Just a little T/M fluff. (Dessler asked for some fluff and I thought I'd oblige.) This story was inspired by a thunder storm. I love thunder storms. I particularly like storms that occur during the night and I can lie in bed and enjoy them.

I guess I have to add the usual disclaimer. Don't own it, wish I did. So until I come up with my own characters for a TV show and make millions, I guess I'll just have to be satisfied writing fanfiction and getting review from my wonderful readers!

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THE STORM

PART I: THE RAIN

Chapter 1: Tony

It rarely rains at this time of year in LA, but it rained yesterday morning. It rained hard for about an hour. That hour was critical to me and the rain might actually have saved my life. The fact that he couldn't hear the rain on the phone call that Mandy made to Michelle was what tipped Jack off that I was still alive.

It started raining while I was being held by Mandy, a mercenary who was working for Marwan. I knew when she took my clothes and handcuffed me that she would have no qualms about killing me. I could see it in her eyes. I had only seen one other woman with eyes that vacant and they belonged to Nina. For right now, Mandy needed to keep me alive if she was going to have any chance to escape, but after that I was useless and I could identify her so she would have to kill me. I also knew that if I was going to live, I would have to save myself. CTU wasn't going to waste resources on me. At the moment, Mandy's life was more important than mine. She could lead CTU to Marwan, to the missile. Millions of lives would be saved; mine was certainly expendable.

It's funny how things change. Twenty-four hours earlier I would have been happy to die. Too afraid and not yet desperate enough, I couldn't get up the courage, or frankly, even the ambition to kill myself but I was slowly drinking myself to death. I had lost everything: my job, my pension and for a while, my freedom. I was labeled a traitor to a country that I had protected and defended for all of my adult life. I was fortunate that I had Jack on my side and that he had President Palmer's ear. Palmer finally agreed to pardon me but those months in prison did something to me. I came out a different person, someone that I didn't know and even worse, someone that I didn't like. I started drinking in hopes that it would make me happier, that I could relax and that I could go back to living my life among my friends and family. But, not surprisingly, alcohol didn't solve the problem. I retreated into myself and wouldn't let anyone in, not even my beloved Michelle. I wanted to let her in. I wanted her to be a part of my life. I wanted things to be the way they once were when all that mattered in the world was that at the end of the day Michelle and I ended up in bed and in each other's arms. I wanted all of that but I couldn't seem to make it happen so I just drank more. Eventually Michelle couldn't take any more and left. I've never been more crushed by anything in my life. Going to prison had not been as hard as watching her walk out of the door leaving me standing there drunk and crying and bitter. At that point I had truly lost everything.

But now everything had changed. I didn't want to die any more. I wanted to live. I wanted to survive this and go back to CTU and find Michelle and leave this godforsaken city forever. Less than an hour earlier, Michelle had told me that she wanted to spend her life with me, that she was willing to leave CTU and start over with me. My heart was unbelievably light when I left CTU in the helicopter despite the fact that I was going out into the field and into untold risks. I would be fine. I had to be. Michelle still loved me and we were going to start over. The thought of dying now horrified me. Not only did I not want to die, I worried about what it would do to Michelle. Someone later told me how she had reacted when she watched the car exploded on the monitor. They said that she nearly collapsed and that she had let out a tortured scream. She had to be helped, nearly carried, up to the office. It breaks my heart that she had to live through that.

That's all behind me now. Jack ignored Bill Buchanan's orders, which had come from the White House, to redeploy back to CTU and he and Curtis saved my life. The only thing I could think of was Michelle. I needed her to know that I was alive. I needed her to know that I loved her. I don't think I've ever been as happy and as contented as I was when I got back to CTU and I held her in my arms. God, it felt good! The missile had been destroyed, only one nuclear power plant had melted down and Michelle was back in my arms. There would be hours of debriefs and paperwork but then we would be free to go home. Together.

My joy was amazingly short lived. Michelle had paperwork to do. There was some property damage when the missile was brought down. She had to deal with the owners and local hazmat teams. She asked me to do Jack's debrief. First I would be cleared by the medical unit and then I could shower and change clothes. Black CTU tee shirts, black pants and boots were always available in the storage room. I had just stepped from the shower room into the locker room to dress when one of the agents told me that Jack was to be turned over to the Chinese. Minutes later Jack walked in and we talked. I told him it wasn't fair. We were interrupted when Jack got a phone call. I suspect that President Palmer was on the phone but Jack would not confirm that. Whoever it was made it clear to Jack that his life was in danger and that he had to get away from CTU. I don't know how Jack could think as clearly as he did under that kind of stress, but within a minute or two we had come up with a plan to get him out.

It worked like a charm. Soon Michelle and I were dropping Jack off at the railroad yard. That was so hard. I could barely look at him to say goodbye. He has been such a good friend and in all likelihood, I'll never see him again. Oh, I'm sure he'll find a way to get in touch with me, but we'll never play tennis again or go out for drinks. Some day I'll get a letter in the mail filled with blank paper and a return address that I don't recognize. Or I'll get a phone call and when I answer there won't be anyone on the line and the caller ID will register a number I've never seen before. Either way, I'll know that it's Jack's way of telling Michelle and me that he's okay and that if I have to get in touch with him, I can. Michelle and I watched as Jack walked away. I was grateful that it had stopped raining. At least Jack didn't have to make his journey in the rain. That would have made it all the more miserable.

Michelle and I returned to CTU. The place was in such a state of confusion that no one missed us. They thought we were back in sector C grieving privately. We walked back into the bullpen area just as Secretary Heller was arriving. Audrey was in such a state of shock that she had been taken to the medical unit. Jim Heller hadn't been briefed on the situation yet. He only knew that Jack was to be turned over to the Chinese. He walked angrily into the situation room indicating to Bill Buchanan and to Michelle and me that we were all to follow him.

"Where are they holding Jack?" Heller demanded as the situation room door closed.

"Mr. Secretary…" Bill started, but Heller cut him off.

"I want to talk to the Secret Service agent who has Jack in custody."

"Maybe you should sit down, Mr. Secretary," I told him.

"I don't need to sit down, Almeida. The Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense is being held by the Secret Service and I demand to see him."

"You don't understand, Mr. Secretary. The situation has changed. Please sit down," I directed him.

Heller looked from my face to Michelle's to Bill's. Buchanan nodded. "Please sit down, sir. We have some news for you."

"News? What kind of news?" he asked with a scowl.

I took a deep breath and started. It's a good thing that I'm a convincing liar. "Jack apparently wasn't willing to be taken by the Chinese. He must have thought it over and knew that he would be tortured and probably killed, so he tried to escape."

Heller stood up suddenly. "My God, Tony! He tried to escape. What happened? Where is he?"

"Unfortunately, sir, he got into a gun fight with the Secret Service agent. Jack was just trying to lay down cover so he could get out, but the Secret Service agent returned fire and shot Jack."

"How badly is he hurt?" Heller asked hoping for the best.

"I'm sorry, sir," I said as I shook my head. "By the time I got to him, he was gone. The coroner's office just picked up his body."

Heller dropped into the chair he had been sitting in. I don't think his reaction could have been worse had his own child been killed. He sat upright with his head back and his hand pressed to his mouth for several seconds. Then he leaned forward and put his head in his hands. His grief was palpable. "Does Audrey know?" he asked in a voice just above a whisper.

"Yes, sir. She's in shock. She's been taken to the medical unit," Buchanan told him. "You should probably go to her."

"I'll take you over there, sir," I told him knowing that Bill and Michelle both had mounds of paperwork to complete.

"Thank you, Tony," Bill said in a quiet, expressionless voice. I wondered when I looked at him how he felt about me. Hours earlier he admitted that he cared for Michelle and that he had struck out with her. If I were dead, he would have had a chance with her. I really had to wonder if Bill would have been sorry if I had actually been in the car when it exploded.

I walked with Secretary Heller to the medical unit. We didn't speak; there was nothing to say. I noticed his posture. Strange. The man had clearly been in charge today. When he entered a room everyone there could feel his presence. Regardless of who was "running" CTU at any given moment, be it Erin or Michelle or Bill or even me, Heller was clearly in charge. The man next to me right now didn't look like he could take charge of anything. His shoulders slumped and he looked defeated. Unlike the man I had met yesterday afternoon, he looked every bit of his 64 years.

"Here you go, sir," I said as I opened the door for him. I think he thanked me, but I couldn't actually hear him. As we walked in I saw Hannah Bateman. Hannah had been a nurse at CTU for as long as anyone could remember. "Hannah, this is Secretary Heller. His daughter, Audrey Raines, is here and he'd like to see her."

"Certainly, sir," she said. "Right this way."

We followed her down the hall. She opened the glass door for Secretary Heller. I stood back and watched him go in. Audrey sat at the end of the bed. An unending stream of tears rolled down her cheeks, but she didn't sob or make a sound and she didn't try to wipe the tears away. She sat motionless and staring off into the distance, her teary eyes focused on something that the rest of us couldn't see. Her father stood in front of her. He said nothing but reached out and took her into his arms. It was then that she finally began to sob. It was painful to watch, but for some reason that wasn't clear to me, I had difficulty looking away.

"Mr. Almeida," said a voice from behind me, "I have Agent Manning on the phone for you." The young woman pointed to the phone on a nearby desk.

Curtis was ready to do my debrief. I left the medical unit and made my way to one of the briefing rooms. I've done dozens of debriefs in my years with CTU, but none was ever as hard as this one. I was bone tired and I had to make sure that I kept my story straight. If anyone doubted that Jack was dead, they would ask for a positive ID on his body and his cover would be blown and his life would be in danger. Chloe had managed to tag the body of an unidentified terrorist who had been part of the assault team that had attacked Jack and Paul near McLennon-Forrester. He was blond and blue eyed and had a similar build to Jack's but he would never pass as his double. The body would be cremated almost immediately. Those were Jack's wishes and he told me that Kim knew that. He had expressly told her many times that if he was killed, she was not to view the body. Viewing her mother's body had been far too traumatic. He wanted to be cremated and have the ashes scattered in the ocean near Venice beach where he had scattered Teri's ashes.

So I took extra care during the debrief. Fortunately, if there were any discrepancies, Curtis didn't notice them. Michelle would ultimately sign off on the final copy, so as long as I got past Curtis, I was home free and, more importantly, so was Jack.

I finally finished debriefing and was free to go. I was pretty sure that I had been convincing but was really too tired to tell. One good thing was that Curtis was as tired as I was and he wasn't likely to notice any mistakes. I made my way toward Michelle's office and ran into Secretary Heller and Audrey who were headed for the exit.

"Tony," Heller said when he saw me, "come into the conference room for a moment, I'd like to talk to you." Both he and Audrey were more composed that when I last saw them. The Secretary was standing straight again looking more hawkish and virile than he had just a few hours ago.

The three of us entered the conference room and I closed the door. Audrey sat down, but Jim Heller and I stood. "What can I do for you, Mr. Secretary?" I asked.

"First of all, I never thanked you for saving my daughter's life yesterday," he said. "Do you have children, Tony?"

"No, sir, not yet," I answered.

"If you had children, you would understand that the fear of losing a child is far greater than any other fear you could possibly have. I lost my wife a few years back and that was hard enough. I don't know if I could have gone on today if Audrey had died. From the bottom of my heart I thank you for risking your life to save hers."

"You don't have to thank me, sir. I'm glad I was able to do it."

"Secondly, I know you and Jack were close and I was so shocked when I learned of his death that it didn't occur to me to tell you how sorry I am for your loss."

I nodded my thanks. I wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Lastly, I'd like to offer you a job. I would like you to come to Washington with me and replace Jack as my Special Assistant. From what I could see today, you're more than capable of doing the job and I think we would work well together."

I was stunned by his offer. "Thank you, sir," I said. "I don't know what to say. I hope you aren't offering me this job because you feel you owe it to me. I never meant to put a price tag on saving Audrey's life."

"That has nothing to do with it. I can never repay what you did for Audrey. I think you're the right person for this job and I hope you'll take it."

"I'll have to think this over, sir. I have to talk to Michelle about it."

"Michelle? I thought you two were divorced."

"We are, but we decided today to try and start over."

"Congratulations, I'm happy for you. You could start over in Washington you know," Heller suggested.

"I know that, sir, but that's a decision that we have to make together."

"I understand. How about if I give you a month to decide? After that I'll start looking for someone else."

"Fair enough, sir," I told him as we shook hands. "You two should get back to your hotel and get some rest."

"Actually, we're headed to the airport. We've got clearance to fly back to Washington. Let my office know when arrangements have been made for Jack's funeral. Audrey and I want to be there."

"That will be up to his daughter," I told him, "but we'll get in touch with you as soon as we know anything."

"Does she know yet?" he asked.

"Two agents that Jack worked with for years talked to her husband a little while ago. The agents are going with him to tell her."

"I thought maybe you would be assigned to tell her."

"Buchanan asked me, but I couldn't do it. I was there when she found out about her mother and I just couldn't be the one who told her that her father was dead." That was only partially the truth. Michelle and I both felt that we couldn't tell her and watch her fall apart all the while knowing that Jack was alive. Once someone else told her, we thought we could play the game, but there was just no way we could be the ones who broke the news to her.

Heller nodded to indicate that he understood. By now Audrey was standing. She still seemed shocked and dazed but she was making eye contact now and silently acknowledging the conversation between her father and me. I walked over and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry, Audrey. I wish things had ended differently. When I met you this afternoon, I really thought Jack had met his soul mate. I may not have shown it at the time, but I was really happy for you two. No one should have to go through what you did today."

"Thank you for everything, Tony," Audrey said through her tears. "I'll see you in a few days."

I said goodbye and made my way through the bullpen toward Michelle's office. I could see her through the glass door. She was on the phone and not looking in my direction. I'll never be able to get over how incredibly beautiful she is, even now when she hasn't slept in well over 24 hours. Her hair was a little messy and her make up was almost nonexistent, most of it was washed away when cried. She had obviously tried to fix it, but hadn't done a great job. Her clothes were wrinkled and she looked as if she could fall asleep sitting in the chair with the phone in her hand. Still she was beautiful, stunning, a goddess. Words could never describe how beautiful this woman is to me.

I rapped lightly on the door. She looked up and her tired eyes sparkled the way they used to. She waved me in and stood up. As she continued her phone conversation, she walked over to the printer a few feet away from the desk and took several sheets of paper off of it. She leafed through them and pulled a single page from the center of the stack. She handed that sheet to me. I only needed to read the first sentence to know that it was her letter of resignation. I read it again and let the words sink in. Michelle was really leaving CTU and she was leaving to be with me. I was both flattered and scared.

That Michelle would give up her career for me was almost too much to believe. Make no mistake, she was on the fast track. She could easily be Regional Director in one of the smaller regions within the next year or so and in a major city in less than five years. She was barely 35. That would make her the youngest Regional Director of a major city in the nation, a fact that would not go unnoticed at Langley. But it all scared me, too. What if she regretted it in a few years? What then? Would she be angry with me for pushing her to leave? Would it destroy our relationship? Maybe I shouldn't have asked her to leave CTU. Just because it was what I wanted doesn't mean that it was right for her.

Michelle hung up the phone and looked at me. "Well, what do you think? Is the letter okay? I gave them four weeks notice. Do you think that's reasonable?"

"The letter is fine and the four weeks is more than enough," I started, "but Michelle, are you sure this is what you want? This is it. Once you give this to Buchanan, it's over. Your career with the CIA is effectively ended. You do understand that, don't you?"

Michelle looked confused. "Of course I understand that. I thought that's what you wanted. I leave here and we go somewhere else and start over. Isn't that what you said?"

"Michelle, I want this more than anything in the world. I just want to know that you want it. I want to know that in ten years you aren't going to regret it and blame me for forcing you to leave. I want to spend my life with you, Michelle, but I need for you to be happy with your decision."

She walked over to me and put her arms around my waist. "You took me by surprise when you first asked me to leave CTU and go with you but it didn't take me very long to realize that you were right. I love you. I'm nothing without you. I'm an empty shell. For the last six months all I've done is get up and go to work in the morning and work as long as I possibly could and then go home to an empty house and hope that I collapsed from exhaustion. I even went into the office most weekends just so I didn't have to think about you or me or us and what we had and how happy we were. And after today…" she stopped for a moment obviously trying to compose herself but the tears came anyway. "After today, after all the bad things that happened, the people that died and the horrible decisions that had to be made and you being held hostage and now Jack… I can't do it any more, Tony. Now I know it's time to leave."

She continued, "I called Chase about 15 minutes ago to see how Kim was doing. You know, he told me that when he walked into the house in the middle of the day Kim just looked at him and asked 'How did he die?' She knew without even being told. She's spent her entire life knowing that someday somebody would walk in and tell her that her father was dead. What a horrible thing for a person to have to live with. I don't want our children wondering when somebody is going to come through the door and tell them that one of us has been killed. I want to leave CTU while there's still time."

I pulled her close. It felt so good to hold her body close to mine, to be able to comfort her when she was so obviously in pain. I held her for a long moment before she pulled back a bit and looked at me. "So, I think it's time for me to sign that letter and give it to Bill. Then we can go home."

We can go home. Four simple words, each with only one syllable. We can go home. A total of eleven letters that were more beautiful to me than any novel or poem or song could ever be.

"Home?" I whispered not really believing it. "We can go home together?"

Michelle smiled. "Yes, of course, we can go home together, the two of us."

"I love you," I whispered softly as if it were a secret and I was afraid that others might hear. "I love you with all of my heart."

The next chapter: Part I, Chapter 2: Michelle