A/N: All right, so this little one shot has been floating around in my head for a few weeks now (pretty much since the season premiere). I haven't been able to sit down and write it until now because real life seems to just keep getting in the way. Anyway, here it is: my second Prison Break and first Michael/Sara story. Let me know what you think. :)
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It hurt everywhere.
That was the only thing Sara could focus on as her eyes fluttered open and shut, blinking to try to see in the dim light. Her mind was fuzzy and unfocused as she tried to place where she was and what was happening, but the indescribable pain that lanced through her body prevented her from forming coherent thought. A thousand sensations were shooting up and down her body, and her brain frantically tried to register them as she slowly took in the situation she was in.
The air was thick and hot, and it hit her like a wave as she gulped a breath into her lungs. It felt sticky and unpleasant, and she felt sweat pouring down her body along with something else. It took a minute for her to realize that it was blood. Hot, sticky, thick red blood was sluggishly sliding down her back and quietly dripping onto the floor, and the realization hit her with a sickening pang of horror. She felt her stomach turn and bile rise in her throat, but her stomach had nothing for her to vomit as she gagged. She vaguely remembered that it had been over two days since she'd last eaten.
Her hair clung to her neck and cheeks and she tried to brush the annoying strands away from her face but the pain was too great. Any movement of her arm sent searing pain along her back, and it hurt so bad that it sucked the breath out of her chest. She dropped to the ground from her sitting position, lying on her stomach to try to avoid aggravating her battered back.
She rested her head on her hands and closed her eyes, conjuring up a picture of him once again to help her through the pain. Thinking of Michael had been the only thing that had kept her going as she'd endured these countless weeks of torture. She clung to the memory of his face, his voice, his smile, anything she could clearly remember about him in order to stay sane as the pain she'd endured had tried to rob her of her sanity. But Michael was always there, helping her through the pain from the safety of her own mind.
However, Sara's eyes snapped open as the door to her prison flung open, revealing the woman who Sara had grown to fear since the first day she'd been locked here. She stormed into the room, her black hair swinging wildly as her fierce blue eyes bored into her prisoner. "Get up." The woman harshly grabbed Sara's wrists and yanked up her, causing Sara to cry out in unbearable pain. Too weak to fight back, Sara trembled uncontrollably as the woman once again snapped her wrists into the handcuffs that hung from the ceiling.
"Did you honestly think you would get away with it?" The woman walked to the corner of the room and picked up the long whip that lay against the wall. Sara felt tears form in the corners of her eyes as she realized that it was about to happen once again. "Get away with what?" Her voice was hoarse and raspy as she spoke, which she rarely did nowadays. It had only gotten her into more trouble when she uttered a word.
The woman cruelly ran the edge of the whip over the open wounds on Sara's back, and she whimpered in pain as the tender cuts were aggravated once again. "You're going to suffer the same way that guard did for trying to help you escape. Maybe then you'll learn your lesson."
"No," The tears leaked out from her eyes and burned their way down her cheeks as she saw the woman raise the whip. "Please, god no…" The woman paid her no attention as she swung the whip down with all her might onto the raw skin of Sara's back. She screamed out at the torturous pain as stars burst in front of her eyes. More gashes cut their way into her back as the world slowly spun in front of her, blackness becoming one step closer with every slash added to the collection…
-o0o-
Sara's eyes snapped open and she bolted upright as she was violently woken from her nightmare. Her wide eyes swung from one side of the room to the other, fearfully searching for the woman who had tortured her to no end back in Panama. She listened to the racing heartbeat that pounded in her ears, and after a minute she realized that it was her own. The heartbeat gradually slowed as Sara once again came to the conclusion that she was in fact safe now, and that Gretchen was nowhere to be found.
"Sara!" She heard the frantic footsteps that raced down the hallway, and sighed in relief at the familiar voice. A part of her felt bad for always worrying him like this, and another part of her felt embarrassed. She still felt awkward when he found her in a vulnerable state, but she was slowly becoming used to having the comfort of his support whenever she needed it most. "Michael." He hurried into the room and rushed to her side, his worried eyes mentally surveying her as he took in her fearful appearance. "Sara, are you okay?"
She let out a long sigh and laid back against the headboard of the bed. These nightmares came more often now, almost to the point of one every night. Though she was still reluctant to admit it to him, she was almost afraid to even close her eyes for the fear of reliving the torture she'd endured in Panama. "Just another nightmare."
He took her hand in his, protectively squeezing it as he continued to worriedly watch her. "You're having more of them now then you were before."
She nodded slowly, closing her eyes at the comfort of his presence. "I think its PTSD." Her confession was quiet, and Michael knew that it took a lot for her to say that. Things like this weren't easy for her to talk about. "Post traumatic stress?" She nodded once again, confirming his thought. She heard him let out a heavy sigh before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders to hold her close, as if he alone could protect her from the dangers of the world. "Do you think it would help to talk about it?"
She rested her head against his shoulder, enjoying the feeling of having him close once again. It was the one thing she'd desperately wished for while she was held prisoner. "Yes. I think I'm ready to talk about it."
"I'll always be here to listen." His voice was soft and kind, and she knew that he would always be there for her when she needed him. That thought relieved her as her scattered thoughts scrambled to make sense and order in her mind, and she took a minute to sort them out before she began her story.
"I think I was there for a good three weeks. It felt much longer though. Gretchen kept me locked up in a shack in the middle of nowhere. It was always so hot. It felt like the air was trying to suffocate me every time I tried to breathe." She paused between every sentence, gathering strength from both herself and the man beside her as she fought with her memories to continue her tale. "I lost track of what she wanted from me. I think she just wanted to cause me pain to try to hurt you, and that was more difficult to bear than all the pain she put me through. I didn't want her to hurt you in any way."
She paused as she heard him take in a shaky breath, knowing that he would feel guilty at her admission. He would blame himself, saying it was his fault she had to endure everything she went through, but she wasn't going to have any of it. She was tired of him blaming himself for everything, so she turned and placed a finger on his lips as he was about to protest. "Please Michael, don't. I don't want you to blame yourself for everything."
He closed his eyes and nodded, agreeing to keep quiet as she wished. Thankful that he wasn't going to press it any further, she took another deep breath and once again gathered her thoughts as she tried to figure out how to continue. "I… They only let me eat every few days. Beatings were almost as often. Gretchen seemed to favor… whipping…" Her broken voice faltered once again as she felt Michael gasp in horror and pull her closer. "Whipping?"
Sara nodded, bringing his hand to her back. He traced along her back through her shirt, feeling the raised scars that lingered on her skin. He shuddered at the feeling of them, knowing they would be a reminder of that awful time for the rest of her life. "God, Sara…"
"There was a guard there," She continued on, ignoring his soft interruption. Now that she had found the strength to talk about Panama, she knew she needed to finish her story before she became too weak to continue. "She gave me the key to unlock the door, so I could escape. Gretchen found out that she was trying to help me, and she killed that woman right in front of me. I never even knew her name." Her voice was distant and detached as she spoke, as if she was right there in that moment once again. "That key saved my life. She knew she'd be killed for giving it to me, but she still sacrificed herself for me. I wish I knew why."
Michael gently rubbed her arm as her distraught words continued. Her head gently rested on his shoulder, her eyes distant as she thought over the whole experience. "Sara… I'm so sorry…"
"I don't blame you Michael," She argued, "Don't you ever forget that. I never have and I never ever will. Gretchen did this to me." Her words were determined and final, and Michael knew that she would never acknowledge whatever guilt he still felt. "I love you so much Sara." By the tone of his voice, she knew that he was on the verge of tears, and she turned in his arms so they faced each other. She brought her hands to his face, gently tracing the curves along his jaw line and she searched his eyes. "I love you too Michael. That's what got me through Panama." She gently brought her lips to his, giving him a soft but passionate kiss that he returned fervently.
He pulled back after a minute or so and hugged her tightly, as if refusing to ever let her go. "I'll always be here for you Sara. I could never leave you."
"I know Michael," Her whisper was right in his ear. "And when this is all over, I can't think of any better way to celebrate our freedom than to spend the rest of our lives together." The smile was small, but it still crossed his lips as she spoke the words he'd wanted to speak to her for what seemed to be forever.
He wiped away her tears as she looked into his eyes once again, and he filed this moment away in his mind. Her smile, her eyes, her overwhelming beauty, he loved every bit of her as she gazed into her warm eyes in this moment that seemed to be frozen in time. He never wanted to let any part of her slip away from him. "Forever."
She nodded softly in agreement. "Forever."
-End-