This story is purely fictional, written between S1 and S2, about Michelle's first day at work. I don't own any of these characters!

The chilly, November air sneaked into the warm truck through the tiny crack in the passenger window. It was morning, the beggining of another day at the Counter Terrorist Unit, working all day at a computer and getting false terrorist threats. Tony didn't particularly enjoy his work, but it put bread on the table.

Tony sat quietly in his truck in the CTU parking lot, puffing his cigarrete and finishing off his last sip of coffee. After feeling the last sip trickle down his throat, he chunked his Cubs mug down in the cup holder and threw his ciggarete out the window. He unhappily pulled the door handle, let out a long yawn, and stepped out of the truck.

Before going inside and clocking in, he observed the area. Not a garden, but not too bad. There were bare trees and a few natural left-over flowers popping up in the middle of no-where specifically. A squirel scurried up a tree, searching the bare branches for any acorns that his buddies hadn't already claimed.

Out of the blue Tony heard a car driving into the parking lot. He turned to see who it was, but he couldn't recognise the vehicle at all. 'Great, must be the new guy Mason was talking about'.

The blue and black car parked, and a short, slim woman gracefully stepped out of the drivers side door. She had brown, curly hair and looked very peaceful. Her deep brown eyes wandered over to Tony, who was observing every move she made, taking in every aspect of this new woman. She lowered her eyes shyly, and walked over to Tony.

"Hello, my name is Michelle Dessler. This is my first day here." She looked up and gave Tony a smile.

"Hi Miss Dessler, my name is Tony Almeida." Tony smiled right back. "You must be the new employee Chappelle's been talking about."

"I must be. Well, we better get inside before were both late."

She started walking towards the door, her steps light and elegant. Tony followed her with his eyes for a moment, entranced by this woman's beauty. She looked back at him, but only for a second, and Tony ran to catch up with her. He was just fine with going to work now.

After passing through security Tony escorted Michelle up to Mason's office. Halfway up the stairs Michelle turned towards Tony and said "Thank you, for all your help Tony, but you need to get busy on your work. I think I can talk to Chappelle without help." She gave him a smile, and Tony said "Alright, see ya' later." He walked back down the stairs, and then heard soft footsteps continuing up to Chappelle's office. Tony smiled when he heard her sweet voice, "Mr. Mason?" and then the door to his office shut and Tony knew that he had fallen in love with this wonderful woman.