action_antihero | (no subject)

(no subject)

Early February, 2004

Getting called into Ryan Chappelle's office is never a good thing. Getting called into Chappelle's office to get pulled over the coals on behalf of CTU the night after a pretty stressful dinner date with Teri was definitely not a good thing. And he's not sure whether he's being bitched at about what was, in the end, a successful operation, makes it better or worse.

"Shouldn't the most important part be the fact that we managed to stop the attack before they caused the public any major harm?" he asks, coolly.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Despite his annoyance, Ryan's expression remains neutral and his voice steady. "That you managed stop the attack will certainly help your case, yes. But it doesn't change the fact that you violated protocol."

Bauer was, as usual, being needlessly stubborn about this. He understood perfectly well the problem here but instead of coming to a resolution, the agent was more interested in arguing.

"I don't think you understand the problems you've caused - not only for CTU but several other agencies as well."

You violated protocol. That's what it always comes down to with Ryan and that's the one thing Ryan never seems to get. Playing my the rules might make you marginally more honourable, but sometimes it also makes you lose, big time. And when innocent civilians' lives are on the line, there's no room to lose.

"Every action CTU took was necessary to keep the public safe. Unfortunately, militia groups with a bone to pick with the government don't wait for paperwork to clear," Jack said, immoveable.

"So you've said." His voice is still cool and calm though he's becoming more frustrated with Bauer. Keeping the public safe by nearly causing a panic. Right.

"CTU has to work with our agencies, we rely on information from other agencies." Ryan steeples his hands, pausing just long enough for this information to sink in.

"Without that information we can't keep the public safe. Now tell me, how are we supposed to get other agencies to cooperate with us, to give us information if you're hacking into their databases and going behind their backs?"

"If they'd given us the information the first time we asked, we wouldn't have had to," Jack says, irritation creeping into his tone. "Come on, Ryan, you know how this actually happens. Technically, yes, we should be able to share information easily. Instead we get told to fill out forms in triplicate and come back in a few weeks. If they're not going to take us seriously, then we have to work around them. It was too damn close as it was; we didn't have time to wait for the NSA and the FBI to get back to us."

Ryan listens with feigned patience to this little tirade, giving a slight nod of his head at one point though he doesn't quite agree. He'd done a lot of work to build better relationships with other agencies, this setback was going to undo a lot of that.

"And how do you suppose that situation is supposed to change if we don't cooperate with them?"

"When we have time, I'll cooperate. In this case it was either deal with the backlash from other agencies, or try to explain why we couldn't stop an attack. You know who the blame would have fallen on if we'd failed."

The same intelligence agencies that had given them the runaround on sharing information would be the first ones to point the finger and say that CTU wasn't doing its job, after all.

He had a point there.

"On Friday there's going to be an interagency meeting between CTU, the FBI and the NSA to talk about what happened. As team leader, they want you there."

Oh, great. Another meeting, and an inter-agency one to boot. Part of him is almost tempted to find some kind of threat to get him out of it.

"Fine. Are we teleconferencing, or is this in person?" he asks. In person would likely mean the local heads of the different agencies. Teleconference likely meant dealing with those higher up the food chain, and boy, wouldn't that just make his day?

"In person. I'll need your report on my desk by Thursday so I can review it before the meeting."

If he was going to have to do damage control on this mess, he would need to know exactly what happened and what Jack was going to say.

"Fine. I'll make sure you have it. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?" Jack asks, hoping this means he can get the hell out of there.

Ryan glances briefly through the file on his desk before closing the folder and setting it aside. Looking up to meet Jack's gaze, he simply answers, "No, I think we're done here."

Jack nods, getting to his feet. "I'll see you on Friday, then," he says, before turning and leaving, not waiting for a response from Ryan because he doesn't expect one.

Walking down the hall from Chappelle's office, Jack pulls out his cellphone, dialling Nina's number. If he's going to have the report finished for Thursday, then he's going to need her to get on transcripts of their communication with the other agencies.

The line's busy. Dammit. Leaving a message on her voicemail, he then switches over to his own, looking to see if anyone left him messages while he was in the meeting.

His heart nearly skips a beat when he sees Teri's cell on the list of calls. Maybe she was calling about Kim coming to stay that weekend. Maybe she needed something to do with their health insurance; she'd mentioned a dentist appointment the night before. Maybe...maybe she was calling to ask him if they could get together again. That he could move back in.

Switching over to his address book, he's looking up Teri's number instead of watching where he's going. He's so preoccupied, in fact, that as he pushes open the door leading to Division's parking lot, he doesn't notice that it's not sunny pavement that he's stepping on (http://community.livejournal.com/milliways_bar/15215263.html).

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only