Title: Chaos
Characters: Lincoln Burrows, Fernando Sucre
Summary: Coping. And not...
Genre: General. (Spoilers for 3.4 - Good Fences)
Rating: PG-13
A/N: Okay, I haven't seen any of the third series, far less this episode. But I have heard. And heard... And this came to mind.
The episode in which Michael asked Lincoln to take care of Sara was called "The Killing Box" - irony? black coincidence?

"If something happens to us...if we get separated and one of us doesn't make it?
Promise me you'll find Sara..."
(2.13)

He crouched against the corrugated wall, head in one hand, as he clenched and unclenched the other. "Oh, Christ," he moaned, noticing the dried blood under a finger nail. And he'd scrubbed and he'd scrubbed...

"Linc?"

He started, violently, at the hand on his shoulder.

"When- What are you gonna tell him, Linc?"

"I don't know, man," he replied, voice barely above a whisper. "No fucking clue. Got any ideas how you tell your brother- "

"I want- I mean, I need to see it- her. Doc- "

"No."

Sucre crouched down beside him, leant his head back on the wall. "Linc, man, I know it's true, but I don't think I can believe it till I- "

"NO! Nobody should have to-"

"You did, man - no warning, no nothing, just a bad feeling. And if I can't believe- "

"I deserved to see! It's my fucking fault - she's dead because of me! Her blood is on my hands... " he finished, his voice breaking. "Sucre, just- Remember her as she was."

"Linc, I hear you, but- " He closed his eyes, sighing. "It's hard for me, how do you think it's gonna be for Papi? I can...back you up. Help him. Make him believe, realise..."

"I'm not telling him how."

"No! No fucking way!" he agreed, horrified. "Ay, Dios, no..."

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"He's been abandoned his whole life. Dad, Mom - she died young..."
(1.5)

He sat on an upturned box, eyes swollen, his stomach emptied of its contents. 'As she was, Fernando - not like this, not like this. Remember her in the infirmary, always nice, kind. Remember them. The times you caught her looking at him. That look he couldn't keep from his eyes when he'd say her name.' "He always seemed happier... after his infirmary visits. More peaceful. I used to give him shit about it - and her - but he'd just smile and...say nothing... "

"When they met up again - at the train station in Chicago - I tried to give them some privacy. Not look. But I did."

"What are we gonna do with- with Doc, Linc? We can't leave- She has to be laid to rest, man," he paused, struggling with the image. "Properly. For her. For Michael."

They stared at the blood-encrusted box.

"Where, Sucre, where? I don't know this fucking place. Or anybody."

Sucre shrugged, hearing the helplessness he felt. "A church - confessional? Priest? But we gotta get our stories down, Linc. Not just for the priest, for Papi. How she...died. How we know. Everything. He'll dig, ask questions. So, we gotta get it straight, from the beginning. If we both say the same- "

"Huh, you don't think I know that? He'll find out. But if we stick to...whatever the hell we're gonna say, we can slow him down."

Their eyes were drawn back to the box.

"Someone has to pay for this. Someone has to die."

"They will. But I'll do it - not Michael. He's lost enough. I won't let him do that, lose his- He'll blame himself, but they did it- they chose her as a lesson to me. They could've taken LJ, but they picked the one who wasn't as important to me. And Mike loses. Because of me. So, it's my job."

"You two are a lot alike, man - hermanos."

Linc nodded, somberly. "Let's find Doc a place to rest. We'll think about everything else...after."

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"I can't get it out of my head. The photo, the whole Santa Rita thing. That maybe Doc was trying to tell us more than their location. That she was sending a message, warning Mike. That it was too hard, not to throw himself away on a lost cause. Protecting him to the end..."

"I don't know, Linc. I'm sure Michael will figure it out."

"That's what scares me. He will."

"When I'm gone, can you...look out for my brother?"
(1.14)

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