Author's note: Thanks for the reviews! I'm sorry for killing Chloe, that wasn't part of the original plan, I don't know what happened :) Please let me know how you like the story so far!

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The flickering lights of the police cars and fire fighters arriving colored the night sky. Alex had already taken three photos and he had been saving the last one to catch some heroic action but then he'd gotten a brilliant idea. Now he was sneaking in the backyard of the Reynolds' who were on a holiday in Greece. Margie had promised to water their plants and that task had now been passed on to him. The Reynolds' house was just behind the house that was now being eaten by the flames. So the backyards of the two houses were only separated by a wooden fence. "A whole new angle to the incident." He thought as he got through the yard to the fence. The sight was a slight disappointment but he raised the camera and snapped a photo. He had expected seeing, he didn't really no what, something that might have added a sense of extra drama and despair to the photo. Maybe he could have even sold the photos to the papers. If only he had had another roll of film.

The firefighters were at the front of the house trying to save what was left, which wasn't much. He was ready to leave, he didn't dare to cross the fence and he definitely didn't want to get in trouble for being somewhere where he shouldn't have been. And besides, Margie and the kids were probably at Julie's already. He'd give her call and tell her what had happened as soon as he got back to the house. As he was about to turn around, something got his eye. Something had moved near the big tree. It was dark but there definitely was something. He leaned over the fence to get a closer look and he almost fell over to the other side as he realized what it was he saw. At first he wasn't quite sure but then there was no doubt about it. He could pick out of the darkness that there was someone lying on the ground or, actually, leaning against the stem of the tree.

Alex had been so intrigued by the excitement of the night that he hadn't really thought about the victims, that is the family living in the house. He jumped over the fence and rushed towards the tree. It was a woman in her thirties, dark, kinda curly hair and dressed in a black skirt and sleevless shirt. Her face was covered in ash and blood, there was a cut bleeding in her forehead as well as in her right arm. Her eyes were closed but she was breathing heavily and Alex sighed in relief: at least she wasn't dead. He tried to wake her up by shaking her from the shoulders. His hands were trembling from fear. He should've just stayed home tonight.

Michelle felt a stabbing pain in her arm and she moaned. The shaking stopped and she slowly tried to open her eyes. They were swollen from tears. Her entire body ached.

"Where am I?" She whispered in a weak voice. She was completely disoriented for awhile until she heard the raging fire behind her.

"You were in an accident. Don't worry, I'll go get some help!" Alex was trying hard not to panic as he stood up.

"No, wait." Michelle gasped. It all came back to her – the explosion, the death that she'd escaped, everything. She looked at Alex, who, if possible, was more upset than she was. She didn't know whether she could trust him, but at this point she had no other choice.

"Listen." She paused to gather her thoughts. Alex crouched down beside her so he could hear what she was saying. "I can't go to the hospital right now..."

Michelle tried to sit straight. "There are some people who probably think I just died in there few minutes ago and I..."

"Stop, I don't understand." Alex interrupted. "What if I just go and get the paramedics, you'll be alright, you stay here and I'll be back in a minute."

"No, listen to me!" Michelle almost cried. "I – can't – go – to – the hospital. Not right now! The house, the explosion, it was no accident!"

She tried to make him understand, he had to understand.

Alex shook his head incredulously but Michelle continued: "It wasn't an accident, do you get it? I was supposed to die in there..."

She took a deep breath and looked him into his eyes. "What's your name?"

"Alex... Peterson. I live just around the corner, I was just... " He was surprised his voice sounded almost normal, while his heart was thumping wildly. He turned his head and tried to look for his camera. It lay on the ground near the fence. He figured he'd dropped it when he jumped over the fence.

"Look, Alex. My name is Michelle. I work for the CTU and I need you to help me out here. If the people who tried to kill me find out that I'm still alive, they'll probably come after me again. So you must understand why I can't go to the hospital?"

Alex didn't know what to say. What people, he wanted to ask. Were this not a safe place to live? What in the name of God had just happened? Why would somebody want to kill her? What did this all mean? How did he get involved in all this? The questions were rolling in his head. He looked at this young woman who could hardly talk not to mention stand on her own. She had survived an explosion, lost her home and who knows what else, and here he was trying desperately to find a way out.

"I have a first aid kit in the car." He said looking at Michelle. "I can drive you to my place, if there really is people after you, then you'd better get the hell out of here." Michelle managed to get a faint smile on her face.

Kim woke up as Chase opened the front door and tried to tiptoe in. She stared at the darkness but didn't get up. She had waited for him for awhile and then got tired. It was just like with Jack. Her father had never got home in time. She and her mother practically lived without him. It was always work that came first. And when Teri died it had just gotten worse. She tried, God she tried, but why was it all so difficult?

The bedroom door opened and Kim closed her eyes pretending she was asleep. She could hear Chase walk away to the bathroom and turning the shower on. She loved him but sometimes it was hard to live with him. Lately he was always somewhere, anywhere but with her , like he was avoiding her. It felt like he was hiding something from her, but then, when he looked at her and smiled she felt embarrassed and stupid for even thinking about things like that. She'd let her heart decide once again. She closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.

The roses weren't that pretty, but Tony was sure that Michelle would appreciate his effort. It was the only decent bouquet in the shop he'd found, but the shopkeeper had reassured him that it would do the trick. "It's none of your god damn business whether they're gonna 'do the trick'" he'd felt like saying, but didn't and just paid for the overpriced flowers. His personal life was his business, nobody else's. He didn't feel like fighting tonight so he had shut his mouth. That was something he'd ought to do more often, he smiled as he turned the car to the street where they lived in. The smile faded away quickly when he saw the police-cars, the people who were standing on the street with just their robes on and the firemen extinguishing the smouldering house, his house. He stopped the car and walked towards the house. He wanted to run but his feet weren't obeying his orders anymore.

"Sir, you're gonna have to stay behind the line." Said one of the officers as Tony ignored the plastic tape that prevented the bystanders from interfering or disturbing the work of both the police and the firefighters.

"I'm agent Tony Almeida from CTU." Tony heard himself saying. "What's going on?"

"Wait, I'll get the commanding officer." Said the man walking away.

Tony stood still watching the house he and Michelle had bought together. He couldn't believe this was the same house. Maybe he'd taken a wrong turn somewhere on the way home. This couldn't be his house, their home.

"John Hamilton, LAPD." Said an elder man reaching his hand towards Tony. They shook hands. "May I ask you sir, what the counter terrorist unit is doing here?"

"What's the situation?" Tony said ignoring the man's question.

"The neighbors reported that about an hour ago they heard an explosion. It's too early to say what caused it but as you can see we've got the situation covered. The fire is under control, the house on the other hand is completely destroyed but the other houses seem to have damaged none or very little. I assure you that the situation is under the circumstances well taken care of..."

Tony listened quietly, he couldn't take his eyes off the house. Even an idiot would have known it was 'completely destroyed'. There was no way anyone could have survived from that, he knew that. He just couldn't believe it.

"Were there anyone inside?"

"The neighbors claim they saw a... "the officer quickly went through his notes: "A woman, about thirty years old who supposedly is one of the residents, enter the house just minutes before the accident. Wait, I have her name somewhere..."

"Michelle." Tony said in a desperate voice. He could feel the tears running down his cheeks. "Michelle Dessler, she is.. was my wife."