Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters related to 24.

A/N: As promised, here's the next chapter. Thanks so much for all the reviews! In my opinion this is a very fluffy chapter, but then…what else is new:P…less drama though than the previous one. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Chapter Seven - Games

Slightly stressed would've been an understatement.

Michelle was veraciously trying to prepare an even remotely editable dinner for herself and Tony that night. What had possessed her to think she should cook a meal, tonight of all nights, she was still not really sure about. Perhaps it was because she was trying to show the domesticated version of herself to Tony…even though there really wasn't one.

This was a bad idea.

Michelle had decided to make chicken. After all, everyone can make chicken. She'd gone to the grocery store that evening and found a magazine with a recipe in it, and had then bought all of the ingredients. When she was done the recipe would be filed in her 'recipe drawer', which consisted of maybe one other one for chocolate chip cookies and a whole slew of takeout menus.

She had no idea why the hell it made a difference if you stirred something slowly or quickly…She should really try doing this more often.

Or maybe, this was her pathetic attempt at trying to impress Tony. Prove to him that she was more than just work and computers and fighting terrorists. She could cook and clean and do all of those "housewife" type things that had made women so much more appealing to men for centuries.

It was a bold faced lie.

Michelle was useless, utterly useless. Her apartment was always spick and span but cooking, to Michelle, was about as enjoyable and therapeutic as trying to climb Mount Everest barefoot.

In all likelihood Tony wouldn't tell her how bad her cooking was. She knew that she'd already screwed up something more than once. The preparation time, that was supposed to only take twenty minutes, had turned into something that was a lot more like two hours. She'd had to start again from scratch more than once and if anything, the different attempts at the meal only seemed to get worse and worse as Michelle's frustration increased. Why would you volunteer to cook? He didn't ask you to…that was the stupidest thing you could've done!

Michelle was in the middle of whisking the marinade, (she had no idea what the hell they meant by marinade, and seeing as how she didn't have a whisk, had conceded to stirring the sauce she'd finally finished with a fork…assuming that since there was nothing else, that had to be the so-called 'marinade'). Tempted to taste test it, Michelle decided she'd better not. If it turned out horribly, she'd never be able to make something else in time anyway, and she'd promised she'd cook.

Tony very well might want to end the night right then and there once he'd tasted her cooking. It was something from a nightmare, only she was wearing clothes, thankfully…The wheels in her brain began to turn. Maybe if she wasn't wearing clothes Tony would forget all about dinner. Michelle laughed dryly and dismissed the idea. She wasn't that pitiful…yet.

Michelle picked up her phone on the fourth ring. Just as everything seemed to be under control…

"Hello?"

"Hey Michelle…" It was her dad again.

"Hi dad. How are you?"

"Good, good…just wanted to see how you were. How's work?"

"Fine. Look I'll call you tomorrow; I've got something on the stove right now…"

"You're cooking?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" he said incredulously.

"Look dad I got to go! It's bubbling over. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Michelle hurriedly tried to remove the pot from the stove, but, forgetting to use oven mitts, burned herself many times in the process. When the pot was finally safely away from the heat Michelle stumbled into a chair and groaned.

This was going to be a long night…

Tony rang the doorbell just over an hour later. He grinned at the sight of Michelle, her hair pulled back into a messy bun. Tony leaned in to kiss her and stopped when he saw a patch of what looked like sauce, on the side of her face. He wiped it off.

"Been busy?"

Michelle blushed. "It took a little longer than I expected…I didn't have much time to clean up."

Tony smiled and caught her lips with his own. "Well I can't wait to see what all the fuss is about then."

They sat down at the table and Michelle began filling their plates. She put a piece of chicken on each and some salad. A basket of bread was already in the middle of the table.

"Great. I'm starved." Tony took his plate from her.

Michelle sat down and poured them each a glass of wine. After a couple of sips they both picked up their fork and knife and cut off a piece of chicken. Simultaneously, they raised the forks to their mouths and took a bite. As they chewed they tried to avoid each other's eye, but at the same time determine how the other person was reacting. It was more than likely the worst thing either of them had ever tasted. Michelle was wondering if she was just being overly critical, Tony was wondering if this even constituted as food. He kept chewing out of nothing but total respect for Michelle. They swallowed and Michelle suddenly couldn't stop laughing.

"What?" Tony asked her. Michelle was still laughing. Her fork fell from her hand and she stared at her plate disgusted. She indicated to the food and choked on some air. Tony followed her eyes and started laughing too.

"I'm…uh…I'm not exactly the best cook."

Tony chuckled. "I can tell."

"Were you gonna eat that?" Michelle noticed his fork was poised for another bite.

"Well…you did spend all night cooking…"

Michelle laughed. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have said…"

"You really shouldn't say you'll cook if you don't mean it…" Tony teased her, standing up and making his way towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To order a pizza…what do you want on it?" Michelle looked at him skeptically. "Sweetheart you said it was bad too. No point subjecting ourselves to that torture any longer…"

"Alright, alright. Just get whatever on it…" she crinkled her nose. "No peppers though."

Tony had dug out the phonebook and was in the process of calling for pizza when someone on the other line beeped in.

"Hey Michelle? Someone's beeping in here."

No answer.

"Michelle?"

Tony heard the toilet flush, and the sound of running water. Figuring Michelle would be out of the washroom any second he answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Oh, I'm sorry I must've dialed the wrong number. You'd think I'd have my own daughter on speed dial by now…"

Tony laughed politely. "Uh…What number were you trying to get?"

His stomach just about hit the floor when the man recited Michelle's number.

"What's your daughter's name?" he asked, starting to panic a little.

"Michelle. Sorry to bother – "

"No um…you might not have the wrong number after all. Hang on one second…"

Tony covered the receiver. "Michelle!"

Michelle was just emerging from the hallway. "What's wrong?"

"I think I have your dad on the phone here… "

Michelle snatched the phone out of his hand. "Dad?"

"Michelle? I thought I had the wrong number…"

Michelle made her way into the other room as Tony stood there dumbfounded.

"Yeah I heard." She said, lowering her voice.

"Who was that then?"

"No one. Don't worry about it." Telling yet another person about her and Tony's pending relationship was not something she wanted to do, at least not this week.

"Boyfriend?"

"I said don't worry about it!" she told him impatiently. Reprimanding herself afterwards, it was her dad after all.

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"It's just…I'm really not in the mood for a discussion about this today." She leaned back against the wall, feeling the beginnings of a migraine against her temples now. Cooking and Tony answering the phone when her dad called, all in one day, was not something she was well equipped to handle. A terrorist threat would've been preferred, as far as she was concerned. At least that was only a threat of disaster to ensue, this was inevitable.

"Fine, fine." Her dad insisted. "I just called because I won't be around tomorrow. I'm going down to Raleigh to visit a friend, so in case you were trying to call me…"

"Alright, then I'll talk to you when you get back."

"Good. We'll talk when I get back."

Michelle knew that meant she'd be spilling the beans on everything in her life. "We'll talk" was never a good expression to hear parents utter, no matter how old you were.

"I guess I'd better let you get back to…whatever you're doing."

"Fine…bye."

The phone clicked without a response. Her dad was angry. She was hiding things from him, but she was entitled to her privacy. He'd just have to get over that.

Tony entered the room when he heard Michelle hang up the phone.

"What's wrong?" Michelle was rubbing her temples firmly now.

"Nothing, just a bit of a headache. Did you order the pizza?"

"No. I will now." Tony reached for the phone. He placed the order and returned to Michelle's side, sitting on the armrest of the chair. His hand slid down her back.

"It's nothing." She maintained. "I just need something to eat."

Tony exited the room and returned a minute later with a piece of bread and butter.

"Here…there's no way you could've screwed this up…"

Michelle flashed him an evil look, and snatched the bread out of his hand.

"Promise me one thing…" Tony began, as she munched on it.

"What's that?"

"Promise me you'll never, ever, try to do that again."

Michelle giggled and bowed her head. "Alright, I promise."

Their lips met for a brief second and Tony nibbled a little on Michelle's bottom one. There was still some butter on it, which he licked off. Feeling the kiss deepen Michelle put the uneaten half of bread on the table beside her and leaned back a little more in her chair.

The buzzer rang half an hour later, indicating the pizza had arrived. Tony groaned and lifted himself off Michelle; he went in search of his wallet while she let up the pizza.

"Tony!" Michelle said warningly. "No…no! You're not buying dinner again…It's my turn."

Tony kept walking towards the door that had just been knocked, pretending not to hear her.

"Tony!" Michelle ran down the hall after him. "Don't you dare Almeida, don't make me hurt you!"

Tony continued to ignore her and was a foot away from the door now. Michelle scrambled to catch up with him. She grabbed his arm and spun him around.

"You can't keep doing this…" she told him seriously now. "I mean you can't keep paying for everything."

"It was your wine." He told her simply. "You bought that, now it's my turn again."

He brushed his thumb against her cheek and then kissed the spot he'd touched. "I'm not gonna argue about this with you every time sweetheart." He told her tenderly, opening the door and standing in Michelle's way, using his body to prevent her from handing the delivery guy any money. He handed Michelle the box of pizza, forcing her into the kitchen to put it down, so her hands wouldn't be scalded. Michelle muttered something about male egos under her breath as she trudged away from the door. She threw her purse down beside the box of pizza and reeled in the frustration of the whole ordeal. It was then that she saw Tony's jacket slung over the back of a chair in the living room. Michelle could still hear him at the door, taking an exceptionally long time. She quickly fished a twenty out of her wallet and snuck over to the chair, slipping it into Tony's jacket pocket and grinning wickedly to herself.

Two could play at this game.

She emerged from the living room just as Tony was entering the kitchen.

"What are you laughing at?" He probed, taking some plates out of the cupboard.

"Nothing." She said, obviously not meaning it.

Tony eyed her suspiciously. "You know I'll find out eventually…"

"I'm counting on it…" Michelle winked as she slid into her seat and opened the box of pizza.

They were sitting at the table quietly, enjoying a comfortable silence. Comfortable silences, it seemed, were very rare to come by. Especially after no more than a week of officially "dating"…Awkward silences were a lot more common. Namely, since the difference between the two was that, in an awkward silence you're anxious for the conversation to pick up again, so that the other person's thoughts were known to you. With a comfortable silence, that wasn't cause for concern. Tony and Michelle both knew where the other person's thoughts were in this case…on them.

Michelle's legs were crossed underneath the table and she was finishing up her second slice of pizza. Popping a piece of crust into her mouth, she uncrossed her legs, accidentally banging into Tony's when she did. Tony's eyes shot upward and Michelle bit her lip to keep from smiling at his reaction. After a few seconds Tony went back to his plate. Michelle felt a foot kick her own. Tony was stifling a laugh, chewing nonchalantly. Michelle waited a few seconds and kicked his foot again, this time a little harder, and swallowed her last bite of food.

She couldn't help but laugh this time when she heard Tony yell, "Hey!" Michelle tried to look innocent.

"What?"

"You're dead, Dessler." He warned her.

Michelle shrugged. "You started it." she kicked him again, trying to inflict a little pain this time.

Tony kicked her back more forcefully.

Michelle positioned her foot and delivered one final blow to the inside of Tony's calf.

"Alright y'know what, that's it!" he cried, leaping out of his chair. "I'd run if I were you..."

In Michelle's hurry to move out of Tony's reach she fell over the leg of her chair.

"Damn it!" She screamed when she hit the floor with a dull thud. Tony knelt beside her.

"Are you okay?" he said with the faintest hint of a smirk.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Good." Tony grabbed both of her hands and pinned them over her head, using his free hand to tickle her relentlessly. Michelle squealed and shrieked with giggles.

"Stop, Tony! Stop!"

Tony laughed and released her. Michelle remained perfectly still for a few seconds, looking so beat up from the fight, that Tony was unaware of her bending one of her legs in between their bodies. Tony bent over to kiss Michelle, when her knee held him at bay, while she quickly flipped him onto his back.

"You shouldn't underestimate your opponent." She told him sweetly as she crawled onto his stomach. Tony's back was throbbing slightly from the swift contact with the floor, but the sensation of Michelle's weight on top of him seemed to make him numb to the pain. She sat there, watching him with a captivating smile that now spread across her face. He propped himself on one elbow and used the other hand to draw Michelle in for a long, calculated kiss. Somehow Michelle ended with her back against the floor once again. Her spine was digging painfully into the kitchen tiles.

"Honey…" she puffed in between kisses after a few minutes. "There's gotta be a more comfortable place to do this…"

Tony sat up on his knees and swept up Michelle with both arms, managing not to break the kiss. Michelle's arms found their way around his neck and before she knew it, they were on the bed.

There was banging against Michelle's front door that she could hear faintly from her dreamy state. She opened her eyes and listened again. More banging…Tony was snoring quietly beside her, so she decided not to wake him. Instead, she grabbed his shirt lying beside the bed and quickly covered herself. She tip-toed across the cool tiled floor, which only hours earlier she'd been lying on, and went to answer it. Whoever it was had not rung the buzzer for some reason.

"Michelle?" Tony's voice echoed down the hall as she made her way towards the door. "What the hell's going on?" He hobbled, trying to get his jeans on, a fresh t-shirt slung over one shoulder as he made his way towards Michelle.

"Someone's at the door." she told him calmly.

"It's the middle of the night! Who the hell's at the door?" He stumbled across the hallway and placed a hand protectively in front of her chest.

"If they were trying to rob or murder me I highly doubt they'd be knocking." she reminded him

Tony either did not process what she had told him, or did not care. He angled himself between Michelle and the door, seemingly trying to act like a human shield from whatever was on the other side.

"Check the peephole." Michelle ordered, still as calm as ever.

Tony felt incredibly stupid all of a sudden. He looked out into the hallway.

"It's Danny." He told her, patience waning.

Michelle pushed past Tony to open it, not particularly caring how the scene of their side of the door looked to her brother.

"Danny what the hell is wrong with you?" she dragged him quickly inside and closed the door behind her. There was a strong smell of alcohol on him, and he could barely stand on his own.

"It's the middle of the night! People are trying to sleep! How did you get in here?" Danny had still not noticed Tony, standing directly behind him.

"I dunno, some guy was leaving and he held the door open for me, so I figured I'd just come up. I was upset…"

It was then that Danny seemed to realize the significance of the situation. He noticed Michelle's attire and immediately spun around to see Tony standing, half dressed, behind him. Tony pulled the t-shirt he had dropped to the floor over himself.

"What the hell's wrong with you Michelle?"

"Hey!" Tony snapped. "Don't talk to her like that!"

"Tony stay out of this…" Michelle told him firmly.

Danny was sulking again, and muttering profanities under his breath.

"Danny you need to leave. I went to see you yesterday and you walked out on me…I can't be available for you all the time. It's not fair to me."

"You used to always be around for me…" he said slowly, stringing out the words in an attempt to make her feel at fault. "Before him…"

"Danny please…" Michelle begged. "It's late, you're exhausted, you're drunk…go home."

"No! He's turned you against me!" Danny pointed a finger menacingly at Tony, waving it around wildly. "It's him who should be leaving…"

Michelle held back a few tears. This wasn't her brother, this was some rambling drunk who didn't care about anyone but himself, who blamed her for everything that was wrong with his life. She wanted him to be safe, but he was a grown man, she couldn't keep babysitting him every time he had a few too many. Michelle's hand rose to her forehead, massaging the bridge of her nose gently, in a deplorable attempt to hide the tears that had now formed. She steadied herself against the wall with her free hand and a small sigh parted her lips.

"Michelle you're my sister! I'm miserable here and it's all because of you! You're the one who introduced me to Carrie! You're the reason I've been alone all night! You can't desert me now!"

Michelle attempted to stifle a sob to no avail. Tony decided he'd looked on helplessly for too long. Enough was enough.

"Michelle asked you to leave." He told Danny, deadpanned, starting to pull open the door.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Danny shouted. "Just stay the hell out of this."

Tony grinded his teeth a little before reaching past Michelle for his car keys…Michelle felt his movement and suddenly wanted to cry harder. Don't leave…Michelle pleaded silently. Not now…

"C'mon…" Tony grasped Danny firmly by his arm. "I'll drive." Deciding it was better that neither he, nor Michelle found out how Danny had made it to her apartment in the first place in his clearly unstable stupor.

Danny struggled a little but the minimal control he had over his motor skills wasn't enough to resist Tony. He was dragged out the door, as Tony told Michelle, as gently as he could, that he'd be back soon.

"So where are we going?" Tony questioned when he'd finally managed to shove Danny into the car and lock the doors. Danny fumbled with the lock but his fingers seemed unable to hold steady long enough for him to grasp it and free himself.

"Fuck off." Danny grumbled, refusing to face Tony.

"Look…you're not staying here. And if it were up to me I'd leave you in a ditch somewhere to rot…but I'm doing this for Michelle…So I can either take you back home or drop you off on the side of the road 100 miles out of the city...You pick…"

Danny hesitated before mumbling his address. He had a feeling Tony wasn't bluffing.

Tony started the car and less than 15 minutes later pulled into the driveway of an old rundown bungalow. He unlocked the doors and moved around to get Danny, who had all but passed out in the passenger's seat.

Danny managed his tactile skills long enough to unlock the front door. Tony sat him down on the couch and watched him fall over, finally loosing consciousness. He left almost immediately, slamming the door in his wake.

Michelle had been wandering aimlessly around her apartment for the last half hour. The tears had stopped coming, but she still felt horrible. Danny hated her now; that much was apparent. He really thought he would be better off without her; and that was as good as ripping Michelle's heart out of her chest.

The front door finally opened. Tony walked in, looking drained.

"What happened?" Michelle managed to squeak out.

"He's asleep…" Tony told her, and then added. "At home...He's fine."

Michelle felt the tension abscond from her muscles; she leaned back against the couch, finally feeling calmed. Tony was watching her carefully from the doorway, not wanting to elicit any more tears from her for a while. His eyes seemed to penetrate Michelle to the very bone marrow.

"Thank you." she offered, not knowing what else to say.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked quietly, taking the initiative to cross the room now.

Michelle nodded and allowed Tony to draw her in tightly. She was still shaking like a leaf from the encounter.

"Shh…" he whispered into her hair. "He didn't mean any of that, he was just…" Tony hesitated.

"Drunk." Michelle finished sadly.

Tony hands found their way into her curls and he felt a few more tears fall against his shirt.

"Shh… Its okay." he tried again. "Just relax…I'm here..." He rubbed her back in large, soothing, circles.

This simple phrase elevated Tony fears; for his presence it seemed, did not elicit more tears, but eased them. Michelle pressed her face snugly against his chest. Tony was there. He was always there, or at least it felt like that. For as long as she'd known him, whether it be professionally or personally, he'd always come through for her in whatever way she needed him too, even if it did take a little longer than she'd have liked.

"I'm here…" he reiterated, worrying at how stiff Michelle had suddenly become. She looked at him with glassy eyes, smiled almost unnoticeably, and nodded.

"I know."

Tony rolled over, it was pouring rain outside. He turned back to the bed where Michelle's eyes were just opening, and switched off the alarm.

"Hey." He slid his arm back under the covers and pulled her over to his side of the bed.

Michelle eyes were still half-closed. "Morning."

"It's raining." Tony told her.

"Mhm…"

"Go shower…I'll make coffee." He yawned.

"Mhm…k thanks honey…"

Michelle quickly finished her shower, wrapped herself tightly in a warm bathrobe, and began flinging clothes onto the just made bed. She dressed in a skirt and blouse and made her way into the kitchen. Tony spun around when she entered and pulled a mug down from the shelf. He handed it to her and placed the milk and sugar in front of her, before kissing her lips briefly and making his way towards the bathroom for his turn at the shower.

Michelle was sitting at the table, dangling her legs carelessly, reading the paper as she finished another cup of coffee. Tony returned shortly afterwards telling her she'd better get a move on or they would be late. He smacked the back of her thigh tenderly when she stood, looked back at him, and laughed. Reminding Tony that as long as she showed up before the 'boss', she'd have nothing to worry about.

Hair and makeup done, Michelle reemerged from the bedroom to find Tony fishing through her closet and pulling out her very favourite jacket, the jacket she hadn't worn since the long-past winter months. (Whatever little bit of a 'winter' they had in LA at least). It was a rare occasion when she got to dig it out…

"It's cold." Tony informed her when she asked what he was doing, handing her the jacket. Michelle thanked him, and fluidly pulled it on, as she slipped into heels. Tony grabbed her hand and they stepped outside, Tony had been right, it was exceptionally cool out today. She shivered a little so Tony drew her in at the waist and rubbed her side, leaving his own hand to rest in her far jacket pocket. He was warm…then again; Tony was always warm. There were two things, Michelle had come to realize, that she could always rely on Tony for: his body heat and his temper. How he'd dealt with Danny the night before didn't bother her, for whatever reason. Her methods had stopped working now and Danny was probably too drunk to remember what happened anyway...and even if he did remember…so what. He'd been the one practically breaking down her door in all hours of the night. Michelle hoped he would finally get the message.

Her breath was almost noticeable in the rain filled air and it felt nice, cleansing. It didn't rain all that much and when it did Michelle loved it. She'd always loved the rain, walks in the rain in a big sweater, or curling up with a blanket while it stormed outside…as long as she was cozy, the rain was enjoyable. At that particular moment she was perfectly cozy…

When they arrived at CTU Tony resumed his previous position until they reached the inside of the building. He'd become a lot more daring about their relationship since Jack had found out and Michelle liked that, she was relieved. Being fearful of every step she took in a 100m radius of Tony at CTU was a lot of work. Division was still in the dark, there was no more Carrie to squeal on them if they were caught in another compromising position…it was still a professional relationship 95 percent of the time, but they had a little more room for error.

Tony released Michelle when they got into the elevator. He glanced at her once they'd stepped inside and immediately wanted to kiss Michelle's rosy, rain-slicked cheeks. It was all just too tempting. A security camera was situated in the back corner but Tony knew for a fact the guys watching on the other end wouldn't care either way. Tony bent down and breathed warm air against the spot his lips touched. Her skin was cool, smooth, and a little bit misty from being outside. Michelle smiled and closed her eyes when she felt the contact. The elevator beeped, indicating they'd reached their floor. They both moved away from each other and walked out of the elevator completely unconcerned to everything that was going on around them. Tony picked up his pace remembering he was supposed to meet with Jack, and reminded Michelle of their conference call at 12:30pm with NHS.

Tony was almost at the stairs when Michelle slipped her hands into her jacket pockets. She frowned a little when she felt something inside, a piece of paper. Stopping in the middle of the room she pulled it out, realizing what it was…a twenty. Michelle looked upwards and saw Tony standing halfway up the stairs watching her carefully. He shrugged a little when she saw him and covered his mouth with one hand, obscuring a grin. Michelle's jaw hung open a little and Tony quickly ran into his office, leaving Michelle utterly irritated, and realizing that two, could indeed, play at this game.