---
"Thanks for the file. I know that this may get you some flack."
"Why? I just want to know why?"
"Why did I come back? Because I get to be Alexandra Cabot for 48 hours. I had too much unfinished business and that bastard took it away. I know that it is just the arm and not the head we are going after; but I have to fight back. I have to reclaim my life."
"No, Alex. Why did you let El and I know you were alive?"
Alex stopped and looked at Olivia. "You know why. It's the unfinished part. I never told you. I didn't have the guts, then I died." She knelt at Olivia's feet and held both her hands.
"Maybe it should stay that way. Tomorrow night you'll be Emily again or Julie or Stephanie. You won't be Alex; and, I have to go on living." Olivia's voice trembled with pain.
"Then he wins, and I really die. Come with me. Tell me you love me as much as I love you. Say my name tonight. Give me hope."
Tears fell and everything blurred as she let herself be led into Alex's bed. Alex refused to let her look away. She stayed locked in her eyes and heard the words she dreamed of hearing. She said all the things they'd left unsaid. They wept for the time lost and all that would be gone by morning.
-the end-