Notes: Again, thanks for all the reviews! You guys are the best. This chapter's short, too, but I'm pretty sure the next one will be longer. I think that's the one where Tony gets all jealous…maybe, maybe not. Anyhow, hope you enjoy :)

She says I'm only tellin' half of it
That's probably coz there's only half worth tellin'
And every time I try to laugh it off
That's when you turn around and wind up yellin'

When am I gonna learn? Why? Cause I'm tired of hating
When will it be your turn? Why? Cause I'm tired of waiting

-Nickelback, "Do This Anymore"

The following takes place between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm.

And then Jack went missing.

Which, if you looked at it just right, wasn't really a cause for concern. Jack was pretty capable of taking care of himself no matter the situation. But Michelle had enough on her mind handling the Marwan situation without worrying about an old friend—though she had a sneaking suspicion that Jack was firmly on Tony's side, he'd always been friendly to her during and after the divorce when he'd worked with her for the DOD. So, despite the fact that Jack was Jack and would no doubt escape with his skin intact, his disappearance added more weight to Michelle's shoulders than another agent's would have. Weight that she did not need right now. For the first time she felt her control slip. A split second, a deep breath, a few harried words to Chloe…and she was back. Mask in place, she addressed CTU:

"All right, everyone, listen up. Jack Bauer is missing. There's a good chance he's being held by our primary target, Habib Marwan. Because we believe Marwan is preparing for another domestic attack today we need to pull all our resources to find him. All com teams coordinate with Edgar. Thank you."

Within a few moments it became clear that all they could do was wait.

"ME says Dina's been dead for less than 30 minutes. We can only assume that that's when Marwan grabbed Jack," Tony told her briskly. He was multitasking wonderfully. Everyone there was good at it, but Tony had always been great. She'd often wondered, working with him, what it would take to make him crack.

Then she'd found out, and wished she could still wonder about it.

"What's the search range on Jack and Marwan?" Michelle asked, shaking off that thought.

"1500 square miles, but it's increasing by the minute."

"What about chatter?"

"Well, I filtered through everything that came from Langley, NSA and Interpol. None of it's correlating right now," he said.

"And volume?"

"It's actually slowing down, which may mean that we've incurred all the damage we will today," Tony replied with a hopeful note in his voice.

Michelle wasn't fooled. "Or it could be the calm before the storm."

"Yeah," he flashed her a look of understanding, of remembrance. They both knew when something was too good to be true. "The one thing we know for sure is that if Jack's alive, he'll find a way to contact us."

"We just have to wait until we pick up a thread on Marwan."

"Yeah," Tony said in that way that she remembered so well. He used that tone whenever something was understood, whenever there were undercurrents that hadn't been stated, but that all parties were aware of. They both hated waiting, the feeling of being helpless. Michelle knew just how much Tony hated it.

He turned away to go back to work.

She called his name.

At least it's not 'Agent Almeida' anymore, he thought wryly as he turned back to her with a brisk "yeah." He had to wonder, though, what she was going to say this time. He'd thought they'd reached an unspoken agreement to keep things strictly professional, but her tone now was slightly un-businesslike.

"So, I heard Jack called you earlier today."

Well, he hadn't been expecting that. Audrey must've told her. He hadn't been planning on telling her about it, but…oh, who the hell was he kidding? He'd been hoping she'd find out, that she'd realize she was wrong about him, that he was the same man she married, that he could still be her hero. In fact, he even had all planned out what he'd say. Play it cool. "Yeah," he said simply, looking into space as though he weren't sure how to react.

"…And that you saved his life?" Her tone was almost hesitant, not as vulnerable as it had been for those seconds in the office earlier, but gentler than she'd seemed since. He looked around and slowly straightened up.

"Well, we both know I owed him one, right?" he said, flashing her a rueful grin. She gave a weak smile in return. It was a shadow of her former expression, paling in comparison to the smiles she'd once given him daily, smiles that lit up her whole face. It was a shy, close-lipped expression, but it was something, it was a peace offering. And for now, it would have to be enough. It gave him enough courage to mention something that had been bothering him since Jack left, though he hated to break the mood. "Look, Audrey's been waiting for her husband to get out of surgery. I think we should tell her about Jack."

To his surprise, Michelle honestly looked confused. "Why?"

How could she not know? He raised his eyebrows and shrugged meaningfully. "They're involved."

"She's married," Michelle said, as though stating the obvious.

"Separated."

Her face took on the universal 'oh, I see' expression, then, for some reason, the mask was back in place. Tony couldn't figure out why, but he supposed he'd just have to back off, too, and hope he hadn't done anything too horrible. "Well, then I'd prefer not to tell her anything."

"Why?" He asked, before he could stop himself. Damn it, Almeida, he thought, THINK before you open your mouth! He could see her getting defensive again before his eyes.

Jesus, Tony, do I have to spell it out for you? Because she might do what YOU did. She might do something to try and help Jack that compromises the bigger mission. "Because we may have to make a very tough call on how Jack's capture plays out," she said, eyes wide. Has he really forgotten?

Apparently so. He was looking at her like she was being intentionally mean. "Well, Michelle, she's a professional. She knows that's a possibility. I think it'd be wrong to keep it from her."

"I don't want her interfering," she replied, voice raising a little. She did NOT want another argument with Tony. She was enjoying her name on his lips again too much to risk losing the ground they'd gained so far, but really? Really?

"I think she has a right to know," he said, a note of disbelief in his voice. Then, unexpectedly, he backed down. "But hey, you're the boss, it's your call."

She told Audrey, of course. Not because she thought it was the right decision to make, not even because it was the human thing to do. No, she did it because she'd overruled Tony's suggestion earlier, about the placement of the tactical teams around McLennan-Forrester. Because she wanted him to think she had moved on, not that she'd lost all her compassion. It was an olive branch. She hoped he understood that.

His moment of satisfaction that Michelle took his suggestion was short-lived. It may have been the right thing to do, but it certainly didn't make Audrey feel any better, and it only made Michelle feel worse. He could see it in the way her jaw was set when she told Audrey that she had been in charge of the mission. Michelle knew Audrey would blame her, she had to have known, but she told anyway.

Somewhere, behind that made-up, straight-haired shell, she was still his Michelle.