Natara took off her ring and placed it gently in Oscar's palm, closing his fingers around it. She kept her hand on his for a while too long and gave him a comforting squeeze, her eyes sad but her mouth smiling.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I don't know what to say. Actually—I'm not sure what I could say to make this better." She gave a solemn chuckle and took her hands away from him. Oscar felt his nails dig into his palm, the small diamond ring losing its shine in his hand.

"It's alright," he said, contradicting himself. It wasn't fine. He was angry, frustrated, upset, and hurt. But he knew that he was also happy, in a slightly masochistic way. "I should have known."

"Oscar, no," Natara said. "I was selfish. I am selfish. I led you on, and you didn't deserve that. But I cared for you. I really did. You mean a lot to me." She looked up at his handsome, tan face—the one that gave her the temporary happiness and companionship she wanted to have for a little while. His dark eyes were cloudy and emotionless, and, while she was a profiler, she couldn't read him at all. He had shut her out.

Oscar brushed the back of his hand on Natara's cheek, letting it stay there for a second too long. He took a strand of her silky hair and tucked it behind her ear. "You're not selfish at all. Because…deep inside, every time I was with you, I knew that you were thinking of someone else." He chuckled darkly. "I'm not supposed to be the profiler, but I knew what was going on. Yet you stayed so quiet all the time. Why is that?"

Obviously surprised, Natara said, "I…don't know."

"But you know everything. You're brilliant. It's surprising when Mrs. San—" he choked, quickly trying to smoothly recover. "Miss Williams doesn't know something." Natara could see that he was obviously hurt, but couldn't find the best way to comfort him.

Natara bit her lip in discomfort, the police sirens still blinking behind her.

"You're in love with someone else, aren't you?"

Her head shot up and she looked at Oscar, who seemed uncomfortable admitting it. "I don't want to ask this, but I will. And don't you try to deny it. But what does this man have that I don't?"

Knowing there was no way out of the situation, Natara hesitated before she said, "Well. He has a good sense of humor that can be…sometimes crude. He has a habit of hitting everything that seems to get in his way, no matter who or what it is or what the consequences are. But most importantly…" she paused. "He's got a heart of gold."

She saw Oscar swallow, his Adam's apple enlarged in the reflection of the red and blue lights. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles softly. "I'm going to leave now, Natara. And I just want the best for you. I love you." He turned his back before he asked one last question.

"Why do you love him?"

She smiled, looking behind her to see Mal telling Blaise the story of how he captured the Professor, making punching gestures. Blaise was laughing, and Mal had a goofy grin on his face.

"He's a good man," she said, turning back to him. "Just like you."

Inspired by Chapter 8, Love and Madness. Possibly the best chapter in any gaming history.

I love Oscar/Natara, but Maltara is my OTP and I ship them so much. Poor Oscar, though. Sigh.

WHAT HAPPENS TO MAL. I NEED TO KNOW NOW.

By the way, the last quote ("He's a good man, just like you") is actually from Amanda Knox when her ex-boyfriend asked her how her current boyfriend was. Not my words.