Disclaimer: 24 is not mine.
IMPORTANT: this story takes place right after Tony walks out of the room after kissing Michelle. The couple of events that happen after like Chase's hand needs to be ignored. In my story, the virus is secured, chase, both hands, and jack are on their way back to CTU and there is no longer a threat.
Tony was leaving CTU like a criminal, escorted by guards just to be put into handcuffs
and shoved into a car. I felt my knees start to collapse under me, and slowly sank onto the floor
against the wall, staring after my husband, not able to vanish the look of love he gave me before
he walked out that door from my eyes. I sat on the floor, the wall the only thing holding me up,
and for the first time that day, really, cried. I couldn't breath, I felt like my life was shattering all
around me. What was I going to do? Hammonds wasn't going to let me see Tony. Was I
supposed to go home to an empty house, get into our bed, and wake up in the morning knowing
that instead of being wrapped in my arms my husband was in a cold jail cell by himself? At this I
started crying harder. I couldn't imagine how much this was killing him. This was all my fault.
Tony was going to jail because he loved me. My cell phone rang. I ignored it. There was only
one person in the world that I could talk to right now that would make me feel better. And there
was no way that it was him calling. The phone stopped ringing. I wiped a tear from my face, but
it was no use. There was a flood coming and many more filled that one tear's place. I missed
Tony already. I wanted him to walk through the door and come hold me. I wanted to stay in his
arms and refuse to let go. I would prefer to go to jail with him then to not see him every day, not
be able to kiss him every day, not be able to comfort him or have him comfort me through this
nightmare. I felt as though somebody was stabbing me over and over again through the heart;
each thought making a deeper wound. I thought of his smile, even when he knew he was going
to jail he could still smile at me, still convince me that he was sure of his decision, make me see
that all he cared about was that I was alive. I thought of his kiss, the way he had grabbed me
and finally pulled me close after we had both been so far away, so close to death, for so long.
My sobs grew softer. I could feel the tears silently making their way down my face.
"Michelle?" I heard softly. "Michelle, are you in-"Kim came in and saw me slumped against the wall on the floor. I usually composed myself
pretty well at CTU; I think this was the first time she had ever seen me show weakness, the first
time she had ever seen me cry.
"Oh Michelle," she said softly, kneeling beside me.
I tried to wipe my tears away, to compose myself, but all I did was wipe away what was
already there. I couldn't stop the flow that continued down my wet face.
"Is there anything I can do?" she said, her voice full of concern.
"No," I said, barely opening my mouth, "there's nothing you can do. My husband is going to jail,
and I just have to except that."
As I said this my voice cracked. I tried to be strong, but I knew I would never be able to except
this. I would not give up on this, on him. I would fight until I had him back, and until then I
would make sure he knew that I would be there, loving him until they day that I die.
"Oh Michelle," she said again.
I could tell she was really worried. I looked foreword, her sitting beside me.
"I can't give up on him, Kim. I won't. Nobody around here realizes it. They never see us. We try
to keep our relationship out of the office. But, we're practically newlyweds. I'm in love with him,
and I can't bare to think about living without him."
She looked over at me. I wasn't even embarrassed. I hardly ever talked about our relationship
with people from CTU. Tony and I had wanted it to be ours. But there was no point in keeping
it out now. The fact of the matter was that my relationship with Tony had been the very cause of
him being in prison, and our jobs had a direct effect on that.
"Michelle, you won't have to. He's not a traitor. Hammonds knows it, everybody at CTU knows it, and whoever he goes up against will know it too."
I looked down. I knew she was right, but I couldn't believe it. Tony had told me he thought he
was going to jail.
"What's killing me more than anything," I said, my voice cracking slightly, "Is that Tony thinks he
is going to jail. What's even worse, is that he seems almost OK with it. He did this to keep me
alive, and it's almost like he's wiling to go to jail, as long as he knows that I am alive and OK.
What was it that he said, 'You're alive. I can live with that thought, even in prison.' Even in
prison. If he lives with it in prison, I would rather live with him there. I can't go home to our
house, get into our bed, and wake up to the picture of us at our wedding on the dresser. It's bad
enough when we both work all day, are around each other all day, pretend almost like we're not
married most of the time, but to not at least see him every single day, it would kill me."
"Chelle?"
I looked up. Kim was sitting beside me and tears were still rolling down my cheeks. But for one
second, my crying stopped, the tears only ran down my face silently, and Kim stood up and
backed away with a softened expression. It was Tony, there in the doorway, looking down at
me with two guards, handcuffed and a tear running down his perfect face.