Author's note:

Hi and thanks to all for reading and especially to those who reviewed.

A couple of notes to specific reviewers:
Unthinkable - I'm really flattered that you're reading this knowing that you don't normally read Jack/Kate fanfics. I hope you're not disappointed.

Chris – You're probably right, 2 yrs is probably a light sentence and I considered 5yrs. My thought was that, unlike someone like Marie Warner who believed in the terrorists' cause and aided them willingly, Tony was only acting to save his wife and there were plenty of mitigating circumstances (lack of sleep, effects of anesthesia, trauma of being shot). I thought a good lawyer would exploit those.

Also, if you readers think that this should be rated "R" rather than "PG- 13" for sexual content, let me know. A reviewer of my Tony/Michelle fiction (Escape to Argentina) took exception to my PG-13 rating and even thought it had too much sex to be rated "R". I really scrutinize the sex scenes before I post and thought that, although somewhat explicit, they are tasteful. I don't want to offend anyone. Please give me feedback.

Now back to the story...

Chapter 5: Coffee and Revelations

Two months later

"Oooh, Tony, look," Michelle called behind her excitedly, "there's an antique shop across the street!" She grabbed his hand, checked the traffic and, finding it clear, trotted across the street with Tony in tow.

"Michelle, I'm looking in the..." he started as she pulled his hand. Then he smiled and followed her. When Michelle is shopping, there is no stopping her, he thought. It was a rainy October day and but Michelle's eyes sparkled as she splashed through a puddle. Their lives had changed drastically in the last two months and they had never been happier.

Marcus Youngwood arranged a plea agreement sweeter than anyone could have dreamed. As they had discussed, Tony pled guilty to some of the lesser charges in exchange for the government dropping the treason charges. A two year prison term had been agreed upon. He would also lose his pension and not be able to work for any state or federal agency again. Tony was to report to a federal detention facility in Colorado just after the first of the year. This all changed when Jack, who read about the plea agreement in the newspaper, insisted on contacting Brad Hammond from the drug rehab center. It was against all of their rules, but Jack persuaded the counselors that this was urgent. He needed to talk to his boss. A call was put through to Hammond. He heard Jack out and was reluctant at first, but finally agreed to meet with the federal prosecutor and the judge and offer a suggestion.

Putting Almeida in prison was a waste of taxpayer resources, Hammond told them (although he was basically parroting Jack). Almeida was talented and they could use that to their advantage. Tony had virtually written the book on running tactical during a crisis. He had even run tactical for Jack and Chase after he had been arrested when they were tracking down the final vial of virus. He was known throughout the agency for his ability to coordinate responding teams, local law enforcement, satellite feeds, and computer images and keep it all running smoothly. He taught a class to incoming agents that had become a favorite with all new agents. Why waste his time in prison? Why not have him literally write the manual? They could provide him with space and a computer. He would not get a copy or retain any rights to the publication. It would be an internal government document that would be worth more to them than his spending 18 months in prison. It would likely become the model from which all federal law enforcement agents were trained. It could also serve as punishment, in that Tony could in no way profit from it. He would have to agree not to write any similar document for other agencies. This was a win-win scenario for everyone.

The prosecutor was less than thrilled, but the judge liked the idea. He discussed it with some of his colleagues and decided that he would agree to it and got the prosecutor to do so as well. Tony felt like a kid at Christmas. Everything was working out so much better than he expected. He and Michelle had gotten their marriage back on track. Now all he had to do was write this manual (Which was something he had had in the back of his mind for years and Jack knew it.) and he was free.

While Tony was busy writing the manual, he and Michelle found some free time to start looking for new jobs. Tony's arrest had generated a lot of publicity nationwide. So had this very unusual plea bargain, which had been referred to in the media as 'groundbreaking' and 'creative'. Several companies contacted Tony with job offers. The offer that most interested him was with a software company in Seattle. With the salary they were offering, Michelle could afford to start the business she had always wanted. This would allow her the flexibility to work from home when they had children.

They moved to Seattle as soon as Tony finished work on the manual. It was a bittersweet move. All of their family and friends lived in LA and they would miss them. But at the same time, moving to Seattle allowed them to really start over and put the pain of all that had happened to them at CTU in the past. It had only been two months since the bioterrorist attack and the memory was still vivid for both of them.

Now here they were spending a Saturday exploring their new city. They held hands and kissed between rain drops and window shopped in a trendy new shopping district. "How about this," Michelle said as she ducked under an awning to get out of the rain and looked into the window of the maternity store next to the antique shop. "Maybe when I'm pregnant, I can shop here."

"Only if the baby's father is rich." Tony teased her.

"Check out that designer suit" she said "it's only $970! Aren't I worth that?" She giggled. She stood on tiptoe to bring her face close to his.

"Honey, you're worth every penny of it. We just can't afford it." He smiled as he kissed the tip of her nose. Tony turned to look at the next store when he saw a woman stepping out of the maternity shop into the rain. She stopped for a second to put up an umbrella while struggling to manage two large shopping bags. "Michelle, isn't that Kate Warner?" Tony said.

Michelle looked up quickly. "Where?" she asked as she scanned the street. "What would Kate be doing here?"

Tony dropped her hand and walked toward the woman who had turned and was now walking toward them but had not seen them. "Kate?" Tony said. It took Michelle a second to catch up.

Kate was startled to hear her name. She had only been in Seattle for two months and didn't know many people. "Tony! Michelle! It's good to see you." They exchanged quick hugs. "What are you doing in Seattle?" Kate asked smiling. She was wearing a long bulky rain slicker, but at 28 weeks, there was no denying that she was pregnant.

"We live here now." Tony answered. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, too. I manage the Seattle office for Warner Enterprises." Kate could see that both Tony's and Michelle's eyes had dropped to her swollen abdomen. She looked away a bit self conscious. "Hey, there is a nice, dry coffee bar on the next block. Let's go get some coffee." Tony reached over and took her bags from her. As they walked they talked about Tony's plea agreement.

"I told you Marcus wouldn't let you down. I'm happy it turned out so well." Kate said.

"We tried to call you to thank you after Marc negotiated the plea agreement, but you didn't answer." Michelle told her. "Did you get the message? Tony talked to your Dad, but he didn't say anything about you."

"I got your message." She said quietly not looking at either of them as they walked. "When I decided to leave Los Angeles, I guess I wanted to leave everything behind. That meant I had to leave my friends behind, too. Maybe that wasn't fair to people, but it seemed right for me at the time."

They reached the coffee bar and quickly found an empty table in a quiet corner. Tony placed the orders at the counter while Kate and Michelle stripped off dripping raincoats and hung them on hooks near the table.

It wasn't until Kate's raincoat was off that Michelle realized just how far advanced the pregnancy was. Based on a quick calculation of when Kate would have gotten pregnant, Michelle assumed the baby belonged to Jack, but wasn't sure. They sat down at the table both feeling the awkward silence. Michelle finally broke the ice. "Kate, I had no idea you were pregnant. I'm sorry if I stared. I'm just so surprised."

Tony arrived just then with the coffees on a tray. "Decaf café au lait" he announced as he set a tall cup in front of Kate. "Double mocha latte with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle" he said setting a cup in front of Michelle, "and black coffee." He said as he set the final cup down. He finished with a slight smirk as if to say that men don't drink sissy coffee drinks. He sat down as the conversation continued.

"You think you were surprised." Kate said shaking her head. "How do you think I felt?"

"So this wasn't planned?" Michelle asked. She took a sip of her latte and winced as it burned her upper lip.

"Are you kidding? Absolutely not!"

"Lots of professional women have babies by themselves. It's not uncommon, Kate."

"Well, that wasn't my plan." Kate stopped to take a sip from her cup. She sighed, "I thought we'd get married some day, have a family. We lived together for two and a half years and the whole time I made sure I didn't get pregnant. I wanted to wait until we were ready to take that step." She shook her head and looked away. Michelle could tell how much it hurt to tell them the story, so she reached over and took Kate's hand.

Kate tried to blink away tears, but they tumbled down her face instead. Tony leaned toward her "Kate, you don't have to tell us any of this."

"He's right, Kate. Don't upset yourself." Michelle agreed.

Kate composed herself but looked down at her coffee as she continued. "Things weren't good between Jack and me for a while. We had pretty much stopped sleeping together and when we did, he slept like he was in a coma. It was almost like he was drugged." She didn't see Tony and Michelle exchange knowing glances. "He didn't even touch me. I got so pissed off that I stopped taking the pill. Then Jack came home one night. I knew he was there to tell me he was leaving. I could see it in his eyes. But he looked so damn good and I wanted him so much..." she shook her head. "The next thing I knew we were in bed. I don't know what I was thinking. A few weeks later, I was spending every morning in the bathroom puking my guts up and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. It finally occurred to me that I was pregnant."

"What did Jack say when you told him?" Michelle asked as she squeezed Kate's hand.

Kate took a drink from her coffee without answering. The silence between them was deafening.

"Kate, does Jack know about this baby?" Tony asked. "Jack was at our going away party a couple of weeks ago. I know he keeps his personal life pretty quiet, but I think he would have told us that he was going to be a father and that you were living in Seattle."

Kate took a breath and looked directly at Tony. "No, Tony, Jack doesn't know. And I hope I can count on you two to keep it that way."

"Kate, you're carrying his child. He deserves to know." Tony said, still shocked that Kate would keep the pregnancy a secret from Jack.

"Why? So he can have a picture of the baby on his desk while he misses every important milestone in the child's life like he did Kim's. I'm not going to spend my life explaining why daddy didn't make it to the Little League game or the school play or the awards ceremony. I don't want to hear Jack's lame excuses about how he just couldn't get away or it would blow his cover if he left at that particular time. I lived with that for two and a half years and I won't subject my child to a lifetime of it."

"You say 'my child' like you conceived the baby by yourself, Kate." Tony said raising his voice slightly. "That baby is only half yours. The other half of the DNA belongs to Jack and he has a right to know about this."

"Jack gave up his rights seven months ago when he deposited that DNA and then walked out on me." Kate said sounding bitter for the first time.

Tony sighed and decided it was time Kate knew the truth about Jack's undercover assignment at the time he left her. "What Jack did to you was wrong. I'm not going to defend him, but the last few months have been hard for him."

"Hard for him!" Kate exclaimed. "Hard for him! How dare you, Tony? And you think they've been a picnic for me?"

Michelle flashed a look at Tony that told him to let her take over. "Kate," Michelle started in a far gentler tone that the one Tony was using, "that wasn't what Tony meant. What he's trying to tell you is that while Jack was working undercover for the last year, he was infiltrating a drug cartel in Mexico. In order to keep his cover, he developed a heroin addiction. When you say he 'slept like he was drugged', he probably was. He was probably coming down from the heroin." She paused. "Kate, I think a lot of Jack's behavior in the last year is explainable. He finished drug rehab a few weeks ago. He's really doing well. He looks better than he's looked in years. He's back at work. I think you should call him. I really think he would want to know."

Kate was obviously taken aback by this news. She shook her head. "I had no idea he was addicted to heroin. That explains a lot, but if he's back at CTU, nothing will change. CTU is his love; everyone else has to be satisfied to be a lower priority for Jack. I can't accept that for myself and I won't accept it for the baby."

Michelle and Tony knew they weren't going to change Kate's mind at this point, so neither of them replied. The three of them fell silent, each of them drinking coffee that had become unpleasantly cool while they talked.

"How's Kim doing?" Kate asked changing the subject.

"She seems to be doing well. Did you know that she was dating Chase?" Michelle answered.

Kate smiled. "No, when did that start? More importantly, how did Jack take it?"

"Oh, about as badly as you would have expected." Tony said with a dry laugh.

"He's fine with it now." Michelle interjected. "Actually, they are living together. Did you hear what happened to Chase?" Michelle asked, her voice a bit more serious now.

"No, is he okay?"

Tony explained how Jack had been forced to cut off Chase's hand in order to prevent the virus from being released. "He's doing well, though. He's going for physical therapy every day. Kim is living with his and helping him take care of his daughter." (Michelle broke in and explained about Angela.)

"The two of them seem very happy. He will never have full use of his hand, but apparently he'll have enough to get by. Chase should go back to work in another couple of months. He's transferring out of CTU to another department." Tony finished.

They talked a few minutes longer, exchanged phone numbers and addresses and then walked back to their cars. The rain had slowed to a drizzle and they walked slowly while they talked. They arrived at Kate's car first. Tony put the bags in the trunk while Kate and Michelle discussed plans to get together soon. Michelle and Tony both encouraged Kate to call them if she needed anything.

As Kate got behind the wheel, she looked up at Tony. "I know you and Jack are friends and you feel a deep sense of responsibility to him after... after what happened to Teri, but I am begging you not to tell him about this. Please Tony, respect my wishes. Maybe I'll decide to tell him eventually, but I can't handle it emotionally right now."

"Kate, I still think you should tell him. You're right, I do feel a sense of responsibility toward Jack." He looked at the ground. "Actually, I'm not sure that's as much responsibility as it is guilt. But I won't tell him against your wishes. You and your father have been too good to me for me to betray you. If you hadn't arranged to have Marc defend me, I'm sure I'd be sitting in prison right now. I can't ever repay that. Jack won't hear about this from me unless you want me to tell him."