There was hair plastered to Michelle's forehead because of the heavy rain and irritating the hell out of her by hanging down in front of her eyes, but she couldn't tuck it back behind her ear where it belonged because it was taking all her strength to hold this man's hands behind his back.
"Tony!" she called out again, willing him to come quickly and handcuff the guy.
He was the brains behind a series of bombings, and they had only just managed to capture him after a really long day's work when somehow he had managed to escape. She and Tony had been in the parking lot, about to head home, when he had burst out of the doors and run off. They had immediately run after him, with Jack following them in a car, when he had fled into this park, making said car pretty much useless in the pursuit.
They had lost sight of him for a moment after running through some trees, but then Michelle had spotted him tripping in the middle of some rose bushes. Trying not to curse his stupidity - after all, it did mean she could catch him now - she had hurried after him and knocked him to the ground.
Which explained why she was now sitting on top of him, cold, wet, muddy, covered in scratches and just wanting to scream at Tony to hurry up!
He finally fought his way through the thorns and snapped the handcuffs onto the man's wrists. He put a foot on the guy's back and offered her his hand, which she noticed was bleeding from several small cuts.
Damned roses.
"Good job," Tony said briefly as she allowed him to pull her up.
"Thanks." Michelle dusted herself off, but it really didn't help much. The rain was still pouring down and she had just covered her hands in mud.
"Jack, over here!" Tony waved in Jack's direction and looked back at Michelle. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Just freezing and bleeding and covered in mud, that's all.
"D'you want my jacket? You look cold." Tony was already unzipping it as he spoke.
"If you're okay without it..." Though she would never say no to seeing her husband in a wet shirt...
"Sure, it's fine." He took the jacket off and helped her into it.
Jack appeared just as she was fumbling with the zipper.
"Thanks Tony, Michelle." He pulled their prisoner to his feet and pushed him in front of them as they began to make their way back to CTU.
They made the ten-minute walk in silence. Michelle surreptitiously slipped her hand into Tony's.
When they were back in the parking lot Jack turned to face them. "Listen, you guys go on home. I can take it from here."
"You sure?" Tony asked, but Michelle was already pulling him towards their car.
"Thanks, Jack," she said, flashing him a smile.
He just grinned in return.
The drive home seemed to take longer than usual - probably because Michelle was shivering uncontrollably and kept glancing at Tony to make sure the cold he too must be feeling wasn't interfering with his driving. But at last they pulled up in their driveway and ran inside, trying not to get even wetter than they already were.
Michelle leaned against the wall in the hallway as Tony pulled the door shut behind them. She closed her eyes for a moment before looking up at him, and noticed with no little appreciation that the rain had made his shirt rather more transparent than it usually was.
"D'you wanna take a shower?" she asked.
He smiled. "Sounds like a plan."
She smiled as well and he followed her up to the bathroom, where they began to take off their sodden clothes. Michelle was already down to her underwear when she noticed that Tony was standing there in just his shirt, fumbling with the buttons.
"You need some help with that?" she asked teasingly, standing in front of him and beginning to undo the buttons from the bottom.
He laughed. "Yeah... I guess my fingers are a little numb."
But he reached up behind her and still managed to unhook her bra and pull her panties down despite the numbness - albeit using both hands.
Michelle unfastened the last button and slipped out of her clothes, then peeled Tony's shirt up over his shoulders and down his arms, letting it fall on the tiled floor behind him.
She leaned upwards for a kiss and he put his arms around her, pulling her closer.
"God, you're cold..." he said, tightening his grip and slowly rubbing his hands up and down her back.
"You too, but we're gonna fix that..." She backed into the shower cubicle without letting go of him and used one hand to slide the glass door into place and turn on the water. Then she leaned into him and sighed contentedly.
"Better?" he asked, gently untying her hair so that the warm water would permeate it more quickly.
"Mmm-hmm..." She nuzzled against him, feeling the stubble on his damp cheek rub against the side of her forehead.
"How're your cuts?" asked Tony.
"They sting a little... it's not too bad. Yours?"
"They're fine. I don't think they're as bad as yours. You want me to find some cream for them later?"
"Will you rub it in for me?"
"Uh-huh."
"Mmm..."
They stayed in the shower for some time, just standing there under the water, holding each other and letting their bodies slowly soak up the heat.
Eventually Tony shifted his position, eliciting a small sigh from Michelle, who was quite obviously exhausted.
"Shall we have hot chocolate and then bed?"
He could feel her nodding against his chest. "Sounds good."
"Come on, then..."
He shut off the water and they stepped out of the shower, then he wrapped a towel around her before drying himself off and going off to find their bathrobes. When he returned Michelle was sitting on the side of the tub, absent-mindedly drying her foot.
"Here you go," he said, taking her towel and rubbing her down with it a final time before helping her into her robe. He kissed her on the forehead and then took her by the hand and led her downstairs to the kitchen.
Michelle sat on the counter and rubbed her eyes while he put the water on to boil.
"You okay?" Tony asked, searching the cupboard for mugs.
"Yeah... I'm just tired."
"I noticed." He finished spooning hot chocolate powder into the mugs and set them down by the stove. "I'll be right back," he said, hastily exiting the kitchen.
He returned a moment later with a tube of cream from the medicine cabinet. "Here..." He sat down next to her and put some on his fingers before taking her hands one after the other and gently rubbing it into the bright red scratches.
She looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks."
"No problem. Ah, the water's boiling..."
He stood up and took a step away from her, but she grabbed his wrist. "Wait..."
He let her pull him back. Michelle took the tube of cream from the counter and applied some to his cuts as well. "Can't have you missing out, can we?" she asked sweetly. She rubbed it into his hands gently but speedily, then let him go. "Now, chocolate!" she commanded with a grin.
Tony laughed and went to pour the water. He took a spoon and quickly mixed it with the powder before picking the mugs up and turning back to face Michelle. "Shall we?" he asked, inclining his head towards to the door.
Michelle smiled. "Yep." She jumped off the counter, turned out the light and followed him back upstairs to the bedroom.
Tony climbed onto the bed carefully so as not to spill the hot chocolate, then he handed one of the mugs to Michelle and they both leaned back against the pillows, sighing with relief at finally being able to sleep in the very near future.
Michelle edged closer to him and leaned her head in the crook of his neck. "Thank you..." she said sleepily.
"No problem," Tony replied. He put his free arm around her shoulders and stroked her hair.
They lay there for a moment, sipping their drinks in comfortable silence until both mugs were empty.
Sighing, Michelle propped herself up and reached over to put her mug on the nightstand. "And now," she said, squeezing her eyes shut and climbing under the covers, "Sleep..."
Tony watched her snuggle into the blankets and smiled. "You're perfect, you know that?"
She grinned without opening her eyes and pulled him down next to her, and they were soon asleep in each other's arms.
The End