24 Declassified: Chaos Theory/9:00pm-10:00pm

THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 9 P.M. AND 10 P.M. PACIFIC STANDARD TIME.

9:00pm PST

Federal Holding Facility, Los Angeles

The thin gang-banger, Oscar Cisneros, is back in his cell, furious both at losing his hand-crafted shiv and at failing to kill "blondie." Cisneros calls out to a patrolling guard, Pete, and says he needs to make a phone call. Pete refuses, but Oscar reminds him that he's going to let him out, just like last time, because he wants to "keep [his] little wifey and daughter in Simi out of trouble." Pete, remembering a former colleague at Chino whose sister was raped after he failed to help a Salvatrucha soldier on the inside, finally relents and opens the cell door.

Cisneros leads the way to Broadway, the prison's main thoroughfare, and through three levels of security to the phone cubicles. He places a call to an unidentified recipient, who asks if the job is done. Cisneros replies that his target put up a fight and injured his two companions, and tries to extort an increase in his payment, but the other man furiously cuts him off, ordering him to finish the job or else "get buried so deep your own fucking mother will forget you."

9:13pm PST

CTU Headquarters, Los Angeles

Reading through a threat assessment report, Tony Almeida incredulously notices that Chappelle is already bored, staring into space, his eyes glazed over. Nina Myers also looks bored, but he guesses that it's due more to her usual sardonic expression.

Tony reports that the Governor meetings with the Southeast Asian representatives began with a reception tonight and will continue tomorrow, making them a likely target for any terrorist activity. Christopher Henderson reenters the room with two cups of coffee, offering one to a distant Chappelle before retaking his seat. Moving on, Tony says that presidential candidates will be making stops in Los Angeles in the coming months in preparation for primary season, and their advance teams know to contact the office ahead of time. Finally, he reports that the analyst team has pulled up information on locals connected to Jemaah Islamiyah, which Tony intends to follow up. As Henderson tries to wrap the meeting up, Tony notices that Chappelle's eyes have rolled back in his head, drool seeping from his mouth, just before he falls out of his chair. Henderson goes to catch him as the other agents gather around, calling for security and medical assistance.

9:19pm PST

Federal Holding Facility, Los Angeles

Nearing the end of his shift, Adam Cox monitors the meal line in the mess hall, looking forward to getting home to his wife Viv. In his usual routine, he scans the room as he has for seven years, checking each guard position to make sure his guys are okay before moving on.

One prisoner, Big Ferg, shambles past - Ferg was a leader of the Aryan Bloc waiting for trial on weapons charges, for whom Cox had developed a kind of grudging respect, after breaking up several fights between him and the predominantly black and Latino prison population. Suddenly, a new inmate attacks Ferg, and Cox steps in to break up the fight. Unexpectedly, however, Ferg takes the opportunity to shiv Cox in the back, multiple times, quietly apologizing that it's "just business."

9:23pm PST

Federal Holding Facility, Los Angeles

Jack Bauer and Emil Ramirez eat their dinner in the prison library, where the warden ordered them sent for their own safety. Jack wolfs down his food, oblivious to its taste, while Ramirez asks for salt, only to notice that their guard has disappeared. Sensing trouble, Jack warns Emil to stay put, then finds a short thick book from the shelves, just as Oscar Cisneros reappears, now with three thugs to back him up.

One of the gang-bangers disappears down an aisle, intending to flank Jack and Ramirez. Jack throws his book at Cisneros to put him off balance, then kicks him in the groin and shoves him at the remaining two thugs. He bolts down the aisle in pursuit of the third man, Javie. After a brief fight, Jack throws him to the ground and stomps on his face.

Returning to the table, Jack finds the other two men beating Ramirez to death. Jack manages to take down one of them, but the other grabs him from behind and slams him onto the table. To fend him off, Jack digs his fingers into the man's eyes, then punches him in face, finally knocking him unconscious.

Ramirez, his face bloody and bruised, stares at Jack in astonishment and asks what he did to set off MS-13; Jack replies, truthfully, that he has no idea. Once, he had needed some information from a member, but the case itself had nothing to do with the gang, and he had left them alone after that. Referencing Ramirez's Salvatrucha associate and the "something" planned for tomorrow, Jack suggests that it probably won't go well with thugs like these involved. Kicking Oscar awake, he asks what he and his men are after, and what Jack is to them; Oscar replies, "A dead man."

9:37pm PST

CTU Headquarters, Los Angeles

After fifteen minutes of intense effort, medics managed to restart Ryan Chappelle's heart as he lay unconscious in the conference room. When he first opened his eyes, Chappelle focused on Christopher Henderson and tried to utter a warning: "Don't...Bauer..." before crashing again.

Now, twenty minutes after he first collapsed, Chappelle is wheeled out of the building toward a waiting ambulance. Watching him go, Tony asks what he might have been trying to say, but Henderson suggests that it was simple delirium. Turning to the question of Jack's incarceration, Tony asks if Henderson thinks Jack really murdered an innocent man, reminding him that they've been on poor terms since Internal Affairs started looking into the missing money.

9:46pm PST

Federal Holding Facility, Los Angeles

The guards, led by Officer Lafayette, reenter the library to restrain the four gang-bangers. Lafayette asks Jack what happened; Jack explains that they came to kill him and Ramirez after the guard with the swollen lip took his coffee break. He asks to talk to Officer Cox immediately, but Lafayette breaks the news that Cox was just stabbed and killed by an inmate in the mess hall. Stunned, Jack asks to speak to the warden, saying that he will want to talk to him once he hears Jack's name, but Lafayette replies that the warden is unavailable: he has been hospitalized, following a heart attack this afternoon. Looking around, Jack feels for the first time in three weeks like he is in jail.