This is my first story - so any reviews will be much appreciated, thanks.

Chapter One – A New CTU

The car park was filled with people; all waiting to hear what Brad Hammond had to say to the group. The new CTU was finally finished and things would soon start to get back to normal, well as normal as it was possible for the CTU to be.

It was nearly three months since the bomb and the day so many of their friends and work colleges had lost their lives. Today those left would start to put all that behind them, move on from all the horrors they had faced and continue to save LA from terrorist threats the way George Mason and others would have wanted them to.

Tony Almeida stood a little away from the group, he had already seen inside the newly rebuilt CTU, had seen the new equipment and offices, but it still made him nervous to finally work inside that building once again. For him this really marked the beginning of his role as director of CTU.

The last few months had been all over the place for him, not just physically, which was certainly true. Every one left at CTU had been working out of mobile trailers or spare in offices over at division. But he had also been up and down emotionally as well. Tony stole a glance over at Michelle Dessler, what was she thinking?

Michelle stood quietly as one of six workers standing in a ring talking. The mood was cheerful and chatty. She smiled and nodded politely when looked at but for the most part stayed out of their conversations. Her eyes flicked towards the new CTU, working there again meant facing all the clear memories she still had from that day only a few months before.

Michelle shifted her gaze over to Tony, who stood alone from the rest. His eyes were focused on the floor at his feet, surly he should be happy to, at last, have a permanent office and take over CTU for good, but he looked how she felt: alone, unsure and maybe even a little afraid.

She excused herself from the group and made her way casually towards Tony, he saw her coming and smiled warmly, and, as always, his smile made her stomach melt.

Tony's eyes locked on Michelle's, he had missed her so much, when Tony and Jack had split CTU she had been temporally been posted with Jack, it was just until CTU was reopened but those few weeks seemed to last forever. Tony hadn't consciously realised how much he looked forward to seeing her every day, until he didn't get to.

Even before the CTU split Tony had seen very little of Michelle, she had chosen to take her due holiday time and spend it with her brother Danny.

Tony tried not to be selfish but he didn't want to share her with anyone, his deep feelings had only deepened still further after the kiss they shared on the day of the bomb. They had been so close then, so to go three months with next to no contact had been unbearable for him.

Tony's mind flicked back to the question he had been constantly asking himself every day since their kiss: what if she doesn't feel the same? But he quickly pushed those thought aside and filled his head with images of a future that he could only dream about.

"Hey" Michelle said lightly as she stopped by his side to talk, "you ok?"

"I'm alright, how are you?"

"I'm ok"

"I haven't really seen you since the bomb, you disappeared on me," the hurt in his voice was clear even though he tried to hide it.

"I needed to spend time with my family, everything got so emotional for me that day, I'm sorry," she did sound genuinely sorry, then suddenly Michelle smiled and added, "did you miss me?"

"Yeah, I did." Her smile widened.

"I missed you too."

"Hey Tony, Michelle." It was Jack

"Look, Tony I'll talk to you later" she started to leave.

"You don't have to go Michelle," Tony called after her, she turned and smiled,

"I know but I need to something from my car anyway, I'll give and Jack some time. Maybe we could get lunch or something and, you know, catch up?"

"I'd like that" Michelle smiled and waved before turning away from them.

"Sorry, Tony, did I interrupt something?"

"No, not really," he stared longingly after Michelle and Jack laughed.

"Have you asked her yet?"

"Asked her…? Oh, that, no, is it that obvious?" he said without removing his eyes from her retreating back.

Jack smiled kindly, "it is from where I'm standing."

Hammond and Chapelle talked for an age about "new chances" and "fresh starts" until the whole group were fidgeting and allowing their minds to think of other things.

Tony and Jack stood behind them, surveying the sea of new and old faces. All the positions had been filled and they were ready to put CTU back on track… and as soon as every one was settled in, Tony decided, he would be taking Michelle out for dinner and a movie, just like he had promised.

The days pasted in a blur of confusion and frustration. Tony and Jack had their work cut out for them; most of the new agents seemed to not be capable of thinking for themselves, they needed to be told everything and on more than one occasion their lack of common sense became too much to bare.

Tony stared absently down at Michelle through the window of his office. Less than a sentence had been pasted between the pair over the last few days, which only added to Tony's internal pain.

Michelle was typing away and had a phone pinned between her shoulder and her ear. Tony let out a long breath that he hadn't realised he was keeping in; he would have to ask her soon or else go mad.

There were various brown folders cluttering his desk but Tony allowed himself to continue watching her, just for a few more minutes, he reasoned.

It was fast become his favourite activity – admiring Michelle from a distance. Just watching her brush loose curls out of her eyes or bite her lip when thinking hard made his heart beat faster.

Tony could hardly string a sentence together when they spoke, he barely remembered to breath when around her, but she seemed so calm – like none of those feeling affected her. How could she possibly feel the same way about him as he did about her? Michelle didn't even seem to register his presence most of the time, as far as she was concerned Tony was invisible.

Michelle checked her watch and groaned miserably, only 5 minutes had past since the last time she had checked, why did the days insist on dripping by so slowly?

It wouldn't be so bad if Tony would just talk to her, but these days he seemed to go out of his way to ignore her. If he regretted the kiss the least he could do is talk to her, explain how he was feeling - even if he didn't want them to get together.

They had been such close friends before, Michelle wondered if she had ruined all that by kissing him.

But then maybe she was being unfair, she reasoned – Tony had been very busy since CTU had reopen, he might just be waiting for the right time to ask…

The phone rang, its annoying ring tone blaring out for all to hear, and bringing Michelle back down from her daydream.

"Dessler."

"Michelle, can I see you up here a minute?" Tony's voice seemed either edgy or tired, she couldn't tell which.

"Yeah sure" Michelle answered as her mind began to buzz with possibilities.

So... what do you think?