Final Visitation

"Can they do that?" AJ asked, looking through the news report online as Ben nodded.

"They can do whatever they want." Ben said, "But to me… maybe there's been more evidence shed against Phil." He nodded.

"No, they can't… next week… that's too soon." Dean said, "They can't give him one date to prepare for and then… then change it to just a few days away. That's torture."

"Strictly speaking, they decide and make whatever decisions they feel is necessary." Ben said.

"Then we gotta go back to the cops in Florida and let them in on everything we know. It's gotta stand for something, right?" Dean said.

"Yeah." Ben nodded, "Yeah, it might buy us more time." Ben said, "I tell you what, why don't I stay here and figure out who this… who this Dennis guy is, I'll go to the airports… you guys fly back to Florida and take what we have to the cops, to the detective who ran the case." Ben said as AJ just stood silently, not knowing what to say or think, "AJ." Ben nudged her shoulder lightly as AJ looked up at him, "You and Dean go back, go to the cops, try and get a hearing for us to present the evidence, I'll stay here and I'll track down this guy."

"O-Ok." AJ nodded, "Ok." She said. She hadn't let it get to her head too much that Phil was actually being put to death, but now… now it felt so real and she felt completely numb, like she was in a continuous nightmare that wouldn't end. That she couldn't wake up from.

The good news was, they had something to go on. They had the information about Del Rio, practically being the puppet master. They had what they needed from Pearce and Kane. Although he was dead, they sussed out the CCTV footage problem… all they needed was a reason and a killer.

"I'll get you flights for tonight." Ben said as AJ nodded.

"Get us a ticket for that prick in there." Dean pointed to the house where Pearce was still in, "He's gonna testify, tell the court that he took money from Del Rio to make sure Punk was in on the job. I'm not giving him a choice." Dean spat, walking back into the house.

"Are you ok?" Ben asked, looking on at AJ who looked as white as a ghost, like she was going to throw up any minute.

"Mhm." AJ said, trying to keep herself together, for his sake, "Yeah. I'm fine." AJ nodded to him.

They arrived back in Florida the next morning, and AJ and Dean had gone directly to the station to present everything they knew to the detective in charge, trusting that Ben would be on the job to find Dennis and track him down in Chicago.

It took a few hours to really go into detail about everything to the detective, who was actually a very pleasant man named Michael, willing to listen to them and what they had to say.

"This is uh… this is interesting stuff." Michael nodded, sitting down at the table with AJ and Dean, along with Pearce who Dean was forcing along.

"And it proves my brother is innocent." Dean pointed out, "They've changed the execution date to less than a week now. You gotta believe us. We have the evidence here." Dean said desperately.

"Yeah, the execution was brought forward." Michael nodded, "Because there was more charges against him. After more tests at the forensics… there's signs of rape, to both bodies." He said as AJ shook her head.

"No… no, I'm gonna stop you right there." AJ warned, "You look at this information I am giving you here. There are people out there, doing their damn best to make sure that Phil is put to death." AJ said.

"April, do you have any information for me that can be given directly… from someone who isn't dead, missing or… actually knows what's going on?" He asked, looking up at Pearce who didn't really know much about anything.

"My brother didn't rape anyone." Dean said, "And he didn't kill anyone either. You've… you've got the wrong guy, and you're gonna kill an innocent life. And that'll be on your hands."

"Hey, I'm just going by the evidence I collected. The blood was on his pants in his hotel room. He was at the murder scene, where he worked. He's a troubled guy… in and out of juvenile detention centres since he was a kid." Michael said, "All of that against your evidence that someone is apparently setting him up… with your only person to testify… a man who doesn't know anything about what actually happened." He pointed to Pearce, "It's useless."

"I'm giving you names." AJ spat, "Alberto Del Rio. He's in Mexico right now. He planned the whole thing. We think he did it for a man named Dennis-"

"Dennis what?" Michael asked.

"We don't… we don't know yet." She said as Michael nodded and sighed.

"April, you're an attorney. That means you represent clients in court. You don't need to be gathering evidence, especially when… it's useless."

"How is it useless?" Dean asked, "Check it out. Go question Alberto Del Rio. We have a man here who is saying that he took money from him to make sure Phil went to Florida with them. How is that useless?" Dean said as Michael sighed.

"Look." Michael said, "You're his brother." He pointed to Dean, "And you're his ex." He looked at AJ, "You're desperate. You're trying to make this fit and it's not working out for you. You got too many names and no… no suspected killer yet." Michael said, "I will… I'll look into this Alberto guy, alright? That's not gonna push the execution back, but if I find something interesting I'll make it known."

"And when we find out about this guy… Dennis, we'll have more to tell you on that too." AJ nodded as Michael just sighed.

"Right." Michael said, "I'll see what I can do but… I'm not promising you that anything I find is gonna be useful."

"Just do what you can." Dean said as Michael nodded.

6 days later…

"I… I don't think I can do this." AJ shook her head, standing outside the prison beside Dean whom had black eye bags weighing him down, smoking on a cigarette to attempt to get some sort of ease from all of this.

"We just… we can't think about it, alright?" Dean nodded, trying to keep himself together. He couldn't describe the feeling of going to see his brother for the last time, forever.

After they had spoken to Michael, he looked back into the case for them with all the evidence they had given him, and after not being able to find Alberto, having a dead technician, and having Ben failed to find out the man whom had gotten the plane ticket to Florida, it was safe to say… no one wanted to give them the time of day anymore, and AJ just couldn't accept any of it. They all knew something wasn't right and they knew Phil was innocent, and that's what made it so much harder.

"I… I can't." AJ shook her head, looking at Dean, "I can't do this." She screwed her face up as Dean nodded.

"You can." Dean said, "You'll regret it." He said as AJ swallowed the lump in her throat, looking on at the prison doors and sighing to herself, "We gotta be there for him." He said, throwing his cigarette down and standing on it as AJ took a deep breath.

She felt incredibly sick. She didn't think this would be something she'd ever have to experience. Having to watch someone she once cared about, someone she once loved to death… be put to death. Someone she still cared about.

"C'mon." Dean whispered, placing his arm around her as she nodded, walking on ahead as they entered the prison.

They were taken to the visitation room, which thankfully had no barriers blocking them away from Punk. She couldn't wait to hug him, but… she was just afraid she wouldn't let go. A twisted part of her mind wanted him to take her with him. Throughout all of this, her own life she'd moved onto seemed to be so unimportant. Ben had become just a shadow, and that may have been harsh but… she couldn't help it. She felt like she was eighteen again.

They stood up as the door opened, watching as Punk walked into the room, hands and ankles cuffed with two wardens on either side of him.

Punk couldn't really put into words how the last week had been. He couldn't remember much of it. He'd felt almost drugged out. Like he was already dead. He didn't expect AJ to be here but walking into the room and seeing her was the biggest relief of the entire week.

The wardens uncuffed him finally and left the room for him to have his final visitation. Dean immediately stood up from the table and walked over to him, wrapping his arms around him tightly as Punk hugged him back. They hadn't been able to hug for months.

"You alright?" Punk asked him, looking over at AJ who sat at the table.

"Me?" Dean croaked, pulling back from the hug, placing his hands on Punk's shoulders.

"I'm fine." Punk nodded as Dean just shook his head. His brothers ability to stay calm throughout the most severe situations was something he was always quite jealous of. He knew he done it so not to worry him or frighten him, "April." Punk nodded, walking over to the table as AJ looked up at him, "Thank you for coming." He said quietly as AJ gulped and nodded, standing up and wrapping her arms around him. She was right… she didn't know if she would be able to let go.

As Punk requested, they sat and done everything they could to pretend that the situation they were in, wasn't real. They played card games, Punk ate his waffles, they talked about the great memories they had made, and AJ realised how much she had missed being in their lives. How much she wished her and Punk fought just that little bit harder for one another. Suddenly her marriage was becoming a blur.

They sat for the length of time that Punk was given for his final visitation, until a warden came and let them know it was over, and suddenly… Punk was scared.

"Alright." He nodded, standing up from the table, sighing to himself, watching as AJ stood up, looking over at her as she looked ready to burst into tears, praying to himself that she wouldn't, or it'd only make things worse, "Please don't." Punk said to her, wrapping his arms around her as she hugged into him, resting her cheek on his chest as tears rolled down her face.

"I did everything I could." She whispered, her voice breaking.

"I know you did." Punk nodded, "You remember… what I asked you to do?" He whispered to her as AJ looked up, and then looked over at Dean whose hands were shaking as he paced around in a circle.

"Yeah." AJ nodded.

"Keep him good, alright?" Punk asked as she nodded, her lip quivering as she tried to keep swallowing the lumps in her throat, "I still love you." He nodded, "You know that." He said as she nodded.

"I never stopped loving you." She shook her head, cupping his cheek as he placed his hand over hers, watching her as she leaned up and pressed a kiss on his lips. She didn't care. In that moment. She couldn't help herself. Knowing she was going to lose him, she just wanted to remember him the way they used to be. The way they always should have been.

Punk deepened the kiss, placing his hands on her waist, flashbacks of their times spent together replaying over and over in his head, almost trying to calm him down, trying to help him remember how happy he was at a time. Replays of waking up on a Sunday morning with her, showering together, cooking together, dates, anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas', everything. She was never going to be anything less than the woman he loved. He was taking that to his grave with him.

They pulled back from the kiss, realising the horrible truth that they didn't have all the time in the world anymore.

He backed away, watching as she sat down on the seat, turning away from him as he watched her shoulders shake up and down. Punk backed up, turning to his brother who was just as equally a mess and rightly so. Although AJ was a big part of his life… he'd had Dean since he was one years old. They done everything together. They were more than brothers.

"I'm sorry." Dean said, hugging his brother, resting his chin on his shoulder as Punk hugged him back tightly.

"Nothing was your fault." Punk told him, "Stay good for me, alright?" He asked him sadly, "And… look out for her." He whispered, looking over at AJ sitting at the table crying, "Make sure she's happy." He said, "I love you." He squeezed his brother as Dean gulped.

"I love you too." Dean croaked, holding onto the hug for as long as he could.

"Ok, Phil. That's it." The warden at the door nodded, hating the sight just as much as anyone else would, "Gotta go." He said as Punk pulled away from Dean and nodded. He was just glad he got to spend his final hours with the people he loved, even if he and AJ had fallen apart. It was still there. Their love was always gonna be there.

Punk put his hands out as they cuffed him back, whilst Dean headed over to AJ to make sure she was ok, needing the comfort just as much as she did.

Once Punk was cuffed back up, he took one final look back, looking at AJ's teary face, and his brother's helpless one, and walked away, escorted out of the room.