Ok, so I'm not to sure about the first bit of this chapter so please let me know what you think about it. As promised, this has Tony in it (and I promise not to hurt him)
Tony's fingers were pressed absently into the cut that trailed his arm. It hurt, which was reassuring. It proved that he was still alive, something which he had difficulty believing, particularly considering that he would be dead in 9 days.
9 days, he wasn't sure if it was something that he dreaded or welcomed, but the one thing that sustained him was the knowledge that she would be there. He didn't dare think her name, couldn't. She was the reason he was here. That was not an accusation, just a fact. His service record was enough that 20 years seemed an optimistic but realistic verdict. But then there was the suicide pills, he'd got them for her, he couldn't say no, just like he couldn't watch her being tortured, and although Chappelle had authorised him to get them to her, Chappelle was dead.
He shouldn't think about her it only made things worse. But then again, with 9 days left to live, it really didn't matter. He wondered if they would let him see her before they killed him, or if he would have to see her across a room. He hoped she wouldn't cry, he didn't expect that she would, but if she did he knew that he would. What he wanted was for her to breeze in with that smile on her face, the one that made him go weak at the knees. He wanted the last thing that he saw to be her smile.
The sound of keys turning in his door distracted him from his thoughts, and anger burst from him. He had 9 days left to live, why wouldn't they just leave him alone? Turning away from the door, he removed his fingers from his cut. They were covered with his blood.
No, he definitely welcomed what was to come.
10 minutes, they'd arrived, but she couldn't go in until the pizza delivery got here in 10 minutes time. She would take the bike and deliver the pizza. She was having the finishing touches applied for her hair and make up, going over in her mind the training she'd had for the bike.
Jack hadn't a clue how long he'd been sat in that room. Keeler had run off, leaving him there, and hadn't seen fit to let him go so he could go home and pray that somehow she wouldn't die. He glanced at his watch. They would have arrived by now, she would be preparing to go in.
Jack was still sat there, Keeler noted when he walked back in. "Has she gone in yet?"
Jack glanced up at him, trying to keep the hatred he felt from pouring out of his eyes. He shook his head.
"Good." Then, into his earpiece, "Bring him in."
"What's going on?"
"She is a hero. This country rewards its heroes. I'm giving her something to come back to." It was true, her service record was impressive, but what had impressed Keeler was the sound of her voice when she told him to tell her husband she loved him. Her country was going to execute her husband as a traitor because he hadn't been willing to let her die in agony. Despite this, she had continued to serve her country, putting her life on the line every time. And now, with her husband about to die, he had given her an opportunity to try and force a pardon out of him, but she hadn't. She'd just told him to tell her husband that she loved him. That more than anything convinced him that she was a hero, that she deserved better.
Tony reminded him of Michelle to an extent that Jack hadn't thought possible. His eyes were dead, his face cold. But Jack knew instantly that it was just a mask. He could see the hope in Tony's eyes, nothing could mask that. It was the same hope in Michelle's eyes when she was offered a mission. At the same time, there was the ever present despair which haunted Michelle's face.
Tony saw Jack sat there, and his heart skipped a beat. His fingers had a desperate craving to wrap themselves about his neck. Michelle he could understand. She had nothing, no one. It would be easy to get lost in despair, the same despair he so often found himself drowning in. He would do anything for a way out, and he guessed that Jack had offered her that.
But looking at Jack, his best friend for so many years, he couldn't understand. Jack had everything. He was free and alive, he had a daughter who loved him. He was Jack Bauer, special agent extraordinaire, he could have any woman he wanted. Why did it have to be his wife?
Jack held out his hand to Tony, a huge smile on his face. His friends were being given their lives back. Michelle could be happy again. He remembered the Michelle who had bounded across the office floor, wrapping her arms around him, waving her engagement ring in front of him, laughter echoing in the air. She could be like that again, she didn't have to be cold and distant anymore.
Tony knew what was expected of him, he had to shake Jack's hand. He had to smile and look happy. They were giving him his life back. If he could do this, they would let him see Michelle again. So he took Jack's hand and shook it, a smile plastered on his face, all the while wondering how much pressure he would have to apply to crush all the bones in his hand.
2 minutes, that was all. Survive those, and that would be it. She'd go in, do their silly little mission, and then it would be over. Then he handed her the phone again. Why wouldn't they just let her get it over with?
Jack's voice again, "Michelle, there's someone you need to speak to before you go." She didn't have time for this.
"Michelle..." Her name, he hadn't dared speak it in over a year. Suddenly, his mouth was dry, his heartbeat was echoing in his head, he just needed to hear her speak his name.
The moment he spoke her name, she fell apart. Tony. Jack had found him. "...Tony?" Her voice was that of a small child, filled with vulnerability, so much hope that it practically tore him apart.
"Michelle." He breathed her name, unable to do anything else. She was his, he could hear it in her voice.
Fingers on her shoulder told her that it was time to go. She saw the delivery boy being dragged away. "Tony, I have to go."
He could hear the tears in her voice, could almost see the raw pain in her eyes. Why did she have to go through this alone, again? He nodded his head, aware that she couldn't see, but aware that she would know. He wiped his had over his eyes, pushing away the wetness that was welling there.
Jack's voice pushed into her thoughts. "Michelle..." Then in a hushed tone, "The pardons only valid if you do this, you know that, right?"
Regaining her composure, she answered, "Then I guess I'll have to get it right." Her mind wanted her to cut off there, but she couldn't. "Thanks Jack, thank you so much."
Jack started to tell her that it wasn't him who had done this, but she hung up. He turned to Tony, not seeing the anger buried in his eyes, and shot him a worried smile. Now all they could do was wait.
As more time passed, the air of desperation grew until the room was thick with it. They'd been left alone in a room, Tony's eyes never quite meeting Jack's, and yet somehow hiding the anger he felt from him.
When the phone called, Jack got to it first, but put it on speaker. "Get hazmat outside, shoot to kill." Her voice was thick with pain, she could barely speak. "I'm so sorry Tony, I am so..." Then the phone cut off.
Tony supposed he must have heard what she said, some part of him was aware that he was screaming her name. But mostly he felt nothing. She was gone?? That couldn't be right. She was going to save him, she promised. She'd told him she loved him. How could she do that if she was gone?
Jack saw Tony fall to bits in front off him. He was screaming her name, his eyes had a strange, glazed look. He ought to do something, help Tony. But he couldn't. Did none of this mean anything? After all they'd been through, all that they had had to pay, she was just gone. Somewhere, a voice told him that she might be alive, it might have been nothing. He wanted to believe it, he wanted to believe it so much. But he knew Michelle. What she had said, it could only mean one thing, he'd heard the pain in her voice, the breathlessness. He didn't want to think about what could have been done to her, what might still be happening to her. But he knew that she didn't think she was coming out of this alive. And if she couldn't find a way out, then she would die.