Several hours later, Tony arrived at the hospital. He had briefly considered buying flowers, just to wind Jack up, but had decided to give him a break considering he'd just had a heart attack. He had, however, picked up a bunch for Michelle, although he hadn't quite worked out if he should give them to her or not.
Not quite managing to hide the smile created by his daydreams, he wandered into Jack's room. Jack didn't actually look that bad, considering he'd been tortured to death. His daughter actually looked worse than he did, cuts and bruises lining her face, her eyes red from crying. He greeted them both and sat himself down when a blonde woman appeared. Tony recognised her as the woman from the other day, the one with the terrorist sister. Kate beckoned to Kim, leading her out of the room.
Once they were gone, Tony shook his head and muttered, "You're in hospital, and you still manage to pull. I'm impressed." Jack laughed at this, the effort causing him to double over in pain. Tony looked on with fear in his eyes, he really didn't want to lose any more of his friends. As he went to get the nurse, Jack called him back, insisting he was fine, still with a smile on his face.
"So what about you? How are things between you and Michelle?" Aware that he had been stumbling block between them, forcing Michelle to act against Tony, he hoped that they'd been able to work it out. Since Nina had been revealed as a mole, Tony'd had a hard time trusting anyone when it came to relationships. Jack hoped he hadn't destroyed any chances Tony had at trusting a girl again, he deserved a break.
"She spent the night at my place." It wasn't exactly a lie. Besides, it had been ages since he'd been able to brag about a girl, any girl, and Michelle was spectacular. He watched with amusement as Jack's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Was that a good idea…I mean after what you'd been through…" Jack trailed off, unsure of what to say. He hadn't seen Tony in a while, but even so, this was totally out of character.
Tony laughed, "It wasn't as good as it sounds. She fell asleep in the taxi and I couldn't get her to wake up. Then she spent the entire day asleep." He didn't add details about anything else, they were moments he didn't want to share.
"That is priceless, wait till I tell everyone." Jack enjoyed winding Tony up as much as Tony enjoyed winding Jack up. Tony punched him lightly on the arm and they both laughed.
"So is there anything there?" Jack asked.
Tony looked at the floor, "I think so, I hope so. But she was pretty messed up by what happened. I don't know… I get the feeling that she's been burnt pretty badly before."
"She's not the only one," Jack murmured quietly. This surprised Tony. He'd not gotten on with Jack when he was the boss of CTU, but the day that Teri died had forced a bond between them, a link made up of guilt and betrayal. Even so, they'd never spoken of Nina before, it was too difficult a subject for them to discuss.
Tony nodded in response, then looked towards the women who were having coffee just outside the room. "No, she's not." Jack nodded in reply, his eyes following Tony's. That was the closest that either of them would ever get to having a conversation about Nina and the damage she did to their lives. The conversation quickly turned to less painful subjects, and it wasn't long before Tony excused himself, saying goodbye to Kate and Kim as he left.

He spent the next couple of hours fretting over what to wear for the evening. It wasn't exactly a date, and he still wasn't entirely sure how she felt about him. Although she'd kissed him twice, she'd been in floods of tears on both occasions. He couldn't work out whether she actually liked him, or if she'd just needed comfort. The damage caused by Nina was clear, before becoming involved with her, he'd trusted his instincts entirely; but now he was suspicious of the motives of anyone who professed to like him.
So he spent an hour trying to decide what to wear to a non-date with a girl he'd spent six months fantasizing about, but barely knew outside of work. He wanted there to be contrast with the Tony she saw at work, but at the same time, he didn't want it to look like he was trying to impress her in case she only saw him as a friend. But then again, what if she had made a real effort, and he looked like he couldn't be bothered, he couldn't bear the thought of hurting her like that. In the end, he settled upon a pair of nice jeans and a tight fitting t-shirt that looked presentable without making him seem desperate or over- confident.
Finally ready to go, he glanced at the clock and was surprised by the time. He was going to be late. He considered phoning to let her know, but somehow it seemed too pushy.

Michelle was in pretty much the same predicament. Having spent the majority of the day catching up on missed sleep and food, she had spent the last few hours cleaning up. Upon leaving, her brother had decided to take all of his stuff, making her apartment seem empty. She tried to rearrange her stuff, but it still looked empty.
She'd set out some food and had been slightly embarrassed by the amount of alcohol she had. Her brother didn't like it when she got wasted, and so she'd been slowly accumulating a variety of drinks.
Having done this, she realised she'd left herself less time than she would have liked to get ready. She took a rushed shower, but decided to leave her hair as it was, it took far too much effort to get it to do anything. She was less than pleased by her appearance, her face looked drawn and her eyes had a haunted expression about them. She briefly considered caking herself in makeup to hide it, but dismissed the idea quickly. Tony had seen the way she looked, so she wouldn't be fooling anyone. Plus, the faint shadow of bruises had started to appear on her face from where she'd been hit in the explosion, and she didn't think she could bear to put makeup on these, they were fairly painful.
Tired and uncomfortable, she selected a comfortable pair of trousers and a nice top that she knew suited her. She looked nice, but not like she was expecting anything. She could also be comfortable, which with the way she was feeling, was very necessary.
It wasn't until after this that she noticed the time. He was already ten minutes late. From this, her mind immediately leaped to 'What if?' Tony had been right when he guessed that Michelle had been hurt in the past, she had been hurt far worse than she would ever care to admit. Although she trusted Tony, it didn't take much to convince her that there was nothing between them, that he had just been trying to comfort her, and that she had taken it further than he wanted. Why else would he stand her up?