Michael sat on the back patio of the restaurant tapping his fingers on the table. He was nervous. Really nervous. If he wasn't so preoccupied he would have stopped to marvel at the beautiful reflection of the sunset on the water. Instead he was scanning the entrance anxiously waiting for Sara.

All day he had gone over what he would say to her. He planned to apologize profusely and make her understand that he never meant to hurt her. If he had enough guts he might even tell her that he thought about her everyday since the escape. Somehow Michael doubted he would get that far.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again he saw Sara walking towards him. She looked gorgeous in a black knee length dress. Her curly hair flowed across her bare shoulders. She smiled at him and the air escaped his lungs.

"Hi," he said standing up and pulling out her chair.

"Hello," she responded.

They sat there in silence neither knowing how to start. After a moment Sara picked up her menu, "What do you recommend?"

"Everything's good here. I'm having the tortellini."

Sara nodded and silence took them over once again. As she scanned her menu she could feel Michael's eyes on her. After what seemed like an eternity the waitress came and took their orders. Sara took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak, but Michael beat her to it.

"So uh what brought you to LA?"

"I needed to get out of Chicago. A friend of mine said there was a job opening at LA Memorial and I figured it was a good opportunity." Sara noticed Michael flinch when she mentioned the situation in Chicago, but he didn't press her on it. "How's Lincoln?"

"He's good," Michael smiled. "He and Veronica got married a few years ago. They live in Santa Monica. I usually go visit on the weekends."

Sara nodded. She was happy that everything had worked out for them. Lincoln always seemed like a good man. She searched her brain for something else to ask him then decided it was probably better to cut to the chase.

"You were there weren't you?"

"Where?"

"At the hospital. After the escape. You came?"

Michael sighed, "Yeah, I did."

"Why?"

"I had to make sure that you were okay. Or at least that you would be okay. Sara if I had known," his voice trailed off and he looked in her eyes. "I never meant to hurt you."

"I blamed you. I blamed you for a long time before I realized that you had nothing to do with it. Well, you did, obviously, but what I did was my fault. I left the door open. I shot up. I knew both were bad decisions, but I did them anyway. So don't waste your time apologizing."

"I just . . ."

"I know."

Michael looked down at his hands and drew a breath. He wanted tell her about all the escape plans and let her know that he only lied to her to protect his brother, but by her tone he figured this was not the time to do it. That would be a conversation for another time.

Their food came and for the moment the past was put behind them. Conversation came easy. Sara asked him about his job and he told her some of the buildings they had constructed. He loved the way she would tell a story and the corners of her eyes would crinkle when she laughed. In those times Michael would become painfully aware of how much he missed her. Sometimes he would dream about her and when he woke he could swear he smelled her perfume.

An hour later they had finished dinner and Michael wished time had passed slower. "Would you like me to walk you home?"

"Sure," she answered. Sara was waging a war with her heart and her brain and her brain was losing. She knew she should get as far away from Michael Scofield as she could, but for some reason she did everything she could to stay close to him. Every time he touched her she would feel currents of electricity flow through her body.

They began their walk and Sara could feel herself t start to shiver. "Cold?" Michael asked. She nodded. Michael took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

"Thank you," she said wrapping it tighter around herself. The rest of the walk was spent in a comfortable silence. Sara wasn't sure when that had happened. She knew she was on edge for most of the night, but somehow Michael had calmed her. She wasn't sure how he did it or if he even knew he did it. "This is me," she said stopping in front of her building. She took off his jacket and handed it back to him. "Well, thanks for dinner."

"No problem," he said smiling at her. She smiled back and turned towards the door before he stopped her. "Can we get together again?"

Sara looked down and fidgeted with her keys. Dinner with Michael was fun, but she didn't know if she should make a routine of it. Then she looked into Michael's eyes and she was done for.

"When?"

"You name it."

"Well, if I remember correctly you owe me a cup of coffee. How about tomorrow at 7:00?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Alright. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sara."

Michael watched her disappear through the door. He lingered a moment after she left and smiled to himself. Fate had a funny way of working itself out. After the escape he thought he would never see Sara again. He was thankful that he was proved wrong. Michael hoped that this time around things would work out between them.