When Tony awoke, it was dark. He lay on the bed for a few moments, trying to work out where he was. Then he remembered. Now that he wasn't so tired, Michelle's having fun while he was away seemed far more reasonable to him than it had earlier. He realised how unfair he was being; of course Michelle had some fun while he was away, she wasn't going to spend six months in the house on her own completely depressed.
He got up and headed downstairs. Michelle was in the kitchen, he could hear her cooking. He opened the door and a flurry of fantastic smells hit him. How he had missed cooking and eating decent food! Michelle turned round and smiled at him, and, for the first time in six months, Tony smiled back. "What's cooking?" he asked her casually.
"Pasta. Is that ok? I wasn't sure what you wanted to do about food, but you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you". Tony grinned, here was someone who actually cared about him, and wanted him to be happy.
They sat down to eat. Tony loved the food – it was so much better than the grime he had eaten every day in prison. He asked Michelle what she'd been doing in the past few weeks.
"I've been doing up the house – the bathrooms are done, and so is the lounge, so only the kitchen to do now, and that'll be loads faster now that you're here to help… if you want to". Tony looked up at her sharply, annoyed at the suggestion that he might not want to want to. What did she think of him? That he was lazy?
"Why wouldn't I?" he challenged.
"I…It's just you didn't seem all that happy about it in the car, that's all." Michelle stammered, wishing he wasn't so edgy about everything. She knew Jack had warned her, but she couldn't understand why Tony was so uptight about everything. Why couldn't he just go back to being happy like he always was?
"Give me a break Michelle, I've just been released from prison!" he retorted furiously.
Michelle looked as if she was going to lose her temper with him, but managed to control herself, and instead stayed silent. They ate the rest of the pasta without a word. Tony began to feel guilty about shouting. He knew he had overreacted and didn't want Michelle to be upset. She got up and began to tidy everything away.
"Michelle. I'm sorry" Tony mumbled staring at the table.
"It's ok" Michelle replied gratefully, "I know it must have been awful for you Tony". She wanted to tell him how sorry she was that he had to go through it, how grateful she was to him for saving her life, how she understood what a hard choice it must have been for him, but she didn't know how to put it, or how he would feel if she told him.
They settled on the sofa after tea, and began to watch a film on TV. Tony felt awkward next to Michelle, he hadn't seen her for over six months and wasn't sure what to do. It was like their first date all over again, only worse, because instead of simply feeling nervous, he felt useless.
"By the way, I rang your parents to tell them you were being released this morning, and they said to give them a ring at some point," Michelle said, breaking the silence.
"Oh…right. I'll give them a ring now and let them know that I'm ok." Tony stood up and walked into the hallway, wondering what he was going to say to his parents. 'Hi, I'm ok, I've already managed to argue with Michelle over nothing…' He picked up the phone and dialed.
Tony's mum picked up, and, due to her screaming ecstatically at hearing his voice on the other end, cheered Tony up immensely. He missed his parents, and asked them over for the following day. They agreed, and Tony told them to come for dinner. He hung up the phone and looked through the lounge door towards Michelle. She looked tense and worried, and Tony knew he wasn't helping to improve her spirits.
He moved back into the lounge, and settled on the sofa. "So, ah, how's work?" he asked her, then immediately regretted the choice of topic. He knew that Michelle left CTU to work at Division shortly after his arrest, and although she had always been positive about work in her letters to him, he guessed that some people must have given her a hard time over his prison sentence. He had been thrilled to hear that she left CTU, after how they betrayed him, he didn't want her to be around those people. He felt his blood begin to boil at the thought of his 'friends' at CTU. How many times had he put his life on the line for them and thousands of Americans?
"It's good," Michelle replied cautiously, not wanting to give Tony any reason to feel awkward. "We've got a lot of work on at the moment so I've been busy, but I enjoy it".
Tony nodded, not knowing what to say in reply. He hadn't given his own employment a second thought since being released; it had all happened so fast. But now he began to wonder how he was going to find employment. The only job he had ever really enjoyed was CTU – he had loved the challenge and thrill of working against the clock to bring down terrorists, despite the stress, but even if they offered him a job there now (although he knew they wouldn't) he wouldn't take it, after how they treated him.
And he knew that any potential new employer would want his absence from work over the last six months explained, which Tony wasn't sure he could do. What could he blame it on? Stress? 'I was in prison for treachery' didn't sound very promising. He didn't even know what kind of job he wanted to do. During his stay in prison, when he imagined being released, a job had never crossed his mind. The images he had imagined always entailed him and Michelle having fun together – he had completely forgotten about a job.
He pushed the worry aside, and turned to Michelle. "I invited my parents over for dinner tomorrow. That ok?"
"Yeah, great" she smiled. "Want to eat in, or go out someplace?"
"Eat in. I'll cook". Tony longed to cook again – it was one of his favorite ways of relaxing, and something he had really missed doing during his time in prison. That, and eating the food!
He sighed, feeling tired again at the thought of his stay in prison. He rested his head back on the sofa and closed his eyes, only intending to rest them for a few minutes. Michelle glanced across at him and smiled. How she had missed his company, even if he was a little touchy right now. She had hated coming home to a cold, empty house after work, knowing that she would be alone until work the following day. Since Tony's arrest she had tried hard to see friends more often, and most of them had been very supportive. But she always felt a faint pang of guilt, when she laughed with them, knowing that Tony was locked in some small cell on his own.
She watched him for a few more minutes, making sure he was asleep before getting up, and going to bed herself, happier than she had been for six months.