ABOUT A YEAR LATER – AFTER DAY 4
"So what do we do now?" Michelle asked as they drove away, having left Jack to go off into hiding, now being 'dead', and wrapped things up at CTU. She couldn't help looking over to Tony repeatedly. When he'd been shot, when they'd taken him off to jail, she'd felt like the separation and the uncertainty would wreck her heart into a state impossible to mend. And when the divorce started happening, she'd come ever closer to this feeling.
But nothing compared on the scale like how she felt as she witnessed Mandy's ruse. For a short time that seemed like an eternity, she'd had no other choice but to believe Tony, her Tony… dead. Any barriers that had stood strong in an effort to protect her in those heartbreaking times between them had no chance at all. She was coming undone, couldn't process much anymore.
As she'd sat in her car, trying to will herself to drive home alone again, she'd felt like the last pieces of her composure were falling away. How could she ever go on, having gotten and lost the love of her life so many times? She really doubted this for a moment.
Then the phone rang.
Tony was alive.
It took some time for her to get it back together. But when she saw him, she felt her world grow around her once more. She saw him and she felt safe.
And so now she had trouble looking away. He was there, he was okay. He was okay, they were okay… But after what they'd gone through, trying to start where they'd left off wasn't possible. They had to find a new ground.
Tony caught on to this, reached for her hand as he kept one hand on the steering wheel. "We're… going to need to have a talk." She nodded. "My place isn't very… company friendly right now. So… it's up to you."
"I don't know about you, but I'm kind of hungry… breakfast?"
"Okay," he nodded.
They drove up to a diner, found a table. They still wore the day on their shoulders, but for the moment sleep could wait. Now they just needed to find a starting point.
"How's your brother?"
"He's… good. He's getting married in the summer."
"The girl from the market? Uh, Fiona?" he recalled.
"Yeah," she nodded.
"Good for him," he nodded back. "You've kept in touch with Clara, she told me a few weeks back."
"I know Anna wasn't too fond of me after…" she paused. "But Clara didn't want to cut ties and neither did I."
"That's good. You shouldn't have to either." They had to stop beating around the bush and they knew it.
"Maybe we should start slow, get things going again," she suggested. Tony nodded.
"Works for me. Though… not too slow."
"Of course not," she smiled. "I was thinking… if we were to make a clean break from… this world, this work – maybe we should move. Not too far, San Diego, or Pasadena, or somewhere else…" He pondered over the idea, nodding slowly.
"Might be better that way. We can start looking, you check a city and I'll check another…" She gave him a smile, twirling the spoon in her coffee cup.
"Okay." After a sip, she looked back to Tony. "I'm so tired, but I can't sleep either…"
"You should rest anyhow. We both should."
"Keep me company?" she asked quietly.
"I'd love to," he gave her a nod.
After a quick meal, they drove to Michelle's apartment. Just as his place hadn't been completely put together, hers wasn't fully settled either. They lied side by side, Tony's arm draped protectively over her. Soon sleep came over them both, the most restful slumber they'd had since the day of the virus.
Weeks passed, the newly reunited couple basking in the calm of their search for a home, away from the jobs they had given up. They would spend a few days at Tony's, then switch to Michelle's. As they'd expected, Danny, James, and Clara were overjoyed at this development. Anna wasn't as easy to convince, and things were still not quite patched up between her and Michelle, though she was starting to come around.
They found a house, which they decided to buy once they'd visited it, in San Diego. They made a few journeys back and forth, working to ready the place. They painted, fixed, measured. Forty-two days after they were reunited, they moved into their home. The time they'd had together thus far was like the 'good old days' and then some. They no longer had the stress of the job hanging over their heads. If there were ever any apprehensions about the "to quit or not to quit" decision, they had since evaporated.
"It's even better than I thought it would be…" Michelle smiled as she stood amidst the boxes. Tony looked up from the box he was opening.
"And it's within walking distance of the beach," he nodded approvingly.
"When Danny gets back, we have to get our picture taken out in front," she requested.
"Good idea," he agreed.
"We'll have to start thinking about jobs. We can only go so far with what we've got."
"I know. Let's just get settled in here, then we'll look."
"Right. And of course there's the part where we don't even know where we're looking," she sighed.
"We'll find something."
"I know."
"I might have a problem in some places, but…"
"Hey," she walked up to him. "It'll be fine." He gave her a smile.
"Who am I to argue?" She smiled back and nodded.
Two weeks later, Tony had found a job. Both of them had needed to think hard about what they wanted to do, if they weren't doing the type of work that they'd done for years now. His choice had surprised her. He'd taken a job at a local high school as a coach and instructor for the swim classes and teams.
It was a few more weeks before Michelle found herself a job as well. Perhaps having some or no ties at all to the experiences two years before, she was hired as manager of a hotel. It had taken her some time to direct herself in one direction, but once she'd figured it out, it all fell into place.
Their new careers, new home and location, did just what they would hope they did and then some. In this new world, they were able to mend toward a positively normal life. They couldn't deny that they sometimes missed the energy of the days back at CTU. But one look at each other and they could put nostalgia to rest.
Thanks to this, four months after reuniting, they were able to approach the subject of becoming husband and wife once more. They did not want to jump into it right away, but with the months that had passed as they did…
It came to them quite simultaneously one afternoon as they were receiving their families. Any animosity and awkwardness had all but disappeared and they had all come for a visit. They had set up a great long table in the yard, the hosts of this gathering sitting at either end of the table. The talk was friendly and lively, the people were enjoying themselves.
Tony and Michelle looked up to each other to find the other's eyes. Their gazes locked together, the two seemed to understand the reason for the twinkle in their partner's eyes – they knew what they wished for. Almost for confirmation, Michelle lightly tugged at her earring, making Tony smirk to himself with a nod.
They kept the silent re-proposal to themselves for the remainder of the meal. Finally, as their guests were about to move from the table, they stood.
"Sorry, before anything else…" Tony started as he gestured discreetly for Michelle to join him, which she did. The others seemed puzzled by this, though it suddenly dawned on a few as they watched Michelle walk to Tony's side. "Since you're all here now, I guess we allowed ourselves to make a decision…" he looked to her.
"We want to renew our vows, to be married again. Right here, with you… tomorrow," Michelle continued, to a resounding approval from their gathered families.
They quickly got on task. They needed to find someone to conduct the ceremony, get food, chairs, and other necessary items. A lot of this happened through the hotel. They called friends both old and new, including Liz from CTU. They would dress more or less casually. They couldn't very well duplicate the first wedding day.
As for rings though, they found them again from within their belongings. Though for a time they had been unable to look at and much less touch them, they still believed in what they represented. In a way it would feel better to regain their old rings. It showed to one and all that they had beaten the demons of their 'past', that they still chose each other.
FOUR MONTHS LATER
Michelle walked into the high school, making her way to the gym, then through to the pool area. She looked through the big glass window, seeing Tony walking the length of the pool on the other side. He had his back turned so he didn't see her. She could hear his voice echoing through as he told some of the kids they were up next.
She watched him walk about for a minute or two. She still couldn't help smiling when she saw him at work. At first she thought it would end up that he'd miss CTU, that this job would suffice for a bit, but then he'd end up regretting it. But he didn't. He genuinely enjoyed himself. It had given her insight on a new side of him, and she found that side absolutely charming.
Her train of thoughts was interrupted as he turned and saw her. She waved and smiled. A minute later he joined her outside the pool area. "Hey," they kissed. "Why aren't you at work?"
"I took the afternoon off." She nodded to the pool, where he saw some of the students were looking at them. "When does the class end?" she laughed.
"Twenty minutes, then it's lunchtime. Care to join me for meatload and macaroni?" She continued to laugh as she nodded. "Okay," he kissed her cheek before heading back into the pool area. She watching him go and sighed happily.
Twenty minutes later, as promised, they made their way to the cafeteria. The way the students greeted him as they passed still made her smile. He was so proud of it all.
Getting trays and heading to the teachers' section, she could hardly keep it together. She wanted to tell him the reason for her arrival at the school, and they were almost there.
"There's a meet in two weeks, the stress is rising in the team," Tony told her as they sat.
"With you as their coach, they'll do just fine," Michelle nodded confidently.
"Yeah, I hope so," Tony nodded. "So you took the afternoon off, any particular reason?" She didn't answer, looking suddenly... nauseated? "Are you okay?" he touched her hand.
"Can... can we go back in the hall?" she asked, looking like she was doing everything possible to prevent being sick. "Please..."
"Yeah, yeah," he stood, getting her to her feet and walking out of the cafeteria. Once there she took a rest against the wall, taking deep breaths. "What's wrong? Michelle?"
"It's going away... Thank you. I'm sorry, I just..." She tried to wrap her mind around what this latest incident could only serve to confirm her suspicions even more.
"And I thought you liked the cafeteria..." That got a shaky smile out of her.
"I-I do, that's not the problem. I guess I should have seen it coming, knowing everything else, and... this time I didn't want to wait for confirmation before..."
"Confirmation before what?" he asked. She looked up at him with a bit of a smile and then it clicked in his mind. "You... yeah?" he asked, taking her hands, arms.
"Maybe... I've been wrong before, but... this feels different." He nodded.
"So what do we do now?"
"Now I take a test..." He shook his head for a moment.
"Will you wait? Just until tonight... I want to be there..." he gave her a smile.
"Okay," she nodded and smiled back. To see he appeared excited, it only made things easier.
"Look, I'll drive you home..."
"No, no, I'm okay," she assured him. "Besides, I need to go to the pharmacy."
"Alright. Call me when you get home?" She laughed.
"Not even sure if it's happening and you're already a worried Daddy..." He smirked.
"Sorry..."
"Don't, I kinda like it..." she kissed him.
"Oh you do, uh?"
"Yeah..."
"Good to know."
Arriving home a half hour later, Michelle called Tony as promised. She'd bought two tests - just to be sure. Now she had a few hours with nothing to do but wait. Every now and then she'd look back to the counter where the two boxes sat, and it took massive amounts of restraint not to dive and go find out. But she'd promised Tony she'd wait, so she'd wait - even if it drove her crazy. She grabbed a couple of movies instead and took to the couch. She willed herself to focus on the screen instead of the boxes.
Finally, around four thirty, Tony arrived. He saw the two boxes, then looked to his wife. "Ready?" he asked as she stood.
"As I'll ever be," she nodded.
A few minutes later, the two were sitting in the bathroom, waiting for the timer to ring. Michelle was just as nervous as she'd been a few years before, but at the same time having Tony with her this time made things a bit easier. They waited silently, not sure what they could really say at the moment. Finally, they heard a 'ding!'.
"You go, I go, we go?" Tony asked.
"I'll go," she nodded. She stood and approached the two sticks. In the time she'd had to wait for Tony, she'd had sufficient time to read the instructions and the "codes". On the first test, one line meant no and two meant yes. On the second, no was blue and yes was pink.
She found two lines and a pink circle staring up at her, clear as day.
Almost stopping a reaction from coming out just yet, she looked back up and turned to Tony. He made a face as though to ask 'well?'. She walked back over to him, placing her hands on his shoulders.
Then she smiled. "Yeah?" he asked, his hands at her sides. She nodded, happy tears springing to her eyes. They kissed, hugged, laughed, trying to land on one response but being unable to settle. They couldn't have been happier in that moment, and remembering the journey to it only elevated everything else.
Eventually they moved to go sit in the living room. "I'll take the morning off tomorrow, go see a doctor."
"I'll go with you."
"You don't have to."
"I know, but I want to." She smiled.
"Fine, but we're going for breakfast first," she nodded.
"Deal." They paused. "Are you going to call your parents?" he asked.
"Yeah, but not yet... I mean, what if something happens..."
"Can't think like that..." he shook his head.
"Can't help it..." she sighed and shrugged.
"Alright. How about we wait a month?" he suggested.
"Sounds good."
The month passed without a hitch, and the future parents came to process what it meant for them before they fianlly made the announcement to their parents. Living away from them as they did, it was easier for them to keep it under wraps. They knew Michelle's mother would have figured it out otherwise. Once they did know, it wasn't long before they dropped in for a visit, to congratulate them in person.
Seeing her brother had gained and regained on the joy he used to emanate when Michelle was there with him, Anna was able to allow any residual uneasiness with her sister-in-law. During the impromptu party, she came to sit next to her as the others were busy elsewhere. They observed Tony dancing with his nieces.
"So... if you need anything at all, if you've got some questions..."
"I'll call you," Michelle smiled to her.
"Okay," Anna took a breath.
TBC