A/N: This was originally supposed to be an epilogue to Faces from the Past, but the way things are looking right now, it is going to be a little more than that; a fanfic in its own right, though considerably shorter ;-). So that's why I'm posting it as a separate story. It does take place immediately after FftP, but the flashback should give you what you need to know - just in case you haven't read the fic or have forgotten where it left off. Here's Part 1. Enjoy.

Previously, on 'Faces from the Past'

Dr. Burke, a medic and Michelle are hastily leaving the detention area of Division and moving away from it. Tony, streched out on a gurney, still conscious but slightly calmed by the painkillers, is being rushed to the clinic.

Almost an hour after the surgery began, a nurse goes from the operating room to the waiting area where Michelle is.

"How is Tony doing?" Michelle asks her.

"I'm afraid it looks very serious right now."

"Please tell me he'll live."

"I wish I could tell you that."

Jack is on the phone to Michelle, who is at the clinic, after the surgery started. "How are you holding up?"

"Worried, worried to death. Afraid that he won't make it. Dreading the wait, the uncertainty."

"Jack, if you could have seen him..." she pauses. "He looked so fragile... Broken."

"I'm so sorry, Michelle." he utters quietly. "I really hope Tony makes it. You know I do."

In a holding cell at Division, Hammond is sitting in a metal chair, cuffed. Michelle stands close to the door, her arms crossed. "Do you have any idea what you did to Tony? After everything he'd done for us today?", she utters, her voice full of contempt. The question is purely rhetorical and Hammond doesn't answer it. If he had a choice, he would just ignore her and her treasonous husband for the rest of their lives.

Michelle now takes a step or two into the room, coming to face him. She waits for him to lift his head towards her. "I despise you, Brad. I really do." she then says, her eyes focused on his, then pauses, looking at him in disgust. "May God forgive you, Brad. Maybe even a judge will. But I won't. Ever."

Division, clinic; later on the day of the attacks

Six hours had passed by the time the medical team finished the surgery on Tony. Having given the staff last instructions, Burke went to throw away the scrubs and to wash his hands and face. He looked at his image staring back from the mirror; "It's been a long day." he sighed, trying to prepare himself for what he had to do yet again. His shift had started some thirty-six hours ago and though the adrenaline had kept him awake, he was beginning to wish for a few hours of peace and quiet. He rubbed his face with a clean towel, enjoying the new freshness on his face that lasted for a few moments before the feeling was replaced by weariness.

He knew that he wasn't the only one who had had a lengthy workday; most of the people involved in the events of the past two days were probably still in their offices, in front of their computer screens, monitors and by their phones, trying to tie up loose ends. His most recent patient and his wife would have been one of those people, too. Tony had given everything he could to the operation, only to end up on Burke's operating table twice in twelve hours; and despite that, Burke felt that Tony would not hesitate to do the same thing again, if it proved necessary. He sighed again, humbled by the dedication to the mission that he had witnessed. He also knew that Michelle was anxiously waiting for news on Tony's condition. Not wanting to delay things, he headed outside the clinic to find her. Through the glass doors, he saw Michelle in one of the plastic chairs in the waiting room, leaning her head on her palm.

"Mrs. Almeida?" he called out to her, entering the waiting area.

Michelle lifted her head as she heard a voice speak to her. "Dr. Burke." she uttered, recognising the doctor. She immediately stood and went to meet him halfway to the door, trying to read from his face any visible signs that might tell her how the surgery went. He wasn't smiling, and she had to tell herself that this meant nothing. She would not panic, she would wait to hear what he had to say first. She hesitated a moment, dreading the answer to the question she had to ask, not sure if she could deal with another piece of bad news. Burke was obviously contemplating his choice of words, too, because a wordless moment came and passed as they shook hands. Only then did she finally force herself to ask: "Is Tony alive?"

Dr. Burke didn't reply immediately. "Let's sit." he led her to one of the chairs and sat down next to her. Then he found her gaze and held it, before replying: "Yes, he is."

At this, Michelle let out a small sigh of relief, but she knew that more was coming, and indeed, Burke soon continued. "But his condition is still critical. Tony had a rupture in his spleen and had heavy internal bleeding both from that and the previous injuries. We had to remove the spleen to get the bleeding under control and to save his life."

Michelle looked away from him for a few seconds, her head nodded slightly, but absently, as if acting on its own, out of her control. At least he's alive.

He stopped for a moment to let Michelle process what he had just said, and when she looked at him again, he touched her hand slightly, reassuringly, and gently told her: "The next forty-eight hours are extremely critical. Tony's body has suffered major injuries and his system had already been weakened by the previous interrogation and the gunshot wound. Had he been healthy when all this happened, his chances would have been better, but all we can do right now is wait."

Michelle nodded in silence. Her eyes were turned to Burke, but not looking at him or at anything in particular. She hardly registered his hand on hers, as he continued: "We'll see what the situation is in forty-eight hours; if he's stable enough, we will transfer him to one of the trauma centers for additional surgery." Burke ended his explanation, his eyes attentively watching Michelle for a reaction.

Michelle seemed distant, trying to process the meaning of what she had just heard. She wasn't willing to believe anything other than that Tony would be okay when it was all over. She knew, whether it was out of selfishness or not, that she needed him to pull through, that she wanted him to come back to her. "How many surgical procedures do you think will be necessary?" She refused to add 'if he's stable enough' to the end of that question, trying to make herself believe that if she didn't actually doubt it, it would happen.

"I can't say for certain, but more than one in any case. I'm sorry, but that's all I can tell you at this point. We will know more in forty-eight hours." he said sympathetically, carefully looking at Michelle.

Again, Michelle nodded and this time, she was looking at Burke. "Can I see him?" she uttered after a while.

Burke nodded. "Yes, you can. But you should know that he's heavily sedated, so that his body can use as much energy as it can to heal."

"He won't know I'm there..." she uttered lowly, more to herself; the phrase sounded half like a statement, half like a question and she looked past Burke for a moment.

Burke gave a small smile and spoke: "Well, he might not consciously register it but he will probably sense it. People who have been in a coma and later woke up have said in interviews that they just knew when someone was there. So it's likely that Tony will know in some way." Burke finished gently.

Michelle nodded silently, then returned her eyes to him again, asking softly: "How long will you keep him sedated?"

The doctor shook his head. "I'd estimate it could be a week, possibly longer, but it all depends on Tony's condition and to some extent it's up to the surgeon at the trauma center. They will decide when it's safe to start waking him up. But I'll make sure you can stay with him in the room when he's transferred."

"Thank you."

For a short while they sat there next to each other in the cheap, white, plastic chairs, each in their own thoughts, staring somewhere ahead of them. Then, out of nowhere, Michelle spoke. "Dr. Burke... Can I ask you something?"

"Yes, of course." he replied without hesitation.

"You were there during the interrogation, weren't you?"

"During a part of it, yes." Burke admitted, not wanting to lie to her; she had guessed it from Tony's reaction in the cell.

"What happened in there?"

The question was plain and simple, but the answer was everything but easy. Burke looked at the floor, almost ashamed of his role in the events, feeling like he had not done his duty as a doctor to help Tony. He sighed slightly and answered: "Well... Knoll came to get me because he was concerned about Tony's state. I examined him the best I could and told Hammond they should stop, but he was adamant. So, they continued for a while, after which I intervened on medical grounds and had them stop. I would have transferred Tony to the clinic at that point, but Hammond said he was a security risk and refused. I had no choice but to agree to leave Tony in the holding cell."

Burke knew he should have told her the truth and the details, but his compassion told him to leave them out, so as not to cause her any more grief. What would the information, that they had actually killed and revived her husband during the interrogation, benefit her if Tony did in fact die now: a little white lie, or an omission, would not change things for the worse. "I'm sorry." he added sincerely.

She nodded and waited for a while, thinking. "Steve Sheldon had said he had been ordered to keep this from me. Did Hammond forbid you to talk to me about it, too?" she then asked and quietly added: "Because I would have wanted to know."

After hearing Michelle say those words, Burke now realized how difficult the situation actually was. How do you respond to that statement? There's nothing you can say to her to justify why you didn't tell her. he thought guiltily. Then he replied: "No, he didn't. Coming to you simply didn't occur to me, I was just thinking about getting Tony to the clinic then." he said apologetically.

Weary of discussions and accusations, Michelle let go. After all, Burke probably will be the one who will have saved Tony's life in the end and what had already happened before could not be changed. The only aim right now was to focus on making sure Tony survived this disastrous day and then help him forget it, if humanly possible.

Slowly, she stood, offering her hand while looking Burke in the eye: "I know you did your best to save Tony. Thank you."

Burke stood and took the offered hand. "You're welcome. It's my job." he said and smiled faintly. She would have had all the right in the world to yell at you for letting it come this far, he thought.

"I'd like to see Tony now." Michelle stated and the doctor nodded.

"I'll take you to him."

Michelle nodded and turned away from Burke to pick up her jacket from the chair next to her. In her mind, she knew that she should be happy about the fact that Tony was alive, that he'd escaped death by the breadth of a hair, but in her heart, after all the waiting, all the pondering, imagining all kinds of scenarios and consequences of his injuries, she had begun to wonder if there was a fate worse than death; and even now, though there had been no mention of paralysis or neural damage, the darkness of her thoughts was still overshadowing everything, making it hard for her to think positively at the moment. Having put on her jacket, Michelle collected her purse and Burke led her out of the waiting room and to Tony.