Work Text:
Please Remember
by Brittany "Thespis" Frederick
"I didn't want to be the last one here."
She sounded callous, but it was the truth. Tony, Jamey, even Nina, they'd all peeled off long ago. And hell, she never was good at these moments. Especially not like this. Especially not with him. She never wanted this with him. Liz leaned on her desk and put her head in her hands for a moment, hoping it would all go away when she looked up. It didn't. Jack didn't. Jack knew.
"Yeah, this is the hard part, right?" he said softly, casting his gaze around the shut-down CTU office. As much as he hated to admit it, it would probably be the last time he would see the place. He didn't want it to be the last time he'd ever see her. "Hoping you never had to do this."
"I don't want to do this." She looked up at the office he'd cleaned out the day before, and then back at her old friend, who seemed to be resigned to his bitter fate. Part of him had died when formal notice had come of his removal. Mason hadn't even had the guts to do it to his face. And Liz had no more clout with Mason, not enough for a stay of execution. And Jack had asked her not to. She would only be prolonging a war that wouldn't end. But damn it, she wanted to prolong it. Only the fact that he had asked made her let go. And still, it hurt.
"I know." Jack hung his jacket over Jamey's abandoned chair and stood there. There wasn't exactly procedure for these things. They had been through so much together. She was a large part of the salvation of his marriage. She had changed everything in his life simply by being there. And she was being obstinate and refusing to leave - and it was the best gift she could give him. He would miss working with her, even if this goodbye was not all-inclusive.
Liz shook her head sadly, "I always thought I'd be the first to go. Thought you'd be here until they carted your dead body out of your office."
Jack laughed. "I could say the same for you."
"Not with Mason still thinking I'm on his side." She was fighting back so much vulnerability she didn't want to show. "Jack, this is so fucking unfair. You earned everything. You built this unit. You're the reason I'm even standing here. He can't just walk in
here and -"
"Liz," he said quietly, holding up a hand, "Don't. The fighting's over."
She shook her head. She never let go of anything. He knew it was hard on her. Unlike him, she didn't have a family to fall back on. The Rycoff children who had survived on their own after their parents' passing had all pretty much dispersed. She'd never had a serious relationship that lasted, too fraught with work. Her biggest loyalties were to CTU and to Jack himself, and Jack knew that. She'd go home alone and she'd cry when no one was looking and maybe she wouldn't come into work for the first few days after. She'd break, and the fall would hurt her. He also knew she'd endure. She endured so much. Too much for any one person.
"I'll miss you, Jack."
"I'll miss you, too, Liz. But you're still my friend. Still part of the family. You'll be over for the Super Bowl party and when Kim needs help with her algebra homework and whenever you feel like it. And I'll still be around for you. We just won't be working together anymore."
Truth was that working together was everything. They had met on the job, and every time they looked at a case file they'd worked together, they remembered more of what they had done together, those memories, rather than the case. They were used to working together, being each other's backup, being stuck together in surveillance vans for eternities and then some. It was a natural rhythm that was not easily destroyed - and yet, just had been.
"I know. This place won't be the same, though. You made it. It's yours. And I owe you my allegiance and a lot more."
"I owe you the same things. And probably a few I can't think of right now." He paused. "Listen, when I figure out where I'm going, I'll let you know."
"So I can follow?"
He smiled. "No, you're staying here. I need people I can trust here. To carry on."
"There's Nina."
"Nina and you."
She smiled, and he smiled with her. They embraced for one last time as fellow CTU agents, and held each other for a few silent moments. If it was going to end, they wanted it to end the right way. They listened to each other breathe, to the heartbeats, to the natural pulse they had built together. And they remembered the smaller things - bringing each other coffee, Christmas get-togethers, just walking into rooms. It brought them both to tears. He kissed the top of her head as if to say goodbye and they pulled apart only when they'd finally tried to be strong and let it all collapse.
Then they ended it the way they had started it. He offered her his hand. She took it. The handshake was firm, strong, with eye contact through the mist that signaled the beginning of further tears. It was all over, this part, this legacy of Liz Rycoff and Jack Bauer as co-workers and partners in confidence. And yet the distance seemed so much greater.
"You want to get a drink?"
"It's late."
She nodded.
"I'll walk you to your car."
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"Please Remember" by LeAnn Rimes
Time, sometimes the time just slips away
And your left with yesterday
Left with the memories
I'll always think of you and smile
And be happy for the time
I had you with me
Though we go our seperate ways
I won't forget so don't forget
the memories we made
Please remember, please remember
I was there for you
and you were there for me
Please remember, our time together
The time was yours and mine
while we were wild and free
Please remember, please remember me
Goodbye, there's just no sadder word to say
And it's sad to walk away with just the memories
Who's to know what might have been
We'll leave behind a life and time
I'll never know again
Please remember, please remember
I was there for you
and you were there for me
And remember, Please remember me
Please remember, please remember
I was there for you
And you were there for me
Please remember, our time together
The time was yours and mine
While we were wild and free
Then remember, please remember me
And how we laugh and how we smile
And how this heart was yours and mine
and how a dream was out of reach
I stood by you, you stood by me
We took each day and made it shine
We wrote our names across the sky
We ride so fast, we ride so free
And I knew that you had me
Please remember, please remember
end