A/N: Hey guys, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Sometimes I really need the motivation…so please keep them coming : )! I'm in exams right now, so no guarantees on when the next chapter will be up…I'm apologizing in advance…As far as this chapter is concerned, I'm really hoping it's better than I think it is…:S.

Chapter Ten – Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

The days at CTU in the month following Ames and the failed attempt on District proved steady. There was much work to be done following up on a series of cases and Jack was petitioning to Chappelle to organize an undercover operation with the Salazars, two brothers running a drug cartel out of Mexico with significant terrorist connections. It was an argument they'd been having for months: Jack believed it was only a matter of time before they came up with something big and Ryan didn't want to waste resources until they had something substantial.

In light of new Intel that they stumbled across one afternoon, it became apparent that Jack's hunch had been right on the money and they, most definitely, had terrorist involvement. Ryan authorized Jack to start pulling together info on the pair in preparation for some sort of action to be taken.

Tony had never questioned whether or not Jack's opinion of the Salazars would prove correct; it was something he'd learned not to do after years of working together. He did however, concern himself a little with the kinds of strains an undercover operation in the months to come might put on his life at home – namely one that involved taking away their Head of Field Ops for extended periods of time.

The notion crept up on him late one night when he and Michelle were sitting peacefully in front of the TV. Initially, she'd flipped on some sitcom, neither of them wanting to watch the news. However, it hadn't been long before she'd dozed off, her feet in his lap and her head resting awkwardly on the armrest of the couch. In the midst sliding a pillow beneath her head, he weaseled away the remote and flipped on a basketball game.

His mind didn't stay there though. It wandered to what the implications of Jack going undercover in Mexico might have on his life; on nights like this. It was selfish, undoubtedly, and it was the first time it occurred to him the kind of affect the marriage had had on him professionally. His priorities had shifted and his first concern was no longer, by a long shot, the job. It was them.

"Hey…" Michelle exclaimed and shifted her position, her eyes still shut. "I was watching that…"

He laughed a little and patted her leg.

"No you weren't…" he brushed her off and received no more protests. She'd fallen back asleep.

"Hey Michelle…" Adam's voice buzzed over her speaker and she scooped up the receiver.

"What's up?"

"Mr. Chappelle is on the phone for you."

She frowned a little.

"Thanks, put him through." She heard the phone click as the call was transferred.

"Ryan…"

"Hey Michelle…I need to schedule a meeting with you for this afternoon."

Her brow crinkled and she couldn't contain he surprise.

"With me?"

"That's what I said…I'll be at CTU around 3."

"Um…yeah, fine. Can I ask what this is about?" she glanced up at Tony's office, where he was sitting at the computer, the phone resting in the juncture between his neck and shoulder.

"I'd rather not say. I'll see you at 3."

"Alright…"

"Oh and Michelle…" she heard the slightest amount of hesitation in his voice. "I'd like to keep this just between us. I'll meet you in the old IT room on the third floor."

Her eyes returned back to Tony's office, even more confused now.

"Sure, Ryan."

The phone clicked, leaving Michelle utterly perplexed at what had just happened.

"Michelle." Ryan rose from his chair situated at a makeshift table he'd arranged in the practically empty room. "Have a seat."

She did, though somewhat nervously. Ryan rarely requested private meetings with anyone, and when he did it was either Tony or Jack. She couldn't figure out what he wanted to talk to her about that they were being kept out of the loop on. It was obvious he was going out of his way to make sure no one knew.

"I've just been in contact with David Kelly, he's head of CTU Washington and they're a little bit short on manpower right now."

Michelle listened wordlessly as Ryan outlined some of the issues the DC office was facing. Subconsciously, she crossed and uncrossed her legs several times as she began to realize where the conversation was heading.

"I want you in DC." He finished simply. There was definitely no beating around the bush when it came to dealing with Ryan Chappelle.

She felt her throat constrict and her heart rate increase slightly.

"For how long?"

"Couple of weeks…maybe a month…however long it takes for them to sort through everything. Division asked me to select someone from this office because it's been producing such good results in the past few years."

"I see…"

"I'm not selling a used car here, Michelle… I don't think I need to tell you how rare of an opportunity it is and how valuable it would be to your career."

She said nothing and it was obvious to him she was thinking it over carefully.

"I won't order you to go." He told her directly. "Because I don't think I have to." She met his gaze and tried her best to keep her face neutral.

"What about my responsibilities here-"

"Tony'll manage." He interrupted. "You're getting a choice, so choose carefully. No else knows about this yet and we can keep it that way until you make your decision."

"Ryan I'm not sure…" she hesitated. "When do you need a decision?"

"Soon. So think about it. Talk to…" he cleared is throat. "Talk to Tony if you want… But let me know."

Ryan left the file sitting in front of her and made excuses about having to get back to Division, leaving Michelle alone with her thoughts.

"Hey…" Tony leaned back in his chair and kinked his jaw to one side as Michelle entered the office. "Where'd you go?"

"I uh…" she fidgeted uncomfortably. "I had to go check on some things."

He raised an eyebrow, obviously skeptical of her vague excuse, before dragging himself out of the chair so he was leaning against the desk a few feet in front of her.

She bit her lip as he tilted his head, searching her face carefully.

"What's up?"

She cursed herself for having such a pathetic poker face.

"I was talking to Ryan." She told him, taking a few steps towards the desk.

"About what?" he furrowed his brow.

"He uh…" she pursed her lips together. "He wants me to go to Washington to help the DC office…they're short on manpower and Division wants to send someone from here and obviously we can't lose you or Jack for that long…I'm the next logical choice."

"How long?" he asked, the last comment sending a small wave of panic throughout him as he waited for her response.

"Ryan said…" she took a deep breath. "A few weeks to a month…"

He sighed heavily, scratching the back of his neck.

"Who else knows about this?"

"No one. He said he wouldn't say anything until I made my decision."

"Michelle…"

"If you don't want me to go because you need the manpower…" she began simply, leaning in close and resting her hand on the desk.

"I won't. But if you don't want me to go because…"

She trailed off, but he knew how that sentence was supposed to end. If you don't want me to go because you'll miss me…or you'll worry about me…

"Damn it, Michelle. I dunno…"

She stared at him, her expression softening when he met her eyes.

"You already made your decision." He finally concluded after studying her face for a few seconds.

"No I -"

"Yeah, ya did." He cut her off. "You know you want to go."

"It's just that I would get -"

"And you don't have to justify it…you have every right to want to go."

She hesitated and he pulled her hand off the desk, knowing what he had to say but not wanting to say it. He had no reason to keep her there and despite what she said, he knew he could give a completely lame one and she would stay if he asked her to. He just didn't like the idea of her running around doing god only knew what with him 3,000 miles away.

"You want to do it…so do it." He tugged her in briefly and planted a quick kiss on her forehead.

"I gotta get these files to Gael."

She watched him descend down the stairs and took a few minutes to process what had just happened before heading back to her station.

She ended up leaving on a Thursday evening flight out of LAX, giving her the weekend to become acquainted with CTU Washington. While Tony never made Michelle feel guilty for leaving, it was quite obvious he didn't want her to. He would never say it because he knew if he did she wouldn't go, and he didn't want that either.

"Alright so uh…" he started awkwardly as he pulled her aside at the gangway, thanking his CTU badge for allowing him to pass through security. Her bags had been dropped off, hotel accommodations arranged by Division, and the briefing packets on CTU DC were already stowed safely in her carryon.

He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably and moved her away from the ticket agent, who had just begun calling the flight.

"Call me…" he finished and she smiled almost unnoticeably.

"I will…"

"And uh….be careful, alright?"

"Yeah…" she sighed a little when he cupped her face tenderly with one hand, his fingers brushing back her hair.

The final rows of the flight were being called and she mumbled something about having to go.

She scooped up her bag and placed a quick, but firm kiss against his lips running her fingers delicately up one arm.

"I love you." She whispered sweetly, turning on her heel and heading towards the plane before he had time to respond.

The hotel was nice. Her room contained a king-sized bed and a view of a small park a few blocks away. She promised herself she'd make a point of going running the following day and take a look around the area. As she unpacked, she considered how nice being away from everything and everyone might actually be. Alone time was hard to come by and she figured she may as well take advantage of it.

She was a little uneasy walking into CTU on Monday morning. She'd spent the weekend go over the files Chappelle had sent her, and making brief contact with David Kelly. Kelly, a former naval officer, had a reputation for being fair but a little too by the book and a slightly more lax than one would expect of a CTU Director. It was possibly why the office was having the problems they were having now. Both their second-in-command and Head of Field Ops had been killed in a field operation gone awry and Kelly was still struggling to repair the damage. (She wondered if Tony had known as much before she left).

"Can I help you?" A young woman on the floor asked as security escorted her into the bullpen. The office was significantly smaller than what she was used to, with only one level and both the Holding and Interrogation rooms contained on the floor below.

"I'm looking for David Kelly."

"Ms. Dessler?"

Michelle nodded.

"He's expecting you in the Conference room…"

When she returned to the hotel that night she was completely drained; even more so than after a regular day of work. Kelly had been welcoming and appreciative of any help she had to offer, but a few of the analysts seemed reluctant – having been close with the man who'd held her job before.

This isn't your job…she'd reminded herself as many times as she had them. You'll be back home before you know it…

While the hotel may have been comfortable enough, and no doubt served its purpose, it didn't offer the same kind of detachment from the day that her own house and bed did. And from what Kelly had told her, things were only going to get more stressful as she learned the ropes. The Intel they were processing indicated some sort of large scale attacks in the Washington area in the next few weeks…and judging from what she had seen today there was a long way to go before they'd be prepared to handle something of that magnitude.

Her phone rang just after eleven and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey," she smiled tiredly into the receiver.

Tony frowned. "Hey…did I wake you?"

"No…I was just getting ready for bed now…" she steadied the phone beneath her chin and began pulling on her pajama pants.

"Are you just getting home now?"

"Yeah…Jack had some stuff he wanted to go over…"

She smiled at the gruffness in his voice and how it so happened that that tone, more than anything, had come to soothe her.

"So how'd it go?" he asked as she unclipped her bra with her free hand and wiggled out of her blouse.

"There's a long way to go." She admitted. "Kelly isn't…on top of things exactly."

"Well…c'mon Michelle, you can't expect everyone to be as great as I am."

She laughed at the cockiness and he grinned.

"It's good you haven't let it go to your head."

He chuckled softly and they both reveled in the comfort of the silence for a few moments.

"You sound dead…"

She leaned back against the pillows grimly.

"Long day…"

"Long couple of days…" he grumbled a little.

"Tony…"

"I know, I know…" he sighed. "So, did you go running?"

"Yeah, this morning…"

"How was it?"

"Freezing."

"I think you've been spoiled living in LA for so long." He teased.

"I like the winter!"

"It's March, Michelle."

"And by definition, I'm pretty sure that means it's still winter."

"Yeah well…you just wait until I take you back to Chicago…then you'll see winter."

She rolled her eyes. "Is that around the same time I'll be witnessing a Cubs' loss on home turf?"

"Don't be silly, sweetheart." He scoffed. "The Cubs don't play in the winter."

When her snickers died down he heard her yawn.

"I should let you get some sleep."

She agreed reluctantly, wondering if he was in the middle of dinner. Whatever he'd made had to be better than that sandwich she'd grabbed on the way home.

"I'll call you tomorrow, 'kay?" she told him sleepily.

He smiled.

"Okay. Night."

"Night…" she yawned again and was gone.

During her second week in Washington, Michelle received a late night call from Kelly, interrupting the first few hours of decent sleep she'd managed to acquire since arriving.

"Michelle a situation has arisen. How soon can you get here?"

She muffled a groan and rolled over to check the alarm clock. Her head was pounding and she was trying to remember where she'd packed the Tylenol.

"Twenty minutes." She admitted dully. The problem with having a hotel in the heart of the city meant there wasn't much of an excuse in the way of drive time. She reluctantly pulled herself out of bed and headed for the bathroom…

Tony was just starting to contemplate sleep himself when his own phone rang. It was Chappelle.

"What's up Ryan?"

"We have a situation and we need as many hands-on-deck as possible processing Intel."

"Where?" he reeled off robotically and felt his stomach tighten when he didn't receive the usual, snippy answer.

"Ryan?" he checked to make sure the phone hadn't gone dead.

"Washington." Chappelle finished flatly and heard Tony curse vehemently on his end of the phone. Tony had practically leapt off the couch and started scrambling for his things.

"Did you call Jack yet?"

"This isn't a field operation."

"We could still use his help…"

"Almeida…" Ryan warned, but was ignored.

"There might be leads we can workup on our end."

"Almeida…" Ryan repeated, a little more firmly this time.

"Do we know if they're -?"

"Tony!" Ryan bellowed, finally catching his attention. "You don't even know what the situation is yet! Now are you gonna be able to keep your head in the game or not?"

Tony scowled. "My head's in the game. Don't worry."

"Good. I'll see you at CTU."

"Half an hour ago weapons-grade anthrax was released in a stadium 5 miles north of there. This was done just as a concert was being concluded. NHS is working on quarantining it and the surrounding regions as we speak. Langley and DOD are compiling lists of potential suspects and are coordinating with our other agencies. We need to get processing Intel immediately, as well as dispatch a field team to help with containment and crowd control."

"Why are we responsible for crowd control?" Michelle frowned, leaning back in her chair and studying the faces around the room.

"Police and SWAT members aren't trained to handle this type of a scenario. They have limited experience at best dealing with biological warfare and while we will be provided with backup, we've been instructed not to leave matters of this magnitude to people who are unfamiliar with it. It's too risky."

"So what do you want us on?" Lou Samson, the newest acquisition as Head of Field Ops piped up.

"We'll send a team – Lou, whoever you want, but take Michelle with you."

Lou raised an eyebrow. "That seems unnecessary."

"She's has more experience. Any questions?"

No one said a word and Michelle felt the butterflies forming in her stomach as she rose from her chair and made her way to the locker room to change into something more appropriate.

Anthrax. Goddamnit. His throat had constricted the instant he heard Chappelle say the words. But Michelle wasn't a field agent... They had no reason to put her anywhere but CTU.

That was a complete lie. They had every reason to send her into the field. She was experienced, something the entire office was lacking in, and in a crisis situation that definitely took precedent over who was supposed to be doing what job.

He should call her. He should call her and see what was going on – where she was.

No…he berated himself internally. She was fine. She'd call him when she had a chance.

Michelle was sweating profusely within her hazmat suit, taking what was barely a minute to catch her breath as she watched NHS, as well as her own team, work. They'd been inside the stadium for the past four hours, cleanup of the airborne spores was almost complete, but they were still treating the hundreds that had been exposed. It had been four hours of people screaming at her for treatment while she tried her best to coordinate with Lou, (who wasn't exactly being cooperative), and keep everyone calm. Finally, as the doctors made their way through the crowds, everyone had started to relax.

Two hours later she was informed there had been one casualty, an elderly woman. She had one thing to be grateful for: the fact that this news came only after everyone else had been treated, so as not to elicit more panic. Everyone involved had responded with remarkable speed and had they not the situation could've ended a lot worse.

"Dessler."

"Michelle, it's Dave. We want you to start preparing to move your people out and get them back to CTU. We need you here to start dealing with the intelligence backlash."

She sighed in exasperation. They really weren't kidding about the amount of work there would be. And while long hours weren't something she couldn't handle, it felt half the time like she was the only one doing anything. Kelly didn't exactly run a tight ship and she was always picking up the slack.

She wanted to go home.

Two weeks later she was still in DC. Two miserable weeks later. She debated everyday whether or not she could call Chappelle and tell him it wasn't working out; tell him she couldn't take it any longer and she wanted to go back to her old job where she wasn't acting like the Director of CTU, along with all of her other responsibilities. It was too much – even for her.

"Tony…" Jack pushed inside the office just as Tony was zipping up his briefcase, laptop and all, and preparing to leave.

His shoulders hunched as he turned around to face the door.

"What's up Jack?"

"Did you look over the Salazar file?"

"Yeah um…" Tony hesitated. "I was hoping we could go over that on Monday."

Jack looked a little surprised but nodded, "yeah, sure."

Tony nodded in response and waited anxiously for him to leave.

"You going somewhere?" Jack pressed, noting the overnight bag that was already packed.

"Yeah…" Tony clawed at his crinkled brow. "I'm heading to DC for the weekend."

"How's Michelle doing, anyway?"

"Fine…it's only been a month but…" his voice trailed off.

Jack smiled slightly.

"Have a good weekend, Tony."

"Thanks…"

When Tony arrived at the DC office and informed security who he was and was met with some resistance...

"One of my employees has been with you guys for a month." He insisted, unable to mask his frustration.

"I'm sorry Mr. Almeida but we weren't expecting you today and no one seems to be aware of your visit."

Tony scowled.

"Can you just call David Kelly and let him know I'm here." The guard winced at his expression. It definitely wasn't a request.

He was extremely relieved when he was finally escorted inside and placed in the situation room.

"Hey Tony," Dave walked in and offered a hand. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

David Kelly was tall, much taller than Tony, and his brown hair was already substantially flecked with grey.

"Yeah uh…look Dave, I'll level with you. I'm here for Michelle."

Kelly smiled. "I figured as much. She just got back from the field." He explained vaguely, and Tony tensed at this. "Once she's done debriefing I'll send her up."

Tony thanked him as he left the room, stating he had other matters to attend to.

Occasionally one of the staff members would appear to offer him coffee or see if he needed computer access for anything. It was three bitter cups and a little over an hour before Michelle finally walked into the bullpen.

She looked exhausted he noticed at first. The bags under her eyes were far more prominent than he'd ever seen them before; her t-shirt was crinkled and had a few patches of dirt smeared over it and there was a small gash in her right hand that looked like it had been tended to already. Her eyes widened when she noticed him and he rose from his chair as she walked through the glass doors.

"Hey," he smiled gently when the door closed behind her.

"Hi…" she croaked, slightly higher than she'd anticipated. "Why didn't you tell me you were-?"

"I didn't know until this morning …We had an all-nighter and saved Chappelle's ass…he was giving out weekends off like there was no tomorrow." he explained quickly.

She smiled a few seconds later, once the shock had worn off, and quickly pulled him into a bear hug.

"Sorry." He added; his voice sounding slightly wounded at the lukewarm welcome he'd received. "I missed you."

"Me too." she blushed, kissed him lightly and sunk into the embrace. "God, I missed you."

When he pulled out of the hug it was even more apparent how overworked she was. Her cheeks looked sunken and her eyes were foggy with thick bags under them. Her clothes hung loosely off her body and her complexion and skin were even more pallor than usual.

"You okay?" he asked, brushing the hair off her neck. "Dave said you just got back from-"

"I'm fine." She interrupted. "It's just been a long week."

He pulled a book out of his bag and handed it to her.

"Here…I picked this up on the way…I figured since you'll need something to entertain you on the plane home…"

Michelle laughed.

"Thank you."

He kissed the tip of her nose. "Welcome. Are you done?"

"Yeah." Her expression changed again and he studied her with concern.

"Good. Let's get out of here."

"You wanna go out for dinner?"

He yelled from the bed in her hotel room. The noise of the shower was making it difficult for them to converse and he was wondering if Michelle was glad for that. She'd seemed a little out of it the entire ride back to the hotel.

"Yeah, it's about all there is to do for food around here. I swear I've gained ten pounds since I left."

The shower stopped and Tony processed the comment carefully.

"You look like you've lost weight." He finally stated, noting as she stepped out from the bathroom that her collarbone was protruding more than it had been four weeks before. When holding her earlier he had certainly felt like there was a good bit less of her to hold.

"You're seeing things then." She brushed off as she used a second towel to dry her hair.

He watched her struggle to run a comb through her curls, all the while wondering what in the world was wrong. Once she'd lathered moisturizer on her face he climbed off the bed, wrapped his arms around her tightly, and nuzzled his mouth into her neck.

"You okay?" he asked softly, feeling her relax in his arms. She sighed deeply and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Yeah..." She smiled and touched her fingers to his cheek. "Just tired…I really missed you."

He started to respond, but his sentence was cut off when she kissed him firmly and her tongue slipped into his mouth. She shifted around and managed to maneuver them both towards the bed; landing on top of him as she undid the buttons of his shirt.

Sunday afternoon she dropped the bomb. As much as she'd been holding off on it all weekend she didn't have a choice anymore. She had to tell him.

"They want me to stay." She said quietly from the doorway to the bathroom; a lot of their conversations over the weekend, however trivial, had occurred from this vantage point, as if she was trying to create a barrier between them. It was a minute before he sat up and looked at her like she was crazy. Her stomach fell.

"Who?"

"Dave asked me."

Tony looked furious.

"What are they playing at? You've already been here for a month; Gael can't do your work forever."

Michelle gulped and averted his gaze.

"I think I should."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" he started to shout.

"It means…" she began indignantly. "That there's still a lot of work to do here and they could use my help and unless something critical comes up Gael and Adam can distribute my work between them for another month."

"Another month – Michelle!"

She said nothing.

"When did Dave ask you?"

"Friday morning." She fidgeted with her sleeve.

"And when exactly were you gonna tell me? I've been here for two days and you decide to mention it just as I'm getting ready to go the airport!?"

"Because I knew you would do this... I'm sorry…I shouldn't have waited so long, but can you just...please try to understand?"

"Understand why you want to be here for another month when you haven't stopped talking about how miserable it is?"

"Tony…" She winced. "You know damn well that's not the reason I'm doing this. They need me here and I still think I can help. At least until my replacement can take over…"

He scowled and folded his arms across his chest.

"Tony please…" she took a few steps closer to him. "You know I'd rather be in LA but I can't…abandon everyone here when there's still so much work to do…"

He pushed past her and reached for his jacket.

"I'd better get to the airport."

He leaned over as he picked up his bag and pecked her cheek flatly.

"I'll call ya when I land."

Michelle didn't say anything; she was afraid she might start crying if she did.