With an exact address things were starting to look a little more hopeful. Tony was still seeing red after hearing the man talk about Michelle like that, there was nothing that was going to offer him any kind of relief now until he had Michelle back in his own arms. He wondered how he was supposed to help Michelle deal with the emotional side of being attacked like that. How would she react? Would he ever be able to make her feel safe again? It also crossed his mind whether or not Michelle would tell him what happened.....did she know he already knew or would she try to protect him from it.
He was almost ready to leave to and get Michelle. He was in a protective vest and flak jacket. He packed an extra pistol to his body that he could offer Michelle if things got hairy as they were trying to escape.
Other than receiving orders all agents and staff were trying to give Tony the respect of the space he needed right now. He looked so focused, almost like a man on the verge of cracking. They say that people will always be able to rise to the occasion and be the person they need to be when dealing with a loved one. This seemed very true of Tony. A couple of the girls in the office commented on how it looked like in just the last hour his body had buffed up. His chest had filled out and the muscles in his arms had become more defined – physically he was presenting himself as the strong protector he needed to be for Michelle. Emotionally he was preparing himself for any situation that he may be faced with. He couldn't let his feelings for Michelle slow him down or distract him, if he was going to get them both out of this ok he needed to be able to think like the agent he was trained to be. His eyes were dark and drawn, he just wasn't the usual Tony.
Pault had arrived at the house after receiving many panicked phone calls from the guys in charge of Michelle. After hearing the facts he had decided the entire situation was far too much effort and risk with next to no hope of reward. He would have a couple of his men get some more footage of the girl that he could continue to use through the morning but after filming was done he wanted Michelle disposed of so they could move on to the next place. With CTU knowing which area they were in he wanted them out as soon as possible. Michelle heard him instruct somebody to come and get her and take her to the living room.
She knew she had one chance to make a run for it before she was murdered. If she let them take her to film then that was it, everything was over. Staring death in the face she was able to find the agent in her to find the strength to try and escape. As one of the men reached the top of the stairs Michelle began to yell that she needed the bathroom. He swore at her as he walked in but she pleaded again and so he decided to let her go. In his mind he figured it was only fair enough to cut the girl some slack considering they were just about to top her.
He pulled the door shut behind her and she immediately began to run the water tap. The water managed to hide the sound of the window being pushed up. The fly screen basically fell out as soon as she touched it, it was just a matter of placing it in the tub rather than allowing the noise of it dropping to the ground. She wasted no time in climbing out the window to begin climbing upwards. She figured they would assume she would have headed for the ground to make a run for it.
The night air was freezing and Michelle felt the bite through her entire body. With just her bra and underwear on she had absolutely no protection from the weather. She could hear the thug banging on the bathroom door telling her to hurry up as she made her way up the side of the house to the roof. She knew she had to get out of sight on the roof before they got into the bathroom and saw she was missing. She reached for the gutter and began to pull her body up but her arms felt so weak that they couldn't support her weight. She stopped to calm herself before trying again.
Hearing the obscenities fly out the window when the man realized she was gone scared enough strength into Michelle to pull herself up onto the roof. She huddled in between the peaks of the roof completely out of sight to anyone on the ground. Her teeth chatted and her body shook uncontrollably. The cigarette burns in her arm stung. Making herself feel even worse, she lay on her stomach so she could watch over the edge of the house. Two men were checking outside for her, one out the back and the other round front.
Four squad cars raced to the front of the house and pulled up onto the nature strip. She watched as at least 12 agents rushed for the house, she heard them storm through the door. The man out the back plus another one made a made dash over the fence.
Tony shielded himself in between two doorways. He had one of the men in perfect range but without a silencer he would attract to much attention to the guy he could hear sneaking around in the opposite room. With the sound of scuffling becoming more and more intense in another room he knew he couldn't waste anytime. He took the shot, taking out Joe and then spun to the ground to dodge fire coming from the other side of him. The thug lunged at him landing right on top of his chest. He was able to get in a couple good punches at Tony before Tony was able to flip their bodies over allowing himself to be on top. He slammed the man's head into the floor before taking 3 good strikes at his face. The man begged him to stop. "Where is Michelle? WHERE IS MICHELLE?"
"We don't know.....she got away just before you guys got here." Tony called for help and with the help of another agent handcuffed the man and had him taken out to the squad cars along with the other couple men that had been caught. Tony raced every room in the house but could not find Michelle. He found the bathroom window she had crawled out of, he put this much together from the screen sitting in the tub and the window wide open. He looked up and down trying to figure out what she would have done.
Michelle could see that the agents had taken control of the situation. She crawled back to the side of the house and found a spot she thought she could lower herself down on. She was too scared to yell out because she knew they hadn't caught the couple men that had darted over the back fence. Her body scrapped across the brick as she lowered her body down onto the garage roof. She was almost close enough to jump. She stood unsure of what to do. The sound of car engines made her heart skip a beat, she thought they were going to leave her behind. Without another thought she jumped to the ground.
Tony had made his way back to the first floor, out the corner of his eye he saw what looked like something fall from the garage. Still armed and ready he stepped outside.
Michelle was about 5 meters in front of him trying to peel herself of the ground. "Michelle!"
Not recognizing Tony's voice she tried to stand and retreat backwards. Tony was absolutely horrified to see her with next to no clothes on, injured and dirty. He kept walking towards her. "Michelle, its Tony. I'm here sweetheart....you are safe now."
She lowered her hands from her face and looked at him. He could see the sheer terror and pain in her eyes and his heart hurt seeing her such a mess. Once he could tell that she recognized it was him he stepped in close enough to wrap his arms around her. He wanted to pull her in so tightly but already she flinched a little with pain.
He could barely even hold on to her because she was shaking so much, he could hear her teeth chattering violently. He went to pull his shirt off but she finally took hold of him. It was like it had just sunk in that Tony was really there with her. "Tony? Oh My God...."
"It's me Chelle. You are safe now, it is going to be ok." He pulled his jacket off and then his shirt. "Come here sweetie, put these on." He began to help her pull the jumper over her body and then the jacket. Both were huge on her which was perfect as his shirt covered her down to her knees.
Out of shock and nerves she began to speak at a rapid rate. "I'm sorry Tony, I couldn't wait until 6 – they were going to shoot me. I didn't know what to do so I climbed up onto the roof....I saw you come but when the cars started up I thought you were leaving without me...."
Tony pulled her body back in close and stopped her from speaking anymore by pressing his lips against hers. He pulled on her lower lip before he pulled back. "I would have never left without you. You did so good Michelle, you saved your own life – I have no idea how you managed to get onto the roof, but that was so smart." He kissed the top of her head over and over. "I love you so much Chelle – I am never ever letting you go again."
"Well, well well.....isn't this a beautiful picture! Such a shame it needs to be destroyed."
Both Tony and Michelle turned their heads to find Pault standing a few meters away with his gun pointed directly at them. "Put your gun down on the ground slowly."
Tony did as he was told. His eyes searched for any of his agents but he couldn't see any. He moved his body in front of Michelle so that she was completely covered. He didn't dare take his eyes off Pault to look at Michelle but he could hear her quietly whimpering while trying to catch her breath. He didn't care if Pault heard, "It's going to be ok Chelle, we are going to be ok – I am here with you."
Pault began to laugh but as quickly as he started he suddenly stopped and went back to his serious face. Pault lived for having power like this over people. "Come here to me Michelle...."
Tony clung to her. "NO, NO NO! Michelle is not moving – haven't you done enough to her?"
"I don't believe I was speaking to you. Michelle if you do not come to me I will shoot your boyfriend in the head."
Michelle started to move but Tony held her. He tried to speak to just her. "You can't go over Chelle. Please God..."
Pault didn't have time to waste. He needed to have Michelle to be able to use her in getting away from this. "You have 5 seconds Michelle and then he is dead. 5........"
Michelle yanked her hand out of Tony's and walked to Pault. Pault watched a couple tears run down Tony's face – he had never seen a man look so defeated and broken. The look in the agent's eyes was eerie to Pault, he wondered if it was really possible to love someone so much that your emotional pain could be so intensely obvious through your eyes. He grabbed Michelle and pulled her body in front of his.
Michelle felt beaten. She didn't think that there was any way both her and Tony could get out of this alive. It was life's cruel way of teasing her letting her have a few minutes with Tony again before he was ripped away from her. Looking at Tony it looked like he had completely shut off.
Tony was in shock. On the inside he felt so hysterical but he hadn't a clue how to make a noise or move his body. It felt like he was shutting down. A minute ago he finally had held Michelle safely in his arms and now he was watching a man hold her with a gun pointed at her head. How much more of this was he and Michelle expected to take?