A/N: Last chapter! Short and sweet, but I hope you all enjoyed this story. I have ideas for a new one in the works...perhaps a long one again, like "Things We Do For Family," but different of course, and perhaps post season 5 ;) Let me know your thoughts!

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"Can I ask you something?" Sara ventured as she left the restaurant with Michael. Lincoln and Veronica headed their own ways- Lincoln to work and Veronica back home. Vee had insisted she would spend the evening watching old movies and eating ice cream, but Sara knew better. She'd be working on whatever case she had next, always working. Sara would've told her to take a break but that's just how Veronica operated. She always had, always a worker bee.

"Yea, what?" Michael replied, clicking the button to unlock his car door.

She paused next to the passenger door, staring at him over the roof of the car, "Can we start over?"

His hand hovered near the door handle, "Start over?"

She nodded, "Yea, as in…no obligations. Get to know each other about things that don't have to deal with," she gestured vaguely into the air, obviously referring to the trial and all its matters.

His eyes narrowed, "What do you mean, "No obligations,"?"

She sighed, leaning into the car, stating flatly, "I don't want you to be with me because you feel like you have to…because of what we've been through together."

"Ah," he nodded in understanding, moving around the hood of the car and coming to face her, "I'm going to say something and I want you to listen."

She raised her eyebrows, mockingly, "Listen here and listen good?"

He cracked a small grin but it didn't reach his eyes, his tone was serious, "Yup," he sighed, "Sara, I don't want you to ever feel like you're a burden, or that I'm with you out of pity or…" he paused to search for another word.

"-obligation," she filled in, her eyes going to the ground, kicking a loose pebble with her foot.

"Right," he agreed, "ever. I don't even want that thought to cross your mind."

"Well, it does," she scoffed and rolled her eyes, trying and failing to lighten the mood. That thought flittered across her mind more than she wanted to admit, and it weighed on her. Having the trial over somehow made it worse. He was a good man- steady, reliable, and not at all the type to abandon someone in the midst of something as challenging as the trial. But now that it was over, she feared that he'd have a freedom that he didn't before, but because of his honorable ways, his selflessness that was borderline problematic, she had legitimate reasons to fear that he'd stay with her because he felt like he had to, or that it was, "the right thing to do." Not the thing he wanted to do.

He cared deeply for her, and she knew that. She believed it. But a small voice inside her refused to be silenced, and continued to voice its doubts, nagging and tormenting her.

Michael's hands lightly gripped her biceps now, his chin dipping to search for her eyes, urging her to meet his gaze. She did, though reluctantly.

"I love you," he told her softly, with certainty, "I want to be with you, and I don't ever want you to doubt that."

Her heart jolted awake, thumping faster, and her knee-jerk reaction was disbelief. Skepticism.

She shook her head, lowering it, "No, no, no," she stepped back slightly.

"What?" he questioned, looking confused but not terribly concerned.

She leaned her back against the car and blew out a breath, burying her face in her hands momentarily, then rubbing them back and forth across her forehead, and then running one hand through her hair before meeting his eyes again, "I feel like," she paused, "I feel like that can't be true."

He smirked, looking amused now, "It's true. I'm afraid you're stuck with me now."

She chuckled, releasing a bit of tension and exhaled again, staring off into the distance, the setting sun.

He ventured, "So assuming that it is true….that I do love you," then leaning closer, as if letting her in on a secret, "which I do," then he backed away slightly, gazing back and forth questioningly, implying a, "what do ya think?"

A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, encouraging him. She shook her head again, grinning now, "I still don't believe it."

"But if you did believe-"

"-it makes me really happy, ok?" she grinned but looked slightly embarrassed, "if that's what you're getting at."

He laughed and rolled his eyes, "Don't sound so excited about it, geez."

She laughed freely, "I just," she huffed and stated in a childlike way, "it doesn't seem right."

"To be loved?"

"Yea."

"That's…that's really sad."

She shrugged, and knew she owed him more of an explanation.

"You're a good man," he looked up, humble, "you are, and I guess I'm still getting used to the idea that this could be the real deal. Not…temporary."

"Does it feel real to you?" he asked.

Without hesitation, "Yes. And I think that's what scares me, especially given all that we've-"

"-ah ah," he held up his finger, "starting over, remember? We haven't been through anything. We can move on now. That said," he sighed, "if you ever need to talk about things, I'm here, but if you'd rather just forget it and move on, I'm here for that too."

She smiled softly and nodded, finally starting to believe his words, feeling the weight of them. They began to seem more concrete in her mind. At first they'd just floated, like empty promises, ready to zap away at a moment's notice, but now? They felt like solid ground, like they were made of something real.

That was more her fault than his; she knew his words came from a genuine place, it was she that struggled to believe them, but she was working on it.

"You're sure?" she asked again, wanting to be absolutely certain before making her true feelings known.

"I'm sure."

"Well I guess that's lucky."

He tilted his head, questioning.

Softer, more serious, pretending that her heart wasn't about to beat out of her chest, "I love you, too."

She did the only natural thing and stepped forward to press a kiss against his lips, suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude for having him in her life, so much that it actually made her heart hurt. She'd always thought that expression to be over the top, dramatic, but she actually felt it now, the ache in her chest. She ended the kiss by burying her face into his collarbone, exhaling as his arms came to rest around her waist.

They stood there for a moment, lingering. It was all over, she remembered again, thinking about her upcoming days being spent at work or leisurely days off with Michael. Normalcy. She desperately wanted to get used to that again.

After a moment, he kissed the top of her head, noticing goosebumps appearing on her arms, "You ready to head home? Getting kinda cold out here."

She smiled against his chest, the idea of "home" with him sounding like the best possible place to be, "Yea, let's go."