Chapter 2

New Beginnings

3 weeks later:

Michelle walked into CTU, ready more than ever for her first day on the job. She walked in, shook hands with George Mason, and he began to show her around. As they walked over to the office area, he began to introduce her as the new Internet Protocol Manager to everyone in the bullpen. She had the biggest smile on her face. Today was one of the best days of her life.

Michelle shook hands with so many people, she couldn't keep track. Finally Mason said he'd show her to her new desk, and she began to settle in. After about half an hour of familiarizing herself with the new system, she heard someone approach behind her. She turned around in her seat to see the man she had met on the day of her interview standing over her. Immediately she recognized him, and stood up. This man was her new boss, and realized she needed to impress him with everything she knew as they shook hands. He smiled softly as her and said "In case you don't remember, my name's Tony Almeida, and I'm your Chief of Staff. We'll be working pretty closely from now on, so if you need anything don't hesitate to ask." She nodded in agreement and looked forward to working with him. "Thank you very much, sir." She could tell Tony seemed much more relaxed than her previous bosses, and hoped he would be as friendly as he seemed.

A few hours later Tony returned to her desk and handed her a schedule. He seemed hesitant at first but then finally let go of the piece of paper.

"These are the dates of your field ops training. It will include everything from firearms to physical combat to intelligence gathering. Some days will consist of just classroom lessons, but on the highlighted ones, I suggest you bring in sweats or something; that's when we'll have your physical fitness evaluation." He paused. "Your training will also include some hands-on material, so leave a change of clothes in the women's locker room, along with any supplies you may need."

"Okay" she nodded pleasantly. Michelle was actually looking forward to the training; she had done a little field ops work back at Division, and enjoyed getting out of the office every once in a while. Although this seemed much more intense, she hoped it wouldn't be too bad.

Tony could see a little anxiety on her face, so he attempted to reassure her. "Don't worry about any of it. From looking at your records, the training will be nothing for you. And as for the hands on lessons," he joked a little in an attempt to make her laugh, "you get to beat up your boss, so what could be better?"

Her mouth dropped to the floor. "Wait…" she stammered. "You're my partner for training?" it wasn't that she was upset about it; actually it made her feel a lot better knowing that she would be fighting someone she knew. "I thought you were already a fully trained agent…"

"I am" he responded, laughing at the look of shock on her face. "But they didn't have anyone to play the 'beat-me-up' dummy for the day, so I signed up." Actually that was a lie; CTU's policy was to always have a stunt man around for training sessions, but Tony had talked his way into replacing him for a day so he could keep his eye on Michelle. "I hope that's okay or doesn't make you uncomfortable or anything…"

"No, no, no!" She started laughing, and Tony smiled, glad that he was able to make her laugh. "I think you misunderstood me, sir. I guess I was just shocked that my boss was going to be my partner in combat training. In fact, I'd rather have someone I know there, so…thank you very much, Mr. Almeida."

Tony smiled even more. He was really starting to like Michelle. "No problem" he replied. As he began to walk back to his desk, he turned around and said, "Oh, Michelle…" Michelle froze where she was and listened. "you don't have to think of me as some really strict boss. I mean, I know in Division they work by the book and you're turning around every second to make sure Ryan Chappelle isn't breathing down your neck…" Michelle laughed at his blunt but true statement. "but here, I like to keep things a little more relaxed. So no need to call me 'sir' or 'Mr. Almeida' or anything. Just Tony is fine. And don't forget, if you need anything, I'm right over there" he said pointing to his desk.

Michelle smiled big and said, "sure, no problem. Thanks again…Tony."

As the weeks past, Michelle looked up to Tony as a mentor, big brother, guide, and friend. She became so comfortable around him. Working or talking to him felt so natural. They had developed a routine; she would walk past his desk every morning at 7 am on the dot, him arriving only minutes before. As she went to get them both coffee, he would wait at her desk with the latest updates of whatever threat they were working on. Even though Tony was technically her boss, she didn't think of him in that way; she even felt comfortable enough to joke around with him, tease him, playfully hit him…something she could never even imagine doing with Ryan Chappelle. Michelle found she was more sarcastic than ever since she had met Tony, probably a trait she had picked up from him. The way she acted even surprised herself.

When she walked into work that day, she didn't feel as if anything were different. It seemed like an average day at the office, only difference was today she began her field training. Michelle was actually excited to get some hands-on experience with what she worked with every single day. As she walked past Tony's desk, he seemed deeply concentrated on whatever he was reading. "Good morning, Tony" she said as usually as she made her way to her desk. Tony glanced up to smile slightly at her, a futile attempt at being friendly before his third cup of coffee. Michelle knew there was no way Tony could function with at least three cups of Joe running through his system, so she hurried over to the break room, found his favorite Cubs mug and one for her, and poured them both a cup, leaving his black. As she walked back over to her desk, Tony was, of course, waiting there with a file in his hand. He immediately began to chug the coffee while Michelle took a dainty sip, put it down and flipped through the file. Her eyes squinted in confusion as she read the papers.

"What are these?" she asked.

Tony took another huge gulp and swallowed. He hesitated for a moment."Those…are some instructions and waivers for the course. I'll just need you to read them over and sign them so I can bring them over to the director." He scratched the side of his face nervously, without looking at her.

Michelle thought he was acting kind of strange. "Okay, sure, no problem." She sat down and began flipping through the papers. After a few moments sure turned around and saw Tony was still standing behind her, staring at her awkwardly. "Is there anything else?" she asked, genuinely confused and concerned. He didn't look right at her and avoided her stare. He snapped out of his thoughts and forced himself to enter reality again.

"It's just, umm…" Tony didn't know what to say. There was no way he could tell her he had been staring at her because he was scared that she would be hurt. She was so delicate, so light and fragile, he couldn't ever picture her with a gun in her hand or fighting off some 300 lb guy. Just from working with her for the short time they had Tony knew that she was tougher than she looked; she had skin thick as steel, a soul full of passion, and a heart of gold, not to mention the ability to keep it together when everything was falling apart. She was dedicated to whatever she set her mind to, and practically looked fear straight in the eye. She was stronger than she looked, but Tony still could not get himself to feel comfortable with the idea of her going into active duty…even training. It helped him a little just knowing that he would be there.

"Umm…I just wanted to wish you good luck today. You know, with your training and all." He was embarrassed that she had caught him staring at her.

Michelle smiled big. "What?" she said playfully. "Is the big strong Agent Tony Almeida scared of a tiny little girl beating him up?"

Tony laughed out loud. "Oh, is that what you think? Let me tell you something, sister, I can bring you down if I wanted to."

"Oh really? Well then we'll just have to wait and see then." She stood up and placed her hand on his shoulder as she began to walk away. "And just so you're fair warned…I don't plan on going easy on you or anything." She smiled sarcastically and walked over to check on any active protocols.

Tony looked over his shoulder and watched her. Did she have any idea how beautiful…how sexy she was? It took his entire will power not to crumble to his knees at just the sound of her voice or the sincerity of her smile. "Bring it" he whispered to himself.