The Final Break – Three Years Earlier

Sitting in the diner, Alex held onto his cup of coffee, looking to the sugar in the middle of the table. His lips quirked as he thought back to the woman waiting for him at their home. She had said that she was going to be back early, finishing her lecture at four and then hightailing it home before rush hour traffic on the Friday night. He had warned her that he would be considerably later back, needing to go and talk to someone from his past. She had smiled and urged him not to do anything brash, kissing him chastely before going, her satchel on her shoulder and swinging against her hip.

He watched her from the kitchen window, the same as he did every morning. He had come to observe her routine, standing with his cup of coffee as he envied her being able to go about her every day life. She had gotten a job at Columbia College and was back to being a lecturer after she had explained what had happened in her life and her account had been backed up by the authorities. Alex hadn't been so lucky. The FBI hadn't taken him back, mainly thanks to Sullins standing in his way at every turn, alongside Wheeler smugly by his side.

Alex hadn't known what to do. They had been exonerated for a number of weeks and he was beginning to feel lost. Clara had told him to maybe think about looking for something else and he had considered doing that. He had looked into college courses, wondering if he could go back to learning and then to teaching criminology or something along those lines. But he feared he wouldn't get the thrill he did when he was chasing actual criminals. Then again, look where that had gotten him before.

"Alex."

Looking up from him mug, Alex's eyes met the woman's across from him and she offered him a soft smile. He moved from his feet and the two of them embraced for a few moments. Standing back, Lang held onto his upper arms and looked him over. She continued to smile widely, her eyes glimmering as she looked to the man in front of her.

"You look good, Alex," she said to him. "You look better than good, anyway."

Alex chuckled and sank back down into his seat as Lang took the seat opposite him, a waitress passing by as Lang asked her for a coffee too.

"I'm doing okay," Alex said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I mean, after everything that happened, it still feels strange to have a relatively normal and boring life."

"Don't knock it," Lang urged from him, lacing her hands on the able as Alex leant back, tugging on the plain black shirt he wore over his dark jeans. "I never thought that we would be here, anyway."

"Where did you think we would be?"

"I don't know," Lang replied. "Honestly, I never knew what would happen. After everything you told me, it was pretty crazy and I…well…I didn't think that you would be back in Chicago."

"Truth be told, neither did I," Alex said to her. "Anyway, how have you been?"

"Good," Lang said. "I'm still working in the Bureau and things are going well. You know that Wheeler is in charge now, right? He's worked his way up pretty quickly. Then again, he's ruffling quite a few feathers now that he's at the top."

"I can imagine," Alex said, sipping on his coffee. "He was never the most likeable of guys."

"Understatement," Lang mumbled as the waitress returned with her coffee and she thanked him softly. "So what are you doing now, Alex?"

"In limbo," Alex said with a sigh and a shrug. "I never knew what to do outside of law enforcement. I keep trying to get back in, but it's difficult with Sullins in charge and knowing my history. I've toyed with the idea of doing some kind of college course…maybe going into teaching like Clara."

"That might not be a bad idea," Lang said, clearly trying to push him into a different career direction, knowing that his chances of coming back to the FBI were slim. She was concerned for him in a way, wondering if going back to the Bureau would be the best place for him after everything he had been through there.

"Clara seems to think it makes sense," Alex said. "She's worried I'm going to go stir crazy being in that house."

"So you're still together?" Lang checked and Alex nodded.

"Yeah," he said, not entirely comfortable with talking about their relationship after everything they had been through. He knew that Lang knew what had happened with them. It was still new too. Their relationship was still new and normal. "We're still together."

"And you're living together?"

"Well," Alex said with a shrug, "she didn't want to go back to her house, nothing but bad memories and I didn't want to go back to mine so we're renting together. I know it's pretty intense and seems quite sudden, but it feels right."

"Whatever works," she replied. "How is she holding up?"

"She's doing well," Alex said. "She's back at work and happy."

"That's good," Lang said, remembering the woman who had stood by Alex's side through everything. She had been a constant in his life, refusing to leave him and refusing to let him shoulder any of the burdens he had by himself. Lang had seen him around her a couple of times and Alex was a different person to the agent she had first met. He was softer. He wasn't the Alex she had first met. "She's…well…her uncle…I've seen her picture in the paper a few times."

"He's on trial, but she hasn't gone to any of it," Alex said. "She doesn't want anything to do with it. Can't blame her."

"Most certainly not," Lang said.

They both lapsed into silence for a few seconds then and Lang looked to Alex as he sipped on his cup of coffee again. She watched him with intensity, wondering what was going through his mind, but, as usual with Alex, he was a closed book.

…

Clara was busy cooking when Alex walked in. The smell of stir-fry hit him instantly as he tossed his car keys onto the table in the hallway. He stuffed his hands into his jean pockets and wandered through to the kitchen. A glass of white wine sat on the worktop and Clara wore an apron over her red dress, black tights covering her legs. Her heels were kicked off into the corner of the room and she had a news channel on in the background.

She turned her head over her shoulder as she looked to Alex, smiling to him and Alex wondered if it was possible to keep a picture of a moment forever. The sight of Clara looking so carefree was still new to him. He had grown used to getting to know her tell-tale signs whenever she was anxious, nervous or scared. But carefree? She had no tell-tale signs. She looked happy. She smiled a lot more. He didn't think he had ever seen her smile as much.

"How was Lang?" Clara asked from him and she moved to grab hold of a wine glass from the cupboard, placing it down on the worktop and filling a glass for him.

"She was good," Alex said as he took the glass from her hands once she had filled it. He bent down to kiss her softly as they moved, his lips resting on top of hers for a few brief moments. Pulling back, he looked her in the eye and smiled. "Hi, by the way."

"Hey," she responded and kissed him quickly again. "So what did you guys talk about?"

"Everything and nothing," Alex said, taking a sip of his wine as Clara wen back to checking on dinner and he leant against the worktop next to the oven. "I was talking to her about life in the Bureau."

"What did she say?" Clara wondered of him. "Did she say anything about your application to re-join?"

"She didn't know anything," Alex said. "She just said that it might be good to explore other avenues."

"Smart woman."

"Yeah," Alex mumbled and Clara sighed, moving to rest a hand on his forearm. He looked to her and forced himself to smile. "I know, Clara. I know that I should think about something else, but it's all I have known. It's hard to break old habits."

"It is, but sometimes change is good," Clara responded. "I never thought I would leave journalism to teach, but I love it. Trust me, Alex."

"I do," Alex promised her, "I trust you…just…just fear of doing something different."

"Alexander Mahone, scared," Clara said, "Alex, after everything we have been through, I don't think that you have any reason to feel scared."

Alex chuckled and moved behind her, his arms going around her waist as his chin came to rest on her shoulder and she continued stirring the vegetables in front of her. She leant back against him, the feeling of his hands splaying over her midriff enough to make her stomach flutter.

"After everything we've been through I just want to go back to normal, including my normal job."

"I can understand that," she assured him and closed her eyes once more for a second as she felt him kiss the side of her neck. "It will all work out, Clara. Let's not talk about it anymore. Let's just think about the weekend."

"Hmm," Clara said in a small voice, "Well, Lisa is coming for dinner tomorrow night. I said that I would cook."

"How is she doing?"

"Not too well," Clara replied. "Her father is looking at facing the death sentence and, while he is a bastard, I guess he is still her father. She's also going through divorce…but…well…she's holding up better than I had thought she would."

"She'll pull through. She's strong and she has you."

"I know," Clara said, a hand going to rest on top of his.

"Did you want me to make myself scarce while you two catch up tomorrow?"

"No," Clara said defiantly. "You're a part of my life now, Alex. I don't want the picture perfect life, but I do want a sense of normality…an ability to have people over for dinner and us not be weird about it."

"Do you think that we would be?"

"We've never had anyone over for dinner yet so I don't know," Clara said. "It's taking time, isn't? Us…we're happy…aren't we?"

"Why would you think we weren't?" Alex asked her, slightly concerned.

"I don't know," Clara admitted. "Just that I haven't been happy in years, not like this, and our relationship…most of it was spent on the run and not thinking we would make it out and now…well…we're getting to know each other and we've moved in together."

"Do you worry that we've moved too quickly?" Alex asked from her.

"That's the thing," she admitted to him and turned around, taking the pan off the heat as his arms kept her encircled. "I don't think we've moved too quickly, but we haven't done this like other people do it, have we? We didn't date for months and then move in. We went on a few dates and then agreed to move in."

"Clara, you're forgetting one thing," Alex said, a hand going to her cheek and his thumb running along her cheekbone. "Our relationship hasn't exactly been normal."

"I guess you're right," she replied and Alex bent down, his forehead brushing against hers.

"Are you happy as we are?"

"More than happy."

"Then screw convention," Alex said and she smiled at hearing him speak in such a manner. "Screw what anyone else might think. I love you and I want to be with you. So long as we're happy then it doesn't matter."

"I think that might be the most romantic thing you've ever said to me."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Clara said and kissed him forcefully. He pulled back after another moment as he looked her in the eye.

"What about the time I gave you the final slice of pizza."

"I forgot about that," she mused, arms going around his neck. "So maybe it was the second most romantic thing you ever said to me."

"Well, I'll have to try and beat it somehow," Alex said and reached for the back of her thighs, hauling her up against her body as she laughed loudly and wrapped her legs around his waist, surprised at his strength. He began moving towards the door, clearly forgetting about dinner, but then Clara saw the image on TV as he kissed her neck. She was almost distracted, but then she saw a familiar sight.

Moving her hands to his shoulders, she squeezed them and he looked up at her, clearly seeing her distracted. Her legs unwrapped from around him as she slid down his front and she let go of his arms. She looked to the TV and reached for the remote, turning the volume up as Alex followed her, standing over her shoulder and looking at the screen on the worktop. It was Sara Tancredi. It was Sara Tancredi in handcuffs.

"Oh my God," Clara said in a whisper.

"Shit," Alex muttered, wondering what the hell could have happened.

…..

A/N: Do let me know what you think, thought I'd come back and write the Final Break!