Then she tripped and fell headlong onto the sidewalk.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit..." She wiped her grazed and dripping wet hands on her pants legs and looked around frantically for her phone. Spotting it a few yards in front of her, she stood up to go and pick it up, only to almost fall back down again when she realized that one of her heels was broken.
Swearing again, she kicked off her shoes and ran the couple of steps over the cold, increasingly soaked paving slabs to the phone.
"Michelle, is that you? Hello?" Jack was asking when she finally held it up to her ear.
"Yeah, it's me," she said breathlessly, hastily picking up her shoes and starting to jog back in the direction of their hotel, the only place she could think of to go. "Tony's disappeared."
Saying the words made her situation suddenly seem all too real, and she couldn't stop the tears which began to fall onto her cheeks, which were already wet from the rain.
Sensing her distress, Jack responded in a calm, comforting voice. "Okay, Michelle; tell me what happened and I promise I'll do everything I can."
"We were at a restaurant -- Tony went to the bathroom and he never came back! I checked the whole building, he's not there!"
"Alright, look -- where are you?"
"Some small town outside LA, I don't remember what it's called... We're staying at a hotel."
Said hotel was now visible at the end of the street, and Michelle's feet automatically increased their pace.
"Okay, I want you to check out of the hotel and come back to CTU. You'll be safe here, and I can help you find Tony."
"Okay." Michelle paused, and slowed to a walk to catch her breath. "Thanks, Jack."
"No problem. See you soon."
She put the phone away and resumed running.
-- --
Michelle managed to get her tears under control long enough to make her way up to her and Tony's room without drawing too much attention to herself. However, when she went to put the key in the lock and missed, she suddenly couldn't hold it in any longer. She was sobbing loudly by the time she finally got the door open on her third attempt, and stood just inside the room, staring helplessly at the clothes strewn all over the floor and wondering where to start.
Somehow, in all the nightmare scenarios which had played out in her head since this whole thing began, the thought that they might take Tony from her like this had never entered Michelle's mind. Oh, she had worried about them being separated, but not like this! She had thought they might decide to part ways for a while to increase their chances for survival, or that if their pursuers finally captured them they would be torn apart begging and crying and shouting 'I love you', but for them to take him without warning, without leaving any kind of trace... What would they do with him? Torture him, kill him?
A loud sob escaped her at the thought of this, and she put her hands over her face.
But no, she told herself, she had to pull herself together. She would never find him if she allowed herself to be a gibbering wreck like this, and she had to find him. There was nothing else to do but find him, so find him she damned well would.
Squaring her shoulders, she pulled her suitcase out from under the bed and began throwing things in it as fast as she could, not stopping to fold them neatly. There weren't really that many things to pack -- after all, they had only checked in a couple of hours ago -- it was just the mess she and Tony had left them in that was making it look like so much.
She dropped the ruined heels in the suitcase when her clothes were all packed and dug around for some more sensible shoes -- something she should have done before packing, in retrospect. Shaking her head at herself in annoyance, she went to the bathroom to pack her toiletries and fetch Tony's toothbrush and razor. She avoided looking at herself in the mirror; she must look like hell, but if she looked at herself she would have the unquenchable desire to fix her make-up and cause delays she really couldn't afford. She could make herself look semi-human again when she got to CTU and knew that Jack had things under control and could spare her for a few minutes.
Michelle went back into the bedroom, snapped her suitcase shut and turned to pack Tony's things, which thankfully only really consisted of the forest-dirt covered clothes he had been wearing earlier. She gathered them together and went to open his bag. She threw them in quickly and was about to turn away when something shiny caught her eye. Frowning, she pulled it out from underneath the clothes.
It was a silver-framed photograph of Tony and her, taken at their engagement party. She hadn't even noticed that he had brought it with him.
Tears began to sting the backs of her eyes again. She tried to make them go away, but they wouldn't, until she finally gave in and lay back on the bed, clutched the photograph to her chest and cried.
-- --
Fifteen minutes later Michelle was striding out into the parking lot of the hotel, dry-eyed with her head held high and cursing herself repeatedly for letting her emotions overwhelm her and cost her valuable time. She walked purposefully towards the car, somehow managing to carry two bags and a suitcase and still move relatively quickly, which was more than a little important in the still pouring rain.
The car was parked in a puddle, under a tree whose branches channeled the water directly down Michelle's back as she reached for the keys. She put the bags down and unlocked the door, intending to just throw them all on the passenger seat and drive off as quickly as possible.
However, when Michelle went to climb into the car, she saw that the passenger seat was already occupied.
She banged her head hard on the top of the door frame when she tried to scramble out again backwards, and was momentarily too stunned to do anything but stare at the woman sitting in her car, who simply grinned.
"Hello, Michelle," said Nina. "Long time no see."