Four Years Later

Clara snorted as they sat in the departure lounge of Washington Dulles airport. She held the newspaper in her fingertips as she sat in one of the leather chairs, her gaze focused on it before she looked to Alex by her side. His glasses were perched on the end of his nose as he held a book in his fingertips. He turned his gaze to the side as soon as he heard her make a noise. He arched his brows as she turned to look to him.

"Kellerman is running as a Congressman for a second term," she said to him. "And Krantz has an execution date set."

"How did that crooked son of a bitch manage to get into politics?" Alex wondered from her.

"I think you hit the nail on the head with the word crooked linked to politics," Clara said and Alex took his turn to chuckle at hearing her. He nodded his head. "Lisa wanted me to come with her to the execution."

"And do you want to go?" Alex asked back from her.

She shook her head at him. "No," she admitted in a soft voice. "But I want to be there for Lisa. We're close. You know that as well as I do."

"Which is weird considering where we were four years ago."

"She is the only family I have."

"That's not entirely true," Alex responded, picking up her hand and holding it in his, the sight of the ring catching his eye as Clara smiled softly and felt him kiss the back of her hand.

"We're only engaged," she reminded him.

"Still pretty close to being married," Alex said. "Besides, I thought that you were keen on picking a date for the wedding."

"I am," Clara said. "I am terribly keen, but I want it to be right. I want it to be perfect."

"Hey, so long we end up married, I'd say that's pretty perfect."

Clara rolled her eyes. "Ugh, that sounds so cheesy."

"But you love it…and me…" Alex continued and Clara leant over to kiss him softly.

"Guess that's true."

…

Clara never entirely understood how everything could have changed so drastically in four years. They had all agreed to meet up once more to remember the man who had brought them all together. Sitting on a bench on the beach, Clara leant back, her side pressing against Alex's front as he straddled the bench, his arms wrapped around her as he held her to him. She closed her eyes as she felt him kiss the top of her head softly.

"They should be here soon," Alex said to her.

"No rush," Clara said. "It's nice being on a beach."

Alex chuckled. "Remember when we were on that beach in California?"

"Yeah, but back then we were complaining about Scylla and The Company. Now we're on a beach and no one wants to kill us."

"Odd feeling," Alex mumbled, moving to rest his cheek on the top of her head. "So, what do you think? We stay here for a week and then what?"

"Then we head back to DC because I have a job there," Clara said. "Although, after we finish a week's training we have nothing going on so we could maybe take sometime away then. When is your interview to join the bureau?"

"Three week's time," Alex said.

"You'll be fine," she promised him in a whisper. "They'd be lucky to have you back."

"I don't think they see it that way."

"Well, they should," Clara said and Alex chuckled.

"You're probably biased," he said to her.

"Maybe," she agreed with him before they heard voices approaching.

Uncurling from Alex's grip, Clara moved to her feet and saw Sucre and Lincoln approaching them. Clara smiled widely before embracing each of them while Alex offered a handshake alongside an embrace. Clara felt her long white dress float against her legs as Alex stood besides her and placed a hand on the small of her back.

"I heard you're lecturing in DC?" Lincoln said to her.

"You heard correctly," Clara said. "We moved out there last year."

"And that is a big rock," Sucre said as Clara held her hand up and Lincoln arched his brows.

"You two are engaged?" he checked.

"He proposed just after Christmas," Clara said as Alex saw her look to the ring, wondering if she would keep on smiling whenever she saw the blue stone sat proudly on the silver band. He certainly hoped so. "We're setting a date for sometime at the end of the year. You're all invited, of course."

"I'd expect nothing less," Lincoln joked with them as Clara continued to smile, unable to stop herself as she saw Sara approaching in the distance.

The little boy in front of her ran ahead, embracing Lincoln tightly as Sara hugged Sucre. Moving to bend down, Clara looked to the little boy so she was the same height as he was once Lincoln had put him back down.

"And someone has certainly grown," Clara commented as she saw Michael Jr. look to her, the smile on his face growing wide as he rushed to her side and flung his arms around her neck. She embraced him tightly too. "And how are you doing, sweetie?"

"Really good," the little boy said. "I got a tattoo."

"You did?" Clara asked, feigning surprise as he lifted his sleeve to show her. "You must have been a very brave boy."

"Oh, he was," Sara said as Clara ruffled his hair and then stood up and embraced Sara. "How are you doing?"

"Keeping busy," Clara said with a smile. "What about you?"

"The same," Sara said, "although I suspect it's not just work keeping you busy."

"Well, you know, wedding planning isn't easy," Clara joked and Sara chuckled with a shrug.

"Congratulations, by the way," she said, looking between Clara and Alex. "I'm happy for both of you. Michael would have been happy too."

"Sorry," Clara said. "I shouldn't have mentioned it…"

"No," Sara said with a firm shake of her head. "I brought it up and, besides, Michael wouldn't want us to hide things. He never was a fan of secrets."

"And I can see why now," Alex said.

"Come on…I've got food back at home for us this evening. You can tell me all about how Alex romantically got down on one knee," Clara said with a teasing smile while Alex scoffed, his hand finding Clara's as they began to make their way towards the headstones.

"I'd prepare for disappointment in that case," Alex warned her as Clara nudged him in the stomach.

They began moving towards the headstones, all of them standing still and looking to the stone which held Michael Scofiled's name. Closing her eyes for a moment, Clara remembered exactly when she had met Michael for the first time. He had surprised her by appearing at her house and warning her to stay away from Alex. How ironic that she was now marrying him. But times had changed, she suspected, and Michael had been snatched from Sara so cruelly after they had only just found each other again.

Clara held tighter onto Alex's hand at that piece of information, closing her eyes tightly before looking to him and moving to peck him on the cheek. Alex smiled down to her as the two of them walked past Michael's grave, touching it as they left Sucre, Sara, Michael Jr. and Lincoln to have a moment alone.

"He never had a chance to see his son grow," Clara said in a whisper. "It's cruel, Alex."

"Life is cruel," Alex responded to her. "We both know that."

"But we are still here," she said to him. "We are still here and we should be grateful for that."

"I am," Alex promised her. "Every day I know how lucky I am not to be in some six foot cell for the rest of my life."

"You're not that man anymore, Alex," Clara said as they continued to wander down the beach, watching the tide roll in. "We have Michael to thank for a lot. He helped us to turn things around. He helped to save us."

"I know," Alex said with a nod of his head. "And I think about him every day."

"Same," Clara said.

"Do you think he would have thought that this was weird?" Clara asked. "I mean, sometimes I think it is weird. Sometimes I don't understand how we ended up together. I mean…it's not exactly the most romantic of stories."

"Yeah, but I never believed in fairy tales," Alex said. "Besides, we made it. That's all that matters."

"I haven't gotten you down the aisle yet," Clara said in a teasing voice as Alex wrapped his arm around her waist.

"You wouldn't be able to keep me away," Alex said.

"Good to know," Clara said. "I mean, there have been a few times when I thought this might have not worked. Your snoring is insufferable sometimes."

"Yeah, and you still put too much sugar in your coffee," Alex said. "Seems were both pretty imperfect."

"I don't think you're supposed to call your fiancée imperfect, Alex," Clara said to him and Alex laughed, grabbing hold of her by the waist as he began to push her closer towards where the tide was rolling in. She laughed as she tried to push against him, but Alex was strong, pushing her closer towards the water. "Alex, stop it!"

"Hey, you began taunting me, you get what you deserve," he said to her as he saw the tide splash around her legs, causing her long dress to cling to her body as he left her there and ran to dry land.

He continued to laugh as he saw another wave move forwards, this one bigger than the other as it splashed all up her back, causing her to shriek from the sudden feeling of the cold. Alex covered his hands over his mouth at the sight of her, now completely drenched. He stepped back as he saw her arch a brow, an annoyed glance in her eyes, but a smile on her face as she looked to him.

"I didn't know the second wave would be bigger," he held his hands up in defence.

But it wasn't enough. Clara ran towards Alex as he tried to wrestle her away, his hands catching her wrists as she tried to drag him back to the sea. He continued to laugh as he managed to wrestle her from the floor, picking her up until he had her trapped in his arms, knocking her knees from under her as he felt his shirt become damp with thanks to her wet dress. She draped an arm over his shoulders as he walked them down the beach, still laughing gently as they went.

"You know I will get revenge," she said to him.

"Oh, I doubt it," he responded. "Although I look forward to seeing you try."

"I can imagine," she said in a mutter. "Good job I love you so that it won't be that painful."

"Good job indeed," Alex said with a soft smile.

She moved to kiss him chastely on the lips as both of them smiled into the motion, wondering exactly what the future would bring for them. He kept on kissing her gently before letting her down, feeling her pressed against his side as he kept hold of her and they looked out over the ocean, content just in each other's company, like they had been for the past four years.

...

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who has been reading for the past year. I hope you'll let me know what you think one final time!