For Jack, that priority was service to his country; for Terry, it was servants and homes across the country. The two eventually managed to connect again when Jack returned to the States and signed on with CTU; nothing steady, a phone call on birthdays or at Christmas…if either remembered. The cousins’ next face-to-face didn’t occur until the funeral of Jack’s first wife, Terri. Not wanting it to take another sorrowful gathering to bring them together, it was Terry who in a rare act of sincerity extended the invitation to Jack to be his best man as he said “I do” for the third time, making his cousin promise if he ever remarried he would allow Terry to return the favor.

“So, you’re basically saying your best friend gets screwed because you made a promise to family you don’t even really like,” Tony cracked.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Jack grinned wryly. “It’s the only we we’re pretty much guaranteed to cross paths…then return to our respective corners.”

Jack did not elaborate any further; he knew Tony grasped that which was unspoken; Jack’s contact with his cousin was due more to formality than fondness. For better or worse, neither was the man now they used to be all those years ago; and while Jack would be the first to admit he was in no way a saint, he did consider himself a man who lived by a code—a man of honor. His cousin, it pained him to acknowledge, was more prone to bear that label whenever it could prove to be advantageous to him.

“Anyway, what’s with Michelle’s sudden obsession with weddings?”

“It’s not so much your wedding…as it is who may be a potential guest at the wedding.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Michelle is hoping Sabrina will attend…and that her date will be the same, and I quote, ‘ridiculously handsome man’ she was with at Ambassador Flynn’s retirement celebration.”

“Oh, now I see…,” Jack chuckled. “Wow. That was almost a year ago and she still remembers? Then again, now that I think of it, he did make quite an impression on the ladies.”

“Speaking of ladies…” Tony couldn’t have planned a better segue way if he tried. “I never did ask you, but when’s the last time you saw a certain one in particular…Sabrina?”

“I…haven’t,” Jack replied quizzically. “Other than Flynn’s celebration, maybe the last time I saw her was the latter part of last year when Heller flew her in for a quick check up…”

“Oh, yeah! I remember that,” Tony nodded. “He and Division had spent the entire meeting going ‘round and ‘round and he wound up with a raging headache…”

“Swore he was having another aneurysm,” Jack cut in.

“And insisted CTU fly Sabrina in to examine him!” Tony guffawed, slapping his palm on the desk. “You’ll never convince me he didn’t use that as an excuse to have a beautiful woman feel him up!” he marveled. “So, other than that, you haven’t seen her?”

“No, Tony,” Jack shook his head, his laughter slowly subsiding. “And we didn’t even see each other; more like passed each other in the hall.”

“So the last time you really got a good look at her was Flynn’s party? What was it like seeing her again?”

“I… don’t know. It just…was. What do you want me to say, Tony?” Jack shrugged. “I mean, she looked great,” he added absently.

“Tell me something I don’t know, Jack. Man, she always looks great. I’m not interested in how she looked; I’m more curious about how you felt. Did it bother you, seeing her with another man?”

“Huh? No…no,” Jack replied, his response sounding a bit too forced even to his own ears. “No,” he repeated, this time slower, “it didn’t bother me seeing her with someone else. And not that it has any bearing on the matter, but that man Michelle was swooning over is Sabrina’s nephew. And, now that I think of it, what the hell is up with the shrink routine, Tony?”

“Bullshit. The reason it didn’t ‘bother’ you is because it was her nephew. Let her have walked in there with someone she could have gone to bed with later that night…” Tony made a rude noise as he shot Jack a skeptical look. “Please. You may be able to fool yourself, Jack, but you’re not fooling me…”

“Alright, you obviously have something on your mind.” Jack stood, planting his palms on the desk and studied Tony, his gaze piercing. “C’mon, we’ve been friends too long to bullshit each other by trying to stand on ceremony. Out with it.”