Authors Notes: Thanks for all the reviews so far. This was an idea that I've had for a long time, and has been through many drafts, until I got a scenario that I felt made the most sense. I'm pleased that the way in which Tony was spared prison came over as plausible and believable as I had hoped. I hope you enjoy this next chapter as much as the first three.

PART TWO:

Chapter 1: "Emotions Running High"

The Almeidas walked into their living room and Michelle ditched her Pearce onto the Coffee Table. Tony walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her hourglass waist "Hey, you okay?" he asked softly. Michelle turned to face him and pulled his lips to hers for a tender kiss. "As well as can be expected I guess" she replied, giving him a small smile.

"I'll go and make us a quick bite to eat" Tony said before heading to the kitchen.

Michelle took a seat on the couch and closed her eyes. Suddenly all the images from the past day came flooding back. Finding out Tony had been shot, Tony in surgery, their arguments when he returned to CTU, the moment she realized the virus had been released at the Chandler Plaza. She saw, vividly, all of the guests and hotel employees who became infected and either died in agony or took a suicide pill. She had flashbacks of her own kidnapping and the other survivors being slaughtered in front of her.

Finally, Michelle just couldn't keep it together any longer and began to sob. She brought her knees up to her chest and rocked back and forth as she cried. Almost instantly she felt Tony's arms wrap around her and pull her close to him.

"Shh… It's okay Baby, I've got you" he whispered softly into her ear. Tony slid his hand underneath her shirt and caressed the bare skin of her back in slow, soothing circles. Michelle pressed even further into him, taking comfort in his strong, loving embrace.

"I just can't stop thinking about everything that happened today, all those poor people in that hotel, Gael, Mr. Phillips, all of them. They all died in agony, so many lives just wasted, because of one bitter twisted sociopath." Michelle took a few moments before continuing. "I'll never forget having to watch what those people went through. It was like Hell in there, the screams, the sights, the smells. Those images will stay with me forever." Michelle had stopped crying by this stage, and for the first time in all of the time he had known her, particularly all of the years they had been together, Tony could see that her eyes were empty and had lost their sparkle, never had he seen her so affected by her work.

The somber silence was broken as Michelle continued "There was a family there, a man, a woman and their two kids. The kids were the type that hated taking pills, when they started showing symptoms, their mother had to hide the suicide capsule inside a candy bar, the way she would always give them their medicine. The poor woman had to kill her own children, to prevent them from suffering and had to pretend she was just giving them some chocolate to make them 'feel better'. They died in her arms their young lives cut so terribly short."

Michelle needed a few moments to calm herself. Tony caressed her all the while, his tender displays of affection soothing her more than anything else.

Eventually, Michelle started yet again. "It wasn't long after that when Mr. Phillips died. I remember the look on his face when I told him that he couldn't speak to his wife. He just wanted to hear her voice and I had to refuse. After all that help he had given me, I denied him his chance to speak to his wife one last time. I hated myself for that, especially as I got the chance to talk to you and tell you how I felt. I felt like a hypocrite and so guilty because of it."

Michelle just sat quietly staring into space. Tony pulled her into him, lifted her chin, and lightly kissed her lips, only then did he reply. "Sweetheart, you only did what you had to. That order to keep things quiet came straight from the Whitehouse; you were only following protocol. You can't torment yourself over something that you had no control over."

Finally Michelle spoke again. "Do you want to know what I thought about the most when I was in that Hotel not knowing if I'd survive?" she asked him looking into his eyes.

"Go on" Tony whispered encouragingly, placing a feather light kiss on her forehead.

"Of course, I was terrified of how I'd die in agony; I knew the pathology of the virus. But most of all I thought about how you would feel when I was gone. I couldn't help but think of how devastated, distraught and heartbroken you'd be." Michelle paused for a few seconds, and took a deep breath; finally Tony's gentle touches and whispers of encouragement gave her the strength to continue. "I hated that, to think of me being the cause of such torment and despair. You've changed so much since we've been together; you're happier; you're more full of life, more content. That's the way I always want you to be. It was agonizing to me to think that losing me would cause you pain, after being so happy with me for the past three years." She began to cry again and settled even further into her husband.

Tony knew exactly what she was talking about, because he had been terrified and distraught at the thought of having to go on without her. The past three years had changed him completely. He had become besotted with Michelle very quickly. It was less than two months of dating before he realized beyond doubt that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. The intensity of his love and adoration for her was overwhelming. She was very much the centre of his world, his reason for living. Tony was certain that had he lost her, he wouldn't have been able to go on. People said that a bereaved person, could with time, pick up the pieces and move on with their life. But, Tony knew that would never be true in his case. It might be clichéd but he knew that he would eventually die of a broken heart and loneliness without Michelle. That was if he hadn't already taken matters into his own hands and ended his suffering somehow.

They sat together in silence for several minutes. Tony had his arms around Michelle, and continued to stroke her back as he held her.

Finally, Tony began to tell Michelle everything he had been feeling as well. "Sweetheart, all I could think about was you, in that godforsaken place, dying in agony. I just thought about how terrified you must have been. It was the most distressing experience of my life, to think that I couldn't even be there with you, that I couldn't comfort you. I thought about how you'd die alone despite my promises that I'd never let that happen." He was now crying as well and it was Michelle's turn to comfort him.

Once again Michelle found the courage to speak "Something else that kept bothering me was how I could have died, and the last few hours we spent together, we were angry at each other" she said softly, her head hung low and eyes transfixed at a spot on the floor. "It was awful to think that we may never have had a chance to make up."

"I know, I thought about that too." Tony replied "I hated the fact that I might never have gotten a chance to tell you how sorry I was for being such a jerk." He lifted Michelle's chin, and tenderly kissed her soft full lips. "But I'll apologize now. I'm really sorry sweetheart; I had no right to treat you like that." Tony whispered.

Michelle smiled at him, and pressed a finger to his lips "Shh…it's okay now. I know you're sorry and I forgive you. Everything that's happened puts that silly little argument into perspective. So please let's not bring it up again." She kissed him passionately, and then rested her head on his chest.

After a long while of remaining silent, but reassuringly cuddling each other, Michelle just sat shaking her head. "Why do we even bother Tony, Why?" she asked her voice fully of uncertainty, confusion and anguish.

"Why do even bother with what?" Tony asked, despite knowing full well what she was referring to, he just wanted to allow her to get it all out.

"This job" Michelle replied, "we think that we're making this huge difference, but really we're not. We stop one terrorist threat and there's another one to take his place. No matter what we do to these people, it's no deterrent. Others will just keep doing the same things regardless." She just sat there, her eyes showing the despair and turmoil she was feeling. "I just don't think, I'm cut out for this anymore, honey, I love my country and want innocent people to be protected, but enough is enough."

At this revelation, Tony was feeling a mixture of emotions; he knew full well that Michelle was telling him she didn't want to work for CTU anymore. He wasn't entirely surprised she was feeling this way after what she'd been through, but at the same time, he was quite shocked at her sudden change of heart. He wouldn't have thought as they'd left for work 36 hours ago that she'd be considering resigning as a federal agent when they got back. She was passionate and patriotic. She was dedicated to her job, a great deal more, Tony had to admit, than he himself was. It had always been one of the things he found attractive about her, her strong and passionate beliefs.

There was a Part of him that was pleased at this news, for whilst he also loved his country and felt a strong desire to help defend it , in all truthfulness, Tony had always known that if Michelle wanted them to leave that world behind, he would do so in a heartbeat, without a moment's hesitation. He'd felt that way more and more, since they had gotten married, perhaps even from the moment they realized their relationship was getting serious. Tony loved and cared for Michelle more than anything else in the world, she was his life, everything else was secondary. It would seem that that day had finally come, and there was a part of Tony that was glad it had.

Another side of him wished this day hadn't come, he hated the idea that it had taken something so traumatic to make Michelle want to become a regular civilian and leave their current life behind. If he could turn the clock back and not only ensure Michelle never went through of any the hell she had in the past 24 hours, but also that this moment never came, Tony would gladly do it. He'd rather continue at CTU with her never having gone through this hellish day, than leave the place because of it.

Finally, after almost 2 hours sat on the couch discussing what had happened, the Almeidas stood and headed in the direction of the kitchen, the food that Tony had been in the middle of preparing had long gone cold. To save having to microwave it for a second time, they decided instead to order some Chinese food. Once it arrived, they ate in silence, enjoying the peace, all the while maintaining eye contact and occasionally holding hands across the table. Eventually, they were done stood, and headed hand in hand to the shower.

As they stood together in the shower, Tony lovingly massaged the tension from Michelle's neck and shoulders. Before they turned in, Tony got Michelle to lie down on the bed and gave her a rub-down with her favorite body lotion. He enjoyed this immensely, feeling and touching every part of her was comforting. Tony knew he was lucky that he was still able to show her such tender affection.

Michelle found it to be wonderfully calming; the sensation of her husband's hands all over her relaxed her both physically and mentally. For a few moments she was able to focus entirely on his tender caresses, not the events of the past 24 hours, not the thoughts of how close she came that day to dying or losing him. Not even the many questions already cropping up in her mind of what she and Tony could do once they became regular civilians, just Tony's loving and pleasurable touches.

After several minutes of tender caresses and passionate kisses the pair finally wriggled underneath the covers and Tony spooned Michelle into him.

"Oh, my precious 'Chelle, I love you so very much" he whispered softly, kissing her forehead.

"I love you too, Tony, with all of my heart, goodnight sweetheart" Michelle replied, returning the kiss.

"Goodnight Curly-Head. Sweet dreams baby."

As they lay snuggled up under the quilt, Michelle realized that Tony was holding even tighter than normal, obviously relishing in the fact that he could still do so.

Tony enjoyed being able to have Michelle in his arms as they slept, it was a pleasure he had thought he would never again experience. He loved her so very much, that was never more clear than it was today.

Eventually, Tony saw that his beloved wife had finally fallen asleep, he watched for several minutes, as he always would, in awe of her beauty, as her breasts would slowly rise and fall with her breathing, her reddish brown curls spread all over the pillow. He loved to do this, every night since they first slept together, and after having come so close to losing her forever, he was dammed if he wouldn't do it tonight despite his exhaustion.

After almost half an hour of watching over her, Tony could see that Michelle was finally in a deep sleep. He was glad to see she was resting and peaceful, although he knew that it was the exhaustion more than anything else that allowed her to do so. It would be a while
before she could truly sleep soundly. The nightmares from her ordeal would last a while, and it would take some time for Michelle to deal with the aftermath of her time in the Chandler Plaza.

However, Tony knew he would be there for her, he'd support her and with time they'd be back to normal.

Finally, when he was sure that Michelle was truly content; Tony nuzzled closer into her and fell asleep himself.