Sorry it took my so long to update. I was waiting for my writer's block to be over. I re-wrote that chapter four times and every time I hate it more. However, I think that chapter was the best of them. I hope you like it.

Chapter 10: Good luck

Michelle made her way to the bullpen silently. She was tired and frustrated. She stayed up till the middle of the night talking to Danny's wife Lisa. She was trying to persuade Lisa to forgive Danny. She knew that Danny's mistake was unforgivable and he hurt Lisa badly but she still had a chance. The divorce wasn't finalized yet and Michelle thought that she could convince Lisa to take Danny back. However, last night proved her wrong. It was obvious that Lisa wasn't going to forgive Danny anytime soon.

Michelle couldn't blame Lisa; she would have done the same. What really angered her was Lisa's reaction to Danny's attempt to commit suicide. She refused to let Danny see the kids. Not just that but she said that she would bring the matter to court's attention and prevent Danny from seeing his kids for good.

Michelle knew that if the matter was brought to court's attention, Lisa would win the custody and Danny would see his kids once a month under supervision. Michelle didn't want that to happen to her brother and spent the night arguing with Lisa but it was in vain. Lisa was angry with Danny and wanted him to suffer just like she did. The best Michelle could do was to offer Lisa a deal, Lisa would let Danny see the kids once every two weeks but Michelle had to be there.

Michelle entered the bullpen and a smile appeared on her face immediately, Tony was at his station talking on the phone. After a week of working side by side with him, Michelle was sure that he didn't know about Nina. He was so honest and simply sucked at lying.

Michelle felt a strange desire to know everything about Tony. She didn't know why but she felt as if something was attracting her to him. He was a good man and she wanted to gain his trust and become his friend. She knew it would be difficult but she was determined to succeed.

Michelle noticed that Tony was acting strangely; he looked nervous and kept glancing at his watch as if he was afraid of being late for something. She contemplated asking him but decided against it. They weren't close and she thought it would be awkward.

Michelle stared at Tony for a while then went to her station. Cassie stopped by minutes later to greet her. Cassie and Michelle became friends quickly and even had lunch together a couple of times.

Michelle figured that Cassie might know what was wrong with Tony. She was a close friend of his: "um, Cassie. Do you know what's wrong with Tony?"

Cassie's eyes clouded as she turned to look at Tony: "Nina's trial is today". Michelle bit her lip; she knew how much Nina hurt Tony. She saw it in his eyes although he tried to hide: "Is he going to testify?"

Michelle noticed the stupidity of her question the second the words left her mouth, Tony was Nina's boyfriend and according to what Cassie told her, he was the only one who knew pretty much everything about what happened that day.

To her surprise, Cassie answered her immediately. Michelle was expecting a sarcastic look or a raised brow but Cassie just replied: "He's the key witness. Jack isn't going to testify. Milo doesn't know what happened before Jack's return. Mason and Alberta's information isn't enough. The only people who knew were Jack, Tony and Nina. The entire case is basically based on Tony"

Silence engulfed them until Cassie broke it: "I better go". Michelle nodded and Cassie left as Michelle turned to look at Tony.

Tony rubbed his face tiredly, he woke up at 4 a.m and couldn't go back to sleep so he went to CTU. He arrived there at 5 a.m and had been working since. He knew he was drowning himself in work in order not to think about the trial, not to think about her and what happened that day.

Thinking about that day sent shivers through Tony's spin. He came here to prevent himself from thinking about that day but he was failing miserably. He leaned back in his chair and decided to give himself a break. He looked around and his eyes caught Michelle's. She was looking directly at him and he just stared at her. Her eyes were warm and he got lost in them.

Tony kept looking at Michelle for a while then averted his gaze as his mind screamed at him: "what the hell are you doing? She is your co-worker and you saw the result of intra-office relationships……."

Tony froze and his eyes widened in shock. Relationships, he was thinking about relationships after what happened with Nina. Not just that but he was thinking about Michelle in particular. He couldn't understand how or why. He met her a week ago and knew nothing about her, except that she was smart, polite, honest and beautiful. She had the most beautiful eyes he had seen in his entire life.

Tony shook his head trying to block his thoughts. He couldn't believe himself. He discovered that his girlfriend was a double agent and murderer but he didn't learn his lesson. He was thinking about the beauty of another woman, a co-worker whom he knew nothing about. How could he trust her? How could he be sure that she wasn't another Nina? How could he know that she wasn't hiding a terrible person under that angelic façade?

Fortunately, Mason stopped preventing Tony from driving himself nuts: "We have to go, ready?" Tony nodded: "yeah, just give me a minute. I need to give these to Michelle"

Tony went to Michelle's station and she turned to look at him: "I'm leaving with Mason and Milo for a while. You're in charge now. Keep those files with you, Division might ask for them"

Michelle could tell he was struggling to maintain his composure so she decided not to give him a hard time by asking many questions, she wanted to know whether somebody is coming from Division to take over or not and what was in those files. Instead, she just smiled and nodded.

Tony was about to leave when Michelle whispered: "good luck". He turned to her and she held her breath. It wasn't a big deal but most of her former superiors at Division and District would have lectured her on "how to address your superior". She hoped that Tony wouldn't do the same. Deep down, she had the feeling that he wouldn't. He wasn't like that; he was a very nice guy. Even if he thought it was inappropriate, he wouldn't make it a big deal.

Tony was surprised when he heard Michelle's whisper. He expected her to know about the trial because secrets simply didn't exist in CTU. However, he didn't expect her to wish him luck. It was obvious that she was sincere. She wasn't just trying to be nice with the boss.

Tony looked at the floor for a second searching for words. He was really touched with her words: "thanks Michelle. I appreciate it" with that he turned and headed towards Mason and Milo.

They arrived at the court house an hour later. The Federal prosecutor Ralph Edwards was waiting for them. Ralph was a good friend of Anna's and Tony could have sworn that she gave him a call by the way he was treating him.

Ralph explained to them quickly what he was going to do: "I'll start with Milo then George. I'll keep you Tony to the end. There will be some loose ends that I'll need you to fix"

Tony nodded as he rubbed his face, his nervousness was increasing by the minute: "what will her lawyer try to do anyway Ralph? It's not like there is much to be done"

Ralph smiled: "exactly. We have everything we need. He'll just try to reduce her sentence. You know, bring people who can prove that she did help Jack and CTU"

Tony narrowed his eyes as he recalled several incidents. He sat down and said with a heavy sigh: "Alberta Green, Elizabeth Nash and possibly Senator Palmer". Ralph nodded and Tony understood. Ralph had already received a list of the defense's witnesses and those three were among them.

Tony sighed in frustration: "Are you sure you don't need any more witnesses?" Ralph shook his head: "yes, I'm sure. I can build the case with only you and the video tape. Plus, we don't want to execute her. She has valuable information"

Tony flinched at the mention of the word "execution". He couldn't believe that they were talking about Nina's execution; the execution of the same exact person that he held tightly as she drifted off to sleep two weeks ago. He knew she deserved it but he couldn't help himself. For some reason, he didn't want her to die. Was it love? No, it can't be. She was a traitor to that country. She presented everything he despised and spent his life fighting. He hated and despised her with every fiber in his being.

Tony closed his eyes in exhaustion and Ralph sat down next to him: "relax. It'll be ok. I want to warn you though. Her lawyer will comment on your relationship. Don't let him get into you"

Tony nodded and buried his face in his hands; he wanted his mind to allow him to rest. He felt Ralph leaving and a while later Milo got called in. When Mason was called in, he squeezed Tony's shoulder then entered the court room and Tony was left to his thoughts.

Tony's thoughts wandered to Nina again. Why didn't he want her to die? It hit him minutes later, it was revenge. He wanted to get back at her and death would be her salvation. He wanted her to suffer and it scared him. He was never one to be pleased with the pain and misery of others.

Tony was losing his nerves when Milo got out: "They are almost done with Mason. They'll call you soon". Tony's heart started pounding violently in his chest. He was going to see her. He was going to look in her eyes and see the same emptiness he had seen when Jack was threatening to kill her.

Tony took a deep breath trying to calm down. Milo noticed his appearance and guessed what was bothering him: "she's not in there". Tony looked at him with confusion so he explained: "She made some comments and the judge kicked her out"

Before Tony could reply, his name was called.