Chapter 1
The stage has been set
Our roles have been played
It's not over yet
The piper must be paid
We have nothing to gain
And everything to lose
We just try to stay sane
Our price, the piper will choose
Michelle listened to Guielle. Her throat tightened, and she couldn't breath no longer. Her voice in her head could not stop saying the same thing over and over again. 'We failed. The virus is out. Tony was right.'
"Michelle?" Guielle asked, trying to get her attention.
Her head snapped at attention. "We failed Guielle. We failed all of these people."
Guielle's features softened. "At least we tried to save them."
Michelle relaxed. "That we did. I have been honored to work with you Guielle. Thank you so much. Why don't you go tell people what is going on. Follow all protocol. No going in or out. We are all stuck in here. I need to tell Tony."
Guielle nodded sympathetically. "Don't let him be angry with you. He will only regret that."
Michelle nodded silently and gave Guielle a quick hug before he went off to the hard job of telling people what had happened. She actually envied his job. How was she going to tell Tony?
'By telling the truth.' Her mind told her. She slid down to the floor, sitting against the wall. Michelle pulled out her cell phone and dialed the all so familiar number.
It rung before a male voice answered, "Almeida."
Michelle took a deep breath and finally spoke. "Tony, it's Michelle."
"What's going on down there? Has help arrived yet?" Tony asked in his head of CTU voice.
Michelle never really noticed how he had his CTU voice, and then he had his voice for her. All she wanted to hear was that voice again. It's silky warmth washing over her as he talked to her.
"Michelle?"
"Umm, I don't know. We are inside the building right now."
Tony didn't wait any longer to speak. "You broke my direct orders. I told you to wait. What if something happens? How am I going to explain this to Chapelle? This is going against protocol and wife or not, there are going to be consequences." Tony was on a full blown rant. Not even thinking about why she would be calling him.
Michelle had to raise her voice to stop his talking. "TONY!"
"I'm disappointed in you Michelle. But, have you found the virus?" Tony asked the million dollar question with so much edge in his voice.
"Yes…" Michelle stopped, "but, we were too late…" Michelle broke into sobs. "We failed all of these people."
There was a heavy pause. "Michelle…" Tony's voice broke before it could continue.
"Yes, I was in the building. Guielle is now telling the people. We are following protocol. No one in or out." Michelle told him in her best professional voice.
Back in CTU, Tony collapsed onto the floor against the wall. His world was crashing around him. "No…no…no…" He kept muttering to himself.
"Tony?" Michelle had nothing to say.
"I'm so sorry Michelle. I'm sorry." Tony voice was shaky as tears started to fall down his face.
Michelle's heart tugged at hearing Tony's voice. How she wanted to be there, and comfort him. "It's ok Tony. Don't be sorry."
"I should have found somebody else to go on the mission. I shouldn't have had us fighting in the first place. I should have apologized right away. I thought we had all the time in the world to make up and settle our differences. How wrong I was." Tony gave a little ironic laugh before slammed his fist against his leg in anger.
"Tony, you couldn't have stopped me from going even if you threatened me with my job. I had to do this. We were both at fault for letting our fight go for so long. But, there are so many 'if I' and 'should haves'"
"Why couldn't you just follow my orders for once. You shouldn't have went inside." Tony spoke, his anger rising again.
"Would you have had me let those people die? I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."
"I told you not to though? Look where it got you."
"Tony, do you really want to be arguing about this? I can't change what happened. It's in the past now."
Tony was silent. His breathing was ragged from all the emotions. Finally he whispered. "I love you."
"I love you too, Tony."
"You are the only person I have ever really loved. The only person I can trust with my life. You were there standing by me when no one else was. And you were never afraid to tell me when I was wrong. You always do the right thing, even if it's the hard thing."
"You are the only person who will love me despite who I am. I never thanked you for that. You always had faith in me and gave me strength when I most needed it."
"I can't live without you." Tony let out a sob, just thinking about life without Michelle left him feeling empty and cold.
Michelle squeezed her eyes shut, trying to prevent the tears from falling. "But you will. You will keep going long after I am gone. Move on and find happiness."
"I don't want to. You are my happiness."
Michelle let the tears fall freely down her face. "You have to promise me that you will go on."
"I can't" Tony said meekly.
"You have to. You are strong Tony. You can get through this, I know you can. Please, just promise me."
Tony stared down at his shaky hands. What was he supposed to do? "I promise Michelle."
There was some background talking, and then Michelle came back on. "Look Tony, I am sorry, I need to go. The containment people have gotten here."
Tony became panicked. This could be the last time that he talked to Michelle. "No Michelle! Don't go!"
Michelle was now crying. "I have to Tony. I love you so much. I will always be with you."
Tony started to cry as well. "I love you too, Michelle. I love you. I love you."
"Goodbye Tony."
Tony was now sobbing so hard that his body was shaking. "Bye. I will always love you."
Michelle clicked the phone off. She took deep breaths to try to calm herself. She had to go out and talk with the virus containment people. After a minute, she made her way back out to the front of the hotel.
Tony couldn't move. He just sat against the wall, crying. His mind spiraled down a path of darkness and depression. He had no idea as to how long he stayed in this state. No one interrupted him. Out of no where his anger came bubbling over. He stood up, took a paper weight from his desk, and threw it with all of his strength at his door, where it shattered the glass into a million pieces.
A/N This is the first part to a three part story. The next two chapters are two different alternate endings to how I think this whole thing will be resolved. One is going to have a happy ending and one is going to have a not so happy ending. I don't know which one to do first thought, so if you have any idea in what order they should be please tell me. So, you can read one or both. Whatever floats your boat. Thank you for reading. And that poem thing at the beginning was my own and the other half of the poem will be at the end of the sad story. I have two other t/m fics if you are interested. Please review and tell me what you think.
The stage has been set
Our roles have been played
It's not over yet
The piper must be paid
We have nothing to gain
And everything to lose
We just try to stay sane
Our price, the piper will choose
Michelle listened to Guielle. Her throat tightened, and she couldn't breath no longer. Her voice in her head could not stop saying the same thing over and over again. 'We failed. The virus is out. Tony was right.'
"Michelle?" Guielle asked, trying to get her attention.
Her head snapped at attention. "We failed Guielle. We failed all of these people."
Guielle's features softened. "At least we tried to save them."
Michelle relaxed. "That we did. I have been honored to work with you Guielle. Thank you so much. Why don't you go tell people what is going on. Follow all protocol. No going in or out. We are all stuck in here. I need to tell Tony."
Guielle nodded sympathetically. "Don't let him be angry with you. He will only regret that."
Michelle nodded silently and gave Guielle a quick hug before he went off to the hard job of telling people what had happened. She actually envied his job. How was she going to tell Tony?
'By telling the truth.' Her mind told her. She slid down to the floor, sitting against the wall. Michelle pulled out her cell phone and dialed the all so familiar number.
It rung before a male voice answered, "Almeida."
Michelle took a deep breath and finally spoke. "Tony, it's Michelle."
"What's going on down there? Has help arrived yet?" Tony asked in his head of CTU voice.
Michelle never really noticed how he had his CTU voice, and then he had his voice for her. All she wanted to hear was that voice again. It's silky warmth washing over her as he talked to her.
"Michelle?"
"Umm, I don't know. We are inside the building right now."
Tony didn't wait any longer to speak. "You broke my direct orders. I told you to wait. What if something happens? How am I going to explain this to Chapelle? This is going against protocol and wife or not, there are going to be consequences." Tony was on a full blown rant. Not even thinking about why she would be calling him.
Michelle had to raise her voice to stop his talking. "TONY!"
"I'm disappointed in you Michelle. But, have you found the virus?" Tony asked the million dollar question with so much edge in his voice.
"Yes…" Michelle stopped, "but, we were too late…" Michelle broke into sobs. "We failed all of these people."
There was a heavy pause. "Michelle…" Tony's voice broke before it could continue.
"Yes, I was in the building. Guielle is now telling the people. We are following protocol. No one in or out." Michelle told him in her best professional voice.
Back in CTU, Tony collapsed onto the floor against the wall. His world was crashing around him. "No…no…no…" He kept muttering to himself.
"Tony?" Michelle had nothing to say.
"I'm so sorry Michelle. I'm sorry." Tony voice was shaky as tears started to fall down his face.
Michelle's heart tugged at hearing Tony's voice. How she wanted to be there, and comfort him. "It's ok Tony. Don't be sorry."
"I should have found somebody else to go on the mission. I shouldn't have had us fighting in the first place. I should have apologized right away. I thought we had all the time in the world to make up and settle our differences. How wrong I was." Tony gave a little ironic laugh before slammed his fist against his leg in anger.
"Tony, you couldn't have stopped me from going even if you threatened me with my job. I had to do this. We were both at fault for letting our fight go for so long. But, there are so many 'if I' and 'should haves'"
"Why couldn't you just follow my orders for once. You shouldn't have went inside." Tony spoke, his anger rising again.
"Would you have had me let those people die? I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."
"I told you not to though? Look where it got you."
"Tony, do you really want to be arguing about this? I can't change what happened. It's in the past now."
Tony was silent. His breathing was ragged from all the emotions. Finally he whispered. "I love you."
"I love you too, Tony."
"You are the only person I have ever really loved. The only person I can trust with my life. You were there standing by me when no one else was. And you were never afraid to tell me when I was wrong. You always do the right thing, even if it's the hard thing."
"You are the only person who will love me despite who I am. I never thanked you for that. You always had faith in me and gave me strength when I most needed it."
"I can't live without you." Tony let out a sob, just thinking about life without Michelle left him feeling empty and cold.
Michelle squeezed her eyes shut, trying to prevent the tears from falling. "But you will. You will keep going long after I am gone. Move on and find happiness."
"I don't want to. You are my happiness."
Michelle let the tears fall freely down her face. "You have to promise me that you will go on."
"I can't" Tony said meekly.
"You have to. You are strong Tony. You can get through this, I know you can. Please, just promise me."
Tony stared down at his shaky hands. What was he supposed to do? "I promise Michelle."
There was some background talking, and then Michelle came back on. "Look Tony, I am sorry, I need to go. The containment people have gotten here."
Tony became panicked. This could be the last time that he talked to Michelle. "No Michelle! Don't go!"
Michelle was now crying. "I have to Tony. I love you so much. I will always be with you."
Tony started to cry as well. "I love you too, Michelle. I love you. I love you."
"Goodbye Tony."
Tony was now sobbing so hard that his body was shaking. "Bye. I will always love you."
Michelle clicked the phone off. She took deep breaths to try to calm herself. She had to go out and talk with the virus containment people. After a minute, she made her way back out to the front of the hotel.
Tony couldn't move. He just sat against the wall, crying. His mind spiraled down a path of darkness and depression. He had no idea as to how long he stayed in this state. No one interrupted him. Out of no where his anger came bubbling over. He stood up, took a paper weight from his desk, and threw it with all of his strength at his door, where it shattered the glass into a million pieces.
A/N This is the first part to a three part story. The next two chapters are two different alternate endings to how I think this whole thing will be resolved. One is going to have a happy ending and one is going to have a not so happy ending. I don't know which one to do first thought, so if you have any idea in what order they should be please tell me. So, you can read one or both. Whatever floats your boat. Thank you for reading. And that poem thing at the beginning was my own and the other half of the poem will be at the end of the sad story. I have two other t/m fics if you are interested. Please review and tell me what you think.