A/N: Glad everyone like chapter 14: )…all of the reviews, (thanks by the way), seemed to have a common theme…so without further ado, is the chapter when Tony's surprise is revealed. I had originally planned another chapter in between these two but, after reading the reviews, decided I could save it for another date…lol…Hope you guys like it and it's not like anticlimactic or anything…Enjoy!1
Chapter Fifteen - Surprises
Exactly one month had passed since Michelle had taken the course at Division; and nothing more had been said about her going into the field since then. Tony wasn't complaining by any means. Although, there had been a few occasions when he'd been convinced Jack was going to pull Michelle out there on a whim, deciding he wanted some assistance. Thankfully, the moment had yet to arrive and Michelle remained comfortably at CTU.
During the second week of November, Tony had a day off, and Michelle was, naturally expected to work. The fateful time when he could finally reveal what had turned into relentless hours of careful planning and calculation was drawing near...
He had decided, at random, to head over to the mall. As much as he despised the relentless hustle and bustle of shoppers that never seemed to desist, there were a few things he needed to pick up for himself and that afternoon seemed like as good a day as any.
Errands run, Tony was heading back to the parking garage when he walked passed a jewelry store and something caught his eye. He paused, surprised at his own attentiveness, for, since when did he really care what was being displayed in the glass casing?
Crossing the walkway he chanced a look at the ring he'd noticed from a distance. It was...perfect. Too perfect to ignore. The fact that he even appreciated how perfect it was told Tony there was something special about it. He tried to shake the thought out of his head but couldn't. It was too early to be even considering it but...well...What if he just picked it up...for whenever? There was no harm in that, right? Sure it was expensive but he already knew he'd be doing it eventually anyway. He could just buy it, keep it somewhere safe, and then, should the occasion ever…no, when the occasion presented itself, he would have one less thing to worry about...
Three and a half months.
He was buying a damn engagement ring after three and a half months with no intent on using it anytime soon, afraid of scaring Michelle off. But, he bought it. He signed the receipt and tucked it away safely in his pocket, pleased with himself and the favorable weight he felt as he walked now. When the time was right, when the subject had been broached, and he decided they were both ready, he would have one less cause for stress…
She would love it.
A few times Tony had been more than ready to tell Michelle everything. Usually when she had a particularly bad day and he wanted to make her feel better, this was the sure fire way to do it after all. Sometimes, he even wondered if she knew. If one of the other people involved had, whether accidentally or not, let something slip. But no, if Michelle knew, he would know she knew. There was no way she'd keep quiet for long...That he was certain of. Besides, all other parties knew it was his secret to tell, they wouldn't dare ruin, although he was sure they wanted to just as badly as he did.
Alicia, of course, knew everything, every last, miserable detail, as she'd insisted that be part of the bargain, in exchange for helping Tony. He'd conceded, of course, knowing there was no way possible of doing it without her.
Lisa knew, as promised he'd let her in on his secret the last time she called. Michelle had been in the shower, and it hadn't taken much to coerce the truth out of him. Probably, because Tony thought he might just about burst if he didn't tell someone else soon. The excited squeal, and whole-hearted assurance that the surprise was far better than anything she'd imagined Tony being capable of coming up with, made him laugh.
If Lisa knew, he was willing to bet Rachel knew too. No big deal there, she wasn't in contact with Michelle anyway.
That was three.
Jack knew. Much to Tony's dismay at, firstly, having to admit something that was considered very personal, and second, asking for help in executing it. That had just made him feel awkward. Jack didn't know either of them really, not that way. (Though as the months had continued to pass, the relationship between colleagues had become gradually more personal.) Tony felt hesitant when it came to revealing such an emotional side of himself. It wasn't ideal, but he'd needed Jack's help almost as much as he'd needed Alicia's. It was asking a lot, he knew, but Jack had agreed almost instantly, assuring Tony he'd be happy to do what he could.
For the rest of his life Tony would be eternally grateful, he was convinced.
Tony's cell phone rang; interrupting his mental calculation of who else was in on the secret.
"Almeida."
"Hey, it's me."
He smiled and fingered the velvet casing in his pocket. "Hey honey."
On her end of the phone, Michelle grinned as she shifted her car into drive.
"Where are you?"
"Store. I'm just leaving now, you off?"
"Yeah, everything's under control here anyway…I'm just heading home."
"Wanna meet for dinner?"
At the thoughtfulness of this, Michelle smiled even wider. "Sounds great…where?"
Tony smirked, knowing the response he would receive for this: "That Italian place by your apartment…"
Michelle groaned. "You're horribly predictable, y'know that Almeida?"
Tony laughed out loud now. "And that's why you love me…" She would be eating her words soon enough anyway.
"I'll see you in a bit then." He continued, upon hearing her laugh again through the receiver.
"Yup, bye."
Tony closed the phone and continued walking towards the parking lot, wondering how much harder it was about to become to keep things to himself…
Lisa called one day two weeks later, when Tony and Michelle had just stumbled in the door after a grueling twenty hour shift involving a bomb threat to the Governor. A terrorist group had gained access to his itinerary and claimed to have a suicide bomber on the inside, who would obliterate himself and everyone within a 100m radius the second their demands were not met. It had finally ended with the capture of the leader of that particular terrorist cell, and the death of the bomber by sniper rifle. Tony was completely drained and collapsed on the couch immediately. It was Michelle who picked up the phone.
"Hey Michelle,"
Michelle smiled and covered the mouthpiece, indicating to Tony who it was, he sat up a little.
"Hey! How'd it go?"
Lisa let out a nervous laugh. "I hope okay. We won't have the results for a while yet and it's always hard to tell with these things but..."
Michelle shook her head at Lisa's anxiety over her LSATs. "I bet you aced it."
"I wish I had that confidence," she laughed dryly.
Tony indicated for Michelle to hand him the phone and she did so. Tony had pretty much the same conversation with Lisa, and they chatted about a few more inconsequential things before finally hanging up.
"She sounds so happy there…" Michelle commented as Tony sat up. He nodded his agreement.
"She's going home for Christmas, to Chicago, she wants to move out of Rachel's place as soon as she finds out if she got into law school…"
"God, some days I really miss college." She sighed. "I mean, it seemed so strenuous at the time and now it's like…"
"Nothing compared to what we do every day…" Tony agreed.
Tony grew very silent after making this comment and Michelle looked at him seriously.
"What happened in the conference this morning?"
"Nothing, it's fine…" Tony looked at the TV, but it was turned off, making it blatantly obvious he was trying to avoid conversation.
"You've been acting strange since then – "
"I said it was nothing." Tony snapped. "Alright? Just leave it…"
Michelle stared at him, clearly worried still.
"Okay."
That night, when Michelle fell into bed, Tony did not say a word. Instead he rolled away from her without so much as a glance.
"Tony…" He felt gentle fingers barely trace through the t-shirt, across his back.
He stiffened against her touch, which succeeded in sending shivers throughout him.
"Remember the video feed we saw of them torturing the undercover agents?" he finally burst out, unwilling to stay quiet any longer.
Michelle shuddered as the thought came back to her, but nodded. Under careful scrutiny of the particular terrorist group, DOD had uncovered a video, implanted into their system for a reason still unknown to them, that showed two agents being dismembered in every way possible as the interrogators tortured them for information. It had been disturbing, but nonetheless Michelle knew Tony wouldn't be acting this strangely over something like that…He'd seen worse, after all.
"Yeah…"
"Well there was more to it…" he explained. "Hammond had Jack and me watch it while you had everyone trying to trace the signal. He wanted to see if we could get any tells on where they might be from the rest of the footage…"
Michelle did not say anything, choosing instead to wait for Tony to finish.
"Somehow they figured out the identity of the agents, we're still not sure how, but they knew who they were and had their families brought in…"
A chill ran down Michelle's spine as she sensed where this was going.
"One of 'em had a daughter, looked about six, really cute too…anyway they stuck her and his wife in the room while they started grilling him for information again, still didn't say a word…so they grabbed the daughter and raped her right in front of him…"
Michelle felt nauseas as she tried to dispel the image from her mind with no success. Tony was shaking ever-so slightly, she noted, and touched his arm again, comfortingly.
"He lost it…the agent…and told them pretty much everything…after that they killed the parents and girl started screaming all over again…I dunno if they forgot the video was on, or if they new it was even being taped, but they kept raping her until she was dead…"
Michelle tried her hardest not to sniffle and instead ran her hand up and down Tony's back in a vain attempt to rub the shakes out of him.
"I mean the only reason we even knew she was dead was because she stopped screaming…" he cringed. "There was blood everywhere…"
Michelle pressed her face into the small of his back and sighed, damning herself for not knowing anything comforting to say. Normally, the tables were turned…Tony had seen so much worse than her and she was struggling to realize that no one, not even Tony or Jack or Chappelle, had seen it all…
"I mean the sickest part is it probably happens all the time and we don't even know about it…like in other countries or whatever. The poor kid was probably asleep in her bed one minute and then…"
The cracking in his voice just about killed Michelle…for she had never seen Tony this upset by something, never seem him so close to his breaking point. She'd been there, and beyond, so many times and he'd been fine, been the one who calmed her.
Now, it was her turn to hang tough. It was her turn to whisper words of assurance and gently soothe him to sleep.
Tony conceded to Michelle's touch when she tried to turn him to face her and drew him into her arms.
"I wish I knew what to say…" she admitted, feeling incredibly unhelpful.
He nestled further into her chest.
"You don't have to say anything…" he told her. "I'm used to dealing with this kinda stuff by myself anyway…"
"People do horrible things." She finally found her voice. "And at least, with our jobs, we get a chance to stop them…I guess you can never help everyone though…"
"You're right…" he squeezed back more tightly.
"And you can tell me these things …it's one of the benefits of dating someone you work with…"
She brushed back a piece of hair and kissed the top of his head as she reminded him of this, running her fingers up and down his back as he continued to lie against her. The rhythmic sound of Michelle's breathing and the feeling of her chest rising and falling underneath his cheek had soon soothed Tony into a dreamy state, quieting the video-induced images in his mind.
He wanted to tell her then.
Hell…he wanted to break out the ring then...
Exactly one week from that day Tony and Michelle returned home together, yet again, after a particularly long, but otherwise uneventful day at the office. It was well past ten when they stumbled in the door.
Tony dug a couple of pots out from his cupboards and went to work on making dinner. Michelle had expressed her craving for pasta as the stepped out of a conference call with Hammond and Wayne Palmer, President Palmer's newly appointed Chief of Staff.
After dinner Tony went to take a shower, and left Michelle flipping through a magazine she'd bought the night before, insisting Tony never had anything worth reading. She had been light, happy, she was tired and the day had been intense, but Michelle was definitely in a good mood.
This is why it was much to Tony's distress when he returned back to the den, finding Michelle in near tears sitting on the couch.
"What's wrong?" he asked, looking concerned.
She shook her head and shrugged it off, but her hands grasped the pillow in her lap tightly.
"Nothing, nothing." she patted his arm. "Just tired."
It was then that Tony noticed the cell phone clutched in her hand.
"You'd think you'd no better by now than to try that with me..." he joked.
Silence.
"Who called?"
"I called my dad. I haven't talked to him in a few days..."
Tony pulled her hands out of her lap, removing the phone, and brushed back a piece of hair.
"And...?"
"No really, it was just...nice. We actually had a decent conversation and that hasn't happened for a long time..." she lowered her eyes sadly.
Tony's fingers were now twirling a piece of hair in Michelle's ponytail around themselves.
"I mean it felt normal...like things were back to normal...I kinda missed that..."
Tony sighed and drew Michelle against him.
He wanted to tell her then too.
Two nights later Michelle was lying on her bed, curled on one side, head resting against her hands as she watched Tony change.
"What do you want for Christmas?" she asked suddenly.
Tony stopped unbuttoning his shirt and turned to face her.
"Huh?"
"For Christmas...I've been trying to think of what to get you but you're impossible to shop for y'know...so I'm gonna need some ideas..."
"Oh geeze, I dunno...I'm not big on the whole 'Christmas thing' anyway..."
Michelle hopped off the bed and made her way across the room. Her arms snaked around his waist and the tips of her fingers slid ever so slightly below the belt line of Tony's jeans. He shuddered.
"You have to want something..."
"Yeah..." Tony grabbed one of her arms. "You..."
Michelle rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless..." she retreated back towards the bed.
Tony finished changing and crawled on after her.
"So what do you want for Christmas then?"
Michelle rolled over, and faced the wall while Tony poked her teasingly.
"Michelle!"
"I'm not saying I want 'you'…" she told him stubbornly, without turning around.
Tony chuckled and squeezed her side. "Well what do you want then?"
She lay there unmoving for a moment, considering her response carefully. Eventually she turned around to face him.
"A day off from work…" she said simply. "And you…" a blush washed across her face that Tony could decipher even in the pale bedroom light.
He grinned. "I'll have to see what I can do about that then…"
Michelle closed her eyes and cuddled up against him while Tony pulled the duvet over them, and set the alarm for the next day. Satisfied, he ran his arm up Michelle's side, smiling when she sighed gently and started to doze. She had no idea how close she really was to getting much more than what she wanted for Christmas.
One day before Tony was supposed to reveal his surprise, he was almost convinced he was going to tell all. They'd taken separate cars to work that morning, on Michelle's insistence that she had something to do afterwards.
When she'd flung herself into the apartment, a little over an hour after Tony had returned, he eyed her skeptically at the site of a shopping bag in her hand. She grinned from ear-to-ear and pulled him over to the couch.
"I was gonna wait and save this for Christmas but...I felt too guilty..."
The previous evening Michelle had pulled on one of Tony's sweatshirts, his favorite one to be precise, the one that she had appropriately deemed as the most comfortable piece of clothing he owned. He was inclined to agree since its fleece interior was particularly soft and thick. Unusually clumsy, Michelle had been curled up with the cup of hot chocolate they'd made after dinner, and ended up spilling its contents all over the immaculate white shirt, scalding herself in the process.
Tony had insisted it was not a big deal and he could always buy another sweatshirt, but Michelle, knowing how much he loved that one, felt horrible. She'd even run down to the laundry machines and spent over two hours applying liberal amounts of stain remover and washing the sweater again and again and again to no avail. The stain remained, faded, but present nonetheless.
Now Michelle pulled out a brand new, almost flawless replica of the sweater from her shopping bag, apologizing profusely for not being able to find the same exact one.
"I'll keep looking..." she assured him. "But for now I thought this would do until..."
Tony kissed her.
"You shouldn't have done that."
Michelle shrugged, "It's my fault your other one's ruined...There's a reason I avoid wearing white to work…with the coffee and all and the long days it never turns out well…" she joked before looking back up at him with genuine remorse. "I'm sorry..."
He slid an arm around her.
"C'mere..."
As he pulled her towards him, Tony placed the new sweater on the coffee table. Michelle lay down and smiled when Tony kissed the top of her head.
Pressing her body more tightly into his made Tony feel all "warm and fuzzy" inside. He was so close to telling her right then and there. So close he could taste the words in his mouth and feel them forming on his tongue and lips. But he did not breathe a word. For in less than twenty-four hours it would be the right time, and he'd already planned that moment out persistently in his head, knowing that if he waited this long, he could wait one more day...just one more day...
For Michelle Dessler, Christmas came early that year. Four days early to be exact. They came home from work on the night of December 21st, a Friday, and Tony followed Michelle onto the couch, making a point to leave his jacket hanging over the arm beside her.
She was engrossed in some news report about a recent earthquake in the Middle East, when Tony turned to her.
"Hey, uh…I want to give you your present now…"
Michelle muted the TV and turned to stare at him. "It's not even Christmas yet…"
"I know, but I gotta do it now, you'll see why…"
"No! Tony! I don't even have yours with me…you can't do it – "
"Shhh…" he grabbed her hand and placed a finger over her lips. "Just trust me, alright?"
Michelle still looked skeptical, but her curiosity got the better of her. Besides, no matter how many times he placed a finger over her lips she was convinced she would never become used to the feelings it stimulated.
"Alright."
"Okay…so part one is this…" he cleared his throat. "Starting on the 23rd you and I have three full days off from work…together."
Michelle's eyes widened. "How the hell did you manage that?"
"I talked to Chappelle like two months ago…told him I'd already promised you the days off but I needed them too…reminded him that he owes both of us a couple thousand sick days and he agreed to bring in someone else while we're gone…provided Jack's still around on the 24th…"
Michelle was grinning so widely she thought her cheeks might burst. "Three days! That's…I can't believe that…" she leaned in for a kiss.
"Hang on…you haven't even gotten to the best part yet…"
"Seriously, that's as good as it gets."
"Well, I think this is better but…you can be the judge of that…it's in my coat pocket." He indicated to the jacket resting beside her now.
"Go ahead."
Michelle looked utterly confused by this. The second part of her Christmas present was in Tony's coat? She leaned over and dug through the pockets, finding nothing but a folded, manila envelope tucked away in the inside one.
She raised an eyebrow and Tony laughed.
"Open it."
The envelope was relatively heavy, the paper inside felt thick. Michelle wondered what kind of present came on a piece of thick paper. Tearing it open she dumped its contents into her lap and froze when she saw what it was immediately.
Plane tickets.
"Oh my god…" Michelle sat there staring, unsure of what to say. She looked up at Tony in complete shock, still having not touched the tickets, and having no idea of their destination.
"Wh…what did you…?" Tony was grinning now and Michelle felt her heart beats increase drastically.
Plane tickets? Why was he giving her plane tickets? What could he possibly have planned for three days that involved them going on a plane?
"Maybe you wanna see where you're going?" he suggested slyly, bring Michelle back to planet Earth.
She picked up the tickets and started at the 'Destination' line. A hand came to her mouth and she pressed her lips together tightly, succumbing to the emotions no Christmas present had ever elicited from her.
"They're to…" It was her turn to clear her throat as she started to stutter. "They're to DC?"
Somehow it came out sounding like a question, even though it said so right in front of her.
"Well I was thinking about taking ya somewhere for a while...trying to figure out a way around work and everything, where we could go...and then I just...I mean…I know how much you miss your dad so...And we can always go somewhere else another time...Since it's Christmas though I thought you might rather...y'know..."
"So you…" she sat there at a loss for words. "You talked to…"
"Yeah, I talked to him. Alicia helped me; I met with her when we were in New York and she pretty much organized the whole thing…"
Michelle's composure started to slip even further from her control.
"I don't even know what to say…I can't believe you did this…" she was shaking slightly and her limbs felt like lead. "I mean its so much money for three – "
Tony shook his head to silence her. "Not really…" he squeezed her hand. Not when it makes you this happy…"I wanted to do it."
Michelle dabbed her eyes with her sleeve and stared into her lap, still in disbelief.
"Thank you…" it was all she could manage.
Tony smiled and brushed his thumb down her cheek.
Michelle slid across the couch and threw her arms around his neck, fighting against her numbness to express the sheer enormity of her gratitude.
"I love you…" she breathed and squeezed tighter.
"I love you too, honey..."
After a hug that felt like it would never end, but still didn't seem quite sufficient to either of them, Michelle broke away and checked her ticket in full detail this time.
"Tomorrow night?" she exclaimed. "We're leaving tomorrow night?"
Tony laughed, "Yeah, so you might wanna start packing or something…"
Michelle leapt off the couch. "I'll have to find all my winter clothes…and I have to get all the work organized and…" she began ticking off things on her fingers as she hurried out of sight.
Tony waited a few minutes before following her into the bedroom. Michelle had already pulled out her suitcase and was fishing articles of clothing from the back of her closet, throwing them into it without really caring how they landed. Knowing she would regret not taking the time to fold later, Tony went to work doing so for her, not wanting to hinder her excitement by anything that remotely resembled common sense. She had to have common sense every day of her life...For once Michelle could be spontaneous and he wasn't about to take that away from her.
"I haven't worn this stuff in such a long time…" she called from the inside of her closet. She heard Tony laugh and emerged with a ridiculously large grin on her face, coiling a piece of hair between her fingers sheepishly. She crossed the room and grabbed and handful of the front of his shirt, planting her lips on his as she wrapped both arms around his neck.
"I'm still in shock." Her cheeks were flushed when she broke the kiss, and she felt a fresh wave of sobs threaten to overcome her.
"I mean I really can't believe you did this…I never even…you do enough, Tony."
He cupped her face in his hands and chuckled. "Anything that can make you this happy is well worth it…" he assured her gently.
Michelle's already red cheeks deepened in color.
"Plus, it does mean I get to spent three full days with you without having to work…"
She shook her head and drew him in for another hug.
"You're unbelievable…"
Tony smiled and pulled her against him more forcefully. My thoughts exactly...
