24

5:02 A.M.-5:04 A.M.: The guests at the Chandler Plaza Hotel are still in a frenzy as NHS agents arrive outside the building with hazmat suits and guns in hand. Michelle fires two shots in the air and grabs the PA mic. She demands that all guests stay calm and go back to their rooms. Phillips begins herding guests to the elevators. One woman cries over her husband's dead body and blasts Michelle for not protecting them. Michelle looks guilty as Phillips steers her into the elevator.



5:05 A.M.-5:11 A.M.: Jack and Chase are still watching the burning car that consumed Amador. Palmer calls Jack and wants to know who the man they are dealing with is. Jack says he doesn't know, but he knows the man has some connection to him from the past. Palmer pushes Jack to discover the man's identity before he uses the virus to further control Palmer. Jack hangs up and hops in the car with Chase. He tells Chase to call Tony and have him get a physical description of the man from Alvers, then to cross-check it with Jack's personnel file.

Palmer updates Wayne on the new communication with the man controlling the virus. Palmer says that he has enough of the virus to wipe out a significant portion of America, so they don't have much choice but to give into his demands whatever they may be.

Michelle tells Phillips to make sure all exits are sealed. Phillips tells her that he won't panic, so she doesn't have to distract him. He asks if they will all die and Michelle looks away, telling him that only a few will be immune. Tony calls and Michelle tells him about her having to kill the fleeing guest. Tony tells her to talk to Alvers and get a description of the man they are dealing with.

Alvers wipes blood away from his nose as Michelle enters. He starts whining about bleeding, but Michelle demands to know the name of the man behind the attack. Alvers says he doesn't know and says he has no reason to lie since he's dying anyway. Michelle holds the phone to Alvers' face and Alvers gives Tony a description of the man. Chloe enters his physical characteristics into Jack's personnel file and uploads the matching photos to Michelle's laptop. Michelle begins showing Alvers pictures to see if he can identify the man, but Alvers doesn't find him.

Jack is listening in from his car, watching the feed and asks Tony what search parameters he's using. Tony tells him all living contacts from the past five years and Jack tells Tony to include all contacts presumed dead. Tony relays this to Chloe and sends more photos to Michelle. Alvers finally spots a photo of man and Jack spots it as well. Jack is shocked and says he knows the man as Stephen Saunders. Jack explains that Saunders was a British Intelligence officer on loan from MI-5, who was involved in the Drazen mission. Jack thought he lost every man on that mission but apparently Saunders is still alive. Jack hangs up to think it over.



5:15 A.M.-5:23 A.M.: Wayne updates Palmer on the situation at the hotel. Wayne thinks they should invent a cover story for the press so as to prevent further panic. The chief of Homeland Security enters and advises Palmer to raise the terror level to Red. Palmer consents and the chief then suggests that they ground all flights and close all airports. Wayne hates that idea as it will create suspicion which may fuel panic. Wayne argues with the chief until Palmer puts a stop to it and tells the chief to prepare to close all airports, but to wait for his authorization. The chief leaves just as palmer's phone rings. Palmer answers and tells Wayne that Saunders is on the line. Wayne takes off to alert some techs to trace the call. Saunders tells Palmer that his first assignment is to pick up a package wrapped in black paper from a mailbox across the street. Before Palmer can get a word in, Saunders hangs up. Wayne was not able to trace the call, of course, since it was too short. Palmer orders Secret Service to go get the package.

Jack is still driving and checking his computer for information about Saunders. Chase suspects that Saunders may have been the reason that the Drazen mission failed, but Jack says that Saunders was a patriot and that he must've been imprisoned in Kosovo for years while everyone thought he was dead. Jack phones his contact at MI-6 and asks about Saunders' LA contacts. The guy from MI-6 gives him the name of Diana White, a high-call girl whom Saunders used to get secrets from diplomats. MI-6 sends her address to Jack.

Dr. Duncan has set up a testing lab and asks Michelle to go first. Nicole gives Michelle a nasal swab and tells her that her results will be ready in two hours. Nicole prepares to test Phillips as Michelle exits past a group of guests waiting for testing.

Agent Pierce tells Palmer that the package contained a scrambled cell phone that is untraceable. The phone rings and it's Saunders, who tells Palmer to consider this to be their 'private line.' He has another assignment for Palmer: hold a press conference within the hour and use the phrase "the sky is falling." Palmer tells Wayne about Saunders' demand and Wayne surmises that the phrase must be a signal for a terrorist attack of some sort. Wayne doesn't want Palmer to give in, but Palmer orders him to set up the conference.



5:28 A.M.-5:35 A.M.: Chase learns that Diana White is at home and Jack tells Chase who she is. Chase wonders what made Saunders switch sides and Jack guesses that Saunders must've been tortured while he was held in Kosovo. Saunders must blame America for what happened to him. Jack feels guilty because he left Saunders behind.

Tony is on the phone with NHS and learns that there is no cure or antidote to the virus. He yells into the phone and hangs up as Kim enters and tries to console him. Then Chappelle enters and blasts Tony for spending time on his wife when they should be tracking Saunders. Chappelle tells Tony that he should either focus on his job or leave. Chappelle says that if Tony stays, he should make it about getting revenge. Tony agrees to focus on his job. Chappelle says that he's going to try and follow a money trail to see if it will lead them to Saunders.

Jack and Chase arrive at Diana White's home and sneak inside. Diana hears them and shoots at Jack. Jack ducks behind a pillar and tells her he's dropping his gun and putting his hands up. While Diana focuses on Jack, Chase grabs her gun away and throws her to the floor. Jack tells her that he wants to ask her about Stephen Saunders. Jack follows her into her bedroom as she changes into a jogging suit. Jack asks her if she passed information along to Saunders, but she denies it. She demands to see a lawyer and Jack says that he's taking her into MI-6 to be questioned by a foreign government--her constitutional rights no longer apply.



5:39 A.M.-5:44 A.M.: Michelle runs into Nicole on her way to see Gael. Nicole tells her that she shouldn't, but Michelle says it doesn't matter since she's probably been infected anyway. "That's not what I mean," Nicole says and stares at Michelle. Michelle goes in to discover Gael covered in lesions and gushing blood from his mouth and nose. Gael asks Michelle to get in touch with his family and to tell them that he loves them and that he didn't suffer. Michelle hands him her gun, but Gael says that he was raised to believe that suicide is wrong. Michelle tries to persuade him otherwise, but Gael won't do it. Gael regrets that he hesitated when disarming the viral device. Michelle tells him that he is brave and that she is honored to have worked with him. Gael coughs again and then slowly dies.

Palmer is about to address his press conference while Wayne is on the lookout for any activity triggered by the phrase "the sky is falling." Palmer begins the conference and announces that all flights have grounded. He says that he's not taking this action because "the sky is falling," but he wants to be over-protective rather than under-prepared. Palmer leaves without answering any questions, but then changes his mind and takes one.



5:45 A.M.-5:49 A.M.: Jack and Chase arrive at MI-6, and escort Diana White inside and introduce her to the agent in charge. He says that she is the registered owner of the club where Jack and Chase caught Amador. Before they can continue, the glass walls of the building begin to rattle as a black helicopter approaches. Jack bellows to get down, as machine gun fire shatters the glass. Diana is killed and the MI-6 chief is badly wounded as Jack and Chase fire back at the helicopter. Jack asks the dying chief what server he stored the info about Saunders on. "A-5," he gasps as he dies. Jack and Chase race downstairs to get at the hard drive as several gunmen appear and open fire on them. Jack and Chase exchange fire with them and kill two as they race toward the computer room. They run inside and Jack starts to detach the hard drive from the wall when he hears a beeping sound. He sees a bomb behind the server about to go off. He orders Chase to get out as he pulls the unit away. Chase elects to stay. Finally Jack gets the hard drive and both men dive out of the room to safety just as the bomb explodes.



5:53 A.M.-6:00 A.M.: Michelle sees Gael's blistered face as his body is wheeled past her on a stretcher. She calls Tony and tells him that the other guests should not have to suffer the way Gael did. She asks him to send over suicide capsules that field agents use to prevent torture for extraction of information. Tony bucks the idea, but Michelle feels it is the decent thing to do. Tony promises to see what he can do.

Jack calls Chappelle and tells him about the attack on MI-6. Chappelle says he's having luck following a money trail that may help locate Saunders, and that they have a team of analysts ready to examine the hard drive once Jack brings it in. Chappelle hangs up and discovers Tony opening a locked room containing the suicide capsules. Tony says it's getting bad over at the hotel, but Chappelle says it's against all regulations, but relents and tells Tony to go ahead and do it.

One of Saunders' henchman tells him that Jack escaped the attack on MI-6, but the hard drive was completely destroyed. Saunders says he'll miss Diana, but before he can weep over her corpse, the henchman tells him that a man named Ryan Chappelle from CTU is checking into their bank accounts. "I know Chappelle," Saunders says ominously.


Wayne tells Palmer of the MI-6 massacre and Palmer is angry that his words at the press conference signaled it. His cell phone rings with another call from Saunders. Saunders has another assignment for him, "a preliminary job before the main event to come," he says. "There's a man at CTU named Ryan Chappelle. I want him killed. Have his body delivered to the train yard by 7:00 AM." Palmer refuses, but Saunders reminds him of the carnage at the Chandler Plaza before hanging up. Wayne asked his brother what Saunders wanted.



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