The ride out to the summit didn't take nearly long enough for Michelle. She sat next to TJ in the passenger seat. She hadn't known TJ for long as he had only started at CTU within the last month. When they hit the drop off point, TJ offered her his best wishes and she gave him an unsure smile before she jumped out.

Michelle surveyed her surroundings. The street was close to empty apart from a few wondering drunks. She had never felt more out of her comfort zone. It took her a moment to remember that everyone at CTU was seeing everything she did and so far she hadn't even taken more than 5 steps. She started making her way down the sidewalk until she found what she felt was a suitable position to set up camp.

Tony was glued to his monitor, there was nothing much to see yet but he couldn't manage to peel his eyes away for a second. He had one of his staff bring him the folders from his desk so he could try and get some work done while they waited. On top of the folders that were bought to him was the card from Michelle. He allowed his eyes to leave the screen to read the card 3 times. He knew it by heart now, yet it meant so much more seeing it in her hand writing.

Michelle's legs were killing her and she was starting to freeze. She checked her watch for the 20th time, it was nearly 2am. She wondered how long they were going to keep her out there waiting. She had been approached by 3 men, none of them were from the files at CTU so she had just frogged them off. She didn't even feel very nervous anymore because it was starting to look like she wasn't going to have to deal with this tonight. She could feel her eyes starting to sting from tiredness.

At 2:45am a short stocky man started to head Michelle's way. She could feel her stomach start to get butterflies and all of a sudden she felt wide awake again. The closer he got the more Michelle could make out his facial features and she was completely sure he was one of the men she was waiting for. She turned so she was facing him completely so that CTU would be able to see who it was. She was sure he was known as Joe, he had a lengthy rap sheet for burglaries and assaulting his ex wife. She took some deep breaths and tried to keep herself calm. He walked directly up to her and was very obvious as he looked her up and down.

"My car is around the corner, care to join me?"

This is it Michelle thought to herself. "Sure."

He led her around the corner to a dark green jaguar, Michelle made sure that the camera would be able to get his license plate number. He opened the door for her and gruffly told her to get in. Once he was in himself he started the car up and began to drive.

"I know a quiet place to go, not far from here."

"You know this area has been swarming with cops lately, 3 of my girls have been busted this week already."

"That's the last shit I need right now. How long have you got?"

"I am free for as long as you want me to be." Michelle felt sick speaking to him like this. He repulsed her and the thought of him touching her made her skin crawl. She prayed back-up was able to follow her position because she now had no idea where they were.

Tony's heart was racing. Michelle was in the car with Joe and as far as they knew, Joe was Dale's wing man. He had the local police pass Joe's van twice at different points to back up what Michelle would have said and scare him into taking her somewhere private – hopefully his house.

Joe answered his cell phone, it was Dale on the other end. Michelle had no idea who he was talking to but listened intently to pick up as much information as he could.

"7 is fine with me, did he say who he will be with?..........so are you going to take Sarah with you?............Thank God you finally got rid of her, you could have so much better.........nah, it's way better if you have a partner too – it will make it less awkward........well I just picked up a slut from the Summit I'm sure she would scrub up fine.......ok, see you in 15."

Dale was going to be meeting with a dealer from Columbia for dinner the next night. This deal was everything to him right now. It would pay his way into a highly guarded rebellious group that operated out of South America. Once he was in with them he would really be able to take care of certain government groups that had so seriously wronged him. He had disposed of Sarah just this morning as she had become too annoying. The man he was meeting, Santiago, was bringing his wife and Dale new it would be awkward if he didn't have a partner. He needed to find someone he could pass off as his partner

Joe turned to Michelle and checked her out again. She was gorgeous and he knew Dale would agree. She would do just fine to pose as his girlfriend at this dinner, they would just offer her some money to keep quiet and if she became a problem he would just take her out. Joe would be sitting at another table as back-up for Dale if he needed.

Michelle knew from Joe's end of the conversation that he was going to meet with someone and maybe use her for something. She tried to learn more, "where are we going?"

Joe didn't even take his eyes off the road as he smacked Michelle across the side of her head. "Shut up, you don't speak unless I ask you too."

Michelle slid down into the seat. Her face was throbbing and a severe headache instantly set in. She hadn't even seen that coming, it was like he snapped. She already felt like she was in over her head, she cursed herself for ever even showing an interest in Field Ops. She felt hopeful the person on the other end of the phone had been Dale, if it was then the mission may end up being very successful, on the other side she almost hoped it wasn't Dale because then she really would be in trouble and probably very lucky to survive through what they had planned.

Tony slammed his fist into the desk. He had seen his hand fly across the camera and it was obvious Joe had hit Michelle. This guy was already being rough with her before anything had even happened. He knew this whole situation was too dangerous in the first place and should never have even been put together. Having someone pose as a hooker immediately put their life on the line. People like Dale Pault would never think twice about disposing of some prostitute. Hammond and Matthews were just so gun ho to bring this guy down that they were willing to risk anything, even Michelle.

Finally Joe pulled the car into a driveway. Michelle instantly recognised Dale Pault waiting at the front door. She couldn't believe she was already in his presence, just 25 minutes after being picked up by Joe. Joe told her to get out of the car, and she followed him up to the door. Dale looked her up and down but didn't say a word. The 3 of them walked into the house and sat in what looked like the lounge or living room. The house was amazing, very modern and Michelle figured it would have to be worth a couple million at least. Dale finally talked to her.

"Stand-up......turn around." Michelle felt like she was worthless as she turned around and stood in front of Dale and Joe so they could check her out. Dale seemed happy with what he saw.

"You got anything decent to wear?"

"Yeah."

"You will accompany me on a business dinner tomorrow night. I'll pay you well, I just want you to shut your trap unless someone asks you a question....think you can do that?"

"Yes sir. Who are we going to dinner with?"

"That doesn't concern you, that better be the last question you ask."

"I'm sorry, I understand."

Michelle knew she had to do everything to stay on the good side of Dale and Joe. The way they acted made her think about Tony. Tony was the sweetest most amazing guy she had ever met. So different from these two. She knew Tony cared deeply for her, but she was still unsure if he really wanted them to be more than friends. He had been more affectionate with her than he had ever been before, but he had also been angry with her and they had fought with each other all day. He was so special. They had never even had an argument before today. She missed him so much, she wished she was back on the bed with him holding her and kissing her tenderly on her neck.

They had started to discuss what they were going to do with Michelle now and until tomorrow night. They had to let her go home so she could make herself presentable. Even though Joe had picked her up to have his way with her, now that Dale was using her he didn't know how Dale would react – he was sure Dale already thought of the hooker as his own. They decided to let her leave now and have her come back at 5 the next day. Dale walked over to Michelle.

"It's time for you to leave, we will pick you up from the same place Joe met you tonight at 5pm tomorrow. You are not going to let me down with this are you?"

"No, I'll be there at 5pm, you can count on me."

Dale kept getting closer and closer to Michelle and she kept walking backwards until she ended up backed up against a wall. He was a very attractive man but his personality made him so ugly. The alcohol on his breath was overwhelming. He roughly put his hand on her chin and lifted her head so that she had to look at him.

"You certainly are my type of woman." He pushed her head back into the wall with his hand on her chin. It hurt like hell and she felt her entire body tense up, she felt petrified of what was coming.

Everybody at CTU gathered around the monitors to have a good look at Dale. A few of the women commented on how good looking he was, which made Tony cringe. He looked into Dale's eyes as he stared at his Michelle. He knew Dale was about to kiss her, he held his breath as he watched Dale move in and began to kiss Michelle. Unaware of Tony's feelings for Michelle his co-workers tried to lighten up the mood a little by joking that if Michelle had to be kissing someone undercover at least it was with such a handsome guy. Tony was jealous. Watching Dale still continuing to kiss Michelle and listening to the girls next to him talk about how attractive this guy was, Tony was so close to throwing the monitor across the room.

Dale ran his hands roughly across Michelle's chest. "Get on your knees."

Michelle couldn't go through with this. Just having to kiss him made her want to vomit. Her brain was trying to think of a way out of the situation but it came up with nothing. She wondered what the right thing to do in this situation was. Should she defend herself and then flee or should she give him what he wanted? Michelle felt disappointed with herself for not knowing what CTU would want her to do. She hoped she wasn't disappointing Tony.

Dale became frustrated that Michelle had ignored what he had said. "Are you deaf? I said get on your knees."

Michelle's body was frozen, she continued to stand there, she was still deciding what she was going to do. She was more than competent to defend herself in a fight. She had done many courses with CTU and was a skilled fighter. The problem was, she had no idea if he knew how to fight too. What if he had a weapon? He was so much bigger than her that if he was half way decent, he could probably beat Michelle with his size and power.

He wrapped his hands around her neck and bought his face in so it was just inches from hers. "I wouldn't disobey me if I were you, I don't take kindly to people not doing as they are told." He took her hands off her neck and Michelle gasped for air and coughed. Her body was so weak. He picked her up and threw her to the ground. Before Michelle even realised what was happening he had picked her up by her shoulders and forced her onto her knees.

He started to undo his belt when he was interrupted by his phone. He took it from his back pocket and answered the call. Michelle was mustering up every bit of strength she had to keep composed.

The mood at CTU had changed dramatically. Now the women were quietly crying for Michelle. It made each of them wonder how they would be coping if they were in Michelle's position. The focus was going in and out which meant Michelle must be swaying trying to keep herself up. Slowly the view moved further and further down Dale's leg as she was slowly collapsing. Dale's hand shot down and picked Michelle's body up by her collar. He had obviously made her get back on her knees. Nothing happened then, they figured he must still be on his phone.

Tony yelled at Hammond who was on the other side of the office, everyone stopped to watch and listen. "Do you see what is happening to Michelle? I told you this would happen. What the hell are we going to do? I am going to send in back-up now..."

"Don't Tony, we have never gotten this close to Pault before, and we are not ruining it now."

"What the hell about Michelle? We have to help her."

All the staff at CTU watched as Tony lost his cool. None of them had ever seen Tony so uptight and tense. It became obvious very quickly that Tony's feelings for Michelle were not just that of a co-worker

"Tony calm down, Michelle is a good agent she can look after herself."

"This is wrong – we are compromising Michelle to get Pault, there are other ways we could do that. Michelle is going to do anything to make this successful – you know that because it is her first field op. She doesn't deserve this, everyone here knows that."

"Tony, Michelle understood the risks when she agreed to the assignment...."

"Like you gave her a fucking choice Hammond, it was either the task or her job..."

Hammond took a few steps towards Tony and cut him off, he pointed his finger at him as he spoke. "Watch yourself Tony. I suggest you put your personal feelings for Michelle aside."

Tony kicked the chair as hard as he could sending it sliding across the floor.

Hammond felt sorry for Tony, he really respected him and his work ethics made him irreplaceable – he was the best in his field. After Nina, Tony had been so publicly ashamed and devastated he wondered if Tony would ever trust again. That was until Michelle had come onto the picture. They hit it off immediately and the chemistry between them was electric, yet as far as anyone knew Tony and Michelle had never taken their friendship to the next level. Watching Tony's reaction now though, he could see how deeply he must feel for her. Tony had never had trouble controlling his emotions at work. "Tony, are you ok to keep running tactical?"

"I am fine Brad, I am in charge of this mission." Tony went and picked up the chair returning it to it's original position.

Tony knew he had made a scene in front of everyone, he apologised for getting upset and then asked everyone to get back to work. He then called back-up and asked them to get as close to the house as possible.

On the monitor he could see Pault back away from Michelle and then disappear from the shot.

Dale was still talking to Santiago, he asked him to hold on for one moment as he told Michelle to get out and make sure she was there at 5pm. Again he stressed he would make it worth her while financially.

Michelle had never felt more relieved in her life. She couldn't believe her luck, she picked herself up and bolted out the front door before he had a chance to change his mind. She ran to the end of the street, she hoped someone would be here really soon to pick her up.

Tony had someone get to Michelle within 3 minutes. He felt like a load of bricks had been taken of his shoulders. She was battered up but at least she was in one piece and she was safe now, no more harm could come to her. Michelle didn't say a word during the ride back to CTU, she couldn't think straight and she knew as soon as she opened her mouth she would lose it and begin to cry.

Tony went down to the garage to meet Michelle as they arrived. Matthews and Hammond joined him much to Tony's disappointment. He wanted to be able to scoop her up in his arms but he couldn't with Matthews there now. They opened the door for her and Tony took her hand to help her out of the car. Michelle's heart skipped a beat when she saw Tony, she needed him so badly to hold her and make her feel important again. Matthews and Hammond congratulated Michelle for her work and promoted her on the spot. As of next week she would be taking over Leon's job. Michelle nodded her head and very quietly said thank-you.

Matthew's continued as they made their way back inside. "Tony will take you to medical Michelle. We will then need to go through what happened and what was said while it is still fresh in your mind."

Michelle kept her head down as she walked through the main floor, she could feel everyone's eyes on her. Just about everybody congratulated her and Michelle thanked each person and offered a small smile. Tony put his arm around Michelle and helped her up the stairs. They really hadn't said a word to each other yet, neither one of them had a clue what to say. The doctor wasn't there yet, he had been called in from home and would possibly be another 10 minutes or so. He closed the door and they were left alone in a room.

They fell straight into each other's arms. She held on to him as tight as she possibly could. She still needed to be closer to him, she bought both her arms to his chest and then pushed her body into his. Tony could tell she needed more so he tightened his hold on her, "I've got you, I've got you." She pulled back and they looked into each other's eyes, at the same time they desperately kissed each other. It was rough and intense. His hands moved to her cheeks so he could guide her face where he wanted it. He sucked on her bottom lip and forced his tongue into her mouth. She grabbed onto his neck and tried to pull him in even closer to her. He took his hands off her cheeks and moved them to her lower body and started to lift her up. As he pulled her up and into his body she wrapped her legs around his waist. Their lips didn't part for a second and Michelle put her hands around his neck and ran them through his hair. He was still holding Michelle as he walked the few steps to the bed. It was perfect height for him to put her down on it without them having to change positions. Now that his hands were free he was able to wrap his around her back again. As they both continually groaned and sighed, combined with their lips smacking against each other's as they tilted their heads from side to side they were very loud.

Eventually they pulled their lips apart to catch their breath. In between pants Tony asked, "Are you ok? How are you feeling?"

Michelle didn't know how to answer that. "I'm fine." Slipped out of her mouth without any thought.

He looked at her in shock. "Your fine? How can you be fine? I am NOT fine Michelle."

"What are you thinking Tony?"

He had a hand on each arm and he pulled back so he was arms length away. "Are you kidding me? I've been a mess, so upset and so furious."

"Furious?"

"Michelle, I just had to stand back and watch while you kissed another man, whilst hearing how attractive he is...."

"WHAT?? I didn't kiss him out of choice, and I certainly never ever said he was attractive." Michelle could not believe Tony was so angry that she had kissed him.

"Whether it was out of choice or not, you still kissed him, and I still had to watch that. That was the last thing I needed. I know you didn't say that, it was the girls here that were saying that if you had to be kissing someone like this undercover at least you got to kiss this guy who was so attractive."

Michelle was completely shocked by Tony. After everything she had just been through, he was going to throw Dale kissing her in her face. "It was the last thing you needed???" She just couldn't believe him. She pulled out of his grip, got off the bed and distanced herself from him.

"Let me get this straight, I'm dressed as a freaking hooker in some house I don't even know where with two very dangerous strangers. One of them nearly strangles me, smashes my head into the wall, pushes me around, sticks his tongue down my throat and then forces me onto my knees, if he hadn't got that phone call you know exactly what I was in for – and while all this is happening you guys are watching, commenting on how good looking this guy is, all the while you are getting angry with me for kissing him. What exactly did you expect me to do?"

"It wasn't like that Chelle....I hadn't finished saying everything. You have no idea how much it physically hurt me to watch you being hurt."

"I seriously can't believe you. Just think about all of what you have just said to me. I just can't believe you Tony."

"I can't help how I feel, and I couldn't control what other people said. I mean, that was the last thing in the world I needed to hear....."

"I've gotta get out of here." Michelle turned around to head for the door, she still felt unstable on her legs and now she was really light headed. Tony grabbed her by her arm.

"You can't leave Chelle, that is just one tiny part – we need to talk about everything..."

"Just let me go Tony..."

"No Michelle, you are not walking out on me."

Michelle couldn't argue with Tony anymore. She was sick of it, their friendship felt like it was taking such a massive beating today. She couldn't understand how he could be angry with her. If she hadn't kissed Dale she would have blown the whole thing. It was like he wanted to fight with her. She was so light-headed, everything kept going in and out of focus and she had to keep opening and closing her eyes to stop herself going dizzy. She tried to take another step but he kept holding her.

"You know what?....You don't get to be angry with me right now Tony. I want to leave."

Tony could see how unsteady Michelle was. Her eyes kept opening and closing and she had gone completely pale. She definitely needed to see the doctor.

"You are not going anywhere yo...."

"You can't tell me what I can or can't do. I'm not your girlfriend Tony....."

Tony looked like he had just had the wind punched out of him. He felt defeated and weak. They were both just staring at each other and Tony still had a firm grip on her arm. "You are right Michelle, I'm not your boyfriend but I am your boss and I am ordering you to stay. You need to be seen by the doctor. I want you to lie down."

Michelle was angry with him for pulling rank on her. She was so angry she was very close to walking out anyway. She knew she needed to lie down, she felt like she was about to pass out but she felt so stubborn to him right now. She wouldn't lie down simply because he had told her to. "I am not lying down."

"God Michelle all I am trying to do is make sure you are ok, why are you making it so hard?"

"Because I don't need you telling me what to do. I don't need you thinking that you know what is best for me. I don't need you to be angry with me for things out of my control.....and I certainly don't need you finding another reason to fight with me. I don't need any of this, have you got that? I DON'T NEED any of this from you!!"

"Well you certainly needed me 2 minutes ago. In fact in all the time I have known you, I have never seen you need me more. You held me so tightly, and I know, no matter what you say that you NEEDED me to hold you, and wrap my body around you. So how could you say all that?"

"Well trust me Tony if I knew what you were just about to say to me, I wouldn't have kissed you, I wouldn't have hugged you."

Tony was rubbing the side of his face with his free hand, the other was still holding her tight. "You can't mean that. I was being honest with you and telling you how I felt. Did you really believe it wouldn't bother me?"

Michelle was feeling worse and worse. He had her so worked up she had to keep telling herself to take deep breaths, even when she did that she still felt really light-headed. Feeling that way didn't calm her down any though. She yelled at him.

"What the hell did you want me to do? What do you want Tony? Do you want a damn apology from me or something? You want me to apologise to you for what happened to me tonight??"

"I don't know, its not you, it is the situation that I am so angry about. I'd never expect an apology from you."

Of course he didn't expect an apology. He didn't understand why she was so angry with him. If he had kissed another girl, he would hope Michelle would be angry. He wasn't angry with her, he was angry at the situation. He didn't understand why they were fighting over this. They were falling apart. What was happening to them? "Chelle please don't do this. Please. What about our kiss before? That was so much more than just a kiss – I don't know about you but I've never experienced anything so intense and passionate. I mean, it was like I couldn't get close enough to you....I thought things were finally really happening between us?"

"That's right Tony...what about the kiss? It wasn't just then though either – have you forgotten lying with me, pulling my body into yours and kissing my neck. What about when you kissed me for the very first time? What the hell did all that mean to you? How dare you do those things with me and then spend every other minute of the day angry or yelling at me. I just can't work you out, I can't even decide if you have feelings for me or if you were just trying to comfort me because of what I was about to have to do. Are you enjoying fighting with me? Do you even know what you want?"

"I know what I want, I always have. I'm just not good at announcing it, you of all people should know that. Hell yes I have been so damn angry for the last 24 hours, but all for damn good reasons – actually all for the one reason, my feelings for you Michelle. How could I forget the kiss and lying with you? Why do you think I am going crazy over everything else that's happening? You ran from me when I kissed you in my office, without letting me tell you how I felt. I keep getting interrupted or I screw it up and make you cry – Please I'm begging you now, cut me some slack so I can show you how I feel."

He was still holding her arm so he pulled her body in closer to his but she resisted and took steps back out of his reach. He felt sick, "Now I can't even touch you? I don't understand Chelle."

Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "You can't touch me because you keep confusing me and I'm not going to let you keep playing with and hurting me even more. You know what I understand Tony?....I understand that whilst I was in the middle of a situation that was scaring the life out of me, all I was thinking about was you. I was watching these 2 horrible, very frightening men and I was comparing them to you and how incredibly lucky I was to have you in my life. How you would never make me feel like they did. How you are the opposite of everything I hated about them. About just how special and amazing you are and how I didn't want to let you down. Then I find out that while I am thinking all of that, you were here with the rest of the office commenting on how lucky I was that he was good looking and on top of that you got angry with me because we kissed. None of you has a clue how that felt so how dare they say that and how dare you be furious with me for something that was already devastating enough for me."

Tony felt really bad, he had been really stupid to tell her what had been said and how he had felt. They were so pathetic and insignificant to what she was going through. Hearing her say it all like that made him realise how ridiculous and selfish he had been. Of course he would be angry, but not at Michelle and how he felt should not have been what was important right now. "Ohhh Chelle, I was so stupid, please come here, I've been so out of line – let me start again, please?" He took a couple steps towards her. He saw her become unstable and have to hold onto the side of the desk for support.

"Tony don't you realise that what I did tonight made me feel more worthless then I had ever felt in my entire life. I felt sick every time he touched me and so disgusting and cheap when he kissed me. He really hurt me Tony. I hate this, I can't win – if I bowed out then I would have failed the mission but by doing it I end up with you angry at me. It must have been so easy for the girls to sit here in the safe and warm making comments about me and Dale."

Tony stood with a long face. He loved her so much. She was the girl he wanted to marry and the spend the rest of his life with yet he was ruining it before they even had a chance. He had been so busy being angry at how the situation was affecting him, he had basically blocked out how things were affecting her. His night had been a walk in the park compared to Michelle's. His voice was soft and broken. "I don't even know what to say Chelle....."

Michelle was nodding her head. "You know, it's probably better if we just keep things exactly how they are. All of this is ripping us apart. Do you realise we had never ever had a single argument before today? All we have done is yell at each other for almost 24 hours now. If things are this messy after last night, there is no way we could handle tonight. Tonight will probably be way too much for the both of us......"

Michelle was in the middle of her sentence when things started to go black, she stopped talking and tried to take a deep breath but that didn't help.

Tony was watching Michelle and could see what was happening, he lunged forward and caught her body as she passed out and her body went to fall to the floor.

Thanks for reading!! I hope you like this story so far. I really appreciate if you have the time to let me know what you think so far. If you don't like it - please tell me why. Thanks!!