Author's Note: I'm so sorry I haven't updated. I've been stuck on this chapter but I made it extra long for my absence. Also I will be on vacation for the next week starting Friday. So again I will late updating.

I would really appreciate some feedback especially since I had a hard time on this chapter.

Three weeks later Tony sat in his office, trying to finish some paper work but getting distracted by Michelle's body movements as she walked. The way her hips swayed and the way he arched her back when she stretched.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a hard knock on his door. Jack Bauer-great, he thought.

"Nice view?" Jack asked rather smugly, looking down at Tony's focus of such attention.

"Tony I wanted to talk to you about Michelle."

"What about?" Tony asked coolly.

"I think you know what about Tony."

"I've noticed something ever since the Cullen mission, but looking back I can't believe I didn't see it sooner."

Tony didn't really know what to say. He had tried hard to keep their relationship a secret for Michelle. She had insisted at least for a while to keep their relationship quiet.

"Look Tony, I'm not gonna tell you how to live your life. But if all you're doing is screwing around with her then maybe you should think about what this will do to her."

"Jack that's not…"

"Let me finish. Michelle is a nice person. And you seeing her people are going to ask questions, you're her boss and given her age people will talk." He said matter of factly.

"Jack you don't know what the hell your talking about for someone who thinks he's got it all figured out." Tony growled.

"I'm in love with her Jack."

Jack looked at his friend for a minute, seeing the seething anger coming out of him, the sincerity in his voice.

"Just be careful then. Tony you've seen what this job can do to people…"

"I won't let that happen to her Jack…I won't let it happen to us."

"Ok." Jack stood to walk out the door.

"Oh and Tony…try to keep your head out of your ass and not screw this up." Jack smirked.



Tony couldn't stop the grin forming on his face. He turned of his computer and went down to get Michelle.

"Hey" He said walking up behind her.

"Hey, everything alright?"

"Yeah. Come on let's get out of here while we still can."

"I got you some coffee."

Tony reached over and laced his fingers through hers, "Thanks, baby. This is really nice." With the case as wrapped up as they could get it they were finally headed home where they wouldn't have to deal with Ryan or any other annoying boss.

She smiled in spite of herself, finding that she liked this change in their relationship. The shift had been so natural, from being on their toes around each other into a comfortable relationship.

"You're welcome." She let her head fall back against the seat and let out a sigh.

Tony followed her example and then turned his head to look at her, "I talked to Jack after Coleman and I filled out the paperwork." He was glad that the other agent was going to get to mop up all of the little messes that this case had created. Donovan wasn't going to be prosecuted; further investigation had supported his story that Matthew was a regular Robin Hood when it came to shooting a bow and arrow and they still hadn't really established who he was truly. For all they knew, he'd been stealing the identity of different people for quite a while. With him dead, it was going to be a far more complicated task and one he wasn't going to have to participate in. That was all Chapelle's problem though; Tony was headed back home with his Michelle.

"Oh?" Michelle hoped that she didn't sound unsettled about that fact. She wasn't really sure what CTU would say about the change in their relationship or how that would affect them being able to work together. She hoped they could just keep things the way they were at work.

"He wasn't at all surprised that you and I are seeing each other," Tony's mouth twitched into a sort of smile, "In fact I believe his exact words were ''keep your head out of your ass and don't screw this up." He left out the part about how he had sputtered a bit at the comment that even his superior seemed to know something about him and Michelle that he hadn't been willing to admit to himself until just recently.

Michelle smirked at him wondering now that Jack knew about them if things would stay the same or if the rest of work would find out.

Tony leaned in smiling, "You're so cute when you get all worried" Despite the roll of the eyes he got in response, he kissed her, feeling a smile against his mouth. Yes, he was glad that he had finally gotten his head out of his ass because Michelle was just about the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Michelle rolled her eyes again as the kiss ended, "It's nice to know that you love me for my personality." The word just rolled right out without any hesitation; now that she knew for sure that Tony Almeida really did love her she couldn't help herself.

"Your personality is just part of what I love about you," Tony grinned at her. He knew better than to go into detail about every inch of her that he loved, but he was fairly certain that she already knew.

"Did he say anything about us working together?" That was the question that Michelle really wanted to have answered. If she didn't get to see Tony she wasn't sure how all of this was going to work. She'd 

come to depend on him in a way that she had never wanted to depend on anyone; she was a strong independent woman who could take care of herself – except for those times that Tony seemed to sweep in and save her life.

"Yes, he did," Tony said.

"He just wants to make sure that we can keep our personal life out of our professional life," Tony was sure that they could do it; he was more worried about their professional life interfering with their personal life. As it was they seemed to spend more time working together than doing just about anything else; he made a mental note to try and change that a little.

"Ok." She said.

"Ok?"

"Yeah, ok. Now come on, we need to stop by the store, we're out of groceries."

Tony had to smirk a bit, in a matter of weeks they had become a "we". "We" need groceries; "we" need to save some money for a vacation. "We" could shower together in the morning to save time before work.

They walked around the store; Michelle always let Tony take care of the food. If it was up to her they'd be having takeout every night instead of something else she could burn.

"I'm going to get some conditioner." She said.

"Mmm, get that stuff that makes your hair smell good." He smiled, seeing her wink at him on the way to the other aisle.

They checkout and headed straight home since Tony offered to cook dinner.

Somehow the conversation had shifted to family and she realized that she really had no real clue about Tony's brothers: what they did for a living, how many kids they each had. They knew everything about her, well almost everything, but she was still in the dark about them.

"So tell me a little about your brothers, I mean I know nothing about them really except their names" Michelle stated as she pulled her hair tie back and let the curls fall over her face.

"Well, Brian is the youngest of course and he is a school teacher, really good with kids. Ali is his wife and she just had another baby last month, a little boy." Tony explained.

He left the bathroom and went over to the dresser and began unbuttoning his shirt. He then went over and sat on the armchair and began pulling off his shoes. Michelle's eyes followed his every move.

"Um...who's next...oh yeah...Kevin is three years older than me, he has two kids: Eric who's eight, and Ashley who's five. He's is married to Julia, she's a full time mom; she was never one to work. But since Kevin is a lawyer she doesn't really need to".

Michelle crossed one of her legs over the other and folded her arms across her torso, paying close attention to all the information Tony was giving her. She hoped she would be able to remember everyone's name.

"John, his wife is pregnant with their first. She's a psychiatrist...someday she might consider shrinking herself."



They both broke out into a fit of laughter while Tony walked over to the bed and sat down beside her.

Michelle let out a loud breath as she let the information sink in. Tony knew it was a lot for her to learn in just five minutes.

"I wouldn't worry though; the only one's you're probably going to meet are Brian and Kevin. The rest...well they're always off somewhere with their friends...they don't have time for boring family reunions what with their hectic lifestyles and all." He teased as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

She gently traced the lines of his hand, trying to find a way to occupy her wandering thoughts that were slowly wandering to things that she didn't want to think about, her parents mostly. She tenderly followed the bone pattern in his hands, her finger slowly sliding along the top of his skin.

"So what about you huh?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked, knowing already what he meant but hoping to play coy until he dropped the subject.

"Well I mean you never really talk about your family. I mean all I really know about them is what I've heard about your brother and that your mother passed away." He pushed. Every time family came up she would either change the subject or give him trivial details about her past.

"Yes, that's it. She's gone, my brothers a mess and that's all there is." She got frustrated talking about her family. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Tony didn't really know if he should push her to talk more after her little outburst.

"I remember her funeral." She said finally, her voice void of any emotion.

She remembered the day in slow motion, despite how quickly it had all happened.

She refused to go to her funeral at first. Saying goodbye would do nothing more than acknowledge the fact that she was gone. It was only because of her best friend Angela's comment about saying goodbye that she went along with them to the cemetery. But she swore to herself that she would not cry again.

"I'm sorry I pushed you about this, I know how much you hate it."

"Sorry I snapped at you." She added, leaning up and giving him a sweet peck on the lips.

While they drank their beers, they talked. He told her stories about his childhood and the pranks he used to pull that always got him sent to the principal's office. At the beginning, she would break in to offer explanations for his youthful indiscretions or his sibling rivalry with his brother, but eventually after being on the receiving end of enough looks she learned to just listen. Sometimes she told him about her home and what she had done to get into trouble. The more stories she told, the more comfortable she got, until one time she actually laughed while telling him a story about getting sent to her room because she refused to get down from the roof her brother had dared her to go on.

"So do you want to do something after work tomorrow?"

"Well actually my friend Angela and her boyfriend are in town. I was going to see if you wanted to have dinner with them."

"Yeah…that could be fun." He said.

Next chapter we meet Angela

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