Chapter 12:

Tony sighed in irritation, trying to stop himself from yelling at the guy he was talking to. He had been on the phone with that agent for half an hour trying to convince him that CTU didn't ask for any Intel on a terrorist cell. The agent was determined to know why they wanted it and was lecturing Tony and telling him that he had been following that group for several years so he deserved to know.

Tony saw Michelle and motioned her over. She raised her brow at his tortured face and he mouthed: "Division". She smiled mischievously and he rolled his eyes at her. The agent continued yelling in his ear and he had enough of his crap: "looks sir. We didn't ask for anything. If you found that we received the Intel, you could do whatever you want. Now excuse me, I have work to do"

He slammed the phone and rubbed his temples. He looked at her after a second: "who the hell asked for Intel on a Russian terrorist cell?"

Michelle scrunched her nose in thought: "I think that was CTU San Diego"

"Remind me to kill every agent from CTU San Diego later". At her questioning look, he continued: "they caused me a headache. A jerk from Division was so sure that we were the ones to ask for it. I tried to explain that we didn't ask for anything but it was like talking to a brick wall. For God's sake, I can't even pronounce its name" He exclaimed in exasperation.

His tone and the face he pulled made it hard for Michelle not to laugh. She started giggling and Tony grumbled: "glad you find my misery amusing"

Michelle tried to stop laughing in order to get a few words out: "I'm sorry but it's just funny to see another person suffering because of Division. It seems like every time anybody wanted anything from there, they come to me. I'm just glad I'm not the one who had to talk to that one"

Tony shook his head, annoyed with her but the truth was he loved every second of it. Her laugh was music to his ears and the way her eyes shone with delight drove him crazy. They reached the point where they can call themselves friends but it sounded wrong to Tony. His emotions were mixed when she was around and it frightened him. His trust received a hard blow a month ago. Actually he lost hope in finding true love. His job was demanding and he didn't have much time to meet somebody, not that he wanted to anyway. He was afraid of getting hurt again so he built several walls around his heart and made his world revolve around work.

However, it looked like Michelle was getting past his defenses but he refused to admit it. He was trying so hard to convince himself that he cared about Michelle as a friend and nothing more. He refused to be honest with himself and acknowledge that he liked her. He didn't want to get involved with some one from outside the office and he sure as hell wasn't going to get involved with some one working with him. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice; he couldn't make the same mistake twice even if his heart screamed at him that it would be different.

Tony noticed that Michelle stopped laughing and looked at him with a twinkle in her eyes. She was so beautiful that he struggled to find his voice: "did you get Nicole Palmer's schedule?"

Michelle tried to hide her disappointment. She hated when he did that. She liked to joke with him, it showed her a side that she didn't know about and she wanted to explore it. She wanted to know how Tony acted outside the office, how he interacted with his family. She wanted to know everything about him and tell him everything about her. He was burned badly and she knew that he was wary to let anybody in, especially a woman. That's why every time she got closer to him or knew something new, he changed the subject and asked her about work. It was his polite way of telling her that he didn't want to talk about himself.

Michelle noticed that Tony was still waiting for her answer: "yeah, you want me to transfer it to your screen?"

Tony shook his head: "George will take care of that one. It's the first time she comes since the elections so we better be prepared"

Michelle twirled a loose curl around her finger: "you think something will happen?"

Tony fought the urge to reach out and tuck the curl behind her ear: "um, I don't know. But between dirty people in her father's campaign and terrorists from his past trying to kill him, who knows?"

She eyed him for a second. Every time anybody talked about that day or even mentioned it, Tony developed a cold look. She knew it was to hide his pain. After all, he was the deputy director and had to be a good role model. He shouldn't let his feeling affect his work. She also had the feeling that he wasn't one to let his emotions show to anybody. It was his character to keep everything bottled up and hidden from most people, except the people he trusted and loved dearly.

Mason's voice interrupted her thoughts: "we have a situation in UCLA.I want all department heads in the situation room in five minutes"

Tony and Michelle shared a look before heading to the situation room. Things had been quiet since the elections. President Palmer triggered an investigation after what happened. He wanted to know how DOD rescued Victor Drazen and how Nina and Jamey managed to obtain such high posts. He was determined to get to the bottom of it and find who was involved. District was squeezing Chappelle and Hammond so they squeezed CTU. They were checking everybody at CTU with every intention to fire who ever had suspicious activity. Division had been handling most of the cases and giving them the ones they could handle in their sleep. Chappelle was supposed to come the next day to tell them his decision. Nobody knew about that safe the two of them and Mason as they were the first ones to be checked and cleared.

Tony and Michelle took their seats as Mason entered: "we have a hostage situation. Twenty minutes ago, a group of terrorists took some med students in UCLA hostages. They threatened to kill a hostage every hour if we didn't follow their demands"

"What do they want?" Tony enquired.

Mason fingered the file in his hand: "we don't know. They'll call again in a while"

Tony creased his brow in confusion, something didn't sum up. All terrorist made their demands in the first call. Their wait didn't make any sense: "how many terrorist are we talking about?"

Mason looked at him without a word and Tony sighed in frustration. That's another thing they didn't know. He heard Michelle say: "do we have an ID on any of them?"

Mason shook his head and Tony snapped: "what do we know George?"

Mason sighed: "there are about forty students in that class along with their professor. The group barged in after killing two students and a librarian. The library is opposite the class room. It looks like they were there. LAPD and a team from Division just arrived. The gun shots were heard all over the university. We've to find out who those guys are ASAP. The problem is that they are wearing masks"

Michelle took some notes as she asked: "do we have surveillance?"

"Not yet" Mason's answer surprised Tony: "then how did you know that they were wearing masks?"

Mason smiled, satisfied that Tony didn't miss a beat: "we've an eye witness"

Tony raised his hand to stop Mason: "hold on. We have an eye witness but we don't' know how many terrorists are we dealing with?"

Mason rubbed his eyes: "she's in a very bad shape. She saw her friends die and LAPD officers freaked her out. She is on her way. I want you to question her and find out everything she knows"

There was a knock on the door and they turned to see Elaine: "excuse me Mr. Mason. The hostage situation in UCLA, it's all over the news"

Mason exhaled sharply and turned to them: "alright people. Let's go"

Everybody left and Tony walked with Michelle to her station: "I want that girl's file. She's our best shot and I don't want to scare her". Michelle nodded: "I'll bring it t you as soon as I have it"

"Tony, the girl is here" Tony raised his head just in time to see the girl. She was beautiful with a short blond hair and blue eyes. She looked terrified and was hugging herself. Michelle followed her with her eyes till she disappeared in holding one then handed Tony a file: "her name is Laura West. The class that was taken hostage is hers. She has one brother, Tom. He's in high school. Her father is a law professor and her mother owns an art gallery"

Tony took a quick look at the file then stood up but Michelle stopped him: "want me in the observation room?"

He shook his head: "she's a scared kid Michelle, not a terrorist. You have better things to do"

His phone rand at that moment: "CTU, Almeida"

"I want you and Michelle in my office" Tony turned to look at Mason and decided that he didn't like the look on his face: "we're on our way"

Michelle looked at him questionly and he motioned her to walk with him. They climbed the stairs to Mason's office to find him pacing: "we got a problem"

Both stayed silent waiting for him to explain: "I just got off the phone with Ryan. There is a possibility that Senator Adam Fantau's daughter Lucy and Ralph Edward's brother James are in that class but we're not sure"

"They are" Mason and Michelle stared at Tony in surprise: "that's why they haven't asked for anything yet. They were waiting for us to find out. They didn't pick that class randomly. They knew Lucy and James are in it. They're making us sweat for a while"

Mason dropped on his chair: "that complicate things further. We're not just dealing with a punch of terrorists; we're dealing with an organized group". He fell silent for a moment: "alright, we've to make sure they're actually in there. Michelle, contact Baker and brief him. Tony, got anything from the girl?"

Tony shook his head: "didn't even begin. Listen, I think we should identify all the hostages. We don't need any more surprises"

Mason nodded in agreement: "get Milo on it and tell me when you get anything"

Tony entered the holding room and greeted the guard. He looked at the girl sympathetically; there was so much pain and guilt in her eyes and he could relate. He spoke in a quiet voice to avoid scaring her further: "Hi Laura. My name is Tony Almeida. I'm a Federal agent and I want you to answer some questions, okay?"

Laura stayed silent so he sat down and tried to soothe her: "I know you're scared but it's over. Nobody is going to hurt you. you have my word but I need your help. Your friends are in danger, they need your help. You don't want anything to happen to them, right?"

She eyed him wearily then nodded. He smiled, glad he received a reaction: "good. Do you think you can answer some questions for me?"

She nodded again so he continued: "can you tell me what happened?"

She took a deep breath:" I was leaving my dorm when one of my friends stopped me. We chatted for a while then I realized I was late. I rushed to my class and that's when I saw them"

She started to cry and Tony wanted to go to her but stopped himself. He wanted her to get everything out and was afraid that she would stop talking so he stayed where he was and listened to her: "they were leaving the library. Kim and Scott were in the hallway and Kim screamed when she saw them. They shot them then entered the class"

She was crying so hard that Tony couldn't take it any more. He moved to her side and put his hand on her shoulder gently: "shh. It's okay. It's over"

Her anguish suddenly turned to rage and she pushed him away and screamed: "how could you say that? It's not okay. I watched them kill two of my friends and did nothing to stop them. I'm a coward"

"There was nothing you could have done" Tony tried to reason with her: "if they knew you were there, they would have killed you too. Kim and Scott wouldn't have wanted that. They would have wanted you to stay alive. Maybe you couldn't save them Laura but you have the chance to save your other friends and make those criminals pay for killing Kim and Scott"

Tony could tell that his words got to her as she calmed down. She raised her head and spoke in a small voice: "what can I do?"

Tony sat down and smiled at her: "just answer my questions. How many men did you see?"

"Four but….."She looked unsure and Tony signaled for her to continue:" the door to the class was opened and I think I heard a few gasps and screams. I'm not sure though, the shots were too loud"

Tony rested his head on his hand muttering: "how the hell did they go in without anybody noticing them?" An idea popped in his head and he raised his eyes to meet Laura's: "did you hear any shots before you got there?"

She shook her head and he smiled, having created a theory. He stood up startling Laura: "thanks you so much Laura. You helped us a lot". He smiled at her warmly then left looking for Mason.

Tony found Mason in the situation room with Michelle: "was the librarian shot?"

Both returned to him, not understanding what he meant so he repeated his question: "you said they killed two students and a librarian. Was the librarian shot?"

"No" Michelle answered his question: "they slit her throat, why?"

Tony's eyes shone as he began to explain his idea: "Laura said that she saw four men and she thinks there were more in the class room. How did a group of masked men enter the university?"

"They didn't" Michelle began to understand where Tony was coming from: "they were dressed causally. They must have stored the masks and the weapons in the library"

"Exactly" Tony exclaimed: "they entered the library quietly and slit the librarian's throat so as not to draw attention. They changed in the library which means that the clothes they were wearing are stashed there some where"

Mason picked up the phone ordering a Forensics team to be sent to the library. He hung up and turned to Tony and Michelle: "you think they left a trace behind?"

Tony sat down as Michelle replied, her word dripping with enthusiasm:" they must have. They wore those clothes for a while so there must be something, a hair sample or DNA"

Mason linked his fingers in front of his face looking at his two top agents. That was their only shot at identifying that group. Milo entered with the IDs of the hostages. Mason questioned him with his eyes and he nodded confirming that Lucy Fantau and James Edwards were in that class.

Mason noticed that Milo neither left nor said a word. He was just shifting his weight from foot to foot as if contemplated saying something: "something wrong Milo?"

Milo sighed and lowered his head to the floor: "I found some one familiar in that class". He fell silent again and Mason lost his patience: "for God's sake Milo. Just spit it out. Who is it?"

Milo raised his head slowly to meet Tony's gaze and whispered: "Amy Almeida"