Chapter Eight - …And into the Fire
"Bauer…"
"Jack, it's Michelle. Have you found anything yet?"
Jack studied the mess around him and sighed heavily.
"So far Ames has given us the names of two contacts: Sam Capretta…"
"McCarthy gave us him as well. Tony's on his way there now."
"And Louis Leland, who's supposedly organizing everything for this attack… Ames claims he knows nothing about the target.
"Do you believe him?"
Jack glanced over at the man who was bound tightly to a chair. His face was sleek with sweat and blood and his facial hair was wild and matted, making him look even more violent. His eyes lingered nervously on Jack, as though afraid of what he might do next.
Jack tilted the phone back towards his mouth and sighed into it.
"I don't know yet."
"Alright, let me know if anything else comes up."
"Yeah, okay." Jack snapped the phone shut and slipped it into the pocket of his jeans before pushing his sleeves past his elbows and moving towards Ames again.
"So what do you want me to do?" McCarthy asked Tony who was driving the vehicle. The tactical teams were running parallel to their movements a few streets over. It was the best way to ensure Capretta didn't see them coming and panic.
"Talk to him…distract him…give us time to get our men in place so we can apprehend him."
McCarthy looked nervous. "How the hell do I manage that?"
Tony shrugged. "Figure it out. You know him, we don't."
"I don't know him that well!" he started to panic.
Tony glanced over with a raised eyebrow, but didn't say anything further.
When the car was only a block away Tony pulled over, gun in hand, and ordered McCarthy out.
"Say something." he ordered, pressing his own ear piece in after having fitted himself and McCarthy with a two-way communication package.
"What's that for?"
"Good." Tony faced him. "You'll be in constant contact with the field teams and me the entire time. Any problems and they're less than thirty seconds out… Understood?"
"Yes."
"Michelle?"
"We copy." Michelle adjusted her headset on the other end and stepped into the middle of the floor.
"Everything's set on this end."
"Go…" Tony pushed McCarthy down the sidewalk. "When we have Capretta in custody we'll take you back to your fiancé."
"You'd better…" McCarthy threatened pointlessly over his shoulder and Tony just continued to stare at him, waiting for him to walk.
Finally McCarthy started to move and Tony leaned against the side of the car, listening intently.
"We've got him on satellite…" Michelle told him. "He's making his way to the apartment complex right now. So far, so good…"
McCarthy knocked nervously on the door.
"Sam it's me…" he yelled when there was no response. "I need to talk to you…come on…"
Slowly the door was pulled back, the chain still in place. The man with dark hair and dark eyes stared back at McCarthy angrily.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he hissed under his breath. "I told you never to come here again…especially not today…"
"I wouldn't have come if it wasn't an emergency."
"Get in…" Capretta shoved open the door and dragged McCarthy inside. He indicated to the nearest wall and waited for the other man to spread his legs while he checked for weapons.
"Now what the hell is so important?" he asked a sweating McCarthy who was fidgeting with his shirt collar. "This stopped concerning you the moment you passed me those files."
"Ames promised me another $25,000 when this whole thing was over. I haven't been in contact with him since last week, and we know after today he'll disappear for good."
"That's why you're here, you little weasel?" Capretta roared. "Money? You didn't even earn the first $25,000, where the fuck do you come off asking for double…"
"Ames promised it to me. I want my money."
"You have enough money."
"So I'm supposed to let you screw me over?" McCarthy snapped; feeling emboldened.
"You have 10 seconds to turn around and walk out that door before I put a bullet in your head." Capretta had drawn a small pistol from a drawer in a hall table and was aiming it at him.
"Michelle, are you getting this?" Tony was starting to worry this whole thing would be over before they had a chance to respond.
"Yeah…we have them on Infrared."
"Is there anyone else in there?"
"It's too hard to tell…the apartments are small and some of them have conjoining doors."
"Damn it." Tony grabbed a few rounds of ammunition and stuck them in his back pocket.
"Where's tactical?"
"In 30 seconds we'll be in a position to enter the apartment, sir." The lead agent informed them.
"We don't have 30 seconds…" he slammed the car door shut and started to move down the street.
"I'm going in. This guy's gonna be dead before we get our hands on Capretta."
"Tony if you walk in there now it'll give Capretta the chance to escape…" Michelle felt her heart start to pound in her chest and snatched up the phone.
"We're not hanging him out to dry."
"Tony - "
"Tactical move in as soon as you're in position."
"Yes sir."
Michelle ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, knowing there was absolutely nothing she could do at this point, except hope everything worked out.
"Don't move!" Tony yelled as he kicked his way into the apartment in what he was convinced was three seconds before McCarthy would've been dead. Capretta froze, looking between the two before facing Tony head on.
"Don't take another step…" he warned Tony, pulling the gun to his own temple and glaring at him. "I swear to God…"
"Alright, alright…" Tony lowered his weapon slightly but kept it pointed at Capretta.
What came next happened so fast it was a miracle anyone had time to react. A swarm of men entered the apartment from all different angles and opened fire at Tony and McCarthy.
Tony dove into the next room, his hand gripping McCarthy's shirt tightly, before kicking a table on its side and diving beneath it for cover.
"What's going on?" Michelle's voice echoed loudly over the comm.
"It's an ambush! Get tactical in here now!"
Her heart didn't stop at the sound of incessant gunfire until she had shouted:
"You heard him people, move!"
"20 seconds Michelle…"
"Chloe how many people are in the apartment now?" she moved quickly to the computer.
"At least 10, not including Tony or McCarthy…"
"Damn it…" she pressed the headset more tightly into her ear in hopes of hearing something; anything.
Tony knew the barricade he'd managed to create would be hard pressed to last them until tactical neutralized the target, and they had absolutely nowhere to run. His ammunition was low and the only thing he really had to be thankful for was that he didn't have time to think about Michelle.
He was pretty sure there were at least two hostiles down, and knew for a fact one of them wasn't Capretta as he kept hearing his voice over all the commotion. Wary of wasting too many rounds and accidentally killing their lead, he avoided shooting back at all costs.
McCarthy was crouching beside him looking utterly helpless as one stray bullet after another ricocheted around the room.
"Keep your head down." He panted heavily into the other man's ear. "Tactical is on its way."
When the tactical teams burst into the room Tony shoved McCarthy further to the ground to avoid being caught in the crossfire. It was then, out of the corner of his eye, Tony caught Capretta slipping away amidst the struggle.
"You know how to shoot a gun?" Tony asked, grabbing the rifle that had been kicked in their general direction and placing it in front of McCarthy.
McCarthy went white, but nodded slowly.
"Stay here…use it if you have to."
Capretta was halfway out the open window when Tony grabbed him with both hands and threw him against a wall. Capretta had dropped his weapon but threw a hard punch, which Tony managed to dodge, before landing two of his own and pressing his gun firmly into the other man's temple.
He called for assistance and a few seconds later was joined by two agents who restrained Capretta while the firefight wound down.
"I want him riding with two sets of guards." Tony told the agent in charge.
"Sure thing, Tony."
He stepped away from the group and fiddled with his earpiece.
"Michelle?"
No answer. Damn. He tried tapping it lightly.
"Michelle, do you copy?"
Still no answer. He stopped one of the agents passing him, one of the newest recruits if he remembered correctly.
"Is your comm. working?"
"No sir," the young man looked apologetic. "It went out a few minutes ago."
Tony scratched the back of his neck. Great.
It was then he finally remembered McCarthy.
He hurriedly pushed his way through the rooms and back to the spot he'd left him waiting. The site before him made him nauseous and he brought a hand to his sweaty brow and hung his head…
Michelle was still standing in the middle of the bullpen, waiting for some sort of response from either of the teams or, better yet, Tony. At this point all they'd heard on the feed was way too much shooting for her liking.
"Team A, do you copy?" she spoke into the microphone, very aware that her hands were shaking and trying to ensure no one else could tell.
"Team B?" she tried again. Still no response.
"Chloe, why isn't the comm. working?"
"It is working…" Chloe retorted. "They're just not answering."
Adam shot her a death stare and Michelle took a deep breath.
"I can try a different channel…" Adam suggested.
"Tony, do you copy?" she drummed her fingers anxiously on the table, the slight panic apparent in her voice. The comm. crackled.
"Tony…" she tried a final time and the crackling sound returned.
"Yeah I copy…" he responded monotonously. "Capretta's in custody…we've got 3 casualties on our side as well as 9 hostiles."
"What about McCarthy?"
Tony sighed. "He's dead. We're on our way back to CTU now. Prep a room for interrogation."
Michelle nodded at Gael who left immediately. She picked up the cordless phone and moved a few steps away from everyone else.
"What happened?"
"I went after Capretta and a stray bullet caught him in the chest; he bled out before anyone found him." He spoke quietly now, the resentfulness apparent in his tone.
"Do you want me to tell Veronica?"
"Yeah, I guess you'd better…I don't know when we'll be back."
"Alright."
"I'll see ya in a bit." He assured her, and she felt the emotion rising as she nodded against the phone.
" 'Kay."
The guard pushed the door open for Michelle who found Veronica sitting stone-faced in a chair, refusing to meet her eyes. The guard looked as though he was about to wait, but Michelle motioned him outside and he complied.
"What do you want?" Veronica snapped, her eyes flashing dangerously.
Michelle smoothed out the blouse she was wearing and seated herself across from the other woman.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news for you."
"I told Tony I didn't want anything to do with you." She snapped. "You almost killed him..."
"I need to talk to you about your fiancé." Michelle stated quietly, leaning a little across the table.
Veronica's face went white when she finally saw Michelle's expression and her hand came to her mouth.
"Is he alright?" she muttered breathlessly and Michelle took a deep breath.
"I asked you if he was okay!" Veronica screamed, her voice becoming high and uneven.
"There was an ambush at the apartment…" she began slowly. "Our tactical teams tried to contain the hostiles but he was…caught in the crossfire…"
Veronica felt her stomach plummet and her nails dug painfully into the table.
"No…" she shook her head firmly and Michelle felt like she could relate far too easily to what this woman was feeling.
"I'm sorry…he died."
"No!" she stood so quickly her chair crashed to the floor and she backed away from the table.
"I'm sorry." Michelle repeated.
"He can't…" she brought both hands to her face and shook her head. "He can't be…" still moving backwards Veronica stumbled into the wall and fell to the floor in a heap.
Sobbing now, her whole body was convulsing. She vomited a few times and Michelle retrieved a bottle of water from the guard and handed it to her. Enraged by the gesture, Veronica sent the bottle flying back at Michelle and swore at the top of her lungs before screaming at Michelle to get out. Once back in the hall, Michelle placed a phone call to medical to have someone monitor Veronica, and told the guard to remain outside, but keep her in plain sight.
Michelle was on her way back to the bullpen when her head started to spin and instead she made a beeline for the bathroom. On the days like this, she often found herself wondering how many more years she'd have to wait before declaring herself "too old for this…"
After splashing some cold water on her face, her hands came to rest on either side of the sink and she took a deep breath; noting by her reflection how exhausted she was. The sun was already setting and they still had a long, long way to go. She couldn't allow herself to think about how badly she wanted to be curled up on the couch at home instead of here…Here where she was ruthlessly interrogating civilians, and telling people their fiancés were dead…
Goddamnit, in some ways she felt like she'd practically killed him herself. Maybe if she'd held off on the drugs a little while longer he would've had the strength to defend himself…maybe if she had been more thorough in her earlier investigations she would've found something linking Capretta then and McCarthy wouldn't have been brought into it at all…Maybe if she'd been worrying about the young, scared civilian instead of her husband the outcome would've been different…
She hung her head and wiped her face quickly.
Yeah…like she really could've managed that…
"Michelle…" one of the analysts entered the bathroom cautiously. "Sorry…but Jack's on the phone for you."
She nodded and followed the girl out the door.
"What happened?" she forgot everything she'd been worrying about the instant she stepped into the bullpen and realized something had gone horribly wrong.
"There was a bomb!" Jack exclaimed loudly amidst the chaos. "It was implanted in the hard drive we were trying to decrypt."
She swore to herself.
"What about Ames?"
"He was injured in the blast…medics are working on him now. Did Tony get Capretta?"
"They're en route to CTU now."
"Okay…" Jack turned towards the medic. "How's he doing?"
The medic shook his head and Jack screamed "Damn it!" so everyone at CTU could hear.
"Michelle, Ames is dead. I'm heading back to CTU as soon as we get cleared out of here. If we want any chance at stopping this attack we need to get Capretta talking now."
"Tony's starting on interrogation as soon as he gets here. Get back when you can."
"Fine."
Tony winced slightly as he climbed out of the vehicle. He had a few nasty bruises but, in retrospect, he was probably better off than most... especially considering the circumstances…
He watched as Capretta was removed from the car a few spots down and four agents, guns poised, pushed him towards the entrance. The doors beeped and slid open and they started walking down the hallway, running into Michelle halfway there.
"Jack's on his way back." She informed him, doing her best to hide how completely and utterly worried and relieved she was at the same time.
"Did you clear Interrogation 1?"
"Gael and Chloe are in there now." She followed them as they marched purposefully towards Interrogation, noting the number of scrapes all over his arms and how slowly he was moving. She forced the thoughts out of her head as they reached the room.
"Secure him." Tony called over his shoulder before pausing slightly and offering Michelle's forearm a quick squeeze, his thumb brushing across the inside of her wrist. She smiled, barely discernible to anyone but him, as he walked in behind the entourage.
"Almeida." Tony grabbed the portable phone from the corner of the bullpen and went white. It had been a few hours since Capretta had arrived at CTU.
"What?" he exclaimed, and Michelle furrowed her brow from behind her desk, the anxiety apparent in his face.
"I'll be right there."
He sprinted out of the room, calling over his shoulder that he was on his way to Holding and leaving Michelle utterly confused. After an hour of interrogation, Jack had declared they didn't have time to waste trying to break Capretta, and the President had agreed to a pardon in exchange for the location of Leland and the nature of the hit. Apparently the plan was to release weapon-grade anthrax in the District office.
Tony would be running tactical and she continued coordinating everything on his behalf when he failed to return from Holding after ten minutes. When Jack and the field teams were five minutes away Michelle knew she had no choice but to interrupt.
Her stomach dropped when she entered the room to find it filled with people, including two medics. Tony's back was to the entrance and his arms were folded across his chest as he watched everyone work on the ground before him.
On the floor, not ten feet away, Veronica was lying in a pool of blood.
Michelle approached cautiously, her hand covering her mouth in disbelief.
"What happened?" she asked quietly, unable to tear her eyes away from the bloody corpse.
"She slit her throat." He muttered softly. "She had a Swiss Army knife attached to her key chain."
The medics were busy at work, cleaning her up and preparing to wrap the body.
"Oh my god…" Michelle muttered in disbelief as Tony simply stared ahead.
"Why wasn't someone with her?" he yelled at the room, his eyes landing angrily on Michelle.
"I was, Tony." The medic explained. "I turned my back for two seconds to get a drink from the guard and it was done. We couldn't stop the bleeding."
"You should've put more security on her!" he shouted at Michelle, who quivered slightly from the close proximity.
After a few minutes of watching everyone continue to work Tony swore under his breath and exited the room.
"Where's Jack?" he asked when she caught up to him again.
"They should be in position now. Everything's set up for the advance and Chloe's providing them with Infrared feed."
"Good." He said gruffly and continued to walk.
"Tony…" she made a grab for his arm and halted their movement. He turned to face her slowly.
"You should've put more security on her." He repeated flatly and started walking again.
When Jack finally announced that the threat had been contained and Leland was in custody, all of CTU breathed a collective sigh of relief. They hadn't cut anything this close in a long time, and certainly didn't like to make a habit of it. Tony waited until the commotion had died down before retreating to his office, already on the phone with Chappelle and Hammond.
A little while later, Michelle made her way up the stairs, lacking the energy to do so at anything more than a snail's pace. With some hesitance, she pushed the door to Tony's office open.
"I finished the status report. It's on your screen."
He looked up in surprise. "You didn't have to…"
She approached the desk slowly and leaned in beside him.
"I thought you might wanna get out of here sooner than later." She told him gently and he dropped the pen he'd been fidgeting with and leaned back in his chair.
"Thanks." He reached for her hand and rubbed her arm affectionately.
"I just have to brief Division and uh…I called McCarthy's family..." he hung his head slightly and let out a deep sigh. "They're on their way to collect Veronica's body, so I should probably deal with that…Apparently she doesn't have any family."
"I can finish up everything on the floor."
He nodded silently and she noticed he was still holding her. As if realizing this for himself as well, he let go abruptly.
"I'll call you when I'm finished."
" 'Kay."
It was over three hours later when Tony finally dialed Michelle's extension.
"Logs are backed up; Chloe just finished. Gael's accounted for all the tactical teams and I debriefed Jack myself." She reeled off immediately.
"Good. Division and District are happy, and Leland's just boarded the military transport to Guantanamo. Division gave the stand-down orders, so everyone can leave as soon as their replacements have been briefed."
"What about - ?"
"They left a few minutes ago."
"Are you okay?" she lowered her voice in case anyone felt the need to listen in.
"Yeah…I just wanna get outta here."
"Me too. It shouldn't be much longer."
"I'll meet you in the car."
When they arrived home he headed straight for the stairs and immediately sat down on the mattress without making a sound. Michelle moved to the dresser and started to pull off her clothes with her back to her husband…
She went to work combing out her hair and stripped down to her underwear and a loose-fitting t-shirt before turning around towards the bed again.
At the site before her, she felt her heart break a little. Tony was still sitting on the bed, fully dressed, staring at the wall opposite him. He brought a hand to his face and scratched the side of his scruffy cheek. Veronica's suicide had been horrible, to say the least, but she knew Tony was taking it a lot more personally than anyone else. Veronica had been his charge and he felt responsible for her death. His head tilted only slightly in her direction when she crawled on the bed behind him.
"Tough day…" she said quietly.
"Yeah…" Tony sighed. "I told her he'd be okay…"
Michelle's fingers gently undid a few buttons of his shirt. Her hands slowly ran across his chest, making Tony sigh again and lean into her touch.
"You did everything you could, Tony…"
Her arms squeezed more securely around him. Michelle's own emotions were getting the best of her and she fought back the tears that threatened to spill over her lids; the events of the day replaying in her mind. It hadn't been Michael McCarthy she'd been worried about.
"Getting Capretta was a priority…" she attempted to keep her voice steady. "And you couldn't jeopardize that."
"I know. You're right." His chin came to rest against his chest as she continued to rub his shoulders beneath his shirt.
"And if you could've done more you…" she trailed off, unable to finish the sentence and struggled to contain a whimper that had risen in her throat.
"I'm okay…" he assured her, having heard the change in her voice and linking their fingers together tenderly.
"No I know…" she sniffled a little and smiled, her free hand running through his hair. "I know you are, sweetheart…and I know you would've done whatever you had to…and…" she swallowed hard, completely aware of how far Tony would've gone to save McCarthy. "And…I love you so much…"
Tony finally twisted around and his free arm found her quivering form, pulling it into his lap. She hugged him forcefully, making up for all the times she'd wanted to during the day and had to keep reminding herself there was still work to be done, and a lot of people were still looking to her to help lead them through this crisis.
His fingers ran through her hair, carefully twirling a few loose strands around themselves.
"You tired?" he asked the crook of her neck.
Michelle shook her head against him. Just scared... The events of the day had hit too close to home. He rubbed her back quickly a few times before patting the side of her leg splayed over the bed in a position that looked entirely uncomfortable.
"C'mon...tomorrow's gonna be hell again..."
Michelle nodded and got to her feet to pull back the blankets. Incidentally she felt much better once they'd settled underneath them, with his hand resting lightly over her stomach. Michelle bit back the remnants of a few more tears before drifting off into an uneasy sleep.
It took Tony a long time to fall asleep that night. He kept reliving everything that had happened and hating himself for running after Capretta and leaving McCarthy. The rational part of his brain, (which, incidentally, sounded a lot like Michelle), told him that he had had no other option. McCarthy's life for the lives of everyone at the District office wasn't an option. The other part of him, the caring, empathetic part, made him feel like he was scum.
Michelle twisted against him and he knew she was dreaming. Usually, she barely moved once she had fallen asleep. He pulled her closer and breathed in the scent of her hair. God…now that he thought about it, he realized how close he had been…It wasn't about him dying, it was about leaving her; losing her.
He gently leaned over and pressed a kiss in her hair, squeezing her more tightly for a brief second and reveling in the comfort her body heat provided. His thoughts remained where they had been before, but his head had stopped spinning so much and he started to relax ever-so slightly as her breath warmed the crook of his neck.
Thank God it was over.