It had been six months since Michelle had last seen Tony. Six months since the dreadful, heart-wrenching documents had been signed, separating them forever.
She should have started to get over him. Everyone had said that she needed to move on. And Michelle had grown so weary of hearing the same phrase repeated over and over again, always in such sympathetic tones, that she had appeared to move on. She'd become colder, more professional… less like she had been when she'd known Tony.
But inside Michelle hadn't moved on, and the love that she still felt for Tony continued to gnaw at her insides, slowly tearing her apart.
When Bill, her boss, had told her how he wanted their relationship to move past being 'just friends', Michelle had decided that maybe that was what she needed to move on. But it hadn't worked, and after only a small number of dates, Bill had realised that she wasn't ready. And that she never would be.
So they had moved away from romance, and Michelle continued to live in her apartment alone; not that she spent much time there. Her life revolved around work, and Michelle pretended that she was okay with that, that she didn't need anyone else.
She had tried to block out the memories of the divorce, of those uncomfortable, awkward meetings with the lawyer. They had discussed material things such as money, while Michelle and Tony had stared despondently across a table into each other's eyes, each longing to tell the other what they were feeling, but both failing to say a word.
Tony had arrived at the first of the meetings drunk. Michelle took this as the final blow, concluding that he couldn't be roused from his drunken slumber, and that he wouldn't change for her. In reality, Tony had spent the night before the meeting worrying about seeing Michelle, resolving to tell her how much he missed her, and how much he needed her to come back to him. How he wanted to change for her. But his inability to calm his nerves without beer had resulted in him consuming a large quantity of alcohol, and arriving at the meeting late, and drunk.
They had argued across the room at first, both becoming more and more angry with the other as they refused to see each other's point of view. Then, as time had worn on, there had been nothing left to say. So the meetings had been ended, with those final two signatures, signed by their bleeding hearts. And they had left, lingering at first, unwilling to end what had begun only a few years previously. Then Michelle had gone, unable to bear being with Tony any longer, her heart shattering as she drove away. And Tony had stood still, watching her leave him. Watching her leave his life.
Tony had returned to his house. Not home. Because without Michelle, nowhere would ever be home. He had grabbed a beer, and sat in front of the TV, ignoring Jen, who was trying to hold a conversation with him.
As time had moved on, Tony found himself drinking slightly less, as he slowly realised what he had done. How he had screwed up his life. But still not realising how he had screwed up Michelle's. The effort required to find a job was still too much, and Tony refused to see anyone except Jen, and occasionally his parents, when they forced themselves upon him. He found himself wanting to end it all, to relieve himself of the constant pain. But there was one thing that kept him going. One day, not matter how many years ahead it happened, she might call. And if she did, he would be there to answer it.
Michelle pulled a brush through her hair, checked her appearance in the mirror, and grabbed her bag from under the desk. She quickly scanned the room for any sign of forgotten papers, then, assured that she had everything she needed, walked out of the house, adopting her fake confident and happy appearance.
The drive to Division was spent focussed on the tasks that she knew she would have to complete in the upcoming day; something that Michelle did every morning. It was one of the many ways that Michelle had found to block unwanted thoughts. Even though, somehow, they always seemed to manage to catch her off guard. Not letting her forget.
She arrived at Division, and quickly settled into the work. After just under half an hour's work, as Division was beginning to fill with employees, a report came in.
A train crash.
Just after seven AM.
Tony pulled himself out of bed just before midday, fixing himself a sandwich after a short shower. He settled in front of the TV, without a beer. He couldn't live without the alcohol for the whole day, but mornings were now off-limits. It hadn't been Jen's decision. It had been his own.
He tried to focus on the soccer game, attempting to block thoughts of Michelle. But it was a pointless exercise, as Tony well knew, and he soon gave up, allowing himself a short daydream.
A few minutes before two PM, Tony's phone rang. He answered slowly, not wanting to talk to anyone.
It was Jack.
Tony's first thoughts leapt to Michelle. Was she ok? Jack's voice sounded panicky, something that Tony knew was rare. He stood up in alarm, horrified at the thought that something bad had happened to Michelle.
"Tony! I'm at Felsted Security, under fire!" Jack yelled down the phone. Tony began to question him, but Jack cut across him. "You're the only person I can trust right now; CTU's been compromised. Please Tony, I need help now!"
Tony knew from the tone of Jack's voice that he wouldn't be asking if he had another option. Feeling slightly relieved that Jack wasn't bringing bad tidings about Michelle, and recognising the fact that he owed Jack a huge favour, Tony abruptly agreed. He hastily grabbed his jacket and gun, and ran out of the house.
Neither he, nor Michelle, knew what the day held in store for them both…
THE END
A/N:
Thanks so much to everyone who has read this, and a MASSIVE thanks to everyone who reviewed - they were all really helpful and motivating. I know this chapter is a bit of a sudden ending, but I thought the months in between where they wouldn't see each other would become way too depressing, and also I'm incredibly busy right now, so if I had written any more chapters, you would have had to wait until Christmas for an update! A lot of you requested a happy ending, and this was the best way that I could see to do that. I considered continuing on to after series 4, but couldn't really find a way to make it work. I hope to write a follow up fic, based after series 4, if I get the time and ideas! Hope you enjoyed reading. Please let me know what you thought!