24: Starting Over Part 1

24: Starting Over Part 1

Jack Bauer shifted nervously on the soft, lumpy surface he was lying on and tried to open his eyes.  He had no idea where he was or what had just happened.  For some reason his side was throbbing in pain and his whole body was sore.  

Jack lay still for a moment and tried to recollect what had happened and where exactly he was.  His eyes were still not focusing properly so he used his other senses instead.  Based on what he could hear he was still in the city in a concrete room.  In addition to the traffic and the other noises typical of the city he heard some other noises that set his heart racing.  Two men were softly talking somewhere in the same area he was.  Jack couldn't quite make out what they were saying but based on their accents he could tell they were foreigners.  He also heard the sound of something sizzling, even though he couldn't tell exactly what it was it smelled better than the overwhelming stench of mildew.  

As Jack tried to focus on the sounds other than the two men, his memory of the past few hours came rushing back to him; he remembered the conspiracy that he and Chloe had helped bring down that day, then being captured by Logan's men, then being rescued and after that, running for his life once again.  He'd been injured pretty badly over the past twenty-four hours and he remembered feeling light-headed and sick as he made his way through the alleys of Manhattan.  He must've passed out, but where was he now?

Jack's eyes finally came back into focus and he say that he was in what looked like an abandoned apartment building.  It had no wallpaper or carpet on it but consisted of a cold concrete floor and cinderblocks.  He started to turn around on the musty mattress he was laying on to get a better view but his injuries made him winch in pain louder than he wanted to.

"Hey Murph, I think he's wakin' up," one of the men in the room said.

Jack panicked and bolted up from the mattress trying to get away from wherever he was but the two men had already noticed his attempt to escape and were trying to hold him down.

"Hey, hey!  It's alright, it's alright," the first one said.  "You're safe Mr. Bauer.  We're not gonna hurt you!"

Jack eased back down on the mattress and took a look at the two men.  They looked like they were in their early thirties and based on their similar features, were most likely brothers.  The first one who had spoken had dirty blonde hair that was messily spiked up while the second one had short dark hair that was almost as messy as the first ones.  Both of them were in dark T-shirts and jeans and each one had a set of wooden rosary beads around their necks.

"Where am I?" he asked in an uneasy tone.  "And how do you know my name?"

"What'r ya talkin' about?" the second man asked with a chuckle.  "Everyone knows who you are."

"And to answer your question, you're still in Manhattan," the first one said.  "You've been out for a day or so, but don't worry, whoever's lookin' fer ya won' be able to find ya."

"And who are you two?" Jack asked, still feeling uneasy.

"Well if you must know," the first one answered.  "I'm Connor and this here's Murphy.  We're the MacManus brothers."

"However the press has taken' to callin' us The Saints," Murphy continued.

Jack looked back at the MacManus brothers flabbergasted.  He'd heard the name mentioned before but couldn't believe that he was sitting face to face with them much less believe that they were the ones who had rescued him.

"I've heard of you two," Jack said.  "You're those vigilantes that escaped from the Hoag three months ago.  Just about every federal agency has been looking for you…!"

"Well," Murphy said looking at his brother with a devious glint in his eye.  "I knew we were pretty good at hidin' but…"

"Why did you rescue me?" Jack interrupted.

"Well to be honest," Connor said as he shifted over to sit on the mattress.  "We couldn't leave you there to die in that alley and, we'd like to make you a proposition Mr. Bauer."

"What kind of proposition," Jack asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"As you know, we're on a bit of a mission to clean up the scum off the sidewalk," Murphy continued.  "Kinda like what you do Mr. Bauer."

"Seeing as that you're a bit of an expert at that and at movin' around without anybody noticin'," Connor chimed in.  "We thought maybe you'd like to join us."

"We can't say the benefits are all that great," Murphy said as he knelt down closer to Jack.

"But we do promise you the satisfaction of a job well done and our protection from whoever's after ya," Connor smiled.

Jack looked at Connor, then at Murphy and then at the wall in front of him.  Then a smile started to form at the corner of his mouth.  He looked up at the two brothers and said,

"Could I at least have some breakfast first?"

End of Part 1