A/N: Hey! I'm back with another chapter... Sorry it took me so long, but I've had a rough week behind me, filled with international trips, final papers and work. But I'm back now!

I want to thank everyone who reviewed! So many reviews for the first chapter, wow! Makes my head spin...

Can you please do the same for this chapter? I'd really love to know what you think about all of this. Please?

XO

And so she woke up

Woke up from where she was

Lying still

Said I gotta do something

About where we're going

(U2 - Running to stand still)

Sara woke up and stared at the ceiling of the car she was still in. She had no idea where she was going, but knew that it had to be somewhere out of Chicago – and she knew that that couldn't be a good sign.

The first thought that entered her head, after the musings about her destination, was of Michael. Naturally...

Sara stared out of the window and saw the houses gliding by, their stone bricks glaring at her, defying her. They reminded her of the boat she should have been on, sailing off into the sunset. She wondered where it was right now, and what the two passangers she cared most about were doing. What they were thinking as the hard wind beat against their faces.

"You're awake?!" It sounded more like a question than a declaration. It was as if the woman had expected her never to open her eyes again...it was a quiet suggestion that maybe she shouldn't have.

"Yes." Sara had promised herself to keep on being civil and distinguished, and act like her armor of pretty words and up-class phrases would be enough to protect her from the accusations they would throw at her. It wouldn't be, but she could only try. It was as if she was a little girl again, using the words her daddy had taught her to use at parties when speaking to him – so that nobody would see their broken relationship or notice the pain in her eyes. No one ever had.

"Miss Tancredi, seeing as the case in which you are involved is a matter a national security, you are now being transported to the FBI headquarters in Washington DC. There you will be interrogated on suspicions of the aiding and abetting of fugitives and the endangering of national security." The woman turned around in her seat and gently smiled at Sara. "Do you have anything to add before we get there?"

Sara eyed the woman carefully and then let her eyes wander towards the doors of the car. Two locks up the front, none in the back. For a moment, she tore her gaze away from the small details and stared back out. Only to come back with full force and slam the woman's face forward with her bound hands.

The brakes screamed, making Sara thank the woman's reflexes. But she didn't have the time to voice her gratitude, while the agent's face lay on the steering wheel and the time was ticking. Her feet had just enough strength in them to move her to the front seat and Sara fumbled with the lock, her ragged breathing the only sound in the car. She cast worried glances behind her, but the woman did even twitch.

When the fresh air hit her face, it was a feeling of liberation that she had never felt before. She inhaled deeply and smiled a little, before stumbling forward...and falling when the foot connected with her knees and eventually came to rest against her back. Her face bled from the sudden contact with the pavement, and she felt the metallic taste of her own blood trickling into her mouth. Opening her eyes to little slits, she saw the agent's silhouette painted against the shrill light.

"I said..."the woman repeated, "Do you have anything to add before we get there?"

Attempt at escape one: failed.

She eyed the woman carefully and shook her head. "No."

Michael stared out into the distance and frowned at the horizon, even though it held no mystery to him. He knew exactly where they were going, at what time they would arrive, and what to do when he got there. What he was still figuring out, was how to get back where he came from and rescue the woman who had come to mean everything to him.

He thought of the Christina Rose and of how to use her to get to Sara. A small smile slipped out. His mother would finally meet the woman he loves. Well, the boat named after her, anyway.

She would have liked Sara. Michael hadn't had the chance to spend a lot of time with his mother, but one thing he knew of Christina Rose was that the woman would have loved Sara. Three minutes after starting up a conversation with her, his mother would nod almost unnoticeably at Michael and give him a small smile. Next, she would insist on Sara staying for dinner and make plans with her for the next week.

Where would they have taken her? Not Chicago...it would be too obvious. If there was anything Alexander Mahone (who, no doubt, was the brains behind this whole thing) wasn't, it was obvious. Alex always found a way to challenge Michael.

But Chicago was a good place to start looking for her. He would start there and then follow the signs.

(Three days later.)

The minute his feet stepped on Panamasoil, he didn't feel the thrill he had supposed he would feel. The thrill Lincoln obviously did feel. His brother's face was open and smiling, unreserved as to who saw his happiness. Michael gently patted his brother on the upperarm in congratulations and forced out a smile.

Whatever Michael did, whatever he saw...he couldn't shrug the feeling that she was missing from this picture. Panama didn't bring his salvation if she wasn't right there beside him. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. A shiver ran down his back.

Something was wrong.

He slammed the cup of coffee down onto the plastic table. The hot liquid seeped through the lid, but he didn't seem to care. She stared at the brown tear slowly rolling down the white and gave a small smile. Three days, and he hadn't been able to break her yet.

Next to them, a sugar-glazed donut lay. It had been there ever since the interrogation had started, a long time ago, to make good on his promise to 'get her a donut...get her a dozen donuts!'. It was also, she supposed, a sign he used to make it clear to her who was in charge between these four walls.

They'd fed her. They'd given her something to drink and a bed to sleep in. It was all she needed, really. There was nothing else in the material world that they could give to her.

They'd screamed. They'd spoken hard accusations, and she had answered them politely. Alexander Mahone had lost his nerve plenty in the last few days and today was no different. But this would be the first time he would physically harm her.

His hand struck her face hard. One time, two times, three times, four times...Her skin cracked underneath his fingers and she gasped quietly when his nail scraped her cheek. In the distance, she heard the door being opened and two agents running in and holding Mahone back. The tears clouded her vision, but she could only just distinguish the woman who had transported her here.

"Alex..." she heard her say, "calm down."

Her body was raging with anger, but his strong arms and warmth made it soften and eventually fade away. The bitterness in her mouth remained, but the mere fact that he was here for her, keeping her from doing something she would later label 'incredibly stupid and un-Sara-like', seemed to make it all okay. "Settle down," he had whispered next to her ear, and she had.

Mahone was removed from the chamber and the woman took place in front of Sara. "We're terribly sorry about that, Miss Tancredi. I promise you that Agent Mahone will be removed from this case. In fact, me and the other associates have been talking about this for a while now, and we feel that it would be in the best interest to handle this case differently." She gave Sara a polite nod, removed her cellphone from her pocket and dialed.

"Okay. Bring it in now..."

So? What did you think? Hope I didn't let you down...Please tell me?

XO