A/N: I'm so sorry this chapter took so long. I've had a lot going on the past week or so, and then when I was finally ready to upload, I realized I just didn't have it where I wanted for publication; extensive tweaking ensued. The next chapter will be much sooner, I promise. Anyway! Once again, I was truly glad to hear that you are enjoying my characters, and especially my Michelle. I had so much fun writing Action!Michelle. But now I'm actually getting into character development, so... we'll see how it goes. From this chapter onward, it's all about the characters. Hope you enjoy.

"When I woke up, he was… he was on top of me. About to… he was about to rape me." Michelle bit her lip to stop the tears. Debriefings from the field were always emotionally difficult. Saying in cold, stark words what had happened to you, it always sounded ten times more dangerous and more frightening than when it actually happened.

It was like reliving all the fear, only worse. When she had been there, Michelle hadn't been able to think about what was happening. But telling Jack everything that had happened made it all seem too real. Too scary. Michelle was jerked from her thoughts by Jack's voice.

"Did he?" he asked gently.

"Did he what?" Michelle said, confused.

"Rape you."

"Oh- no. No." Jack's tense faced relaxed at Michelle's answer, and she continued with the trace of a smile. "Classic knee to the groin always works…"

"Yeah, well. They weren't kidding about Linden not having the best field guys," Jack chuckled, thankful that Michelle had lightened the mood. If there was one thing he hated as much as killing innocent people, it was rape.

"Tony, I'm fine," Michelle insisted as she attempted to get up from her workstation. Paperwork that couldn't wait until the next day—which was to say, more or less all of it—, debriefings, and a quick visit to the clinic had all been finished and their exhausted shift was finally being released. "I am," she persisted, Tony's exasperated expression impossible to ignore.

"No, you're not. Sweetheart… just work with me here, okay?" At this, Michelle sighed and relented, lacking the physical strength to argue anymore, and she allowed Tony to hold her securely with one arm as he led her out of CTU. She gripped his other arm; whether she wanted to admit it or not, she really didn't feel steady enough to walk by herself at that point.

With Michelle held close against Tony, self-consciously clinging to him for lack of any other way to overcome her dizziness enough to walk, curious eyes followed the much-romanticized golden couple of CTU as they made their way across the floor. The subject of endless office gossip, Michelle and Tony very seldom displayed any kind of affection in the office

Though the electricity between them was always palpable even to the most socially oblivious of the staff, the only time anyone ever saw them openly tender with each other was right after one of them got back from a field mission. Even then, they rarely let themselves get physical beyond a quick hug unless whoever had been in the field had been injured, so to see Michelle and Tony clinging together twice within a few hours was a novelty and fuel for the gossipers of the agency.

The prying curiosity of her office was not lost on Michelle, but she simply didn't see any other option, and let herself rely on Tony for stability. It seemed to take her aching, throbbing body an eternity to get all the way out to the car, but get there she did.

"Hey- hey, you gonna be okay?" Tony asked gently as he let go of Michelle to open the car door. She was visibly shaking and her face had gone white.

"I'm fine," she snapped, her words clipped.

"Like hell you are," Tony muttered as he scooped up Michelle in his arms and slid her into the passenger seat.

Too tired to protest, Michelle let him do so. Her eyes followed Tony as he walked around and climbed in beside her. He slid his hand reassuringly over hers as he started the ignition

Pulling up in front of their house, Tony gazed with a mixture of affection and concern at his sleeping wife. She remained asleep as he turned off the engine and opened his door. Seeing her tired body finally resting, Tony hadn't the heart to wake her. Hoping she'd stay asleep, he gathered Michelle up in his arms to carry her inside.

As he reached the front door, he felt Michelle shift against his chest and saw her eyes flutter open. "Tony?" she asked, disoriented.

"Hey, sweetheart… we're home," murmured Tony, pushing the door open and entering the house.

"Tony…" she murmured, still drowsy. Then, realizing that she was being carried like a child, Michelle was indignant. "Put me down!"

"Michelle, you're-"

"Now," she hissed, struggling against him. Finally, at her insistence, Tony relented and eased his wife to the floor. She pushed her unruly curls out of her face and kicked her high heels off of her aching feet with a sigh. Tiredly, Michelle made her way to the living room and collapsed onto the couch. "Oh my god… I am so goddamned tired," she whimpered.

"Sweetheart… does it hurt?" Tony asked, concerned, as he laid a hand across Michelle's face.

"Not too bad," she lied, "I just… I need to lie down for a little bit." Michelle, pulling away from Tony's hand, shifted her gaze away from him, glancing everywhere but into his eyes.

"Michelle… my god, Michelle…" Tony faltered, alarmed at the amount of pain that had become increasingly evident after they'd left CTU. Never before had he seen her hurt this badly. Though she did field work fairly regularly, this was the first time since they'd been together that Michelle had really gotten injured because of CTU. And Tony couldn't stand it.

...But she could. "I'm fine," she insisted again, but as she slid over on the couch, a dart of pain shot through her arm, rendering her powerless to stifle the soft cry of pain. She closed her eyes for a moment and inhaled sharply.

"Goddamnitt, Michelle..." Tony sounded frightened more than angry, but as he continued, his voice started to grow jagged and its volume rose, "This is why I don't want you in the field! Because this happens! I don't want you hurt-"

"Damnit, Tony; it's not your choice!" Michelle snapped as she sat up quickly, stubbornly ignoring the spinning of her head at the sudden motion.

"You're my wife!"

"That doesn't mean you own me! I'm my own person, and I can make my own goddamned decisions!" shouted Michelle, her voice mounting, as she stood up from the sofa to look Tony in the eye.

"And that doesn't mean you get to put your life at risk-"

"You do the same goddamned thing! Ever think of that, Tony? That you scare the hell out of me every time you go out in the field?" Tears were staining Michelle's face by then, flowing freely from her eyes.

"That's my job-"

"It's my job, too! You tend to forget that, Tony, but it's my job! I signed on because I wanted to do it. Did that thought ever occur to you? That I want to do this?"

"You can do your job from CTU-"

"But I'm in field ops! That's part of my job, too. And here's another thought that may not have occurred to you, you goddamned bastard," she spat scathingly, "I like it in the field! I love it just as much as you do! I love the adrenaline, the thrill, and you know what? I even love the fear. It's a part of who I am, and it's a part of who you are, too, Tony." Michelle paused only briefly to breathe before continuing her tirade. "And yes, I might get hurt. People get hurt. That happens. But it's my job, and I fucking enjoy it!"

Tony's voice grew dangerously soft. "Michelle, you know what, fine. If you want to get yourself killed, fine."

"Tony, you do it too! You're in the field more than I am!" By that point Michelle was near hysterics, outraged at Tony for acting as if he never put himself in danger when in fact he risked his life more often than she did.

"But I can take care of myself-"

"And I can't?" Michelle had reached a new level of murderous rage at this final slight." You think I can't take care of myself? That's what you think? You think I'm some helpless woman? Goddamnit, Tony! What the hell do I have to do to prove to you that I'm not? I can go into a building with four armed terrorists, by myself, and still take them all down even after I get shot, stabbed, come within about thirty seconds of being raped-"

"You what?" Tony asked in disbelief. Michelle froze. This wasn't exactly the way she'd planned to bring up this particular issue. Tony, though, was purely horrified. Someone had actually tried to rape his wife? Rape her? And she hadn't even told him? "You- you what?" he demanded again.

"When I was knocked out… but he didn't, Tony. I took him out before he did. Because I can do that! I can take care of my own goddamned self! I can get shot, tortured, almost raped, and I can still take out three terrorists when they're armed and I'm restrained. I can do all of that, and you still don't believe I can take care of myself? What the hell, Tony!"

"Michelle, that's not what I-"

"It is! It is! You know what, Tony? Screw this. Screw you. Fuck you! I'm not putting up with- you know what? That's it!" Michelle's voice had reached a high-pitched scream that still didn't match with the anger and frustration consuming her at that moment. And she was more furious than she'd ever been in her life.

She stormed out of the living room, but she hadn't gotten farther than the hallway when the dizziness that had persistently refused to leave her since she'd been hit became overpowering. She stumbled forward, resisting the urge to heed the alarms her body was sending her.

Tony, stunned, had been frozen while watching Michelle leave angrily, but he moved towards her the second he saw her balance start to falter. He had almost reached her when she started to fall.

Shaken, Tony knelt beside his wife and gathered her into his arms. "Michelle?" he pleaded, "Michelle, talk to me, sweetheart." She remained unresponsive, and he started to panic, but then common sense kicked in. Considering what Michelle had gone through that day, it was a downright miracle she'd made it as far as she had. He knew she'd be fine.

His wife held close against him, Tony started towards the bedroom. He flicked on the lights to illuminate the room, and then laid Michelle onto the bed, drawing the comforter over her still form. As he gazed at the deceptively demure face of his unbelievably strong wife, Tony was filled with remorse and guilt.

Had he really thought of Michelle as a helpless woman? He damn well hoped not, because she'd proved time and again that as an agent, she was as good as they came. Better than he was, at some things. So why was Tony so protective of her? As he stripped off Michelle's formal work clothes and slid on her favorite flannel pants and tank top, Tony began to consider.