Setting: This chapter continues five days after Tony and Michelle's first date.
Disclaimer: The Divinyls' song which lent this chapter its' title does not belong to me, and considering my singing (in)ability this is most probably a good thing!
It's a fine line between pleasure & pain.
Thursday 9:45 am
"Ryan, you bastard," Tony uttered in disgust as he re-read the latest e-mail directive from his immediate superior. Leaning back in his chair, he cast his eyes up at the ceiling and sighed as if requesting some kind of divine intervention. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation was that Ryan's order, as untimely and unnecessary as it was, would need to be followed. Despite being aware that Paula's funeral was later this morning and would result in a couple of lost work hours, Ryan had requested a copy of the draft of the CTU restructuring report right away. At present, the document still required at least ten hours of work-up.
Refocusing his gaze down to Michelle's workstation, Tony decided to concentrate on the positive side of the situation: he would need to enlist her assistance to complete the report. A full day of bureaucratic paperwork sounded so much more palatable if it allowed him to work with Michelle. And with Paula's funeral today, he was happy to have some company, especially someone who could understand and empathise with his pain. Paula's death had been particularly difficult for Tony, not just because he had personally recruited her to CTU, but because even though it had been George who made the impossible decision, Tony agreed with him. Shaking his head to clear these depressing thoughts, he reached for the phone.
"Dessler."
"Michelle, it's Tony. Ryan's requested the restructuring report immediately so I'm going to need your assistance for the rest of the day. Transfer all of your active protocols to Adam."
"With Paula's funeral at 11, today is going to be hectic enough without any additional workload," Michelle replied, turning sidewards to look up at Tony.
"Yeah, Ryan couldn't have picked a worse day to double our workload. However, we should have enough time to review the current status of the report and outline what we need to complete before the funeral," Tony replied softly.
"I'll bring Adam up to speed and be there in about five minutes."
Hanging up her receiver, Michelle continued to look at Tony with a slight frown. The sarcastic defiance with which he usually responded to Division's unrealistic demands, even if he ultimately complied, had been replaced with an uncharacteristic acceptance. Watching his stoic expression as he sat in front of his computer working, Michelle was worried; she knew that he felt personally responsible for Paula's death. Turning her own attention to her monitor, she quickly transferred all current search protocols onto the appropriate sub-directory and headed over to Adam's workstation to brief him on the situation. Given the amount of work still left to complete on the report, she would have plenty of time to delve into how Tony was coping.
Entering his office minutes later, she demanded, "Why does Ryan want the restructuring report a week before the status meeting at Division?"
"It appears that Division is considering some internal CTU department restructuring; Ryan wants to review a draft of the report before making a final decision," Tony replied looking up from his screen. "I've pulled up the report outline and working draft; it looks like we're in for a long day."
Grabbing a chair, Michelle took a seat alongside him at his desk. He reached up to adjust the monitor angle slightly and the two of them reviewed the task in front of them. Twenty minutes later, with a clearer idea of what remained to be done, they rose to attend Paula's funeral. Tony, not wanting to be left alone with his thoughts, suggested going together to allow them the chance to continue discussing the report.
They proceeded to discuss various aspects of the report and ten minutes into the trip, they had covered all necessary items. Unfortunately identifying all the work that needed to be completed was the easy part of the task; they were in for a lot of work on their return to CTU. After the absurd hours they had worked last week, Michelle was peeved that Ryan could justify asking them to complete yet another preposterous task.
"Did Ryan explain what internal restructuring plans he needed the report for so urgently? It would be nice to know that we're killing ourselves to get this report done for a valid reason," Michelle asked, trying to understand the situation.
"I received a brief e-mail directive from Ryan this morning stating that Division was considering restructuring the departmental division at CTU and that in order to make a final decision he would require the draft restructuring report before 6 am tomorrow. He's scheduled a meeting at 8:30 am to discuss that decision. That's all I know"
"Did you call Ryan to clarify the situation?"
"Ryan's more a chain-of-command guy. If he wanted to explain the situation, he could have done it in his e-mail. The only probable outcome from calling would be me losing my temper, and I'm really not in the mood for a pointless argument today."
While Michelle grudgingly agreed with Tony's assessment, it was out of character for him and served to remind her that she needed to broach the subject of Paula's death. However, before she could frame the question, Tony beat her to the punch.
"How are you coping?" he asked, briefly glancing across at her.
"Miserable, depressed, guilty… yourself?" Michelle answered with blunt honesty.
Despite being convinced that nothing could get as much as a smile from him today, Tony couldn't suppress a grin at Michelle's candid response.
"About the same," he conceded.
Glancing at her again he continued, "We'll survive this, just like we survived that day. And as hard as it is to deal with being the survivors, those who didn't make it wouldn't want as wasting our lives."
"Do something that makes you happy," Michelle commented softly, speaking more to herself then Tony.
"Come again?"
Although they had discussed the events of that day in length during their date, Michelle hadn't told Tony about George's advice. She hadn't been ready to share that moment. But now was the right time. Tony, even with all his conviction, also needed to come to terms with the fact that while the quantity of time he spent on this earth was not under his control, the quality of it was.
Listening intently as Michelle related her story, Tony replied, "As much as I hate to admit it, George's ideas were usually right on the mark. He was certainly right about you."
"If it had been your decision, I would never have been hired, would I?"
"No. Just like I decided not to support Jack's mission to check the authenticity of the Cyprus reading… and I was wrong on both counts. I guess I have to settle for only being right 99 of the time."
"So I guess that makes you Mr almost-Perfect," teased Michelle.
A smile slowly crept across Tony's face despite his best efforts to restrain it.
"Does that mean that you have to lower your standards?" he enquired.
Laughing out loud, Michelle suggested, "Maybe you'll just have to lift your game."
"I'll see what I can do."
The next thirty minutes passed quickly as they chatted about light-hearted topics, both determined not to wallow in their misery. Yet upon arrival at the cemetery the mood darkened once again. Watching Tony collect his suit jacket from the backseat, Michelle could feel his suffocation that had nothing to do with shirt buttons he had done up. Walking into the chapel together, they joined their colleagues and as they had done for George's funeral sat beside each other offering the silent support of their presence.
After expressing their condolences to Paula's family, they left the cemetery to return to CTU. Once they were on road, Michelle reached out and held Tony's hand. The gesture, the same one as on that day when they were locked in the holding room, symbolised their joint determination to overcome the challenges before them. It was a sign that together they could amount to more than the sum of their individual actions.
…
10:05 pm
Dropping what seemed like the four hundredth revision of the draft report onto the desk, Michelle glanced at Tony, who was still intently scanning his copy of the report for errors. A minute later he turned slightly to face her and stated, "Two typos, one grammatical error and a missing hyperlink; what did you find?"
Michelle quickly pointed out the mistakes she had noted, and the final corrections were made. While Tony sent the report to Ryan, Michelle stood up and stretched; she had been at CTU for fourteen hours now and was more then ready to call it quits for the day.
"OK, we're all done. And I promise tomorrow will be a normal nine hour workday, even if I have to kill Ryan for that to happen," Tony informed her.
"I'm going to hold you to that," Michelle responded with a smile as she moved to begin clearing Tony's desk, which was littered with paperwork and the remnants of their take-out dinner.
"Just toss the take-out containers in the trash; I'll file all the paperwork tomorrow," Tony commented as he logged off the CTU network and began to shutdown his computer.
Ready to go, they headed out to the parking lot together, and Tony walked Michelle to her car. Despite being exhausted from his drawn-out workday, or maybe because of it, Tony wasn't eager to return home to his quiet apartment.
"I don't suppose you're interested in grabbing a coffee; I think I need a wind-down before heading home," Tony suggested to Michelle as she unlocked her car.
"Actually, I'm in the mood for ice-cream and it just so happens that I have all the ingredients to make my world-famous chocolate brownie ice-cream sundae," Michelle replied turning to Tony with an enthusiastic smile.
"I'm certainly not going to turn down an offer like that; I'll follow you home," Tony replied, titling his head to indicate his own vehicle parked a couple of metres away.
Thirty-five minutes later, Michelle was preparing her favourite dessert as Tony sat watching from the island bar. Never having mastered cooking, she had instead become highly skilled at assembling pre-made ingredients; sandwiches and desserts were her forte. Taking the chocolate brownie she'd purchased from the local bakery from the freezer, she cut up precise squares and placed them in the bowls. Much trial and error had gone into determining the 90 seconds microwave time required to heat the brownies to the perfect temperature. Two scoops of Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream followed, and then the sundaes were topped with lavish servings of chocolate sauce and Baileys Irish Cream, her favourite liqueur.
Watching a Michelle added a somewhat overgenerous amount of Baileys to the sundaes, Tony asked, "Are you trying to get me drunk?"
"Do I need to?" Michelle replied with a raised eyebrow.
Hell, no was the first thought that came to Tony's mind, but he certainly wasn't going to answer that. "Depends on what you had in mind," he countered.
She could definitely think of a few ideas but settled for the conservative one, "You and me curled up on the couch with our desserts." Handing Tony one of the bowls, she heading into the living room without awaiting his response; she had no doubt he would agree. In fact, she was fairly sure he would have had no objections to what she had really wanted to suggest.
Entering the living room, Michelle kicked off her shoes and settled into the couch. Balancing his dessert, Tony sat alongside Michelle, wrapping his arm around her shoulder to secure her snugly against his left side. They sat cuddled together and ate their sundaes in comfortable silence, simply enjoying one another's company after their exhausting day.
"Definitely in the running for world's best sundae," Tony praised, scraping the last of his dessert from the bowl.
Smiling, Michelle collected his bowl and made a move to rise and head into the kitchen, but was stopped by Tony tightening his arm under her shoulder. Taking both bowls from her hands, he placed him on the coffee table and pulled her firmly into his embrace.
"Stay," he requested softly.
Nestling contentedly against his chest, Michelle was only too happy to comply, especially when he began to run his hand up and down her back; the gentle pressure of his fingertips sent tingles through her body.
Closing his eyes and resting back against the couch, Tony felt all the stress and angst of the day being replaced with a happiness that the woman in his arms brought into his life.
"I think I could easily spend the night like this," he quietly informed her.
Moving ever so slightly in his arms, Michelle brought her lips to the crook of his neck, placing a couple of soft kisses there before whispering in his ear, "I can think of somewhere more comfortable to spend the night."
Opening his eyes, Tony locked gaze with Michelle confirming the invitation which he had not intended to elicit but certainly wasn't going to reject. He could see the desire he was feeling mirrored in her eyes and seizing the moment, he leaned down and kissed her.
…
6:30 am
Michelle woke to the latest traffic report and the warmth and comfort of Tony's arms around her. Taking a few minutes to savour the moment, she turned to face him. Tony had stirred slightly when the radio alarm had come on, and again when Michelle had shifted but he remained lying on his side, eyes firmly closed. Gently stroking his stubbly check, she softly called his name. Receiving only a faint grumble in reply, Michelle reached the conclusion that Tony obviously wasn't a morning person and decided to try a different approach; leaning in, she placed a soft kiss on his lips. Without bothering to open his eyes, Tony reciprocated with a long, passionate kiss which was infinitely more pleasant than waking up to an alarm clock. Finally conceding to peel open his eyes for the morning, Tony squinted blearily in Michelle's direction.
"Morning," he uttered softly, still sounding more asleep than awake.
"Good morning," Michelle replied, with a bright smile.
"You'll need to get moving so you have time to stop by your apartment and change for work," she pointed out, unsure how capable of rational thought he was in his current semi-conscious state.
Rubbing his face and blinking a couple of times, Tony replied, "or I could just turn up in the same outfit as yesterday and let them all speculate."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea, especially since you're meeting with Ryan his morning."
"Thanks for that reminder," Tony grumbled. "I refuse to think about work before coffee." Getting out of bed, Tony recalled that all his clothes were still scattered around Michelle's living room so instead he pulled the sheet off the bed and wrapped it around his waist like a towel.
"You want some?" he asked Michelle.
"Sure. I'm just going to have a quick shower and dress for work. Everything you need is in the kitchen; make yourself at home," Michelle commented, smiling at the image of Tony wearing her bedsheet.
Entering the kitchen half an hour later, Michelle found Tony fully dressed and seated at the island bar sipping a coffee. Beside him, a coffee and toasted bagel was laid out waiting for her. Noting the empty plate in front of him, she deduced that he had already eaten.
"You found everything OK?" she asked, sitting down to eat.
"Yeah, I'm impressed that you have a kitchen full of food that only requires heating," he stated sarcastically.
"I don't cook," Michelle confessed.
"Obviously. I know it can be a pain to cook for one, especially after a long day at work, but I honestly can't understand how you can live off that over-processed excuse for food."
"Let me correct that previous statement: I can't cook."
"Let me get this straight. You can manage a computer network and run multifaceted search protocols, but you can't put together a dozen ingredients to make a pasta sauce?" Tony responded in surprise.
"My mom never cooked so I never learned. When I was living with my best friend Andy, she used to cook but these days I settle for the ready-to-eat foods. It's quick and easy, and some of them aren't so bad."
"Remind me to say that I'm busy when you ask me to dinner at your place," Tony commented, not the least bit convinced by Michelle's endorsement.
Deciding that two could play at this game, Michelle responded, "Well you've already promoted me, so your cooking ability is about the only reason to sleep with you."
Smiling, Tony reached across and pulled her close to him, "In that case, how about dinner at my place tonight? I'll cook anything that takes your fancy."
"I can be demanding," teased Michelle.
"So can I," Tony responded kissing her. "I've got to get going. See you soon."
"See ya."
…
8:05 am
"Michelle, have you seen Tony this morning?"
Looking up from the overnight report on her screen, Michelle met Ryan's gaze.
"His car is here, but I don't know where he is at the moment," Michelle replied, keeping her answer brief but honest.
"I'll be in his office. See if you can locate him," Ryan directed.
"Of course, Mr Chappelle," Michelle answered, picking up her phone and dialling Tony's cell phone.
"Almeida."
"Tony, it's Michelle. Ryan's here and he's waiting for you in your office."
"What? He's almost half an hour early. I'm just grabbing a coffee; tell him I'm on my way up."
Hanging up with Tony, Michelle patched into the intercom on Tony's office phone and informed Ryan that Tony was on his way. As she was passing on this message, Tony walked through the bullpen, his Cubs mug in hand, hair still wet from his morning shower.
"Ryan, you're early," Tony stated entering his office.
"And you're late Almeida… and by all appearances just rolled out of bed."
"I like to run before work; I showered here before my shift. Which, by the way, I started early. If you had let me know you were coming before our scheduled meeting, I would have had someone direct you to IT, where I was helping Chen with a patch for an interim packet loss problem with the infrared satellite stream. So are you ready to fill me in on your internal restructuring plans?"
"If you wish to remain director you better learn to watch that sarcasm. Now I've reviewed the report and for the most part agree with your proposals; however, we've decided to divide CTU into intelligence operations and field operations. This will provide in-house reinforcement in case of future internal losses. As CTU's director, you'll run intelligence and coordinate with field ops, which we're planning on handing over to Jack Bauer. Given that you've already demonstrated an ability to work alongside Bauer, I'm assuming that you won't have a problem with his appointment."
"Jack's the best there is at field ops; I'll be happy to have him on board. Has he agreed to take the position?" Tony enquired.
"I've asked him to come in at 8:30 to discuss this proposal. In the interim, I'd like to go over some of the details with you."
Twenty minutes later, security called to inform Tony that Jack was on his way into CTU. Hanging up with the guard, Tony contacted Michelle and informed her that Jack was on his way in to discuss returning to work and that she should sit in on the meeting. Another forty minutes passed as the Tony, Michelle and Jack discussed the restructuring of CTU with Ryan and agreed upon the necessary changes. Once all details were finalised, Ryan left immediately for Division.
Tony turned towards Jack and commented, "It will be good to have you back at CTU, Jack. You're sure you're okay to start next week?"
"I'm fine; I've had Kim and the doctors fussing over me for the last week now. I'll be happy for an excuse to get out of the house," Jack replied with a smile. "How's the ankle?"
"Okay. It was just a minor sprain; I was off crutches within a couple of days," Tony replied sheepishly. Averting his gaze from Jack, he noticed that Michelle was unsuccessfully trying to hide a smirk and retaliated by glaring at her. Jack, an astute observer, picked up on this interaction. Realising that they had been spotted, Tony explained, "Michelle thinks it's amusing that you flattened me."
"I have considerably more combat training, and you weren't prepared to shoot me," Jack pointed out.
"Hopefully I won't regret that decision, Jack," Tony joked, before continuing, "Michelle's a trained martial artist. Half of field ops is still scared of her after she took out a couple of terrorists in hand-to-hand combat during her first week on the job."
Glancing across at Michelle in interest, Jack commented, "I might have to sign you up."
"Hey, no recruiting from my staff," Tony ordered. "We'll meet first thing Monday to brief you on all our current protocols," he stated, glancing across at Michelle, who nodded in agreement.
"OK, I'll see you guys then. Enjoy your weekend."
…
A/N: To all those who where hoping for more descriptive TM details, I recommend to: 'give a loose to your fancy, indulge your imagination in every possible flight which the subject will afford.' – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice