OOM: Consequences

Kim wakes up the next morning. She doesn't remember falling asleep. After the news reports she sat for a long time before exhaustion overtook her.

By the light of day she can see things that she hadn't noticed last night. Outside it's snowing and she still doesn't recognize her surroundings.

She walks over to the window and sees that she's at least 8 stories up. She pulls the drapes together, not sure why they were open in the first place. She thinks that being in a city probably isn't all that safe but she still doesn't know how she arrived *here*.

"Where am I?" She looks around the room and sees papers and files and a laptop. On the back of the door is the hotel name and location but she has a hard time believing it's true.

Toronto. What is she doing in Toronto?

She sits at the table and opens up her laptop. The first thing that comes up is a map of the US with different colors. She knows what the codes mean but can't accept the numbers. Her fingers tremble as she opens up a web browser. She sees the date, December 13, 2008 - less than day from when she left.

Quickly she rifles through papers, trying to figure out what's going on, but although she knows it's her handwriting she can't figure out what the notes refer to or why she has classified files in her hotel room. Her heart's racing and she's trying very hard not to panic but she's having trouble taking a deep breath.

'No, think of something else, imagine that you're back in Milliways, that mom's still there, feel her arms around you, comforting you, and everything will be okay.' She thinks, closing her eyes.

When she opens them again she sees a note on letterhead stationary. She'd written down a town in Mexico and the phrase "last known location" After a moment she recognizes the name and she doesn't want to make the connection. But it falls into place. It's the town where the Salazars were staying, the one that Chase flew into to try and rescue her Dad.

She opens up a file and the first page sends chills up her spine, her note didn't refer to Chase:

Interrogation Report, September 18, 2008.

Subject: Chase Edmunds

CTU Case Officer: Jack Bauer

"Oh, God," she whispers, pushing back away from the table, standing up as if she could create more room between her and the report. She feels nauseated and runs into the bathroom but what she sees in the mirror stops her, makes her gasp and stare. Her hair is no longer blonde, it's now red.

She can only think of one reason why she'd have classified information and have altered her apperance. After a few minutes of searching the hotel room she finds what she feared. The picture in the passport might be her face, but it's not her name.

A sound of hysteria threatens to spill out and she covers her mouth with her hand.

'I need to reconstruct what happened,' she thinks, and forces herself to sit back at the computer. The map of the US shows the spread of the virus. Contained, it's contained, she has to believe that's true.

She flips through the file, not wanting to read it but trying to figure out what is going on and reads the next to last line, Recommend that subject be sent to Guatanamo Bay for further interrogation and that subject undergoes an extensive psychiatric evaluation..

What happened becomes clear and she can't help the way her fingers tremble and she hugs herself but no amount of visualization can help her now.

'He tried to change the future,' she thinks. 'But he failed.'