Only the combination of cat-like reflexes and years of experience navigating the oftentimes congested halls as a team was being deployed kept the handsome, dark haired sentinel from being doused with the scalding cup of coffee he carried as he sought to end his phone call.

“…well, you just take it easy like the doctor told you.”

Tony Almeida gave a longsuffering sigh as he neared his work area. No sooner had he taken a seat at his desk than a shadow fell across the table. Nodding, he pointed the party towards the nearby chair. “Michelle, yes, I will personally make sure I get it from Audrey or Jack, Sweetheart,” he promised for the umpteenth time as he ended the call. “Tell Michelle not to worry. I’ll check with Audrey about how soon she plans to have the invitations delivered.” It was fairly easy to deduce the nature of his friend and colleague’s conversation with his very insistent wife as nearly every other word out of Tony’s mouth whenever he spoke to his wife of late was either “wedding” or “invitation.” “I still have a lot more,” Jack slid the CTU-embossed jackets across Tony’s desk, “but here are the reports from the last mission, along with the data Chloe was able to compile on the latest target. Figured I’d drop ‘em off on my way out.”

“I swear, if Michelle isn’t careful, all the fuss she’s making over the wedding is gonna send her into labor…and she’s only just ending her fifth month!” he laughed.

“Well, I hate to get her hopes up or anything,” Jack hedged, “but if she’s expecting some kind of lavish ceremony, I’m afraid she’s gonna be pretty disappointed. This will be pretty low key as far as I can tell; me, Audrey, a maid of honor, a best man, and that’s it.”

Idly Tony perused a folder’s contents as Jack spoke. Eventually his gaze drifted to his watch; seconds later, brow arched in curiosity, it swung back to Jack. “Yeah, speaking of Audrey—you know, the woman you’re gonna marry—what the hell are you still doing here, anyway? These coulda kept until tomorrow, you know?”

“It was no big deal,” Jack shrugged. He shifted in the chair for a bit before letting his head loll back; silence reigned for several seconds as he proceeded to roll his head counter-clockwise, working the kinks out of his neck.

“You know, I’d ask if you’re a bit tense,” Tony offered, “but you’ve been acting anything but the last week or so.”

What began as an initial sly assessment of his good friend was now an open perusal. Tony had spent the better part of the week convincing himself he was imagining things; but as he regarded the man before him he realized his gut instinct was not in vain. He needed to say something. True, Jack was never prone to long bouts of conversation. Save for when he was in the field or as required for the job, overall, Jack was not one for displays of emotion. He was beyond the poster boy for stoic. Tony could say with absolute certainty that “off the clock” Jack Bauer was probably one of the least animated people he’d ever met. He once joked to Jack he was the only man he knew who could have a horde of scorpions dropped down his pants and not so much as whimper.

But even for someone as reserved as Jack, Tony found his almost apathetic behavior when it came to his upcoming nuptials disturbing. Hell, he knew Jack would do the same for him if he had the same gnawing feeling something was off.

“Which reminds me, I’ve, um, been meaning to talk to you about the whole best man thing…,” he prompted. “Did you get struck by a sudden bout of amnesia, Jack?”

“Huh?” Absently, massaging the back of his neck, Jack sat up and addressed Tony. “What do you mean?”

Tony stared knowingly at the man who’d seen him through some of the most difficult moments in his life. If not for his current misgivings, he would actually be hurt that Jack hadn’t asked him to stand at his side as he declared to family, friends, and the world his love for the woman he was to marry.

“I gotta admit, I’m surprised you didn’t ask me to be your best man!”

“Hey, Tony, c’mon. You know I’d have you at my side.” Jack sighed. “But it’s a family thing I have to make good on. My cousin, Terry.”

“Oh,” Tony replied flatly. “Him.”

Jack took no offense at Tony’s less than enthusiastic reference to his kin. Terrence “Terry” Phillips tended to inspire extreme responses; animus and adoration were reactions he was as familiar with as he was the sound of his own voice or his reflection. The handsome corporate financier had managed to amass much success due to his willingness to embrace the situational ethics so often employed by those in his field; that fondness for moral fluidity often carried over into his personal life—hence his less than stellar track record when it came to marriage. Still, professional and personal shortcomings notwithstanding, he was still the one thing Jack had next to nothing in the way of: family.

With the death of his first wife Terri, an only child whose parents preceded her in death, his daughter Kim’s connection to her side of the family became nonexistent. Likewise, the deaths of Jack’s brother Graem and their father Phillip served to effectively rendered Jack as his daughter’s lone source of family—except for Terry, who like Jack’s late wife, was an only child whose parents were both deceased. And while Kim had little if any memory of her father’s cousin, in light of the paucity of the Bauer bloodline, Jack thought it prudent to at least make an attempt to keep the lines of communication open between him and his cousin.