A/N: I know I told you that I would publish a happy fic next, but I wanted to publish this before I would regret it. Next up, I swear, some happy fics! If you have any suggestions for another Angsty fic, let me know!
Warning: Mentions of rape but no descriptions. Just wanted to warn you!
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.
'Trapped'
Lisbon had teased him about his behavior, saying that he was just a grumpy old man, and he had accepted her words, let the lightness of her words lift his heart up high. He enjoyed this kind of friendship with her, appreciated that they could banter like this.
Yet very quickly, the situation escalated without Jane knowing what had actually happened, and before he knew it, he lay on the floor, watching as a dark figure dragged Lisbon's still body into a van. When the shadow moved towards him, Jane pretended he was unconscious, the last useful thought he had before the figure knocked him out anyway.
~...~
They were thrown into a room without even a little bit of finesse, and two men held them while another tied them down until they could hardly blink, and then they were left alone.
As soon as they had been brought into this building, he knew this wasn't going to end well. Their kidnappers didn't mess around, and he got the feeling that they weren't just claiming money or seeking publicity and attention - they were there to seek revenge, and the only way to do that was by death.
He saw Lisbon looking around the room, not even the least bit frightened by their current situation, searching for a way out no doubt. He had to applaud her for her brave attitude. She would not give up without a fight, and he wished he could have faith in that.
"Lisbon."
"Shut up, Jane, I'm trying to find a way out of this place."
He didn't want to break that fantasy she had build for herself. He wanted to believe that it was visible for both of them that they weren't going to get out of this in one piece. If she didn't know this, however, he didn't want to be the one to break it to her.
~...~
She was pacing the room in her head, still trying to find a way out of this hell-hole.
He didn't know how long it had been. The only words they had uttered to each other were hers trying to get him to help him, and his trying to tell her to stop it.
One of their kidnappers walked into the room, and the vibe he gave off didn't sit well with Jane, who was observing the man, while Lisbon didn't even pay attention to his presence.
That was, until the man stepped towards Lisbon and with one quick movement tackled her to the floor. It just told Jane that she wasn't on top of her game, otherwise she would have been able to counter his attack. Her head hit the floor, but she didn't pass out, instead just showed that she was dazed but very much conscious.
Jane had a feeling that he knew what the next step would be, and he had no way of stopping the man.
"You don't need to do that," Jane said, it being one of the first words he had uttered to their kidnappers, but the man didn't show that he was going to listen to Jane. It was honestly the only thing Jane felt he could do, seeing as he was chained down fully.
"I'm going to enjoy this. She's pretty."
He ripped away only the pieces of clothing that he needed to be out of the way, and Jane felt like throwing up, but the only thing he could do was try and kick the man, even if he knew he would never be able to reach him.
"Stop!" Jane started screaming as the man unbuckled his own belt, and the man paused briefly, looking over his shoulder to look at him.
"What can you offer in return?"
"Me?"
The man frowned, but shook his head, returning his attention to Lisbon, who was quickly regaining her focus and catching up with what was happening.
"It's not the same. Brings such a mess. She's easy."
And Jane could only stare at what was happening, feeling nausea build up until he couldn't stop from throwing up. Lisbon hardly responded, just lay numbly, looking at Jane, and it made his guilt grow even more. He wasn't able to stop this, and he found that that was probably exactly the reason that the man was doing it - well, that, and the man was perverted.
Afterwards, she lay on her side, her back facing him, but she wasn't making a sound, and Jane felt tears in his eyes, because he felt he should have done more to protect her and her dignity, should have yelled and screamed and kicked until the man gave up, but he hadn't done anything to prevent it.
"Lisbon, I'm so sorry."
"You didn't do anything," she whispered.
That was exactly the problem, he knew.
~...~
They hadn't had anything to eat in days, had only gotten one bottle of water to hang on to that last shred of life they had in them. The two of them fought, hardly saying anything, and by the time he was reduced to a weak mess, he just couldn't talk to her, everything he would say would be met by an argument, and the same applied to her, he knew.
He didn't want to argue with her. They should be in this together, but she feared death and he feared her death.
Their kidnappers unchained them but kept them in the room that was their life now, and it offered a wide range of possibilities for action, but neither of them moved, too exhausted to do anything.
Did their kidnappers know that they were too tired to try and escape? Was this part of their plan or did they have something big in store, killing her in front of him in the most brutal way?
"Lisbon?"
She opened her eyes but didn't say anything. He struggled to make his way over to her, but the last will to live made him move, reach out to her.
"I'm sorry, Lisbon," he whispered as he sat beside her, their backs leaning against the wall. "I should have stopped him."
She shook her head, not meeting his eyes. He moved his hand between them, offering it to her if she wanted to hold it.
"You couldn't stop him."
"I should have tried harder."
She looked at him, grabbing his hand as he had hoped she would. It felt strange, alien, to touch another human being like this when he hadn't thought he ever would.
He still wondered what the big plan was here. He hoped that when they killed Lisbon, they wouldn't let her suffer too much.
"It hurt, Jane, but there was nothing you could have done. I want you to stop blaming yourself. Okay?"
He tightened his hold on her hand.
"I think that they will kill us soon."
She nodded.
"I want to have said everything I wanted to."
"What do you mean?"
"I love you."
"Don't do this."
"I'm in love with you, Teresa Lisbon."
She lowered her head, and he could tell that there was a tear running down her cheek. He didn't want her to cry, not anymore, but he knew that she was too tired to fight it.
"I don't want our love to be that little cave we can run to to escape this, what's happening here. It's too big for that. For me, anyway."
"So what do you want us to do about this?"
She grabbed his other hand, hoisted herself up and slipped into his lap, her arms around his neck.
"Let's not argue anymore. If we don't have anything nice to say, let's not say anything at all."
He nodded, cherishing her in his arms, and despite his exhaustion and certain death on the horizon, he felt a small semblance of normality. She was supposed to be in his arms.
"I love you, too," she whispered into his ear. He pulled her close until all he could feel was her. Teresa Lisbon. She deserved a more humane ending, but it seemed that this was all she would get. He hoped that they wouldn't be separated.
Her hands found their way into his hair, and it convinced him of his next action - he leaned in and kissed her, and she didn't pull away, instead only moved to deepen the kiss, until exhaustion forced them apart.
They stayed in each other's arms, it being the only right thing in here.
~...~
"Alright, which one of you wants to die first?"
Jane was the first to respond.
"I do."
"No, kill me."
"Lisbon, you don't know what you're saying." He looked back at the man. "Kill me first."
She actually hit his arm, hard.
"I don't want to see you die. Kill me."
"Shut the hell up!" the man roared, and Jane instinctively held Lisbon's hand tighter. He didn't want to see her die either, even if he would be killed straight after.
The man grabbed Lisbon by her hair and pulled her up, and without thinking about it, Jane jumped up and tackled the man to the floor, and Lisbon kept him there, tears streaming down her face. Jane wanted to stop her crying, but she motioned for him to get the chains that were still in the corner.
Together, they tied the man down to the best of their abilities. When they were done, both of them slid down the wall, watching as the enraged man tried to escape.
"They will kill us for this," Jane whispered. She nodded and smiled, scooting closer to him.
"They would already kill us anyway. We are not going to go down without a fight."
She leaned in and kissed him, her hands in the back of his neck, and his heart fluttered, he imagined that they were somewhere else now, on a beach with the sun burning on their bare skin.
Soon enough, the other men barged into the room, enraged at what had happened here, and they debated what their next step would be.
"Jane," she whispered. "They are going to kill both of us anyway. I'm stronger than you, right now."
He nodded, understanding what she meant. "Okay. Lisbon. I love you."
"I love you, too. So much."
The man that they had chained stormed towards them.
"So who will die first?"
Jane raised his hand, with his other hand squeezing Lisbon's. He wasn't afraid to die, but he was afraid of leaving her, afraid of what they would do to her when he was gone.
"Great." And they tore him away from her, dragging him to the other side of the room.
They didn't mercy kill him. They took their sweet time, cutting his wrists the wrong way, dragging the knife along his neck but not deep enough to cause serious damage.
He didn't feel anything, zoned out, looking at Lisbon all the time, hoping that she knew how much he loved her.
He started phasing in and out of consciousness, and he could faintly make out Lisbon on her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks, and he reached out to her, whispering her name.
Teresa Lisbon. Such a nice name. Teresa Lisbon…
~...~
Suddenly, he heard a voice in the distance, everything around him darkness. He felt like he floated around space, wherever he was, and the feeling felt quite nice, all of his pain lifted off of him.
The voice was crying. What was it crying about? Sometimes, he heard gut wrenching screams, filled with pain, and it was a sharp contrast to the lightness he felt here.
He couldn't recognise the voice, but he had to come closer, no matter what. Even if he didn't know what would be awaiting him, he had to help.
Slowly, the voice came closer, and he felt a little spark in his body as he recognised the voice.
Teresa Lisbon. Of course.
He slowly opened his eyes, but soon realized it was better to leave them closed, the bright light hurting his eyes.
Her small hand was on his face, covering his eyes, and he took the hint, not moving a muscle. He was feeling weak, lightheaded, his entire body hurt, but the contact he had with her made him persevere, even if a little later, he felt himself drop to that space he had been in before. He was so tired, and he didn't feel anything here, only lightness. As long as he could stay here, he was alright.
~...~
He wasn't alright. She knew that as soon as they created the first cut. This was no game to them, this was real. The fact that it was obvious that they took clear pleasure out of the act of slowly punishing Jane to death showed her that really, the only outcome to this was in fact death.
He cried out with every drag of the knife, but his eyes hardly left hers, and she could read that he was neither with them nor away - his mind was floating around in a space that was hopefully void of any pain.
It didn't mean that she didn't feel the pain for him. She thought of their kisses, not nearly enough shared, should have been many more. She thought of the time together that they would never get, many hours spent having the best sex of her life, the children they could have had. She should punish these men from taking all of that away from her, but they were with three, and she didn't think that she could stand on her legs.
So she had to submit to this meaningless death, the only comfort the knowledge that she could join him, there in heaven, and they would have more time there.
He fell to the floor, completely motionless, and she felt herself cry out, even if she hadn't meant to do that. She tried to tell herself that she was looking at the dead body of the only person she had ever loved so deeply, but she couldn't believe it, refused to accept it.
The men looked at Jane, then laughed and one of them cleaned the blade, while the others now walked towards her.
"Now, the real fun is going to start."
She didn't like the sound of it, but it couldn't possibly be worse than seeing Patrick Jane dying in front of her. Her future had died with him - she didn't have anything to live for.
"Whatever you're going to do to me," she stated, hoping her voice sounded as strong as she wanted it to be, "just know it won't be half as bad as watching him die."
"Whatever, Darling. Any last words?"
One of them ripped open her blouse, and her suspicions were confirmed. She knew she wouldn't be strong enough to survive this. This was an even worse death than she had imagined. She couldn't believe this.
"Just use a condom."
They had surprisingly enough dignity to do that, but they didn't spare her otherwise. She wished she could have done what Jane had, zoning out so she wouldn't feel the pain, but she wasn't that lucky. She felt everything.
Eternity in heaven with Patrick Jane better be worth it.
After what felt like an eternity, she heard a commotion outside of the room, and two of the men went to inspect the sounds, while the other stood and guarded the door, his back to her.
She looked at him and then at Jane, who was laying pretty much in the same position as before. She crawled towards him, every part of her body hurt, especially her left leg hurt so much, screamed at her to stop, but she wouldn't listen, wouldn't look down and judge her wounds. She would die - she preferred it to be in his arms.
She put a hand to his cheek, expecting it to be cold to her touch, but the warmth spread through her, and she almost pulled back as if burned, but realized that she needed to keep up appearances. All of her pain was forgotten when she quickly felt for his pulse and felt one, even if it was faint. There was still some hope. She started praying to all of her deities to let him live - if he would, so would she.
His eyes opened slowly, and she put her hand over them, hoping to shield them from view, and she felt a little bit of air brush past her hand.
One of the men ran into the room and she looked at him, and she read fear in his eyes, and maybe a little bit of shame. She shook her head as he raised the knife she had seen so often in the past few hours.
"You don't need to do this," she whispered. "I won't tell anyone of your involvement."
"I raped you. Killed your boyfriend. I can't risk it."
And he plunged the knife straight into her chest, and she saw stars, seeing him leave the room, and she didn't have strength to stay up, so she fell back against Jane. The pain spread through her like wildfire, and she wept, for certain death was nowhere to be found, but neither was help. She didn't know what had caused the men to panic, but oddly enough she wished that they would come back, to finish her off. If she had to experience much more of this pain, she would do it herself.
She turned her head towards Jane.
He was so beautiful, even now. It gave her an immense sense of peace to know that he was with her, even if he was probably worse off than her.
Perhaps they had been destined to die in each other's arms.
She felt herself slip into unconsciousness, the knife still in her chest, moving with every sob she issued. She thought of pulling it out, but realized she would die sooner if she did. Maybe that was better?
The door opened just as everything around her went black. She faintly made out a familiar soft voice who urged her to 'stay with them', and she did, even if it was hard.
Without her knowledge, she kept asking for Jane, wanting him to be beside her.
~...~
When she woke up, everything hurt, even breathing caused her to flinch, but everything around her felt soft, fresh, clean. She forced herself to open her eyes and look at her surroundings, but a hand forced her back down.
"It's okay. You're safe now," the voice from before stated. She wasn't entirely sure, but she believed it was Kimball Cho. "Jane's here too. He's also safe."
The peace she had felt before returned, and she almost felt like crying, jump into the air out of pure happiness, were it not that she felt too tired to do any of that.
"I'm staying with you," Cho whispered, and she felt safe, trusted in his capable hands, and trusted him enough to also take care of Jane for her. The words he told her were probably the most powerful ones she had heard, ever, the most beautiful too. Well, that and Jane's declaration of love.
"You can go back to sleep."
And she did, the knowledge of their victory like a cocoon around her, making her give up staying awake and finally succumb to her exhaustion.
~...~
He awoke, but it took a while until his confusion wore off. When he got his bearings, he realized he was in the hospital, and his thoughts instantly went to-
"Lisbon," he barely managed to say, his voice sounding strangled even to him.
"She's here," that familiar old Kimball Cho stated. Jane looked around to find him sitting beside his bed. "Look."
Cho pointed to the bed beside him on the other side, and Jane's tired eyes focused on her frame, so frail and tiny in this bed. He wished he could hold her.
"Lisbon," Jane whispered, but then looked back at Cho. "What did they do to her?"
"You don't want to know. I got you both. You can go back to sleep."
And Jane supposed it was better for now, although he had a sneaking suspicion of what had happened after he had passed out. He felt anger flood him, but before he could act out on it, he fell asleep.
~...~
The next time he woke up, he felt her presence in the bed beside him draw him close, and he got out of his bed, all of the people present protesting, but he just saw her in the bed, it being his sole drive, even if he felt weak. He dragged himself up by the edge of her bed, and he felt strong arms support him, and before he knew it, he was lying side by side with Teresa Lisbon. She was looking at him through half-lidded eyes, and a small smile spread on her features, and he fell so badly for her he didn't know how to recover from this feeling.
If she decided that their love was only meant to stay in that room, he would accept it and back down. He would wish, however, that he was back there and that they had succeeded killing him.
For now, he enjoyed being so close to her, and seeing her be alive. Both of them, they were alive.
~...~
He loved looking at her, whenever he was awake enough to do so. He would turn onto his side and lightly trace her face, brush her hair down, or just look, in awe by her beauty, amazed that she was still here.
She had been the strongest during their ordeal, but now she was temporarily reduced to a frail, pale woman, who slept more than she was awake, but he didn't blame her one bit. Cho hadn't wanted to explain what had happened, but Jane had gathered all of her injuries and had gotten a pretty clear description. He hoped the men would rot in hell for what they had done to her, and hoped that they would never find even a small speck of peace or happiness. But he wouldn't chase them down like he had Red John. He had done his fair share of that for years, and right now, all that was important to him was to be with her.
Even if she didn't want him. Especially if she didn't want him.
"Hey," he heard a soft voice whisper, and it pulled him out of his thoughts and back to his reality, where she was in his arms looking at him.
"Hey," he returned, smiling from ear to ear. One of her hands raised to touch his cheek. His eyes closed instinctively, not being able to deal with the emotional overload otherwise.
"Thank you," she whispered. He covered the hand that was on his cheek and opened his eyes.
"For what?"
"For protecting me."
His good mood dropped a little, as the realization that they were in the hospital dawned on him.
"But I didn't. And I'm sorry."
She shook her head.
"You were there for me. You didn't have to try and keep me from being hurt, but you did."
"Not enough."
She took back her hand. He closed his eyes.
He stood by his opinion. He had been there, but he hadn't helped enough. He really could've done anything, scream, shout, kick until it wasn't worth it anymore for them, until they would back off of her, but he had just stared, his heart breaking in a thousand little pieces.
"Perhaps. But we can't change anything about that now. What matters most is that we are both here. Okay? Forget that room. I'm through with that."
"Lisbon…"
She tucked her head underneath his chin, wrapping an arm around his body. He took that as a hint that she didn't want to talk anymore. Perhaps she was right, and he should let all of their bad memories go - but they both knew he was bad at letting go.
"Teresa?"
She looked up at him, her eyes reaching for parts in him that had been asleep for so long. He took in a deep breath.
"I really love you."
The corners of her lips turned upwards, and she closed her eyes. He couldn't help himself and placed a small kiss on her forehead.
They would take it slow, he decided, first focusing on their recovery, then dealing with their traumatic experiences. It wasn't unlikely that they would never be the same people again, but if there was one thing he was certain of, it was of his love for her. He had loved her for years, deeply and helplessly - this was his final push. He would never be able to ignore his feelings, would always cherish them in his heart, appreciating even her friendship if it was all she wanted to give him.
"I love you, too. Of all the things I've said in there, that was the one thing that was most important to me."
He pulled her closer, mindful of her injuries, looking at her face to judge if she was in any pain. He didn't care about his own injuries, would suffer for her gladly if it meant he could hold her tightly in his arms.
"I don't want to be apart from you ever again."
But she was already asleep.
~...~
It took her a while to get herself back. It wasn't like she didn't know where to look, it was just that she was permanently tired now, her injuries confining her to the bed and she wasn't even protesting. Even if she would be, the stubborn, beautiful man by her side wouldn't let her. It felt nice for the moment, to have him operate at her beck and call, but she knew she had to return to real life at one point.
She was suffering from nightmares, and so was he, but luckily they could always find comfort in each other's arms. The fact that her injuries reminded her of what these men had done to her didn't help either. One particular dream had stuck with her, it having been a vivid replay of her memories, the only difference being that she had seen that Jane was alive, and that she was forced to watch him suffocate in his own blood, as their captors kept her in a tight hold, and she-
She woke up screaming, crying, begging to God that he was okay. She felt strong arms around her, soft lips against the side of her face, and it made her cry even more, but why she did not know.
"It's okay, it's going to be alright," he whispered into her ear, his hand stroking down her hair, "I'm here. I love you and I'm here."
She let go of all her fears in his arms, shaking, but it felt good to know that after years of pining for him and being pushed away by him repeatedly, he would be with her now.
When she calmed down, she looked into his eyes, seeing nothing but love there, overflowing her heart.
"Let's just get away," she whispered.
"What do you mean?"
"Just… leave. I have spent too long wasting time while I could have been with you. I want to be with you, no distractions. Just you and me."
"Where do you want to go?"
She shook her head. "Anywhere. I don't care. As long as you'll go with me."
He nodded, caressing her cheek.
"I love you, Teresa. I will do anything for you."
"I love you, too, Patrick. I can't remember a time when I didn't." She kissed the corner of his mouth. She hadn't kissed him since they were rescued.
"Can I kiss you, Patrick?"
He didn't say a word, merely closed the distance between them. She got lost in the feel of him, and knew she would never be able to let him go.
~...~
The day that he was let go from the hospital, he wanted to immediately start working on his plan for their future, buy them a house, maybe even build one with his own hands, but when he was about to schedule an appointment with a real estate agent, he sobered up.
Maybe it would be better if they started small. Really, the only thing he needed was her, and perhaps a big enough bed for them to cuddle in.
He had the Airstream, and she wanted to go away. What better way to do that by just driving, without a plan or a destination? Just drive and live, together.
He brought her coffee, even if the doctors told him it would be better if she didn't drink a lot of it - she had asked him for coffee, so he brought her coffee. She was sitting up, talking to one of her nurses, her left leg propped up on a pillow. A rush of sadness went through him when he thought of that particular injury briefly - the bones in her ankle and shins were broken at multiple places, so it would take months until she would be even slightly recovered from that. He knew that her looking at her body in this state reminded her of their ordeal on a daily basis, and he wanted her to be happy, so it was vital that he offered her something that was enough distraction so she wouldn't fall back to that horrible place. He still wished it could have been him instead of her.
She decided to take a nap, and he kissed her before she fell asleep. He quickly went out to go to the closest jewelry store that he could find.
~...~
He placed the ring next to her next cup of coffee, and she hardly gasped, just stared at it with wide eyes.
"This is too much."
"Nothing is too much for you, Teresa Lisbon."
He took her hand gently and slipped it on her finger, the perfect size, and left her to look at it, stretch out her hand. When she smiled despite herself, he couldn't help but return her grin.
"I believe I don't want to know how much it cost."
"I think it's better not to specify that, yes."
She sighed. "What is this about anyway?"
He picked up her hand, kissing her palm, all the while looking into her eyes.
"I love you. With what we have been through… I know I'm not going to live forever. I might not have long, who knows? Like you said, we have wasted enough time. So let's just go away, for a while, just to create new memories, better ones. But I want to do it while you are my wife, so you can't have any doubts about my love for you."
"I don't. Have any doubts, I mean."
"Then please, marry me. Give me the honor of being your husband."
She brushed his cheek, and he had expected there to be tears, but there were none, neither from her nor him. Instead, she just pulled him close and kissed him, washing away all of the doubts he might have had, and all he could do was look forward to the future, where she was his wife, and he was her husband.
~...~
Four months later
She didn't want to do this, but she was raised too well, she knew that. And she knew both of them needed a way of closure, even if for one of them that was easier than for the other, and she wasn't sure who was who.
She sat down, looking around at the people who were having vivid conversations, some of them crying, but most of them smiling, laughing. Something told her that she wouldn't be laughing.
"Hey," she heard and she turned towards the source of the voice, her stomach dropping a little when she saw him.
She didn't say a word, just stared at him for a while.
She wasn't surprised that it had been him who was the only one of the three to try and contact them, her. She had seen those days that he didn't want to be there either, but his need for revenge had overruled, until his humanity won over. Still, it didn't give him an excuse for stabbing her.
He looked at the cane that was leaning against the table, and she judged his face, looking for his current emotion. It probably was shame.
"Broke almost all bones in my left ankle," she started explaining. He almost flinched when he heard her voice. "I will likely never be able to walk properly again."
He swallowed and lowered his head. He sat like that for a while, and Lisbon was surprised that she felt a little sympathy in her for this man, who was partly responsible for her everyday struggles these days.
"But that pales in comparison to the fact that I will never be able to have a child. Ever."
He looked up, tears in his eyes. All of her sympathy left, and was replaced by blind anger. How dare he cry, after everything they did to her?! But before she could do something she would regret, she took in a deep breath.
"I'm so sorry."
"You could have killed me like you wanted to kill Patrick. But instead, you decided that it was fair to rape a woman, whom you hadn't fed in days, whose love had just been killed in front of her, and not stop until she was begging for death. Where is the dignity in that?"
"I'm sorry."
"You better be."
He let go of his tears, and it felt good that for once, it wasn't her who was crying. Yet she could read that he was truly pained, and he pressed out words between his sobs that could almost be described as shamed and guilty.
She looked around, seeing some other people looking back at their table, and she knew it was pathetic, but she hoped that people saw how sorry he was, that it was not just her who witnessed it.
"I'm going to leave, but not without telling you that I forgive you."
He frowned, tears still on his face. He averted his eyes, and so did she.
"After all the pain I've caused you?"
"Contrary to popular belief, I don't hold grudges. Forgiving you doesn't mean that I will forget what you did. It means that I'm giving myself the opportunity to move on, and the emotional rest that I need. I don't forgive for you. I forgive for me."
With that, she got up, picked up her cane and walked away, feeling like a weight had lifted off of shoulders, hopefully finally able to move on from this nightmare. Much to her surprise, there were no longer any tears, the only thing that was visible on her face most of all was her smile.
Her beautiful fiancé met her at the prison gates, bearing his blinding 1000-Watt that always made her anticipate her future, by his side.
He offered her his handkerchief, the gentleman, and she took it, but not to wipe her own face, but his. She had seen the tears in his eyes, and refused to accept them on his beautiful features, wanting to focus only on their happiness, together.
"Hey. I brought the Airstream here."
She looked behind him, and she smiled as he pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "What do you think?"
She took his hand and put his handkerchief back in his pocket, kissing the top of his hand.
"Let's do it."
And she laughed when he lifted her into his arms, her cane hit him in the shins, but he only flinched and carried her into the Airstream, putting her on the passenger seat and driving, without discussing where they went, just taking a random turn every once in awhile.
She could only look at him with a smile on her face, wondering where along the road she had gotten so lucky to have his love. She put her hand on his arm and just kept looking, and it made a smile appear on his lips, too.
In a way, they had to thank their attackers. Not only had they showed them that they didn't have forever, and that they should cherish the time they had, living from day to day, they had also brought the two of them together.
"Any suggestions?" he asked her as he was about to turn onto the highway.
"Las Vegas?" And tie the knot there, she added in her head. She knew he thought the same way.
"Las Vegas it is."
A/N: So there you go! Not as good as End of Hope, but oddly enough I liked writing this story. Anyway, let me know what you thought, and also any suggestions for Angsty fics!
