Disclaimer: This applies to the first chapter as well (I can't believe I forgot to put it in that one…sorry). I do not own any of the characters related to 24 or, (For this chapter only), the sitcom "Friends".

Thank you all so much for the positive reviews! I really appreciate it! I wrote the first couple of chapters before I decided to post this so I should be able to update it fairly frequently. I hope everyone enjoys this one as well and please review! Thanks a lot!

Chapter Two

By the time they'd reached Michelle's apartment, Tony had placed his call to Jen. It hadn't exactly been pleasant but Tony was attempting to make up for his lack of interest in Jen earlier that morning. He apologized to her and gently promised he'd see her the following afternoon. Jen wasn't stupid by any stretch of the imagination; and while she knew Tony would never love her, she didn't like the idea of losing him to his ex-wife; the woman who'd hurt him so badly.

"You're with Michelle aren't you?" She'd spat into the receiver.

"I told you already Jen, we're working together."

"Convenient isn't it? The one time you're going to be gone for two nights straight without telling me anything just happens to be the day you see your ex-wife after six months…"

Tony flinched. She'd hit the nail on the head.

"Jen, it's crazy here, I can't just leave in the middle of all this. I'll talk to you tomorrow. We can talk about everything then." He felt horrible lying to her so blatantly but he didn't want to do this over the phone, and certainly not when Michelle was listening in. It wasn't fair to Jen, and he'd treated her horribly enough in the past 24 hours, let alone since they'd been living together.

"Is that your way of telling me you're dumping me to go back to Michelle?"

Tony sighed loudly into the phone. Michelle was getting worried. She'd hoped Jen would save any serious conversation for when Tony went home tomorrow. It's never felt right… thinking his home wasn't with me…She thought to herself.

"Don't patronize me Tony."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Just tell me the truth! If you're getting back together with Michelle then there's nothing I can do about it. I get it! She's your ex-wife. I'm not going to pretend I'm happy about it but at least have the decency to tell me what's going on; I think you owe me that!"

"I'm sorry Jen."

The tears welled up in her eyes. Knowing it was coming was bad enough, hearing it was harder.

"Jen, you've been so great, I can't thank you enough for how much you've been there for me these past few months but…"

"You never stopped loving her." Jen's voice quivered. "All those times you were with me, you were wishing it was her. It was never about me…"

"That's not true!" Tony hated himself for doing this to her.

"Yes it is. It's okay. I'll survive. I always do. You can come by tomorrow to pick up your stuff. Leave your key in the mail box. I'll make sure I'm at work. Let's make this as painless as possible."

"I'm sorry Jen."

"I know. But I guess this is better than having someone keep pretending they might actually end up loving you..." There was an awkward silence.

"Good luck." Tony finished.

"You too. I hope you're happy with her Tony, I really do. Bye."

The phone clicked on Jen's end and Tony sighed loudly again. Michelle looked at him warily, unsure of what to say. Tony put away his phone and glanced at Michelle as he pulled into the parking lot.

Tony went to get out of the car when Michelle spoke.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Tony wasn't the only one who hated themselves for doing this to Jen.

"Jen's tough. She'll get by."

Michelle nodded, and stared downward, at nothing in particular. Tony reached over and lifted her chin so she was looking right at him.

"After you Michelle, no one else stood a chance. Now at least Jen can get on with her life as well."

Michelle smiled softly and blushed, turning away. "I could say the same thing about you."

Tony gave a small, ironic laugh. He thought of Bill and Jen, the day hadn't ended well for either of them, but he had Michelle again, and that was all that mattered at this point.

Spirits lifted slightly, the both headed up to the apartment. Michelle clung to Tony the whole way up. They had left CTU behind, along with their inhibitions. She buried her head into his chest and began to plant soft kisses through his t-shirt. Shivers coursed through his body and Michelle felt him jerk slightly. She laughed out loud, remembering how ticklish he was.

"You know what that does to me..." he warned her.

"Alright, alright, we're here anyway." She reached grabbed the keys out of Tony's hand and unlocked the door. He followed her inside and couldn't help but grin at her apartment. It was totally Michelle, messy-organized, with expensive furniture that varied from antique-ish to modern in different rooms. The walls were a series of neutrals and soft pastels and were highlighted by accents in each room. He glanced across the living room. There were a series of throws and pillows everywhere. Michelle loved to cuddle underneath throws at night while she sipped her tea that she would make in her favourite tea set, and watch reruns of "Friends" or some other sitcom he hated. It was her way of relaxing before bed.

Michelle saw the amused look on his face and grinned.

"So Almeida, food or sleep first?"

"Your choice." He conceded, either appealed to him.

Michelle, in that moment, decided she wanted nothing more than to lie with Tony forever, knowing he was safe and that they were together, but knew that despite his nonchalant attitude he would be hungry.

"How about some soup and toast?" she asked.

"I'll make it." He began. "We've had enough disasters for one day."

Twenty minutes later the pair were sitting comfortably at Michelle's counter munching on piece after piece of toast loaded with butter and slurping down bowl after bowl of canned tomato soup. They kept the conversation light, trying not to think too much about how close they'd come to loosing everything, namely each other again, today. Tony said something that made Michelle laugh out loud, almost choking on a piece of toast. She coughed slightly and her cheeks went bright pink. He handed her a glass of water and she began to laugh even harder when she finally stopped coughing. Tony laughed too. He looked over at her and couldn't stop smiling.

Michelle noticed this and suddenly stopped laughing. She raised her eyebrows in mock offense. "What?" she questioned him.

"Nothing…Just you. I missed you – this – so much…" he leaned over and brushed a stray piece of hair from her face. She reached up and grabbed his hand, never taking her eyes away from his. Their fingers interlocked and she brought their hands back to the table.

"Sleep?" he asked her.

Michelle hesitated then unconvincingly replied. "Okay."

"What's wrong?"

"It's just…nothing…"

"Michelle?" Tony said seriously. "What is it?"

"I keep thinking…if I sleep I might dream that you're…" The tears filled her eyes. Tony reached out and stroked her face.

"I'm right here sweetheart."

"I know." She swallowed hard. "But I can't help but think of how close I came to…how you almost…"

The tears began to flow. Tony stood up and walked around the counter without letting go of her hand. He pulled Michelle into his arms and squeezed her tightly, kissing her forehead as he did so. He wrapped his arms securely around her and rested his head on top of hers. After a few minutes Tony finally spoke.

"I could sleep like this." He whispered.

"Standing up?" Michelle teased.

"I'm just that tired…"

"Well I hate to break it to you but I need a bed."

Michelle leaned up and planted a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. Then she wordlessly led him to her bedroom and left him standing alone in the center as she began to dig through her closet. A few seconds later she threw an old t-shirt and pair of sweats at him. Tony hid his surprise at this and decided he could comment on the fact that she'd kept them later. He walked into the bathroom to change, leaving Michelle to do the same in her room.

"I'm beat." She told him when he emerged.

"Me too."

Tony's eyes widened slightly when he saw what Michelle was wearing. It was his old Stanford U t-shirt, his favourite t-shirt. The first time Michelle had spent the night at his apartment he'd given her that t-shirt to sleep in, telling her it was his favourite. Michelle thought it smelt like him, and from then on would sleep in it every time she spent the night with him. When they got married she would make Tony leave it with her on any occasion where he was away from her at night for one reason or another. Michelle had told him it was the only way she could sleep without him beside her. Tony couldn't believe she'd kept it.

Michelle saw the expression on his face and blushed slightly when she realized what he'd noticed. She tugged anxiously at the ends of the shirt and smiled shyly.

"I told you it was the only way I could sleep if you weren't with me…" she began.

"I would've thought you'd be trying to forget me as fast as possible." He was confused as to why, when it was her who had wanted the divorce, she was the one clinging to the memories.

"Yeah, but I only wanted to forget the 'you' who'd pushed me away… I tried for weeks to sleep without it, but I just…couldn't. I missed the 'you' who I…" she paused, holding back the emotion. You're supposed to be stronger than this. She reminded herself. No…not with Tony… A voice in the back of her head chimed in. He never expected you to hold back at the end of the day, pretend you were fine. That's one of the many reasons you loved him, or that you never stopped...

Tony couldn't help but smile at Michelle's uncertain response to his question. He said nothing else, he knew what she meant.

Michelle walked around one side of the bed and pulled back the blankets as Tony tossed the throw pillows to one side. She crawled underneath the covers and waited patiently, encouraging him with her gaze. Tony crawled in beside her. Michelle immediately snuggled up next to him and felt his arms wrap around her once again. She twisted her body so that her right leg became entwined between his. He slowly ran his foot up and down her calf pushing her pant leg up as he did so. He'd done this the first time they'd spent the day in bed together after a particularly hard all-nighter at CTU. They both had been given the following day off and when they'd woken up that morning, he couldn't believe how cold her legs, especially her feet were. Since then, it was something of a ritual, something that was uniquely theirs. Michelle smiled unintentionally as he did this without a thought. She scooted her body slightly up so that her face was at the base of his neck.

She reached up and kissed him slowly, but intensely. He reciprocated. After a few seconds he pulled back.

"God I love you." he whispered, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against hers.

The tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I missed you so much, I can't believe I ruined it, and then almost lost you."

Tony felt the wetness of her warm tears against his skin.

He only squeezed more tightly.

"We're here now. It doesn't matter anymore. It's over. I promise."

Michelle nodded into his chest. She felt so safe, so secure. She didn't know how he did it, but somehow, when she was with him, she knew everything would be okay.

"Go to sleep Michelle…" he whispered. "I've got you."

She responded by pressing her body closer to his and letting out one final, small sigh, before drifting off to sleep. Tony watched her for a few minutes before allowing himself to doze.