Thanks for the wonderful reviews everybody,you really made my day.Here is the epilogue,hope you like it

Michelle opened her eyes lazily to a soft ray of light coming through the window. She shifted trying to get comfortable but gave up after a while. She decided that being almost 9 months pregnant with twins wasn't fun at all. She sighed in frustration as she rolled over and stared at the empty space next to her. Tony was supposed to have the day off but he got called in to work.

Michelle got up with difficulty and made her way to the kitchen. She grinned when she found breakfast on the table, Tony had always been thoughtful.. She sat down and started eating as she remembered that day almost 8 months ago. She woke up to find Tony watching her and it was obvious that he had been doing that for a while. His face was serious and she wondered what was wrong. He kissed her lightly and said that they needed to talk.

Once they had their breakfast, they launched into a discussion over everything that ocurred the day before. Michelle told him about everything that was bothering her and let him comfort her and explain his actions. She opened up gradually and told him how afraid she was when he got shot, how betrayed she felt when he left with Nina. He opened to her too and told her how much he hated leaving with Nina, how bad he felt for causing her so much pain. He ended the conversation by telling her that he decided not to go to Langley. She tried to talk him out of it but he said that he wasn't going to let her sacrifice her career for him and that he wanted her to be with her family during the pregnancy.

A couple of months later, they discovered they were having twins. They decided not to know the gender but a mistake at an ultrasound left them knowing that they would be having a boy and a girl. They agreed to name the boy Jack Mason after their good friends Jack Bauer and George Mason. They would name the girl Carmen Theresa after Michelle's sister Carmen and Teri Bauer. Michelle was surprised at first when Tony picked the name Theresa. She asked him and he said that it was Teri's real name and Michelle understood. After almost 5 years and despite Jack's reassurances that it wasn't his fault, Tony still felt responsible for Teri's death. He believed that he could have saved her and blamed himself for not seeing through Nina's façade.

Tony and Michelle picked Danny Dessler and Amanda Almeida as Jack's Godparents and Jack Bauer and Kate Warner as Carmen's. Kate had become a close friend to both Tony and Michelle over the last 3 years. They knew that Jack sill had feelings for her and they hoped that they would reconcile.

Michelle snapped out of her reverie when she felt one of the babies kick. She caressed her enlarged stomach gently then picked up the phone to call Tony. She was sure that Ryan had driven him crazy by now and she wanted to see how he was doing. The phone rang for a long time before somebody answered: "CTU, Tony Almeida's line"

Michelle frowned when she heard the voice: "Chloe, why are you answering Tony's phone?" Chloe rolled her eyes: "because he's not here"

Michelle ran her tongue over her teeth trying not to snap at her: "I can see that. I mean, where is he?" There was a silence on the other end then Chloe said: "he's in the field"

Michelle shuddered at her words; Tony was shot the last time he was in the field. She put her hand on her stomach drawing strength from her children, his children.She heard Chloe say: "Michelle, I have to go"

Michelle felt that something was wrong.Chloe was eager to end the conversation and there was a certain edge in her voice: "What's going on Chloe?You are holding somethng back"Chloe heaved a sigh: " I don't know what….."

"There is something going on and I want to know it" Michelle pressed, her stomach in knots.

Chloe bit her lip reluctantly. Michelle wasn't going to let it go and she knew it: "Tony is missing. He left with Chase about an hour ago and we can't contact any of them" Chloe said quickly without even taking time to breath.

Michelle swallowed with difficulty. That couldn't be happening, not again. She felt as if she was going to faint. She had to go there, she couldn't leave him alone: "Chloe, send someone to pick me up"

Chloe's jaw dropped in surprise: "what? You can't be serious. You are 9 months pregnant and……"

"I said send someone to pick me up. That's an order" Michelle said, trying not to dissolve in tears on the spot. Chloe, clearly not happy with her decision, said: "fine but for the record, I don't like that"

Michelle ignored her and changed her clothes. She started pacing when she was ready. It was rush hour and she knew that it would take her ride a long time to get there which didn't really help her. She could feel the babies move inside her and she fought the urge to curl into a small ball and cry her eyes out.

Her ride arrived about half an hour later. She rushed to the car and totally ignored what Sean said about her going to CTU in that condition. She wanted to yell at him to leave her in peace. She was a complete mess by the time they arrived at CTU. She made her way into the bullpen to find Ryan waiting for her: "What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"Helping to find my husband" she said and he could see the condition she was in. The pregnancy made her more emotional than she usually was. He massaged his temples slowly: "what do you want Michelle?"

"I want to help Ryan. Run tactical or do whatever needs to be done" she answered and he noticed that her eyes wandered to Tony's office. He gripped her elbow and led her to her station: "remember the terrorist group that we were trying to apprehend?"

She nodded so he continued: "we sent Jack and Baker to check out a lead. Turned out that it was a decoy. We tracked a name to an empty warehouse. We were closer so I sent Tony and Chase. Everything was okay then we heard Tony yelling at Chase to watch out and we lost contact. Jack arrived shortly after but didn't find anything. It's like they vanished"

Michelle closed her eyes, recalling what Tony told her about that group. They didn't know a lot about them. They blew up several hotels over the last couple of months. Their leader, Calvin Brooks, was a wanted criminal in 3 countries. An idea popped in her head and she started typing. Ryan leaned to see what she was doing; she was searching the Interpol database trying to find anything about the group.

Ryan glanced at her worriedly, she looked exhausted but determination was evident on her face. He sighed and went to Kim to see if she found something. She turned puffy eyes to meet his and said: "it's useless, we can't find anything"

Michelle appeared at that moment: "actually we can". Both of them turned to her so she explained: "I found something on the Interpol database. Brooks had a relationship with a woman called Alice Lang about 5 years ago .She had a daughter 8 months after his disappearance"

"Do you have an address?" Ryan questioned and Michelle gave him a piece of paper. He picked up the phone and called Jack with the information. A while later, Jack called back: "we got an address Ryan. Alice said that she used to meet Brooks there. We are on our way"

Michelle looked away trying not to think about what Jack must have done to get that address. She was sure that he threatened to harm the little girl. She turned to Ryan: "let me run tactical"

He nodded and motioned Chloe and Adam to join her. Michelle tapped the table lightly as she listened to the voices of the team. Adam was scanning the infra red images: "there are 3 guards at each exit and other two in front of one of the rooms. There are 5 people in the room, 2 of them aren't moving .Hold on, I'm sending you the images"

Jack stayed silent until he received the images: "Tony and Chase have to be in that room and I think that Brooks will be with them. Alright guys, we have to take down the guards without alerting the others. We can't afford any mistakes"

"Snipers are in position" Baker informed him and he radioed them:"this is Bauer. Do you have a visual on the guards at the main exit?"

"Only two of them" one of the snipers answered and Jack frowned:" son of a bitch. Alright, I'll handle the third guard. Take the other two down on my command". He started walking towards the house and took his position close to the guard: "do it". The snipers shot the two guards and Jack jumped on the third. They had a little fight then Jack managed to knock him:" team A follow my lead. Baker, take care of the guards at the other exit"

Michelle felt physically ill and she had trouble breathing. It was painful to think about what was going on. Tony's life was in jeopardy and she couldn't do anything. She swallowed the lump in her throat and concentrated on what was happening. She heard Jack whisper: "Adam, did they move?"

"No, they are still there. Wait a second; the three men are leaving the room Jack"

Jack stole a glance at the hallway: "I have a visual on Brooks. All teams….."An alarm blared throughout the place cutting him off:" All teams move, NOW" Jack shouted as he opened fire. The guards were taken back and the CTU team managed to take them down. Brooks retreated into the room and Jack followed him.

Brooks was holding a gun to Chase's head and Jack's hand tightened on the trigger: "put the gun down. It's over Calvin. There is no way you're going to leave"

Brooks looked around looking for a way to escape. Jack took the chance and shot him in the leg. He screamed and fell down forced to release Chase. Jack handcuffed him then turned and untied Tony and Chase: "Brooks is in custody. Tony and Chase are okay"

A cheer rose from the staff at CTU as Michelle sighed in relief. She suddenly noticed that the pain she was feeling was still there, it wasn't just because she was worried about Tony. She creased her brow in confusion then realization hit her.

She was in labor.

Chloe noticed that she looked terrified: "Michelle, you okay?" Michelle put her hands on her stomach and opened her mouth to respond but stopped as her water broke. Everybody stared at her in shock then Ryan made her sit down as Kim called medical.

Michelle's body was shaking. She couldn't have the babies now, Tony wasn't here. She couldn't go through all that without him. She could feel the contractions becoming more regular. Chloe snatched the microphone: "Jack, come back here right now. Michelle's in labor"

"What?" Jack exclaimed: "my God. Okay, okay. We are on our way"

Chloe turned to Michelle as they helped her to sit on a wheel chair: "Tony is on his way". Michelle nodded as they took her to medical. Ashley appeared and checked her: "everything is okay Michelle. The baby is fine. It'll just take a little while"

Michelle nodded as she gritted her teeth. Although the contractions were very painful, she was grateful that she wasn't ready to have the babies. She wanted Tony to be there with her.

After about an hour, the door opened and Tony rushed to her. He leaned and kissed her forehead: "oh baby. Are you okay?" Michelle nodded and held his hand tightly. He kept stroking her hand and encouraging her every time she had another contraction.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime but was really 14 hours, Ashley checked Michelle and announced that she was ready. The nurses transferred Michelle to the delivery room and Ashley took her position: "okay Michelle. I need you to push"

Michelle gripped Tony's hands as she started pushing. Time flew by and she felt strength seeping from her. She stopped for a second to catch her breath. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and Tony leaned and kissed them away: "come on baby. You can do it. Just hold on a little more"

Michelle closed her eyes to gather her strength then pushed as hard as she could. She heard the cries of one of the babies as Ashley said: "you have a baby boy. Michelle, I need you to take a deep breath and start pushing again. I know it's difficult but you can do it"

Michelle threw her head back taking shaky breaths. She felt Tony wiping sweet from her forehead and putting a cold cloth on it. She looked at him and saw love and concern reflected in his eyes. She smiled at him weakly and pushed. She let out a tormented scream as she felt the baby coming out of her body.

Michelle collapsed in exhaustion as she heard the cries of her daughter. The nurses cleaned the babies and handed them to her. She forgot everything she had been through the second she saw them. She smiled at Tony who kissed her firmly: "congratulations sweetheart". His voice cracked with emotions and his eyes filled with tears.

She handed him Jack and he held him tightly against his chest then leaned and kissed Carmen and whispered: "don't forget, you have to be just like your mommy"

Michelle laughed as a nurse entered and checked Michelle then moved her to recovery. Michelle cleared some space beside her for Tony and the two of them sat staring at their children. Suddenly, Michelle burst into a fit of giggles. Tony stared at her in astonishment and she tried to control her laughter enough to explain: "we are pathetic. Every defying moment of our relationship happened here. We met here, we fell in love here and we had our babies here. Hell, you even proposed to me here"

He grinned as he recalled that day. He arranged everything to propose to her, a romantic dinner on the beach followed by a short walk then proposal under moonlight. Everything was great except that terrorists picked that day to attempt to assassinate the secretary of Defense. It was the third time that they got interrupted and he had to reschedule everything again. They arrived at CTU to find Ryan waiting to debrief them. Tony had had enough at that point; he called her to his office and proposed.

Tony smiled at her lovingly: "and we had an active protocol all of those times". He brushed his lips over hers: "but I can't complain"

Michelle smiled and leaned on his chest with Jack and Carmen between them. Tony stroked her head gently and she buried her head in his chest. She couldn't ask for more, she was with the person she loved and they had two wonderful children together. Her life was getting better in every passing second and she had Tony to thank for it.

Michelle looked up at Tony and kissed him: "thank you". He looked at her questionly:" for making me the happiest woman on earth" He smiled and drew her to his arms:" That's what you deserve"

They fell silent watching their children as they slept peacefully and both vowed that they would never let anything harm them. Their job was dangerous and they knew that they would face a lot of challenges but neither was worried. They were together and they knew that their love could face anything and everything.

And with that, the story is officially finished. Please keep in mind that that's the first time I write an actual plot and I know absolutely nothing about childbirth. Thanks for all of you who took time to review. You guys gave me the will to continue.