5th part of the prequel

originally a roleplay, so...

Tony Almeida: MFLuder

Michelle Almeida: JackAddict / Neromaguire

After his meeting with Jack, Tony heads home. He's angry and disappointed at Michelle for the fact that she spoke to Jack about things that were between the two of them. As Tony gets home, he sits on the couch and waits for Michelle.

Tony thinks to himself: She owes me an explanation. Why did she go to Jack? Doesn't she trust me, or maybe she resents me so much she doesn't want to talk to me about this face to face. After waiting for a while his fatigue overcomes him and he falls asleep, feeling angry and hurt at the same time.

As Tony wakes up again, it's already late afternoon. He sits up and rubs his face, thinking about what happened earlier. He pours himself a drink and walks to the window. He sees Michelle's car pulling up in the driveway so he places the glass on a table and sits back on the couch. At that moment the door to the lounge room slides open and Michelle walks through. She closes it behind her and smiles as she sees Tony. She walks over to the couch, sitting down next to him. "Hi" She says, reaching out and kissing his cheek, the rough stubble on his face brushing against her chin.

"Hey. I met Jack today." He says plainly, not responding to her affections.

"Really? How is he?" Michelle asks, leaning casually against his shoulders.

Feeling the anger come back up inside him, Tony gets up and starts pacing around the room. "You just had to go to him, didn't you? And tell him of the things that are only between us? Why didn't you talk to me first? I'm your husband, for God's sake."

Michelle realizes what has happened, she slowly starts to stand, looking Tony directly in the eyes, speaking softly. "I tried to talk to you Tony... but you always avoid me, you won't talk..." Tony turns away from her but she continues. "What else could I have done?"

Tony turns around abruptly, facing her again. "This is between you and me! Not between us and Jack! Are you doubting my judgment again, like you did with going to Ryan at CTU? YOU DON'T EVEN TRUST ME ANYMORE, DO YOU!", he yells with venom in his voice.

Michelle shrinks back. "I... Yes, it's between us, but when you act like this you don't give me a choice..."

Tony "A choice? There's always a choice Michelle! But obviously, you chose to trust Jack and not your husband! You didn´t trust me to do my job at CTU that day, why should you trust me now?"

"Honey please, I DO trust you, but every time I've tried to talk to you about this you've changed the subject. All this hasn't only been hard on you, Tony, it's been difficult for me too! I mean if you had actually been paying attention to me instead of drinking you might have realized that."

"My drinking is none of your business, Michelle! Let alone Jack's!", Tony yells. "You have no idea what I've gone through, so BACK OFF!" At this, he grabs the glas from the table and throws it forcefully onto the floor.

Taken aback by his demeanor, Michelle lowers her eyes for a moment in an attempt to hide the shock that must have been visible on her face. "Tony...", she utters, chancing a step towards him and taking his hand between hers.

He pulls his hand away and subconsciously touches the scar in his neck: "Sometimes I think it would have been better for you if I had died that day! You could have just moved on with your life, not having to go to Jack for help." He turns and walks to the window, silently staring at the setting sun.

Michelle sinks down into the couch staring at him, her mouth wide open. She swallows hard, closing her eyes tightly. "I need you Tony, I love you... But clearly you don't need me," She pauses to hold back a sob, "Or love me."

Tony hears her words and now Jack's words come back to him: "Tony, if you don't get a grip on yourself, you'll lose Michelle". He realizes he is losing her, but it's not because she doesn't trust him. It's because he has been blind in his misery. Blind to the pain he has caused her. He sees her beginning to sob inconsolably and it's breaking his heart.

He approaches her and tentatively touches her. She shrinks away slightly but he continues. "Oh baby, what have I done. I never wanted to hurt you. I wanted to save you. You're the one who gave my life meaning again after Nina, and you still do." A tear slides down his cheek. "I'm sorry."

Gently, she wipes away the tear from his cheek. "It hurts to be away from you Tony... But it hurts even more to sit here and watch you long for death. I can't do this. I don't want to just sit here and watch you die, I want you to live again, I need you to live again.", she pleads, desperation in her voice.

Tony takes her into his arms, holding his crying wife tightly and whispers: "I'm so sorry sweetheart, so sorry... Please forgive me... I'll try." , he whispers, not willing to say anything more.

She wraps her arms around him, and they stay like this for a while. Then, she frees herself from his embrace and looks him in the eye pleadingly. "Talk to me, Tony, let me be a part of your life again. Let me help you through this. Just please don't give up." Her voice breaks.

"I never knew I was hurting you so badly. I need to know... will you forgive me?", he whispers, burying his head in her rich curls.

"You know I will Tony... I just feel so alone right now, so abandoned.", she utters the last word almost inaudibly.

The last words hit his heart like a hot knife. "I'm sorry.", he whispers after a while. He gets up with Michelle in his arms, and seeing she's exhausted he continues: "Let's get some sleep. You need to go to work tomorrow."

She nods, seeing the impact the words have had on her husband, she shakes her head, getting the thought out of her mind, the thought that had been running through her mind all day: I won't be back after tomorrow. But now, she didn't think that any more, she would stick around and see if things got better. She couldn't believe how close she had been to losing the person she loved.

Tony is torn, the last thing he wanted to do was to hurt Michelle. As they walk towards the bedroom, he holds her tightly, feeling bad about everything that has happened and everything that was still hapenning. I'm sorry sweetheart, I never wanted to get you tangled in this… After all that we've been through ….I just want to try and forget it, get on with life. He ponders.

He feels that it cannot go on like this, that something needs to change. But the scars he wears are still fresh and drowning them in alcohol is the only way he knows to make them disappear, if only for a short while. He will have to face his demons eventually, but right now, talking would just reopen the wounds that were barely healing.

this is the end of the prequel. what comes next is a separate story that takes place in one day between s3 and s4, but it may not be 24 chapters long. we'll see how long it gets.