All rights for Prison Break are Fox's. I own nothing. Now bring us that bloody mini-series already!
AN: A very hopeless romantic is very happy after that episode... MiSa forever.
"The second one I probably wouldn't even say if I hadn't lost him, but you should know that… The first thing they tell you when you take the job is, um… never to fall in love with an inmate."
Michael looked at her silently for long few seconds that felt like forever. He couldn't believe she just said what he thought she did. He knew she felt the same way; he could see it in her eyes whenever he'd go to the infirmary back in Fox River. He knew she loved him. But after Gila and their few conversations over the phone ever since he and Linc broke free, he began doubting she would ever say that.
But she did.
And he had absolutely no idea what to do.
Sitting by his side, she seemed so vulnerable, and all he wanted to do was to hold her in his arms again. A part of him couldn't believe that in less than a couple of hours he saw her again, hugged her and heard her admit her feelings. He's been waiting for that since Fox River, even before they got out, even before Nika arrived. He knew just how much it meant for her to admit it, too; after everything she's been through, trusting another human being – and one who violated that trust earlier, of all things – wasn't easy for her. But she still trusted him.
She looked up at him, somewhat shyly and self-doubting, and he immediately tried to search for the right words to say. How could he tell her how much he loved her, how much it tore him apart him when he heard what he did to her? He didn't know how to say all that. He could count the amount of times he said the words 'I love you' with just one hand. He'd had no one but Linc and Veronica for a long time, and while Veronica was like family to him, the only ones he ever said those words to were his brother and his mother, before she died. The truth was he never loved anyone the way he loved Sara right now.
But was there any way he could tell her that in this one sentence, those little three words that he barely said to anyone? How could he say something that he hadn't said ever since he was a child, before they all left him and he remained all alone, sometimes not even sure he'd ever see his brother again? Moreover, 'I love you' just didn't seem to be enough to describe just how important she was to him. What could he have possibly said to her?
His left hand gently cupped his cheek, and when she looked up at him again, her eyes meeting his, he could see she knew. With everything she's gone through, she didn't know how to say those words any more than he did, but she knew.
Leaning towards her, his thumb gently caressing her cheek, he kissed her.
His eyes were filled with such wonder when he pulled back that Sara couldn't help but smile. For the first time since her father's death, she felt safe. Right there, in the train to Chicago, with Michael holding her and kissing her. It felt more right than everything she's ever done, including rehab and Fox River.
As she kissed him, pulling him back to her – he followed willingly, telling her with no words just how long he's been waiting for it to happen – she found herself amazed by everything that's happened since the day he set foot in Fox River, and particularly everything that's happened since she met him and Lincoln in the train station. The past couple of weeks changed her so drastically that she could barely tell who she really was. But none of this mattered when he was holding her; none of this mattered when he was sitting there with her; when he was kissing her.
She knew Michael was never like any of the other inmates – neither was Lincoln, she had to admit to herself – but seeing him bursting in the train station, being completely willing to strangle Kellerman for what he did to her, she could almost believed he belonged in that prison. She probably would have – if she hadn't known better. If she hadn't known he was just trying to protect her.
His willingness to do anything for the people he loved – truly and deeply loved – was amazing to her. She could never see him taking a man's life, except in those minutes when she told him what Kellerman did to her. How he tortured her and left her there to die. She could see his green eyes filling with anger like she's never seen before.
Right there and then, she knew he really did love her as much as he's been trying to tell her he does. Because if there was one thing she was sure about, it was that when it came to the people he loved, Michael was willing to tear the world apart, let alone himself. If he'd have killed Kellerman, she knew a part of him would always regret it – taking someone's life – yet she knew he'd have done that for her in a heartbeat.
Which was why his wonder made her smile the way it did.
He stood up, never once breaking their kiss. His eyes held hers as he did, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him even closer. Eventually, as his tongue explored her mouth, she closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling of him rather than the look in his eyes. She already knew how vulnerable he felt those moments, revealing his heart to her like that.
In front of her was one of the most amazing men she'd ever met – if not the most amazing – and yet he couldn't believe she admitted her love for him; couldn't believe he really was exposing himself to her. She knew he believed her when she told him she didn't leave him in Gila – especially after Kellerman's confirmation – but she didn't think he'd still doubt he'd ever hear that admission. How many things he had to have gone through to be in this place of assuming everyone he loves were going to leave? If it were up to her, she'd have stayed there with him forever, feeling him kissing her slowly and softly and kissing him back just as lovingly.
I'm not letting you go ever again, she tried to tell him through her kiss.
Me neither, his kiss seemed to be telling her. She smiled to herself and deepened the kiss, exposing herself to him just as much as he was exposing himself to her. His hands, holding her gently, seemed to be telling her he'd always be there to protect her, no matter what happens.
No matter what happens, she agreed silently.
No matter what happens.