Hello again, friends! I'm trying update as quickly as I can haha. Who knows what'll happen, though, when I go back to work tomorrow. Working with kiddies tires me out. :P Anyway, thank you so incredibly much for your response. It humbles me and makes me want to continue! I very much enjoyed reading your reactions, so keep them coming! Enjoy!


Three

"I've already arranged transportation for Sucre," Alex announces a minute later. "And Lincoln is onboard as well. I've got a lead on a guy in Miami; we're meeting there tomorrow."

"You did all of this already?" Sara asks, incredulous. "You got everyone together without even telling us?"

"I'm telling you now," Alex frowns. "I knew you would be the hardest to convince."

"I doubt Lincoln and Sucre just agreed without hesitation," Michael replies. "I know my brother; he must have set a dictation of terms."

"And Fernando has a family, too, now," Sara counters. "I don't think he'd just up and leave them at the first sign of danger."

"Oh they were difficult, don't get me wrong," Alex shakes his head. "Sucre made us promise we'd never contact him again and Lincoln wanted a guarded safe house for LJ and Sofia. But they agreed, ultimately. We're getting a move on as soon as possible. Kellerman and I have done what we can to keep a tight lid on this operation, but it's moving fast."

"So you have a lead in Miami," Sara shrugs. "What do you plan on doing about it?"

"Well, that's the problem," Alex sighs. "Whereas last time we knew everyone we were dealing with, this time it's not that simple. This time, anyone could be a suspect. This lead, according to Kellerman, can connect us with someone who has at least an idea of where the others could be."

"I'm guessing we're not just going to talk to him," Michael assumes. "I'm sure they're armed and I don't know if you've noticed but my life's been more of LEGOs and Barbie dolls than guns, lately."

Sara grins fondly. "I don't even know if I remember how to use one."

"I know two ex-Company operatives that think differently," Alex retorts smartly and Sara's grin wanes slightly. "Kellerman's dealing with the weapons; I'm just the recruiter. I figured we could meet here tomorrow morning before this all starts to go over our plans. Lincoln and Kellerman are already planning on it."

"That sounds fine."

"This whole operation shouldn't take more than a week or two, tops," Alex states reasonably. "Can I count on you two? I really would like to tell Kellerman I got all of you."

Sara nods but Michael's hesitant. They both look at him in confusion and he avoids Sara's eye when he says, "I have one condition."

"Name it."

"Sara's not coming."

If Alex is surprised, he doesn't show it. But Sara is immediately alarmed. "What? Why?"

"Someone has to stay with the kids," Michael reasons with her, even though she's having none of it. "And if God forbid anything should happen, I'm not orphaning these children."

"Don't even talk like that. Nothing is going to happen," She shakes her head, adamant. "The kids will go to the safe house with LJ and Sofia and they'll be fine. I'm not going to sit around worrying while you guys go gallivanting around the country risking your lives. It's not happening."

"Well I'm not risking your life by putting you in danger," Michael says firmly.

"So you would rather put yourself in danger?"

"If it meant that you and the kids were safe, yes."

"I think we learned the hard way, last time, what happens when the two of us are separated," Sara counteracts. "You really want to take a gamble and assume that won't happen again?"

"It won't," Michael disagrees. "Because you'll be with LJ and Sofia and the kids at the safe house and you'll be fine. We'll know where you are at all times and when it's all over, we'll come get you guys and we can finally move on."

She says nothing, only looks at him in disbelief and frustration, but breaks when he says, pleadingly, "Sara, please? Please."

"Fine," Sara offers, tight-lipped. She turns to Alex and says, "Nice to see you again, Alex. Good luck with everything. I'm going to go put the kids to bed."

Without another word, she stands and heads down the hallway, towards the master bedroom. Michael exhales and says, "She's pissed at me."

"Yeah," Alex agrees. "But you did the right thing."

"Did I?" Michael asks skeptically and Alex nods.

"Of course," He glances down at his hands briefly. "You've got to protect your family. You only get one of those."

There's unspoken tension in the air, just then, and it doesn't take a genius to realize it stems from Alex's broken past. Michael watches Alex fiddle nervously with his cuff links and toy with his fingers, thinking only of the little boy he'd never known and would never meet. It couldn't have been easy on Alex, Michael thinks, to watch Noah earlier, six years old and thriving- something Cameron would never be. It's for this reason exactly that Michael is sending his family away. He can't bear the thought of losing any one of them; the grief that Alex has suffered and continues to suffer haunts Michael to this day.

Before he can offer sympathy or condolences, however, Alex stands and says, "Well that about covers it. We'll be here first thing tomorrow to talk logistics and head to the airport. We've booked the ten-fifteen to Miami, so be ready."

"I will," Michael nods. "Take care, Alex."

"Yeah, you too," Alex says, shrugging into his coat and heading out into the night.

Michael sits alone with his thoughts a moment later- Nathaniel Edison's rounding up former Company members, they're rebuilding The Company, anyone could be a suspect- before he realizes he is ridiculously overwhelmed. It becomes too much and so he does the first thing he can think of- he calls Lincoln. It's nearing ten o'clock now and he can hear the kids' protests in the other room chiming in time with the dial tone moments before Lincoln picks up on the other end. It must be some kind of brotherly telepathy because Michael doesn't even have to say what's on his mind; Lincoln opens with,

"They got you too, huh?"

"How did you guess?" Michael drones sarcastically. "I have absolutely no interest in getting involved in this again, but since there's a chance that this might actually be the last time, we're going to give it a shot."

"Guess you could look at it like that. I'm wondering why we didn't hop the border while we had the chance. We didn't have to go back to Panama. I'd never do that to Sara. But anything could've worked. Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Honduras… I heard in St. Thomas you don't even need a Social Security number!"

"Linc, we're not running," Michael sighs. "We're done running, remember?"

"Yeah, well we were supposed to be done with this bullshit too."

"Yeah, you're right," He replies. "I don't know how we're going to pull this off."

"You broke out of two prisons, Michael. I'm sure you'll figure something out. It can't be that hard to track down fifteen people."

"Except for the fact that it could be anyone," Michael adds and Lincoln sighs.

"Yeah. There's that."

"What did you have in mind for a safe house?" He then asks. "Sara and the kids'll be joining Sofia and LJ."

"You're making her stay behind, huh?"

"I can't risk losing her, Linc."

"Sara's pretty indestructible, man. I mean, you haven't lost her yet."

"It's not for The Company's lack of trying, that's for sure," Michael comments. "I'm thinking if we're spending all this time in Miami we should keep them close enough that we can reach them in case anything happens, but far enough away that The Company won't be able to touch them."

"So you have a place in mind, then?"

"Yeah, an old friend owes me a favor anyway," Michael says. "So we're really doing this, then?"

"I don't see where we have a choice. But if this doesn't work, man, I swear to God I'm on the next flight to Mexico. And if Kellerman ever contacts me again, it'll be the last thing he ever does."

"Don't kill Paul, Linc," Michael states. "You killing someone is what got us into this mess in the first place."

"No, I never killed anyone. Dad's double-crossing bullshit is what got us into this mess. How is it that we got two pieces of shit for parents, anyway?"

"We're just that lucky, I guess." Michael jokes. "You know that our family's always been immensely lucky."

"Don't I know it. It figures that they'd try and fuck us over again just when things are finally going great."

"Yeah," Michael frowns. "Tell me about it."

The conversation lasts a few minutes more before ending on a less-than-pleasant note. Michael digs through his briefcase for his notepad and begins to take down everything they know so far. He remembers, grimly, doing the same thing all those years ago on that giant white board. As he lists everything he knows and remembers about Nathaniel Edison, he has flashes of their time in the warehouse- cataloguing the Scylla cardholders, living on the boat with Sara, listening to Lincoln constantly reprimand Roland for his nonsensical comments- and wishes more than anything that Kellerman would have finished his job. He wishes that Kellerman could have manned up and used Scylla for good, could have milked all the possible information out of Krantz while he had the chance, instead of waiting and having Michael and the old Scylla team do it for him.

When information runs dry, Michael abandons his notepad and pen and decides to turn in. It had been an unexpectedly long day and who knows when he'd get another good night's sleep? It's closer to eleven, now, and he's sure the both the kids and Sara are long since asleep. He passes Zoe's room first and steps in soundlessly. She's curled around a teddy bear she's had since she was an infant and still sucking her thumb even though they've tried incessantly to get her to stop. He bends down and presses a kiss to her cool cheek, whispers his love and watches his daughter slumber on. He hopes she's dreaming of something beautiful and majestic, because she'll never have to worry about the dangers he must.

He leaves Zoe's room and crosses the hall towards Noah's next. His room is immaculately clean and every toy is exactly in its designated place, just how he likes it. His outer space nightlight is glowing green in the corner of the room and projecting a full galaxy of stars across the pristine white ceiling, although the six-year-old is too far off somewhere in dreamland to notice. He's sprawled out across his bed, half of his limbs hanging over the side and his bed sheets and blankets strewn about here and there. His little chest is rising and falling and Michael grins at the sight. At the time of his conception, they hadn't been sure this child would ever get a chance at a normal life. As he bends over him, now, to kiss his forehead and declare his love, Michael promises his son that he will remain safe, no matter what.

Sara's left the bathroom light on for him he notices a moment later, when he's entered the room. It's a small thing and it's probably subconscious, but it still makes him smile. He's never been happier in his entire life than in these past seven years spent with her; he knows it and she knows it, or at least he hopes she does. He tells her all the time. He also tells her, after everything that's gone wrong and all the damage he's caused, that he doesn't deserve to be this happy and he certainly doesn't deserve someone like her, even though this comment truly disappoints her. She tells him his self-esteem needs work; he agrees. But he loves her with all his heart and is still surprised everyday by how much she loves him too. He'll spend the rest of his life proving he deserves it.

He showers quickly and readies himself for bed, entering their darkened bedroom to find Sara already there, facing the wall so he can't tell if she's asleep or not. He's assuming the latter. He climbs into bed slowly, careful not to disturb her if she is in fact asleep, and lies motionless for a while. When she doesn't respond to his presence, he asks, "Sara? Are you still awake?"

"Yeah," She whispers quietly, but says nothing more.

He knows the answer, but he asks anyway. "Are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you, Michael," She sighs heavily. "I just… I'm frustrated and annoyed and…"

She doesn't finish, but she doesn't have to. Michael nods his agreement. "I know. I am, too. The last thing I want to do is get involved in this disaster again. Actually, the last thing I want to do is break out of another prison again, but this is a close second."

She smirks. "No more breakouts, Scofield?"

"Nah," He shakes his head. "I'm retired."

"I don't want to do this again," She confesses. "I didn't want to do it the first time."

"I know. I'm sorry I dragged you into it."

"You didn't drag me into anything," Sara replies, rolling onto her back and staring mindlessly at the ceiling. "What was the alternative? They killed Bruce; I'm sure they would've leapt at the chance to kill me too. I stuck it out because we had to and it was worth it. I just wish…"

"It was over?" Michael finishes and Sara nods slowly.

"Yeah. I wish it was over."

"I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault."

"You don't think anything is my fault."

"I think many things are your fault," Sara disagrees and Michael chuckles lowly. "But not this. This is beyond you."

"Okay, well then I'm sorry about before. It's not that I don't think you'd be a helpful addition to the team or anything. Believe me, you've proved you're more than capable," He explains and she smiles at this notion. "I just want you to be safe."

"I understand," She tells him. "I don't agree with you, but I understand."

"Okay. Well I'm not going to force you to feel the same way," Michael says. "But everything's going to be okay."

"I wish I shared your optimism."

"You are still a huge pessimist," Michael teases. "All these years and you still haven't learned to have a little faith."

"What can I say? A tiger doesn't change its stripes," Sara responds, smiling despite the situation.

He inches closer to her and pulls her into his body, curling his arms around her torso as she snuggles into him. "Are you sure you're not mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you," She insists. "I'm going to be worried sick about you."

"Don't think about it too much."

"How can I not?" Sara murmurs. "You know you're sending me off because you can't lose me. Did you ever think about what I'd do if I lost you?"

His arms tighten around her. "You're stronger than I am."

"Am I?" She asks disbelievingly. "What about the kids? There are kids involved, this time."

"There was a kid involved last time," Michael points out. "Speaking of which, is there anything you need to tell me? You know, before long-lost family members use it as emotional blackmail?"

Sara laughs. "I'm not pregnant. And I wanted to tell you. I was going to tell you, but I couldn't find the right time. Plus, I really thought Lincoln should be the one to break that to you."

He chuckles. "Yeah, you know he really was the best person for the job."

She's grinning because even in this time of heightening stress, he still manages to make her feel so blissfully happy. "I love you."

She's said it an innumerable amount of times but still, each time she feels as though she's baring her soul. She's never loved anyone as wholly and completely as she loves Michael and it terrifies and excites her, still, to this day. Sara had been worried at the conclusion of the Scylla fiasco that she and Michael would grow tired of one another; she'd thought that what was fueling their passionate love was the thrill of the running, the chase, the secrecy. She'd been afraid that once they settled down, things would fizzle, because they hadn't really known each other as well as they thought they did. But this never happened; if anything, their love had grown even further. Having gone through what they did, they came to appreciate one another even more, their love growing exponentially. Sara hopes Michael understands what he does to her; she hopes he understands just how much she loves him and how each time she professes this love, her insides grow warm and her heart races and her entire body fills with a rush of adrenaline.

He grins as if he's read her mind- and it wouldn't shock her if he did, honestly, since he does so often- and replies, "I love you, too, Sara."

Suddenly, she's hit with an intense wave of longing, even though he hasn't left her yet. It's the same feeling she always gets anytime he isn't by her side; as though a part of her is missing and, by extension, this is true. She scrambles upwards, a little clumsily, and kisses him fiercely, as if they'd been separated for years, as if they'd never see each other again. He responds just as eagerly; she isn't aware she's crying until she feels the pads of his thumbs brush against the delicate skin beneath her eyes. He pulls away from her long enough to tell her that it'll be okay, that he'll make things right, before reattaching himself to her, kissing her deeply, strongly and lovingly. The next few actions occur in a lust-filled blur- undressing and kissing and intercourse- and Sara tries very hard not to think about how this may or may not be the last time they have this chance.

When it's over, they remain in each other's arms. Neither can sleep out of worry and fear, but they're quiet for the other's sake, anyway. The moon gleaming in through the slanted blinds catches Sara's wedding ring, and she tries, once again, not to think of how much is at stake.