"Tony. Where is Michelle?" Jack asked again hoping to snap Tony out of his faze. Tony seemed to understand the question and shook his head,
"She is at C.T.U., I am going to call her-"
"No, she's not. We called them and they said she left an hour ago." Tony paled even more.
"I have to go to her apartment. I have to see her." Tony was about to storm out when he bumped into a figure in the doorway, "Michelle?" He pulled her in for a hug then pulled away and gave her a once over checking for any physical damage. She looked at him questionably,
"Tony, what's wrong?'
"I thought you had been shot." Tony answered placing a hand on her cheek and sighing in relief.
"What are you talking about? I just came from the gym." It was then Tony noticed that she had her gym gear on with her duffel at her side. Michelle looked to Jack then noticed the agents walking around, "What's going on?" Michelle looked to Tony awaiting an answer.
"Michelle there were gunshots at your apartment, someone has been shot. We thought it was you but since you are here it must have been-"
"Selena-" Tony finished. Michelle and he exchanged a fearful look and without a second thought, they headed toward the car with Jack following behind them.
They arrived at the crime scene feeling the air leave their lungs. L.A.P.D and C.T.U. were there, Jack immediately headed their way while Tony went toward the ambulance. He was stopped by an agent,
"That's my sister let me pass." Tony stated pushing the agent away without a care. He then ran up to the EMS team and looked in to see his sister with a blanket around her shell shocked. "Selena!" She looked over to Tony and quickly ran to him. Michelle stood aside to watch the interaction noting that most of the conversation was in spanish. Michelle looked Selena over and was relieved to find that she had not been hurt. The brother and sister then pulled away and looked to Michelle. Selena immediately burst into tears and was pulled into Michelle's arms.
"What happened?" Michelle asked gently.
"They shot my friend that had flown out to see me. We were coming into the apartment and she was by the window when next thing you know she fell to the ground-" Selena hiccupped with tears, "Michelle she is dead." And Selena fell apart. It was then two coroners passed by with a body on a gurney covered. Michelle angled Selena so she couldn't see. She then looked at Tony who gave her a knowing look, he had a lot to tell her.
"Do you want to let me know what's going on now?" Michelle questioned, she watched as Tony paced his office, every so often looking down toward his sister who was talking to an agent about what had happened. He knew he had a lot to tell her, and that she deserved to know but he didn't know where to start,
"He's after me." Tony stated plainly. Michelle fought to roll her eyes, she knew that much but she had to let Tony say it all how he wanted to. She watched patiently as he looked from his sister to her and he scratched the side of his face,
"Why?"
"I don't know. But I was approached with the idea of going into the Witness Protection Program until he is captured." He watched to see Michelle's reaction but instead she just nodded,
"How long ago did that happen?"
"Right after I got out of surgery." He waited for Michelle to start yelling at him but instead, she just remained calm and moved closer to her with her arms crossed below her chest.
"Why didn't you do that?"
"I didn't want to worry you, after everything that happened these last few months the last thing I wanted to do was have you dragged into the mess." This seemed to anger her and she moved her arms to her hips and looked at him in befuddlement.
"Tony you know damn well that you would have wanted to know about something like this if it were me. And you know for a fact that you wouldn't care what kind of mess this was as long as I was safe."
"I know and I am sorry. But Marquez means business, I believe he was going after you. And Selena and her friend just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Why would he want to kill me?"
"Because of me. And the best thing for me to do to ensure your protection is to leave you."
"What?" Michelle felt her heart quicken, she looked to see if he was joking but he wasn't and that terrified her.
"Just until we can make sure that he is captured."
"Tony-"
"No, there is no argument. I want to be as far away from you as possible, I need you to be safe."
"Tony-"
"Please Michelle."
"No. I won't let you." She immediately began to think of the months that he was absent. She knew she had become dependent on this man. As much as wouldn't care to admit it to anyone else, she needed him more than he knew. And thinking of being separated from him again was torture. He could see the hesitation in her eyes and he stood up to stand in front of her. He then gently sat on the edge of his desk and took her hands in his.
"Sweetheart you know this is the best thing for us right now."
"Best thing for you you mean?" She pulled away and she let the mist in her eyes form, she looked away from him,
"Mic-" He tried to reach for her, but she remained distant. There was some silence and Tony grew worried, he couldn't tell what Michelle was thinking until she turned around and her watery eyes were replaced with anger,
"No, I am sick and tired of you treating me like I am some sort of damsel in distress. It is time for you to start treating me just the same. I know you want to protect me, but if this is something that is bigger than you can handle, which given what has happened, it is, I need you to let me help you." Normally, Tony would have fought back but he knew she was right. And he owed it to her for leaving her so abruptly. He sighed and then gave her a small smile. She noticed the change in his demeanor and smiled back. He opened his arms and she slowly went in between them.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" He gave her neck a gentle touch before resting his forehead against hers, "What do you suppose we do?"
"Jack and I have been working on an alternative plan incase this were to happen."
"What-What do you mean?"
"I think we need let him in and let him explain it." She then eyed behind Tony. Tony turned to see Jack waiting patiently outside his office. He then sighed, he expected something like this were to happen. Jack came in and looked between the pair,
"The plan is this, we use Michelle to lure Marquez out, we have to make him think you don't believe him. Then the moment Marquez tries another move on Michelle we move in."
"Tony-before you shoot down the idea, think. Selena could have been the one shot today." Michelle knew he would cave at the mention of his sister. He then smiled grimly and nodded,
"I know-" He gave Michelle's hands a gentle squeeze then looked to Jack,
"Or there is this plan, we find Marquez and take him out ourselves." Tony nodded agreeably which surprised Michelle and Jack.
"I like that idea." Tony confirmed after Jack was done giving the rest of the details.
"But Michelle comes with us." Jack stated ready for the fight Tony would put up but instead, Tony just nodded and shrugged once he received looks from the two,
"I figured she would still be involved." Tony stated simply, Jack smiled looking at Michelle.
"Tony-" Michelle wasn't about to assure him that everything would be fine but he just smiled at her before saying,
"Alright, considering that the President is in danger, as well as now my family. It's personal, let's do it." Jack looked once more between the pair then nodded and began gathering his things,
"Good, I'll let Chappelle and the White House know." And with that Jack left leaving the two, Tony turned to Michelle and sighed, she looked at him in concern,
"What are you thinking?"
"Just because you are out there doesn't mean I won't stop worrying. Alright? I want you to stay near me the entire time." She knew there was no room for argument. She nodded with confidence,
"Okay." He seemed to accept it then looked everywhere but at her for a moment before scratching the side of his face, "And just know personal feelings aside, you are one hell of an agent, and there is no one else I would feel more confident in to take down Marquez." Michelle blushed,
"Thank you." Michelle pulled Tony in for a deep kiss allowing both to escape to a place that even Marquez could not destroy.
Tony was getting ready for the conference with the White House and Jack when suddenly a sense of concern washed over him. Jack noticed his friends change in emotion and was about to question him when Chappelle came in,
"Alright what do we got?"
"We received a tip that Marquez is at the Pine Tree Apartments on J Street." Jack informed looking at the footage displayed on the screen,
"How recent?" Chappelle surveyed the footage as well and then glanced toward Jack,
"Fifteen minutes ago, and we have surveillance of the apartments from street cameras, he has not left yet." Jack looked toward Tony who seemed to fidget more than normal in his seat,
"Alright let's get the President on call, is everyone here?" Chappelle glanced around and Tony shook his head,
"No, we are still waiting on Michelle."
"What's taking her so long?" Chappelle snapped before Tony could fire back at him Jack intervened,
"I don't know, I'll phone her." Jack dialed her number and the rest waited, Jack could feel Tony's eyes staring at him,
"Well?" Chappelle asked,
"She didn't answer." Jack answered slowly, trying to keep the concern out of his voice.
"She might be in the restroom." Tony figured, shuffling his papers around to keep himself from feeling the worry increase. Something wasn't right.
"I'll have Chloe find her." Jack dialed the number,
"O'Brien."
"Chloe, it's Jack, have you seen Michelle recently?" He looked over at Chloe who was seated at her desk, he saw her look around and then shrugged,
"No, but I can find her for you."
"Thank you." Jack hung up and he looks to Tony, about to fill him in when Chappelle cleared his throat.
"So while we are waiting I want you to go ahead and call the President, no sense in keeping him waiting," Chappelle ordered with a slight stretch in his shoulders.
"Yes sir," Jack replied weakly, he didn't have to look to see Tony beginning to fidget even more in his seat. "This is Jack Bauer requesting to speak with the President."
"One moment please."
"Jack?" President David Palmer voiced,
"Yes, Mr. President, you are also on the call with Ryan Chappelle, Director of Division and Tony Almeida, Director of CTU: LA."
"Good afternoon gentleman, my people have brought me up to speed, what's the plan to apprehend Marquez?"
"Sir, we have teams already enroute to the Pine Tree Apartments, there they will monitor the building to make sure no one leaves or enters without us knowing. Then we will apprehend him, myself, Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler will be going in. We will be leaving in ten minutes."
"Very well gentlemen, let's get this son of a bitch."
"Yes, Mr. President." The call ended.
"Uh- Mr. Chappelle." Chloe's voice came in and all three turned to her,
"What is it, Chloe?"
"It's Michelle." Tony instantly went to his feet, eyes sharp,
"What happened?" Jack asked cautiously, keeping his eyes on Tony,
"She's gone." Chloe stuttered. All three pairs of eyes exchanged looks with one another, Chappelle was the first to speak.
"What do you mean she's gone?"
"She took one of the vehicles and left."
"To where?" Chappelle was quickly losing it, anger increasing,
"The location?" Chloe assumed,
"How far away are the teams?" Chappelle snapped, glancing at Jack.
"They were just about to leave." Jack answered, something wasn't right.
"So she is going in there alone?" Chloe looked at her boss questionably,
"Damnit." Chappelle cursed.
"No, she knows something we don't." Tony stated, all eyes looked to him. They knew he was right. Tony's eyes never waivered from the photo of Marquez on the screen.
"What the hell is going on here, find me Dessler O'brien. Now." Chappelle barked.
"She managed to override the system, she has cleared her vehicle from every footage mainframe we can't follow her trail." Chloe answered,
"Where was she last seen?" Tony asked, quickly checking his gun from his holster and grabbing his cell off the table. He placed the earpiece deeper in his ear, afraid he might miss something. Jack was right behind him, gun ready to go.
"On Simpson, she took a right." Tony took the wheel and they were off before anyone could blink.
"Alright look and see if she was in contact with anyone before she left. She would not just leave before an assignment." Tony informed, he knew something was off, it wasn't like Michelle. And what made him more nervous, was that she was alone. Without backup,
"Already done, she received a call a minute before she overrode the system and with that, she left."
"She must have received a threat. That's why she left with no word." Jack stated feel an increasing in pressure of what was to come.
"We need to find her, I have a feeling Marquez is behind this and she is going to be in danger." Tony knew his mind was clouded with thoughts of what he was going to do to Marquez if he found him even an inch away from Michelle. He felt himself begin to go beyond boiling point.
"Relax Tony, let's just head to Simpson." Jack needed Tony to act rational, the last thing he needed was Tony to lose his edge.
Michelle knew that she was going to be found right away, knowing Tony, she was not going to be able to hide easily. She got the call and her heart felt as if it was being squeezed tightly, that she couldn't breathe.
"Shame that I killed her friend. But I have who you want. Leave now and meet me on Hillside and Walnut in the back alley, come alone, and erase your steps. You have 10 minutes. If I were you, I'd not make any mistakes, she looks a little upset right now." Michelle didn't need to hear anymore she did as instructed. She quickly erased her steps and left. She knew she should have somehow gotten in touch with Tony but she couldn't risk his sister's life. So here she was driving a CTU standard vehicle and heading toward the location.
The alley was dark, Michelle didn't realize how secluded it was. She stopped her car and quickly grabbed her gun. She slowly got out of the car and looked around making sure that she was alone. Then a door opened up from the building near her, she looked around cautiously and slowly moved toward the door. She walked into the building and the door slammed behind her. The lights were off except for a chair in the middle of the empty room and a lamp shining above it. Michelle could feel that something was off.
"Well Ms. Dessler, welcome." Michelle turned to see only darkness where the voice was coming from. She tightened her grip on her gun and felt her adrenaline kick in.
"Only cowards hide." Michelle sneered. She heard a chuckle then shuffling of feet and out from the darkness came Marquez. "Where is she? Where is Selena?"
"At home, I think, though I will give you credit for risking your life for her. Almeida is a lucky son of a bitch."
"What do you want?"
"Let's see if Almeida is as good as I hear he is."
"I don't feel like she is here." Tony stated looking around. No one seemed odd or out of place on the busy street. Jack had to agree, nothing made him feel concerned, it was as if a normal day was happening. He looked deeper into the crowd of people moving along, the cars moving and their drivers and still nothing.
"Let's move up toward Hillside." Jack instructed. Tony nodded. He slowly moved the car up the street stopping along the sidewalks slowly. Tony didn't like the feeling, he knew they were driving into the bad side of town and he got the sense that if they stayed too long they would start attracting the wrong crowd. Jack sensed it too and ushered for Tony to move up. Tony moved along, ignoring the looks from the street crowd as they drove, until Jack placed a hand on the dashboard and yelled, "Stop!"
"What?" Tony asked as he looked toward the alley Jack was looking at. And there he caught sight of the standard issue C.T.U. vehicle. "That's it."
"Okay, move in slowly, Marquez may have people watching. We have to park further away and move in."
"Right."
Tony and Jack parked a way up and gathered the gears they would need. Jack looked at Tony as he fastened his bulletproof vest and he signaled he was ready to go. They walked along the streets and immediately people went into their homes, knowing that the government was near. Tony and Jack moved in closer to the alley and Jack eyed stealthily the rooftops for any snipers. He signaled for Tony to moved ahead and keep an eye out, and slowly they moved through the alley. Tony looked around for any sign of enterance or Michelle and soon a door left ajar caught his eye. He caught Jacks attention and together they made their way to the door. Jack counted, one, two, three and Tony pushed the door forward with his gun. The door opened just enough for them to squeeze in, Jack and Tony suddenly emerged into darkness.
They moved through the building taking one step at a time with caution, their guns trained. Then all of a sudden they heard a woman cry,
"Stop!" Tony knew that voice better than anyone, he paused,
"Michelle?"
"T-To-Tony?" They moved to the voice taking each step. "Wait, don't move!"
"Tony, this might be a trap." Jack spoke slowly,
"Marquez was here. He knocked me out. I feel a weight on my body, I can't tell what it is." Michelle stated. Jack looked to Tony, only to barely see him looking back.
"Michelle is he still here?" Tony asked hesitantly,
"I'm-I'm not sure." Michelle responded weakly,
"I'm going to call backup and a bomb squad," Jack stated quietly, the last thing he wanted to do was to worry Michelle or Tony but he had to be safe.
"What?" Tony couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Just incase. We don't know what we are dealing with yet."
"Why don't we just turn on some lights in here?"
"Some bombs are light sensitive if we turn them on and Michelle does have one attached to her, then she could die and everyone else. We can't risk that. Not until we get a team out here to check it out."
"So you're telling me, Michelle is going to die." Tony's voice broke just a tad,
"No, I am telling you that she will be in good hands, right now we just need to get in touch with backup. He couldn't have gotten away that quickly." Tony could hear Jack retreating slowly and Michelle tried her best to see through the darkness. But the thought alone that Tony was near made her feel more at ease.
"Tony? What's going on?" Michelle asked nervously,
"Sweetheart, Jack is going to be calling in for backup. I need you to stay where you are and not move." He could hear her whimper and it broke his heart, "Sweetheart, can you move your hands?"
"No, I am completely tied up. I can't even move my legs if I wanted to." Tony's heart rate increased, this wasn't looking good.
"Alright don't worry we are going to get you taken care of alright, I promise you I'll be right here the whole time."
The scene filled up quickly with EMT and the bomb squad, and numerous amount of agents scoured the area. Tony watched as all of it unfolded, and the bomb squad confirmed the presence of a bomb attached to Michelle's body. Tony knew she knew of course, but he didn't want to talk to her about it knowing that it would mean it was a real. He wasn't ready to think about a life without her. A life they were to share together could be cut too soon. Tony watched from a distance much to his dismay the bomb squad tinker with the object. Luckily it wasn't light sensitive so he was able to see Michelle, but he didn't know if it made the situation that much better. He could feel the tension in the area and he could see Michelle sweating and not looking anywhere else but at him.
"Alright, we got the plate off." He heard an agent say. He looked as one finished unscrewing with the bolt that was fastened in the plate of the bomb. Everyone moved as slowly as they could. And as the plate was removed a slight ticking could be heard,
"How much time do we have?" Jack asked the million dollar question. The agent looked back and gave a slight frown,
"Three minutes." Michelle felt herself begin to fall apart. Though she was surrounded by her peers and the people she cared about, she didn't know how much more alone she felt.
"You all should leave now. Save yourself and find Marquez."
"Michelle we are still going to try and get this off of you, I promise." The agent replied while scrutinizing the task at hand.
"No you all have families, people that you need to go home to if I need to die in order to get to Marquez than let it happen." Michelle looked around at all the eyes placed on her and she suddenly began to feel claustrophobic. She wasn't used to all the pressure and attention.
"No, it's not going to happen, and if anyone so much as leaves I will have you fired. Do you all understand me?" Tony snapped looking at everyone. Michelle felt gratitude fill her, Tony began to walk over to her, he had had enough, "Michelle-" He heard people tell him to step back but he didn't care, his eyes were on Michelle and they were not going to go anywhere. "I am so sorry for everything that is happening, I couldn't imagine how you must be feeling but I can assure you that this will all be over soon."
"Tony, if this doesn't work out, I want you to be happy alright, I want you to do everything that you need to be happy. Find someone-"
"No, we are not talking about this."
"Tony listen to me. Promise me all of it alright? I only have about 2 minutes left, so just promise me." Tony looked at the timer and nodded. She always had a way to him.
"Okay." He choked back the tears and moved his gaze toward the agent still dealing with the bomb and the timer. 1 minute left.
"I need people to start clearing the room." Another agent yelled, and people complied, all that was left was Tony, the bomb agent, and Michelle. 30 seconds,
"Tony leave."
"No." Twenty-four seconds.