S4/E23 Spoilers. Listen to X Ambassadors, "Unsteady" as you read; its a real game changer. Holy shit. That episode was rough. Anyone else need time to recover? Not oneshot.
Her eyes were wide. Full of sudden understanding, betrayal. Sarah knew from the look in Michaels eyes that this was it, this would be the end.
She would live. He would die.
After everything, the utter simplicity.
"Go". The slight curvature of his lips, that determine, confident look in his eye. Within those moments as Sara gazed in his eyes, she found that Michael wasn't afraid. He held the two cables in relaxed hands, his grip mirroring the memory of his gentle touch, his arms embracing hers, holding her close.
She could not bear to rip her gaze from his face. Yet she found herself moving farther and farther away. Closer to the door. A safe haven that would never offer a comfort and love remotely comparable to Michaels loving embrace.
Her fingers tightened on the door handle, the cool metal bit into her skin. In those few moments an eternity passed; a crash in the background, a sudden scream, the impulse of electricity. The creak of metal as the rusted door opened.
A door, an opening to freedom. The constant running, hiding, fear... absent...from a future, just ahead.
Her fingers whitened with her tightening grip as her ears began ringing. For just a moment, Sara closed her eyes.
Freedom, her freedom had come at a cost. A cost...
She opened her eyes. It had not taken more than a second for Sara to realize, she had no future without Michael. She could not bear to live in a world without the man who she had risked everything for, who had risked everything for her. Who taught her never to give up, not without a fight.
And she would be damned if she did not go down fighting.
The ringing dissipated, and Sara became increasingly aware of voices. Getting closer and closer.
She would have to work quickly.
With one hand gripping the door, Sara pulled her shoe off and stuck it between the frame. She forced herself towards the blackened and sparking room where Sara prayed her struggles would not be in vain.
Michael couldn't be dead. This isn't how it was supposed to end. Not after everything they had been through. It wasn't fair.
The voices grew louder.
Sara pulled herself towards the scene, bitting her lip as Michael, a frayed and almost unrecognizable body came into view. She bit back a scream, and willed herself not to give into the pain, an all consuming pain that made her legs weak and breath catch.
Michael was seemingly gone, replaced by a charred shell destroyed by the electricity. His beautiful, warm face hidden behind a mask of bloodied burns and ash. A beauty forever lost to her, reduced to a fleeting memory.
"Michael." Her voice trembled and Sara found that every once of courage and strength she had once ever had, had been destroyed. She gripped her stomach, and threw up. Her body thudded as it hit the ground.
The voices grew impossibly loud.
Sara turned her head, her eyes finding smooth, clear skin untouched by burns. She reached her fingers forward, brushing the small of his face. Her eyes dripped with tears.
There was a shout, the shuffle of footsteps, and gunshot. Meer echoes that could not pierce the sudden serenity Sara found herself in.
"I love you." She allowed her fingers to touch his chest, warm liquid oozed from under her skin. She pulled herself close, resting her head on his charred arm, no longer wishing for a different fate.
She could be happy. Everything could finally be over, and she would have died in the embrace of her one true love. To move forward, side by side, in eternity.
This thought brought Sara peace.
She allowed herself to close her eyes.
For the last time.
Free. Finally.