chapter two

"suspicions"

"Say, we do agree to do this...how do we know that Abruzzi and this...Melony chick won't just kill us and take the entire load for themselves?"

"We don't know. But just think...pure, raw, uncut diamonds...Lincoln, we could buy our freedom!"

"I still don't think it's a good idea." Lincoln shook his head sharply, taking a drink of his orange juice before stifling a yawn. Despite being dead tired, the previous nights' excitement had left him wide awake most of the night. He'd managed to catch a few hours of sleep, before getting up and meeting Michael in the kitchen for breakfast, which had yet to be served.

"Where's Abruzzi? I don't need 'servants', I can fix my own damn breakfast..." Lincoln grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, appearing to "pout", which made Michael smirk.

"Easy grumpy-pants, here's your breakfast."

The brothers looked up at the voice, only to see Melony DiNozzo approaching with two plates piled high with pancakes. She set one in front of Lincoln before sitting down next to him with the other plate.

Michael raised an eyebrow, "Ouch."

"Hm?" She looked up, "Oh, I forgot about you."

"Boy, don't I feel loved."

"No. John wanted to see you in the kitchen...alone."

Michael and Lincoln exchanged glances before Michael excused himself and exited the room. Melony glanced at Lincoln, who had clearly been starving before she entered the room. He'd devoured nearly half the stack of pancakes and even had a drop of maple syrup lingering in the corner of his mouth. He looked up at her, "What?"

"You don't like me very much, do you?"

"Um...I don't know you."

"But you don't like me."

"I can't determine whether or not I like you because I don't know you."

"You're getting angry."

"No, I'm not."

"You're face is turning red."

"I'm hungry."

"Picking on you is fun."

"Oh, Jesus Christ..." He shook his head, taking another bite of his pancakes and deciding to ignore her. She smirked, and let out a small laugh, "Sorry...I like to see how far I can push people."

"Well, not too far with me. Atleast, when I this hungry."

She nodded, "I couldn't help but overhear you talking to your brother, a minute ago...and, I'm not trying to pursuede you or anything..."

"Yeah, right."

She smiled, "But Abruzzi owes his life and his freedom to your brother. Where we come from, that means something. It means that Abruzzi owns him...and he will not betray him. Atleast, not until they're even with one another. He told me he wants to help the two of you...says you both deserve your freedom. That's why he decided to share the information with you. Do you think he just needs manpower?"

"Yeah, ok, me and Michael I can understand...but why the rest? T-Bag, especially."

"I'm not sure about that. John said he had his reasons...then quoted something from scripture." She shrugged, "I wouldn't worry about it, though. He knows what he's doing, and he's vowed to take care of the two of you."

"Is that so?" Lincoln raised an eyebrow, sipping his orange juice as he continued to eye her suspiciously.

xxx

"Well, this is a new look."

Abruzzi chuckled as he untied the white apron and hung it on a hook on the wall, shouting something in Italian to the other chefs and then motioning for Michael to sit down, "Cooking is a ...passion, of mine, if you will." He shrugged, "But that's not what I called you to talk about."

"And what would that be?" Michael asked interrogativly, raising an eyebrow as his eyes met Abruzzi's.

"I think you know." Abruzzi leaned forward, arms propped on the table in a full-on "business" stance, "Have you and Lincoln decided what you want to do?"

"I can't speak for my brother, but I'm sure in the end he'll realize what's best." Michael smirked, "We're in. I trust you, as much as is possible, anyway. But I have one concern..."

"And what would that be?"

"Melony DiNozzo. How do I know I can trust her?"

"You don't, Michael." Abruzzi smirked, "All you know is that she is one of the very few people I trust with my life. That should tell you something."

"It does." Michael nodded, thinking it over, "It's odd, though. Why her?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how does mob king John Abruzzi place his full trust in a descendent of an urban legend?"

"There's a lot you don't know, Scofield. A lot of which you don't need to know. Just know this..." Abruzzi stood, leaning over the table and whispering in Michael's ear, "There's a reason she's reigning her kingdom in Mexico." He smirked and left Michael sitting at the table, a thoughtful expression on his face.

xxx

Lincoln had taken a chance in placing his faith in his brother, and he was beginning to regret it. They were across the border, almost scot-free, and Michael had to go and sign them on for a damn diamond heist.

He shook his head as he leaned back in the hammock, watching as clouds neared the orange-red sun, the threat of rain and thunderstorms ever nearing, and a smile formed on his lips. He'd be content just living the rest of his life like this--relaxing on the front porch, soaking up the sun, reveling in the humidity of Mexico and sipping margaritas and, when the urge came on, downing Tequila shots until he passed out. But no, Michael wanted everything to be perfect, and to be perfect, they needed cashflow, which in this case, came in the form of diamonds.

Lincoln shook his head again, sighing as he closed his eyes. He wasn't even going to think about it, he was just going to nap in the sun and get a painful sunburn to show for it.

Just as the weariness was setting in, just as he felt his mind floating into a blissful state of rest, something was hurdled at his chest and hit with a loud 'thud'. He let out a painful 'oof' before sitting up and peering past the glare of the sun to figure out what the hell had just happened. He felt around and picked up what had hit his chest--a bottle of sunscreen lotion. "What the...?"

"Hey, I just thought you'd atleast wanna put some on your head cause, I'd imagine that'd be painful if it got burnt."

Lincoln stared at the smirking face of Melony, and before he could get angry or yell out a string of curse words, he burst out laughing. "Yeah, it hurts like you wouldn't believe."

She laughed as she came over and laid down on a lawn chair that set beside the hammock he occupied. He couldn't help but find his eyes trailing down the length of her body, as she was wearing a beautiful blue bikini top that seemed to make her eyes match the ocean, and a matching wrap around her waist, falling just the right way to allow a teasingly visible area of her legs. He wiped the smirk off his face before shaking his head and laying back down, squeezing some of the sunscreen into the palms of his hands and applying it to the appropriate places.

"Need some help, there?" Melony asked jokingly, and Lincoln shook his head, "No, I think I've got it. You?"

"I dunno. We'll see."

He eyed her strangely, and when she burst out laughing, so did he, and then the two laid back to enjoy the sun.