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Coming Out of the Dark - Chapter 2

This takes place a few hours after part 1. Enjoy and please review.

FADE IN:

INT. MICHELLE’S CAR

Michelle is checking the messages on her personal cell.

MICHELLE

That’s weird.

TONY

What’s weird?

MICHELLE

I had seven messages, five of which consisted of someone hanging up…and they all seem to come from a blocked number.

She looks a little spooked, so Tony realizes he should be honest.

TONY

Don’t worry, hun. I think those messages might have been from me.

MICHELLE

You called me the other night?

TONY

Yeah, I um, I wanted to make sure you were okay.

MICHELLE

Make sure I was okay?

TONY

Yeah. I, um, I didn’t leave a message because I didn’t want to bother you…I scrambled the phone, which is why you didn’t recognize the number. I was just trying to get you to pick up so I could hear your voice and know that you were okay…that nothing had happened to you, you know?

MICHELLE

You thought something happened to me?

TONY

I wasn’t sure. I, um, I sold our house a few months ago, and sent you your half of the money, but the other day when I went to see if I had any money left I saw that the check I sent you had never been cashed or deposited…it was all still there. I shouldn’t have kept calling
though…hearing your voice on the machine made me really depressed…

MICHELLE

Is that why you drank so much the other night?

TONY

Yeah…I actually had been trying to cut back but when I heard your voice it just made me really bummed out. So, uh, what happened? Did the check get lost in the mail?

Michelle looks away, teary-eyed.

MICHELLE

I…I couldn’t take it, Tony.

TONY

What do you mean you couldn’t take it? It was your money…I probably didn’t even send as much as I should have, since you had been paying all of the mortgage since you left instead of half like we’d agreed on.

MICHELLE

I know what the divorce settlement said, Tony. But that didn’t make me feel right about taking that money.

Tony suddenly becomes defensive.

TONY

I didn’t need your pity, alright? That was your money and you should have taken it.

MICHELLE

It wasn’t pity, Tony. When I got your check, I went to the bank to deposit it, but on the way there, I was having a really hard time with it…I had checked up on you a few days earlier, and I saw that you still didn’t have a job, and I knew that was largely if not entirely because of me. I guess it was my pathetic attempt to assuage some of my guilt.

TONY

I don’t think I need to tell you there was nothing for you to feel guilty about. But if you wanted me to keep the money, why didn’t you tell me? You didn’t think I’d just spend money that was yours, did you?

MICHELLE

Not at first. But I guess I hoped that one day if you ever got really desperate you would…or maybe I also hoped you’d call me to find out what was going on. It wasn’t in my head at the time, but maybe deep down, I wanted to hear from you…can we please just drop it, Tony?

TONY

Yeah, I guess it doesn’t matter much now anyway. So, um, what do you mean you checked up on me?

MICHELLE

I have a level 7 clearance, Tony. I can pretty much find out anything I want about anyone…so every now and then, I’ve been checking
records on you…legal records, employment information, that kind of thing…I guess it’s a more sophisticated version of calling and hanging up…I just wanted to make sure you were okay.

TONY

I’m not sure whether to be touched or spooked.

MICHELLE

I tell you what. I’ll make you a deal. I promise that if you talk to me and are open with me and aren’t afraid to let me in, I’ll never spy on you again.

TONY

Alright, it’s a deal. When we get to your place we’re gonna have to kiss on that.

MICHELLE

I’ll get right on that when we get in.

TONY

You do that.

INT. MICHELLE’S APARTMENT - 8 HOURS LATER

Tony walks in quietly, carrying as much of his stuff as he could take in one trip. He peeks into the bedroom and sees that Michelle is still sleeping. He knows he should probably let her sleep and go get more boxes out of the car, but he can’t resist going over to the bed and planting a soft kiss on her forehead, which is enough to wake her.

MICHELLE

What time is it?

TONY

Just after 5 PM…I got restless, so I went to get my stuff from Jen’s place. Go back to sleep, honey. I’m going to go get groceries and make us some dinner.

MICHELLE

No, I should probably wake up…as it is, my body clock is going to be thrown off for days. So, um…how did Jen take it?

TONY

As well as can be expected, I guess. She was upset and kind of annoyed, but I think she kind of saw it coming. I’m just glad to have that over with.

MICHELLE

Yeah.

TONY

So anyways, I’m going to get going in a few. Anything special you want for dinner?

MICHELLE

Nah, you know what I like…surprise me. But Tony?

TONY

Yeah?

MICHELLE

Do you have to go right now?

TONY

Why, when would you rather I go?

MICHELLE

Later…come here.

He goes around to the other side of the bed and crawls under the covers next to her. She turns over and climbs on top of him and starts kissing him, gently at first, but becoming more passionate. He slips his hand under her shirt, stroking her bare back as she plants soft, gentle kisses all over his neck. When she rolls over so that she is lying next to him and lifts the bottom of his shirt suggestively, he tenses up. Suddenly, he sits up and moves away slightly.

MICHELLE

What’s wrong?

TONY

I…I can’t do this now.

Michelle feels a knot in her stomach, remembering how he rejected her whenever she had tried to be intimate after he got out of prison and hoping that she had not just deluded herself into thinking he had changed.

Except his rejection now seems motivated by fear, where in the past he had acted annoyed and smothered whenever she’d tried to get close to him.

“Maybe he’s just nervous,” she tells herself hopefully.

MICHELLE

Um, okay…

She sits up and looks at him questioningly, the concern evident in her expression. Tony notices and seems to read her mind.

TONY

Relax, sweetheart. I’m not pushing you away like before, I promise. And there’s a part of me that really wants to do this, just like there’s a part of me that wants to get in the car right now and drive to Vegas and get remarried on the spot. But I just…I need a little time. I don’t want to rush into anything. I can’t be with you like that until I’m confident enough about myself again. I don’t feel right about doing this until I know for sure that I can pull things together and make this work…because I can’t stand the thought of hurting you again.

MICHELLE

I understand.

TONY

You do?

MICHELLE

Yeah. I understand your fear, Tony. I’m scared too. But I know you’ll be able to get your life back on track…I know that we can make this work…we can do this together, Tony. You just have to believe it.

TONY

I do believe it, Michelle. For the first time in a year and a half, I believe I may have another chance to make something of my life. I’m just really scared…scared that I’ll blow that chance, scared that maybe it’s just a cruel joke, that I’ll get to be happy for a little while before everything falls apart again. You know I haven’t been very religious for a long time, but the night you were in the Chandler Plaza Hotel, I prayed that somehow you’d make it out of there alive, and someone up there must have heard me, though your survival came with a terrible price for both of us. And it was worth it. Even if I’d spent the rest of my life in jail it would have been worth it. I just don’t know if I can go through it all again…

MICHELLE

I know what you mean. I have to admit, there’s a part of me that wished you had let me die…I felt like the price we had to pay for my survival was too much to bear…when they put you in prison I wished that I had just gotten infected so you wouldn’t have had to make that choice…sometimes I even felt angry at you, wishing you had just let Saunders kill me…at least
then you wouldn’t have suffered so much.

TONY

What are you talking about? You think I’d have been better off if I let you die?

MICHELLE

I don’t know.

TONY

Michelle, that’s ridiculous. Yeah, what I went through was rough, but going to prison, the trouble I had finding a job when I got out, the stigma of being labeled a traitor, the guilt I felt over putting so many lives in danger. Even the heartache I felt after you left…none of that could compare to what it would have felt like if I’d let anything happen to you. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like, not only dealing with the pain of losing you but having to live the rest of my life knowing that I could have prevented it…

Michelle suddenly becomes white in the face.

Tony stops short, and dead silence hangs in the air as he realizes the stupidity of what he just said.

TONY

Oh my g-d…Michelle, I’m so sorry…you know I didn’t mean…I just wasn’t thinking…

His voice trails off as he realizes his babbling isn’t helping. After a moment, she breaks the silence.

MICHELLE

When I saw the explosion…and Jack said you were gone…

TONY

I know…it’s okay…shhh…

MICHELLE

When I was sitting in my car I kept staring at the clock…I kept wondering if I changed the time if that could make it go back so I could have another chance to save you…I’m so sorry, Tony…

Her voice trails off as she starts sobbing uncontrollably, harder than Tony has ever seen her cry before. He wraps his arms around her protectively and pulls her close, kissing the top of her head repeatedly and squeezing her as tightly as he can without hurting her.

TONY

Shhh…it’s okay…

She shakes her head as she continues to cry, trying unsuccessfully to form a coherent sentence.

TONY

Baby, listen to me. You did the right thing. If you had done what she said, she would have killed me anyway after she was done needing me.

MICHELLE

I know that, Tony, and I think that was even in the back of my mind when I made my decision. But that doesn’t change the fact that I couldn’t do what you did…even after I found out you were alive, I hated myself for doing what I did…

TONY

Michelle, what I did was stupid, alright? I was an idiot for trying to handle it on my own and shut everyone out when you got kidnapped. I’ve replayed that day in my mind so many times, and I realized that if Jack hadn’t stopped me from making the exchange alone, not only would thousands of people have died, but Saunders would have killed you anyway…he had a whole crew of armed fighters.

He wipes his forehead and sighs, pained at having to rehash the memories of that awful day.

TONY

I was an idiot to try to go up against that alone. I should have talked to Jack as soon as he got back to CTU, and arranged to do what we ended up doing. What you did doesn’t show that you care less than I did, it shows that you were able to handle the situation more rationally. I could never regret what I did because I could never have lived with myself if I’d let anything happen to you, but that doesn’t mean I’m not ashamed of how easily I was willing to compromise the mission and put so many lives at stake.

She nods sympathetically, understanding his dilemma all too well.

TONY

I’m proud of you for being able to keep your eye on the ball, Michelle. I never would have wanted you to do what I did or go through what I went through. When I saw the explosion and heard her say she saw your men, I almost felt relieved…I was so afraid that you were going to do what she said and that was the last thing in the world I wanted. All I could think about was how horrible you must be feeling and how I had to get out of there so I could tell you I was alive. You did the right thing, Michelle. I don’t ever want you to look back and question your decision, alright?

She doesn’t answer for a moment, continuing to cry. Finally, her sobs subside and he gently cups her chin and lifts it up to make her look at him.

MICHELLE

I love you so much, Tony.

TONY

I love you too, sweetheart. I love you too.

FADE OUT.