Tony made his way back to his office, he was just so relieved he would have the chance to spend time with Michelle tonight. He could take her dinner and there would be no interruptions, he decided he would tell her exactly how he felt. He knew he had no chance with her, but at least if he was honest she would understand why he had been such a bastard. It would also make her gain the confidence in herself back that he had so cruelly ripped away from her today.

He was in his office for barely a minute when Hammond came charging through the door. "I need you in the conference room now Tony, where is Michelle?"

"She is heading home to get ready to go to Arizona, why what's up?"

"We just got word from District that a couple of members of Paults group were spotted close to Summit this morning. We need to do the mission tonight while we know they are in the area, it's our best chance."

"Brad, Michelle was taken off the mission, I took her out myself."

"Well she is back on it. Direct from Division and you will be running the task from here, instead of district like planned."

"I need to be prepped better, I only know the outline of the case. Find someone else Brad, I don't want Michelle on this case."

"I don't have time to argue this, there is no one else. Julia has gone home sick, and there just isn't anyone else. Now get her back immediately, when you do, I want both of you to meet me in L15."

Tony knew there was no way Hammond was going to budge. He could not believe this was happening. This was even worse now then what they would have been before, they were rushing to set the case up in one day opposed to having the entire week as originally planned. Being unprepared for something like this was so dangerous. He felt physically sick picking up the phone to call Michelle. She answered it on the third ring.

"Dessler."

"Chelle, its Tony. I need you to turn around and come back to the office."

"Why?"

"You are back in play Chelle, and Arizona is off, you will be on the case tonight."

"I don't understand, why did you change your mind?"

"I didn't, Hammond is pulling rank on me. Julia is home sick and there is no one else. You could refuse to do it you know Chelle."

"God Tony, you really believe I'm not good enough for this, don't you? Even when I am the last resort you'd rather I wasn't doing it, therefore ruining the mission."

"It's not that Chelle. I don't want to see you hurt. I'm sure they could find someone else, I'll look into it."

"Don't bother, I'll be there in 10 minutes."

Michelle hung up. She had no idea how she felt about all this. On one hand she was glad she was back in play, but now she felt so nervous. After the fuss Tony has caused about her not doing it because she couldn't handle it she no longer believed in herself that she was capable. Tony was the best agent she knew, if he said she wasn't up for it then he was most probably right. She liked the idea of doing the mission and pulling it off successfully so she could show Tony she was a good agent. Today though, she very much doubted that would happen. Tony was right, she couldn't handle this kind of thing – she couldn't even handle a fight with him. If she failed it now after all of this, not only would she let everyone else down, but she could only imagine what Tony would think of her then.

Michelle went back to CTU and made her way to her station. She let Tony know she was here and he told her to meet him at L15. Michelle found Hammond, Alberta Green, Matthews and Tony all sitting around the desk when she walked in. She greeted everyone and took a seat. Matthews led the meeting.

"Michelle and Tony we do apologise for mucking you both around so much today, as you know it is the nature of the job. Now Michelle are you on board?"

Tony interrupted before Michelle could answer. "Sorry, can I please just have 2 minutes alone with Michelle?"

"Fine, we will go get a coffee, be done by the time we are back."

They all got up and vacated the room. Tony got out of his chair and sat on the desk almost in front of Michelle.

"Please Chelle, I am begging you, don't accept this."

"I have too Tony, they have no one else. If I let them down now, they will always hold it against me."

"You are probably right Chelle, it wouldn't go over well. But you are so much more important than this job. You said so yourself that I was your best friend, can't you just do this for me? You know me Chelle, I never make a fuss over anything unless I have a very good reason too. For me, would you do that for me?"

"How are they going to react? Will I be fired?"

Tony couldn't believe it, he might have actually got through to her. "Well I know they will give you a really rough time and you won't get that promotion. There is no way they would fire you though, I would never expect or ask you this Chelle if I thought it would jeopardise your job."

Michelle closed her eyes. She loved this guy too much, no matter how he felt about her she couldn't turn her own feelings off. He was right, he never fussed unless there was a very good reason too, if he was this adamant she couldn't do it, then she wouldn't.

"Fine Tony, I'll step down. It breaks my heart that you have such little confidence in me. This morning I woke up thinking I was the luckiest girl in the world because I had you in my life – that I admire and respect you so much and I thought you returned those feelings to me., you have no idea how happy that made me. Learning the truth of how you really feel has completely ripped me up inside. You were right though. I do believe and know now that I am not capable of this. Driving back here all I could think was that I wanted to do this so badly for just one reason.....and that was to have an opportunity to prove to you that I could be a good agent so maybe your opinion of me would rise a little. I've never gone against you Tony, so I guess there is no reason to start now."

Tony got off the table and kissed Michelle on her forehead. It surprised both of them, he had done it without thinking and it was the last thing she expected. Nothing like that had ever happened between them. "Chelle, you have no idea how much this means to me. You mean the world to me and if you will have dinner with me tonight to give me a chance to tell you how I really feel. I've been such a fool and as a result you totally believe all these horrible things that are just not true......"

Tony couldn't finish because the door opened and they all walked back in. After everyone took their seats again Matthews began where he had left off.

"Michelle you need to sign this form before we go any further."

Michelle felt so flushed, her legs had gone weak, her stomach had flipped and her hands were sweating – she was so nervous. "Ummm I can't sign those papers, I am very sorry but I can't do this mission."

You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Her 3 superiors looked at her in complete shock. Hammond stood up to talk.

"What exactly do you mean you can't do the mission?" He turned to Tony, "Do you have something to do with this Almeida?"

Michelle spoke up before Tony had a chance to answer. "No, Tony has nothing to do with this, it's me, I don't want to do it."

"Why Michelle? You were so excited about this when I approached you the first time around last week. What's happened?"

"Nothing sir, I don't believe I am capable to do this. I just can't, I am sorry but you will need to find someone else."

"It's not that easy Michelle, there is no one else. Tonight is the best chance we have. Being nervous is natural, but you can do this because you have been trained. This is one of our biggest cases Michelle, are you really willing to impair it because of this?"

Michelle looked at Tony, his face was expressionless and he had little beads of sweat on his forehead and he was rubbing the side of his face as he always does when he is nervous. She looked back at Hammond. "Sir, I am not going to do this mission, I'm sorry but I can't do it."

Hammond was scary enough when he was in a good mood but you wouldn't to be in a 5 block radius when he is pissed off. His face was going red, his fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were white. No one in the room had seen him look this angry. He didn't yell, he kept a very calm tone, but each word was clearly defined and you just new he was so serious about what he was saying.

"Michelle, you have disappointed me and you will let the entire team down. This is just not good enough and I refuse to work with such attitude at CTU. Our line of work is too important for someone to be unreliable and flimsy. Now I know this is your first assignment and you are frightened, it is a very hard first case to be given, I understand that and we will all support you as much as we can. Everyone gets nervous like this Michelle but you need to trust in yourself that you are more than capable. I am sorry to have to say this, but if you chose not to accept this mission, then we will terminate your position with CTU, effective immediately. I am going to ask you one last time, Are you on board?"

Michelle felt like she was going to pass out. She couldn't just lose her job like that, she had worked for years to get to where she is, how could she just give it all up? She looked at Tony, he nodded his head at her. He was telling her to do the mission, she felt a little relieved. "I apologise that I just freaked out there, you are right it is nerves. I am on board, I will do this mission."

"You made the right decision Michelle, you are a great asset to CTU and it would have been a shame to see you throw that away. It's ok to be nervous, Tony will get you prepared and then you will feel a little better."

Michelle nodded her head. The meeting lasted over 4 hours. They went over each detail in depth. Michelle would wear a camera that would be disguised as an earring and a tracking device in her shoe so that Tony would be able to follow her movements. It was too risky to have any other device on her body so a lot was reliant on Michelle looking after herself and back-up being able to be as close as possible the entire time. Michelle was shown Id's for the men she was on the look out for. She would pose as a prostitute, declining anyone that came near her unless it was a man for Paults group. Once in the car with the man she would advise that police were swarming the area doing massive busts on this kind of thing so it would be safer if they could go somewhere else besides his car. Hopefully he would take her to either his house or Paults, anywhere that could give Michelle a way of finding out where Pault was. Michelle would need to delay things as long as possible anyway she could giving herself time to get the answers she needed. Getting away before the man tried something on her was going to be the hardest part. Although no one said it out loud, everyone felt that she would be extremely lucky to get away unharmed.

Her measurements were taken and one of the running agents was sent out to find something suitable for Michelle to wear. After the meeting had finished Hammond asked Tony to prep Michelle and help her get organised. In other words he wanted Tony to calm Michelle down. They were to have dinner and then they suggested Michelle try and have a sleep before she had to go. CTU had a couple rooms with beds exactly for things like this, or for someone injured or sick. They would leave for Summit at 11pm. It was nearly 7pm. Tony ordered in some pizza and then led Michelle up to his office hoping they could have 25 minutes to chat before dinner was here and she was expected to get some sleep. Once in his office he offered Michelle the couch to sit on.

"I don't really know what to say Chelle."

"Doesn't matter, there is nothing to say."

"No, that's not what I meant. There is so much to say I don't know where to start."

"Well I don't have much to say. I just want this day to be over."

Tony wanted to go over and sit next to her on the couch but he wasn't sure if he should or not. He pulled up a chair and sat right in front a Michelle. "I'm really sorry for what happened with Hammond, I still can't believe he would have terminated you. I can't believe after everything today, you are still on this mission. I wanted for us to go to Arizona so much, I was looking forward to having lots of time with you and sorting everything out."

"We both know how this is going to go Tony. There is no point even bothering to work anything out. Lets just have dinner and then I'll sleep."

"Chelle, how can you even say that? We don't know how this is going to go. There is every reason for us to talk things out. Please Chelle."

"Tony you have spent all day telling me why I shouldn't do this mission. I know you think I am incompetent, that I won't be able to handle the consequences of what happens to me. So don't try for second to make me believe everything is going to be ok. I want to deal with all of this myself, you don't need to worry Tony, I know how you feel – I would never expect you or anyone to be a part of this."

Michelle was right, after everything he had said and done all day, he could never convince her things would be ok. "Chelle, I think you are a fantastic agent. You are excellent at your job. I didn't mean all that crap I said..."

Michelle cut him off, "No Tony, you were right. I cried with you, not just once, but many times today because we were fighting. If I can't even keep composed around you, I have no chance with these guys. Seriously, just forget it Tony, there is no point. Besides it was just Hammond that thinks I am nervous, I'm not – I am just fine."

"I really screwed up in so many ways today." Tony got off his chair and sat right next to Michelle on the couch. "How are you feeling now Chelle? Tell me."

Michelle turned her body slightly so she was facing Tony more than straight. "You really want to know?" Michelle began crying. Tony nodded his head and then rested his hand on her hand. "What if I can't get out of....you know....letting them have their way with me?" Tony squeezed her hand. "What do I do Tony? I'd feel so disgusted with myself, I can only imagine what guys would think about me. I mean it's not like I was attacked or something – I am willingly walking into this situation." As Michelle was speaking Tony was shaking his head and saying 'no'. He put his hand under her chin and lifted her head so he could see her face. He hated hearing Michelle speak like that. "What if I don't get the information I am meant too Tony? God.....I feel so lonely, I'm never going to get through this, am I?" Tony had tears rolling down his cheeks. He was nodding his head and saying 'yes'. He moved him self in closer to Michelle and wrapped an arm around her. "I don't want to let people down, but I am so scared.....I feel so lonely...."

Tony couldn't stand to hear Michelle anymore. He violently hated CTU and everything about it, he felt like punching Hammonds lights out. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried in front of someone else, it had probably been when he was a young child. He didn't know what to do, he put a finger up to her lips to have her stop talking, and it made her take a couple deep breaths. He didn't think his actions through, he just did it without even realising it. He grabbed Michelle's face and started kissing her desperately. Once he realised what he was doing, he was horrified with himself and went to pull away, but then it hit him that she was actually kissing him back. His heart started to race and his body felt weak. Kissing Michelle was even more amazing than he could have imagined. They were kissing really fast and they were both rough with each other. Tony heard himself groan, he wanted to just pick her up and take home. He would wrap her up and keep her safe.

Michelle couldn't believe what was happening. Tony was kissing her. Why the hell was he doing that? Nothing had been more obvious today than lots of reasons not to like her. Never had she kissed anyone so intensely. She could taste his salty tears and her chin and lips were getting scratched from his stubble – she loved it. She couldn't get enough of him so she kissed him harder. She felt him pushing her body down onto the couch so she was lying on her back and he was on top of her. They never broke the kiss and now Tony had covered her body with his. She felt the loneliness fade away. It filled the hole in her heart she was feeling. She didn't think it was possible, but she fell in love with him even more.

The intercom in Tony's office blasted, "Tony, pizza is here – everyone is waiting for you guys in the green room."

They both jumped up a million miles an hour. Michelle flattened her hair back down. The room was awkwardly silent. Michelle couldn't stand the silence. She knew Tony had just kissed her in the moment because he probably didn't know what else to do with her in such a blubbering mess.. More than anything in the world she wished he had kissed her for the same reasons she had kissed him back but she knew, especially after everything he had said today that, that was just not possible. He thought she was naive, selfish and basically useless as a field agent.......not exactly what he would want in a partner. She didn't want him to stress out, the last thing either of them needed now was to start fighting over this too.

"Ummm Tony......you don't need to say anything. I know it was just something that happened and that's all. Let's just go get dinner and then I'll get out of your hair and have a sleep, so we can both forget about it."

Tony came crashing back down to reality. A minute ago he was in heaven because he was finally holding the woman he loved in his arms. That wasn't something that just happened, that was full of chemistry and charged emotions – it couldn't possibly have been more passionate. He couldn't believe Michelle didn't feel any of that, to her it was just something that had happened. He didn't understand, just like that everything he had wanted and dreamed about for the last year was suddenly over. She obviously wasn't interested and he was just going to have to get use to it. He was angry, not only at Michelle, at everything. He couldn't even look at her as he responded, he put his head down. How could she be so blind as to not see how perfect they would be together? How could she hurt him so much by kissing him back if she didn't mean it?

"Whatever.......do whatever you have to do."

"Why are you like that Tony? "

"Like what Michelle?"

"You are being really short and abrupt with me. I mean I know you regret what just happened, but I told you I understood that – you don't need to worry."

"That is fine.....I'm just so glad you have got it all figured out Michelle, things are just great now!" He was being sarcastic, something he was very good at.

"Ok, obviously you are pissed at me for another thing – gee I am having trouble keeping up Tony. What is it now?"

"Maybe you could get off my case for one minute and have a think about it." Tony was straightening out his shirt and then he walked over to Michelle. "I am just so happy that what just happened would be so easy for you to forget and ignore. It makes me even more fucking happy that you look at all this as 'just something that happened.'"

"What the hell do you expect me to say Tony? What do you want from me? I just said what I thought you wanted to hear."

They were standing only a couple feet apart, both looking each other straight in the eye. Tony took another step in closer. "What I want is for you to say what you are really thinking, not what you think I want to hear."

Tony had pushed Michelle to her limit. "Fine Tony......I am thinking how your lips were perfect Tony, you were passionate and intense. Your mouth fit perfectly with mine, your tongue drove me crazy, even your tears tasted so good. I loved the feel of your stubble. I loved the way you held me in your arms and covered my body with yours taking away my loneliness, making me feel better than I could ever imagine. Are you happy now? I've spent the whole day in hell today Tony, and it feels all I have done is express my feelings to someone that keeps trampling all over them – so if you don't mind I am going to go and try and get some sleep." Michelle ran out of the door and down the stairs. Tony asked her to stay, but she completely ignored him and kept going.

Tony stood standing in shock. Her words replayed themselves over and over in his head. He couldn't believe it, she had actually loved the kiss for so many of the same reasons he did. It had been so charged with chemistry and passion because they were both taking so much from it. He didn't have time to stand here dumbstruck, he had to find Michelle and tell her everything.

He bumped into Matthews on the way down and he asked Tony to come to tech 1. Tony asked if it could wait for a few minutes but Matthews stressed it was important and he needed Tony now. In tech 1 they were checking and testing the camera and tracking device Michelle would wear. Tony needed to decide which channels he wanted each device to come through. He also needed to advise tactical on their placements around the area in co-ordination with local police. He asked for files on every single person associated with Pault to be pulled up and put on the monitors around the room. He allocated 3 members of his team to data from the central station. They would be responsible for providing Tony with as much information as possible on any person Michelle had dealings with.

Tony had never wanted a mission to run more smoothly, he spent close to 2 hours co-coordinating the entire set up leaving no stone un turned. He had back-up take position at least 50 yards in closer than he would normally do, but it helped ease him a little knowing they could help Michelle those few moments earlier if need be. By the time he had finished it was just after 10pm. They would need to wake Michelle at 10:30 to have her get ready and fitted with both devices. Once again he still hadn't been able to talk to her. As much as he couldn't admit it to himself, he was scared to death if he didn't make things right with Michelle he might never have a chance again. He didn't have time to go into it all with her, but he had to do something.

He walked into the room she was sleeping in. It was still fairly light in the room as it had windows that went straight into the office. Michelle was lying on her side facing the wall. He closed the door which made Michelle lift her head and take a quick look at him. Tony could see that she had obviously been laying there crying. She put her head back down facing the wall and spoke to him softly between sobs.

"Tony, I'm begging you, please don't start up with me. I can't handle it now – I need to just be able think about what is going to happen tonight."

As much as Tony wanted to tell her everything, he knew that wasn't fair. Michelle was about to go on a very important and dangerous mission and it was his responsibility to help her, he was also suppose to have calmed her down and prepped her – he had done neither.

He walked quietly to the bed and sat on the edge of it, he then lay down on his side behind her and pulled her body into his. She didn't try and resist him, her body felt weak and limp in his arms. He used his hand to brush the hair off her neck and then he wrapped his arm around her waist. He whispered into her ear.

"Chelle, hey....hey, it's ok. You are going to be ok."

Her voice was so quiet in response he had to bring himself even closer to hear what she was saying. "I am scared....I know I shouldn't be because it's my job, but I am so scared Tony."

He held her tighter. "I know....I am scared too Michelle, that's why I have been acting so crazy. I'm not going to let anything happen to you though. You are going to do just great, I know you will. I'll be watching everything.....you can do this Chelle."

She didn't respond, she just shut her eyes tight and tried to enjoy how safe and warm she felt right now. She felt the stubble on Tony's chin brush over her bare neck. The roughness was soon replaced by the softness of his lips. He so tenderly kissed her neck. She never wanted this moment to end, she used each kiss he offered as if it was a little bit of strength to help her pull herself together. They lay in silence for 15 minutes, Tony just held her as close and tightly as possible. Every few minutes he would sweetly kiss the back of her neck.

Just after 10:30 Tony whispered into her ear. "Chelle, it's time to go." She nodded her head and started to sit up, he helped her and they both made their way to the door. Michelle opened it, but Tony put his hand on it and pushed it closed again. He cornered her up against the wall and stood just inches from her. "You are so precious.....you need to know how precious you are to me." They stared intently at each other. Tony wanted to say more, but it wasn't the time or place and he wanted to respect her when she asked him not to start it all up with her. Michelle felt touched by his words, but was completely unwilling to offer any more of herself to Tony. She had revealed herself to him today and been so hurt in return. Having his arms around her for the last 15 minutes had felt perfect, but considering what was just about to happen she wasn't going to read into it too much. After all, even though they had fought today, they were still friends and he was probably just trying to comfort her.

Tony was disappointed that she didn't really seem to accept what he had said. He knew he couldn't expect much, but that didn't stop his heart begging for more. He led Michelle to tech 1 and took her through all the procedures that had been set up. After that was done, Michelle was given the outfit she needed to change into. Tony explained that they would be able to see everything she was facing, but they wouldn't be able to hear anything. If she needed back-up, all she had to do was hold the earring tight in her hand for 10 seconds which would block their view giving them the signal she needed help. They would always know exactly where she was because of the tracking device in her shoe. They went over the Id's of the 6 men they had on file again, and then it was time for Michelle to get changed.

Michelle stood staring at herself in the mirror. It just didn't look like her in the reflection. Her skirt was short and so tight, her top was revealing and just about non-existent. She felt disgusting dressed like that and she was completely embarrassed for anyone in the office to see her like this, especially Tony. After she had heard her name being called for the 4th time she opened the door and walked out. Everyone stopped and stared. Most of her co-workers knew she was feeling nervous and so to try and lighten the mood they all started to give her a wolf whistle. Michelle managed to give them all a little smile back. She searched the room for Tony, her eyes spotted him at the back of the room, and she could tell he wasn't happy. She walked right up to him. "I guess I'm ready Tony."

He took his jacket off and handed it to her, "put this on." She hadn't even left the building yet and he was already so uptight. He couldn't stand having to look at her like this. She had the most stunning body and they outfit they had chosen for her was far too revealing for his liking. He knew even just the other guys in the office were gawking at her. The reality of what she was about to have to go do was sinking in at a terrifying rate. He felt jealous and protective of her. He didn't want anyone else seeing her like this. He shoved the jacket back at her, "Put it on Michelle." He hadn't even realised he had raised his voice. Matthews came over and stood next to him.

"What the hell is wrong with you Tony?"

"I just....I mean....surely there is something else she can wear that gets the point across but isn't.....you know...like this!"

"Tony, she is supposed to be a prostitute – she is going to have to look like one too."

"I understand that Matthews, but it doesn't need to be to this extent – every guy in the whole damn neighbourhood is going to be cracking on to her like this."

Matthews's cell rang and he turned around to answer it leaving Michelle and Tony. Michelle tried to keep her voice down so the rest of the office didn't hear every word they were saying.

"What are you doing Tony? Don't make this worse than it already is."

Tony stepped closer and kept his voice low as well. "I just don't want every guy and their dog seeing you like that, it's too much."

"Well it is your team that picked it out for me. Do you really think I want to be seen like this? I feel sick just knowing Hammond and Matthews have seen me like this."

"Yeah but..."

Michelle cut him off. "What are you doing Tony? I'm not going to argue with you about this. You think you have a bloody problem with what I am wearing how the hell do you think I feel? If you have something else for me to wear, then great but if you don't stop making this harder on me then it has to be."

Tony took Michelle's hand. "Ok, I am sorry.....it's just I care for you so much and I'm hating this, I'm hating every second of this and you haven't even left yet."

Michelle squeezed his hand. She wasn't use to seeing Tony so agitated, she could see how much all of this was really getting to him. They stood like this for a minute or so until Matthews was back from his call.

Tony knew it was time to get the mission started. He sent everyone to their stations, phoned in placement to back up and then turned to Michelle. "Are you ready? TJ is just outside to take you to your drop off."

"I'm as ready as I'll be."

Tony didn't care who saw him, he had to hug Michelle goodbye. He held her tight and whispered in her ear. "Take care of you.....I'm here for you."

"Thanks, I'll see you soon......hopefully."

With that she was gone out the door. Tony headed to his station, 'hopefully, hopefully, hopefully – kept going round and round his head. Her choice of words left him feeling sick.

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