Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters related to 24.

Hey guys. Not sure how many of you are still reading this…it's been a while I know…I was worried the story might be getting a little too fluffy so I wrote a chapter that I hope is more dramatic or tense or whatever you want to call it. I'm debating whether or not just ending the whole thing here. Let me know what you guys think and as usual any reviews are greatly appreciated!

Chapter Six

When the alarm clock buzzed the next morning Tony reached over and turned it off. Michelle opened her eyes slowly and saw that Tony was wide awake, arms still squeezing her as tightly as ever.

"You didn't sleep, did you?"

Tony shrugged.

"You shouldn't have done that, it was just a dream."

"I can't help it."

She slid up his body and kissed him, lingering on his lips, before propping herself up.

"Work." She complained.

"I'll put on the coffee."

"I'll jump in the shower first then."

"Deal." They pecked once more and moved in opposite directions.

When Michelle emerged, dressed in full work attire, from the shower 20 minutes later she smelt coffee brewing and almost sprinted into the kitchen. Tony heard her and pulled down a mug and started to pour just as she ran into the room.

"Alright, my turn." He left and went to go get showered himself. By the time he had dressed Michelle had already done her makeup, her hair. They hung around the kitchen, both nursing their second cup of coffee, until Michelle glanced at her watch and told him that they'd better hurry if they wanted to get to work on time.

Arriving at CTU was definitely unusual. People who hadn't been at work two days before, (and knew better), showed their confusion as Tony and Michelle walked down the hall together. Tony released Michelle's hand as they saw Bill approaching them, followed closely by Brad Hammond. Tony felt sick. He hadn't seen Brad since he'd been arrested by him. He silently prayed with every fiber of his being that Bill had already explained the circumstances.

"Tony Almeida." Brad stated more harshly than necessary. He did not reach out to shake Tony's hand but merely starred him down.

"Brad." Tony acknowledged him with a curt nod.

The tension could've been cut with a knife.

"So," Michelle jumped in. "Where are we on the status reports?"

"Just waiting for the final numbers from division…" Bill explained.

"That's why I'm here." Brad informed them. "Frankly, I'm not really sure why he is."

"Jack Bauer needed help, so he called Tony. Erin Driscoll and Secretary Heller supported him being reinstated on a provisional basis..." Michelle explained.

"And then Erin Driscoll got replaced by you …"

"And I had no reason to believe we would've been better off if Tony left, in truth with couldn't have done this without him." She defended loyally.

"You're not exactly objective on the subject are you Michelle?" Brad said harshly.

Michelle closed her mouth, her eyes were livid. Bill chimed in.

"But I am. And Michelle's right, I had my doubts but Tony's proved himself more than ever to be a huge asset to this country."

Brad raised an eyebrow. "Did you offer him a job Bill?"

"Naturally. But he didn't accept."

"He what?"

"You know I'm still standing right here don't you Brad?" Tony snapped.

"Why didn't you accept Almeida?"

"The same reason I'm resigning."

Brad's eyes went wide and his mouth opened slightly. Michelle noticed his reaction and continued.

"You know as well as anyone Brad that you can't have a life and still do this job, look at Jack…" she lowered her eyes to the floor, her voice growing quiet. "I want a life. We both do. It's just caused too many problems..."

Brad looked as if he had something else to say but stopped himself and instead, bringing back his business-like tone said "Make sure the status reports are done by the end of the week." And with that he spun on his heel and marched off to go talk to Edgar.

Tony turned to Bill. "Thanks."

"Of course."

They headed down to the conference room, getting ready to make some headway on all the paperwork that remained.

The hours went by slowly. Michelle found it hard to concentrate but didn't allow that to deter her. She did, however, sneak the occasional glance at Tony, who was currently in deep conversation with Bill, scribbling something down meticulously. He caught her eye and smirked. Michelle smiled and turned back to the computer.

A little while later Michelle couldn't stand it anymore. Her head was spinning. She exited the room, telling the men that she was just going to go grab some coffee. When she passed Chloe sitting at her desk, she took her time. Chloe had a look on her face that said she was about to speak. They made eye contact but Chloe quickly turned away, clearly changing her mind.

Michelle was in the break room, pouring her coffee when Curtis walked in. They nodded their acknowledgement and Michelle pulled out a mug, pouring Curtis a cup of coffee as well.

"Thanks" he raised his mug slightly.

"Have you heard anything about Erin?" Michelle asked politely.

"She's still dealing with her daughter's suicide. Funeral arrangements, everything like that…"

"Is her husband still…"

Curtis shook his head. "Divorced. I don't even know if someone's told him yet. They weren't exactly on the best of terms…"

Michelle was saddened by this news. She didn't even know the woman but the fact that Erin Driscoll couldn't even bring herself to tell her ex-husband that their daughter had killed herself depressed her. Now, she was more convinced than ever her decision to leave this job was the right one. After all this pain she needed a fresh start more than ever.

"How are you holding up?" Curtis asked as he took a sip of coffee.

Michelle looked at the floor. "It's hard. I knew Jack for a pretty long time. He always tried to help…especially when Tony was in…" her cheeks burned as she fingered her mug. "Y'know." She didn't feel odd showing weakness right now to the man standing in front of her. She wouldn't be his boss for much longer. What did it matter?

Curtis nodded his understanding.

"Anyway, I guess I'd better get back…"

"Yeah…see ya Michelle."

The long day was finally coming to a close when Michelle decided it was time to say a few words, as she was still acting-Director of CTU.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" she called over the railing of the stairs that led to her office. "This'll only take a minute…"

There was the quick shuffling of feet as people made their way towards Michelle. Bill was standing behind her, Tony was amongst the crowd on the floor, though she wasn't sure exactly where.

"I just wanted to thank everyone for what an outstanding job you all did two days ago. Thanks to your dedication and persistence we managed to save L.A. from total devastation and apprehend many of the perpetrators involved in these attacks. Your country and its citizens owe you their lives…"

She paused a minute, letting the words sink in.

"But despite all the lives saved by the bravery of many people, it came with a price…and all those who died, including the people of St. Gabriel, will not be forgotten…" Her eyes rested on Edgar when she spoke these words. He was looking down at his hands now. Michelle gripped the railing more tightly now. She hadn't realized he was back at work. "And neither will those agents killed in the line of duty …" her voice quivered with emotion now. Bill's hand squeezed her shoulder gently and Michelle looked at the ceiling. "I'm sure you've all heard by now that Jack Bauer was killed when attempting to escape arrest from Secret Service." Now the words were spiked with anger. This is how these people would remember Jack. He died trying to "escape arrest". It didn't do him justice. That was what the White House had insisted she'd say, and it was killing her. Chloe was glaring now at nothing in particular, she hated this too. Michelle's eyes finally found Tony and though no one could tell just by his face, Michelle knew he was feeling exactly what she was.

"I know the details seem sketchy…and that most of you probably didn't know Jack that well…but I urge you to remember him as the hero he was…" The tears were coming now and Michelle choked them back to finish her speech.

"Once again thank you for everything…"

Everyone turned back to what they had been doing and Michelle turned to Bill.

"That was great." He smiled. "They'll be sorry to see you go…"

Michelle blushed. "Thanks."

She checked her watch. "Look Bill I think we're gonna head home. We'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yup. Fine."

"You should go home too…"

"I will shortly…"He pushed past her and started descending down the stairs. "Night, Michelle."

Tony brushed past Bill, moving in the opposite direction and followed Michelle wordlessly into her office.

"You okay?" he asked, closing the door behind him.

She nodded and wiped her eyes quickly. "Fine." She smiled. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

Michelle grabbed her purse. "Let's go."

The ride home seemed to take forever for Michelle's exhausted body. Staring out the car window, she knew she was close to loosing it now. Seeing everyone, remembering all the people who had died, had brought back memories of all the times she'd experienced this in her career. Thoughts came flooding back to her. George…Ryan…Gael…Paula…there were so many…and now Jack. Jack who didn't deserve to be labeled with "died trying to escape arrest"…to be demeaned like that…. And someone would have to tell Kim. Kim had been through enough and now she would think her father was dead. Paul was dead too. He shouldn't have even been brought into any of this…It wasn't fair. None of it was fair. It never had been…

The weight of the day finally came crashing down on her. Michelle rested her head in her hands and started to sob uncontrollably.

Tony was startled by this, but only slightly. He'd known it wouldn't be long in coming… He debated saying something…offering words of comfort…but he knew better. He knew all Michelle wanted right now was to cry…really cry…now that this was all over. So, instead, he reached his right hand over and rubbed her back soothingly while she let the tears come...

Soon, they pulled into the parking lot and Michelle sat up, wiping her eyes. Tony put the car in park and reached both hands over, brushing back a few stray tears with his thumbs. They got out of the car and Tony snaked his arm around Michelle's waist, drawing her in tightly and kissing the top of her head. Michelle smiled sadly, leaned against him, and said nothing as they walked towards the elevator.

When the door finally slammed behind them and Tony made his way into the den Michelle hung back and allowed herself to sigh deeply.

It really was over.