Author's Notes: Sorry it took an obscenely long time for this update. Also, my apologies that this chapter is so so so short…but there's really not a lot of strictly T/M interaction in it. I'm ecstatic to find out that I'm not the only one in love with Nickelback's "Far Away," nor am I the only one who fits it to Tony and Michelle's story. Talk about vindication! Anyway, here goes the rest. I hope you like it. And thanks for the feedback!

Well I'd hoped that since we're here anyway
That we could end up saying
Things we've always needed to say
So we could end up staying.
Now the story's played out like this
Just like a paperback novel
Let's rewrite an ending that fits
Instead of a Hollywood horror.

-Nickelback, "Someday"

The following takes place between 8:00pm and 9:00pm

If Jack thought it was odd that Tony and Michelle were working at CTU together again, and apparently getting along, he didn't let on. As acting director, Michelle had needed to greet him and tell him their newest leads immediately. And Tony…well, nothing was going to stop him from meeting Jack himself. So up he went to the helipad, right alongside Michelle, to bombard the field agent with their newest information the second he stepped off the chopper.

Tony had to admit he admired Jack's ability to focus his attention on the problem at hand. If he'd been in Jack's shoes, he would've at least asked how Michelle had ended up working alongside her ex-husband again, and in an amiable fashion, at that. But, true to form, Jack never batted an eye, he just accepted it.

Tony was accepting it, too, but more warily. He watched Michelle out of the corner of his eye as they discussed their options with Jack, wondering how long their truce would last. In a way—ironic though it was—it reminded him for the days before they'd been married, before they'd even been dating, when they'd had to work though stifling sexual tension. At least, it had been stifling on his part. He hadn't known at the time whether or not she felt anything for him, but she had later confessed to having had a crush on him from the moment they met. Now there was tension in the air again, tension that had been gone for three years while they were together. If not precisely sexual it was definitely something similar. Funny, though, Tony thought—the almost-sexual tension wasn't distracting him at all. If anything, after the initial shock, working with Michelle again was exhilarating. He felt alive for the first time in months. There was an emotion coursing through his veins that he hadn't felt in a year—not since Hammond had clapped him in cuffs and led him away from his wife— keeping him alert and on his feet and at the top of his game after an exhausting day.

It was hope.

Hope that he could prove to Michelle he wasn't a loser. Hope that he might redeem himself in the eyes of his colleagues. Hope that he would walk away with the strength to take his life back, that he would find he was still worth something. And maybe, somewhere in there, buried under a dozen reasonable arguments to the contrary and a thousand renditions of "don't get your hopes up, Almeida," a tiny, nagging spark of hope that she would forgive him and come back.

For awhile she forgot that she was supposed to be mad at him. It was too much like the old days. Michelle sat in conference with Tony and Jack, mediating between them and trying to come up with the best solution to their problems. As usual, Jack's plan won out. Also as usual, the plan was not strictly protocol and would require some finesse to put through. If Jack could get Dina Araz to go undercover, they'd work with that. If not, well, the tactical teams were…

"The tactical teams are ready," she said to Tony as she hung up the phone. "We can be at Fayed's house in ten minutes."

"Let's give him another minute," Tony insisted. A quiet thrill shot down Michelle's spine. Let's, he'd said. Let's. They were a team again.

She found herself alone with him again a few minutes later, after the briefing.

"…Especially people who don't really work here," Edgar snapped as he left the room. The annoyed and slightly hurt expression on Tony's face, brief though it was, did not escape her notice. I can still read him like a book, she thought to herself with a touch of smugness.

"Is there a problem with Edgar?" she asked.

"Well, his mother was caught in the contamination zone at the San Gabriel reactor. She took her own life. Up until now, he's been handling it pretty well, but uh, I think it might be catching up with him."

"Do you think he's in good enough shape to run the comm part of this operation?"

"Based on what just happened?" Tony said, looking Michelle straight in the eye, "no."

She ignored the undertones. The hints of memories dredged up—again—by Edgar's situation. All the conversations they'd had at the beginning of their relationship about how they'd handle things if one of them were in danger on the job…and how all those carefully laid plans went completely to pieces the day it actually happened. Neither one of them wanted to send Edgar home. Tony and Michelle knew, better than anyone, that he needed the closure.

So she changed the subject. "Where's Chloe? I didn't see her on the active roster."

"Yeah, well, Driscoll forced her to resign."

"Why?"

"Apparently Chloe went against Driscoll's orders and sided with Jack. Turns out Jack was right." Jack's always right.

Another conversation they didn't need to have: the ramifications of going against orders. Michelle nodded and thanked Tony, who murmured an assent. She left the room on a pleasant note, but an unpleasant task was in front of her. It wasn't that she didn't like Chloe, or that she didn't want her there. It was just that Chloe was the only person other than Jack who knew something remotely close to the whole story of Tony's arrest. And, being Chloe, she was bound to bring it up.

"Audrey's still at the clinic," Tony said. "There's time, if you wanna say goodbye." Tell her you love her. Unspoken words hung in the air. If something happens and you think she doesn't know…that's worse than anything the terrorists can do to you.

He was walking Jack out on the way to set up the undercover operation. Jack looked towards the medical center. Audrey was clearly visible, pacing outside the operating room. "She's got a lot on her mind right now," he said.

"Jack, she should know what you're about to do."

"She's been through enough today."

No! Tony wanted to shout. Tell her! Tell her you love her, that she means everything to you. Let her tell you to be careful.

But he just followed Jack away.

He could swear she was looking at his lips.

"Is field surveillance in place yet?" Michelle asked.

No, there she was making eye contact again. Had he been imagining things? Maybe his wishful thinking had gotten out of hand. "We have audio. There might be a few dead spots, but we should be able to hear inside the house, that's assuming we'd get that far," Tony said.

There it was again! That tiny flick of her eyes downward. He couldn't quite tell what she was looking at, but it was between his eyes and the floor.

"Okay. Thank you," she said quietly.

"Yeah." They lingered a moment, wanting to say more to each other but not having the words.

Transcripts partially from partially my own.