A/N : Aren't you getting tired of me? Hehe. One of my lovely reviewers told me that daily updates are great – because that way you still remember what happened in the previous chapter. My answer to that : the only reason that inspires me to write daily chapters, are the daily reviews I get. I would be nowhere without you...

This chapter is an important one, and to be honest, I'm not sure where I'm going to go with it (I always just make myself comfortable behind my laptop around 8 pm and start typing the way I feel things would go). I really hope I get this right.

XO

Three days later ( 2 more to go)

A magic trick makes the world disappear.

Michael (prologue)

The last few days with her have been wonderful. Magical. It wasn't prison – it wasn't forbidden – not in our minds. It wasn't about to end.

But the last nights have been gnawing away at me. I could see her face before me, smiling one minute, disappointed the next. Hurt. So much pain showed on her lovely face, and in my head the little voice was telling me that this would be real. It will come true.

Guilty. We find the charged party guilty of the crime he was accused of. Therefor he will be punished. Isn't guilt what this place is all about?

The very first day here, something she said struck me hard. She said "Trust means nothing inside these walls". But it does – did. She came to trust me. And this is how I repay her?

Guilty. Punished.

Don't push me away, Sara. Don't punish me for the crime I had to commit. Don't stop loving me.

Sara

She loves him with all her heart. She may not have spoken the word out loud yet, but what did it matter, anyway?

Those three words are said to much. They're not enough.

She more than loves him. She wants to become him. To melt in his arms and feel, love, think and know together.

And she'll wait forever.

Sometimes she feels that this love should frighten her. This amount of passion thrust upon her spirit, that was all about maintaining control for years – should make her scared, at least a little bit. She smiles. He's a prisoner, and she's never felt more safe around anyone.

So when she sees him walking to the infirmary, her heart skips several beats and makes her breath catch in her throat. Twenty years from now, he'll still have that effect on her. To say it in the words of the Beatles : She will still need him, she will still feed him, when he's sixty-four.

But something about him is different today. The way his shoulders are slumped even the tiniest bit, something no one else would notice. But she can see...and even though he has been speaking to her the entire time he has been here, she knows he isn't talking about what he's feeling at the time. And she needs him to.

"Michael, talk to me."

He looks at her strangely. "What about?"

"About whatever's bothering you." He rolls his lips into his mouth and avoids her eyes, gazing towards the medicine cabinet, where the single red rose, that never dies, lies silently among all the white objects. It stands out.

"When's your next patient?" Standing up, she walks over to her desk and looks in her agenda, immediately finding the right hour (she always writes Michael Scofield in large letters, so she'll know exactly when she can see him again).

"Not for another three hours. Michael, what's wrong?" Her voice sounds concerned and it reveals all the fear she has that something's happened to him. Or something will happen. After all, this is Fox River, State Prison. You're not exactly having tea-parties with your jailmates.

He takes her hand in his and knots their fingers together (luckily, she's pulled the curtain up). His eyes close tightly and she knows he's fighting tears. She wants to tell him not to cry, that whatever it is – they'll fix it, they'll make it through together. But she doesn't, because she can tell that this is something bigger than that. She'll always stand by his side, but she can't...whatever.

"Sara," he whispers brokenly, "I'm leaving."

She frowns. "No, that can't be. Henry stopped the transfer, remember?" A smile slips out, he's worrying for no reason. But she can't help feel that that's not it. Not what he means, not what's got him all shook up.

"No.." Michael shakes his head. "I'm not being transferred.." she opens her mouth but he stops her "I'm not being released either. I'm..." His eyes open again and gaze into hers, and she gasps at the emotion, and hurt, and guilt in them. His chrystal eyes always mirrored everything he's feeling. "I'm leaving."

It sets into her like a tidalwave crashing on the beach, swallowing the city on its way. Leaving.

She quickly withdraws her hand and swallows hard, shaking her head. "No."

No. Because if he's leaving, then what does that make her to him? The person he wants to spend the rest of his life with, a short-term girlfriend , a ... key? And what does that make him? Is this even who he really is – or is this a ghost, a fictional character, made up for the sole purpose of reeling her in? Making her love someone who's not...not...

"Listen, Sara..." her eyes dart around the room, and she feels like a caged animal in her own territory. "Sara." His fingers try to find his way to her chin, wanting to pull her gaze back to him, but she turns away as if burned and looks at him with huge eyes. Well, at least he made her look at him again.

"Who are you?" She whispers, and it breaks his heart to hear. "Who are you, really?"

"I'm Michael." He tells her decisively, wanting her to know that he never played a game, never pretended to be someone he's not. "I'm Michael." He says again. "And I'm in love with you."

A tear escapes her eye. "Don't say that." She tells him, walking back towards him, and he opens his arms for her to hide in. "Please don't say that.."

He kisses her hair and she feels a tear falling on her head, next to his lips. "Sara..." he croaks out. "I love you."

She grips his uniform tightly and as sobs wreck her body, his arms are around her, keeping her safe. Not letting her drown when the tidal wave crashes down right before her. "Why?"

"Why do I love you? My God, Sara, I wouldn't even know where to start."

She raises her head and smiles through her glassy eyes. "That's nice to hear, but no – why are you leaving?"

"Sara, you once told me that you saw the ShawShank Redemption, right?" She nods her head, knowing where he's going with this. "And what did you think, when you found out that Andy DuFresne was innocent?"

"It's not right." She whispers.

"It's not right. It isn't. Neither is that fact that my brother is in here." Sara looks up at him with a question in her eyes. "Sara, Lincoln was framed. He didn't murder the Vice-President's brother."

He hears a great gasp from her, and is glad to. She believes him. He doesn't have to convince her that it's true, no. She loves him, and believes him when he tells her the truth.

"So you came in here, to break him out." It's more of a statement than a question. "And those tattoos, they're what...some sort of plan." He has never felt more proud of anyone then at this moment. He slowly nods and looks confused when she starts laughing loudly.

"Michael, that's INSANE!" She continues giggling, and he knows that she's scared. She's laughing so she won't cry.

"It's okay, Sara." He pulls her back into him. "It will be okay."

She shakes her head and snuggles into him. "What if you get caught, Michael? Or even worse...what if you get hurt?" Her voice cracks on the last word. What if something happens to him. She won't be able to take it.

"Don't worry, Sara, I've planned this out really well. I'm going to be fine." He reassures her.

"Michael – who'll give you your shots?" He blushes and then she knows. Smiling, she adds "You're not diabetic, are you?" She smiled at the grown man sitting in front of her, looking like a kid that had just been caught stealing cookies. "You do know it's not healthy, right? As your doctor, I should punish you."

He grins from ear to ear. "Please do."

"You're so full of it, Scofield."

"I promise, doctor," he holds up his index and middlefinger in a sign of scouts honor. "I'll stop. But just one more day okay? I need to see you one more time before I leave."

She pretends to think about that for a minute. "Please?" he adds.

She shruggs. "One more day couldn't hurt." Walking over to him, she kisses him passionately. "Thank you."

"What for?"

"Being honest with me..." Her eyes show tenderness and it fills his heart with warmth.

"I was scared to.." he admits.

"Don't be." She adds, repeating his earlier words. "It will be okay."

Argh. Wow. Hmm - I think it turned out okay..But what did you guys think? XO

PS: Lyrics from Snow Patrol ('The finish line' and 'chasing cars').