A/N: Thank you again for the reviews amacma and Jaudreylover24!

Hours passed before they finally wheeled Tony out. They already knew that he would need additional surgery. Many of his bones were broken. His blood was a concoction of various drugs, including an experimental paralytic, presumably to stop him from escaping. He was malnourished, and he had considerable hemorrhaging. Several internal organs were damaged. They would have to keep an eye on the stents and things put in place to ensure that they held up and his body didn't reject anything. Michelle was too out of it to fully understand anything. But Jack thanked the doctors on her behalf.

Renee had been on the phone for most of it, telling Larry what had happened to the best of her abilities. The president was involved at this stage, not at all pleased with the string of murders and especially being kept out of it. Jack had tried to explain some of it, but in the end, Chloe had volunteered to give herself up to tell their side of the story. She walked over to where they were still sitting in the hallway. Tony's gurney was moved to a secured room, with FBI agents already standing sentry outside.

"Jack…" She said quietly.

He murmured something to Michelle, who leant her head on his shoulder, eyes bloodshot and cheeks stained with tears, before standing to face her.

"We really need to question her soon, or you, or just…someone. O'Brian's given us most of what we need, but the president wants to talk to you or Dessler."

He nodded. "I'll go. Michelle will want to see Tony now that he's out of surgery."

Her face was hesitant, as though leaving Michelle alone was a recipe for trouble. As much as she felt more sympathetic towards her now than before, she still didn't quite trust her.

"You can cuff me to his bed for all I care. As long as I get to stay with him." Michelle suddenly said hoarsely.

Both of them looked at her, then back at each other.

"I'll stay with her." Renee agreed. "There's an agent outside who will escort you to the president."

"Thank you." He nodded appreciatively and told Michelle he would return as soon as possible before leaving.

When Michelle walked into the room, hands cuffed in front of her, one of the first things that caught her eye was how thin he looked. The hospital gown was so baggy on him. His head was now shaved and scarred. There were stark white bandages everywhere. He was hooked up to several drips. An oxygen mask covered his face. His heart rate monitor beeped steadily. He looked so sick, like a shell of his former self, she almost didn't recognise him. She wouldn't be surprised if he weighed less than her. The only word that could describe him right now was 'defeated'. Her breath hitched before she slowly sat in the chair closest to him.

She didn't take her eyes off him, simply looking at him blankly, almost zombie-like. Renee couldn't even begin to imagine what she was going through. Not only was her husband, whom she'd thought to be dead for so many years, alive and lying in front of her, but there was still the unspoken possibility that it wouldn't last. That Tony was just too far gone and that Michelle would lose him again. She shuddered to think of how Michelle would react if Tony didn't make it now. On the other hand, Tony had motivated all of Michelle's actions these past years. And Renee imagined that she had never felt particularly guilty about it. After all, he was dead. He never would have known. But not anymore. So Renee had to wonder how Michelle felt now.

At some point, Tony stirred a little, or at least Renee guessed he did. To be honest she wasn't sure if he'd moved at all. The chains rattled slightly as Michelle quickly leaned forward and touched him. She mumbled quiet reassurances to him, gently brushing her hand against his temple, and his body relaxed again. Michelle looked up at the clock. They would be taking him back to surgery soon, with more intensive and precarious processes needed. The thought of him having to go under again terrified her. He was so frail. She couldn't imagine them cutting into him any further. The fear of losing him that she had tried her hardest to suppress suddenly grew.

"Agent Walker?" Michelle asked, her voice a little croaked. She didn't look at her when she did so. "Could you give me some time alone with him?"

Renee bit her lip.

"P-Please." She turned her head to face her, bottom lip wobbling. "I-I have no reason to leave. I just need to talk to him."

Letting out a breath, she agreed. There was no window in the room, still guards outside, and surgeons would be there soon.

But what Renee did was call Jack's number and put the phone's volume down, leaving it on a small table out of Michelle's sight. If he was going to talk to the president, he was sure to be somehow trying to convince her to reduce Michelle's sentence or perhaps pardon her completely. The president would only have access to the basic file outlines, which gave very little information about Michelle's history as an agent or her reasoning for choosing her victims. Jack could sit there and vouch for her, but it wouldn't be enough without evidence to support his statements. As wrong as it felt to be so intrusive on what was a dearly private moment for Michelle, having such tangible proof of her true character might be the final thing he needs. For a moment, Renee asked herself why she was doing this. Why she was so determined to help this woman get a lighter punishment or none at all? But just in these past minutes, just in the way Michelle watched her husband with such concern and love, she'd realised she was still looking at a human being. A human being who'd been lied to, betrayed, hurt, and simply kept trying to go on.

When the door shut, Michelle took a moment to sniffle, letting a few more tears fall. She was almost surprised that she still could. She felt like she'd cried out every tear in her body before.

"I don't know if you can hear me, Tony. I-I don't know if you can understand me. But I'm going to say what I need to say because you might not…" She took in a breath, before shaking her head at the thought of saying anything aloud to tempt fate. Again, her face screwed up in pain and she lost her composure. "I-I've missed you so much. I-I can't believe you're alive after the horrible things they've done to you. I-I'm so proud of you for fighting back, for pulling through."

Michelle lifted one of his hands in both of hers and pressed it against her cheek, needing to feel the warmth of his body, needing to ground herself.

"I-I've done some bad things." She whispered harshly. "Bad, bad things, but for good reasons. At least, that's what I told myself all these years. I-I don't know how you'd feel about them. I never thought I'd have to ask myself this because you weren't here. If you had been here, I probably never would have even thought about doing the things I had." Michelle let out a whimper. She became cognisant of the stickiness of the blood on her clothes."But the fact is, I'm not going to know what you think unless you wake up, so please, Tony. Just wake up and talk to me. Just open your eyes." Breaking down once more, she buried her face against his bed.

She perked up at the sound of the door opening, and the doctors wheeled him away. Renee walked in with them, discreetly hanging up the call, and pleased to see Jack had stayed on the line.

And as she watched Michelle whisper goodbye and good luck to Tony before crying again, resting her head between her knees, Renee knew that she had made the right choice.