"Mr Bauer, she is a cold-blooded murderer. You cannot expect me to simply condone that." Taylor implored.

What started as a simple discussion had escalated into a debate of morality, both of them making good points, but neither willing to back down.

"Wilson was in part, a revenge kill. I can't deny that. But all the other people she's killed would have died anyway or hurt innocent people."

The president sighed. "As the leader of this country, I can't let this go. She's made her mission about delivering justice, so why should we make her exempt too?"

Jack's phone rang suddenly. He'd only left it on in case of any emergency related to Tony or Michelle. He noticed the caller ID was Agent Walker, so he answered.

"Excuse me." He said, pulling it from his pocket.

"This is Bauer."

There was no answer.

"Hello? Agent Walker?"

He could hear something on the other side, but it was quiet, so he put the phone on speaker. Only then did he hear Michelle's voice, so full of emotion, so sorrowful, so exhausted. She wasn't talking to him. In fact, she seemed oblivious to the phone's presence. Taylor's eyes widened, and she moved it closer to her, so she could hear better. They let her words consume the otherwise silent room before the dial tone indicated someone had hung the phone up.

Jack cleared his throat. "Does that sound like a 'cold-blooded murderer' to you, Madam President?"

She was silent for a moment before nodding. "Bring her in. Let me speak to her." Suddenly, she hesitated, turning to Agent Pierce. "No, actually. Set up the motorcade so I can visit the hospital where Almeida is."

Agent Pierce acknowledged her request and left promptly. Jack felt relief flood over him, finally feeling that Michelle and Tony might have hope. He didn't know what the president exactly had in mind, and he still had to believe it wasn't a total pardon. But Jack knew that hearing Michelle had done something to change her perspective. If he did this, he would finally feel permitted to forgive himself after so many years of blaming himself for Tony's death and Michelle's fall from grace. No matter how much Michelle had told him it wasn't his fault, he had still held himself responsible.

But now he could make things right.

On the way, Jack called Renee, giving her a heads-up so Michelle wouldn't be taken by surprise. Tony was still in surgery, so he figured Michelle likely hadn't moved from the chair by his bed.

"Michelle?" She asked.

Slowly, she looked up.

"The, uh, president wants to talk to you. She's on her way. Just thought I'd let you know, in case you wanted to…freshen up or something, I don't know."

"Okay, thank you." She replied, giving the agent a small smile but looking understandably nervous.

"I'm sure she'll take a while with all the security protocols needed for her visit. Do you want me to get you a change of clothes or something?" Somehow she felt that if Michelle was going to try and convince the president to let her off a little easy, sitting there covered in blood wasn't going to help.

Michelle seemed to contemplate this before nodding.

"Wait." Renee said just as she started to move. Removing a key from her pocket, she undid Michelle's handcuffs. She rubbed her wrists tenderly before thanking her quietly.

Michelle splashed cold water on her face using the small sink in the adjacent bathroom, trying to breathe deeply and slowly. She looked up at her dishevelled reflection and wiped another tear from her eye. When she returned to the ward, an FBI t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants were laid on a chair for her.

"Hospital gift shop didn't have anything. This was all I could get from the car, sorry."

She shook her head. "It's fine, thank you." Again, the corners of her mouth upturned, and Renee felt a little more at ease.

When the president eventually arrived, it took several minutes for everything to settle, for guards to position themselves, for other patients and nurses to be sent to private rooms and kept unaware of what was happening, cameras switched off. The woman sat in the chair across from Michelle, with Agent Pierce, someone she'd met a handful of times, standing at the door. He seemed to remember her too, evident by the slight softness on his face, even beneath his otherwise neutral expression.

"How is your husband?"

Michelle seemed taken aback, not expecting that to be the first thing the president would ask her.

"He's…" She coughed to clear her throat. "He's in surgery again. There's a lot they're still trying to figure out."

Taylor nodded. "If he's been able to fight for all these years, I'm sure he'll pull through now." She said earnestly before sighing. "You understand this puts me in a very difficult position, Ms Dessler. On one hand, you have served this country with honour, and even in these last six years, have only done what you felt our government was responsible for doing. It brings me great shame to think that it's had to come to this, that you've had to take this responsibility upon yourself because you lost faith in the very thing you strove to serve. I understand now that you've mainly killed these people in pursuit of justice, albeit violently so."

She pressed her lips together.

"But on the other hand, I cannot simply let you walk free." Her voice was stern but fair. "I cannot publicly let you be pardoned for this because the chaos and destruction it would initiate would be irreparable. People would use this ruling as an excuse to commit hate crimes and take advantage of it in other ways."

"Madam President, if I may?"

"Yes?"

"I-I understand what you're saying. I never did any of this with the intention of wanting to get away with it because of my own pride or ideology. I just tried not to get caught so I could keep going and keep doing the things I believed were helping to make our country safer." She let out a slight laugh of disbelief. "I knew getting caught was a possibility, and in all honesty, I didn't care. Killing these criminals was the only purpose I had left in my life. Nothing else mattered. But now…" Michelle shut her eyes and let out a breath, trying to keep her composure. "Now the situation is obviously different. I know you can't let me go, I get that. But whatever you decide to do with me, just…don't make me leave him. Please, just…" Her voice broke. "Don't take him away from me again."

Their eyes met, and Michelle was consoled to find sympathy there. She had wanted to keep her strength up, to try not to look like an emotional wreck. But tears formed at the corners of her eyes again, and she simply no longer had the energy to fight them.

"You love your husband?"

"With every fibre of my being."

"Then I want you to prove that you're willing to put him above everything else, above all that you stand for." She pulled a manila file from her briefcase. "Here's what I propose. The safety of you and your husband is still of concern, especially his. I also understand that you may be the only person he trusts or feels safe around right now. He will be kept on heavy guard here until he recovers. Then he will be moved to a smaller hospital and into Witness Protection. If you give up all of the information you have collected these past few years and have a little faith in our government - as hard as it may be - for them to see this through, then you may join him."

A crease formed on her forehead. The information was mainly Chloe's. It was her cause too. It was something she'd worked so hard to keep protected.

"What about Chloe O'Brian?"

"Ms O'Brian has already negotiated a work release deal. She will help to reinstate the Los Angeles CTU branch."

That sounded reasonable to Michelle, but she knew there had to be something more to it. They couldn't just let her go. She didn't think she would either if she was on the other side of the table here.

Her voice grew grave. "As for you, if you agree to the deal, we will implant a small tracking device in your body and one in your husband. If you are more than a certain distance apart or if activity in his heart ceases for more than ten minutes, the government will be alerted, and you will be incarcerated, Ms Dessler. And given your previous ventures breaking out convicts," she raised an eyebrow, "it will be nothing less than solitary confinement in a maximum security prison."

"You're going to chip my husband like a dog?" She asked, disgusted.

"The chip is also for his protection. I'll leave it to you to choose if and when you tell him. This deal is for the sake of his wellbeing, not because I am condoning your behaviour." Taylor placed the file on the table beside Michelle before standing to leave. "Have a think about it, but do appreciate what's being offered here. And more importantly, think about what your husband would want you to do."

"Thank you, Madam President."

She nodded. "I hope you make the right decision."

Jack came in a few moments later, finding Michelle scrutinising the details of the file.

"What'd she say?"

"They'll let me go into Witness Protection with him, but…" Her voice seemed unconvinced, as though it were too good to be true.

"But?"

"Only if we stay together. Which means…if Tony dies before I do, or he leaves me, the deal is off, and I go to prison for the rest of my life." Michelle shrugged. "I… I can't not tell him what I've done but at the same time…"

Jack sat down across from her, where Taylor had been before. "While I agree you should be honest with him, now isn't the time. You just need to focus on being there for him. I know how angry you are about this whole mess. You probably want to finish the job. You and I both know deals might be made because they'll be grasping at straws to get to Wilson's people. It makes me sick. I hate it too." He pointed at the folder in her hands. "But this has to be enough for you. Taking care of him, helping him to get better. He's going to need to regain the strength to walk again, to speak, to eat. He needs help, Michelle. He needs you now more than ever. Maybe even more than you ever needed him. By killing Wilson, you've cut the beast at its head. You don't need to keep going. Loving him and healing him will be enough."

There was so much emotion in his voice, and Michelle understood how much he was begging her to take the deal. She was reminded again how much he cared for her and Tony. But only now did she truly see it, and only now was she truly receptive to it. He was right. She'd cleaned up the streets, and she'd done things for the right reasons, largely to honour him, largely because he wasn't there with her.

But now he was.

If she had him with her, then she could keep him safe, and that would be enough.

They wheeled Tony back in, somehow covered in even more bandages and gauze than before, another tube added to the ever-growing array. His face was so tense, and she knew he was in much more pain than physical.

More importantly, she knew that he needed her. Her face twisted, and finally, the voice in her head that had driven her to go forth and destroy every last source of evil in this world was silent. Instead, the voice of nurture, of concern, of balance, his voice slowly came back. She realised she hadn't heard it in a very long time and turned to look at Jack, her voice hardened with conviction.

"Tell her I'll take it."