Happy New Year everyone! Man, does it feel good to be back:D
On a more personal note: I would like to dedicate this story to bookworm03, without whose nagging (and I mean this in the best possible way) this idea probably would have never found its way outside my head… So thanks for guilting me into actually writing it:p
I'm not really thrilled with this first chapter, though. I had originally planned for this to be a one-shot, but well… It started to become way too long, and now it looks like it's gonna be a 5-chapter story! Beware, however, that this first chapter might just be frightfully boring. I'm much more optimistic about the second, which will hopefully be up in a week or so… :)
Chapter 1: The Nightmare Begins…
His breath caught in his throat and he gripped the table, hoping for a clarification, an indication that it was a misunderstanding and all was once again going according to plan. Delaying the moment.
His mind fogged and his hands were suddenly shaking when it didn't come, when seconds past and her voice could not be heard through the two-way. He knew that the moment had come, that hated moment that haunted his dreams even on the calmest of nights.
It was that moment when it got out of hand, that subtle shift between fear of the unknown, fear of the potential – and fear of the present.
They had argued a lot about this moment in the past. She hated it too, he knew, but she wouldn't allow it to interfere with her duty. He had tried everything during the first months of their relationship. Bullying her into staying. Pleading her to stay. Even forbidding her to go. But it was one of the few things she was firm about.
And eventually he grew tired of fighting her. She was so strong when she wanted to be, so much stronger than him. He still didn't like it. He still scowled, glared at her, though he was sure that is eyes gave away more fear than anger. But she would pretend not to notice.
Most of the time, the operation went off without a hitch, sparing him of the moment. Most of the time she would return to CTU and to him with tired eyes but without so much as a scratch.
But now, as the moment paralyzed him with fear, he remembered why it was so important she stay safely behind her desk at CTU. Why it was so important he never give up. The moment always caused such a self-loathing inside him – why hadn't he fought harder?
Because once the moment arrived, there was no turning back. Perhaps that was the worst part of it all. That deep, feverish longing for just a few seconds before, when everything was still under control and he still had the opportunity to get her the hell out of there.
--
It had been a slow day at CTU till around noon.
Jack Bauer had come up to his office, informing him that they had a 'situation'. When he had asked what kind of situation, Jack had said grimly, "Nick Welsh."
He felt his mood immediately turn sour.
He had never liked Nick Welsh, even before the guy turned out to be a mole. Welsh had been an analyst when Tony started at CTU, and they had taken an immediate dislike to each other. Welsh was arrogant, sexist and couldn't keep his hands off their female colleagues. While a much younger Tony had worked day and night to earn a little credibility, Welsh – who obviously had many friends in high places – seemed to be climbing the ladder with an ease that bordered on ridiculous.
That was, until he was caught hacking into files he had no clearance for and sending them to a group of Nazi sympathizers who were planning on bombing several synagogues in the general vicinity.
In court, Welsh somehow managed to victimize himself, claiming that he had no idea of the cruel intentions of the people he was working with. To both Jack and Tony's disgust, he only got five years and was paroled after two.
"I just got of the phone with an informant of mine," Jack said, getting straight to the point. "He told me Welsh is meeting with a few members of a newly formed neo-Nazi organization in a bar somewhere in east LA. Tonight."
Tony knew Jack had been keeping some light tabs on the guy since he got out of prison. Jack had just been promoted to CTU Director when Welsh got caught, and Tony knew he'd always been stung that the whole thing had been happening right under his nose.
He sighed, knowing Jack wouldn't be Jack if he wasn't already planning on taking action. "Okay, Jack. What do you wanna do?"
Jack rested his hands on Tony's desk and leaned forward, looking him straight in the eye. "I thing we need to get someone over there."
"Undercover?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it a little early for that?"
"No. Not undercover. Not yet, anyway. I want someone to go into that bar tonight, after Welsh has had a few beers. They might pick up something."
"Okay." Tony could find no fault with this idea. After all, there were no active protocols so there was nothing pressing that they needed to deal with. "Well, obviously we can't send you in. Um… What about Chase? He even has a skinhead haircut, he'll fit right in."
Jack didn't laugh. He shook his head slowly. "No, Tony. I'm talking about a woman. Think about it… Welsh's hormones have always been out of control. And what's more, he thinks women are stupid so he won't be too careful about what he says around them. The best chance we have to find something out is with a woman."
Tony nodded. "Yeah, alright." He reached for the phone. "I'll call Dani."
"No, wait," Jack said quickly.
Tony looked at him in surprise. "What?"
Jack sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Tony, Dani's not right for the job."
Danielle Rogers, their only female field agent – who was tall, broad-shouldered and tough as nails. Who had short hair like a man's, and large, rough hands. Who was, unless Tony was very much mistaken, gay.
"She's not the type Welsh goes for," Jack continued, "We need someone a little more feminine, a little more… attractive."
Tony looked at him and suddenly realized what he was getting at. In fact, now that he understood he found it almost unbelievable he hadn't realized it before.
"No way, Jack." His voice was hard and he could feel a fierce glare burning from behind his eyeballs. "You can just put that out of your head."
Jack tensed and squared his shoulders, though he was quite able to look his friend in the eye for a moment. Then he forced himself to meet the other man's gaze "It's her job, Tony."
"I said no," he growled, "My God, Jack, this Nick Welsh we're talking about! Are you really going to stand there and talk about sending my wife out on a mission to seduce Nick Welsh?"
"Look, I don't like it either. But the truth is, Michelle is the best person for the job!"
Tony abruptly pushed his chair back and got up from his desk. Turning his back to Jack, he shoved his hands in his pockets and absentmindedly watched the activity downstairs in the bullpen. His eyes automatically sought out his wife, finding her talking to Adam. His breath caught in his throat as she brushed a curl away from her eyes.
Jack came over and stood next to him.
"I will do everything I can to protect her, Tony, I promise."
Tony snorted. "What a comfort."
At this, Jack's eyes hardened, and his voice was strained when he spoke. "Listen to me. I don't want to bring Chappelle into this but I will if I have to. And Tony, we both know he's gonna give me the okay on this."
Tony swore inwardly, trying to shush the dilemma that was roaring inside him. Then he turned, taking painfully slow steps towards his desk before reaching for the phone and dialing her extension.
--
Naturally, she agreed. He hadn't expected anything else. She listened quietly while Jack explained the situation, nodding, agreeing with Jack's tactics. And avoiding her husband's eyes.
He wanted to get her alone for a minute, to try and talk her out of it. But all logic told him it would be useless anyway, and I he didn't know if he had the energy to be angry with her on top of everything else.
But he did want to make one thing clear to both Jack and Michelle, something to what he would not accept no as an answer.
"I'm coming with you."
Jack was confused. "What?"
"Chappelle is gonna be here in about two seconds once he finds about this, to oversee things. And Gael can handle whatever spills over."
Silence hung in the office for a few seconds, until finally Jack spoke.
"Tony, I don't think that's a good idea."
Tony's reply was quick in coming. "Well, I really don't care. Nick Welsh is not to be trusted and I want to be there to make sure he doesn't try anything."
Jack glanced over and Michelle, who looked back at him, wide-eyed. After a moment, he broke eye contact, and, to everyone's surprise, quietly said, "Fine. You can run point from over there."
The next few hours were spent prepping, going through file after file on both Welsh and the organization he was meeting with. It was well into the night when the two CTU vans left for the bar – Tony, Jack and Michelle all in them
She was quiet, Tony noticed, as he looked over at her. Focused. She was wearing a short, black leather mini-skirt and a low-cut red top, and he guts twisted whenever he thought about the reactions she would undoubtedly provoke amongst a bunch of drunk, horny men. Her hair was down, wild curls framing her face and tumbling haphazardly over her shoulders. Her eyelashes were overdone with mascara and her lips were painted bright red. Large, silver hoops dangled from her earlobes and two long, thin high heels supported her weight as she walked. Her wedding ring had been removed since before they left CTU.
They parked the vans around the corner to the bar, making sure they were out of sight. He hung back as Jack talked her through what was going to happen one last time, feeling sick to his stomach.
"We'll be here the whole time," Jack was saying, "We'll be ready to move in at the first sign of trouble."
She nodded calmly, indicating that she understood, but Tony couldn't help but notice the way she couldn't stop fiddling with a strand of hair.
"Okay, Michelle," Jack said, "It's time for you to go. Good luck."
These words struck Tony into action. He called out her name and followed her outside, closing her doors of the van behind them before turning to face her. An awkward silence hung between them. Tony shuffled his feet until he leaned in and said in a low voice, "Be careful. Don't take any unnecessary risks."
There were so many more things he wanted to say, things that he should be able to say, but couldn't.
I love you. Please don't to anything stupid because I don't know what would become of me of something happened to you. I don't think I remember how to live without you.
But he just reached out and brushed his thumb over her cheek, seeing her eyes close for a moment as his skin touched hers. Her eyes opened, and his hand dropped, and then there was nothing left for them to do but part.
"Go on," he said softly, hating himself for having to utter those despicable words.
She looked as if she wanted to say something, but then just slowly turned and walked away. He watched her until she disappeared around the corner, feeling as though the world was slowly crashing around him.
