milliways_bar | Entrance Post

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Entrance Post

And so. There's a very well dressed gentleman standing by the door to Milliways - naturally enough, he has a rather surprised expression on his face.

He's not wearing a tuxedo and there are no gorgeous women draping themselves over him. No vodka martini or Walther PPK in his hand either - in fact, he thinks he was about to get fired. So maybe he's a bit relieved to find himself here. He just wishes he knew where 'here' is.

James Bond is in the bar.

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"Well considering it's made up of wizards, vampire slayers, a knight or two, and the usual law-enforcement types, we are pretty formidable. We're patrons here like anyone else though. We won't bite unless we have reason."

He sips his drink. "Hitting a bit of a slow period at home?"

He looks at Bauer with his steely eyes. 'You might say that.' And doesn't elaborate.

After a small pause and the lighting of one of his custom made Turkish cigarettes - he offers one to Jack - he says, 'So there are all different types of beings here, not just normal people?'

Jack shakes his head at the offered cigarette. He's not surprised that Bond doesn't elaborate, but he's not put off by the intense stare his question garners. Once you've had a staring contest with someone who's more than willing to kill millions of people--or kill you--there's very little else that intimidates.

"All types from every time and place you could imagine, and anywhere you couldn't imagine as well. And most of the 'normal' people here aren't that normal either."

He's not one for staring contests because he thinks they're silly and pointless, it's just that Bauer's question hit a little close to home. And he likes that the man doesn't seem easily intimidates - of course, he's pre-disposed to respect most people who would do a security job.

Intereting statement too, and his expression shows his interest. 'Oh? You mean that there's more to most people here than there seems? Well, thats true of most places I've discovered but this is obviously by no means a normal place - so I appreciate the tip.'

He considers that a moment, taking another sip of his drink. "Oh there's definitely more to most people than there seems to be. Most of the people in the bar are friendly and generally good people. There are a few bad eggs, though they can't do much. Theoretically."

'Theoretically? So you mean that in actuality, there may be rather a lot they can do. But they have to actually do it before they can be punished.' He watches Jack carefully.

"Exactly. They're being watched closely by Security, and if they put so much of a toe over the line they'll be punished for it. Thing is, they have to cross that line first."

He smiles grimly. "Milliways is big on starting wiht a clean slate. Unfortunately not everyone is interested in keeping theirs clean. But that said, I don't think there's been any major problems in the bar. Most of them seem to be taking the trade-off of good behaviour for being allowed to have thier run of the bar."

He wonders if Bauer is speaking about this from personal experience - he certainly seems grim about it, and slightly bitter. 'Hmm, I see. Well, it wouldn't be right to just arrest everyone that one suspects might do something wrong. That would be rather oppressive. Keeping a close eye on people sounds like its working then, if there haven't been any major problems.'

He's not one for letting criminals have their freedom, not at all. But he doewsn't know the situation in the bar yet - when he does, it's fairly obvious that he'll be agreeing wth Jack's side of things.

"Well in most cases the reason we know about these people is because they're from the same world as someone else in the bar, and that person has warned us, so we have reason to be wary. And while yeah, arresting someone you suspect will commit a crime is the sort of thing you'd expect in a dictatorship, not here, with some of the people here...it's not so much a question of 'if', but of 'when'. But like I said, those are the rules--we don't touch them until they do something."

There might be an edge of bitterness in his tone--this hits a little to close to home.

Definitely something personal...

There was a time when he would have disapproved of Bauer having a security job, believing that personal business should be kept away from work. But these days, that would make him a hypocrite and he isn't one of those.

'You're having problems with people here Mr. Bauer.' Not a question, but he won't pry. 'Unfortunatley, putting people away or getting rid of them before they've done something concrete would make us as bad as they are.'

He looks at the other man. 'You sound like you're experienced in this kind of work. And if I'm not mistaken, you have military experience.' It's always obvious to other people who have served. Something in the posture and bearing.

"Yeah, I am. And trust me I know that; it's why I haven't done anything about it yet except keep an eye on the person in question. I'm not going to let my personal issues jeapordize the safety of others, and just because I'm on Security doesn't mean I get to break the rules needlessly."

He lifts an eyebrow, but he also smiles slightly. "Ex-U.S. Army Special Forces, and more recently with the Counter-Terrorist Unit in Los Angeles. I'm assuming you're from a similar background, as you noticed."

He nods in approval, on both points. 'Yes, I was a Royal Naval officer for quite a few years, and through the war. And now I'm a civil servant.' He doesn't know if Jack will make the connection but he's not about to spell out the nature of his job to just anyone. Even if Bauer seems like the type that would understand the need for discretion. 'Special Forces? Covert and black ops then. Interesting.' Of course, he knows better than to ask for details that Jack wouldn't be able to give. It doesn't occur to him that things might be a litle more relaxed in this environment.

And he smiles ruefully. 'I understand that being part of a security team means that you of all people don't get to break the rules needlessly - but thats not always possible. Just have a good reason that you can justify and do what you have to do.'

Jack smiles a bit at that. "My sergeant, back soon after I joined the military said the same thing. Rules were made for a reason, but sometimes the rules don't fit. But if you're going to break them, you'd better have a good reason--the bigger the rule, the better the reason it has to be."

His smile turns wry. "A civil servant? Well, we share a few things in common, then."

'Sounds like your sergeant had his head screwed on right. Most sergeants do of course, you'll know as well as I do that an army would fall apart without them.' He's surprised though, he would have put Bauer down as an officer. He just had that air about him. But maybe he was talking about when he was a cadet.

He smiles. 'I take it you use the American equivalent when describing your counter-terrorism work then.' Of course, the civil service in England covers all sorts of benign departments, but he's not going to insult Bauer by needlessly pretending to be part of one of them.

Jack mirrors the smile, carefullly choosing his words. Bond can't know yet that his adventures are well-known in other worlds, and having had the experience of finding that out for himself, Jack obviously isn't going to reveal that to him.

It does make things a little tricky, though, as he can't let on how much he knows. But then if he could survive undercover missions, this should be a piece of cake.

"Well we still call governemnt employees 'civil servants' in the States; it's just that tends to cover quite a range of professions. Most of the people I worked with would call themselves a government agent instead," he says.

He has a little more latitude to speak freely here, and he uses it. For one, he already knows whatever he tells Bond can't be a danger to security; for another, working at CTU had always been a bit more like working at the FBI than some parts of the CIA. They might not be able to talk about their work, but during their day-to-day lives they didn't have to lie about where they worked or live under an alias.

That makes sense to Bond, as obviously, it's pretty much the same in England. And Bauer is clearly in the same kind of work as he is. 'I see. Well, in that case we seem to have something else in common Mr. Bauer. Sounds like we have the same kind of job.' He pauses. 'You said 'worked' - you don't any more?'

Jack considers how to answer this for a moment. The only people he's told about his "officially dead" status are those he knows from CTU; those that thought he was going to die on that day in April. He's never actually told it to someone not from his world, and he's not sure he really wants to.

"I left, both for my own reasons and reasons out of my control," he says smoothly. Which is something vaguely like the truth, but also completely off base.

Bond's not a man to pry into another man's business - unless they're a criminal - and he's also good at recognising when someone doesn't want to talk about something.

'There's quite often something attractive in thinking about leaving the job behind. I'm sure you'll find something else you like just as much.'

"It can be an attractive thought, but that's if you can leave it behind," Jack says with a wry smile.

He smiles quietly also and goes for another cigarette. How many times has he tried to leave now, or been forcibly retired?It's been a few. And didn't he always go back?

'Yes,' he murmurs. 'It's not always that easy, is it?'

"Yeah, somehow I don't think Fate got the memo that I wasn't working at CTU any more. Twice."

He laughs. 'Fate has a lot to answer for and I think thats the best I can say about it at the moment.'

Fate put him on a track that led him to his wife - and allowed her death at the hands of an enemy he failed to catch.

It's really quite a shame he can't say that to Jack. Not that he knows that.

Indeed it is. Also a pity that Jack won't be bringing up how fate snatched away his wife just at the moment he finally thought she was safe, through the hands of someone he trusted.

"Yeah, she does," he says with a bitter smile. "She doesn't seem to stop operating in here, either. I'm not sure whether to say you'll be lucky or unlucky if people you know start turning up."

He looks a bit surprised. The idea hadn't occured to him. 'I don't think I'd like that at all. Quite a few people don't like me very much and...' Could get a bit hairy if a few ladies decided to turn up at once. '...various other acquaintances might make things a little uncomfortable. But it's possible to get lucky as well? People you'd like to see turning up?'

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