Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters related to 24.
A/N: I hope this chapter was worth the wait! I've been so swamped with school this last week that I just haven't had much time to write. Thanks everyone for their reviews! They're such a motivating factor when I'm having writer's block…This chapter is a bit of a depart from the rest of the story as far as I'm concerned…you'll see what I mean when you read it I guess…Enjoy!
Chapter Nine - Acceptance
Michelle, who had been at Tony's heels a few seconds earlier, stopped walking; her heart beats seemed to desist in conjunction with the movement of her feet.
"You're leading a team?"
"What other choice do we have? This office is closer than any of our people." he was on the phone before Michelle could respond, organizing the departure. Michelle was thankful she didn't have to speak; her voice would've caught in her throat anyway. Tony had, naturally, left CTU before, but Michelle hadn't witnessed him going into a potentially perilous situation yet. It was the kind of thing she'd rather not have to... The day the bomb went off had been scary enough, and what was between them then was nothing compared to what there was now…
But she did not argue, for she knew he was right. There was no one else; knowing that didn't make it any easier though.
"I'll call Division and let them know the situation, Jack should be here in half an hour, but for now you'll be okay running everything…"
Michelle nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine."
"Fine" wasn't even the half of it. Michelle had the sudden urge to hurl the contents of her stomach into the nearest garbage can.
"Alright. Here's my access code." He scribbled it down on a piece of paper and grabbed his jacket out of the cupboard. "I call you when the perimeter's set."
"Quadir will be well protected if she's there." Michelle reminded him, as if Tony needed reminding. "She'll be expecting something like this."
"I know," Tony affirmed. "We'll get her…"
Tony knew what she was saying but he had totally missed the point of her saying it. Michelle had wanted to tell him to be careful, but she couldn't. Now was not the time to play the 'girlfriend' card. They were at work, they were federal agents and their job was handling things like this. Michelle would not let her emotions overpower her rationale; even she killed herself in the process.
Tony wasn't overly worried about the operation. It had to be done either way. He knew it was dangerous, but then, danger wasn't something he was unaccustomed to. In fact, minus these last few years with CTU, hazardous field work was more or less the norm for him.
The look on Michelle's face when he walked out of the office was something completely foreign, though. She, on the other hand, was nervous, and Tony had a feeling it wasn't because she would have to run CTU for the next little while by herself.
She hadn't protested, for which he was grateful. After all, Michelle knew just as well as he did that this was part of the job. Her painful stare and disheartening hand gestures, on the other hand, were definitely something Tony was unaccustomed too…Actions really did speak louder than words. A feeling of excruciating remorse washed over Tony as he stepped outside of CTU. A desperately disquieted look from Michelle was at least a million times worse than all the gut-wrenching wailing and persistent begging in the world. It was an incalculable plea for him to return to her at the end of the day, and he alone understood it. And that was what scared Tony. The fact that he could dissect Michelle so completely, forced him to realize that the fear of loosing her greatly surpassed anything he'd ever experienced before.
"I'm sending you the Infrared images to the car." Michelle told Tony when he called later on. "We count 14 people inside the warehouse."
The building itself appeared to be a series of doors along a corridor that twisted and turned in many different directions.
"It looks as though the far room, in the south-east corner, is the most likely location for Quadir to be hiding. Namely since as far as we know she's the brains behind this whole thing..."
"Yeah I agree, all the Intel points to her. We still don't know if she was reporting to anyone else though…For all we know that could be who she's meeting." Tony paused. "I have the footage now Michelle.
"The room I was referring to has 4 people stationed around it, they haven't moved, but they've been rotating positions down the hall for the last 10 minutes."
"Guards?"
"I would assume so."
Michelle heard Tony sigh on his end of the phone. "Alright uh…I'll get back to you in a few minutes. I gotta figure out how we're gonna handle this…"
He hung up.
Michelle didn't know what to do. With every amount of Intel they continued to gather on these people, the operation was seemingly becoming more and more dangerous. Michelle was beside herself with worry. Tony shouldn't have to do this. She didn't want him to have to do this. It was Murphy's Law or something…anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. And in the case of this, or any operation CTU was involved in, so many things could go wrong.
She wished she was there, more than anything else. At least if she was there she could have some sort of input as to how the whole operation went down. Her tactical experience was limited at best, but Michelle didn't care. In her mind there should only be one operational objective, everything else came second. She had a feeling Jack, Ryan, and everyone else over at Division probably weren't thinking along the same lines, their objective was definitely varied greatly from Michelle's. Tony would probably agree with them too. He would probably insist that no agent's safety was reason to let a hostile escape. But Tony didn't know what it was like to be on Michelle's side of the fence. Watching him walk out of that office had been the most agonizing thing she'd ever experienced.
The phone rang again. "Michelle, Tony's on the line for you." the voice informed her. Michelle had been staring at Tony's computer for a long time, watching files roll across the screen, indicating they were being sent to Division's server. Michelle had yet to authorize the one that remained blinking at her. She quickly sent the file before picking up the phone.
"Michelle," Tony informed her. "We've placed snipers on the roofs of adjacent buildings to the warehouse. The perimeter is set. You should be getting live audio feed over there."
"Hang on," Michelle put Tony on hold and dialed Adam's extension. "Adam, are we getting the audio feed from the warehouse?"
"Yeah Michelle it's fully functional. Let Tony know that as far as we can tell there are no sensors or booby traps on the roof of the building…but there's always a possibility they've managed to tweak its configuration so the heat signature doesn't register."
"So it's very likely they could be walking into a trap."
Adam agreed. "I'd count on it."
"Alright, thank you."
Michelle switched back to Tony's line. "Tony, Adam said the feed's fully functional."
"Ok good."
"And also, he said they aren't getting any readings on potential security measures Quadir might've put in place, but it's very possible that they've been manipulated so they don't give off a corresponding heat signature."
"Alright I'll make sure everyone takes the necessary precautions when they enter the building."
Michelle finally voiced what she was feeling. "You too, Tony…"
Tony closed his eyes to keep his face straight. "Uh huh."
Michelle steadied herself with one hand against the desk. If Michelle wanted to keep dating Tony she would have to get used to this. Michelle had no choice but to get used to this.
Jack ran inside CTU just as Tony's men were finalizing their positions. Michelle was standing in the center of the bullpen once again, waiting for the assault teams to make their move.
"Michelle!" Jack called. "What's the status?"
"Nothing's changed in the last 5 minutes." She informed him, maintaining the professionalism she knew Jack would be expecting of her. Emotions couldn't get in the way now; Tony's safety, and the safety of everyone involved in this operation was relying on Michelle's ability to remain objective and in control.
"Is Tony getting ready to move in?"
"Yeah."
Jack was watching Michelle very carefully. If their relationship was as serious as Tony suggested, this would be eating away at her.
"This is definitely risky." He spoke to the air in front of him.
"Which is why we've made sure everything's covered on our end…"
Jack had to admit, Michelle's demeanor said a lot about her. Had he not known any better he would've been convinced that there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary between Michelle and Tony. Michelle was acting indifferent, as if it was just anyone out there. She was doing well, Jack decided.
"You okay?" He touched her arm gently and spoke so no one else could hear.
"Fine," Michelle snapped, turning briskly. "Adam put the feed on speaker."
Jack stood beside Michelle and they listened carefully to the operation. Tony's voice echoed in the uncomfortably quiet room. Michelle felt her stomach clench and unclench rhythmically. She was grateful she didn't have to type or hold anything right now. Her fingers were drumming the desk so quickly that Jack, who was noticing this, was pretty sure they had more than broken the sound barrier. He said nothing though, what could he say?
"Alright, everyone moves on my command." Tony ordered. He waited a few seconds. "Team A follow my lead…we are a go."
Michelle and Jack, and everyone else at CTU for that matter, heard the shuffling of feet as Team A quickly made its way to the front of the building.
Michelle gritted her teeth.
"Adam what's the status on the people inside the building?" Jack asked.
"Still as they were when Tony's team arrived.
"Tony did you get that?" Jack called into the microphone he was wearing.
"I copy." Tony half-whispered. "We're entering the premises now."
Seconds later a loud bang was heard on Tony's side of the feed.
"Tony! What the hell was that?" Jack yelled.
"Damn it!" Tony cursed. "Someone tripped... There was something on the floor, we can't see what it was though, its pitch black in here Jack…whoever's in the building must've heard us by now…"
"Adam what's the status on the guards?" Michelle asked quickly, her breathing was becoming uneven.
"Still maintaining position."
That's odd. Michelle thought. Why wouldn't the guards come running if they heard the noise? Tony and the rest of the team were only a few meters away…
"No more mistakes." Tony reprimanded fiercely. "Let's go."
They kept moving quietly along the corridor. Michelle was leaning over Adam's Infrared feed.
"Alright Tony you should be able to make a right down a new corridor. If you do the only guards you'll have to deal with on your way in will be those in the south-east wing. There should be some cover around the corner."
"Copy that."
"I don't see these guards Michelle," Tony told her as the stationed themselves at the far end of the hall.
"They're here Tony." Adam chimed in. "They rotated position a few seconds ago.
On Tony's side of the Comm. he motioned for his men to stay put as he inched slowly down the corridor, pressed as tightly against the wall as he could managed. He dared not breathe in fear that the guards might be as aware of his presence as he suspected. His gun was cocked and he held it tightly in front of him. Tony stopped walking when he reached a dead end.
"There's no one here!" he yelled, breathing again.
"They have to be Tony, we have them on satellite." Adam plucked furiously at his keyboard.
"Adam I'm standing right here and I guarantee you if there was someone around I'd be dead by now."
Even though she knew Tony was fine, Michelle gulped.
"What else could be giving off that heat signature?" Jack chimed in.
"Nothing. There's no way anything with a signature that strong, moving in that pattern could be anything but human…"
Jack suddenly became very quiet; the wheels in his head seemed to be turning.
"Tony…I bet they're…"
"They're underneath us?"
"Yeah. That's why they didn't hear the man fall."
Tony knelt down to the floor and felt the tiles. "How are we gonna do this in the pitch black without them knowing it?"
"How many tiles would you have to remove to fit one man through?"
Tony felt around for the edges of the tiles. "One, maybe two."
"Remove what you have to and then send one person down in a harness to do a sweep…"
Tony could be heard ordering the rest of the team to his location. They radioed to the perimeter teams to come in with a harness and a set of tools. Tony was grateful when they handed him a pair of night vision goggles, allowing him to oversee what was going on. Exactly four minutes had passed before lasers were going around the tiles carefully, allowing them to slowly be lifted out of place.
Tony had already decided on himself to do the sweep. There was no way he could order someone to do that, and it had to be done without error. As he watched the tile get placed as quietly as possible to side his thoughts turned to Michelle. He could see her now, hand hovering over her mouth, eyes wide in anticipation, and at that, Tony felt nervous.
And then he heard it. A faint beeping noise.
He continued to listen. No one else seemed to be notice right away. Then, midway of lifting out the second tile everyone stopped moving too. They could hear it as well. The beeps came closer together now, and Tony realized what it was.
"Get down!" he screamed a second too late. The bomb rigged floor was already exploding.
Michelle had the sudden urge to scream Tony's name and fall to her knees in despair. But she didn't. She held herself upright, beside Jack and quickly asked Adam what had happened to the audio feed when the bomb went off.
"It's still working." Adam informed her. "We just can't get a hold of anyone on Tony's end."
Tony's end…Michelle heard herself repeat. They can't get in contact with anyone on Tony's end…Jack's hand latched on almost painfully to Michelle's elbow, urging her to swallow hard and look straight ahead.
Tony was lying with his face in a pile of ash and charred pieces of ceramic tile. He sputtered and coughed, massaging his side as he struggled to climb out from under the debris that was digging painfully into his rib cage.
"Is everyone okay?" Tony called to the room. He heard some yelps and moans and stumbled to the source of the noises.
A few people managed to free themselves and went to work helping anyone else who couldn't.
"Is everyone alive?" Tony grabbed the man beside him.
The man gasped for breath. "Looks like it. We need medics in here now though."
"Radio them in. I've gotta get in contact with CTU."
"Jack! Michelle!" Tony called into the walkie-talkie. "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah, Tony we copy. What the hell happened?" Jack answered, for the lump in Michelle's throat had swollen to the size of a balloon.
"It was a bomb. The tiles were rigged with them. Everyone's alive but a couple of people are badly injured. The medics are on their way in now."
"Can you see anything below?"
Tony made his way to the hole in the floor. Sure enough there was another level to the warehouse. It was then that he heard a door slam and saw two dark figures dash across the basement.
"They're on the
move!" Tony called in. "I'm going down."
While anyone
else would've argued at this, Jack remained silent. He would've
done the same thing.
.Tony managed to lower himself down into the basement. He fell and rolled a little before jumping up and running in the direction he'd seen the figures moving, informing backup of his progress. This floor was very well-lit, in contrast to the upstairs.
Tony turned a corner and saw them both a few feet ahead. One, clearly a woman, ran clutching a briefcase, the other fired rounds over his shoulder when he heard Tony approach. Tony managed to duck out of range and fired two well-placed shots at the man's leg, and then chest while he collapsed in a heap on the ground. The woman did not fire any shots, but continued to run. Tony managed a shot to her calf and heard the woman cry out in agony before falling to the floor in a ball.
"Don't move!" Tony ordered, gun still poised. The woman sobbed. Tony grabbed her by the forearm and lifted her off the ground, handcuffing her and supporting her weight as she writhed and moaned.
When back-up arrived they took a picture and scanned the image of the woman back to CTU.
"Confirmed." Adam told Jack and Michelle. "That's Nadia Quadir."
"Tony?" Jack called. "Division wants her sent there for processing and interrogation."
Tony shoved Quadir in front of him, handing her over to backup.
"She's on her way." He told Jack.
Michelle was sitting at her station when she saw Tony make his way into CTU. His face was badly bruised and he was clutching his side. She didn't know what to do. Human instincts told Michelle to run to him, kiss him, and ask again and again if he was okay, why he didn't go to the hospital, and if there was anything he needed. Protocol told Michelle to remain at her station and continuing filling out the status report while Tony was taken down to medical. She chose the latter, knowing Tony would've definitely preferred her to do so.
Twenty minutes later the status report was finished, and Tony was still with the doctor. Rob had arrived and been briefed and Jack was on the phone with Ryan. Michelle decided she could chance a visit to medical.
Tony was sitting on an examining table, his forehead had a couple of fresh stitches and his shirt had been removed, revealing a large bruise on the left side of his body. A nurse was doting on him, insisting he take some painkillers and offering him water. Michelle's face softened when she walked inside. Tony looked up when he heard her enter and one side of his mouth curved into a slight, crooked, smile. The nurse, it seemed did not notice Tony's reaction, as she turned to Michelle almost at once.
"Hi Michelle. We're just finishing up…"
Michelle nodded. "I just need to go over the status report before I leave, it won't take long."
"Fine," the nurse swiped a few of Tony's smaller cuts with antiseptic, he cringed. "Thanks. Give us a minute please."
The nurse left and neither Michelle nor Tony seemed to know what to say to each other.
"Are-" Michelle cleared her throat. "Are you okay?" She finally sputtered out. What else could she say really? She was worried about him.
"Yeah I'm fine." She saw Tony wince when fresh wave of pain shot through him.
Michelle blinked, as she really couldn't bear to watch. "Good."
Tony glanced quickly around the room before motioning Michelle towards him. She obeyed and allowed her fingers to glide over the abrasions on his face. When Michelle's wrist was passing his mouth Tony kissed the inside. Her hand stopped moving and she looked to the ceiling, begging it to silence her tears.
"Nothing I can't handle." He told her softly.
Michelle pursed her lips together but grinned imperceptibly when she saw Tony's cocky expression. She shook her head in amusement. "I never doubted you for a second."
By the time Tony had been debriefed and Michelle had finished all the paperwork for the evening it was almost 7-o-clock. Jack left a few minutes before either of them had, on Tony's insistence. Michelle made her way back down to medical when her things had been packed up and she was getting ready to leave. Baker was on his way out the door when she arrived.
"How's Tony doing?" she asked, glancing over his shoulder.
"Just finished the debrief..." He told her. "Seems okay, a little tired but not too bad."
Michelle nodded, hovering outside until Baker left. When he did, she pushed open the door as Tony struggled to put his shirt on again; he was getting ready to leave too.
"Tony…" she chastised and stepped inside. "You don't have to do everything yourself…"
Tony shook his head. "I'm fine, why shouldn't I?"
Michelle dropped her bag and made her way to the bench, pulling the shirt over him and buttoning it at the front.
Tony grimaced. "Thanks."
Michelle allowed him to stand up of his own accord, before pulling the door open. She scooped up her bag and followed Tony's lead out of CTU, staying a pace or two behind him the whole way. When they reached the car he handed her the keys.
With her eyes never leaving the road, Michelle drove home. Tony was a bit groggy from the painkillers and did not seem to notice her white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel immediately. When he finally did glance over Tony reached out a hand and pried Michelle's right one off the wheel, bring it to his lips for a brief moment.
"You okay?"
Michelle puffed and
struggled with a knot in her chest. "Of course I'm okay..."
Tony continued to stroke the back of her hand as he brought it
to rest at his side. "This is gonna happen sometimes Michelle,
there's nothing we can do…"
"I know," she forced herself to look at Tony. "And I know I can't freak out every time…"
Tony said nothing but squeezed tightly at the hand that was tucked away in his.
When Michelle pulled in front of Tony's building she quickly hurried to where Tony was already out of the car. He stumbled a little.
"Here." Michelle put an arm around his waist. "Better?"
Tony flinched. "Actually you're leaning against my side…Medical said it was a bruised rib."
"Sorry!" Michelle pulled back and instead held out her forearm.
"Thanks."
Once safely inside Tony's apartment Michelle settled him on the bed. She pulled out some fresh clothes and took her time helping Tony undress when he needed her to, resigning herself to watching when he insisted he do it on his own. Finally he was settled comfortably against the pillows.
"Do you need anything?"
Tony shook his head. "Just some sleep."
Michelle looked at the clock on the wall. It was only 8:30.
The hovering form of Michelle beside his bed, twiddling her thumbs, caused Tony to chuckle. "I'm not gonna break sweetheart. C'mere…"
He held out a hand and Michelle crawled onto the bed, taking care not to disrupt the mattress. Tony pulled her up against his good side and met her quivering lips with his own. Michelle's hand found his face and soon her fingers were running soothingly through his hair. She kissed the cut lightly on one side of his eye, and then the stitches that continued over his eyebrow. Tony tensed when her fingers found the bruise on his side.
"Honey, you need some rest." Michelle told him when his muscles tightened, and climbed off the bed.
"I should let you sleep." She felt guilty for being so inconsiderate now. Tony certainly didn't need her inflicting any more pain so that she could placate her own fears.
Tony conjured enough energy to grab her arm and pull her back under the covers. He wrapped the arm of his uninjured side across Michelle's collarbone, locking her firmly in place. Tony snuggled in more closely to her warm body.
"Stay with me." His breathing was raspy against Michelle's throat. Tony seemed to be shaking a little.
Michelle pulled the blanket snugly around both of them and pressed her body closer to Tony's. His breathing slowed so it was almost inaudible, and Michelle continued to stroke uninjured patches of skin until Tony was snoring quietly beside her. Michelle smiled and crawled out of bed, shutting the door on her way out.
Figuring Tony would be ravenous as soon as he woke up; Michelle made her way to a bakery across the street. She returned a few minutes later with a bag full of bagels. Placing it on the kitchen table, she wrote a quick note and left it on the counter, turning off the lights in the kitchen before heading out the door once again.
The fact that she could get up and leave was Michelle's way of showing she was okay with Tony heading out into the field, and was accepting of the fact that he might get injured sometimes. She didn't need to linger over his bedside the entire time watching him sleep, praying he was okay. Tony had to be okay; Michelle needed him to be okay. Leaving him alone was an attempt to trick her psyche into believing that it wasn't that big of a deal…
When Tony awoke in the middle of the night he was groggy. The alarm clock read 1:03. He felt around the bed for Michelle; though he'd known the instant he'd woken that she wasn't there. He stumbled out of the bedroom into the kitchen; his head was starting to spin a little. Tony flicked on the lights and saw the brown paper bag and note scribbled in Michelle's messy writing. It took his eyes a second to adjust to the light before he could read it. He smiled at the gesture, but would've much preferred her spending the night with him. He wondered if he could chance a phone call to her, or if she was already asleep. He decided against it. Michelle was almost as tired as he was, he should let her rest.
Michelle rolled over in bed; her eyes were heavy with fatigue but for some reason her brain would not slow long enough for her to doze. She hated nights like this, nights where she couldn't sleep. She used to have them a lot when her mom passed away, but once she'd moved back to LA her daily routine had consumed her; more so because the strenuous days at CTU tended to tire her out better than anything else.
She used to go for walks whenever she couldn't sleep. Deciding anything was better than lying in bed, staring into nothingness, Michelle threw on some sweats and headed out the door.
It was windy that night. Michelle loved the sensation she felt when the breeze licked the moisture from her brow, calming her. She walked slowly, enjoying the empty streets and the absence of noise and car lights. There weren't many commercial buildings by her apartment so the area was generally quiet.
As a teenager, there were many nights like this, where she couldn't sleep, causing her to slip out the door as noiselessly as possible for some air. Once in a while her dad would wake up and become frantic when Michelle wasn't in her room. He'd wait up until she returned, lecturing her on taking unnecessary risks and being completely naïve to what might have happened to a teenage girl at "all hours".
As she continued to walk her thoughts drifted back to her mom. When she'd died Michelle had spent a few weeks living with her dad again, keeping him company. Her late-night outings seemed to become more and more frequent, and as her father's protectiveness increased, Michelle got more and more frustrated that she couldn't do as she pleased. If only he could see me now…Michelle laughed. He'd kill me…
She approached an intersection and saw a woman from her building crossing the street, with an apparent boyfriend or one-night-stand in tow. Michelle acknowledged the woman and kept walking. Tony…was suddenly the only thought she was experiencing. She wondered how he was feeling, if he was still asleep, if she should've left him like that…She shook her head firmly, trying to snap herself out of these overly exaggerated fears. Tony would be perfectly fine in a few days. She'd have to find a way to get used to this whole ordeal…
She wondered what Tony would say if he could see her now. A woman, alone, wandering the streets of LA in the middle of the night. Despite the plain and simple fact that she was more than capable of taking care of herself, Michelle had a feeling he wouldn't be too fond of the idea if he found out.
Loosing Tony was the scariest thing that had come out of everything that had happened that day. It had shifted positions from being a disturbing nightmare to a horrible reality. Imaging having to spend a day without him, knowing he couldn't be there with her anymore was just about as close to hell as Michelle had ever come. But Tony was safe now, at home. And she would see him in a few hours. And then at night they could cuddle up on the couch together, and she could kiss his scars and bruises until he fell asleep. She would take care of him for once, she owed him that much. Yes…tomorrow would be better. Michelle would take care of Tony, and everything would turn out alright. Smiling to herself, she turned around to head back home. Maybe she was starting to feel tired after all…
