Author's Note: Hey everyone! Thank you so much to all who have been reading and reviewing my stories! I can't tell you how much it means to me! I will try to update every week, but it's your reviews that really keep me motivated, so keep them coming please! Also, this chapter to pretty long, I've been working on it for awhile, and have had some trouble with the story line and have been looking for some romantic inspiration. Let me know if you guys think it's corny/cheesy, or actually of value. I want to give these characters justice in their relationship…they are both very strong, intelligent beings, and I don't want them to come off as weak. So let me know! 3

Warning: some language.

Chapter 4

Undercover Part I

The next day:

As Michelle drove to work the next day, she planned to avoid Tony. She had thought about what happened yesterday all night, and was beginning to wonder if it was all just in her head. Did they really have…a moment? At the time, it felt like every part of her body was on fire. An intense chemical reaction was pulsing between them, and the world seemed to stop spinning.

But the more Michelle had analyzed the situation, the more it seemed like it was her imagination getting the best of her. She just didn't know what to think, what to believe. What she was even more confused about was what to do…should she avoid him? Should she act like nothing happened? Or should she just be professional and move on?

As she got out of her car she decided that she'd let him take the initiative…if he said anything or acted differently, then she'd know something had happened and deal with the situation when it arrived. "Thinking on your feet," she thought to herself. "That's what it's all about."

When she walked into the office, she noticed that he wasn't at his desk. She went into the break room, got their coffee, and when she walked back out Tony wasn't standing at her desk. She let out a sigh and placed his coffee on his desk.

Tony peeked out of George's office window to find Michelle sitting at her desk, working on active protocols. He felt bad for making her do it and breaking their morning routine, but there was no way he could look at her after what happened yesterday in the locker room. He hadn't spoken to her since yesterday afternoon, and wondered what she was feeling, what she was thinking. Usually they emailed each other all night long, about work, with the occasional smiley-face. But he hadn't heard from her, and wondered if she felt awkward, too.

Tony was half-listening as George described the situation they were in; apparently a known terrorist from Russia, Damien Lustkovitz, had resurfaced in and around LA with other suspected groups. Intel had been digging around all night, but the only information they could pull up on this guy from public records was that he had a daughter, Brielle, who attended an all-girls boarding school about an hour outside of the city. They also believed Lustkovitz was involved in a possible biochemical attack scheduled to happen within the next four months.

Tony had remembered some previous details on the case. They had sent someone in undercover about a month ago to try and track down information, but he went missing in the line of duty two days ago; he was either dead or being held hostage because his identity had been compromised. From him, CTU had learned that all of the evidence and plans for the attack had been stored on a hard drive, whereabouts unknown.

About a half hour later, Michelle looked over at Tony's desk and saw that his coffee was gone. She felt a punch in the stomach that he had been down in the bullpen and hadn't said anything to her. Of course, she had been avoiding him, but it hurt that he didn't want to talk to her. What she was more upset about, though, was that this meant everything that happened wasn't just in her head. She had prayed last night that everything she had felt was just her imagination, but him avoiding her just made the entire situation all too true. That meant he felt exactly like she did…embarrassed, awkward, confused. Michelle had never felt so connected to someone before. It scared her.

As she was picking through her thoughts, Michelle turned around to see Tony clicking down the stairs. He looked right at her and quickly turned away, hoping she didn't notice him. Tony was ready to face her yet.

Michelle slowly stood up from her chair. She had no idea what was about to happen or how to prepare for it. She was terrified of what he would say to her.

"Good morning" she smiled when he walked over to her.

"Mornin'" he responded casually, avoiding her stare. He scratched the side of his face.

She could tell he was trying to avoid her. It was like he had wrapped himself up in a box, and refused to let her in.

"Hey. So, um, I checked on the active protocols list and their doesn't seem to be much that we missed yesterday except an advancement on the Lustkovitz case."

Although Tony tried not to look at Michelle, her voice was so soothing. He couldn't help but forget everything that was running through his mind while she spoke.

"Yeah, George was just telling me about it. He's going to debrief me once the data comes in."

Michelle nodded. She could tell Tony was letting down his guard. He was acting like the day they met; uncomfortable at first, but slowly relaxed as the conversation continued.

"So…how are you feeling? After yesterday, I mean, with the training and all."

Tony smirked, finally looking at her instead of playing with the pencil on her desk. "I'm not gonna lie to you…I'm pretty damn sore."

Michelle laughed. "I told you! Although I will admit, you got me pretty hard, too. I could barely move when I woke up this morning."

Tony nodded, smiling. "Yeah, well you're dealing with a professional marine and full government agent over here" he replied. "Even George was impressed at your report." Unfortunately. He looked at Michelle with that gorgeous smile on her face, and wondered how he could ever want to avoid her. He was transfixed by every move she made, performed with such grace and simplicity. Her eyes sparkled every time she laughed, and her smile radiated throughout the entire room. She literally could stop an entire room…at least through his eyes.

Just as he was transfixed on watching her every move, the phone on her desk began to ring and he was dragged from his thoughts.

"Michelle Dessler." Her name, her voice, made him catch his breath. Tony felt like he had been swept off his feet in just an instant. His body felt like it was constantly being thrown around in the presence of this woman.

"Yes he's here" she said into the phone. "Tony, it's George for you."

"Yeah, George, what's up?"

"Tony, I've got an update on Damien Lustkovitz. Send Michelle over to field ops and come up to my office."

"Wait, what di…?" Just as he was about to ask for him to repeat what he said, George hung up.

Tony was stunned. He had no idea what to do. Michelle? In…field ops? Had he heard him correctly? There's no way that was right…he had to figure out what the hell was going on.

He jumped at the sound of Michelle's voice. "Tony…what's going on? What's the matter?"

He looked at her face and was at a loss for words. "Wait here" he said sternly as he rushed upstairs to George's office. Michelle watched him go with a puzzled look on her face but sat down and began to run satellite.

When Tony walked into George's office, he was already on the phone with Jack Bauer. "Yup, that's great, Jack. Ok, she'll be ready soon." And he hung up the phone and turned to Tony.

"Our tracking and intelligence operations finally came through; Damien's center of operations is a back room at a local strip club. We're sending someone in undercover to see if his men are there, I'll need you here running tactical and we'll bring in someone from IT to run comm."

Tony was totally lost. "Wait, why can't Michelle run comm? Is she being reassigned?"

"Yes. We're sending her in undercover."

Tony felt his stomach drop and do a front flip. "Wait…what?" He was at a complete loss for words. It was like he was trapped inside his body, screaming to get out. They were going to send her in…undercover? With these monsters? Did they not understand that one of their men was probably dead because of this guy?

"Tony, look, I don't have time to argue with you over this, Michelle's the only person we have and…"

"What the fuck are you talking about George? We have trained agents, we have agent Cooper, we have plenty of other resources than using somebody that has only been trained for one day before throwing her out in the front line…" He was practically screaming now. This entire situation was ridiculous! Tony tried to think about it logically; it didn't make sense for them to bring Michelle in. There were plenty of different options, and an undercover operation wasn't even necessary through his eyes. Besides, he needed someone who was experienced with their system to run comm. He didn't trust anyone in the IT department to stay cool during a dangerous mission like Michelle was able to.

His heart said something completely different; Tony didn't think he could handle if anything happened to Michelle. He was just starting to open himself up to her. He was finally letting someone back inside. And to have it ripped away from him again? What if she got hurt? What if she didn't come home? The thought of a fresh scar over his already wounded heart scared him.

And Michelle? He would die for her in an instant. He would do anything so that she never felt an ounce of pain. Tony wanted to save her from all of the evil he'd seen in the world even though he barely knew her. What did that mean then? There was no way they were going to send Michelle into danger like that. She was too small, too fragile, too…too good to be put in that kind of situation.

"Tony, TONY!" George yelled. Finally Tony stopped screaming and tried to catch his breath.

"Listen, I don't understand what the hell is the matter with you, but we agreed when we hired Michelle that she would be sent in to field ops when we have no other options."

"But we do have other options, George!"

"No, we don't" he replied smoothly. "Agent Cooper is in currently in New York, and right now this is our only lead. Look, the mission won't be dangerous, we just need to get Michelle into the back room to get a scope around. There has been chatter to suggest that Damien has been hiding the hard drive there, but we need proof before we go in ourselves."

"You don't consider that dangerous? You are about to send an inexperienced agent into a building full of terrorists, don't tell me that's not dangerous!"

"She's not inexperienced, Tony, she exceeds all of the requirements! She has remarkable success at Division, several weeks of familiarity here, and Robert personally told me he was pleasantly surprised at her performance yesterday."

Tony couldn't speak. That was it; there was nothing he could do now. He knew from the look on George's face that his decision was final. The only thing that kept Tony clinging to hope for her safety was that he would be in control while running tactical.

Tony sighed, desperate and distraught. He had never felt so defeated. "So how are you sending her in?"

"As a dancer at the club. She'll need to get herself into the back room and then look around for any useful information. I'm sorry Tony, but this is the only chance we have. Michelle will be fine, and we'll find someone just as competent to run comm., I promise."

Tony couldn't believe it. He felt like the world had slipped out from underneath his feet and he was dangling on a string. He felt completely out of control.

"Did you send her over to field ops yet?" George asked, interrupting his train of thought.

"No" Tony mumbled. George didn't even bother asking why. He picked up the phone and dialed Michelle's desk as Tony walked over to the window in the office and watched her answer it.

"Dessler."

Watching her made Tony feel even worse.

"Hey Michelle, it's George. I'm going to need to send you over to field ops as an undercover. There's a written report already waiting over there for you to read, we've received a crucial update on Lustkovitz's location and need to send you in."

Michelle stopped what she was doing as she listened to him speak. "Um, yeah okay, no problem. I'll head over now." She shut down her station and quickly put away her things. "What could they need me for?" she wondered. "I hope it isn't anything serious." As she began walking away she looked up at Mason's office to see Tony watching her as she walked away, a pained look on his face. Michelle got suddenly nervous when she looked at him. Why was he so upset? Was he okay? Did it have something to do with the case? With her?

About a half hour later, Tony forced himself over to field ops to debrief Michelle and give her her new identity. When he opened up the door to the waiting room, he found her hunched in a chair over a file, duteously studying the case. Her eyes were squinted in concentration and she didn't even notice Tony walked in.

It wasn't until Tony shut the door behind him that he noticed what she was wearing; a neon green tube top, a skin tight leather mini skirt and four inch stilettos. Her entire stomach was showing, and her breasts were pouring out of the top of her shirt. Michelle's thighs were completely visible, and her legs clearly defined in the heels. But what really caught his attention was her hair; those beautiful curls, the ones he always wondered about, were finally unpinned and roaming freely about. They spread like rays of sunlight from her head past her shoulders, and shone with an electrifying red-glow.

Tony stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't catch his breath and his heart began pounding while staring at her. It wasn't her beauty that stunned him; rather, Tony remembered that Michelle was being sent into the mission as a stripper. He couldn't stand the fact that everyone would be looking at her like this. She was absolutely gorgeous, which was exactly why she couldn't be seen. Those terrorists…were monsters. They would take advantage of her, use her…hurt her. She was worth so much more than that, and deserved it, too.

After a couple of seconds Michelle noticed his presence and jumped up out of her seat. "Jesus, Tony, you scared the hell out of me." She placed her hand on her chest to feel her heart beat. Just as she did this, she remembered what she was wearing. "Oh shit" she whispered as she looked down at herself. "I'm so…I'm really sorry I totally forgot what I was wearing. This is so inappropriate for an debrief, I'm sorry I should have covered up, they told me someone was coming…". She was beginning to ramble again.

"Hey hey, relax, it's no big deal, don't even worry about it. Think of it as work attire." He tried to make her laugh, she looked so stressed out.

She smiled slightly, but began to blush at the same time. "Okay, well can you just give me two seconds so I can go grab a jacket or something from…"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Tony took the jacket he had been wearing and put it around her. She seemed surprised at the gesture but appreciative all the same. "Thank you" she whispered. She closed her eyes at the heat of his body now resting on her bare skin. She smelt that amazing cologne again, and had never felt so complete.

Tony cleared his throat and scratched the side of his face, obviously uncomfortable with the moment as well. "Umm, so why don't we sit down while I show you the updates we've received?"

They sat and Tony began explaining everything to her and showed her her new ID. "Your new name is now Camilla Barisco, you're a 25-year-old single mom with a two year old at home. Lived in the slums of LA all your life, and worked at the strip club for 8 months. When you get there, you're going to need to identify this man..." he showed her a picture of Damien. "And somehow get into the back room near the south entrance. This is where we believe their operations are run. We'll let you know when it's clear to go inside from an infrared satellite scans. Also, the entire club is scattered with security cameras, so we'll always be watching you, no need to worry."

Michelle looked at him in the eyes. "Thanks Tony. I'm okay, really. I feel confident that I know what I'm doing. I've looked through all of the pictures of Lustkovitz's men, I know who to avoid…this should be relatively simple. As long as I blend in and make myself go unnoticed, which shouldn't be too hard, I think everything will be fine."

Tony's eyes widened at her lack of fear. "Michelle…I'm not trying to scare you, but I need you to be on your toes at all times. Trust me, I've been doing field ops for years, and no mission is simple, easy, or goes as planned. Things can change in an instant, and you've got to remember that."

"And I know that, really. I promise I will stay on my toes and always stay alert." She smiled genially. "Besides, what could go wrong with Tony Almeida running tactical?"

He gave her a weak and pained smile. Although Tony knew she was trying to lighten the mood, it only made him feel worse. He knew he would be completely responsible for everything that was about to happen, and feared what might go wrong by his hands. This was the first time in his career where he actually was questioning his decisions, and didn't want to be in charge. And yet, at the same time, it was a comfort to know that everything was in his control and he had the power to change the outcome of the situation.

There was a serious and awkward air hanging between them, and Michelle didn't want to leave without addressing what was on her mind. It was obvious by now that Tony wasn't going to take the initiative, so she had to be the one to mention the elephant in the room.

"Um, Tony, listen…about yesterday, what happened in the locker room. I just wanted to say that…"

Tony was watching her with intensity, obviously curious about what she was about to say. Michelle hoped he would interrupt her again before she made a fool of herself.

"I'm really sorry if I made you uncomfortable. And if you just want to put the past behind us and move on like professionals from here, I'd be happy to." She waited nervously for his response. She had finally released it, all of the tension she had been holding for hours. She only hoped his response wasn't fierce…but nothing about Tony was fierce.

She waited awhile in suspense before he finally took a breath. "Look, Michelle, I only want what's best and more comfortable for you, and if you think we should leave the past in the past, then I agree. And listen, I thought we already spoke about this…you shouldn't be sorry because you cried in front of me. You had told me something very personal about your life, and got emotional, which is completely understandable. I don't think of you any differently, so please, don't feel bad about it, okay?"

Michelle was stunned. Her face was frozen, and her mouth hung open. She just stared at him in disbelief. "What? Did he seriously think I was talking about when I told him about my mother?" she thought. She snapped herself out of it and forced herself to look at him.

"Yeah, okay, I understand. …Thank you. For…everything." She gave a small smile.

Tony reciprocated her smile and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Any time. I'm going to let you finish getting ready, and come out when you're done so we can finish your debrief, okay?"

"Sure" she replied nonchalantly. She watched him walk out and began to cry…again.

Tony walked out of the field ops waiting room like the biggest asshole in the world. "Fuck, what the hell did I just do?" he thought. As soon as Michelle had begun talking, he had known what it was about, but couldn't bring himself to accept the reality; he had feelings for her. Very deep feelings. There was no way he could admit that to her and then watch her go out undercover. So he had pretended like he had no idea what she was talking about. And he could tell how much it had hurt her. He closed his eyes and tried to erase the image of her pained and frozen face from his mind, but it was branded beneath his eyelids. He blinked back his pain and tried to stay focused on the task at hand. "When this is all over, then I'll say something. Then I'll tell her I knew what she was talking about" he muttered under his breath. "If she'll ever forgive me."

On the car ride to the strip club, Michelle began to get really nervous. She couldn't help but think back to what Tony had told her before she left:

"Michelle, please remember…don't be nervous, but think fast and stay on your toes."

She closed her eyes and tried to relax like he had said. As she sat thinking Jack turned around from the front seat to face her.

"Michelle, I need to talk to you."

Michelle looked up at him attentively. "Yes?"

"Look, what I'm about to say isn't protocol, but I can't emphasize enough how crucial this mission is. All of our intel is relying on you right now, and I think you understand how important that is to this operation."

Michelle nodded.

"Then I need you to understand that our main objective is to get the information and to get out. It is imperative that your cover isn't blown throughout this process, and I'm going to warn you now, that leaving the club isn't going to be that easy. We have to assume every guy in there is watching your every movements, looking for one slip up…"

She crossed her arms across her chest, not in the mood to be patronized."What are you saying, Jack?"

"That I need you to keep your cover."

Michelle paused and looked for the hidden meaning behind his words. "You mean…if I'm caught, or one of them attacks me, don't fight back?"

Jack nodded slowly. "Yes."