A/N: I'm not sure yet how long this is going to be and how far it's going to go, but for the moment I'm estimating around five chapters. The plot centers around CTU, but much of the content is more analytical, and semi-independent from the action. Rated Tfor language and graphic violence. Takes place after the wedding and before S3. I appreciate reviews, especially suggestions for improvement.

Michelle cursed softly as the harsh beeping of her alarm jerked her out of the haze of sleep. Already? Jesus. Michelle rolled over to turn it off, and then massaged her temples as she sat up. God, she was tired.

They had been working on a credible mass bomb threat for several days now, and the hours had been long. They'd been following leads: dead leads, leads that led to other leads that led to dead leads; picking up information and zeroing in on targets, cells, motives.

Yesterday, after the rest of the day shift had gone home, Michelle had stayed on to work. Through that long night, Michelle had been analyzing data flow that all seemed to be linked together, although the tracings came from a plethora of different locations.

Scramblers, multiple trace re-routings, and the huge variety of locations made it impossible to pinpoint any of them as anyplace worth apprehending, but Michelle had been getting close. Narrowing it down to one possible group; narrowing down the range of targets; narrowing down the number of targets; narrowing down the type of explosive.

She'd still been working when Tony and Jack and Chloe and everyone else had come in early the next morning, and around that time there had been a lull. She'd been exhausted, and was given a couple hours to go home and get some rest. It didn't look like any of them would be getting back to regular hours any time soon and they'd need her to work god-only-knew how late tonight.

It was not a good week.

When she realized she was going to have to put on actual clothes to go back to work, Michelle groaned in exasperation. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd done laundry. Shrugging indifferently, Michelle pulled on a black knee-length skirt and white tank-top, neither of which had been washed since the last time she'd worn them, and added an open burgundy top that, at least, was clean.

As she sipped her coffee, Michelle was pleased to see that she had fifteen minutes before she had to leave for work. Luxuriating in the bliss of this break, Michelle was more than a little annoyed to hear her cell phone ring.

"Dessler."

"Hey, it's me. We just picked up a lead on a possible meeting place for one of the terrorist cells. Satellite of the building's confirmed that that it's definitely it. Jack is leading a team in fifteen minutes and we need you here to run point."

Michelle sighed inwardly. So much for her date with the coffee. Who was she to think that things like sleeping and eating actually happened when they were on high alert? "Yeah, I was just getting ready to leave. I'll be right there." She hung up the phone and, taking a last sip of the steaming liquid in front of her, flicked off the lights as she walked out the door.

Tony's terse tone wasn't exactly comforting when stress and fatigue were rendering Michelle an emotional wreck underneath the flawless professional façade. Actually, she and Tony hadn't spoken much at all over the past couple of days- it had just been too busy. They'd been far too swamped with work to exchange even a smile.

While she drove through the midmorning sun toward her office, Michelle contemplated that. It was, she supposed, the downfall of the relationship. During tense, high-stress times like these, she and Tony needed each other's support the most, but the long hours made it the time when they interacted with each other the least. Tony, especially, actually seemed to push her away during these times.

Maybe she would bring up the subject with him after they had dealt with this the current crisis. But now was not the time. As Michelle stepped onto the floor at CTU, Tony's first words, sans any kind of greeting, were a barrage of information about the lead that had been picked up. Michelle logged onto her system and, typing rapidly, set to work coordinating her end of the operation.

"We're all set." Michelle told Tony, who was standing behind her, without bothering to turn around and look at him.

"Okay. I want Chloe monitoring sat and infrared." Tony turned and moved away from Michelle's workstation.

"I'm on it!" Chloe called from across the room, "You told me that ten minutes ago, you know. You don't have to keep repeating yourself."

"Chloe." Michelle took her eyes off the screen for the first time since she had arrived at CTU. "I'm sure I don't have to remind you how vital this mission is. If we can apprehend the operatives in this hideout, the information we get from them will shed light on everything we've been dealing with for the past four days. So just get it done, okay?"

"Fine." Chloe turned back toward her workstation, and Tony strode back across the floor toward Michelle, who was coordinating with Jack.

"Okay, you're clear to go in, Jack. Chloe's monitoring sat and infrared and I've got your feed on my screen." Michelle was startled to suddenly feel Tony right behind her.

"Michelle," he hissed, "I don't need you standing up for me, okay? You worry about your work and I'll worry about mine."

"That's fine, Tony," Michelle said expressionlessly, acutely aware of the eyes staring at them from across the floor She was entirely conscious that an ambiguous reply was the only way to fend off not only the nosiness of her ever-prying office, but more importantly, her own emotions. "Let's just make sure Jack gets through, okay?"

"Yeah," Tony turned away, looking at the monitor without meeting Michelle's eyes.

"Clear. Clear." Tony and Michelle listened closely, watching, the feed silently. "Clear." Jack's voice came over the unit again. Then they heard gunshots.

"Jack? Jack, who fired?" Michelle demanded over her earpiece.

"They did first and we returned," Jack answered, "two hostiles down. We are no longer covert. I repeat; we are no longer covert!" Michelle heard footsteps pounding and more gunshots.

"All teams move in! We are no longer covert; all teams move in!" Michelle gave the order as she watched the screen tensely, waiting for communication on Jack's end.

From where he stood looking over Chloe's shoulder, Tony called to Michelle, "What do you have?"

"Jack and Chase are in… Baker's team is in… the backup teams are in…"

"Hostile down!" from Baker.

"Two hostiles down!" from Jack.

"Hostile down!" from Chase.

Michelle let out the breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. No matter how many times she did this, she never got used to it. She could do it with the necessary emotional detachment, yes, but it would never be easy.

"How many hostiles left, Jack?"

"All down. I repeat; all hostiles down."

"Tony, we got a location on a guy called Linden who's been behind everything we've been working on this week. I want Chloe working up everything we have on him. We're bringing everyone who's still breathing back to CTU for questioning."

"Okay, Jack. Keep in touch." Tony hung up the phone and sighed. It was shaping up to be a very long week, and Michelle hadn't been exactly dripping with sugar.

Well, he'd been harsh on her, he knew. But when she was tense like this, all he wanted to gather her into his arms and kiss everything away. So when they were in this kind of situation, forcibly keeping his distance was the only way he knew to keep from ripping off her clothes and ravaging her on the floor of his office.

"Michelle, cross-reference what Chloe finds on this guy with all agencies."

"Yeah, I know. Should I contact local law enforcement?" Michelle answered him shortly, her eyes once again glued to her monitor.

"Yes, contact LAPD. I shouldn't have to tell you that." Before she had time to respond, Tony turned away from her hurt face and demanded of Jack: "What's the location you got on this guy?"

"It's about forty-five minutes from where we are but only ten from CTU. We'll head out once we've got these guys in for questioning."

Chloe's voice came onto the comm unit, sounding urgent. "No, Jack! We don't have time for that! I just got a red-flagged pattern on Linden's Interpol profile. All major attacks he's done previously have been on Easter Sunday- that's today. And at noon. We're running out of time."

"Sonofabitch- Tony, start working up probable targets. If this guy has a pattern like that, he's going to have more. Get Chloe on it."

"Hold on a minute, Jack. Easter Sunday- let's be logical here. We need to start evacuating churches."

"No," Jack interjected, "Too obvious. And if we start evacuating, he's going to know we're onto him. What else has Chloe got so far?"

"Well, your right about the churches. None of his targets have been religious in the past- it's always been something off." Chloe's voice came across again, "And you're right about not evacuating, too. Linden gets spooked easily and he's good at detecting when people have come onto him or invaded his safehouses. But if he is apprehended, he and his field teams have a record of being fairly incompetent in close combat."

"So what you're saying is we're going to want one good agent to go in and take care of it?"

"As far as I can see, but it's your call, Jack."

"Yeah. You're right. I'm gonna need Michelle to lead a team to the location stat." Jack's voice clearly indicated that he was expecting a fight.

Michelle's official title was "Intelligence Agent," a position that was as vague in specifications as it was weighty in circumstance. Most of her work was done in front of a computer; that was what she was good at. But she was trained in field ops, and at that point in her career, already a seasoned agent. In some proximity or another, she usually ended up in the field around once a month, in some situations considerably more dangerous than others.

It had always been difficult for Tony when Michelle ended up in the field, and as his relationship with Michelle had progressed, he had grown increasingly protective; increasingly unwilling to let Michelle go out.

This was the first time she was needed in the field since they'd been married, and she knew he was going to resist. Michelle rolled her eyes imperceptibly and glanced behind her at Tony.

"Goddamnit, Jack, no!" Michelle was, as usual, slightly flattered and intensely annoyed. She had been just fine before things had started between them, and she'd be fine if he'd just let her to her job. And this was her job; she'd signed on because she wanted to do it.

"Tony, all our other people who could handle this are too far away. Whoever goes in needs the experience and special training. It has to be Michelle," Jack said patiently, understanding Tony's protectiveness over his wife but nonetheless irritated at his single-mindedness.

"I'll go! I outrank her and I have more experience than she does. Why does it have to be Michelle?"

"Because we need you to run CTU and help us to interrogate the rest of these guys when they get back. You have more interrogation experience than she does. We need you at CTU and Michelle in the field. That's all there is to say, Tony."

"I'll go change." Michelle had logged off her system during the heated exchange, and turned toward the locker rooms before Tony had time to react.