Michelle had only been able to listen for a short time. She knew things like this were so difficult for him, but his words were so eloquent, and he was doing a good job. Even so, she had a hollow feeling that his words were unable to combat. Despite the fact that he was so obviously trying, all she could think of was the fact that they were dead, and none of this made a difference. Paula had only been working at CTU for a matter of days, and now she was dead.

From her purposefully chosen spot at the back of the room, she was able to slip out unnoticed. Hiding in the bathroom, desperately fighting the sick feeling that was rising inside of her, she caught sight of her reflection, but unlike this morning, she was just saddened, not disgusted. She was alive when so many had died, but did she deserve it?

His eyes had been filled with tears since the moment he'd began, and his throat had been dry even before that. The room was filled with faces he knew, and yet empty. It shouldn't have even been him doing this, George Mason would have done it. There was a numbing pain that rose inside him along with the nausea that accompanied today. He just didn't know how to cope with this, wasn't sure that he could.

The one thing he did know, however, was that he couldn't be here, not with all these people. He needed to be alone. He had seen Michelle disappear and his heart bled for her. All the emotions that he had kept locked within himself since the day of the bomb were coming out now, and he knew it would be the same for her. Then he caught himself. Even after everything that had happened, even with the way he was feeling, she was all he could think of. Despite the fact that she had made it incredibly clear how she felt about him, his mind was still entirely wrapped up in her, she was all he could think of.

Glancing at the names engraved upon the memorial, he was so glad she wasn't one of them, he decided that he'd had enough. He just couldn't deal with this anymore. So excusing himself from the group of people he'd positioned himself by so that it would appear as though he was making an effort, he fled, knowing exactly where it was that he was headed.

Although the interrogation rooms had been rebuilt to make them able to support modern techniques, they were still in the same place, and they still had the same feel to them. Tony found them strangely comforting, and had spent a large amount of time hiding himself in them. He guessed it was the moment he realised just how much he loved her, and it gave him a strange sense of peace that nothing else could.
But today that was not going to be the case. Today, she was there, curled up in the corner, tears pouring helplessly from her eyed, her sobs filling the air with a pain that tore at him. Watching her through the window, he wondered how it was that he had doubted her. She was the one who had admitted to their feelings when she asked him out, it had been her who kissed him, and it had been her who had taken his hand in this room when she thought they were going to prison for what they had done. Not only that, but it was her who was sat in that same room now, crying and hurting.
And although it had been her that had pulled away, it had been him that hadn't tried to fight for them. Instinctively, he made a decision. It didn't matter how much he hurt or that she had tried to keep a distance between them, he loved her.

Before he even knew what he was doing, she was buried in his arms, the uncontrollable sobs that wracked through her causing him to wrap her up as tightly as he could. He wasn't going to let her go through this alone.

As she realised what was happening, she tried to push him away from her, but he kept her tightly in his grip. He was the last person in the world she had wanted to find her here, and yet he was the one person who she wanted to be here with her. Eventually, she let her body collapse against his, still crying and shaking uncontrollably.

Feeling her relax against him, he released her slightly, letting himself just feel her warmth against him. It wasn't until then that he noticed the tears that had started to flow down his face. He let them, he couldn't keep them inside himself any more. Resting his head on top hers, he realised that he needed this as much as she did.