Chapter Twenty-Nine – So Little Time
Michelle barely made it into the Conference room a minute before Tony and was taking her seat next to the head of the table just as he waltzed through the door.
"Alright everyone, let's keep this short, I don't wanna be here all day."
On cue, Adam launched into an unnecessarily long-winded discussion over the latest system upgrades.
Chloe did not seem too enthralled by this and it wasn't long before she was huffing and sighing heavily, much to Adam's chagrin. Adam stopped in mid-sentence and shot Chloe a dirty look for interrupting him that she appeared quite unfazed by.
"Chloe, be quiet." Tony snapped, unable to take it any longer.
Chloe's eyes rolled back in her head at the expression Adam wore before she turned back to the computer resting in front of her.
"Adam if you can't tolerate Chloe than you really shouldn't be working here..." Tony continued when Adam did not go on with what he had been saying.
Adam muttered an apology and briskly picked up where he'd left off.
Tony leaned back in his chair with an exasperated sigh. It was taking all the patience he had to get through this meeting. It seemed like such a waste of time at the moment, but as usual, Division thought it to be necessary. He'd have much rather have been digging into the briefing denoted "for his eyes only" to see what all the fuss was about.
He glanced at Michelle who was trying to look interested; something she clearly wasn't. He nudged her foot a little underneath the table and she turned to give him a small smile before giving her attention back to Adam.
Tony seriously hoped there was work to be done for whatever was on his desk and was praying that would entail employing Michelle's (and only Michelle's) help. Anything that had him working with her (something they got to do a lot less of these days) was well worth it.
Against his better judgment Tony started daydreaming. It was all he could do to keep himself listening to Adam's report which seemed like a complete and utter waste of time. The kid certainly had something to learn about how the term briefing was derived.
His daydreams eventually led to him reminiscing of the first time he'd ever worked with Michelle one-on-one. The situation had been similar: George had informed Tony about a file that needed worked up, thanks to a potential information leak from someone's end and had decided they could use Michelle's help in the matter.
Tony had tried to convince him otherwise but George had been adamant and ordered Michelle to the Conference room a minute later.
"Mr. Mason..."
Tony and George turned towards the door to face Michelle, who idled in the entrance.
"You wanted to see me?"
George motioned her in and Tony felt his eyes drop slightly to her swaying hips as she came to stand beside him. He had to fight not to inhale deeply as the scent of her perfume floated through the air.
"We just received some new Intel..." George held the folder out for her. "It looks like there's going to be some kind of hit on the Senator, he's in LA today...We just have no idea when..."
Michelle frowned and looked to Tony, who scratched the side of his face.
"Shouldn't you...I mean...aren't you going to brief the rest of the staff?" she asked, trying her best not to sound accusatory.
George and Tony looked at each other briefly before Tony began to answer.
"We're under orders from Division not to." he explained; his eyes darting away quickly when she met his gaze with a serious one of her own.
"They're suspicious of an information leak; possibly interagency... they want to keep this information restricted to a needs-to-know basis." He studied Michelle carefully as she listened. "It wasn't supposed to go to anyone but us…" he said indicating to himself and George. He caught the eye roll George shot him when he did this, as Michelle looked a little disheartened by the comment. Obviously, Tony Almeida didn't seem to think she was trustworthy.
"So," George scanned the room quickly before leaning in. Despite himself the corners of his lips twitched a little when he noticed the glint of excitement behind Michelle's eyes. The energy, enthusiasm, and sheer dedication she brought to the table each and every day was one of the reasons she was so valuable as an employee.
"You think you can keep this to yourself while you do a little digging for me?"
Tony felt his pulse quicken when she nodded, her eyes flickering in his direction before she took the folder from George and proceeded towards the door. It might be a lot easier to maintain his indifference if she could stop looking like that…at him, like that…
"I'll keep you posted." she promised them, before needing to add: "And I'll make sure no one else finds out…"
Michelle could feel Tony's eyes on her when she stepped out of the room.
Tony shuddered at the closeness; standing so near Michelle had the ugly habit of elevating his blood pressure to unhealthy levels and making his unbuttoned shirt collar feel a little too tight. The worst part about it was that in the three weeks she'd been working at CTU every resolution he'd made to himself since the whole Nina Myers debacle was slowly, but surely escaping him.
George must've caught his reaction, because as soon as Michelle had left he droned:
"Smooth..." as he leaned over his laptop.
Tony raised an eyebrow. "What are you talkin' about?"
"That..." he pointed at Tony's expression whilst his eyes wandered to Michelle's desk.
Tony scowled in an attempt to cover his tracks. "I just didn't think it was necessary to bring her into this, alright?"
"Hey…I'm not saying anything. Be a jerk…doesn't make one bit of a difference to me…You do know she likes you though, right? Although I really can't imagine how when you keep acting like that…"
Tony's eyes flashed upward and he stared incredulously.
"I'm not talking about this with you, George." he half-shouted; hoping to mask the fact that he was a little taken aback and more than a little curious now that he realized George too had picked up on the vibe. It occurred to him then that he might not being imagining things like he thought he was, and that just seemed to unnecessarily complicate life, (or necessarily, depending on what way he looked at it).
"Relax Tony...I was just saying she obviously likes you..."
"And I said I'm not talking to you about this!"
George did a quick scan of the room to make sure there was no chance for interruption before continuing.
"When was the last time you had a date?" he drawled, his voice laced with sarcasm and more than somewhat enjoying the notion of making Tony squirm. He was incredibly good at it, after all.
"You don't want to hear anything about anyone else's personal life; what is it that makes you so interested in mine?" Tony spat back in such a defensive way that George almost laughed aloud.
"Yours has been non-existent for a year and a half…Shrewd planning Almeida; letting Nina ruin your life…Hasn't she done that to enough people?"
Tony's jaw fell open.
"You got screwed and we all knew that was gonna happen anyway...even if she hadn't turned traitor...It was only a matter of time."
Tony seriously debated storming out of the room before any more of his buttons could be pushed, as George seemed to have a knack for it.
"And what do you want me to do about it?"
His eyes flickered towards Michelle who was hurrying towards someone else's station and then studying their monitor intently.
"I just said she likes you...don't hold it against her…" he shrugged it off before heading towards the door. "Let me know what you guys find..."
"Yeah, fine."
"Oh and Tony…" George turned around at the last second before exiting. "Be nice, huh?"
Tony was practically infuriated now. What the hell did George know anyway? He wasn't exactly one who could boast about his experience in the romance department… And he, himself, certainly wasn't unnecessarily rude to Michelle; distant maybe, and a little cold but nothing else…nothing she wouldn't have come to expect from her superiors throughout her career. He was just being cautious at any rate. There was no need to psych himself up for something that would turn out to be completely pointless anyway. Someone always ended up getting hurt…whether intentionally or not.
But damn when she looked at him like that…with those big eyes that he couldn't help but get a little overwhelmed by…and that slightly crooked smile that only seemed to get more endearing each and every time... He could ignore the fact that she was intelligent; that she had a great sense of humor, especially around George, and seemed to know perfectly well what to do with her appearance and actions to drive him absolutely insane. A big part of the reason he was exceptionally distant with her was due in large to the fact that she could do that to him each and every time. He had to make a special point to keep his distance from Michelle Dessler; because if anyone was capable of getting under his skin and making him forget everything he was supposed to have learned from past disasters it was her.
Tony was shaken out of his reverie when Michelle's hand found his knee under the table and gave it a quick rub without changing the direction of her gaze. The gesture only lasted a few seconds, but it immediately made him desperate to whisk them both out of there and get this honeymoon started…the wedding was just a formality, (at least that's what he'd convinced himself of by this point).
"Hey Michelle..." Gael grabbed her attention and she looked up from her computer monitor.
"What's up?" she questioned when she noticed Chloe had arrived at her station as well.
"We were just wondering if Division had decided on a replacement for you and Tony next week." He explained and Michelle couldn't help but notice the exasperated expression Chloe wore when he mentioned this.
"Yeah um….Ryan Chappelle should be here most of the time, and Jack will be around for the entire week."
Chloe looked pained when she heard this.
"So… I guess we can't really call if we need you." She began; looking the most unsure of herself and irritated Michelle had ever seen her. "I mean, since it's your honeymoon and everything…"
Michelle's mouth hung slightly agape when she realized a few of the more recent staff members, Gael included, had yet to be officially informed of their impending wedding. The somewhat shocked look he wore when Chloe divulged this information grew even more prominent when Michelle did not deny it.
"If there's a serious problem Ryan will be able to get a hold of us." Michelle tried to brush her off coolly and Chloe seemingly realized her error. She turned to Gael.
"Oh right, you didn't know that yet…" she scrunched her face into something painful before facing Michelle. "Sorry…I guess." She was hurrying back up the stairs to her desk before either had time to react.
Gael and Michelle eyed each other wordlessly for a few seconds before he finally spoke.
"You know there are rumors going around the office…"
"I'm sure there are." Michelle sighed heavily. "We just try not to make a big deal out of it."
He nodded softly and Michelle was grateful for this. "Of course; that's understandable."
"Anyway," she scooped up the file resting beside them and stepped around her desk. "Let me know if you need anything else."
As she made her way towards the staircase she found herself fighting to keep her frustration at bay. Chloe was lucky she was good with computers since tactfulness clearly wasn't one of her strong points…
It was later that afternoon and a light rain speckled the windshield as they pulled out of the CTU parking facilities. Tony cursed softly under his breath before shooting Michelle an apologetic look and turning the car in the opposite direction of home.
"I have to pick something up at District from Hammond." He explained when she raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Sorry, I meant to tell you earlier."
She waved away his apology and settled back against her seat, her forehead pressed against the cooled glass as she watched the thunder clouds roll in. She was not in the mood for trying to move boxes in the middle of the rainstorm but it looked like they were being left with no choice.
They had begun transferring things to the new house two days before and had planned on being completely moved in by the end of the day. Movers had already taken away the majority of their furniture and they'd spent the previous night squished on an air mattress Tony had forgotten he owned. It wasn't exactly of the best quality and had deflated completely by morning, meaning they spent a good portion of the night with nothing but a few layers of rubber between them and the floor.
Michelle massaged her temples, willing the early twinges of a headache to disappear. It would take at least another 45 minutes to get back to the apartment from District and Mother Nature was likely to be in full swing by then. Hammond seemed to have a knack for ruining everything.
The contempt for Tony he had always felt had only been magnified at the news of their relationship, and the indifference he felt towards Michelle had shifted to dislike and resentment. Not even Ryan's acceptance seemed to persuade him that until their relationship started to interfere with their work they could be left alone. Hammond was just not willing to make any accommodations, especially not for Tony... She had often wondered if Tony had inadvertently done something to anger him at one point during his career that she was not aware of. Even if he had, surely he would've told her by now anyway…
When they arrived at the security gate Michelle passed over her identification to the guard through the open window. They were cleared a few seconds later and Michelle had every intention of remaining in the car to avoid giving Hammond anything else he could find worth of objection.
"You're not waiting in the car." Tony informed her as he climbed out of his own side while Michelle continued to rationalize it through the open door.
"There's no reason to-" the door was shut before she had time to finish her sentence and her own was being pulled open a second later.
She studied him skeptically, noting the subtle upturning of his lips as he leaned against the car, waiting patiently for her to remove her seatbelt.
"Why do you have to provoke him?" she asked; a touch of annoyance in her voice.
"I don't provoke him." he rebutted, the cocky smirk vanishing. "But there's no way I'm making you sit out here because seeing us together is too much for Brad Hammond…" he leaned over to unbuckle her seatbelt since she obviously had no intention of doing so.
"Tony…"
"We're allowed to walk into a building together." He firmly reminded her, offering a hand. She looked as though she was about to argue some more, but stopped midway and sighed, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet.
When she dropped his hand the instant they entered the building Tony decided it was better not to say anything. She was probably right, he did have a tendency to cause a little more trouble than necessary…but it wasn't his fault Hammond seemed to have developed a vendetta against him over his years with CTU; not that he had a particular affinity for anyone, but Tony seemed to rub him in all the wrong ways, especially since his relationship with Michelle became public. He didn't like the grief she was getting as a result and had considered giving a piece of his mind multiple times when any sort of comment about them.
If walking into CTU together had been awkward the first few days after their engagement was announced, it was nothing to the looks they received at District. For one thing, the glances were a lot more contemptuous at the sight of them as a couple. Michelle was uncomfortable, (although you couldn't exactly tell it by looking at her) and she found herself leaving a rather large gap between their bodies as they walked towards Hammond's office.
Tony knocked on the glass door, shooting Michelle a sardonic eye roll before pushing it open and following her inside.
"Hey Brad." He stood patiently in front of the desk, arms folded.
Hammond looked up. "Tony…" his eyes fell to Michelle who was standing to the side trying her best not to look anxious.
"I didn't know you were bringing-"
"Michelle and I were on our way home." Tony proclaimed valiantly; seeing Michelle fidget with her purse strap out of the corner of his eye.
Hammond raised his eyebrow, finally making eye contact and gave them both a quick overview.
"Here..." he handed a file folder to Tony. "Make sure it gets done a.s.a.p. or neither of you will be taking any vacation next week."
Michelle saw Tony's brow furrow and his jaw clench to bite back whatever retort he was tempted to shout.
"I can start working it up tomorrow." She cut in after Tony handed her the documents. "It should be finished by the end of the week."
"I need it in two days, or I'll personally make sure you don't go anywhere-"
"Brad, there's no way-" Tony interrupted.
"That's fine, Mr. Hammond" Michelle snapped a little more boldly than she'd intended. "It'll be done in two days."
He nodded curtly. "Good."
Tony again looked like he was about to say something but decided against it, the warning Michelle had given him still fresh in his mind. Instead, they both waited silently to be dismissed while Hammond scribbled something onto a sheet of paper.
"I still don't agree with Ryan Chappelle's decision to give you both the week off…" he commented without raising his head.
"Well considering it's our honeymoon, I'd kinda like to be with my wife..." Tony stated offhandedly, biting his lip to keep from smirking when he saw Michelle's eyes widen and her hand come to her mouth to hide any sort of amusement on her face.
"Remember who you work for, Almeida, or I can easily see to it you both have a lot of time off from now on."
Tony's eyes flashed.
"Is that a threat?"
"Consider it a warning." He indicated to the door. "We're done here."
They were halfway out of the room when, as if desiring to prove just how much control he really did have over their jobs, Hammond stopped them.
"Oh, and Michelle-"
"It'll be finished." She beat him to the punch, suspecting exactly what he would feel the need to reiterate, before heading back into the hall while Tony closed the door firmly behind him.
"Idiot." Tony muttered under his breath when they were almost at the elevator.
Michelle pursed her lips together to avoid inputting into the discussion and getting them both even more worked up; though she was inclined to agree wholeheartedly with Tony's assessment. She giggled slightly when they were alone again in the parking lot as she thought back to the encounter.
"What are you laughing at?" he waggled a comedic eyebrow, glad to see she'd opted for amusement instead of annoyance.
Michelle's eyes sparkled. "Nothing…" she shook her head and glanced around briefly before planting a kiss on his shoulder. Tony smiled at the gesture and his muscles relaxed when her nails gently raked down the back of his neck.
"I hate that guy." He complained to the top of her head.
"You're gonna get in trouble one day." she teased him softly as he fumbled for his keys and unlocked the car.
He shrugged. "He can't fire me for being a smart ass."
This made Michelle laugh again and Tony grinned against her hair. It was more than worth pissing off Brad Hammond if she would at least laugh about it afterwards.
Tony watched for a minute while Michelle struggled under the weight of the box she had been carrying as she tried to walk up the small flight of stairs. The electricity had finally been turned on, the phone was working and the cable and Internet had been hooked up. They were, miraculously, on schedule with their move.
It had not taken long to find a place they both liked. It was one of those things where Michelle could sense almost immediately that this was the house for them. It wasn't perfect, but there was a distinct appeal about it that made it feel like it fit them just right. With a little effort the place would have that "homey" feel they both loved and craved at the end of a long day.
Tony had been en route back from the master bedroom when he'd found Michelle fighting for a grip on the box and cursing softly under her breath as she clamored up the stairs.
"What's in this one?" she asked breathlessly.
"Your bathroom stuff." He told her with a wry smirk, reading the label as he made to lift the box from her and groaning slightly under the weight.
"Go see if there's anything else in the car." He directed; exceptionally glad she knew better than to argue she could carry the box on her own and likely kill herself in the process.
Michelle was placing a few knick knacks they'd tossed in the car at the last minute on the kitchen counter when Tony returned down the stairs.
"This is it." she informed him, grinning at the significance of this statement. They were moved into their new house… It was something she couldn't help but get excited over. Before they'd still been living in Tony's apartment; sure, it was as much hers as it was his, but this new house just seemed so grown up. They'd decided on it together, had made plans to paint and decorate once the wedding had been taken care of, and had never spent a moment in it without each other.
Shegiggled when he announced there was no way he was going out for groceries now and they could do that tomorrow night instead as she followed him out of the kitchen. The den seemed huge compared to what she was used to, as well as totally barren despite the couch and TV stand. Tony had just finished ordering a pizza and was sitting quietly; watching Michelle intently as she walked across the room. She squealed in surprise when he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into his lap; one arm cradling her body while the other wrapped around her legs as he leaned in for a kiss.
Half his mouth twitched upwards as he pulled back and studied her for a second; well aware that it made her a little uncomfortable when he did.
"Am I making you blush, Ms. Dessler?" he teased when her cheeks reddened and his thumb ran across one. Of course he was making her blush. In fact, she couldn't remember a time when he hadn't made her blush.
Biting her lip mischievously she leaned in for another kiss; feeling his weight shift until he was pinning her gently against the cushion and his hand slid under the back of her shirt. It felt like it had been forever since they'd last done anything of the sort. Time never seemed to be devoted to "just kissing" but she loved doing it. There was nothing urgent or intense or overwhelming about it, and after the day they'd just had this was exactly what she needed; the simplicity, closeness and intimacy; the way their bodies melded together and the way his arms encompassed her entirely made it all that much more soothing and comforting. The terrifying things they witnessed on a daily basis that would understandably make anyone a little on edge never seemed to faze her quite as much when he spent the night holding her like this.
"You okay?" he asked, pulling back to catch his breath a few seconds later. Apparently her musings had been more apparent through her actions than she thought.
She nodded and made to kiss him again, but he moved his mouth out of range.
"You sure?" he frowned, studying her expression.
"Fine…" she insisted. "I'm just…thinking…" her overly analytical mind was interfering again and she wondered why it was she never seemed to be able to quiet it these days. At the beginning of their relationship it had been so easy; all he had to do was touch her to completely obliterate every coherent thought with the ease of someone erasing chalk from a blackboard. Now it did not seem to have the same effect and she wished she could find a way to let go like before.
"About what?" he pressed.
"I don't know..." She shrugged it off, letting her fingers gently skim across his cheek. "Everything…I guess…nothing special, I'm just…thinking."
Somehow he wordlessly coaxed her into blurting out every thought that had been running through her head during the entire afternoon. She felt like she was rambling and that surely, if there was ever a way to deter any man, this was it. If it hadn't been Tony she never would've explained some of the things she ended up explaining and the plethora of fears; both trivial and understandable that had been consuming her lately.
He listened though, never saying a thing and in some ways that was so much better. She didn't need reassurances that her worries were unwarranted or that everything would eventually sort itself out; she just liked having him there, listening, as she poured her heart out. Somewhere in the midst of the conversation Tony had slid between the back of couch; his eyes giving away unconditional love and adoration he clearly felt.
At some point she became sick of hearing herself talk and drew him in for another round of kissing. Michelle felt better; even more so now that they were kissing again. Her brain was exhausted, enabling her to enjoy every little detail that much more the second time around.
The pizza guy interrupted them a little while later; as always and Tony groaned in annoyance before forcing himself to answer the door. Michelle remained on the couch for a few minutes, not able to will herself up just yet. When the front door slammed shut she beat Tony to the kitchen, pulling out some paper towels as the plates they had were still in boxes somewhere and she was too hungry to waste time searching. When they stumbled up to bed that night both collapsed before even pulling back the sheets; far too tired to think about anything but sleeping.
Today was already turning into one of those days, Tony noted as he crossed the bullpen to find Adam and Chloe bickering. It wasn't even ten-o-clock yet and they were already at it…And to top it all off, Ryan Chappelle was to be arriving in a few hours time for his briefing on everything CTU was currently investigating for when he would take over the following morning. Their wedding was in almost twenty four hours and it was obvious to everyone he was more or less jumping out of his skin. Michelle, quite on the contrary, looked utterly calm and oddly content and he wondered what it was that had put her so at ease.
She brushed past him a moment later to intervene between the two techies and he couldn't help but feel a little more relaxed when her shoulder pressed against his. In a while they would be going home together and the next time they returned they would be married. That thought, and that thought alone was enough to get him through the day.
"Tony," Gael pulled him aside, bringing his attention to a series of photos he held in his hand.
"The Security camera at LAX just picked up this guy on our Watch List…He was a suspect in that recent bombing attempt at City Hall."
Tony studied the picture carefully as he recalled the incident. A few days prior a set of charges had been discovered inside the building that had, thankfully, malfunctioned.
"Did they detain him?"
Gael nodded. "He's claiming there are more charges located at throughout the city but he won't say where or how many or when they're supposed to be detonated."
"Alright have everyone meet me in the Conference room in five minutes. I'll go talk to Jack."
A few minutes later Tony entered the room with an urgency that hadn't been present before. As he explained the situation to the rest of the staff everyone frantically began making notes on the situation and pulling up things on their computers.
"Jack Bauer's on his way to the suspect now and he'll be bringing him back here for interrogation." Tony informed them.
"Michelle, I want you running Comm. for this when he gets here. Gael will start working up any leads Jack comes up with….Updates every fifteen minutes. Let's move."
The interrogation of the hostile, despite Jack's colorful methods, did not yield any promising leads. The suspect, Roy Whitby apparently hadn't been lying when he claimed to be unaware of the location of the other charges. The name he gave of the man he worked for proved to be an alias and no one seemed to be able to come up with anything that could possibly help locate him or his counterparts. The staff continued to work round the clock searching for something, anything that could help them figure out what they needed to stop these impending attacks, and the only consolation was that for once, time seemed to be on their side, as no suspicious activity had been reported…yet.
It was well into the evening when Tony grabbed Michelle on his way up the stairs.
"What'd you get from the hard drive LAPD found?"
Michelle hesitated. "Nothing. We haven't decoded it yet."
His eyes narrowed and he glanced at his watch.
"They dropped that stuff off an hour ago."
"This is a model we've never seen before." She explained. "Our system wasn't compatible and we had to install some new software. It hasn't finished decoding yet."
"Why the hell am I just finding this out now?" he exclaimed incredulously. "We just lost an hour!"
"Until a minute ago you were running tactical for Jack when he moved in on the second suspect…I assumed that took priority, especially since there was nothing we could do about the hard dr-"
"Yeah well, don't assume anything." He cut her off, ignoring the slightly wounded expression she now wore.
"Just get it done…fast. We don't have time for this today."
Michelle tried her best not to look offended.
"I'll let you know when it's finished." She told him flatly and was halfway across the room when he looked at her again.
Midnight came and went without anyone really noticing. At one Michelle placed a call to Alicia informing her that she didn't anticipate being home anytime soon and that the wedding might end up being postponed indefinitely as a result. Alicia assured her that she'd continue the last minute preparations until she heard otherwise and Michelle hung up wondering what kind of luck she must have…It was the eve of her wedding and she was stuck at work, the ceremony could end up getting cancelled and worst of all, she and her fiancé wasn't exactly on good terms.
By 4:15am all four separate sets of charges had been disarmed and all Intel suggested that there were no more viable threats; at least for the time being. By five the debriefings had been finished and Michelle couldn't collect her belongings fast enough.
Tony hadn't said much to her since his outburst earlier in the evening and anything he had said had been work related. Michelle, honestly, didn't really care. He had been on edge at the time and any sort of setback was bound to frustrate him; she just happened to be on the receiving end of his frustration. She didn't even care if he decided to bring up the incident or not; at this point she'd be happy to forget the whole thing ever happened and concentrate on the fact that their wedding was supposed to take place in seven hours time. If there was ever a time for Tony not to be stubborn or difficult, this was it.
"You ready?" he asked monotonously when he approached her desk.
She nodded; aware he was watching her intently with a creased brow as she shut down her computer and slipped on her jacket, before following him across the bullpen. Say something! She pleaded without a sound. Her face remained expressionless though, waiting for him to make the first move.
They had barely taken a few steps when Tony reached for the bag slung across her shoulder.
"Here…give me that." he relieved her of it.
"Thanks…" she sounded exhausted, and a little disheartened, he thought. He hadn't meant to yell at her because of the delay with the hard drive; it hadn't been her fault.
When it had occurred to Tony during the morning briefing that this was their wedding day he had almost laughed at the irony of it. Trust work to manage to get in the way of everything…even cause a stupid, pointless spat when they were supposed to be gearing up for one of the best experiences of their lives.
"C'mere." He tugged on her elbow before wrapping his arm across her shoulders. His fingers massaged her neck gently as they made their way to the doors; glad she too felt nothing needed to be discussed and they could relish in the quiet together.
"I guess I won't be getting my beauty sleep." She said dryly when they stepped inside the elevator.
Tony shrugged. "You don't need it anyway." He complimented lamely, feeling like he at least owed her that much considering how he'd acted.
Her mouth turned upward slightly and he kissed the top of her head.
"Do you still think…I mean…you're ready for this today? You've got enough time and everything?"
This got a full-fledged smile.
"I was ready for this yesterday."
He laughed softly and kissed her again as they walked through security and made their way into the parking lot.
"Me too."
Michelle flipped open her cell phone and began dialing Alicia's hotel; having a distinct feeling that everything was already well underway, regardless of the ungodly hour. One thing was for certain, no terrorist threat was going to stop them for getting married when they were supposed to; not if Michelle had anything to say about it.
