Disclaimer: Nope...still don't own 24 or any of the characters
A/N: Please review!
When Tony finally pulled up to his apartment building, it was almost 6:00. He hurried inside and changed into jeans and a grey T-shirt, then turned on some music and started to prepare dinner. He enjoyed cooking; it was stress-free compared to his days at work. He laughed to himself, thinking of how Michelle would disagree: Cooking was extremely stressful for her. She could track a questionable vehicle by satellite or take on 3 hostiles in a shootout, but don't ask her to fix anything harder than a piece of toast! He heard a knock on the door, and Michelle opened it.
"Anybody home?" She practically jumped on him, hugging him tightly. "I've missed you...in the last couple hours since I saw you."
He laughed. "I hope you're hungry, because I got a little carried away on the cooking."
"Can I help?" she asked, half joking. Her lack of cooking skills was legendary between them.
"NO," he answered quickly. "You can sit right over there...want a glass of wine?"
"Sure, thanks" she said. As he went to the wine cupboard to pull out what he knew was her favorite, she crossed the kitchen toward the stove. "What's cooking?"
"Hey, stay away," he teased as he grabbed her hips and pulled her toward him.
"Alright...you'll have to find some other way to occupy me." She pushed him backwards against the counter and kissed him hard, running her fingers through his hair. As he moaned and leaned into her, she sneaked one hand behind him and snatched a noodle from the pot of pasta. Laughing, she pulled back and popped it in her mouth.
"Not fair!" Tony complained. She kissed him again, silencing his protests. He held her closer and ran his hands up and down her sides. When she ran her tongue over his lips and slipped in inside his mouth, he breathed, "Chelle...we're supposed to be making dinner, not getting permanently sidetracked."
She laughed and agreed. "Fine, as long as I get to help with something..."
"Think you can handle setting the table?" he joked.
"You just watch me," she promised.
""""""""""""""""
Ten minutes later, Tony and Michelle sat down for dinner. She had set out a nice tablecloth and pretty dishes, then found a couple candles to use as a centerpiece. "Wow, Chelle, I gotta hand it to you. This looks great."
"Not as good as the food! I'll never understand how you can cook things like this so easily."
"Someday I'm going to teach you to cook. It'll be fun!"
"The word 'cooking' should never be used in the same sentence as the word 'fun'," she said, skeptical. "Besides, I seem to remember you trying to teach me before...I wasn't a very good student."
Tony had to smile as he remembered the cake they made together. Michelle didn't understand why you couldn't just dump all the ingredients in a bowl, stir it up, and pop it in the oven. The cake had been a disaster, but he still loved the memory of the time spent together.
"How 'bout we rent a movie tonight?" he suggested, letting her off the hook for the cooking lesson.
"Sure...something funny. We get enough action movie stuff at work."
As they cleaned up the dishes, they laughed, flirted, and blew soap bubbles at each other. Tony couldn't remember a time in his life when he had been happier. Her smile, her laugh, her head of curls...when he was around her, life seemed so right. He walked over to where she stood at the sink, her back to him, and just wrapped his arms around her. "What's this for?" she asked, looking back at him.
"I love you, Chelle," he said, pulling her closer. She turned around and held on to him.
"I love you too, Tony...so much." They stayed like that for a while, till they were interrupted by a ringing phone. "It's mine," groaned Michelle, looking at the screen. "Dessler," she answered the phone. "Hi Ryan." Tony made a face, and she stifled a laugh. "Yes, I finished those today...I don't know, Adam was supposed to send them to you." It was getting harder to concentrate as Tony began slowly nibbling on her neck. She tried to swat him away, but that only encouraged him, and he moved to kissing along her collarbone. That always drove her crazy. "Alright, I'll make sure you have them by tomorrow..." she gasped as his tongue flicked lower, under her shirt. "No, I'm fine. Is there anything else, Ryan?...OK, I'll see you tomorrow...Tony!" She burst out laughing as she hung up the phone. "Chappell just said I sounded funny and asked if I was OK!"
"Don't tell me you didn't like it," he said, grinning devilishly. She pretended to pout, then gave up. "Come on, let's go get that movie."
""""""""""""""""
When they got back with the movie they had settled on, Tony offered to make popcorn. He joined Michelle on the couch with a bowl of kettle corn, her favorite. He loved watching movies with her, mostly because he rarely actually watched the movie - she was too distracting. So he always let her pick out the film; it didn't really matter to him anyway. Tonight they had gotten an old classic they both loved - The Princess Bride. They had seen it countless times, often together, but never got tired of watching the courageous farm boy rescue the beautiful princess. Halfway through the movie, Tony felt Michelle go limp against him and noticed her breathing was steady - she was asleep. He smiled and kissed her head, then turned down the volume on the TV. He knew he should eventually carry her to bed, where they would both sleep better, but for now he snuggled in and got comfortable on the couch. Before he knew it, he drifted off to sleep.
Two hours later, Tony jumped as his phone vibrated in his pocket. The TV screen was blue, signaling the movie was long over, and Michelle was still asleep on his chest. He tried to answer his phone without disturbing her. "Almeida," he said quietly.
He heard someone yelling in the distance. "Hands where I can see them! Get them out of your pockets or the girl gets hurt!" Tony was suddenly wide awake and slipping out from under Michelle. Then he heard Jack's voice, much closer to the phone. "OK, calm down, you can take whatever you want, just please don't hurt Kate." Tony's mind raced...obviously Jack was trying to give him a message, calling him for help. But what was going on? And where was he? Jack's voice came over the phone again. "You can take my TV, it's right there. The computer is in the spare bedroom." OK, Jack's apartment. Tony rushed to find his gun. As he searched for his keys, Michelle sat up.
"Tony? Who was that?" She was already straightening her clothes and slipping on her shoes.
"It was just Jack. He's having a little trouble at his place...Chelle, I want you to stay here."
"What? Tony, you reach for your gun and run off to rescue Jack, and you expect me to stay here? I want to help."
"It's too dangerous...I can handle it. Please, Chelle, I'll be right back." His eyes pleaded with her not to push it.
"You know as well as I do that if Jack needs to call you for help, it's serious. These people have him helpless enough that all he can do is call you, and you think you're going to go flying in there alone and take them out? You're going to need some backup, and if you don't think I'd be any help, at least call someone else." Michelle was getting angry now.
Tony sighed. "It's not like that...I know you're a kickass agent, but I just couldn't live with myself putting you in harm's way."
"And you think I want to sit here while you walk into a serious situation alone?" He knew she had a point - anyone who could hold Kate at gunpoint when Jack was around would be a challenge for Tony to take on alone. Jack and Kate had gotten pretty serious over the last couple years, and Jack's worst fear was that someone would hurt her...like Teri.
"Alright...let's go," Tony relented. "Just follow my lead and please...be careful."