Well here's another chapter, sorry it has taken a bit longer to get this one done, i hope you all like it :D

Thanks for all those reviews reviews, keep them coming please

ENJOY!

After Michael had left the room, Sara hung her head, a visible sigh forming from her lips as she idly picked at her fingers on her lap. A small tear fell onto her hands; she inspected it with scrutinising depth, anything she could focus on besides the reality of what had just happened. Lincoln clearing his throat suddenly brought her back to the present, washing her mind clear; she carefully lifted her head and faced the brother of the man she so desperately wanted to help. "I'm sorry…" Sara spoke up, her voice seemingly insignificant to the moment though she couldn't help but say what she was feeling.

This caught Lincoln's attention. "Sara, you have nothing to be sorry for…damn it! Why can't things just be simple?" Lincoln voiced his frustration, his question a rhetorical one that the two women and LJ happily caught onto, each of them silent, unsure of how to respond, until LJ spoke for the first time since this all started.

"Simple, huh…when have things ever been simple Dad? This is our life, who were we to think things could ever be anything other than not simple" LJ's words seemed callous, heartless even, but they were the truth and even Linc couldn't deny that.

"LJ…" Lincoln shot his head from their permanent fixture in his hands to refer his son with a troubled expression; he had truly underestimated the effect of this on his son. "…" Lincoln opened his mouth, closed it again and opened it ready to speak but to his surprise nothing came out, he couldn't find the right words to express to his own son how he was truly sorry that he felt that way, he had always tried to give him the best life and he knew what he finally managed to give him was far from it, but at least they were together now and he had believed that this was good enough…he was wrong.

"Forget it…Uncle Mike, he gunna be okay?" LJ said changing the subject much to his relief as he assumed his father took the hint, though his face couldn't hide the obvious cut of his words, guilt tugged his at his insides, but he was more concerned with his uncle right now, there would be time to put things right with his Dad later.

"I don't know son…I just don't know" Lincoln answered honestly, his words losing all confidence as he slumped back into his chair discarding the comforting hand on top of his from Sofia sat besides him…he couldn't have her as a distraction at the moment, he was too confused. He didn't know if he was angry or upset, his emotions always tended to get the better of him in the past and it seemed that things hadn't changed, he needed to get out before he done or said something he would later regret. "I'm going out, I need a fucking drink" with that Linc pushed back his chair and started for the door, waiting for someone to try and stop him, but surprised when they all stayed quiet…maybe they had expected this of him? He didn't care, all he knew was he had to get out of that apartment, things were getting too intense, he scoffed at the irony of his thoughts, smirking as he slammed the front door shut behind him.

"Great…just great!" LJ seethed, slamming his fist bluntly on the kitchen surface, making Sara jump in her seat and Sofia to instinctively shoot her hand to her neck and attempt at soothing her tense shoulder muscle with the desire to relax...no such luck.

"I'll go check on Michael" Sara announced more confidently then she felt, standing from the table, leaving a small smile to LJ as she left, thankful to leave the tense atmosphere of the small room, she had seen enough of small rooms to last her a lifetime.

LJ nodded in agreement, feeling it was probably best for Sara to go, plus he wouldn't have a clue what to say to his distraught uncle. He took the seat besides Sofia and placed his cool hand on hers, squeezing it reassuringly. "It'll be alright, we can sort this" LJ tried to put rest to Sofia's anxieties, catching her eyes with his, his mind suddenly remembered the last time he saw her eyes look like that, full of worry, but tinted with trust. Back when she was in the hospital, after she got shot, he had stayed with her, reminding her she was going to be fine, and she was, but here and now, it brought back all of his own anxieties from those past experiences, he needed the comfort as much as she did, so he was willing to open up to her.

"I know, it's just…I don't know how much more of this we can all take, when will they stop and just let us get on with our lives?" Sofia asked her voice cracking ever so slightly, noticing LJ move closer and before she knew it he had his arms around her, holding her close to him. She was surprised by the comfort it provided, she allowed herself to be taken in by him, she rested her head on his shoulder and the tears she had held back now willingly fell and wet LJ's shirt.

Both were silent, taking any strength they could find from one another.

Sara approached Michael's door with apprehension, maybe he wouldn't want to be disturbed, she quickly shook these thoughts from her mind and decided that she had left him alone for too long, she wasn't going to leave him again.

"Michael?" Sara called through the still closed door, tapping softly on the hard wood. She heard a shuffling noise come from within the room and could faintly make out the sound of Michael clearing his throat. "Michael…" Sara persisted when she didn't receive an answer, trying the handle but it was locked, she sighed and sat herself on the floor against the door.

"I'm not going anywhere Michael so you can either let me in or I will stay here until you decide you are ready to talk" Sara called knowing he could hear her, determination evident in her voice. Another shuffle could be heard and she pressed her ear to the door, jumping slightly as the sound of the door unlocking resonated through the length of the wood and into her ear.

As she fell back, her torso resting on her elbows, she looked up to see Michael towering above her, his face red from crying, though she could tell he was trying to hide it, his hand whipped to his head and ran across his hair anxiously, before holding out his other hand towards Sara. "Sorry if I scared you" Michael only just managed to say, his voice cracking as he spoke, a shock running through him as Sara took his hand, the contact enough to send shivers down his spine. He pulled her to her feet, all of a sudden fully ware that he had yet to release her hand from his, he dropped his hand to his side and looked away sheepishly, shoving his hands into his pockets and shifting from foot to foot.

Sara blushed as she noted that Michael seemed unwilling to let go of her hand, she could feel a connection like no other course through her as they touched, all the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She muttered something incoherent as a distraction, looking away for a second before pulling herself back to the situation at hand…Michael.

"Michael…" Sara started causing Michael to fly back into his room and through his hands up to his face.

"Don't, just don't okay…I can't do this, I can't listen to you say my name like that…it hurts too much" Michael tried to explain his rabid emotions and reasoning's but he was finding it hard to say it in the right words. Frustrating him all the more.

Sara wasn't going to give up so easily. "Let me in Michael, I can help you" She moved closer closing the distance between them, needing this closeness just as much as he did. She placed her hand onto his shoulder in an attempt to turn him to face her, her heart sank as he shrugged her hand off, she stood, her hands limp at her sides watching as the man she loved tore himself apart from the inside out.

Michael suddenly turned to face her much to her surprise, his face sullen and tired. "It hurts Sara…it just hurts so much, make it stop…make it all go away, I can't take it anymore…I…" Sara had edged closer, as Michael's teary eyes bore into her own, she instinctively brought her hand up from her side, cupping his face in her palm, wiping away the stray tear that had fallen.

"Sara…" he breathes, holding her closer than his own skin. Her name is a lifeline that pulls him out of his past.

Sara shuddered at the sound of desperation in his voice; her arms quickly found their rest as she pulled Michael into an embrace, falling to the floor with him still there. She shushed in his ear, whispering words of comfort that had no particular meaning but she had no sense of anything else to do, this is how the typical scenario played out right? The lover holds the other whilst they cry, whispering in their ear, she never really saw the point in all of that, but now as she herself was put in the exact situation, she could finally see why they done it, it held no significant ways of fixing the problem but it made it bearable, even for that split second, it gave them time to breath.

Michael finally quietened in her arms, his breathing evened out enough to convince her that he was now more relaxed. She continued to stroke his neck in a soothing manner, relishing in the feel of him safely in her arms. She didn't want to break their comfortable silence, but she needed to know he was truly okay. "Michael…I um…I'm sorry about before, but I meant what I said, you can't blame yourself for what happened to Mahone" Sara encouraged a response from Michael but the only sign that he had heard her, was his physical jolt at the mention of Mahone.

Michael adjusted himself in Sara's arms so he was facing her, his eyes darted back and forth at first, not wanting to but finally settling on Sara's, full of grief and sadness. "His family…his son, is dead because of the information I gave over, just so I could…" Michael paused, feeling ashamed. "…for you Sara, I choose to do what I did, but I had to get you back…I missed you so much" Michael could feel himself slipping, his throat was constricting and he could see Sara trying to hold back tears. His hand tugged nervously on his now continuous choice of a long sleeve top, pulling his sleeves down further as to hide the demons he had fought against both mentally and physically for months, his tattoo an ever reminder of his actions and guilt.

Sara calmly placed her hand over his and moved his frantic fingers away from his sleeve, taking a small breath; she moved his hand to rest on her cheek, lightly kissing his inner palm, smiling lovingly towards him, his expression a mixture of confusion and longing.

"I understand Michael, but you have to be strong. You're not alone anymore, I am back and I'm not going anywhere" Sara soothed, feeling as though they were constantly going round in circles, she knew this whole mess would take a while to clear up and she sure wasn't going to give up faith on this family she so desperately wanted to be a part of…she would help Michael as much as she could and treasure his help in return. All they needed was each other, a want they had been deprived of for so long, too long.

"Thank you Sara, for everything" Michael rasped as he caressed her smooth cheek with contentment.

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Sara joked trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Probably" Michael actually laughed for the first time, unable to stop the smile from creasing his lips.

"Ah ha!" Sara suddenly shot towards Michael her finger pointing towards with accusatively.

"What?" Michael asked jumping slightly at her words.

"I made you smile" Sara announced proudly, smiling herself.

"I guess you did, but I'm not the only one, it seems I don't need to try anymore" Michael added sharing a knowing glance with Sara as he assumed she was remembering back to the same memory as him, back in the infirmary when he was trying to make her smile, simpler times.

"I don't think so Mr Scofield, I'm not giving in that easily, a woman still likes to feel flattered once in a while" Sara proclaimed inwardly laughing at the shocked expression on Michael's face.

"I'll keep that in mind" Michael laughed, noticing Sara's cheeks flush at his sentiment. "You look so beautiful when you blush" Michael didn't intend for the words to come out but they had anyway, his cheeks now matched Sara's, he sheepishly smiled and laughed slightly under his breath. "Sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you"

"Don't be. Thank you" Her gratitude ran deeper than those simple words could justify, but they were a good start.

It hadn't taken Sara long to convince Michael to vacate from his room and join LJ and Sofia back in the living room. Of course there had been an atmosphere between them all as they all dared to speak their concerns aloud but were all secretly fretting over Lincoln. It had been at least three hours since he left and they hadn't heard anything from him, and knowing what Linc was like when he wasn't thinking straight, they couldn't begin to think what he was doing.

"So, LJ, how has things been at school?" Sara asked, genuinely curious, she hadn't had the chance to really catch up with LJ since she got back and thought now was a better time than ever.

LJ was startled by the question at first, though he quickly swallowed and referred back to Sara. "Fine, great actually, my classes started a couple of moths ago, it's a funny story actually, my old physics teacher recommended that I continue physics in College, he was so impressed with all my grades, but really the only reason I passed that class was because of Uncle Mike…" LJ paused as he laughed to himself, Michael chucking besides him. "…It was him that done all my homework" LJ cracked out a laugh and Sara done the same.

"Michael!" Sara managed to gasp through her laugher though he was too busy laughing to answer her, Sofia and LJ also at a loss of speech.

"My teacher had even spoken to the best physicians in all the best Colleges, so you can imagine his face when I told him that I hated physics and had never done a single piece of my own homework…he nearly exploded he was so angry" LJ only just managed to finish his story, Sara's face dumb stuck, this had definitely done the trick of adverting their attention away from their own misery.

Their laugher subsided and Sara took this chance to probe further. "So what did you choose to study then?"

"Well seen as I'm not the genius of the family, my options was kinda limited, so I went with the only thing I have ever been any good at, Mechanics. Dad would teach me everything there was to know about cars when I would stay at his on the weekends, he even let me drive a couple of times when I was younger, he was always pushing me to do better but I couldn't help it, there something about being under the hood of a car that sooths me you know" LJ quietened a little as he continued, remembering back to the times he shared with his Dad, missing the simplicity of everything back then, the fun they had.

"Well I think that sounds like a great idea LJ, there's nothing worse than spending years doing something you hate when you could be doing something you love" Sara enthused, smiling brightly towards the young man before her, receiving a thankful smile back.

"I'm sure Linc is gunna be proud whatever you do LJ, he's your father, he couldn't be anything other than proud" Michael added, somehow knowing just what to say to make his nephew feel better.

"Thanks Uncle Mike" LJ replied sincerely, picking at his fingers as he sat now some what shy under all this attention.

Before anyone else could speak they were all pulled from their momentary peace by the sharp ring of the telephone. LJ reached behind him and grabbed the phone. "Hello…What! Is he ok? Right, ok, we'll be there as soon as possible…ok, bye" LJ hung up and shot from the sofa before anyone could speak.

"LJ, who was that? What's happened?" Michael asked concern obviously evident in his voice.

"That was the hospital, its Dad, he's been in a fight" LJ replied mindlessly as he frantically rushed to put his trainers on, not helping the now building nerves of the people in the room with him.

"Is he ok?" Sofia questioned her heart pounding in her chest.

"No, he's been hurt pretty bad, but they wouldn't tell me what happened" LJ replied, suddenly stopping as he watched Sofia's face drop and her hands visibly shaking at her side. "It's ok, I'm sure he's gunna be fine, come on" LJ said more calmly, pulling Sofia into an embrace, comforting her the best he could.

"Well, what are we waiting for, come on" Michael said more coarsely than he intended, suddenly forgetting that Sara had yet to venture outside his apartment and he was selfishly asking her to do just that at the cue of his words, no questions asked, this caused him to stop and think, he quickly moved to Sara's side and locked eyes with her, spotting LJ and Sofia making their way to the door as he done so.

"Sara…"

"No, Michael this is your brother, we have to go, don't worry about me right now, Lincoln needs you more right now, come on" Sara reassured, leading Michael out of the apartment, her heart practically in her throat, she was scared but she wasn't going to let on to Michael, he had too much to worry about right now. So she tightened her grip on Michael's hand as he moved along side her, she stilled as they reached the main entrance of his apartment building, the sun shining brightly through the double doors, reminding her instantly of the light from the warehouse, the anxieties she felt then came rushing back in an instant.

Michael went to move on, but was halted as Sara didn't move with him; her eye's transfixed on the daunting doors ahead. Her eyes darted around the all of a sudden over constricting hallway, The narrow hallway seemed dauntingly longer than before, it's walls towering high above Sara's head, imprisoning her once again as she had been in that small room for so long.

Her breathing became sharp and short, she muttered incoherent objections only audible to herself.

"Sara, it's ok, you don't have to do this if you don't want to, we can stay here" Michael tried to reason with her, she obviously wasn't as ready to do this as she had thought.

"No Michael, Lincoln…"

"…will have LJ and Sofia there with him" It pained Michael to think that he wouldn't be there for his brother when he needed him, but Sara was still fragile and healing, he couldn't force her to do this so soon if she wasn't ready.

"Really, we have to, Lincoln needs you as much as you need him" Sara tried to smile but her fear was too paralysing to allow such a reassurance.

"Sara, we are going to do this together, I want you to take my hand and don't let go, when you become scared or worried or anything, I want you to squeeze my hand as tight as you can and we will stop. I swear I won't let anything happen to you, okay?" Michael asked, tucking a stray piece of hair from her face, smiling warmly towards her.

"Okay" Sara answered quietly, uncertainly but she believed that Michael would keep her safe and that was enough to make her try…for him.

"Come on" Michael took her hand once again and began to move slowly towards the doors, constantly flicking his gaze to his side to make sure Sara was ok.

Sara took a deep breath as they stepped out onto the street, she scanned their surroundings and was overwhelmed with the amount of people, she found it hard to focus. A man passed them on the sidewalk and she couldn't help but jump and bury herself into Michael's shoulder. Her hand gripped Michael's tighter and tighter, until he finally caught on that it was the people that were making her so agitated, deciding against emphasising the fact that there were more people looking directly at them than normally because of Michael's new found fame, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

He secured her body against his and fastened his pace as he manoeuvred them towards the car, quickly helping Sara into the back besides Sofia, and hurrying to climb in the driver's seat leaving no time in his manic rush to the hospital.

Well? What did you think? Please let me know :D

Until next time

Cee xx