Chapter 1

The Interview

Pre-season 2:

Tony did NOT want to be here right now. He was pretty sure that slamming his head against the wall would be more entertaining than listen to this woman drag on and on. Besides the fact that this woman was boring him to tears, just being in this room and dealing with the selection process had Tony so anxious he was sweating. He hadn't even wanted to come to work today. His boss, George Mason, was making him sit in on all of the interviews for the new Internet Protocol Manager…Nina's replacement. At first, he was adamant that he wanted no part in the selection process.

"I still don't see why I need to have any part in this," Tony said firmly. "You're Director of CTU."

"Because," George replied, "you're second in command, and will be working directly with whoever we hire, not to mention training them yourself. You're a crucial part of this decision, Tony."

Tony sighed and scratched the side of his face. He paused and was about to say something in rebuttal before George interrupted him.

"Look, Tony," he whispered quietly, "I understand your hesitation, I really do. I can't even imagine what you must be feeling, especially after everything that happened with Ni-

"Don't." Tony interrupted quietly. He closed his eyes and tried to keep his cool.

George took a deep breath. "Fine," he replied. "I understand the pain you're going through, but if you're going to stay in this job I need you to pull it together and move on. Forget about everything that happened in the past. Stuff like this happen every single day, and you need to develop thicker skin if you're going to do this job well," he paused for a second. "We all do."

George waited for Tony's response. A million things were running through his head; the image of Jack rocking his wife's dead body, crying. Kim standing near a pool of blood and fainting. Agents lying dead in the field. All because of her hand…he snapped himself out of it and finally sighed in submission.

"Alright, fine. As long as I get to have some say in who we hire, and we do this on MY terms."

"Agreed." They began to walk towards the interview rooms where there were already four people lined up. At the sight of potential employees George could feel Tony begin to tense.

"Just relax," he said. "Think of everything that happened as a lesson for the future." Tony looked at him through the corner of his eye as they walked into the room and sat down next to each other. He was still deeply hurt about Nina's betrayal, and just the thought of someone ever doing that again made his stomach do a back flip. He felt like he couldn't trust anyone ever since that day, and it scared him. He felt empty, and didn't think feeling would ever return.

So here he was. Two and a half hours later, and their sixth interview. What frustrated Tony even more than all of this was that, as of right now, this woman was their best candidate. He couldn't possibly imagine ever working with her; the second she walked into the room, she practically began to break down crying. She was old, at least in her mid-fifties, and smelt like his grandmother's house. She had old, crusty features, and was…large, to say the least. He had only been sitting in the room for fifteen minutes and already had the ability to make him want to scream at the top of his lungs. Tony had never been known for being very patient, but this woman definitely pushed him to the edge. Although she had the experience and credentials, there was no way he was going to tolerate working with her everyday; he might end up driving off a cliff.

Finally he had had enough of her rambling and mumbling, and was sure George had seen enough to know that this was not the right choice when he interrupted her,

"Thank you very much miss, er," he glanced down at the application. "Ms. Revere. We will have someone contact you by the end of next week." He smiled sweetly as the guard led her out of the room. Tony was sure she was about to go into a heart attack by the nervous look on her face.

When the door finally shut, Tony rubbed his palms into his eyes. "Ugh" he mumbled. "I thought that would never end."

George began flipping through her application again, and replied with "you do realize she is the best applicant we have as of right now?"

"Don't remind me" Tony growled. "Who's next?"

George began flipping through his papers once again and replied, "our last interview is someone named Michelle Dessler. Good credentials, excellent recommendations from Brad Hammond at Division. Degree in computer science from UC…"

Tony was getting bored already. It wasn't that he wasn't interested, but was ready to have this day over with and interviews finished. The worst part of being Chief of Staff at CTU was the amount of paperwork, filing, boring meetings and stupid responsibilities such as hiring new employees. He was only interested in the action, that's what kept him going.

He could already picture what this next interview was going to be like; another half an hour of listening to some forty year old talk about her life, family, experience, etc. He hoped she'd be a little more interesting than that Joan Revere who was just in. This woman was literally their last hope.

He stood up and walked to the break room near the entrance of the building. He poured himself a cup of black coffee in his favorite Cubs mug and took a huge gulp. He began thinking about how he actually kind of liked the name Michelle…it had a nice ring to it. A steady flow that just right rolled off the tongue. As he began walking back into the center of the building, he heard an unfamiliar clicking noise behind him. Tony turned around and saw a small, gorgeous young woman walk into the building. She had a mess of curls neatly pinned back behind her head, and looked very professional in a business suit and skirt. Tony stopped dead. He had no idea who this woman was, but was blown away by her simple yet elegant beauty. She had a creamy complexion and a perfectly thin body. Her cheekbones were high on her face, perfectly pink, and even from the distance he was at he could see her sparkling eyes. They were a deep brown, but with hints of gold. But it wasn't this woman's physical beauty that struck him. The second that he looked at her, that empty feeling Tony had bottled up inside for so many months, seemed to just disappear. He looked at this woman who he had never seen before in his life and felt instantly happier. She looked over in his direction and flashed a sweet, small smile at him. He felt his knees go weak, and his heart began to beat faster. He took in a sharp breath, and noticed that every other guy in the room was also staring at her, checking her out up and down. Suddenly he felt a weight slam him back down onto earth, and could hear the normal sounds of the office return. Tony hadn't realized it, but while he had been watching this woman he felt like he was walking on air, there was no sound, no one in the room except him and this…this girl. The phones continued to ring off the hook, conversation continued between colleagues, stimuli surrounded him everywhere; but what brought him crashing down to reality were the hungry eyes of every other guy in the office. Tony felt sick to his stomach at just the thought of these wolves looking at something so innocent, and was reminded to breathe by the sudden constriction he felt in his chest. He took a deep breath, and continued to watch the woman as she went to the front desk, asked a question, and turned toward…the interview room.

"Oh shit" he thought.

Tony felt a sudden pit drop in his stomach. "No, no it can't be" he said to himself. "There's no way she's the next interview." He walked briskly back to the interview room and saw her enter through the glass window. She shook hands with George and sat down, a pleasant smile on her face. George began looking around, saw Tony through the window, and waved for him to come in.

Tony was frozen in place. There was no way he could do this. It was going to be impossible for him to sit through an interview with this woman across from him. She was absolutely beautiful, and what if she was perfect for the job? What if George ended up hiring her? Tony couldn't deal with falling for someone else, especially anyone at CTU…with the same job Nina had. He could tell deep inside that he would fall for her…eventually.

George peered through the glass and looked at Tony deeply. He could tell something was wrong, but this was not the time for Tony to have a freak out. George waved to him one more time, getting annoyed, and finally Tony began to put one foot in front of the other, open the door, shake hands with the woman and quietly sit down with folded hands.

Flashback:

Michelle was so nervous for this interview. It usually wasn't like her to get anxious about stuff like this, but it was something about this place, this job…it definitely was a reach for her, but she knew that if she worked hard enough she could do it.

She wanted this job more than anything. Ever since she had started training to become an agent she heard about CTU Los Angeles as one of the finest counter-terrorism agencies. She had met friends at Division who had given her excellent recommendations, and had reassured her that she had this job in the bag, but she was still nervous. The IPM was a huge position, and she was sure that they probably had dozens, maybe hundreds, of applicants lined up. She knew she needed to impress them from the first time she stepped into the door.

When she opened the door to CTU, a cool wave of air hit her, and she began clicking down the hall in her small heels with her bag slung across her shoulder and her application in a manila folder in her hand. She clipped her Visitor pass on and made her way to the front desk. Michelle looked very professional, and had spent all morning picking out the perfect outfit; something that showed she meant business but still showed off a little of her pretty side. As she clicked down the hall and entered the main office she saw the number of people walking around, and absorbed the business-y atmosphere that surrounded her. She smiled to herself. "This," she thought, "is perfect."

As Michelle continued to the main desk, she passed a young man standing near what looked like a break room. He was holding a Chicago Cubs coffee mug, and he stared at her as she walked by.

She couldn't help but blush a little. This man was obviously very, very handsome. He had thick, curly black hair, which she loved, and a muscular yet proportional figure. His eyes seemed to penetrate right through her; she was taken aback about how this man seemed to see right into her soul. As this thought she turned even redder, so she made a quick smile and turned her back toward him as she walked to the front desk. She could still feel his eyes staring right through her, but strangely she could tell that he wasn't checking her out (like every other guy in the office). He seemed to just be staring at her, but…she really didn't mind it that much (although she was a little embarrassed). The moment wasn't awkward in any way, it felt very…natural. Michelle thought this was so odd. She reached the outside of the glass interview room and decided she should stop over-analyzing the silliest of situations – what she normally did – and focus on her interview. She took a deep breath and walked in. Michelle introduced herself to George Mason, and took a seat.

She gave him a pleasant smile, hoping to ease her nerves. She was very nervous just looking at this guy; he seemed very fierce and rough around the edges, and hoped that she wasn't giving off the vibes that were buzzing through her. As she concentrated on relaxing herself and focusing what was at stake, she heard George mumble something about needing to find his partner. She saw him look out the window and wave for someone to come inside. Michelle sat patiently in her seat, and hoped George's partner was a little less intense than him. She was shocked to see the man she passed earlier slowly make his way inside. Without looking at her, he leaned over and shook her hand. His hand was large and firm, yet his grasp was gentle. "Hey" he mumbled. Even though this guy wouldn't even look at her, she somehow felt more relaxed with him being in the room. As he made his way over to his chair, she replied with "good morning, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Michelle Dessler."

Present time:

Tony sat quietly with his hands folded. The woman introduced herself as Michelle, and he was enamored with the smooth, clear sound of her voice. He cleared his throat and replied "uh, hi. I'm Tony. Tony Almeida. I'm the Chief of Staff here. I'm sure you've already met George…" He attempted to hand the conversation over to Mason, but his efforts were futile; Mason was pretending to text someone underneath the table. It was obvious to Tony what George was trying to do; he was trying to get Tony to take the initiative, move on with his life and deal with the present situation. George could tell how uncomfortable Tony was sitting across from Michelle, but hoped that he would suck it up and start trusting other people again. It was a long shot, but it was worthwhile. Tony took a deep breath and began to ask questions.

As the interview continued, Tony kept stealing glances at Michelle. He was really starting to like her, not only as a candidate but also as a person. She was a genuinely sweet, funny person, but was dedicated to her job wholeheartedly, which he admired a great deal. Several times he caught himself staring into her eyes as she would talk to George, and would just get lost in them. They were so deep, and said so much about her. Tony quickly got over being uncomfortable around her, although it scared him to put his guard down. He was amazed about how easily this stranger was able to open him up just through her presence.

When the interview was finally over, Tony walked Michelle over to the door, thanked her for coming, and turned around to find George already on the phone.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked.

"Calling District. Telling them we've chosen Michelle as our new Internet Protocol Manager."

"What?" Tony responded. Immediately the fear returned. There was no way Tony was going to be able to work with this woman every day and not fall for her. The thought of feeling anything for anyone scared him.

He walked over to where George was making his call and disconnected the phone line.

"Tony, what the hell are you doing?"

"We can't do this, George. We haven't even thought it through."

"What is there to think through? She's the perfect candidate! She has all of the right credentials, and is extremely dedicated to her work. She's young, passionate, and to be frank, drop dead gorgeous, which we can use to our advantage. We could get her trained in field ops as a backup for any of our…sticky situations."

At this Tony stopped dead in his tracts. "Field ops?" he responded. There was NO way George was sending Michelle into the field…ever. Just the thought of her being put in danger like that scared the shit out of him. Anger began boiling up inside.

"Yes." Mason replied. "As of right now, we only have one female, Agent Cooper, trained in special cases, and we could use Michelle as cover, back-up, even send her in on active duty."

This made Tony even more furious. He knew exactly what George meant…Michelle was pretty enough to be sent in as a prostitute, private escort, strip club dancer…basically anything that they needed her for. She would be used as bait to lure in and trap potential terrorists using her…her body.

"That's sick, George, and you know it." He was practically yelling at him now. "If we hire Michelle, she will stay in the office where she's supposed to. We're here to hire a new IPM, not some chick to use as bait for scumbags!" His blood was coursing through his veins. His pulse was pounding. He couldn't believe he was yelling at his own boss like this, but if he didn't, who would? Who else would protect Michelle?

"Tony," George said trying to calm him down, "take it easy. Of course, Michelle's first priority will be her duty as third in command and Internet Protocol Manager…but all of our IPM's over the last decade have had trained in field ops as precautionary measures, and that's not about to change now. Michelle is the best choice for the job. Come on, do you really want to send someone as old as Joan Revere into the field?"

Tony began to argue again, but George put up his hand and stopped him.

"Listen carefully, Tony. Michelle's training in field ops in non-negotiable, end of story. However, we can work out how often she will be brought in."

Tony's fists began to unclench. He responded immediately through gritted teeth, "On a last-resort basis." He thought for a second, and added for a valid excuse, "I need the head of my team in the office at all times, not to be distracted or removed."

"Fair enough" George said. He pulled out the papers and said, "now, can you plug the phone back in so I can call District and have them write up a contract?"

Flashback:

Michelle walked out of the room feeling as confident as ever. She knew she had the job in the bag, or hoped she did. Tony held the door open for her, and as she walked past she stole of sniff of his cologne. She closed her eyes and was intoxicated by the fresh and wholesome scent that filled her. She continued to walk out of the office and into her car, with a smile on her face. When she arrived back at her apartment, she saw she had a missed call. She listened to the message with a huge grin on her face; District was on the line, congratulating her on her new position as Internet Protocol Manager of CTU Los Angeles.