She gasped and choked and struggled for breath as they broke back into the cool night air, and couldn't concentrate hard enough to recognize her rescuer until he had dragged her ashore and cupped her face in his hands, asking if she was alright.
"Tony!" she cried, staring into the face she had been convinced she would never see again, and burst into tears.
"Michelle," Tony whispered in relief, and planted a kiss on her lips before pulling her closer. "Oh, thank God."
Michelle clung to his wet, clammy and yet somehow comfortingly warm form as if her life still depended on it, sobbing into his chest. "I'm sorry, Tony, I'm so sorry..."
"Shh, don't be sorry. It's okay."
"It's not! They could've killed you because of me!"
"Yeah, well, they didn't." He began to rub her back. "They had trouble opening the gasoline, and I managed to grab it from them and knock them out. Then I went through their pockets to find the keys to unchain myself, and then I came after you."
"How?"
She could hear the grin in his voice. "I hid on the roof of the truck."
"And they didn't see you?" she asked, astonished.
"Nope. The only problem was I had to wait for them to go before I could come out of hiding and jump in after you."
Michelle sighed. "Thank you."
Tony kissed her dripping hair. "No problem."
Michelle closed her eyes and leaned into him still further, hugging him as tightly as she could. They sat there by the water for a long while, huddled together in their sodden clothes, until the sun began to rise behind them.
A car pulled up.
Tony and Michelle's heads snapped around and they clung to each other tightly, each trying to protect the other. The front door opened, and Jack stepped out. The door on the other side slammed a moment later, and Lieutenant Martin stepped into view.
Michelle felt Tony breathe a sigh of relief.
Jack and the lieutenant jogged over, glancing around themselves quickly before kneeling down. "Hey", said Jack, shrugging out of his jacket. "Are you alright?" He held the jacket out to Michelle, who accepted it gratefully, disentangling herself from Tony for the briefest possible time while she pulled it on.
"Yeah." Tony nodded. "We're okay."
"What happened?" asked Lieutenant Martin, taking in their waterlogged appearances.
"They tried to drown her," Tony replied. He found Michelle's hand and squeezed it.
"We should get you to a hospital," the lieutenant said. "Swimming with your clothes on in the middle of the night doesn't exactly promote good health." She offered Michelle her hand.
Jack pulled Tony up and they began to walk slowly back towards the car.
"What happened to the people who did this?" Jack asked.
"They got away," Michelle told him. "But they may not know yet that we did."
Jack nodded. "Alright, I'll talk to CTU, see if we can track them down."
He held the door open for her and she and Tony climbed into the back of the car.
-- --
Michelle leaned against Tony in the back seat, trying to make contact with as much of his body as possible. The change in position and location had made her unpleasantly aware of just how cold and wet she was, and although Tony was just as soaked as she he seemed a lot warmer. She looked up at him, but he was staring straight ahead. She was afraid that everything was beginning to sink in, and wondered what that would mean for them.
"How did you find us, Jack?" she asked, more to distract herself than anything else.
"Satellite images," Jack said, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. "I tried calling you a couple of times and you didn't pick up, and then a security guard found your bags and answered, so I knew where you'd been and managed to find images of you on the road. I called the lieutenant here and we followed."
"But that would only have led you to where they were holding us."
"We went there first," Lieutenant Martin told her from the passenger seat. "But when we got there it was obvious that you were gone. Only one vehicle had left the building after you arrived, so we followed it and it led us here."
"Here where the mysterious figure hanging onto the luggage rack suddenly disappeared," Jack said, grinning.
Tony laughed at this; the first sound he had made in a while.
Michelle smiled at him, but he still wouldn't look back at her. Her heart sank.
-- --
Tony and Michelle were checked over at the nearest hospital and asked to stay the night for observation, though they were assured that this was only a formality and that the worst either of them was likely to get was a cold.
Michelle lay in her blissfully warm and dry hospital bed, probably more exhausted than she'd ever been, and yet no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get to sleep. She tossed and turned despite the dimmed lights and the guards posted outside to protect her.
Eventually, she got up.
The guards insisted on escorting her down the corridor despite the fact that their counterparts outside Tony's room were clearly visible from where they stood. They clustered around her as she pushed open Tony's door, and she had no doubt that they would all be straining their ears to catch whatever snippets of conversation they could and ease the terrible boredom they must feel on jobs like these.
Tony turned his head as the door fell shut behind her.
"Hey," she said softly. She hesitated for a split second before sitting on the bed.
"Hey." He smiled weakly.
She returned the smile, but only for a moment. "Tony... we need to talk."
Tony sighed and shook his head. "Yeah," he admitted. "I guess we do."
There was a long silence, because neither of them knew where to start.
"Nina--" Michelle started eventually.
"Did you really--" Tony said simultaneously.
Michelle sighed and looked down. "Yes," she confessed.
Tony nodded.
"It wasn't as bad as she made it sound, but... I did sleep with her. This guy I'd been dating, he was killed in action, and I was pretty upset, obviously... and then Nina showed up at my apartment. We drank a lot, and she made me feel... alive again. Less lonely. So after that I guess I kind of clung to her, just because I had nobody else to cling to. When she decided to take me on that mission with her I was so happy, I felt like I actually meant something... and then of course it all fell apart. And... that's it. It ended, I learned that I could put myself back together on my own if I really wanted to, I picked myself back up... that whole mess happened with Carrie, but I dealt with it... and then I met you."
It took Tony a while to speak, and when he did his voice was soft. "How come you never told me any of this?"
She shook her head. "Nina hurt you so much, whenever her name would come up you'd just freeze... and well... she's a woman. I was afraid of what you would think, that you might doubt even for a second that I love you with all my heart..."
"Michelle..." Tony shifted his position in the bed and took her hand in his. "I could never doubt that." He smiled. "You saved my life the other day!"
Michelle sighed in a relief. "Yeah, but we're even now," she said, smiling in return.
Tony pulled her closer. "I love you," he said sincerely.
"Oh, I love you so much..." Michelle felt on the verge of tears again.
They kissed.
"So I'm forgiven?" Michelle asked. She had to be sure.
Tony nodded affectionately, amused by her uncertainty. "Yeah, you're forgiven." He held up a finger. "On one condition."
"What's that?" she said, slightly nervous despite herself.
"That you climb into bed with me this instant. I can't sleep without you."
Michelle laughed. "I'm not sure the nurses will be too happy about that."
"Well, that's their problem. Come on."
Michelle happily obliged, and snuggled down next to her husband.