As the shift shuffled out of the briefing room Tony gathered his papers and headed up to his new office. It was weird to be in command. Tony always thought he was better at following orders than making them, but this fit too. And yet this wasn't some big career victory. He wasn't even sure this was where he wanted to be, sitting at a desk until he was fifty years old. The only reason he hadn't quit before is because he couldn't. CTU really needed him. It wasn't until Jack left that Tony realized how much it took to be director; how much time and effort Jack had put in. Now he was really going to find out.

The buzz of the main doors caught Tony's attention. He turned to see Michelle walking in. She was beautiful; you would never be able to tell she hadn't slept in over 24 hours. He was confused as to why she was there, but so glad that she was. Truth was Tony had missed Michelle. It hadn't even been 2 hours, but he missed her. It was stupid but something about seeing her made him ready to face the day… again. Unfortunately his excitement was not conveyed in his tone as he met up with her.

"What are you doing here?" he said puzzled with a hint of rudeness.

"I saw what was happening and I figured you could use some help around here"

He just stared at her with that face

"But if I was wrong…" she said in a slightly frustrated tone.

"No, no. I'm sorry, just running on fumes"

"Which is why I came"

"And I see you brought doughnuts to feed a third world country" he said indicating the four doughnut boxes she was juggling as they approached her desk.

"They're in honor of George" she said with a smile

"There is no better memorial to be had" he said amused by her answer and the charm with which she said it. "let me get those from you"

"Thank you"

"No thank you" Tony said getting one out for himself before taking them from her.

Michelle watched as he made the corner into the small kitchen. She was kind of shocked by the 180 in Tony's mood over the past 20 seconds. He had even apologized. That, she had learned over the past 9 months, was not something that happened often. For some women, that would drive them crazy, but for Michelle it meant that Tony didn't do things half-heartedly. She didn't see it as selfish that Tony couldn't admit he was wrong, it just meant that he had thought it through and he wasn't sorry about it. That's why Tony was a rule person, a black and white type.

However, Tony had learned earlier that evening that sometimes situations just turn gray. If he had done things by the book America would be thrust into world war three right now. He had broken the rules to get a better result.

It was applicable to other areas in his life, also. He had broken his rule of keeping private and professional affairs separate once and that ended with utter humiliation and the blur of the last year and a half of his life. And he had already broken the rule again today… was Michelle the better result?

As he left the kitchen and caught a glimpse of her with a coworker one thing was clear: he was falling for Michelle Dessler and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

After 6 more long hours of research and investigation into the attack on President Palmers life with no promising leads Tony decided to pack up and head home.

As everyone left the 3 o'clock briefing Michelle approached Tony. This moment alone caught Tony off guard and he got nervous.

"Hey. I was thinking I'd head home too" Michelle said anxiously awaiting his response.

"You should, it's been a very long day."

There was a pause

"Thank you for coming back in to help. I needed it"

"It was my pleasure"

"Look, I was thinking if you still had a little bit of energy left if maybe I could take you out for lunch"

Michelle was speechless for a moment as she looked away. After careful consideration she looked at him and simply replied

"Sure"

"Ok, I'll meet you outside in 10 minutes

"Yeah, ok" she said attempting to make words form.

Michelle opted to take her own car so Tony wouldn't have to make a round trip back to CTU. As she drove to Leo's, a small local cafe she pulled out lipstick to reapply. She was thrilled that Tony asked her out to lunch despite the fact that she was dead tired. Somehow that just didn't matter anymore. She pulled into the parking lot next to Tony right as he had gotten out of his car. He opened her door.

"I'm sorry if there are any inappropriate comments made by the waiters. They're all my friends and they are going to flip at the sight of a woman."

"Thanks for the warning"

"Its the least i can do. Shall we?" he said opening the restaurant door.

"Yes thank you"

They grabbed a table in the back and ordered their food.

"Ok so tell me about Michelle Dessler" Tony said starting conversation

"What's to tell"

"Fine, i'll just ask questions.