meets Henderson. And Graem Bauer. And what will Teri say to Phillip Bauer?

What will teri say when Paul Raines tells her that jack moved on with Audrey.

I think the idea of a fic series featuring only dead characters is really clever. Oh and can you make Milo and Jamey meet in the afterlife? I'd love to see them have a relationship.

Those are some good ideas for future chapters.

[skycloud86]

Jack could see the look in Curtis' eyes, and recognised it straight away. The look of anguish, the look of vengeance so close and near, yet Jack knew that he couldn't let his friend kill Assad. He hoped, even prayed, that Curtis would relent and free Assad, but it wasn't to be. As for Curtis, he was watching Jack carefully, trying to predict which way Jack was going to go. Eventually, Jack chose the way that killed his friend.

Curtis awoke in the field and saw no sign of Jack, or Assad. Getting up, he looked around, and realised that wherever he was, it was because of Jack. Angry that Jack could choose a terrorist over a friend, but also in some way relieved to be free of the pain that Assad had caused him, Curtis decided that it would be best to find out where he was, why he was. Walking towards a nearby town , he hoped that Jack's choice was the right one.

Still in pain from his sudden interrogation at the hands of his own brother, Graem Bauer was in no mood to forgive Jack. All he had ever done was protect the company, and this was his thanks? Jack had never shown an interest in BXJ. His own father was now talking to him, and he couldn't help but feel embarrassed as he tried to defend himself. He had told Jack about Palmer, about the CTU agents who had died, and the look on Jack's face was one of pure shock, and Jack's reaction was one of pure disgust and anger. Noticing that his father was now standing at his side and not behind him, he turned and saw him messing with the IV. It wasn't until his father's long hand clamped over his mouth and the painful drug rushed through his veins that he realised he was going to die at his own father's hands.

Free of his restraints, Graem realised that he was also free of shelter. Not in his house anymore, but in a sea of flowers. The pain had gone now, and Graem could not understand his situation. Where was he? Still shocked that his own father was capable of killing him, he wondered if he could have taken a different path in life. One different to both his father and Jack, but he knew that he had made his choice, and could only hope this wife and son were safe.

He felt proud at this moment in time. Hamri Al Assad was about to renounce his terrorist path and prove to the world that he wanted peace. Just minutes to go, and he would soon speak words that would have great influence in the places where terrorism was spawned and nurtured by the conditions of millions of people. How ironic, then, that the terrorist would die in a bomb exploion. Managing, hoping, to get President Palmer out of harm's way, Assad had no chance of survival, and neither did his message.

Had his intentions been good enough to be rewarded with a place in Paradise? Assad was sure that this beautiful place was indeed heaven, but how could he, a terrorist and mass murderer, ever be given a reward such as this? He had led a life of violence, thinking that his politics, his beliefs, could only be forced and not taught or sold to people. Now he was dead because of an act of violence, unsure of his place in the universe.

Abu Fayed's day had started with him finally getting the chance to avenge his brother by killing Jack Bauer. His day, the final one on Earth for him, was ended by a vengeful Jack killing him. He knew that he had resisted Jack as much as posisble, but as the makeshift steel noose strangled the breath out of him, he also knew that he had lost. He felt angry at Jack, angry at himself for allowing Jack the chance to kill him.

Noticing Hamri Al Assad wandering around the field he was stood in, Abu Fayed felt angry, and as he walked up to his former friend and colleague, he felt nothing but pissed off at the traitor.
“Hamri, you betrayed us all!”, Fayed shouted in Arabic, annoyed. Assad looked at him with puzzled eyes.
“That is your own opinion, Fayed, but I betrayed noone, because violence is not a person, and it is certainly never a friend”, Assad spoke, trying not to look down on Fayed. He pitied the guy, mostly because he still believed in the path of voilence, that would never have helped them realise their goals.
“So you turned a new leaf, Assad? Are you not the man you once were, the man who would think nothing of sacrificing women and children for your cause?', Fayed yelled at him.
“That man died as soon as I realised that we were only hurting ourselves”, Assad replied, much to Fayed's disgust and, as Fayed walked off, Assad couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

He truly loved her, and that was his last thought as he was shot in the head and, as Milo Pressman slumped to the floor, he hoped that Nadia would not be hurt by the invaders. It had been a quick decision, to stand up in Nadia's place and protect them from these terrorists. He knew that it was likely that he would die, either for lying or for being in charge, but love had intoxicated him and was making the choice for him.

Waking up in the Afterlife, Milo's first thought was of Nadia. He felt the sadness that he had died, but also felt happiness that he had stood up and saved someone else from harm. Noticing the town, he walked towards it, hoping that somewhere, somehow, he could drown his sorrows and feel only the happiness.

He had been shot by his own grandson and now it was looking like his own son was going to finish him off, or at least take him into custody. A small part of him knew that he deserved it, of course, but for Phillip Bauer, what was happening to him was undeserved. As Jack escaped the oil rig, Phillip was alone in the darkness, waiting for the jets to blow him into oblivion. It was a mercifully quick death for him, and as the oil rig exploded, Jack watched sadly. He had lost his brother and father in one day, one hellish day.

The dark sea had been replaced by a dark field for Phillip Bauer and he had no idea what or where or why. Confused, Phillip could not think of why he was now standing in this field. He wasn't stupid, he knew that there was no way he could have survived the blast, but then surely he should be dead, with no conciousness? Looking up at the moon and stars which illuminated his elderly face, he pondered his existence.

[skycloud86]

A/N – This chapter takes place shortly after Season Six

He was drunk, and his driving showed it. Speeding across Los Angeles in the middle of the night, Jack Bauer had no idea where he was heading, and no idea what he was doing. It was only when he ran a red light that his journey was brought to a swift and painful end, when a truck slammed straight into the side of his SUV.

Not knowing what had hit him, Jack was firstly preoccupied with the question of what had happened, before he became preoccupied with the question of where the hell he was. Los Angeles had been replaced by a dark field and a star-filled sky. Searching for signs of life other than himself, Jack noticed the nearby town, and began walking towards it. The only thing he was sure of at this point was who he was.

“We've got a male in his fourties, injured in a RTA!,” the medic yelled as Jack was rushed into the ER. Seriously injured, with fractures on every limb and abrasions all over his worn-out body, Jack was in a deep coma.

As Jack wandered into Nueva Los Angeles, the sun was beginning to rise and, as he walked past one cottage, he stopped suddenly. Moving backwards before staring into a window, he saw her. Not sure whether it was an hallucination or a simple mistake, Jack went to the front door. Finding it unlocked, he rushed inside. As his eyes met hers, Jack recognised her, but had no idea what emotion he should, or could, feel.

“Nina,” Jack whispered, shocked at the sight of her. He slowly walked over to her and gently brushed her cheek with his hand. Noticing the tears in her eyes, he became concerned.

“Jack, you're dead?,” Nina spoke quietly, and Jack's face paled. He hadn't considered the possibility that he was dead. Even the most devout wanted to stay alive, and even the sight of a person he had killed himself didn't make him wonder if he was indeed dead. Looking at her sad face, he realised that she was also confused.

“Jack, you're transparent! Like a ghost!,” Nina said. Jack took note of Nina';s pale but certainly not transparent skin, then looked down at his hand, as well as the floor through his hand. Nina looked thoughtful for a minute, before realising why Jack was transparent.

“You can't be dead! You must be alive, Jack. Try and wake up!,” Nina urged him, but Jack's thoughts had turned to another woman. Shaking his head, he turned to leave, and Nina didn't need to ask.

“She's a few doors down, Jack, the one with the blue door,” Nina informed him, and she couldn't help but smile as he thanked her whilst walking out of her house. She had seen and heard of people in Jack's situation before. People in deep comas who were hanging onto life. Usually, the Afterlifers could convince the person to return to the Living World, but there were some who had chosen to stay in the Afterlife, and it was apparent when the person died, because their skin would return to normal.

Teri's door was locked, so Jack knocked a couple of times. For the first time in years, Jack truly feel happiness as he was reunited with her. As she noticed him, she embraced him tightly, but Jack could sense the frown on her face.

“You're in a coma, Jack, and I know you want to stay here with me, but you should wake up and live out the rest of your life,” Teri mumbled. Although she too would love for Jack to stay, she didn't want to be the cause of his death.

“I need you, Teri,” Jack spoke in a whisper. Teri moved back and looked at him. She saw the pain in his eyes.

“I need you too, Jack, but not yet. Please go back, Jack, I'll be waiting for you,” she promised him, before kissing him on the lips. It seemed like their very first kiss, like they were childhood sweethearts once more.

Bill Buchanan and Chloe O'Brian were at Jack's bedside. Chloe's face was stained with tears, although she had managed not to vocalise her sorrow. Bill was looking at Jack's damaged face, and he wondered if Jack had the strength, or the will, to fight.

“What do the doctors think?,” Chloe asked Bill.

“They say the next 24 hours will be critical, and that unless he wakes up or shows any sign of improvement soon, he could die,” Bill responded with a solemn voice. He watched as Chloe's lips quivered, her eyes staring at Jack's face. Wiping away a tear from his eyes, he wondered if Morris had had any luck contacting Kim Bauer.

Some of the former friends, co-workers and foes of Jack stared at him as he walked down the street with Teri. He noticed them, and he wondered just how wonderful the place must be if even the worst terrorists were living alongside former federal agents. He didn't have much faith in god anymore, and he wasn't sure whether this was the work of god or just a natural progression, a new world.

“How do I go back, Teri?,” Jack asked her. A part of him hoped that it was too late, but another part of him knew that he had unfinished business, that his time wasn't up yet.

“Fight, Jack. Fight to live,” Teri replied.

Nina watched as Jack and Teri passed by. She had been surprised by his reaction to her when he had seen her, and a part of her had almost expected his hand to wrap around her neck or even for a gun to come out of nowhere. She had seen just how weary he was, and from what she had been told of Jack after her death, she was surprised that he hadn't come to the Afterlife sooner.

Morris was now at the hospital with Chloe and Jack. He hadn't been able to find Kim, and he felt like he had let Jack down. He frowned as he saw the extent of Jack's injuried and, as a former alcoholic, knew that he had once come close to being in that exact situation. Squeezing Chloe's hand gently as he sat down next to her, he smiled as he looked into her watery blue eyes.

“He's gonna be OK, Chloe, you know he will,” Morris told her, confident that he would indeed pull through. Since he had first met Jack, he had seen the guy do and go through stuff that any other person would never experience in a thousand lifetimes.

“Morris, I've never seen him so bad,” Chloe replied. Even after his months of torture in a Chinese prison Jack hadn't been so beaten up. Worried that her friend had finally entered his final days, she couldn't bear to lose him.

“Teri, I'm gonna miss you, you know that?,” Jack whispered. He felt almost as if a whole new life force was flowing into him, and he knew that he was going to wake up soon.

“I'll miss you too, Jack, but when your time is up, I'll be here,” Teri promised. They sahred one final kiss before Jack would go back.

Chloe was asleep in her chair when the machines began to react. Waking up suddenly but with no idea of what the machines were doing, she quickly woke Bill and Morris. They watched as Jack began to cough, before slowly opening his eyes, much to the trio's delight.

“Welcome back, Jack!,” Chloe said, before planting a gentle kiss on his cheek.

[skycloud86]

A/N – Someone posted an anonymous comment on the last chapter basically writing this fic off as childish and unrealistic. Well, whoever that was, you didn't have the balls/ovaries to sign in to criticise my work in that little comment of yours, so this author's note is all the response you'll get.

Thanks to Kasia at Almeida Is God for the idea of Jamey and Milo having a relationship and wanting Mason to be involved.

Milo saw her for the first time in years and as he sat down next to her, he remembered the last time he and Jamey Farrell had been alive and in the same place. Sure, they argued a lot, but it was more like a brother-sister, sibling rivalry kind of relationship. As they looked at each other and smiled, both were speechless. Neither knew exactly what to say to the other, as if they were strangers who had met by chance.

“It's good to see you again, Jamey,” Milo said, truly meaning it. For him, the worst event that day had been seeing Jamey being rushed out of CTU.

“Good to see you too,” Jamey replied. Their rivalry had always been respectful, and both of them knew that they were equals.

“I can't believe she did it,” Milo said. He wasn't just talking about Jamey's murder, but also about Nina's betrayal. He had seen her as loyal, intelligent and very sexy – although he would never have admitted to the slight crush he had had on her – and to find out what Nina Myers really was, it changed him. He had become wary of the kind of people Nina had been like, and when he was at CTU Denver, this wariness had almost cost him his job.

“She fooled us all, Milo,” Jamey replied. She had never suspected Nina of being anything other than loyal to her country, even after the key card incident. Even when she had been found out, Nina seemed firm but sympathetic.

One of the main social hubs of Nueva Los Angeles was a bar called Cielo, the Spanish word for Heaven. It was pretty much like any bar back in the Living World, and was a spacious building which could hold hundreds of people. One of those hundreds was Nina, who was sat by herself nursing a drink. Noticing her, George Mason decided to join her.

“Hello, Nina,” he said in a smooth voice as he slid onto the cushioned wooden bench that served as seating. Nina smiled at him, and knew that even in the Afterlife, Mason wanted to get into her pants.

“Hello, George,” Nina replied. If George had known she was considering starting a relationship with him before her arrest – strictly for her cover, of course – he would have creamed himself many times over.

“We never really got to know each, did we? I mean, outside of work and all,” George asked. Most of what he knew of Nina was either from what other people had told him, or their few meetings at Division, CTU and after her arrest. As he looked into her deep blue eyes, he realised that the Nina in front of him wasn't Nina the actress who had fooled everyone, nor was she Nina the terrorist, who had been pardoned for her help in finding the nuke. It was the real Nina, and so far George found the real Nina very, very attractive.

“Nope,” Nina replied, trying to keep the mood light. She took a sip from her drink and wondered just what she would think of George if she did get to know him. At work, he had always been a bit sleazy, but she hoped that he wasn't truly like that.

“I always used to wonder why you were so defensive of Jack, but now I know. Your cover was helped by staying close to him,” George said. Back when they were both alive and working at CTU, it was obvious to everyone that something had happened between Nina and Jack. After Nina's arrest, with the benefit of hindsight, Nina's true motive for being Jack's friend had seemed so clear , much to George's private disappointment. He knew that someone who had seen Nina's loyalty then found out why that loyalty was so strong would probably be very cynical afterwards.

[skycloud86]

As morning arrived in Nueva LA, Nina stretched out as she began to wake. Her eyes opened slowly as she felt a warm body next to hers, and a smile grew on her face as she remembered probably the most passionate night she had experienced in years. Sitting up, she looked at Mason, who was snoring quietly. Looking out of the window, which was wide open – as was the custom during the summer in the Afterlife, as crime was virtually non-existent – she could see the sun peeking over the nearby forest, where the trees were swaying gently in the breeze.

“Good morning, Nina,” Mason spoke as he woke up, his deep blue eyes meeting hers. She planted a gentle kiss on his forehead, before he sat up. Looking at her, he was glad to see Nina, and not the terrorist who had betrayed them all.

“Good morning as well, George,” Nina replied. Her opinion of Mason had changed drastically in the Afterlife. She had, back when they were both alive and working at CTU, seen him as a sad, middle-aged man who was a bit sleazy and a bit greedy, but now she saw a warm-hearted man who she was beginning to find very attractive.

A few streets away, and a similar scene was being played out in another house. Jamey and Milo had also spent the night together, and their opinion of the other had also changed for the better. As the pair kissed passionately, their rivalry was forgotten.

Nina and Mason were now dressed, and were outside enjoying the warm sunlight. One of the benefits of the Afterlife was that the sun was now harmless, so there was no need to be careful. It was also safe to look at the sun, a fact which had been discovered by a rather foolish but very lucky early Afterlifer some centuries before.

Meanwhile, in a large building on the other side of the city, scientist Sarah Wersching was close to making a huge breakthrough. For nearly 40 years, she had been hard at work attempting to bridge the gap between the Afterlife and the Living World. There was only one-way traffic so far, but Sarah strongly believed that it didn't have to be like that forever. Sarah, a diminutive woman with hazel eyes and auburn hair, had been one of the US's top scientists back when she was alive, and had worked on the Manhattan Project in her twenties. She had met a terrible fate in 1954 when she became ill with cancer and died, only to find herself in the Afterlife. She had never accepted that she couldn't ever return to the Living World, even when her husband Sean, her sons Kevin and Wayne eventually joined her. Sarah was busy writing in her notepad when a strange beep came from one of her computers. Looking at the monitor, her eyes widened.

“Sean, come here! I think it's worked!,” Sarah shouted, her eyes glued to the data on the screen. A few minutes later, a tall man with blonde hair and blue eyes walked into the room. Joining Sarah at the computer, he studied the data carefully.

“You've done it. You've bridged the gap!,” Sean spoke. Suddenly, what sounded like thunder crashed through the room, and a giant tear in matter that looked a lot like a black hole appeared. At first, the pair were hesitant to go near it, but Sarah knew that if this was the result of all of the hard work she and Sean had done, then someone had to be brave enough to enter the vortex. Taking a deep breath, she kissed Sean, before walking slowly towards the tear. The vortex swallowed her whole, and Sean became worried. He took out his cell phone and waited for a few minutes. If she had made it back to the Living World, Sarah had promised him that she would contact him as soon as she could.

In Living Los Angeles, Sarah walked down the street in amazement. The city looked totally different to how it had been back when she was alive, and the people were so much more diverse. Jumping as a car blasted it's horn, she realised that she was stood in the middle of the road, and quickly moved onto the pavement. She had heard so much about how the Living World was nowadays, but the stories had never really done the reality any justice. Taking out her cell phone, she dialled her husband's number, and waited anxiously for it to ring.