Event Year: 2001

Jack and Doyle head up field ops while tracking Gredenko and Fayed, and the Vice President’s decision sends shockwaves through his administration.

Ray uses the component to bargain for his family’s freedom, but Ahmed only grants half his wish. Chloe moderates an argument between Morris and Milo, while Walid overhears information in the detention center that may be of use to CTU. Wayne agrees to pardon Assad in the face of his efforts to aid Jack; a gesture that does not sit well with an enraged Curtis. Jack follows a lead given to the police by Jillian, but his information comes too late to stop Fayed from launching another deadly strike.

Jack tries to trace Morris’s location, while Fayed uses harsh tactics to gain his cooperation. Lennox contemplates his resignation in the face of Wayne’s rebuke, but Reed suggests an extreme course of action that may result in a change in leadership. Wayne meets with Assad and pressures him to publicly renounce terrorism.

Assad uses clever tactics to manipulate Fayed’s agent into leading them to the place where Fayed may be hiding. Ahmed uses Ray’s family as leverage to force him to deliver a mysterious package. Fayed contacts Wayne with a demand, while Sandra bucks the FBI’s authority. Jack becomes concerned when Curtis begins to display hostility toward Assad.

Jack’s family loyalties are put to the test as Graem reveals his full involvement in the terrorist activities. Wayne convenes a meeting of his cabinet to discuss Lennox’s drastic policies, while Sandra tends to an injured Walid. Morris receives some bad news about a relative, and McCarthy sets a trap designed to capture the man who can help Fayed build a new trigger for the nukes.

Jack tries to locate Assad in hopes of warning him about the impending air strike. Assad agrees to help Jack locate Fayed, but Jack worries that he’s forgotten how to do his job. Ahmed finds he must take drastic action when his role in the attacks is discovered. President Palmer’s sister, Sandra, goes a long way to defend her principles when she finds herself and her civil rights organization to be a target in an FBI investigation.

Jack forces Graem to take him to McCarthy’s office in the hopes of finding a lead to their father’s whereabouts. Lennox plays a trump card that removes Karen from his path as he prepares to implement more extreme policies. The FBI’s sting operation with Walid goes terribly awry, while Nadia finds herself impeded by new security measures at CTU.

20 months have passed since the events of Day Five. For the past 11 weeks, the U.S. has been under siege by a series of terrorist bombings, with Muslim extremists as the prime suspects. L.A. joins the list of casualties when a bus is bombed in a suicide attack. President Wayne Palmer is torn when he receives conflicting advice from his top advisors. Tom Lennox suggests that the government begin rounding up all Islamic-Americans for detention, but NSA Director Karen Hayes argues that it’s too drastic a step in finding the terrorists.CTU Director Bill Buchanan and Curtis Manning meet with Chinese diplomats, who have agreed to release Jack Bauer from custody. Jack is ragged and dirty and hasn’t spoken for 20 months. Bill informs him that they’ve been contacted by a terrorist, Abu Fayed, who can lead them to the man behind the attacks, but he wants to take revenge on Jack for the murder of his brother in return. Jack meagerly accepts his fate, relieved that his death will have meaning.An average family comes to the aid of an Islamic boy when his father is arrested by the FBI, but it soon becomes clear that the boy may be more involved with the terrorists than they realize. Chloe and Morris O’Brian attempt to intervene on Jack’s behalf, but their efforts may jeopardize the deal between CTU and Fayed. Jack is turned over to Fayed. Fayed begins to torture Jack, but Jack finds the will to fight for his life when he learns that his death may be in vain.

Wayne prepares to talk to the nation as L.A. deals with the fall-out from the nuclear blast. Fayed tries to set up a deal with a new trigger man who can help with the four remaining bombs. Sandra is outraged when the FBI forces Walid to wear a wire in the hopes of gaining information from his fellow inmates. Assad provides CTU with a lead, but Jack finds that it takes a personal twist when he learns that the terrorists may have connections to his estranged family.

Jack takes his fight directly to the President as he attempts to force a confession from him that will prove his involvement in the day’s events. Martha vents her hatred for her husband in front of the press as Logan gives a eulogy over Palmer’s body. Jack and Audrey share a tender moment when it seems the crisis has subsided, but Jack finds that his problems have only begun as his past catches up with him.