A/N: Okay. So. I think we're closing in on the end here. This is technically a double chapter, but only because, had I made it only a single, it would have been too short and someone might had killed me. Someone still might kill me. But, whatever. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I disclaim!

The cold wind stung at Elizabeth's face. Even with Will's arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close, she was still freezing. She was a bit angry with the American court system at the moment; it had taken months for them to pick up the case. Still, now that it had been picked up, it was moving along quickly.

The two stood at the same bus stop they had met at back in the summer. "Are you sure you don't want to take a car?" Will asked directly into her ear.

"Yeah," Elizabeth replied. "I don't know why, but I want to take the bus today. Maybe it'll give us a bit of luck. Just like last time."

"You call that luck?"

She looked up at him. He was smiling down at her, looking at her as if she was his whole world. "Yeah, I do."

***

Will smiled at his girlfriend. She had fallen asleep on his shoulder as they waited for their court to be called into session. Her arm was draped across both their bodies, holding onto him even in her unconscious state.

He shook her gently as they were called into their courtroom. "Come on, sweetheart. Time to go in."

The young woman blinked sleepily. "All right," she yawned.

Handfast, the two walked in. They listened, they watched, and they waited.

***

Elizabeth could barely contain her joy. She managed to wait until she and Will were out of the courtroom before planting a very firm and through kiss on his lips.

"Happy, then?"

"You better believe it." But then she sobered. "Eight long years. Why did it have to take so long?"

"I don't know, darling, but it did happen."

She looked up at him. "You know, you haven't called me by my name in a couple weeks. It's been 'sweetheart,' 'darling,' 'love,' and things like that. Why?"

"Because I can." Will shrugged. "You're officially mine now, and I can claim you in public, so I've decided to make use of that."

Elizabeth laughed. "You're crazy."

"But I'm yours."

They visited Jane's grave on the way home. Will stayed a bit back to give Elizabeth privacy, something that she appreciated. "I found out who he is, Janey," she said softly, kneeling next to the headstone. "I'm sorry that I let myself get hurt. I know you wouldn't have wanted it, but I—when I saw him, I just knew, and I had to prove it. I hope you understand.

"But I'm happy now, Janey. Will's the best thing that's happened to me since you died. I wouldn't be surprised if you sent him for me, just when it was getting hard. Thank you, and rest in peace."

Elizabeth read the headstone one last time before standing. "Jane Amelia Bennet, 1985-2001. Beloved sister, daughter, and friend. The best thing to happen to any town," and, down near the bottom, in the loopy script that Elizabeth had used back in high school, "I love you, Janey."

***

"So what was this trial about?"

Will almost choked on the stew he was eating. Of all the topics that he had ever heard discussed at the Bennet dinner table, and there had been a different one for every night he had been there, Wickham's trial had somehow failed to come up. It would appear, by the way her father was looking at her, that Elizabeth had failed to tell her family about it.

His girlfriend was the picture of put-on innocence. "Trial?" she inquired.

"You know," her younger sister Kitty was only too happy to supply, "the one with your ex. He just got sentenced to jail for life."

"Charges were," Mary chimed in, "murder, attempted murder, and domestic violence."

"Were they?" Elizabeth asked, still acting for too innocent.

Her father, Mark, glared at her. "It also appears that you were one of the prime witnesses."

"Does it?" Even Will thought that she was taking this too far now, but this was her family, not his. For now, anyway.

"You never said anything about him hurting you!" her father almost roared. "Nothing about knowing that he was the one who killed Jane, who tried to kill you!"

"Well, I must say," Elizabeth, somehow managing to seem calm, almost disinterested, "that the beatings were quite obvious to anyone looking."

Her younger sisters were watching the debate with a rapt interest. Her mother, Fanny, was paying her salad an amount of attention it didn't deserve. Mark was slowly turning red.

"You should have told us," he said slowly, trying to keep his temper.

"You should have been looking," Elizabeth shot back, still calm.

"I won't be spoken to like this!" Mark finally exploded.

"Elizabeth, you really should have told us what he did to Jane," Fanny said, forgetting her salad.

"Like you would have believed me," Elizabeth said darkly. "And even if you had, you would never have let me keep seeing him."

"Would you have wanted to?" Mark demanded.

"I would have wanted to find out if I was right or not, and I wouldn't have given up, not matter what," Elizabeth replied defiantly.

"You lied to us," Mark accused.

"I simply left a few things out."

"A lie of omission is still a lie, and I won't stand for it!"

"Fine, then. You won't have to anymore."

"Because he's behind bars?" Mark scoffed. "Who's to say you won't start 'leaving things out' about Will next?"

"No, not just because he's behind bars. Because I'm leaving."

"Where the hell do you have to go?" Fanny demanded.

Will had finally had enough of this. "She can live with me."