Wow, it had been so long since I updated. I'm so sorry but college tends to be distracting. However, I'll try my best to update regularly. Also, one of you said that Michelle's opinion about Danny's attempt to commit suicide may be offensive to those who knew some one who committed suicide as I pictured Danny as a victim or a hero and disregarded his family's feelings. I didn't mean that at all, I admit that I don't know anybody who committed suicide or even tried to. I just think that guilt consumed Michelle that all she cared about was to stop him from trying again. My apologies to those who were hurt by what I wrote.

Chapter 11: Nina Myers told me

Tony entered the courtroom with his heart in his throat. It wasn't the first time he testified against a criminal but it was the first time he was afraid of the trial. His uneasiness increased when he noticed who Nina's lawyer was.

Ken Morris was taking notes with an air of confidence that made Tony cringe. In front of him sat one of the dirtiest lawyers ever. He manipulated the witnesses so easily and freed his clients despite his knowledge of their guilt. Now, the same man who proved Christopher Henderson innocent was going to question him. He wished if Ralph had warned him.

Tony took his seat and Ralph offered him a smile to encourage him. His questions were simple and Tony answered them easily. He was just re-telling what happened the day of the presidential elections. Although thinking about that day and talking about it hurt him to no end, he felt himself relax. Every one of Ralph's questions led to the other which gave Tony a chance to organize his thoughts. Finally, the moment of truth arrived. Ralph finished his questions and Ken stood up.

Ken gave Tony a yellow smile but Tony refused to be intimidated. Ken decided to get to the point and asked: "when did you find out about the kidnap of Teri and Kim Bauer?"

Tony rubbed his face nervously: "around 7:30 AM"

Ken grabbed a folder and waved it around: "well, according to this, Jack Bauer went against CTU around 6:30 which means that you knew after an hour, am I correct?"

Tony nodded so Ken continued: "how did you know about the kidnap?"

Tony sighed: "Nina Myers told me"

Ken crossed his arms on his chest: "so she knew before you did?"

Tony rolled his eyes at the stupidity of the question but nodded: "yes, she gave Jack the information he wanted"

Ken smirked when he noticed Tony's reaction: "so she helped agent Bauer, right?"

Tony shrugged: "well, she….".Ken cut him off: "did she or did she not help him, agent Almeida? Yes or no"

Tony held his gaze for a minute before replying: "no"

Ken stared at him, taken back: "excuse me? But you just said….."

This time it was Tony's turn to cut him off: "I said that she gave him some information, not that she helped him"

Ken raised his brow in irony: "and what's the difference?"

Tony stood his ground: "Nina told Jack what she wanted him to know and hid what she didn't want him to know. She fed him the things that suited her plan. She killed Jamey Farrell when she realized that Jamey could lead us to Teri and Kim. She lied to Jack and told him that Kim was dead then killed Teri. I'm sorry but I don't consider that helping"

Tony's voice was as cold as ice and Ken could tell that his solid exterior hid a lot of emotions. All Ken had to do was to give him a little push to break this mask. Fortunately, Ken knew exactly what to do: "tell me agent Almeida, when did your relationship with agent Myers start?"

Tony felt rage building inside him. He actually dared to call her an agent. Richard Walsh was an agent, Scott Baylor was an agent, and Jack Bauer was an agent. But Nina Myers, she was nothing but a traitor, a scumbag that didn't even deserve to be acknowledged.

Tony caught Ralph's eyes; they were urging him to stay calm. Ralph was shaking his head as if to tell him not to let Ken get to him. He remembered Jack saying that Ken pushed the right buttons. He caused the agents to lose their nerves which gave him the chance to manipulate them.

But it wasn't the same. Henderson was accused of taking bribe not treason. The stimulus in Nina's case was so much more than Henderson's. Tony took a deep breath then answered: "my relationship with defendant Myers started 4 months ago"

He looked at Ken with challenge in his eyes. He wasn't going to lose that battle no matter what. He was determined on bringing Nina down.

Ken studied him carefully. It had been a while since he faced a man like that and he liked the challenge. It wasn't about the case. He knew from the start that Nina Myers was going to receive a life sentence, if not execution. Still, he accepted the case, because of the man sitting in front of him, his worst enemy's brother.

Ken Morris wasn't one to accept losing to anybody, especially to a woman and there was one person he never won while battling with and that was Anna Almeida. He accepted the case the second he heard Tony's name. He knew how close Anna and Tony were and the simplest way to hurt Anna was to hurt Tony.

Ken spoke slowly to give Tony a chance to process his words: "everybody at CTU knew about the relationship between agents Bauer and Myers although both denied it. Everybody knew she dated you because Jack left her. I'm just wondering, what does it feel to be the substitute?"

Ralph jumped to his feet to object but Tony beat him to it. His eyes bore holes in Ken: "you're right. Nina dated me because Jack dumped her. She wanted a new source of information and I was the suitable choice since I was the IP-MAN.I have to admit, she is very smart for a traitor"

Ken sniggered: "and that's okay to you? You were being used and it doesn't matter to you?"

Ralph opened his mouth to comment but Tony threw him a look that made him shut up. Instead he just stared at Ken. He couldn't understand what Ken was getting at. He was evoking Tony but to do what? His only shot to reduce the sentence was to finish Tony's questioning as quickly as possible. He knew too much and that wasn't in Nina's best interest. It wasn't until he saw Ken's eyes sparkling that he understood what was going on. That was Ken's payback. He was avenging Anna by breaking Tony.

Tony had no idea what this whole thing was about. Ken looked as if he was enjoying the trial. Tony refused to answer his question and just stared at him. Ken wanted to taunt him and he knew it. Nobody said a word as they looked between the two of them. They were in some kind of a staring contest. Each of them refusing to give in and just waiting for the other to back off.

Ken decided to change tactics when he noticed that Tony wasn't fazed: "what was Teri Bauer doing in CTU?"

Tony bit his lip: "I brought her"

Ken gestured to him to go on and he swallowed with difficulty. That was the part that he wanted to avoid talking about but Ken wasn't going to let it go. He sighed before continuing: "an assassin working for the Drazens was about to kill her but I took him down. I couldn't take her to a safe house because our safe houses were compromised. CTU was the safest place so I took her there"

Ken stayed silent for a second. He had Tony's attention and it was the perfect time for the final blow: "you led her to her death. I hope you can live with yourself"

Ralph objected immediately and the judge sustained the objection. Ken threw his hands in the air in mock surrender: "I'm sorry, that was out of the line. I have no more questions"

The judge dismissed Tony and gave Ken a break to prepare his first witness. Ralph took off after Tony. Ken may have apologized but the damage was already done.

Tony left the court room in a daze. Ken's words kept ringing in his head driving him crazy. He heard some one calling his name and turned to face Ralph. He didn't give him a chance to say anything: "I don't want to talk about it"

Ralph noticed the pain written all over Tony's features. Tony turned around and avoided eye contact. It was obvious that he just wanted to leave. Ralph sighed heavily; a call to Anna was in order.

Michelle slammed the phone set in frustration. Ryan Chappelle really knew how to be a pain in the neck. He called five times asking about Mason despite his knowledge that Nina's trial was today. Michelle couldn't understand why he wasn't going to testify. It would have made things easier for her.

A tap on her shoulder pulled her out of her brooding mood. She raised her brow at Cassie enquiring to be told what was wrong. Cassie smiled at her apologetically: "we have a problem in IT. Something is wrong with the servers"

Michelle heaved a sigh: "can you fix it?"

Cassie nodded: "I can and I did .However, we lost some data. I need you to contact Division to retrieve them"

Michelle buried her face in her hands: "a call to Division. Lucky me"

Cassie laughed: "you do know that you used to work there, right? I mean come on; you got transferred here two weeks ago. You're used to dealing with their usual crap"

"Doesn't mean I like it", Michelle mumbled miserably:" when is Mason returning anyway? Chappelle called asking to talk to him several times and I can tell you this, I'll kill myself if I had to explain to him for the SIXTH time that Mason isn't here because his testimony had been required in Nina Myers' trial"

Cassie smiled, pointing behind her: "then your salvation had just arrived"

Michelle turned to see Mason, Tony and Milo entering the bullpen. She creased her brow when she noticed the look on Tony's face. She exchanged a worried glance with Cassie then stood up and made her way to the trio: "Mr. Mason, Mr.Chappelle wants you to contact him immediately. He said it was urgent"

Mason rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath that didn't reach Michelle's ears. He climbed the stairs to his office without giving her a chance to continue. She turned to Tony and Milo and Milo just shrugged and went to his station. Tony was rubbing his face and Michelle watched him intensely. He noticed and scolded himself for letting his uneasiness show. He tried to hide it quickly: "did something important happen in the past few hours?"

She shrugged while following him to his station: "you mean other than Chappelle calling five times?"

Tony smiled lightly at her as she continued: "not much. Division asked about the files you gave me. They want you to call them back. There was a problem in IT. Cassie fixed it but they lost some data. I'm about to call Division to retrieve them. That's pretty much it. Things have been quiet around here"

Tony nodded and logged into his system. Michelle wanted to ask him if he was alright and what happened at the trial but hesitated. He noticed her lingering beside his station and raised his eyes to her: "something else?"

Michelle stared at him at a loss of words. Her courage failed her and she found herself saying something completely different: "do you think it's serious?" At his confused look, she explained: "the situation with Chappelle, he said it was urgent"

Tony eyes her for a minute. For some reason, he had the feeling that she wanted to say something else. He realized he had been staring at her when she blushed and lowered her eyes to the floor. He attempted to act casually: "I don't know. I mean, status reports are urgent to Chappelle so….."

He trailed off and she smiled at him brightly then left with his eyes on her. What was wrong with him? He refused to talk to Milo and Mason on the ride back to CTU and was very tense then after talking to Michelle for five minutes, he relaxed. His ringing phone cut his trail of thoughts. He picked it up with a sigh, he would figure out an answer to the question that bothered him later. He wanted to know what it was about Michelle Dessler that made him so comfortable and at ease.