Author's note: that fic takes place during season 3 episode 14, it's an AU fic; I played with the dialogue a little. It is inspired by Freelance-babe's Bridge the gaps.

Tony sat in his office trying to gather his thoughts but he failed miserably; his thought kept wondering back to Michelle: "oh God, what have I done? Why did I act like a bastard? Hasn't she suffered enough already?"

Ryan Chappelle interrupted his thoughts when he entered the office. Tony couldn't stop the bad feeling he had when he saw Ryan; he felt he wouldn't like what Ryan wanted to say.

Ryan looked at him for a while: "Jack called, they are almost here", Tony remained silent waiting for him to continue: 'I want you to interrogate Nina". Tony's jaw dropped in surprise: "you can't be serious, for Christ's sake Ryan; I am the last person you should be asking"

Ryan seemed irritated: "you are the ONLY one capable of doing that. I can't let Jack interrogate her, she killed his wife and his addiction makes things worse. I need somebody who can read her which means it's either you or Jack and I'll die before I let him in that room"

Tony sighed heavily. He knew Ryan was right. It was his duty after all but he hated it; he didn't want to see her, he didn't know how he would react and it bothered him. He thought for a while then raised his head; "fine, I'll do it"

Moments later, Dalton told him they were ready. He entered the room to talk to Michelle but Dalton was there so he settled on: "so, we're all right?' he received a none convincing "yeah, we're fine" but he didn't say anything.

He paused at the door preparing himself for the interrogation. He entered putting a cold mask on his face. He didn't want her to get to him; they couldn't afford her to know how much her presence affected him.

It wasn't until she said: "that's a nice ring, who's the lucky girl?" that he knew something was wrong. Her voice was quivering and she was avoiding his eyes. Nina had never done that before, she always looked at him square in the eye.

Her next words shocked him: "I want to speak with you…..privately", Tony narrowed his eyes trying to figure out what she was up to but what he saw surprised him. Nina's eyes were pleading with him to do what she asked for. Tony thought it over then decided to do what she wanted; he disconnected the audio then turned to her and stopped dead in his tracks.

He thought he was dreaming; Nina's eyes were watering. He stared at her shocked as she struggled to collect herself. He sat down waiting for her to speak but what she said sent him over the edge. He heard a shaking "I miss you" coming out of her mouth.

He stared at her with wide eyes a she slowly brought her eyes to meet his. They stared at each other for a long time then she started: "I know you don't believe me but I do miss you. They never asked me to date you but I did…because I loved you. You dated me because you liked me Tony not to use me. You made me feel alive"

Tony's voice was cold: "How am I supposed to believe you, you sold the plans to CTU, you knew I could get hurt but you didn't care and now you claim that you love me, sorry Nina but I don't buy that"

Nina shook her head in despair: "No, I swear that's not true. When I sold those plans, I thought I would be here. They said they would warn me before the attack so I could get out. I intended to get you out as well"

Tony looked at the ceiling. Whether he wanted to admit or not, the conversation was getting into him. She was getting into him: "Is that supposed to make me feel better? You didn't care about the people you worked with for years, you are STILL working with terrorists"

Nina's voice broke: "I'll tell you where to find Marcus Alvers so that you could intercept the virus. I'll stop helping terrorists. All what I ever wanted was you Tony. Please, let's just leave all that behind and start over, just give me a second chance and I swear I'll never hurt you again"

Nina could tell something had moved inside him, his feeling for her were still there and she touched him with her words. She meant what she said. She did love him, he was always there for her, he protected her and made her feel safe. She did a lot of bad things but he was the only good thing in her life. She hurt him badly and she wanted a chance to make it up for him. She wanted to be loved by him again and to feel his arms around her.

Tony stood up suddenly startling her. She looked at him with fear in her eyes, she was afraid he would refuse. He seemed so lost and confused. He avoided her gaze; "I need time to think", she nodded and put her face in her hands when he left.

The second Tony had left; Michelle and Dalton bombarded him with questions. He raised his hand to silence them; "she didn't say anything, she was just trying to manipulate me", Michelle eyed him suspiciously; she knew he was hiding something but it wasn't the time to question him about it.

Tony felt guilt wash over him when his eyes met Michelle's; he was considering leaving her. He was going to stab her in the back just like Nina stabbed him.

Nina, she never left his thought whether he cared to admit or not. He loved her but her betrayal was too much. He went to his office to make a decision. Who was the woman he loved more? He cared for Michelle deeply but if it weren't for Nina's betrayal, he wouldn't have been married to Michelle. He would have been married to Nina. She did a lot of mistakes but love is about forgiveness. He looked down at Michelle and sent her a silent apology, he made his decision.

15 minutes later, an alarm blared throughout CTU. Jack ran towards the holding room where Nina was kept but he didn't find her. Adam brought the security footage and every body froze. Tony was the one who helped Nina. Michelle fell down on her chair shocked as Chase ran to Tony's office. He found a note addressed to Jack, it said: "I'll send you the address of the bar where Alvers is supposed to meet Amador in a couple of hours, tell Michelle I'm sorry"