"No, Kim," he spoke firmly. He had wondered why she wanted to meet him in this dark corridor far from the heart of CTU. Was it a misunderstanding between them that had caused her to just tell him that she had fallen in love with him?

I had never considered that she might feel that way about me. Have there been signs that I've missed?

"Kim, I love you, but as a friend," Alex continued.

Why am I still in this conversation? Even if I wanted to…well, if more than that small part of me wanted to, anyway.

"Why not? Is it because of what happened between my Dad and her?" she replied, refraining from using Nina's name as she usually did. Alex knew it was a big reason why, but he didn't want her to know that. It was bad enough that some had suspicions about him - especially anyone from Division or from another CTU branch - and if word got out that he and Kim Bauer had that sort of relationship? If Jack didn't kill him, he would be either fired or straight back to Chicago and CTU there. Whilst going back to Chicago would hardly be a bad thing, he felt as if he had to stay in Los Angeles.

Hyperbole aside, for a start I'm a man and that gives me an unfair advantage even nowadays. You would get so many dirty looks and whispers just because you chose to act on your feelings, Kim.

"I don't want to hurt you, Kim, you're the last person I would ever want to do that to," Alex spoke quietly. His blue-green eyes gazed into her light blue eyes, and for a moment he almost went along with what she wanted. Their faces were a little too close for comfort, and it only took a second before their lips met. His hands slowly went up to her hair, nestling in the blonde locks.

This is really not the best of ideas, but it feels so good. I just hope nobody sees us.

Her hands matched his, reaching upwards to take hold of his head, her fingers on top of his dark brown hair. He could feel himself losing control, wanting so much to keep this going, but inside of his mind, a voice was screaming at him to stop it. The voice, however, was deeply outnumbered.

Why do I get the feeling that I don't care who sees us? Shouldn't I be worried?

There was a sound further down the corridor, and both of them wondered for a moment if someone was about to see them, but they didn't break the kiss. Not for the sound, and not for the technician who walked past them.

Well, at least one other person knows what we're doing. I wonder how long it'll be until Jack finds out?

A moment or two longer, and the kiss faded. Pulling apart, they smiled at each other. Alex looked at her and wondered if they really could do this. A strange image of them announcing their relationship to Jack and Nina popped into his head.

Wouldn't that be kind of weird? Or maybe it would be funny, the looks on their faces!

More footsteps could be heard, probably a few agents or technicians headed to the same room. Both Alex and Kim decided to get to back to work, for now leaving the idea of being together for a more suitable time.

Some hours later, and few were left inside CTU. Kim had gone home an hour or so before, so the workstation she used next to his was empty. Suddenly, his phone rang.

"CTU, Myers," he spoke, although if he had checked he would have seen it was an internal extension.

"Alex, it's Jack, could you come to my office?" Jack asked, and Alex swore inwardly as he noticed the extension number. Replying that he would be there soon, he hung up and took a deep breath.

This could be totally irrelevant to what we did earlier, or it could be completely, utterly relevant. I couldn't tell from his voice which it was, but I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Climbing the stairs, he told himself not to look nervous, but it seemed to only amplify the anxiety. Still, he felt like he couldn't care less if Jack knew. Kim was a fully grown adult, capable of making her own choices, and it wasn't as if he had any terrorist connections.

Well, except that one, anyway.

"Is everything OK?" he asked after knocking on the door frame. He tried to analyse what he could see of Jack's face, but there was no chance of success there.

"Come in, close the door and take a seat," Jack replied, and it was as if he was trying to stay neutral. Doing so, Alex waited for Jack to finish writing. He noticed that it was nothing important.

I still can't tell what he wants, does he want to see if I'll become more nervous sat here or something?

Eventually, Jack looked up and smiled at him. It was neither a friendly or sarcastic smile, as if Jack was trying to keep up the indifference.

"I know what you were doing earlier, Alex," Jack spoke, and Alex was sure that the truth was all over his face. Despite being her brother, he had none of the lying skills that Nina possessed.

I wish he would give me an indication of what he felt about it. Then again, do I know how I felt about it, for sure?

"Look, Jack, I shouldn't have done it, I should have been more in control of myself," Alex began, and he could see a look of confusion grow on Jack's face.

Oh, he's not talking about the kiss, is he? But if not the kiss, what?

"I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean to say that you shouldn't have worked out what the problem with Kim's computer was? I was wondering if mine was having the same problem," Jack asked, puzzled. He was further confused when the look of pure relief washed over Alex's face. What did Alex think he was talking about?

Oops, I better think of something to say that won't make him even more concerned that I did something I don't want him to know about.

Laughing for a few seconds, Alex shook his head. "I'm sorry, I thought you were talking about something else from earlier. I accidentally deleted an important file because I was rushing, but turns out there's a way of getting it back as long as you do it really quickly. I was worried I had corrupted the file or something," Alex explained.

Where did I get that all from? I'm an awful liar, will he actually fall for that?

Jack looked like he believed the story, and smiled. Sometimes, Alex really did overreact to things, but he was glad that the other thing had turned out to be minor.