A/N: Thank you amacma and Jaudreylover24 for the comments - yes, I really have flipped things on their head here! I love Michelle's character so much, and I really wanted to explore a potentially darker side of her here.

To Jack's relief, the raid on Gaeta's warehouse went smoothly, and after six long months, Michelle was finally able to come home. Understandably, the first thing that happened when she returned to CTU was her debrief with Driscoll. Given all the information she had learned, it'd taken a few hours. But when she left her office, Jack could see an angry twitch in her jaw. Before he even got the chance to ask her how she was, she stormed out of CTU. He followed, watching her frantically look around the parking lot before remembering that her car wasn't there. Her car, along with her and Tony's dog were both at her brother's house.

"Michelle." He called.

She turned around, looking exhausted and disheartened beyond words. The sun was long gone at this hour, but he could still see the darkness of the circles beneath her eyes.

"She fired me. After everything I just did, she fired me."

He furrowed his brow. That wasn't what Driscoll had told him.

"She can't just do that without any valid reason."

Michelle lifted her shoulders. "She can if she's getting me another job. But it's compared to what I was doing here, it's practically a demotion. I-I don't understand. I took Gaeta down. I got all the evidence CTU needs. Why wouldn't she want me to stay?"

Jack could hear the disappointment in her voice. He felt sorry for her. She'd exceeded every expectation he'd had. In any other circumstance, being put on more field missions would have been good for her and CTU. But the fact that she was safe and sound right now was reason enough to transfer her somewhere to preserve that.

"It's not fair, but you know she's had it out for us since she came here. I'm sure she'll give me the same treatment soon anyway."

"I know, it's just…" She sighed. "I really thought I did something good here."

"You did. You absolutely did." He reassured her. "But even if it's not field work, Division will still be good for you. It's still a step up. It's better than nothing."

She paused before looking him in the eyes. "Who told you I was going to Division?"

He cursed to himself, realising that his conversation with Driscoll had been so prominent in his mind for months that he'd forgotten nobody else actually knew. Before he went to speak, she cut him off.

"Oh my God…you knew, didn't you? You knew she was going to fire me?"

"It's what's best-"

"Don't give me that crap." She said, deeply offended. "How dare you? How could you keep that from me? You claim to care about me yet you didn't have the decency to tell me that I was going to lose my job."

"I get that you're upset-"

She shook her head. "No, Jack, you don't. This job is all I have. And just as I find something that gives me purpose again, you go behind my back and let her do that when you know that that mission was something nobody else could do as well as me."

Jack felt a pang of guilt now, wondering whether he'd been that caught up in his worry for Michelle that he'd stopped himself from considering that work wasn't just a distraction but something that brought her fulfilment. He would never want to take something like that away from her. He understood. He'd taken the same approach after all. But he'd made his choice and now he had to face the consequences.

He sighed. "Let me at least take you to your brother's."

"Fine." She mumbled.

They got into his car, not saying a word to each other as he drove down to Danny's house. She called him, letting him know that she was on the way. From what Jack could hear on the other side of the phone, he sounded so relieved to hear her voice. He hoped maybe she'd listen to him. Glancing over to where she was, there was a calmness, almost a relief. One that he hadn't seen from her the last time they'd met. But even though she didn't seem like she was high right now, Jack just prayed someone would get Michelle the help she needed. When they eventually pulled up to the curb, Jack placed a hand on hers before she could get out of the car.

"Look…I'm…I'm sorry." He said earnestly. "But I'm just worried for you. I'm not trying to control you, I'm not trying to stop you from finding something that helps you to move on, it's just…I've lost so many people and I'd hate to lose you too."

Her expression softened. "I-I know that. I know the only reason you're doing this is that you care. But you crossed a line. And enough is enough, I need you to give me some space."

"If I'd known Driscoll was going to tell you as soon as you got back, I would have warned you. I would have. It's not fair that she sprung that on you."

Michelle gave him a dirty look. "Too little, too late, Jack. You knew what you were doing. You could have fought Driscoll, but you didn't. You want to bubble-wrap me and stop me from doing anything dangerous because you think that's your way of making it up to Tony. And when Driscoll dangled exactly what you wanted in front of you, you took the chance to blame it on her."

He opened his mouth to protest, not that he really had any rebuttal, but she spoke before he could.

"Just do us both a favour, Jack. Stay out of my life."