Tony opened his eyes late in the day, as usual, and rolled over. Jen was no longer in the bed with him, but honestly, he didn't really care where she was. Their one-night stand had turned into night after night, and he'd ended up staying at Jen's. He didn't want to return to living at his and Michelle's house, knowing that it would only remind him of Michelle. Not that he needed much help being reminded of her.

He was still drinking a large amount of the time, and hadn't made any attempt to find a job. It had been two months since Michelle had left him, and Tony missed her terribly, not that he would admit it. He couldn't believe how selfish she was being, abandoning him after he had gone to prison for her, and he had made his feelings well known to her on the few attempts she had made to call him. But now the phone calls had stopped.

He'd received a letter from her lawyer two weeks ago concerning divorce proceedings, and he had known that it was final. Until then, he'd always hoped that Michelle would change her mind, and come back. But she hadn't.

Michelle arrived back at her dark, lonely apartment late into the evening, after another long, problematic day at Division. She tried to arrive as early as she could, and leave as late as possible, in order to avoid spending the evenings alone, thinking about Tony. But no matter how hard she tried to occupy her mind with work, or anything else, Tony still managed to take up a large proportion of her thoughts every day. Had she done the right thing?

Michelle knew that she couldn't have stayed with him in that state, but that didn't stop her from repeating the months that they were together after he was released from prison over, and over in her mind. Could she have done anything differently?

She locked the front door behind her, and switched on the light in a feeble attempt to make the house look warm and inviting. It didn't work. Sighing, Michelle pulled a takeaway menu from the kitchen table, and picked up the phone. There was no point in the menu; she knew the number, and what she was going to order off by heart.

When the meal arrived, Michelle took it to her desk and sat down to work on a report for Division whilst eating. The phone rang, and her thoughts immediately jumped to Tony. But it wouldn't be him. He'd made it perfectly clear to her that he didn't want to talk to her anymore. She grabbed the phone and answered it, not wanting to talk to anyone.

It was Division. They needed her to come in. Michelle agreed, almost thankful for the diversion that would surely mean her staying at work all night. At least she wouldn't spend the night alone, unable to sleep, unable to block the thoughts of Tony. But while she had once enjoyed work, and loved the challenge of every day, now she simply used it to block other thoughts. She no longer felt the rush of adrenaline in the fight against terrorists. That had disappeared a long time ago, when Michelle had taken life for granted, when time had seemed to last forever with Tony. But it hadn't, and since he had been taken away to prison, away from her and out of her life, and the Tony she had known had never returned, Michelle had simply used work to escape from her life.

Tony reached for the phone for what seemed like the thousandth time that evening. But every time that his fingers had closed on the receiver, and his trembling fingers began to push the buttons, he had given in to fear, and thrown it down, burying his face in his hands. He took a deep breath, and punched in the numbers. His mind was whirling, but, for the first time in… a long time, he was sober. He had to make this call. He had to tell Michelle how he felt. How much he missed her, and how sorry he was.

The phone began to ring. On one end, Tony sat trembling, reciting what he wanted to say in his mind over and over again, determined not to mess this up. On the other was a dark, cold apartment, deserted of life. She wasn't there.

As the realisation that Michelle wasn't home hit Tony, he hung up, and began to pace the room furiously. Where was she? At work? With her friends?

Either way, she had clearly moved on. Away from him. Without him.

She didn't spend nights unable to sleep, thoughts of their last few months together crowding her mind. She didn't find herself unable to get a job, knowing that she couldn't block him from her mind long enough to concentrate. Long enough to stay away from the alcohol. She worked in a job she loved, she would laugh with others, and she would enjoy herself.

And if she wasn't at work, she would be out, either with a friend, or… Tony grimaced at the thought of Michelle on a date. He should be beside her now. But she didn't care.

The thoughts of remorse and wanting to make things right with Michelle flew away from him, and were replaced by anger. Anger at what she had done to him swallowed him; how she had left him in this state, how she had left him so desperately alone that he had somehow ended up living with a woman that he didn't care about.

The thoughts of staying sober to try and talk to Michelle, to persuade her to come back, were replaced by a need for alcohol. He grabbed a bottle, yanked the top from it, and drank. He needed to forget.

Michelle sighed, taking a moment's rest from the constant night's work. She hadn't stopped, which had allowed her to push Tony to the back of her mind. Almost. Now she sat at her desk, revelling in the seconds of peace, but also hating them. Because now, as soon as she had stopped working, he was there again at the forefront of her mind. The harder she tried to push thoughts of him away, the harder it became to remove them.

So Michelle didn't stay at her desk, where she could sit quietly and take a few minutes rest from the exhausting night. She stood up, pulled a determined mask onto her face, and walked back into the centre of the room, demanding update reports from her personnel. Because while saving the country from a terrorist threat might be seemingly impossible, at least Michelle could try to deal with it.

Dealing with Tony was another matter. One that Michelle couldn't see any way to solve.