Chapter 8: Here he is

It had been 4 days since Tony's interrogation, a week since that dreadful day and Tony was still struggling to get to grips with what happened. His family never left him, they made sure that at least one of them would stop by and keep him company. They knew if they left him, he would drive himself nuts thinking "what if".

Tony received a call from George Mason the day before; Mason asked him to come back and even promoted him. He was going to be the assistant special agent in charge and the only one who would outrank him would be Mason who would take over Jack's old position.

Tony couldn't help but notice the irony of the situation. He was going to be the director's right arm and most trusted man. That position was a huge career step and if the circumstances had been different, he would have been thrilled but now, he couldn't care less about it.

Now, the day that Tony feared had arrived. He was going back to CTU. He had to work with the same people who witnessed his humiliation. He hadn't seen most of them since that day. He had been so relived when Chappelle called to inform him that the interrogation would be in Division instead of CTU, he wasn't ready to face his co-workers.

Tony managed to stay calm on his way to CTU. It wasn't until he had pulled into the garage that he lost his nerves. He remembered what Hammond said during his interrogation: "You were with Nina that morning. You were sleeping with a traitor. What does that make you?"

Tony didn't tell anybody about that but it really bothered him. He knew that Hammond was pushing him to make sure he wasn't helping Nina but he also knew that most of his co-workers would think the same way and he hated it, he hated that Nina managed to screw up his life even after her arrest.

Tony sighed trying to control his emotions. He kept reminding himself that some people didn't think badly of him, people like Milo and Mason. His co-workers knew and trusted him but they knew and trusted Nina as well. Maybe what happened changed their measures. Maybe they didn't trust him anymore.

Tony exhaled sharply: "stop tormenting yourself. Go ahead and get this whole thing over with". He got out of his car and made his way to the bullpen then paused for a second: "here we go" He thought as he entered the bullpen.

Michelle was very nervous, that was her first day at Counter Terrorist Unit and she was determined to leave a good impression. She applied for that job when things got so ugly with Carrie that she couldn't take it anymore. She loathed the woman and felt anger rise inside her every time she saw her. It was impossible for her to work with the woman that almost cost Danny his life.

Michelle got the job after a brief interview with Ryan Chappelle. She was more than qualified for the job and it wasn't like there were a lot of candidates anyway. Nobody wanted to work at CTU at the moment. The work load was unbearable and the atmosphere itself was full of tension. It was known that Hammond and Chappelle would keep close tapes on the new people for a while and everybody at CTU would compare them to their ancestors.

All those things didn't matter to Michelle. She was used to the work load and she spent the last couple of months working with the woman that destroyed her brother's life. She was sure that the tension in CTU would be nothing compared to the tension between Carrie and her. Michelle was sure that she would prove herself to her superiors.

Michelle walked into the Headquarters of CTU L.A and looked around. The place was nothing like Division. She often thought of Division as cold and repulsive. People at Division were absorbed in their own worlds and barely even acknowledge each other. Her eyes wandered to her soon-to-be co-workers. They were working together and helping each other and she liked it. Despite her knowledge of the drama that had taken over this place only a week before, she had feeling that she was going to make a difference here.

Michelle was practically standing in the middle of the bullpen deep in thoughts that she didn't notice the man that approached her: "Michelle Dessler?" She turned around and looked at the man before her: "I'm George Mason, the director of CTU".

Michelle nodded briefly as she extended her hand to shake his: "well, I'm sure you know about what happened here and that we have a lot of work to do so let's save the whole "welcome to CTU" thing to another time and just cut to the chase"

Michelle raised her brow slightly amused. She had never met the man before but heard a lot about him and the way he worked: "very well Mr. Mason. What do you want me to do exactly?"

Mason suppressed a smile; he could tell he was going to like that girl. She was collected, professional and didn't seem to be phased by his little speech: "there are some files that Jamey Farrell was working on. I want you to check them and see if you can find anything useful"

Normally, Mason wouldn't give a task like that to a person he just met but the girl's file was impressive and they were understaffed. He started walking and motioned for her to follow him. He led her to a station: "you'll work from here and if you needed anything else, just ask Tony. He should be here any minute"

Michelle looked at him confused: "excuse me but who is Tony exactly?". Mason looked surprised: "didn't Ryan tell you about the chain of command?" she shook her head and he sighed in irritation: "Tony Almeida is the second in command and your direct superior". He looked at something behind her: "oh, here he is"

Michelle turned around and eyed the man. He was Hispanic with olive complexion, brown eyes and dark brown curly hair. She wondered whether they would get along well or not. She hoped they would because she couldn't handle dealing with another arrogant boss.

Tony calmed down when he entered the bullpen. All of his co-workers were happy to see him and welcomed him warmly. Nobody was staring at him with doubt or worse, sympathy. He could deal with the doubt but he had no idea how to deal with the sympathy.

Tony spotted Mason standing with a girl next to his old office. He didn't recognize the girl. She was pretty with brown eyes and light brown hair. She seemed to have an Asian heritage.

Tony reached them and acknowledged Mason with a nod: "welcome back. Tony, I want you to meet Michelle Dessler our new third in command. Michelle, that's Tony Almeida"

Michelle smiled at Tony and shook his hand. Tony had his business mask on so she couldn't read his face and that worried her as she couldn't tell what kind of man he was. First impressions were important to Michelle as they were usually right but Michelle didn't know what to think about Tony Almeida.

Mason's voice snapped her out of her thoughts: "Tony, there are some files on your desk that I need you to go through and Michelle, tell me if you found anything in those files, ok?" Tony and Michelle nodded so Mason turned and left.

Tony turned to Michelle: "my station is over there. If you needed anything, just give me a call" He was about to leave when Michelle stopped him: "um, Mr. Almeida"

Tony turned to face her: "please call me Tony" Michelle smiled: "ok, Mr. Mason asked me to check some files but he didn't give me my clearance"

Tony looked at her surprised: "your clearance? That's your first day?" Michelle nodded and Tony rolled his eyes: "George didn't waste anytime, did he? Ok, just give me a minute and I'll bring it to you?"

Michelle nodded as Tony climbed the stairs to Mason's office. He entered and Mason looked at him questionably: "you didn't give the new girl her clearance". Mason handed it to Tony: "listen Tony, I know things are a little weird right now but I need you to focus. We really need you help here"

Tony clenched his jaw: "don't worry George. I'm fine" with that he turned and headed to Michelle: "you have a level 4 clearance. Do you need anything else?"

Michelle shook her head: "No, I'm pretty much settled here". Tony nodded and went to his station and Michelle smiled to herself. For some reason, she felt that she would get along with Tony. He had been very nice to her so far and she hoped that he would stay that way.

Tony went to his station and took a look at the files that Mason asked him to go through. He recognized some of those files, they were Nina's and he flinched when he thought of her: "you're not going to think about Nina, you have work to do" He sighed trying to block thoughts about her and started his work.

I contemplated finishing the chapter when Michelle first saw Tony but I figured that you guys are going to kill me if I continued to put off that scene. I hope it was worth your waiting. Becky, I hope you are satisfied.