24

Listen, I've been thinking a lot about what we talked about.

I want to move back to Los Angeles with you.

Really? Yeah.

- You're coming with us tonight? - If it's okay.

Dad, I don't know what to say. I'm so happy.

Victor, what are you doing here? How the hell did you find me?

I have information.

I'm out. I don't work for the government anymore.

Well, this you're gonna want to hear. There's a big hit going down.

President Hassan at the U.N... He's getting taken out.

When?

Today, before he can sign this thing with Taylor.

My country agrees to abandon the pursuit of nuclear weapons.

But our terms, Mr. President,

were that the inspectors themselves would be American, not I.A.E.A.

This is the message that you send to the rest of the world,

and then you wonder why we don't want to negotiate.

Farhad.

Please excuse my brother's passion.

We need to resolve this issue before we can move forward.

Find a way to give him what he wants.

This man is a once-in-a-lifetime leader.

- I'm, uh, stuck outside. - I'll take care of it.

This woman poses no threat to me or the peace process.

- But you are married. - I've done nothing reckless.

Just reinstate Ms. Reed's clearance now.

Unless you want to destroy everything that he's worked for, stay away from him.

The brother revoked my clearance, but I had Hassan reinstate it.

I know I'm behind schedule, but it'll get done.

Excuse me, Mr. Hastings. Jack Bauer's on line three. He needs to talk to you.

Bauer?

I'm with an informant that I used to run...

who's claiming he's got intel on an assassination attempt on President Hassan.

And what does Mr. Aruz want in return for his information?

C.T.U. protection and immunity.

I'll send a chopper to pick you up.

Don't stop for anything. Keep going.

- -

You need to get him out of here. He's losing a lot of blood.

Hastings wants to debrief you back at C.T.U.

I'm not going back to C.T.U. I delivered him. I'm done.

No, Mr. Bauer. I got a flight to catch.

- That's it? - Get down!

Tell me what you know. The hitter has someone on the inside,

close to Hassan.

- -

It's done. Aruz is no longer a problem.

But we don't know how much he told C.T.U.

We need to accelerate the hit.

Sir, Agent Ortiz is calling in.

Put him through. I want everyone on this.

Comm channel 235. All right, go ahead.

This is Cole. Where are those E.M.T.s?

They should be there any second. How's the rest of your team?

Hurley's injured. Torres and Johnson are dead.

What happened?

Look, those drones are supposed to have antiballistics.

Why didn't they take out the missile?

We're still running the diagnostic. This should've never happened.

We should've had another team checking those buildings.

We can discuss this at a later time, Agent Ortiz.

Yes, sir. Bauer wants to talk with you.

Put him on the phone. Stand by.

Jack, I have Mr. Hastings on the line.

Mr. Hastings, Victor Aruz told me right before he died...

that the assassin is working with someone very close to President Hassan.

Did you get a name? No, not before he died.

You believe him? Normally, I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.

He was dying, sir. He had no reason to lie.

All right. We're on it.

I need you and Cole back here to debrief.

Mr. Hastings, I already gave one of your agents my statement.

I need you back here.

Yeah. Mr. Bauer?

Fine. We're on our way.

Mr. Hastings. Yes?

I may have a lead on that insider.

What do you mean? I just picked up an unauthorized access...

in one of the secure databases at the U.N.

How do you know it's unauthorized? Because they bypassed...

the main access page and went through a back-end server.

The only reason to do that...

is if you're trying to cover your tracks. Stay on it.

Let me know if you trace the source.

And put O'Brian on this too, if you don't think she'll slow you down.

No. She's doing much better, sir.

I'm gonna call Taylor's chief of staff.

They need to know this insider could be moving against Hassan.

Mr. President, you are under a great deal of pressure at home...

from an active opposition to this peace agreement.

They believe that by dismantling your nuclear weapons programs,

you're surrendering to the West.

How do you respond to those charges?

The only thing we are surrendering...

is the cloud of antagonism and mistrust...

under which we have lived for far too long.

This is a victory for my people.

It marks an end to isolation, and will bring economic stability...

to my country for the first time in decades.

How do you propose economic stability...

when your people are so divided?

This is Weiss. Did you bring in Victor Aruz?

I'm afraid not, sir.

There was an ambush and Aruz was killed, along with two of our men.

Damn it. Before Aruz died,

he shared some very troubling information.

Now, he claimed that someone close to President Hassan...

has been conspiring with the assassin.

Now, we don't have a name yet, but we are pursuing a lead.

Tell me how... And I'd better be impressed.

We're tracing what might be an unauthorized entry into one of the U.N. servers.

And you think this is the person we're looking for?

Well, we're optimistic.

Yeah, you better hope that optimism translates into results.

Sir, until we locate the insider,

you might want to consider locking down President Hassan...

and postponing this conference.

That is not an option, Mr. Hastings.

We are close to signing one of the most important treaties...

in the history of this country.

You were put in charge of C.T.U. because you said you could get the job done...

"Lean, mean and fast." That's what you said.

President Taylor expects you to deliver on those words.

- Yes, sir. - I'll take this to the president.

Keep me posted.

President Hassan and I still have a great deal of work to do,

so we're gonna wrap this up, but I would like to say...

that the president and I chose the United Nations...

as the venue for these talks...

because the problems facing the Middle East have become a world concern.

And President Hassan and I are confident...

that this agreement will lay the foundation...

for a lasting peace in the region.

And we thank you for your time.

Madam President, one more question...

Mr. President, I'll see you after the break.

I look forward to resuming it. Thank you.

Madam President, I just spoke with C.T.U.

There's been a development regarding the threat to Hassan.

We need to speak in private.

- That is really wonderful. - Thank you. I'll join you later.

No, security access.

Hello.

- You were terrific. -

It's not about me. It's the message that's important.

I just hope no one could see how nervous I was.

Well, you hid it well.

Are you here? Yes, on my way up.

Do you still have time to see me?

I've been looking forward to it all day.

When?

- What did you say? - When can I see you?

I've got a half an hour before the next session begins.

You meet me now, and we'll go up to my private office together.

I'll tell my staff that you requested an interview.

Perfect. I'll be right there.

I just ran a systems check on the drone.

Sensors did pick up the missile, but the drone didn't fire.

Why not? I won't know until I have a chance to take it apart.

Mr. Hastings, I don't want to sound like I'm covering my own ass,

but I did tell you that the antimissile system...

had not been tested in an urban environment.

I know what you said, Arlo.

You just find out what went wrong, and you get back to me.

Mr. Hastings, I was right. Someone hacked into the U.N. database.

They downloaded security protocols,

schematics to the U.N. and Hassan's personal itinerary.

I was able to trace an I.P. address.

Did you get a name? Chloe's into the computer's registry.

She should have it by now.

- Almost there. - Come on, Chloe.

Saying that isn't gonna make it happen any faster.

There. The computer's owner is listed as Meredith Michelle Reed.

She's a reporter working for the New York Courier.

She's doing a profile on Hassan.

Applied for a security clearance at the U.N.

Did she get it?

My God. What?

She's there now.

U.N. Security logged her in 15 minutes ago.

- She's at the press conference. - Put me through to U.N. Security.

You're clear. Go ahead. Thank you.

Okay. Go ahead.

This is Brian Hastings, director of C.T.U.

We have a possible on-site threat to President Hassan.

- Do you have an I.D.? - Her name is Meredith Reed.

She has a press security clearance.

We're sending a photograph to your P.D.A.

We just got a call about a threat to President Hassan.

The U.N. gave us access to their surveillance feed.

Facial recognition software is sweeping the area now.

Got a match. Northeast corner, moving toward Hassan.

Located the suspect. She's 10 yards from Hassan.

East side of the press section.

Green top, black skirt, black jacket.

There she is. Go. Go, go, go, go, go.

Everybody, move back. What are you doing?

- Move back! -

I'm a reporter. I have clearance.

Move back! - [ Hassan] Meredith?