Title: Girls Night Out

Fandom: 24

Characters: Michelle Dessler, Tony Almeida, OC – Heather, Amy

Word Count: 1, 431

Rating: PG

Summary: Michelle's friends pepper her with questions about her new crush.

Author's Notes: Pre-Season 2. I don't write too many of these, simply because I'm not in their headspace as well during this time, but this one was fun to write. In fact, it's sparked at least two follow-ups, and I'm contemplating more if the inspiration comes and the interest is there from my readers. Also, jurojin wins a prize for reading my mind; she asked me if I had written any during this time period about a day after I finished the sequel to this one.

"So, spill it. How are you really?"

Michelle Dessler took a deep breath, looking away from the bar where Amy was waiting for their drinks. Her friend was schmoozing the bartender with her usual flirtatiousness: twirling her sleek blonde hair, tossing her head back and laughing uproariously at everything; Michelle didn't know how she did it. Flirting had never come naturally to her, though. And certainly not flirting only the goal of free drinks in mind.

"Michelle?"

She focused on Heather, smiling apologetically for her inattention. She'd been preoccupied a lot lately, and really there was only one reason.

"I'm okay. Just tired."

Heather smiled sympathetically. "Work still rough?"

Michelle shrugged one shoulder, fingering her napkin. "It's not that bad. There's a lot to do, and things are so different at CTU. It just saps my energy."

"But it's better than before?"

"Oh yes. And definitely better than working with her."

Heather nodded. "Speaking of, how's Danny?"

Michelle sighed. That was an entirely different story. "He's coping. He has good days and bad days. He doesn't like the meds he's on, but as long as he takes them, Janet lets him see the kids, so that's something. I keep telling him it'll get better."

Heather nodded again, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand. "It will. And a couple of drinks for you won't hurt, either!"

Smiling at that, Michelle nodded. "So what's new with you?"

"Oh, you know. The usual. Work, David, school."

Michelle brushed her flippancy aside. "How's school? Is design school everything you hoped it would be?"

Heather laughed, flicking her rust-colored hair behind her ear. "It's fantastic. But it's a lot of work. Used to be me who always went to bed first, now it's David. Poor baby complains that he never sees me anymore."

Michelle nodded. "Justin had those same complaints after I went to CTU."

"How'd you fix that?"

Laughing derisively, Michelle leaned back in the booth. "We decided not to see each other anymore. He wanted to settle down, wanted me to settle down, and he told me it wouldn't work out the day after I pulled my first double at CTU."

"Aww, honey," Heather stopped when she shook her head.

"It's okay. He's doing okay, I think. I saw him one of the days I had to go back over to Division, we talked. It's really not that big a deal."

Heather's eyes narrowed. "Wait, it's not that big a deal? Michelle, you dated this guy for two years. Why is it not that big a deal?"

Michelle looked away, biting her lip to conceal the grin she was suddenly wearing, just thinking about him. "Well… there's this guy."

"A guy?" Heather echoed as the confusion faded and a smile grew. Her interest was clearly piqued.

Michelle looked around, just to be sure that the subject of their conversation wasn't going to suddenly walk past. It always happened that way; her thoughts would turn to him, and there he was. She'd once tried to ask one of the other analysts about him, and he'd come over with orders. She was sure he'd heard her asking about him, and it flustered her to think that he probably thought she was an annoying gossip.

"Yes, a guy," she answered finally, satisfied that he wasn't lurking nearby. Her cheeks warmed when Heather rubbed her hands together gleefully. She hadn't meant to say anything, but her friend knew her too well.

"What's this 'guy's name?"

Amy joined them a few seconds later, having gotten her way at the bar. "What's whose name?"

Heather took two of the glasses from the tray Amy was carrying, passing one to Michelle.

"Michelle and Jason broke up. She's not heart broken, though, because there's another guy who's piqued our Michelle's interest," she explained.

Amy squished into the seat with Michelle. "And you've neglected to mention this?"

"I'm telling you now," Michelle pointed out, rolling her eyes.

"Who is he? What's his name?" Amy peppered her with the same questions as Heather.

Michelle lowered her eyes. "His name is Tony."

"Oooh, I like Tonys," Amy cooed, ignoring Heather's teasing that she liked all men. "Tell me more."

Michelle snickered. "We work together. Actually, he's technically my boss."

Her friends made a noise at that.

"What's he like?"

"Is he cute?"

"Come on, Michelle, you've gotta give us more than that!" They begged in unison.

Michelle covered her face with her hand, laughing.

"He's," she trailed off, thinking about him. He wasn't the type of man she usually went for, but she was completely taken with him. "He's got dark hair, dark eyes."

"Nice eyes?" Heather asked. Taken or not, her friend was definitely an eye girl.

Michelle bit her lip, nodding. Tony's eyes were completely incomparable; deep, soulful, penetrating. She went home wobbly when he was the last person to speak to her at night. "Very nice," she was able to say finally, scrubbing a hand across her flaming cheek before taking two large gulps of her beer.

"How tall?" Amy demanded. She was in it for someone who could surpass her 5'10" height, and she never let them forget that.

"He's a little bit taller than you, but not much."

Amy scoffed. "Too short."

"For you," Heather retorted, making Michelle grin. They'd been friends since the fourth grade, they knew just about everything about each other.

Without prompting, she continued. "He's lanky, but he's so… I almost want to say graceful, in how he walks. He's in really good shape, he was a Marine for a while, but he definitely works out now. I saw him leaving one day in his work out clothes…" She trailed off, burying her face in her hands. "Oh, God, I can't believe I'm telling you this."

Amy shook her head. "Of course you're telling us this, Michelle. We're your best friends."

"What's he like, though?" Heather asked. "'Cause if he's a jerk, we're putting our feet down on that."

Michelle shook her head. Tony wasn't like that, most of the time. He was impatient and he could be rude, but he usually didn't mean anything by it. He was second in command, he had responsibilities, and he got upset. He was a little high strung, but that didn't make him a bad guy.

"There are times when he looks at me like I'm the only one in the room, and then sometimes he looks at me like I've got the plague," she admitted, taking another sip of beer. "He almost kissed me today, and instead he bolted out of the room like I'd slapped him."

Heather and Amy shared a glance. "Michelle, it sounds like he's –"

"It's not that bad," she retracted. "His last relationship ended really publicly. It was someone he worked with, so I guess he's just scared of me being like that."

"It's probably 'cause you're so goddamn cute." Amy tweaked Michelle's nose. "He just wants you so bad and he doesn't know how to go about wooing you."

Michelle wondered if she might be drunk on half a beer, because she just pouted. "He could try asking."

"Maybe you should ask," Heather suggested.

Michelle shook her head, feeling her cheeks flame. She was not going to be that bold. There was no way she could just go up to him and throw herself at him. No to mention she'd probably die of embarrassment when he said no.

"I can't."

"Aww, honey. But if you like him… isn't that worth giving it a shot?"

Michelle shrugged. "I work with him and I want to keep working with him. I can't jeopardize that."

"Understandable."

"Not to me," Amy muttered, rubbing Michelle's back. "Just don't pine for him, okay? It doesn't solve anything and makes you unhappy, too.

Michelle nodded. "I'm not pining, I just-"

"You want him."

Caught, Michelle dropped her head onto Amy's shoulder. "I do," she groaned. "I really, really do. You should see him, though; you'd understand if you did."

Amy laughed. "He has gotten under your skin. You're usually so much better at hiding these things, even from us."

Michelle nodded, feeling slightly pathetic. She'd spend far too much time contemplating what it would be like to wake up in the morning beside Tony Almeida.

"Really Michelle, and you know I'm not one to argue for us girls to make the first move, but if you want him this badly, you should talk to him." Amy looked to Heather for agreement, which she gave.

"Think of it this way, he probably wants to be with you, too."