Thanks to , molly1006, love is only a dream, and Francis 24crazy for the great reviews.

So this Day 4 is different. They never got divorced, Tony still got out after seven months, they are happy as ever. Michelle still works for Division and Tony, after several months of not being able to find a job, decided to be a stay at home dad for a while.

I don't own anything.

….

"Tony…" Michelle whispered in Tony's ear.

"Hey, you." He said smiling at her.

She kissed him and then walked away and began to put her earrings in.

"Why can't you go to work like you used to? You look so divisiony." He said sitting up.

"Because I WORK at Division." She said laughing.

"All right. But keep your curls at home." He said standing up and kissing her.

"Tony." She whispered.

"What?" He whispered back.

"Can you make me some breakfast?"

"Sweetheart, we have cereal. You can't mess up cereal." He said laughing.

"I'm sick of cereal. Please." She said kissing him again.

"Fine. You're lucky I love you so much." He said laughing. "Go get Maddie up and I'll make you an omelet."

"I love you." She said giggling and kissing him before going to wake up their daughter Madison.

"Hey, baby girl." She said smiling as she walked into her daughter's room.

Her daughter was standing up in her crib clutching the railing, jabbering in her happy baby gibberish.

"Did you have a good sleep?" She asked picking her daughter up and walking towards her daughter's dresser.

She got Maddie dressed before walking towards the kitchen.

"Hey." Tony said smiling at her as she walked in.

"That smells great." She said smiling as she put Madison in her high chair then walked towards the pantry to get the box of Cheerios.

"Good." He said laughing as he cut it in half and put it on two plates. He put them on the table as Michelle put some Cheerios out on Madison's high chair tray.

"This is so good." Michelle said laughing as she shoved a bite in her mouth.

"That's how you know I made it." He said smirking.

"Funny. So what are you gonna do today?" She asked.

"Probably go to the grocery store and then finally put that swing set together." He said.

"Big day." Michelle said sarcastically before turning to their daughter. "Maddie, can Mommy have a Cheerio?"

Tony laughed watching as his eleven month old daughter put a Cheerio in her damp hand before showing it in Michelle's mouth.

"Thank you, Maddie." Michelle said laughing before getting up and sticking her plate in the dish washer.

She kissed the top of Madison's forehead then grabbed her purse.

"Okay, I should be home by six. Make sure that you watch Maddie at the store and outside."

"All right." Tony said smiling at his wife as he leaned against the counter.

Michelle kissed him goodbye before leaving.

"All right Maddie. Looks like we're gonna have a pretty slow day." Tony said smiling as he took his daughter out of her high chair.

…..

Several hours later he had just gotten back from the grocery store. Unsurprisingly, Michelle had called him. She called him every free second she had. They both loved their life now, but they still missed being at CTU together.

He had just gotten Maddie out of her car seat when his phone began to ring.

"Hello?" He answered. It still felt strange to not answer with "Almeida" anymore, but he was starting to get used to it.

"Tony, I need your help." He heard Jack say.

"What? I don't work for CTU anymore, Jack." He said as he walked towards the front door of his house.

"Tony, I don't know who else I can trust. Please." Jack said.

Tony contemplated it then decided. "Okay, I'll ask the neighbor to watch Maddie and I'll come. Just tell me the address." After Jack told him the address he quickly brought the groceries in and dropped Maddie off at the neighbor's house. It had occurred to him that he should call Michelle and tell her, but he had promised her that when he eventually went back to CTU, no field work and the minute she told him not to do it, he knew he'd turn around and he couldn't do that to Jack. He owed Jack his life. He and Kim had taken care of Michelle. They were there with Michelle when she went in to labor and he was stuck in jail. They were there when Maddie was born. They had been there for Michelle, when he couldn't be and then Jack helped him get out of jail. He owed it to Jack, no to both of them, to help Jack.

….

After Tony had gotten Jack and Audrey back to his house, he handed Jack the key's and quickly went to get Maddie.

When he entered the house they were sitting on the couch looking like they had just been through hell. Jack's face immediately lit up when Tony walked into the room with Madison.

"Can you hold her a sec? I need to go get her something to eat. It was her lunch time nearly two hours ago."

"Of course I can." Jack said smiling and taking her.

Audrey looked at him in disbelief. "You told me that Tony was an angry, bitter drunk."

"He was. When he first got out he drank. He was angry. He had been deemed a traitor by CTU and no one wanted to hire him. He had missed Maddie's birth. He felt lost, so he drowned himself in alcohol. At first, Michelle accepted it. He was her husband and had just been in jail because he put her life above everything else, but about two months after he got out she gave him an ultimatum. Either he'd stop the drinking or she'd leave him, take Maddie, and never look back. She called me in tears right after. She was so scared that she'd have to make good on her threat. I told her she didn't have to worry. He had nearly lost them once and he sure as hell wasn't going to again. And he did. He stopped the drinking and became Tony again." Jack said beginning to tickle Maddie.

Just then Tony walked back into the room with some food for Maddie. He picked her up and began to feed her.

For about half an hour they talked before Jack got a new lead.

He thanked Tony for helping them. As soon as they were about to leave, Tony ran back out of the house. "I'm coming with you, Jack."

"Tony, you don't need to." Jack said.

"I saved your life once, I'd like for you to not end up dead. I already called Maddie's sitter."

"I don't know…" Jack said warily.

"Jack, I'm the best back up you could have. I know you, I know all your moves. Let me help you." Tony said.

"Okay." Jack said.

….

Several hours later things had progressed and Tony was drawn into the CTU's investigation. He was currently temporary director of CTU when someone called Secretary Heller.

"Sir, Ms. Driscoll's replacement is here. She's clearing security right now."

"Thank you." Secretary Heller said before ending the call.

"Mr. Almeida, I appreciate the help and would like for you to stay and help Ms. Dessler with things." Heller said.

"Wait, I'm sorry. Did you say Dessler?"

"Yes, you know her?" Secretary Heller asked, clearly oblivious to the fact that Tony's wife, who he had promised no more field work, was about to walk towards him.

"I'm married to her." He said softly as she turned the corner and began to walk down what the two of them had jokingly named the red carpet and judging by the smile tugging at her lips, she was also thinking of that. He knew he would have to approach her, he knew she would be mad, but at least she was smiling right now.

He took a deep breath and walked towards her. He could see her smile fade to a look of confusion then to a look of anger.

"What are you doing here? You promised me no more field work!" She hissed as she walked over.

"I'm sorry. Jack called and he needed my help."

"Did you think that something could have happened to you? That you could have died? Do you have any idea about the man we're after? He'd kill you without blinking an eye!"

"I'm sorry…" Tony said trailing off.

"Go home, Tony. Please." She said looking at him.

"I can't." He said looking her in the eyes.

He deep brown eyes glinted with anger and she stormed off towards the situation room.

"Damn it." He cursed under his breath as he watched her walk away.

…..

"Michelle." Tony said following her. It was nearly four o'clock in the morning. She had been avoiding him since she had gotten there and it was driving him crazy.

She continued walking.

"Michelle." He said grabbing her arm. She spun around and let a gasp out as she backed into the wall. "Sweetheart, I know you're mad. Please, just talk to me." He said desperately wanting to stroke her face.

"Seeing you here, it knocked the wind out of me. I didn't just make you promise to never do field work because it was dangerous and I was terrified that you would get hurt and I would lose you. I made you promise because I knew that you wouldn't want to work at CTU if you couldn't go in the field. I didn't want you to end up in the same situation as you did before, but now you're here and that scares the hell out of me." She said pushing away. Tony had no idea if he was forgiven, but knew better than to test Michelle when she was angry. It didn't happen often, but when it did it was bad. She hadn't talked to him for over a week when he had missed their anniversary because of work. And that wasn't even the worst case.

…..

"Michelle." Tony said walking into Michelle's office.

She looked up from the file she was reading.

He sat down next to her on the couch and took her hand in his. She stiffened and then relaxed.

"Michelle, we need to leave all of this. CTU, DOD, everything."

"What?" She asked looking up at him. "This is all I've ever done. All you've ever done. Is this about what I said before? I was just mad." Michelle said confused.

"No, I just…. Watching the toll that today has taken on Jack and Audrey's relationship, it just got me to thinking and I just remembered watching Jack's family fall apart and I don't want that to happen to us."

"I…" Michelle said bewildered.

"Just think about it." He said smiling at her and squeezing her hands before leaving.

She watched him as he walked away and she knew what she wanted to do. She needed a life with her husband and child, away from all of this.

…..

"Tony, wait!" Michelle said running down the hallway towards the exit after him.

"What's wrong?" He asked alarmed.

"I don't want to spend another day doing this job without you. I'm ready to leave all this behind and never look back." She said. She was going to say more but he kissed her.

"Almeida!" They heard a voice yell.

"Go." She said smiling. He kissed her again, this time, just a quick peck on the lips, and then began to leave.

"Be careful." She called after him.

He turned, flashed the grin that made her melt, and then kept walking.

As Michelle walked back she had no idea why she was so paranoid. Tony would be fine, so why couldn't she get rid of the sinking feeling that things were going to go horribly wrong.

"Tony, do you copy? Tony, do you copy?" Michelle listened in horror as Jack's voice floated over the comm.

Jack tried the agent who had been with Tony, but he didn't answer. As Jack ran to find them, the reality of the situation began to sink in.

Then she heard those words, "Castle's down. Almeida is missing possibly a hostage. Castle's down. Almeida's missing possibly a hostage. I repeat Castle's down. Almeida-" His voice was cut off when Michelle took her comm off. She knew Tony had been taken hostage as soon as he didn't copy, but hearing those words felt like someone was ripping her heart out of her chest. Suddenly she couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. She couldn't think straight. She had been avoiding him all day. She had just made amends because her stubborn temper refused to let her earlier. And now… Now…. She couldn't bear to think about it.

…..

"Are you alone?" A woman's voice said on Michelle's cell phone. She had been sitting in her office trying to convince herself that Tony would be okay.

"Who is this?" She asked.

"I'm sending you the answer."

Michelle's phone dinged and she looked to see a picture of Tony bound and gagged.

"Oh God." She murmured sitting in her chair.

"I've been reading up on you, Michelle. It seems that Tony put your life above the job. Now you are going to do the same."

"What are you talking about?" Michelle asked.

"You are going to move your men out of the North parking lot. If you don't, Tony dies. If you try and screw with me, Tony dies. Got it?"

"I…. Okay." Michelle said in disbelief.

"I'll be in touch." The woman said before hanging up.

Michelle got the schematics of where their men where and were looking over them when Bill walked in. She could barely hear him, but as he turned to walk away, she began to think about all the lives that putting Tony's life above the country would end. Maddie's life could be one of them. She desperately wanted to save him, but couldn't if it meant even a chance of their daughter dying. She didn't want that and she knew that he wouldn't either.

"I can't do this." She said so softly Bill could barely hear her.

"Can't do what?" He asked turning around.

"Sacrifice all those lives." She said softly before looking at him. "She called me."

"Who?" He asked.

"The hostile. She said I had to help her escape or Tony dies." She said, her voice breaking on dies.

He began to take out his phone. She knew what he was doing, but she wasn't paying attention. All she could think of was that she might have signed her husband's death warrant.

…..

"So, when I'm safely away, I'll call you and let you know where you can find Tony."

"Okay." Michelle said as she watched the feed on the screen.

They got into the car and Bill said, "Move now!" Jack tried to tell them to stop, but it was too late.

"You lied to me, you bitch. You are not going to take me alive. Got it?" The hostile said. Michelle turned just in time to see the car blow up.

"No! No!" She yelled falling to the floor. Bill held her up from behind as she looked at the screen. Then she heard Jack's voice. "She blew herself up in the car. She took Tony with her. They're gone."

"No!" She yelled again. Bill gently lead her up to her office and left her. The word's kept ringing in her ears. She blew herself up in the car. She took Tony with her. They're gone. Tony was gone. He was dead. Tony was dead.

She looked up when Bill sat down beside her. "I can't imagine how you're feeling right now. You're probably blaming yourself, but you did the right thing. Tony would be proud."

"I don't know how to live without him. I avoided him nearly all day and now he's gone and I just… And the worst thing about all this is that all though I'll at least have all the memories, but Maddie won't remember him."

"You need to go home." Bill said looking at her.

"Bill…" She said softly. She didn't want to leave. The minute she walked out of here all of this began ten times more real. She didn't want to live her life without him and when she left that was exactly what she'd be doing.

"It's not a request, it's an order. Go home be with your daughter." He said helping her shakily stand up.

She left her office and then began to leave. This time walking down the "red carpet" brought tears to her eyes.

She walked out to her car. She didn't care that it was raining or that she was getting soaked. Her life was gone. He was gone.

She quickly unlocked her car and got in. She saw Tony's jacket strewn across the passenger seat. She picked it up and smelled it, breathing him in. She couldn't believe he was gone. She had just kissed him, agreed to leave all this and now, now…..

She put the jacket in her lap. She needed to drive. She needed to cry in peace.

After about ten minutes of driving she pulled into an empty parking lot. She turned off her car and began to sob. This wasn't fair. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was her fault. Because even though she knew she had done the right thing, she hadn't done what he had. And now she wished more than anything that she had.

She didn't know how long she sobbed as the rain beat down on her car before her phone began to ring.

She let it ring, but decided she might as well answer.

"Dessler." She whispered.

"Michelle, it's Bill."

"Can I call you back?" She said softly.

"No." He said. "Michelle, Tony's alive."

"What?" She said.

"I'll put him through." Bill said. Michelle couldn't believe it. Tony was alive. She was going to hear his voice again, feel his touch again, taste his lips again.

"Sweetheart, it's me." Tony said.

"Oh my God. Oh my God." She said as tears of relief began to fall down her face. "What happened?" she asked.

"I was never in the car. It was someone else." He said.

"I love you so much." She said.

"I love you too." He said.

"I couldn't have raised Maddie without you."

"You don't have to. You'll never have to." He said. "Sweetheart, I have to go. I'll see you soon."

"Okay." She said softly.

"Bye." He said before hanging up and just like that his voice was gone. And as Michelle began to drive back to CTU it felt as though her heart had been put back in her chest and had swollen ten sizes Tony was alive. They were going to leave all this with Maddie.

…..

Michelle stood going over a report with an agent. She wasn't really paying attention. She kept waiting for Tony to appear and then suddenly he appeared.

She told the agent they'd finish this later and then began to run towards him.

And then before she knew it she was in his arms, holding on as tight has she possibly could.

"I love you so much. I didn't realize just how much until I thought I lost you." She whispered in his ear.

"You didn't lose me. And because of what you did, we were able to stop this." He said smiling.

"But I didn't do what you did. I didn't put you above the job." She said tears forming.

"Michelle," He said, pulling back and looking her in the eyes, "I'm glad you didn't. If the bomb would have gotten here, it would not have only killed you, but Maddie and I was willing to die to keep the two of you safe. And all that matters now is that we're here and we have our future together waiting for us." Then he leaned in and kissed her.

When they pulled back they kept their arms wrapped around each other and Michelle just knew she was grinning like an idiot.

…..

Michelle sat in her office. She had finished all of the paperwork and had just signed her resignation. She was going to turn it in tomorrow, after things have calmed down.

She was still smiling.

Her phone began to ring.

"Dessler." She answered picking it up.

"Hey, it's me. I need your help." Tony said.

"What's wrong? What's going on?" She asked worriedly.

"I need you to help me fake Jack's death." He said.

"What?" She asked.

"The man from the Secret Service, he was sent to kill Jack."

"What?" She asked again as she walked to the glass wall and looked down at the man. She had to admit, he looked kind of scary.

"I'll tell you more later. I need you to get some epinephrine from CTU medical and also inform Chloe."

"Chloe?" She asked confused.

"We're going to have to make this appear spotless and Chloe is the best person for the job and Jack trusts her."

"Okay, who knows?" She asked walking towards the door.

"Just me, you, Jack, Chloe, and President Palmer."

"President Palmer?" She asked confused.

"He's the one who let Jack know about the order. Listen, I'm going to pull the alarm in five minutes, do you think you can inform Chloe and get the epinephrine by then?"

"Yeah." She replied.

"Okay, I have to go." He said hanging p.

She quickly left her office and grabbed Chloe before running down to CTU medical.

As they made their way back towards the floor they heard the alarm go off. They both knew what it meant.

They ran into CTU.

"What's going on?" Michelle asked meeting Tony's gaze.

"Jack escaped. He came up behind me and the next thing I knew I was on the floor and he was gone." Tony said.

"Have you blocked off all the exits?" She asked knowing that the question was unnecessary, Jack wasn't trying to leave.

Suddenly the Secret Service agent pointed at the screen which had feeds from all of the security cameras on them. "There. That looks like him." He said beginning to walk off.

"Wait, I'm coming with you." Tony said.

"No, you're not." He replied walking out.

Bill stopped him. "Either Tony goes or you don't go."

"Fine." He said walking off with Tony following him.

"Be careful." Michelle called out behind him. She knew that if the Secret Service agent found out what they were doing, Tony would be a dead man.

Michelle, with Bill and Chloe, ran into the room. They had just heard shots. She was so worried that Tony had ended up shot, but when she heard him yelling, a part of the plan, she knew he was okay.

"Jack." She said sitting down beside him.

"Oh, Jack." She heard Chloe say from behind her.

Bill and the Secret Service agent left and as soon as they heard the door slam, Tony quickly said, "Get me the epinephrine."

Michelle quickly pulled it out of the back of her skirt and handed it to him

Tony injected Jack and when they got no movement, Tony began to perform CPR.

"Come on, Jack." Tony said frustrated.

"Tony." Michelle said softly as she placed a hand on his arm.

He turned to look at her as Jack began to cough and sputter.

"Don't scare me like that." He chuckled as he looked at his friend.

Later the two watched Jack and Chloe say goodbye before they snuck him out of CTU.

"Okay, we're good." Tony said as they drove out of the CTU parking lot.

Jack got off of the floor in the backseat and took off the blanket that was covering him.

He sat up on the seat next to Maddie's car seat.

"Make sure to take care of Kim for me." He said breaking the silence as they pulled into an empty lot.

"We will." Michelle and Tony said at the same time.

"Thank you." He said simply.

He gently put his hand on Michelle's shoulder and looked at both of them before he got out of the car. They watched him walk towards a fence before Tony began to pull out.

"So, time to go home." Michelle said smiling at him.

"Time to go home." He said smiling back at her.

They went home and just played with Maddie. They were just a family. Just them. Because they would never forget how close they were to it all crashing down.

Later that evening after eating a meal of takeout, Tony looked over at Michelle. She was sitting on the couch with Maddie asleep in her lap.

Tony leaned over and gently picked Maddie up and brought her to her room. When he came back Michelle was on the couch crying.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked lying down on the couch and pulling her down beside him.

"I lost you today. For about fifteen minutes you were dead. I was a widow and Maddie didn't have a father and I just I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. I was planning on killing myself. I love Maddie I do and I wanted to be with her, but I just couldn't think of living without you. I can't even explain the feeling; it was just the worst thing that had ever happened to me."

"I know. I'm sorry you had to go through that, but I can promise you that you will never have to go through that again." He said kissing her.

He held her close as her sobs shook her body.

He cleared his throat and began to softly sing. It was a song from the TV show Full House and he always sung it when Michelle was sad. It always made her feel better.

"Michelle's at home,

The cats are purring,

She doesn't know what worry is.

She's safe and warm and she's not sorry,

She doesn't know what sorry is.

Michelle's smiling,

Michelle's smiling,

Michelle's smiling.

The news is on and Michelle's laughing,

Can't make sense of what the pictures show.

She knows no fear she keeps on laughing,

If we could only know what Michelle knows

Michelle's smiling,

Michelle's smiling,

Michelle's smiling."

After Tony finished he kissed her forehead and wiped away her tears. The sobs were gone and were replaced by a soft grin.

"I will love you every second of every day until the end of time." Michelle said softly before drifting to sleep.

Tony carried her to their bed and climbed in beside her. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered, "I will love you every second of every day until the end of time."