I would like to thank the five wonderful people who reviewed the last chapter. Your reviews completely made my day.
Lis: Yeah, Michael and Sucre were a bit uncaring there. My reasoning for this was that Michael felt really bad about what happened, and the only thing that he could think of to do to help right then was get them out of there as quickly as possible, and Sucre just followed what Michael did. Plus, as you mentioned, Michael and Sucre leaving allowed for Lincoln to comfort her, so... I don't know if that makes it seems any better, but that was why.
Crimsoncheeks and thewomanwhosoldtheworld: There will be more MiSa coming up, I promise. Not so much in this chapter, but they meet up with Sara in the next chapter, and then after that, she's more of a main character than she is now. I'm not sure how well I can actually write MiSa stuff though, but I will definitely be giving it a try in upcoming chapters.
Chapter 8!
Disclaimer: Don't own anything, except Kate, Adam, and Minan-Hatford (which is a fictional place, as far as I know). This list of stuff I own seems to be growing...
They had been driving for hours, and Michael and Lincoln had been talking in hushed tones for several minutes when Sucre leaned forwards, resting his elbows on the sides of their seats. "What're we talking about?" Fernando asked casually.
Michael glanced at Lincoln, then at Sucre. "Where we're going."
"Oh."
"I told Sara we'd meet her in New Mexico in two days," Michael paused, glancing at the clock. "Or, tomorrow, rather. It's a long drive, but we can make it."
"Where to after that?" Sucre asked.
Michael sighed. "We can either try to get across the border, or stay here, and try to expose the people who framed Lincoln."
"Pretty dangerous either way."
"Yeah."
"Well, let me know what you decide." Sucre said lightly. Michael smiled faintly. Sucre glanced behind him, before facing ahead again. "Look, papi, I don't know if I'm statin' the obvious here, but I think we've got to let the doctor go."
Michael turned towards the Puerto Rican slightly, then turned back around to face the road. "Oh?"
Sucre nodded. "I'm glad she stitched me up and all, but we don't need her anymore. She's just causing us problems. And she's suffering." He paused. "Did T-Bag actually rape her?"
Lincoln shook his head. "We got there in time." He said, sounding very preoccupied.
"You still worried 'bout those men at the gas station?" Sucre asked. Lincoln glared at him. "What happened to 'we do what we have to do'?"
"You ever killed someone, Sucre?" Lincoln asked sharply. There was no response, and a silence fell over the group.
"We'll let her go in the morning." Michael decided, breaking the silence. "She can't be in a good state of mind to be left by herself right now anyway." Sucre glanced back, and saw the woman asleep in the back seat, curled up against the door.
"You're right, papi." Sucre remarked, sinking back into his seat again. "I'm gonna try and sleep for a bit. Wake me up if anything exciting's happening."
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"Officer… is there any word?" Adam asked.
The police officer turned. "We were just looking for you, Mr. Logan. There was a development that we wanted to brief you on. If you'll follow me to my office…?" Adam nodded, and followed the officer deeper into the police department.
The officer led him to a small office. The policeman sat behind the desk, while Adam took a seat in the chair in front of it. "You said earlier that you thought maybe she'd gone to visit her family." The officer said. Adam nodded.
"Her dad died a couple years ago, and her mom's in hospice care. Linda, Kate's mom, has lung cancer. Her mother's been fighting it for years." Adam clarified.
The officer nodded, and noted this on a paper. "We called the hospice center that her mom lived in, and no one had seen Kate for a couple of days. We asked some questions at the hospital where she worked, also. No one saw her after her shift, except for a Marly Nelson." The officer paused.
"Marly is a resident with Kate." Adam said.
"Yes, well, Dr. Nelson said that she saw Kate about twenty minutes after her shift ended. Kate had already changed back into her street clothes, but Dr. Nelson said Kate was in front of a supply cart, wearing her white coat. She asked Kate what she was doing, and Kate replied that she had a patient that needed stitches a couple blocks from the hospital, that their car had broken down, and they couldn't get to the ER." The officer said.
"So what, the bleeding patient kidnapped Kate?" Adam asked, sounding doubtful.
"We're looking into it." The officer replied. "We'll let you know as soon as there's something to know." Adam nodded.
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When T-Bag came to, it took him a minute to remember what he was doing lying on the floor. Slowly, the events of the night came back to him, beginning with the murder of Ms. Stanton, the owner of the house, to the reappearance of Michael and his gang, to Burrows' interference. He swore loudly as he felt his face, where the older brother had attacked him.
T-Bag slowly got to his feet, and stumbled disoriented back to the kitchen. He opened the freezer, searching for ice. T-Bag placed several ice cubes inside a plastic bag, and put the makeshift ice pack on his left eye, which was swollen shut. The criminal then went and laid down on the couch, in the living room. He was somewhat amused to see that Michael had left him a wad of cash. T-Bag knew he wouldn't have done the same, had their positions been reversed. T-Bag settled down on the couch, and gradually nodded off.
"Hello, Mr. Bagwell." Mahone said, in a mocking tone, waking T-Bag. He slowly opened his good eye, and didn't respond, except to glare. What was there really to say? "I just thought I'd let you know, before you die, that Mr. Scofield led me to you."
"What, that son of a bitch was working for you?" T-Bag asked.
Mahone laughed grimly. "No." He paused. "Did you see Michael Scofield tonight?"
"Maybe I did, and maybe I didn't." T-Bag replied, guardedly.
Mahone sighed. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. This can end well for you, or it can end badly. Did you see Mr. Scofield tonight?"
"Yes."
"Who was with him?"
"His brother, the Puerto Rican, and a feisty lil' lady." T-Bag replied.
Mahone had stood up. "Who was she?"
"Somethin' Curtis. She was with 'em, and they were mighty quick to defend her, when the opportunity arose." T-Bag responded, eyeing the gun.
"What did she look like?" Alex asked, surprised that there was someone else involved now.
"Eh, blonde hair, brown eyes. Short; 'bout five three, five four. Pretty, but nothin' special." T-Bag watched as Mahone noted this in his notebook.
"How long ago were they here?"
"I dunno; they knocked me out before they left."
"What were they here for?"
"They was lookin' for something. I dunno what. I don't think they found it." T-Bag lied quickly. He knew that any chance of escape lay in the money currently hidden underneath the couch.
"Mmhmm." Mahone contemplated this for a moment. "I appreciate your help, T-Bag."
"No trouble." T-Bag replied. His eye widened as Mahone lifted the gun again. "You said-"
"I lied." Mahone stated coldly. "There was no way you were going to get away. Now you are going to die."
T-Bag laughed eerily. "I was in Fox River for life; I was dyin' anyway." He said. "Only now, I die a free man. And not you, not anybody can take that away from me."
Mahone's eyes narrowed. His phone rang suddenly, causing them both to jump.
"You'd best answer that. It sounds important." T-Bag said, knowing that he was probably going to die regardless of whether the agent took the call now or not. Mahone glared at him, but answered the phone.
"Mahone." He snapped.
"Hello, Alex. I need an update." Mr. Kim's voice said. Mahone's eyes never left T-Bag's.
"I followed the fugitives to a motel, the Pink Sunset, and from there, to Ness City, Kansas, where I found Theodore Bagwell."
"But not Burrows, Sucre, or Scofield."
"No, but they were here earlier."
"Not now."
"No."
"Alex, I want you to come back to Minan-Hatford. You can supervise the investigation there." William Kim ordered.
"Excuse me?" Mahone asked sharply, turning around in surprise.
"I think you would be of more use there."
"But, sir, I have Scofield within my grasp…"
"No, Alex, you do not. I expect you to be in Minan-Hatford as soon as you can. And Bagwell better be with you." William Kim hung up, and Alexander Mahone did the same. He turned around, and to his utter horror, saw that the couch was empty and that the front door was slightly ajar.
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"Mr. Logan?" The officer asked.
"Mmmph?" Adam said, waking up.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but there's been a development."
"Oh, no problem. What's happening?"
"As you may have heard, some members of the Fox River 8 were in Minan-Hatford last night." The officer paused, allowing Adam to nod. "One member was injured, and we believe, forced to seek medical attention."
"But how does that…"
"Mr. Logan, the chief and FBI agree that we need to explore the possibility that Ms. Curtis has willingly joined the fugitives."
"But wouldn't that mean that..."
"If that proves to be the case, when we find her, there will be some charges filed against Ms. Curtis." The officer finished, trying not to notice the horrified expression on the other man's face.
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Around ten o'clock in the morning, Sucre parked the car in an empty parking lot. "Welcome to Berino, amigos." He said. There was no response. He turned to Michael, and saw that he had dozed off, and was currently drooling slightly on the window. In the back, Lincoln was asleep, head tilted forwards awkwardly, and then there was Kate, who had slept the entire drive. Sucre sighed. "Hey!" The Puerto Rican said, shaking Michael's shoulder. "Wake up, bro!"
"I'm up!" Michael exclaimed, sitting bolt upright, tense. He relaxed as he realized it was just Sucre. "Where are we?" Michael asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"Berino."
"Oh." A pause. "What time is it?"
"A little after ten. I'm starving."
Michael smiled faintly. "See if you can find a drive-through somewhere out of the way."
"I'm on it." Sucre pulled out of the parking lot and drove leisurely towards a McDonald's he'd seen on his way in.
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Kate had been awake for all of ten minutes when Michael approached her, holding his cell phone. She groaned internally as he came closer. "What?" The doctor asked, wanting to get whatever he wanted done over with as quickly as possible. She didn't want to stay with these men at all anymore, and to be perfectly honest, she hadn't seen any signs that they still wanted her around either.
"I need you to call this number. It's the number for a hotel nearby. I need you to book two rooms for tonight through next week." Michael instructed, handing her the phone. She wrinkled her nose, but opened the phone and dialed.
"Thank you for choosing Pride's Inn, how may I help you today?" A woman's voice asked on the other end.
"Yes, I need two rooms please."
"Single or double?"
Kate glanced at Michael, who held up two fingers. "Double." She replied. "For tonight, through the end of the week."
There was the sound of keys being pressed on the other end, before the woman spoke again. "All right, you're good to go. Check in begins at three."
"Thank you." Kate said, courteously.
"No problem. Thanks for choosing Pride!"
Kate snapped the phone shut, and gave it back to Michael. "I appreciate that." Michael said. Kate shrugged. "I'm sorry about what, er, transpired, last night."
Kate waved a hand. "Let's not talk about it." She paused. "How much longer are you going to keep me?"
Michael stared down the road, thinking. "Just a little while longer." He replied. Michael had no intention of forcing her to stay once they checked in to the hotel. Of course, they wouldn't be able to stay in the hotel once she left; it would be the first thing she told the police. They would have to drive away, to ensure that they weren't caught, and then Michael would call Sara, to tell her where they were really meeting. But Kate wouldn't know any of that, and her misinformation would buy Michael, Lincoln, and Sucre some time.
On the other side of the car stood Sucre and Lincoln. "What're we going to do for five hours until we can go to the hotel?" Lincoln asked Sucre, almost rhetorically.
Sucre shrugged. "Maybe he has a tattoo for that." He suggested, having no serious ideas. Lincoln grinned faintly.
"A tattoo? Nope. But I do have this." He added, pulling a portable DVD player out of the trunk, along with a few DVDs. "I found this when we visited T-Bag."
"We're just going to sit in the car and watch movies for five hours?" Sucre questioned doubtfully.
"When was the last time you saw a movie?" Michael asked, smiling.
Sucre thought for a moment. While he did, Lincoln moved closer to Michael. "When are we getting rid of her?" Lincoln asked his brother softly, so only Michael heard.
"Soon." Was the whispered reply. Lincoln nodded, somewhat reassured. "Hey, Linc?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are you in such a rush to let her go?" Michael inquired quietly.
Lincoln gazed over to where Kate and Sucre stood, looking at the small selection of DVDs. "You know how Veronica was killed for helping us?" He asked Michael finally. "I just don't want something like that to happen to Kate because of us."
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Just before Kate was going to go check into the hotel, Michael turned on the radio, wanting to know where the feds thought they were, just as a precaution. After a moment, the news report shifted from local news to the latest on the Fox River 8. "As I'm sure you've all heard by now, three of the Fox River 8 fugitives were seen in Minan-Hatford just two days ago. Earlier today, authorities linked the disappearance of a Kate Curtis to the men. It was believed that Curtis, who is a doctor at Minan-Hatford General, was abducted by these men, possibly for medical treatment. However, the FBI is now saying that Kate Curtis is wanted for willing association with the escapees. Curtis is a 27-year old Caucasian woman, with blonde hair, brown eyes, weighing 117 at 5'3"." The newscaster said. "Anyone with information about the fugitives or Curtis should contact local authorities immediately."
Michael and Lincoln exchanged glances, both wondering the same thing: how did they link Kate to them so quickly? Lincoln looked back to where Kate was sitting in the back seat, looking like she was about to be sick. "Kate-" He began, but Kate cut him off with a firm shake of her head.
"No, let me go!" She exclaimed, thrashing about, trying to get away from the trio. "I want out of this! You kidnapped me, you don't need me anymore, just let me go!"
Lincoln was already shaking his head. "We can't do that right now, Kate. If you go now, they will find you, and they will charge you and convict you, and you'll end up in prison. You can't win, not right now." He grabbed her hands. "Stay with us a little bit longer, and we'll make it better. I promise." Lincoln urged, trying to talk her out of leaving. He knew that he was right, that if they parted ways with the doctor now, it would go badly for her.
"No! Please!" Kate pleaded. "You don't need me."
"Kate you need to stay with us." Michael said. "Now, it's still soon enough that word won't have reached most people, so you need to go check into the hotel right now."
"I can't! They'll recognize me, and, and..." Kate insisted.
"No they won't." Michael replied, voice still low. "Put these on." He handed her his sunglasses. "That'll be enough for now."
"No!"
"Kate, it will be fine. I promise you." Michael repeated. It took several more minutes of coaxing to convince her to go in, but when she finally did, Kate returned successful in a matter of minutes. She handed Michael back his sunglasses, and they went to their rooms.
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At half past four, Michael stepped out of the hotel room. Lincoln and Sucre were in one room, watching television, while Kate showered in another of the rooms. He pulled out his cell phone.
"Sara, it's me." He breathed, when the recipient of the call answered. Because the feds thought that Kate was helping them, the plan had changed a bit. Now there was no need to abandon the hotel rooms, and they could meet at Pablo's.
Sara sighed irritably. "What, Michael?"
"Are you going to be in Berino tomorrow night?"
"I… I haven't decided yet."
"Where are you?"
"Some interstate."
"So you're on your way." Michael said, a bit amused.
"Maybe."
"Pablo's is dark and on the quiet side, as far as bars go. I'll be in a corner, drinking a scotch. Go to the counter, and order for a martini. Then come to my table. If you don't see me, turn around, get in your car, and drive away."
"Are you even going to be there, Michael?" Sara asked, suddenly wondering.
"Of course I'm going to be there. But if something were to happen…"
"If something happens, I'll disappear." Sara promised.
"Good." A brief silence fell. Michael was about to add something else, but something felt wrong, so he remained silent, listening. Was that a faint buzzing he heard? It certainly wasn't coming from his phone, and he doubted it was coming from Sara's. There was a soft click, and Michael shut his eyes, realization hitting him like a load of bricks. "One more thing, Sara. When you hang up, get rid of your phone. It's bugged." He said, leaning heavily against the wall as it dawned on him that his entire plan had been compromised in a single phone call.
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Mahone smiled as he put the headphones down. He was back in Minan-Hatford now, at a local FBI branch, which was completely outfitted in all FBI gadgets, including technology that allowed cell phone lines to be tapped into. Scofield had unknowingly given him the location along with a time frame of when he would be meeting the prison doctor, and by the time Michael had realized that their call was being listened in on, it was too late. The damage had been done. And Mahone would be waiting at Pablo's, whatever that was, for him and Sara Tancredi, and whoever else happened to be there.
"Mahone." He said, as he answered his ringing phone.
"How are you liking things in Minan-Hatford, Alex?" William Kim asked cheerfully. "Or, better yet, how's T-Bag liking things in Minan-Hatford?"
Mahone hesitated. "Sir, he got away." He admitted. Somehow Mr. Kim's displeasure radiated through their connection. "I do know where and when Scofield is meeting Tancredi, though." Alex added, before the other man spoke again.
