This story takes place around the same time frame that season 2 is in. The day of the bomb and the kiss never happened. Please let me know what you think and if you want me to keep going. Thanks!!

Michelle sat staring at the shopping bag on the floor in front of her. She couldn't bare to wrap it because she knew she would want to look at it again. It was Tony Almeida's birthday tomorrow and she couldn't wait to give him the present she had been mulling over for the last couple months. Over the last year he had become without a doubt her closest friend. She was pretty sure he felt the same way about her but the problem was, she wanted to be a lot more than his best friend. This was a pipe dream though as there was no hope he would return her feelings. She had become resigned to the fact that she just wasn't what he would want in a girlfriend. Things were ok now when he was single because basically any extra attention he had to give came to Michelle, but she knew as soon as he found a partner that would all end. She knew she should be distancing herself more so when that day came she wasn't completely heartbroken – that was her brain talking, but her heart ached to take any form of closeness she could from him.

She was going to push all those worries to the side for now so she could just get through tomorrow. Being his birthday it was her first ever chance to spoil him and really let him know just how much she valued having him in her life.

Michelle's father was the owner and manager of one of the largest advertising firms in Los Angeles. He was always getting his hands on the most unbelievable things in his position. Knowing that Tony's biggest passion outside of the Chicago Cubs was basketball. He seemed to know everything about it. He had even set up a hoop in the parking lot out that back of CTU so he could shoot hoops when he needed to let off steam. So she had pressed her Dad up to see if he could get her some great seats at a game so she could give him the tickets for his birthday. She had almost passed out when he Dad appeared at her door the very next day with a courtside seating season pass. Probably one of the hardest things in the world to get your hands on. She couldn't wait to see his face smile when he opened the envelope. Seeing as she hadn't spent a cent on the pass and wasn't going to claim she had bought it she had spent forever roaming the shops to find him something special. Eventually she had stumbled on the most beautiful black leather jacket that she knew he would look so amazing in. She had spent the entire week working out exactly what to write in the card. Now all she had to do was wrap the jacket and somehow try and put her excitement aside and get some sleep. It wasn't just Tony's birthday tomorrow, she had been offered her first field assignment by division and there were meetings all day for it.

Tony had tried to drink as much as he possibly could since he got home from work so that he could just pass out in bed instead of lying there thinking all night. On one hand he had never felt so relieved, on the other he was so angry with himself. Tony had taken over as Director of CTU when George Mason had decided to return to division. Up until the last couple of days he had enjoyed the new position – now he figured his use of his power may have just cost him the one person in the world that meant anything to him, Michelle.

At the beginning of the week Michelle had been offered her first field assignment from division. At first she seemed a little nervous but the more she thought about it the more and more excited she had become. As director he was privy to all details on any mission making its way through CTU. The more he read about Michelle's task the less he like the idea of her having any part in it. She would basically have to go undercover as a hooker at a certain venue where division felt confident she would be picked up by at least someone in Dale Pault's gang. He was the largest known drug dealer in L.A with strong financial connections to other countries. Usually these guys would find a girl they liked and keep her around for a few days, until they got bored. Division just needed Michelle to get picked up by one of his guys so they could get a location – then she would need to get out, of course agents would be as close as possible to help her.

Not only was Michelle Tony's best friend, she was also the girl he had fallen completely in love with. He knew he would never have a chance in hell of Michelle wanting to be with him, but as much as he tried to get over her he seemed to just keep falling deeper and deeper for her. She was everything in the world to him.

Tony had spent the last couple of days agonising over Michelle's role in the Pault Bust. He hated the thought with a passion of Michelle having any part of it. All he could picture was her in tight revealing clothes and some disgusting druggie with his hands all over her. It was far too dangerous – surely there would have to be every chance in the world that she would end up in a position where someone would demand sex from her and there would be no excuse or way for her to get out of it. What if they ruffed her up, or decided she had seen too much and wanted to get rid of her. There were just far too many ways this mission would result in Michelle being hurt or sexually assaulted. He had spent all day doing nothing but thinking about it and watching Michelle out of the corner of his eye. The thought of any harm coming to her made him feel physically sick. Eventually he came to a decision – over his dead body was Michelle going to have anything to do with this mission.

So for the first time in his life he abused his position for personal reasons and pulled rank having Michelle removed from the case. He had come up with some crap for division on how Michelle was needed a lot more at CTU helping him with a few investigations he had been working on. This was easy to do as there were certain things that only Michelle was trained for at CTU so Tony couldn't just get someone else to help him – where as division could find someone else to help out on the mission. He had done this after she had left work for the day, she wouldn't find out until she went to the meeting first thing in the morning.

He felt so relieved that she would no longer be working on the mission. She was out of harms way which was the most important thing to him. On the other hand he knew how devastated she would be when she learned she had been dropped from the case. If it had gone successfully it would have opened a lot of doors for her career wise. He felt so guilty for taking those opportunities away from her, he had no right to be deciding what she could or couldn't do. It wasn't even like he could explain to her why he was acting so incredibly over-protective – she had no idea he was in love with her. He knew once she found out what he had done in the morning there would never be a chance of them getting together – he would be lucky if she ever even just spoke to him again. Even if he couldn't have her, he still would do everything in his power to make sure she was always ok and safe.

This was going to be the worst birthday he had ever had.....

Michelle bumped into Tony the second she walked through the office doors. Once she realised who it was she dropped her bag and threw her arms around his neck, "Happy Birthday Almeida". She kissed him on the cheek before removing her hands from his body and picking her bag back up. Tony soaked in the moment, knowing this could well and truly be the last time she wanted to be near him like that.

"Thanks Chelle."

"Are we going to go out for your birthday lunch today?"

She was so happy, he was hating himself knowing within minutes she was going to be a mess – a mess he was going to have to deal with. It was so hard for him to act normal. "Sure, I'd like that if you still want too".

"I wouldn't miss it for anything. I've gotta run, I don't want to be late for the big meeting....have a good morning birthday boy."

He watched her dump her bag at her station, gather her folders and race into the conference room. He sunk his head and made his way to his office to wait for her. It would only be a matter of minutes now until she learned Tony had pulled her off the case.

Michelle made her way over to sit next to the new guy Adam. She had barely sat down for a second before Hammond started talking to her across the room.

"Dessler, there will be no need for you to sit in on this meeting. I am sorry but we are cutting you loose from the case."

Michelle's face went bright red and she felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Had she heard right? She hadn't done anything wrong, surely this was a mistake. "What do you mean sir? Have I done something wrong?"

"What I mean is...you are no longer working this case. You are not the right person for the task. It was Tony's decision. I need to ask you to leave so we can begin."

Michelle wondered if he legs would support her as she got up to leave. Her whole body felt completely weak the second she heard Hammond say Tony's name. She had never been so embarrassed to have something like that happen in front of all of her co-workers. She kept her head concentrating on the floor as she made her way out. She was scared if she caught eye contact with anyone she would burst into tears. Why the hell would Tony have taken her off the case? She didn't understand at all so she began to make her way up to his office.

He looked so guilty the second her saw her walk into her office and close the door. She tried to keep her voice as calm as possible. It made her think – she had never been upset with Tony before, they had never had a cross word to say to one another.

"I guess you have been expecting this visit..."

Tony kept his eyes glued to his desk, he couldn't look at her yet. "Yeah, I have."

"What's going on Tony? Why did you have me dropped?"

"Michelle....you are just not ready for this kind of mission. Maybe the next one."

"WHAT?? When the hell did you decide that?"

Tony got out of his chair and stood behind it, he finally offered her some eye contact. "I've been thinking about it the last few days...."

Michelle cut him off. "How could you have not spoken to me about it Tony?"

"I knew what you would say Michelle, and bottom line this is my decision – I didn't need to discuss it with anyone."

Michelle felt so confused, she couldn't believe any of this was happening. "Why are you acting like this to me Tony? We talk about everything and you know I am more than capable of pulling off that task."

"Yes we do always talk about everything, but this was different. Michelle, this wasn't the right task for you. I know you are upset but I need you to respect this decision I made for you."

"How can I respect what I don't understand? Tony, don't you think I am good enough to pull off this mission?"

Tony was rubbing the side of his face roughly. This was so hard, how was he suppose to answer that question? She looked so hurt and confused. "I'm not interested in you being good enough to pull that type of mission off. It was far too dangerous."

"Tony, of course it was dangerous – every field mission is. This is where you are suppose to trust in me enough that I can do my job properly."

He had turned his back on her, but all of a sudden it was like he snapped and he spun around and yelled at her. He could tell straight away he had frightened her with his voice. "What and risk you being raped or beaten up?"

He was really upsetting her. He was so angry and now he was yelling at her. She looked out and saw lots of people in the office had stopped because they had heard him scream at her. She tried to keep her voice quiet but it still came out louder than she wanted. "That wouldn't have happened Tony. If by chance it did, then I could handle it just like anyone else on field ops has too...."

"Are you really that fucking naive Michelle? You were going to be a hooker – all these guys would have wanted you for was a screw. That would have been their very first point of business with you, how did you suppose you were going to avoid that??"

She could feel tears rising but she couldn't lose it here in the middle of CTU. Tony had never spoken to her like that before. Why all of a sudden did he think she was so incompetent? "What does it matter Tony what I did to avoid that.....who cares....you only give a damn about getting the end result so how I choose to handle situations is my decision as long as I get you what you want. I told you I could handle it."

He walked right up to her so their bodies were only a foot apart. He continued to yell, he was so riled up he had no hope of calming himself down. Their faces were so close she could feel his breath. "You could handle it could you?.....You could handle some druggies hands all over you, roughly using your body to make himself feel good? You think you could handle some disgusting man having sex with you – especially when he could care less about you. You don't fucking understand how serious this is.....don't you even care for 1 second that if that mission had gone wrong, it wouldn't have just been your life destroyed .....You know I actually believed you were the 1 person that wouldn't do that to me – how fucking stupid am I."

Michelle really didn't understand how things had suddenly turned so horrible. She thought Tony believed in her, that he respected her as an agent but she obviously couldn't have been more wrong. He just saw her as weak and pathetic. He had no confidence in her abilities he was just confident she would screw everything up. She didn't even know how to answer him, she couldn't even look at him. No matter what she had to keep herself composed until she got out of the building. Tony's words cut her so deeply, never had she been so devastated by some ones words.

The sudden silence snapped Tony out of it. He had completely lost it with her. It was almost like she didn't really care what would have happened on the mission as long as she had completed it successfully. Did she really think she could handle any of that? How could she when he knew it was the last thing in the world he could have handled. This had gotten out of control, which was completely his fault. He couldn't believe how rough he had been on her. He watched her body shrivel up and her head sink as she turned and walked out of his office and down the stairs. He had really messed things up and he knew he had to go after her. He took off down the stairs, she had reached her station and was throwing things into her bag.

He kept his voice so low that no one else would hear. "Chelle I'm sorry. Please hear me out...."

"I'm asking you really nicely Tony....don't say another word. You have humiliated me enough today. All I want is to be able to get out of here before I start crying."

"Chelle...."

She cut him off by pushing a package into his chest, he grabbed it with his hands. "Happy Birthday Tony". With that she walked straight past him and left the building.

Tony knew everyone was watching him so he clutched the present she had thrust into his hand and headed back up to his office. Sitting in his chair he opened the card first. As he slid it out of the envelope a small plastic thing the same size as a credit card fell out. He flipped it over to see his name, a small photo of him and an ID number. That was when he realised what he was actually holding. It was a season pass to the basketball plus it was green which meant it was courtside. "Holy Shit." He couldn't believe it, how in the world did she get this for him? It was the most amazing gift he had ever received. He stared at it for 10 minutes, he couldn't put it down - he was completely and utterly in shock that she had done this for him.

He read the card....

To My Dear Almeida,

Happy Birthday!! You are so an old man now! It's a bummer you have to work on your day, I promise to try and make work as fun as possible for you today. Plus we have lunch at your most favourite restaurant. I hope you have a great birthday – you deserve the best.

I hope you know Tony, how much I treasure your friendship. You are my best friend and I appreciate just how lucky I am to have you in my life. You always know how to put a smile on my face and when I am with you, you always make me feel like I am the most important person. You are such a special guy and you deserve the very best in life. I've never met anyone like you before – how is it that you have the most beautiful personality and you are a complete hottie as well.

I hope this next year is full of love and laughter for you.

Thanks for being you Tony.

Love Chelle

Tony read her words 5 times over before he even took his eyes off the card. He hadn't noticed but he was crying. He had to read it again, and then again. It was the nicest card he had ever received. In fact no one had ever even said anything remotely close to what she had written. He had no idea how much he meant to her. He also had no idea that she thought he was a hottie. He smiled and read that sentence over and over again. Michelle Dessler actually thought he was a hottie. Nothing affected him more though then her words, "Thanks for being you Tony." With those 5 words she managed to make him feel proud of who he was.

He opened up the parcel and lifted out the black leather jacket. He loved it, he absolutely loved it. He put it on straight away and it fit perfectly. It was the coolest piece of clothing he had ever owned.

Tony just couldn't believe how much time, effort, money and thought she had put into his birthday present. It truly was perfect. The perfect gift from the perfect girl. His heart sank as he thought about what had just happened with her. He grabbed his keys and headed out of the office.