Hi everyone. Sorry it's literally been forever but at least this chapter is finally up. I'm not sure I'm satisfied but I needed some cheering up with them, so this is fluffy. WARNING: there is swearing and DISCLAIMER: not mine, etc etc.

Oh, and i dont know anything about bombs so if this is completely off, sorry.

Sam sat quietly at Michelle's desk, examining the rubble from the last explosions on the computer monitor. She was pretty sure that they were dealing with a pipe bomb, but she wanted to be sure before she told Tony. Without warning, her phone started ringing. She grabbed it out of her pocket, looked at the caller I.D., and felt her brow wrinkle in fury.

"What?" she spat.

"Sam, I'm so, so sorry about before. I never should've said any of that stuff. Come on, come back to my house. You know we should be together," came a male voice from the other end.

Sam sat still slightly shocked before finding her voice.

"Are you kidding me? You really think you can fix this. Leave me alone you asshole. And don't ever fucking call me again."

With that she clapped her phone closed and put it on the desk, going on like nothing had happened, though inside she was burning.

Upstairs Tony was fuming for what felt like the millionth time in the past two days. There was something about Chappelle that just managed to piss him off.

"Tony, no more exceptions. I'm sending the personnel over you asked for, and now you're complaining?"

"Sir you're sending over one analyst who, with all due respect, is not going to listen to a thing I say!"

"Almeida enough. She's already on her way over. I expect better results now."
With that Chappelle hung up the phone, leaving Tony to slam his own down ferociously and glance nervously down at the entrance.

Michelle approached Sam hastily, desperate to find the group responsible now that they had finally made some leeway with the pattern of the car bombs.

"Got anything Sam?" she asked.

"Yeah, they're pipe bombs. The forensics people labeled parts of the bomb as the exhaust pipe, see?"

Michelle nodded.

"Nice. Adam I want you to pull up all records of recent car bombings using a pipe bomb in the last year that haven't been identified and prosecuted. Kim, run a search for terrorist groups targeting Los Angeles who have previously used home made explosives."

"And what would you like me to do?" came a snide voice from right beside Michelle's station.

Michelle whipped around.

"Carrie?" she said, taken aback in the most unpleasant of ways.

"Hello Michelle. Still second, I see."

"What are you doing here?" she responded shortly.

"Division sent her over," said Tony, striding purposefully over to the desk, "What do we have?"

"Apparently pipe bombs," said Michelle.

"Good. Carrie, why don't you start by filling these out," he said, handing her a stack of files, "While we continue with this."
"Right away, sir," she said, "And by the way, I didn't realize CTU was employing teenagers. I guess the standards have gone way down."

She gave a sickly smile at Sam. Sam returned it, standing up and facing her.

"Well, I've been here for about an hour and can pretty much do anything I want on this system now, but I'm sure that my extreme incompetence will fail to screw up your work. Have fun," she said, giving her a fake smile, a ditzy wave, and sauntering off in the direction of the bathroom, slowing with a laugh at this woman's apparent bitchiness.

Carrie scoffed and headed to her assigned desk with the pile of folders.

"Sorry," said Tony in a low voice, "Chappelle wouldn't budge. He insisted on sending her over."

"It's fine," said Michelle, walking over towards the hallway.

"Hey," said Tony, catching up with her in the deserted hall, "Come here."

He pulled her into his arms off to the side.

"What's going on with you anyway? You've been acting kind of strange, even before Carrie got here."

She hesitated.
"Danny called me," she admitted, sinking her head into his shoulder, taking a deep breath, and finally slowing down as she felt his hands stroking up and down her back and into her hair.

"Uh huh," he said, kissing her below the ear, "And what'd he say?"

"He was drunk. At three in the afternoon."

Tony sighed understandingly, having known the frustration she had been going through with her brother.

"Baby you've gotta let go," he said quietly, "I know it's hard. But he's not your responsibility. Just tell him to go to sleep, and that you have to work. It's not fair that he makes you feel bad about not being at his beck and call. He is not your responsibility."
She pushed into his shoulder, feeling him sweep some hair out of her face and pecker little kisses on the side of her face.

"I know. But… but I can't help it, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," he said, pausing, "We've both had kind of a personal, weird family day haven't we?"

She laughed into his neck. He continued his peckering of kisses on the side of her face, pulling her head back with his hand at the base of her neck, one hand on her cheek, bringing his kiss to rest on her lips. She smiled into his kiss, running her fingers over his cheek and pulling back after one passionate second. They met each other halfway, leaning their foreheads against each others. Michelle's hand steadied on his shoulder, and as they pulled back and looked at each other (Tony absentmindedly playing with her earring) she pushed the other hand through his hair. Her hand ended at the base of his neck, pulling his head in for another quick kiss, broken by the sound of heels clinking down the corridor and a sigh of disapproval.

"Why is it that I always find you doing that?"

FLASHBACK

Michelle walked swiftly out of sight into the neighboring corridor.

"Chelle," came Tony's voice, "Chelle."

She felt his hand grab her arm and turn her around.

"Michelle I- I'm sorry about all this."

"It's not your fault Tony. I just- I just can't stand her!" she whispered.

"I know sweetheart, I know. Just, don't worry about it okay. I know last time you guys worked together you didn't get on very well, but I promise, I'll make sure she doesn't get in your way."

"Thanks," she said, looking down, "She just has this way of getting under my skin."

"Hey," he said, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here. With you. The entire time."

She sighed and pulled him against her, running a hand through his hair slightly and feeling him smile against her lips. His kiss lasted more than a passionate second, fastening onto hers and devouring her lips in a little bit of ecstasy. His tongue slid into her mouth and she moaned just loudly enough into his so that he could hear her. They both smiled against each other's lips as Tony recaptured hers in a quick kiss.

"You know, to see you do this once is one thing. In the middle of a crisis where you clearly weren't thinking right. But to see it twice. I just feel a responsibility to tell Mr. Chappelle about your inappropriate contact and relationship."

Tony and Michelle had both turned around and were glaring at her.

"Well, I'm afraid that it won't be any surprise to him."

"What are you talking about?" asked Carrie, the surprise making her smug expression fade slightly.

"We're getting married. I guess your little plan to screw me over just isn't gonna work this time," said Michelle.

"You're marrying her?" she asked bluntly, unable to hold her tongue as she glanced at Tony.

"Yeah, I'm marrying her," he said, smiling at Michelle,

Tony smiled at Carrie's expression, which was currently disappointed. He was starting to truly dislike this woman in every way possible.

"And Ryan didn't fire you."
"Well, as we're still here-" said Michelle, in a voice that failed to conceal her dislike.

"Uh huh," she said awkwardly, finally giving up and leaving.

Michelle could hardly stifle the giggle she buried in his neck as his smile whispered against her ear.

END FLASHBACK

"Get back to work Carrie. We're on our coffee break," said Tony without even looking at her.

She turned around and walked out, missing Michelle's groan at being caught like that again.

"Coffee break, huh?"

He grinned.

"That's one good tasting coffee then," she smiled at him.

"I do love coffee."

He kissed her softly, less like a kiss more like a press of lips. A hand stroked into his hair, and he pulled back before he couldn't.

He nudged her face with his own, stroking back hair from her face, behind her ear where he brought his mouth so close she could feel his breath on her skin.

"I love you," he whispered, and she smiled.

"I love you too."

She sighed.

"We really should get back to work."

"I guess," he said, smiling and pulling back, "You need anything," he said.

He didn't need to say anything more, sliding his hand from hers and walking away, he was there if she needed him. She knew it.

Four hours later, Sam's help with identifying the bombs as pipe bombs, and Michelle's broadened search on terrorist groups using them, had paid off. Everyone at CTU watched as Jack and his men took down the group of hostels, who had been hiding out in a warehouse in West LA.

"We've got them Tony," came Jack's voice.

"We've got Johnson and all his men we know of. We'll take them back to CTU for questioning."

"Great job Jack," said Tony, "Congratulations everyone. Great work."

There were cheerful mutters of success as the staff dispersed back to their stations, and Tony answered the phone.

"Almeida," came Chappelle's harsh voice, "What the hell do you think you're doing? This raid wasn't authorized. You could've fucked everything up."

Hello to you too, Tony thought.

"Ryan it worked out."
"I don't give a shit if it worked out or not," he spat, "That was irresponsible not to mention completely against protocol. Do you have any idea of the consequences had anything gone wrong? Do you have any idea how close you are to being demoted right now? You're leaving me in serious doubt that you can run things over there; damn it Almeida, I don't want to have to run both Division and CTU so get your shit together."
Tony was seething. He had made the right move, both he and Jack had. Chappelle continued on for what seemed like hours.

"… true concern about your competence…"

Tony finally hung up.

"I'm taking a walk," he spat to Adam, looking furious and exiting CTU.

He walked over to the equipment shed by the parking lot that held guns and vests for the outside security. Entering the code and swiping his card, he pulled out a basketball, shutting the door. Against one side of the walls of CTU, right near the parking lot, was a net and backboard where some of the guys played basketball at breaks. Tony used it to cool off. He stripped off his jacket, noting the grayness of the sky and the lack of light, shooting a perfect three pointer into the hoop and chasing after the ball. He glowered, running up to the hoop and propping up a lay up. He liked how the asphalt felt, hard ant almost bone-splintering against his feet, but familiar, just like these motions felt to him. He liked the game, and got lost in the intensity of it, releasing some of his aggression.

He heard the clink of heals mid shot and turned to see Michelle walking over to him, slight grin on her lips.

"You okay?"
He scoffed, not because he didn't care, but because he was frustrated.

Without speaking, she stripped off her coat jacket and heels, walking up to face him barefoot.

"Lets go Almeida," she said, a sly twinkle in her eyes.

He stared, and she grabbed the ball, spinning and releasing, hearing the whoosh of the net as the ball dropped in. He went to get the ball and came out to her.

"Okay," was all he said, although something between amusement and the past traces of frustration lingered in his eyes.

He spun around, dribbling around her as she tried to guard him, stealing the ball, making him smile. She shot and the ball hit the rim and bounced off.

"Damn," he heard her mutter.

She grabbed the ball again and he started blocking her. She made several break away attempts, grinning at him doing his best to thwart her.

With neither really registering it, it started to rain.

Wet, Michelle went around him just as he grabbed the ball and went back out to their presumed half court line.

It was his turn, and as he went to get around her, she hit the ball and he chased after it while she got in position to guard the net.

He walked back to her, dropping the ball on his way and instead scooping her up into his arms.

Lips met lips as the rain drenched them. Tony, one arm supporting her back, the other around her shoulders, felt her hand run up his cheek as the other wrapped around his neck into his hair. Nothing in the entire world felt this natural, this utterly right. His tongue parted her lips and she moaned softly, though it was lost in the patter of the rain. The hand wrapped around her shoulders reached up and pulled the hair matted on her face back. He felt her tongue trace his lower lip and pulled her even more firmly against him, kissing this woman he loved even harder, numb to the cold of the rain.

The distant sound of a van screeching to a halt in the parking lot before them was lost on the pair as they remained in a tight embrace, unable to pull themselves back from something that felt so damn good. The door slid open not far from them but neither cared as their lips seemed to fit perfectly together.

Lost in their own little world, they didn't even bother to register the insaneness of what they were doing. They were full on making out in the middle of the CTU parking lot, drenched from the rain. They never did this in public. The kisses were passionate with slightly frantic undertones, which reminded Michelle irresistibly of how they kissed before making love. Had this been a fenced backyard, she thought regrettably as rational started to work its way through the foggy mist that her brain had turned into, Tony would no doubt have been on top of her by now, her back to the ground. The rain would've splattered around them but she would've been warm enough in his arms as he pulled at her skirt and she pulled at his slacks and they made warm passionate love in the rain.

But it didn't matter now because he was pressing beautiful, warm fingers into the base of her neck, pulling her lips against his, and her hand was running over that flawless cheek of his into his hair, and she was lost in this man she loved more than anything in the entire world.

Neither missed the whoop of one of the tactical team guys, but the now slower kisses continued and Tony could tell she didn't care as her tongue slid a little bit into his mouth. He briefly registered that it had stopped pouring rain. He felt a hand run up into his hair and her lips slide to the side of his, panting breathlessly against his cheek. He slid his lips below her ear and kissed her softly, guarding her from two much view from the guys he were certain were lined up about ten yards away.

"I love you," he breathed hot breath against her ear, still panting.

He nuzzled slightly but not too much into her neck, upset by the interruption and jolt back into reality.

"I love you. And I want you," she said with a gasping giggle, "I love Sam but how long has it been since we've made love?"

"Do you want to the minute or the hour?" he asked smiling against her hairline.

She pushed her face into his chest as his arms wrapped securely around her, him planting kisses in her hair. He closed his eyes, burying his nose into her scented hair, inhaling deeply before having to face what seemed a crowd of unwelcome eyes.

God he loved this woman.

He brushed wet hair behind her ears just as she brought her hand up to his neck and pulled back from his chest, smiling softly at him with a meaningful look he knew to mean 'shit, we are so busted'. She kissed him softly on the lips as he felt for her fingers with his hand, taking it before turning from her at last and leading her to their jackets, her shoes, and amused, expectant faces. He caught Jack's eyes, jutted his jaw slightly to the right, and glared.

"Right," he said, back in his command voice, noticing the discarded basketball, but not particularly caring about putting it away.

"So, show's over, you can go now, you know, do your debriefs," he saw Michelle grin slightly while she held onto him, trying to put her shoes back on.

"Shit baby," she said quietly, distracted, catching her slip and grimacing slightly at the amused looks of the men still in their field garb.

It didn't help that her lips were still swollen and redder than normal from his kisses.

"Our jackets," she said, moving pointedly onward in her sentence.

'Baby', she thought, 'Rookie mistake.'

"Don't worry about it," he said, picking them up, making water run down them, "Now if you excuse us, I believe our shift was up three hours ago."

And without another word, they walked away, turning to each other and smiling slightly. Tony wrapped his arm around her, kissing the side of her head.

"Okay beautiful?"

"Perfect," she said, sinking further into his warm body.

The cold crept up on them as they entered the front doors. Thankfully, Sam was just coming out to see where they had got to, so they didn't have to parade into CTU in wet clothes.

"Hey guys, what happened?" she smiled.

They laughed.

"Oh, my friend's picking me up. I'm gonna sleep at her house, okay? See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. You did great Sam. I'm so proud of you," said Tony.

"Thanks big bro," she said, "There she is, I gotta go, love you guys."
She smiled and hopped into a Honda Accord.

"Looks like it won't be much longer then," Tony whispered and Michelle smiled.

"Thank God."
He grinned and they walked to the car.

The drive home was a mix between exhaustion and exhilaration. Michelle was half asleep in the seat, part of her brain resting for a bit, the other imagining ripping his clothes off the second they got through the apartment door. That kiss had been unbelievable. She loved getting lost in him, but rarely could they do that during the day and she simply loved it. It made her crave his fingers and lips on her skin even more. Tony glanced at her as he pulled into the parking spot, turning off the ignition.

"Baby?"

"Let's go," she answered, grinning tiredly and taking his hand as they started up to their apartment.

Hope you enjoyed this. I'm been having some trouble coming up with ideas for this fic and getting motivated, but I'll try and get the next chapter up.

Please if you have two minutes, REVIEW. It means loads. :)