Sorry the last part was so short, everyone! Count on most of the chapters being longer. I just want the say that this fic is probably going to focus more on Nina and Tony, cause there are so few fics about them. And I'm making Mason be a slightly less cold-hearted character. But I'm not going to neglect Jack and Teri, so don't worry. And if anyone has a really good name for Jack and Teri's baby, put them in my reviews! I'm not guaranteeing that I'm going to use them, but… And it's going to be a boy, so put boys' names.
12:52:31 am
Tony stretched lightly as he watched the Bauers leave CTU to go home. Lucky them, he thought, as he finished up the paperwork, and glanced up to see Mason coming toward him. "You done yet, Tony?"
"Just about." To tell the truth, he was stalling; Nina hadn't come back from her second briefing of the press yet.
"Ok, well as soon as you're done, you can leave."
"Ok." Tony turned his attention back to his paperwork.
Mason cleared his throat. "Listen, Tony…good job today. You guys really pulled through. And I guess I'm sorry for not trusting you."
Tony nodded. "It's ok. Don't worry about it," he told him, even though he did kind of want him to worry about it. "Just promise me that Green isn't going to come back here anytime soon."
Mason grinned. "Don't worry about it," he echoed Tony's words, then got up. "I'm leaving."
"Ok," replied Tony, his attention already wandering away as Nina had just returned from her briefing of the press. He was about to get up to go talk to her, but stopped when he noticed Jack returning inside and going over to Nina's desk, still limping slightly despite the medic's care. He leaned over and was speaking to Nina in a low voice, as Nina nodded, then shook her head. Then Jack got up and came over to Tony's desk.
"Hey Tony. I just wanted to thank you for everything you did for me and my family today."
Tony nodded. "No problem."
"Of course it was a problem," Jack corrected. Tony lowered his eyes. "Come on, Tony. Did both Mason and Green talk to you?" Tony still didn't answer. "When they were wondering where I was, what kind of deal did they offer you and Nina? Nina didn't tell me."
For the first time, Tony spoke. "Well, if she doesn't want you to know, then I'm not going to say anything, either." Jack simply looked at him, until Tony sighed. "Green said that whichever one of us spoke first would be home free, and they other one would be prosecuted and discharged. She talked to me first, and gave me ten minutes to think about it. She had just come back in when you called her."
Jack's dark eyes clouded. "Trust me, I'm going to have a little chat with her when I get back." Tony nodded, his face completely impassive. Jack started to walk away, then turned back. "I almost forgot, you and Nina have tomorrow-I mean, today-off. Can you tell her for me?"
"Sure," Tony replied as Jack started to walk away again. He then got up and walked over to Nina, who was leaning back in her chair, her eyes closed. Tony began to massage her shoulders again. "Jack says we've got the rest of the day off."
"Mmmm, good," Nina replied. "Let's go home."
"Where's home," Tony asked quietly.
"Anywhere you are," Nina murmured in reply.
"Then let's go." Tony stood up, offering Nina his hand, and pulled her up. Together, they left CTU after their incredibly long day.
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Tony lay in bed, on his stomach, his face turned to the side so it wasn't buried in the pillow, one hand draped across Nina's stomach, just watching her sleep. She had earned some sleep. He noticed a small, red bruise on her chest. It wasn't the first time he had seen it; he first noticed it when she changed while they had been interrogating Jamey. He carefully brushed his thumb over it, causing Nina to wince and stir, finally opening her eyes. She looked at him and followed his eyes down to the bruise. "Want to tell me about that?" he asked gently.
Nina twisted in bed, and refused to meet his eyes. Tony patiently waited, until finally she spoke. "When Jack and I left, and he said that thing about going to division, what did you think?"
Tony was honestly quite startled with this reply. "I didn't think you were going to division."
Nina nodded. "We were in his office, and I think Gaines was talking to him, and he pulled a gun on me." Tony sat up straight and stared at her, slightly afraid of where this was going. "He pulled a flak jacket over me so he could hide the gun, went out and gave that line about going to division, and took me…I don't know where and shot me." Tony growled and immediately began to check her for any other injuries. "Tony, Tony, I'm fine." Nina grabbed both his wrists and made him look at her. "I'm fine," she repeated. She swallowed hard, and Tony could see that she was having trouble continuing, so he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him. She shuddered, and continued, "When he pulled out the gun and put the jacket on me, I didn't realize it was flak, I didn't realize it until after he shot me. Oh god, Tony, I really thought he was going to do it," she whimpered.
Tony couldn't think of anything to say to comfort her, so he simply held her tighter. "Ok, don't worry, it's all over now."
Nina swallowed. "No, Tony, when he took me out there, and I realized he was going to shoot me, I kept thinking about you, just you, and how you probably thought that I had gone off with him, and…I really didn't want you to think that."
Tony nodded. "I didn't think that."
Nina looked up. "You didn't?"
"Nope, I saw the security tape from Jack's office, but by then I had no clue where you were. God, Nina, that scared the hell out of me."
Nina sighed. "Tony, I have something to tell you."
Tony didn't need to ask what it was. "Yeah, I have to tell you that too."
Both of them looked at each other, each wanting to hear what the other had to say, but neither wanting to put themselves on the line first.
Finally Tony spoke again: "on the count of three, we'll say it." Nina nodded. "One, two, three."
"I love you." The words that both of them spoke displayed the feelings they hadn't truly realized until that day.
Nina sighed and curled up beside Tony. "Say that again," she murmured.
"I love you," Tony replied. "I love you. I. Love. You." He punctuated each word with a kiss, wrapping his arms tightly around Nina, who relished the comfort. Then, finally, each of them let sleep overcome them.
So here it is! Please review! Cause when people review, I know that people are reading this, and I write faster. And kudos to everyone who reviewed the first chapter/prologue! Just to clear something up, this is going to be FLUFFY! I love fluff, and if you don't, go stand in the corner. But not really. But just so you all know, there aren't going to be any deaths, or miscarriages, or kidnappings and whatnot. Just so we're clear.
-anna-k