He needed to be needed 4/7
Authors Note: This chapter ended up being mostly about Kim and Chase. I hope that you don't mind, they deserve a little happiness too. The next chapter will be all Chlack I promise.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the words I have written.
After his talk with Chloe, Chase decided to take her advice, and call Kim that night when he got home. Her voice came over the line and Chase froze. He had not expected her to answer. What could he say to her after all this time?
Angela, who stood beside him, tugged on his arm, “Is that mommy? Tell her the truth,” Angela raised her voice so that it would be heard by whoever was on the other end of the phone, “Mommy, come home please, I miss you so much. I want you to come back to daddy and me. It’s not the same without you here with us.”
Kim felt the tears begin to flow. She missed Angela and Chase as well. When she had begun to pull out of her depression, Kim shut off everyone connected to CTU and her father. Barry had told her that it would be the best that way. She had agreed, Barry knew what he was talking about. He told Kim that if she ignored that part of her life everything would be better. She never stopped to think about how it would affect others, like Angela, who was just a little girl who never understood why her mommy left and never came back.
Swallowing Chase said, “Kim, its Chase. I just wanted to say that I am sorry. Sorry for leaving, it was wrong to go like that. I knew it almost as soon as I walked out the door. Then I was ashamed and you were with that Barry guy. I thought that I had lost you forever.” He pinched the bridge of his nose as he gathered the courage to speak, “Kim, I miss you, and so does Angela. Could we meet somewhere and talk? All I want to do is have coffee, nothing needs to be decided. I just want to see you Kim and go from there. I love you and I want to try again. I am sorry that I waited this long to tell you. Two people I know are in love and they can't or won't see it and I don't want to be like them. I want you in my life, Kim, forever.”
In her lonely apartment, Kim cried, she was alone with no family and she had alienated all her friends. Kim knew that it was her fault that she was alone but she had no idea how to break the cycle she had created.
Now here was Chase, opening the door and offering to help bring her out into the light. “I don't know, Chase. How do I know that you won't just leave me again when things get hard? I could not take it if I was left one more time.”
“Kim, I have lived without you for three years and I can't do it anymore. I love you and I want this to work, for you, me and Angela. Just give me a chance.” Chase gripped the phone waiting but when Kim did not answer he began to worry.
Chase was about to tell her goodbye and hang up when she said, “Yes, I want to try again. I miss you too.”
Chase smiled as they set up a meeting for the next day.
24 JC 24
Kim sat in the coffee shop, wrapping a stir stick around her finger as she waited for Chase to appear. It had been almost three years since she had seen him. Angela would be big now. She had missed so much of Angela's life now, was there really a place for her in it?
She picked up her drink only to set it down again . Trying to calm herself, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was really what she wanted. She loved Chase still, but was that only because he was some ideal that she had created out of the real man?
The scrape of a chair on the floor caused her to open her eyes and there was Chase. Kim jumped a little in surprise. Smiling nervously she asked, “How have you been? You look well.”
Chase returned her smile and shrugged. “Fine, but I miss you. I wish it could have happened differently. I wish I had done things differently.” He slowly reached across the table and took her hand. Kim did not pull away and waited.
When he did not say anything else, Kim spoke, “If you missed me why didn't you come back? I've been in San Diego for a while now and I never heard a word from you.”
Chase sighed, “I did. I called and left messages on your machine and also with Barry. I assume now from your expression that he never gave them to you. Kim, we are still married. I never filed the papers and neither did you. I tried to find out what you wanted to do but when I heard nothing I gave up. I couldn't just divorce you without knowing for sure you wanted it.”
Surprise filtered across her face, “You called and left messages with Barry? Chase, I never got any of them. He was so controlling and I didn't see it until that day when I saw Dad at CTU. Dad hated Barry right off. If there is one thing that my dad is, it’s that he is a good judge of character. Chloe did not like Barry either, I could tell when he was talking to her about her friend who died. Looking at him from their side he looked so slimy, anyway. Their opinions were all I needed to kick him out. He was so angry and then I moved to San Diego to get away from him.”
“No one knew where you were. All of our friends lost touch with you when you moved in with Barry.” Chase said letting his frustration with the situation show.
Kim looked skeptical, “No one knew, not even Chloe?”
He shook his head, “She knew, but Chloe wouldn't tell me. Said I didn't handle things with you right. You were grieving and I should not have left you like that.” Chase ran his free hand through his hair. Chloe did not know the whole story about the day he left. It takes two people for a marriage to fail and both he and Kim were at fault.
It was Kim's turn to sigh. “Yes, well, we always seem to get more advice than we need and most of it is crap, but you should have listened to Chloe. She can't help herself but she knows what she is talking about when it comes to others.”
A smile flitted across Chase’s lips at that comment, “Yes, that's true. Did you know that she is pregnant?”
Kim choked on her drink. “By who?”
Chase stopped for a moment wondering how much of the situation he should tell her? Deciding how much to say, Chase said, “Do you remember that loser ex-husband who she threw out while your dad was undercover in Mexico?” Kim nodded, and he continued, “Well when you dad was taken by China, he managed to worm his way back in to her life, got her pregnant and then left her. He chose to do it right when she almost lost the baby a while ago.” Chase clenched his fist at the thought of Morris and what he had done to Chloe recently and in the past. He stared at it trying to control his anger.
Kim covered his fist with her hand, “Is she all right? Does she have anyone with her to help?”
His head snapped up, “Well, your Dad's there with her.”
Arching her brow, Kim asked, “How do you mean? Physically he is there, but how about the rest of him? The last time I saw him, he was a wreck. He showed up on my door to tell me that my uncle and grandfather were dead. No ‘Hello Kim,’ or anything else, after being missing for twenty months. He scared me, just showing up like that. I just screamed at him to leave me alone and slammed the door in his face.” Kim retracted one of her hands and played with her napkin. “I'm not proud of what I did to him. Chloe called a while later and told me what had happened to him that day and warned me that he might show up at my door. I laughed and told her she was too late, that he had been there and left. Chloe wanted to know where he went - I told her I didn't know or care. I could hear in her voice that she was worried about him. Later when I had time to think about it, I think she was scared that Dad might hurt himself, but later she left a message that he turned up on her door and he was fine. He
gives so much and I can't take the waiting and hoping to see if he will be all right at the end of the day. I just want him to be my dad, not some superhero.”
“Kim, you can't ask your dad to be anyone other than who he is. One day he will be gone, and you will be all alone with your regrets. You are going to wish you had this time with him.”
Kim looked away, knowing he was right. She had spent so much time angry at her father that she never noticed that she missed him. Since that day he appeared on her doorstep, Kim had finally begun to miss him. It hurt to know that he was within her grasp and she did not have to courage to reach out to him. Sighing, she said, “Why are we talking about my dad anyway? I thought this was about us?”
Chase smiled a sad smile. “It's because I don't think you can forgive me and not your father. We committed the same sin; we left you.”
Looking down at the shredded napkin, Kim said, “I woke up that morning and you and Angela were gone. I remembered you saying something about staying with your mother for a while. I had been so numb since Dad's funeral and suddenly I was angry, Mom was gone, Dad was too, and you just got up and left me alone. I just wanted to pull myself into a shell and stay there where no one could get close to me and hurt me again. I held on to that anger - it became my friend. I packed my things and left.”
Squeezing her hand, Chase lifted his other hand and caught a tear, “I know, but I wish you had not shut me out. I had told you that I was taking Angela to my mother's to stay. I was coming back. When I arrived a few hours later everything that was us was in that box on the porch. All the locks had been changed. You hurt me and Angie, Kim. We loved you and you just tossed us away like we meant nothing to you. I sat there on the porch for an hour knocking and banging on the door trying to get your attention. When you did not answer I kicked the door in. You were gone. I waited to hear from you, but there was nothing. You never tried to talk to me, to work it out. You just gave up. I fixed the door and left you a note telling you when you were ready to call me, I would be there for you waiting. I still am. Come home to us, Kim.”
Kim stared at Chase, amazed. Had he come back that day? She did not remember much about that day other than the anger and how it felt to feel again. She remembered gathering the things in the box and calling the locksmith, but that was it. The rest was hazy. She had woken up the next morning in a hotel across town. She returned to the house but Chase was still gone. She remembered the note now, but she hadn't read it, instead she had crumpled it up and thrown it away.
Confused, Kim got up and walked out of the coffee shop, unsure where she was going, only that she needed to move. From the sound of footsteps behind her, Kim knew that Chase had followed. After walking a few blocks she turned and looked at Chase. He stood there unsure, but there in his eyes she saw it. He loved her, “Kim, please...”
Was this whole mess just a misunderstanding? He had been waiting for to make the first move to tell him that she was ready.
Her eyes met his. How could he still be waiting after all this time, but there he was waiting for her to forgive him. To let him love her again. “Chase...”
Then she was in his arms, tears streaming down their faces. “I love you, Chase. I am sorry I overreacted. Please forgive me. I was stupid.”
“I have.” he whispered into her hair, “I love you. I will always forgive you.”
The two of them stayed that way for a long time.
JC 24 JC
A few days later, Kim called. “I need to talk to my dad." When Chloe hesitated, Kim said, "Please, Chloe.”
"All right, here he is." Chloe passed the phone to Jack and mouthed, “Kim.”
Jack took the phone slowly and brought it to his ear, unsure what to say or why she would be calling him. “Hello?”
“Dad, Chase told me about Chloe's baby and what you are doing for her. I just wanted to say if the baby is going to be my little brother or sister I should be involved with its life.”
“Her life. The baby is a girl.” Jack interrupted.
“A sister. I am going to have a sister.” Kim let that thought sink in for a moment and continued, “If I can help in any way let me know. I'm not ready to have a relationship with you yet dad. I still can't trust you to stay. You always leave me. I couldn't take it if I let you get close and it happened again.”
Jack sighed frustration. “Kim, I am not going anywhere. CTU is gone and that life is gone for me now. I am here to stay for Chloe, the baby, and you, if you'll let me be part of your life.” Jack looked directly at Chloe, hoping that she would understand what he was saying to both of the women he was talking to, but Chloe looked away from his direct gaze.
Kim shook her head even though she knew he father could not see it, “Dad, how can you say that? You never mean for things to happen but they do. Some part of you still wants that life, and if it calls you, will go. I can't tell you not to; it’s who you are. I am willing to try and accept that part of you, for Chloe and the baby, but I have to do it my way and at my pace.”
Sighing, Jack looked over at Chloe with tears in his eyes. She was close enough to hear what was being said but not close enough to crowd him. “Okay, Kimmie, we'll do this your way. It will be one step at a time when you want to take them and see where that leads us.”
“I want this, Daddy. I want you to be part of my life. I just don't know how much I can take or how fast.”
“I can wait for you to be ready, Kim, I want you in my life too. If we need any help with the baby, you'll be our first thought,” Jack said, his voice full of hope.
“Dad, thank you for understanding. Goodbye.”
His voice was husky, “I love you, Kim. Goodbye.” And the call disconnected. Laying the phone down on the counter, Jack pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes. Kim had taken the first step. Maybe there was hope for the two of them.
During the call, Jack felt Chloe's presence behind him, waiting to see if she was needed. When he ended the call she reached out and laid her hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed. Jack turned into her arms and they wrapped around him. Burying his head in her hair, Jack cried tears of joy and relief. Knowing now that everything was going to be alright.
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The last few chapters I have not got much feed back are you still enjoying the story or should I stop?