Disclaimer: I do not own Prison Break, or any of its characters or plots. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners.
Despite the dim light in the room, Alex was able to notice the change in Kate's features when he had posed his question, first, and then when he had grabbed her wrist right after that. He realised he had really scared her with both, and he suddenly let her arm go. Something was telling him that she was not going to run from him.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you…" he mumbled, not daring to look at her again, and busying himself by pouring more tequila in his glass. He had ended up saying too much, and was certain that there was no way he could backpedal now, so he just needed to buy some time as he thought what to say next, and how he could explain what he had just blurted out. After all, he had just admitted, to a key witness in a case, who also happened to be a lawyer, and apparently a good one, that he had killed someone and was being forced to keep murdering people in cold blood. How could he have been so clumsy? In that context, getting drunk did not seem a bright idea, as it could worsen the situation, but he had already messed up and maybe O'Hare would feel more comfortable if he acted "normally". Ultimately, it was a fact that he had been high and drunk during the few days and nights they had shared in pursuit of the River Fox Eight.
Kate could not understand while she was still sitting beside him on the floor of the hotel room, but her urge to run was gone all of a sudden. Instead, she was eager to get Mahone to clarify what he had just said. Sure, there was no room for any misunderstanding; he had not given details but his words had been crystal clear. At this point, with all the pieces of the puzzle she had in front of her (Linc's case, his death sentence and the escape from Fox River with his brother, Vee's disappearance and subsequent death, according to Linc, …) she had no doubt that looking for clarification was the only way she could find answers, and she found herself determined to find those answers. "How does Mahone fit in all this?" she had been asking herself during the last days as she had been learning different aspects about the Burrows' case and the conspiracy theory mentioned by Lincoln was slowly sinking into her mind after the initial surprise and astonishment. Now the need to know was winning over the fear she had from being close to Mahone. So she gulped, reached for his arm and lowered her gaze trying to meet his eyes.
"You didn't, but you did surprise me…" Kate whispered as he finally looked at her, moved by her light touch. He then remembered the effect that that exact touch had had on him two nights before, and he closed his eyes. "Have you ever told anyone about all that?" she softly inquired, thinking that an indirect approach might serve better to her intentions.
He opened his eyes when he heard her question, and did his best to suppress a chuckle. "She's good at this, very good," he thought about the way she was dealing with the situation. As a matter of fact, he thought that given the same situation he would act the same way. Looking at her hand, still resting on his arm, he decided to test how far she was willing to go with her inquiries.
"You offering?" he whispered, meeting her eyes again.
His words took Kate off-guard. This was not the reaction she had expected. Instead of providing her with a direct answer, he was asking questions himself, and his eyes fixed on hers was something she was definitely not used to, as they often darted around the room or the surroundings if they were outdoors. Strangely, he seemed to be completely focused. "Well, I'm a good listener, and you can consider it like a confession at church, I won't say anything…" she stated.
"You're not a priest, O'Hare, you certainly don't look like one," he mumbled, giving her a once over, waiting for her reaction and wondering again how far she would let him take this.
Her hair stood on end when she heard his tone and she felt his gaze on her body. She was under the impression that he was making his intentions very clear, and she then wondered how far she would go to get those answers she needed so desperately. But Kate did not hesitate for very long. "We're certainly not at church, instead it's a hotel room, but I don't intend to share the bed with you, if that's what you're thinking…" she finally explained, fighting the urge to get up and run again.
Alex narrowed his eyes trying to read beyond her reaction. "No, I'm not, sorry O'Hare, didn't mean to offend you…" he apologized, once more trying to figure out her ultimate purpose.
"No offense taken…" She was indeed flattered that Mahone could find her attractive enough to check her out in her t-shirt and sweats, and mad at herself for letting that idea slip through her mind. She shook that thought to focus on their conversation again. She was not getting any information from him if she was distracted, and the way he had looked at her right then, like if he was seeing her for the first time, had certainly distracted her. "Just think about it, Mahone… Whatever you've done, or are doing, is obviously taking a toll on you… Sorry if I'm blunt, but you're high all day long and…" she trailed off. As she found her words to sound too harsh indeed she carried on in what she hoped was a softer tone. "Yeah, you do a very good job disguising it and faking headaches and migraines but …"
"Hey, those are real…" Alex tried to joke.
"But spending 24/7 with you it's hard not to notice. I… I just wanna help if I can…" Kate softly offered. She could feel her heart beating fast but she didn't want to waste an opportunity to bring some clarity to the situation she was in.
"Duly noted. But it's nothing extraordinary, really, no need to bore you with old stories from my line of work…" Mahone downplayed it. It seemed that she was not willing to do anything to explore the truth behind his clumsy words, so maybe it was a good idea to retreat and regroup, have time to think about his next moves.
"Okay, if you change your mind, I'm not going anywhere. A moody, grumpy and bossy FBI agent has me under custody, remember?" Kate joked, trying to lighten the mood and feeling the urge to finally put some physical distance between them in order to have time and space to think about what she should do next. Right then her mind was spinning, she was starting to feel frustrated after failing in her attempt to get answers from him and in that state of mind she had no doubt it was a bad idea to stay close to him.
Alex narrowed his eyes again. "It's Special Agent in Charge Mahone to you, Miss…" he joked back, in an effort to determine her intentions again.
"Yeah, well, I'll try to bear that in mind; Special Agent Mahone…" Kate followed his game as she slowly stood up. "It must be quite late, I think I'm gonna call it a night," she added, crossing her arms on her chest, looking down at him and hoping he wouldn't object.
"Sure," he mumbled from his sitting position on the floor. Much to his surprise given the dim light in the room and the lack of interest he had shown in women since he had forced Pam to leave their house, Alex was really enjoying the view of O'Hare's toned legs in full display in front of him. He could see that she had been certainly telling the truth when she had mentioned that she exercised regularly, and now he understood why she had complained about not being able to go for a run while she was under his custody. "Maybe, maybe I could let her run tomorrow morning, I could run by her side…" he thought, not realizing at that time that he was beginning to let his walls down for her. But he soon changed his mind. "Who are you trying to fool? You wouldn't last fifty yards…" he chuckled to himself, totally oblivious to the way he had started to consider her more than possible collateral damage in the Burrows case.
"Good night, then," Kate whispered before making a beeline to the bathroom. Once there, she closed the door and leant her back against it, letting herself slowly slip until she sat on the floor, blocking the door with her own body, and closing her eyes. She then realized she was shaking and started taking deep breaths in order to calm down. "What's really going on? Am I really under the custody of the FBI, or just a pawn in a bigger game?"
She stayed like that, sitting on the cold tiled floor against the bathroom door for a while, running all kinds of dangerous scenarios in her mind. Finally, determined to try and lay low with Mahone until she could figure out what was actually going on, she only returned to the room when she thought that he must have gone back to the couch, the balcony or wherever he was sleeping that night.
The following morning, Kate winced as the sunlight shone through the crack in the darpes directly into her eyes. She could feel her mouth dry and her head throbbing, and as she rubbed sleep off her eyes she recalled the events of the prior night: how she had agree to have a drink with Mahone, his shocking revelation, and the cat and mouse game they had been playing since then, trying to gauge where the other stood regarding it, until she hid herself in the bathroom. After that, she had failed to fall asleep for what seemed to be hours. But apparently she had succumbed to exhaustion at some point during the night.
She looked around the room, but Alex was nowhere to be seen. She was about to turn around in bed and try to rest for a little while longer when a note on the bedside table caught her eye. As she could swear it had not been there when she turned off the light hours ago, she reached for it with her right hand. It was written on a piece of the hotel stationary, with a neat handwriting, and it was brief. "Get ready. Waiting in the corridor."
Kate could not help but snort. It looked like bossy Mahone was back in full force. Not for the first time, she wondered if his mood changes were only due to the booze and drugs, and, even more, what his real mood was when he wasn't on anything. She was shocked to find herself wishing he really was the talkative, kind, sensitive man she had been able to glimpse when he had been relaxed around her.
Trying to fight those thoughts (after all, it was none of her business Special Agent Mahone's real personality, wasn't it?), she lazily got up from bed and stretched her numb limbs, thinking that the lack of exercise was undoubtedly taking a toll on her and asking herself, once more, when this nightmare would end and she could finally go home. Which immediately made her think about her parents. Were they okay? Was Mahone actually keeping his promise and keeping an eye on them? She had just made a mental note to inquire him about that as soon as she met him when she heard a noise coming from the other side of the room. To be more precise, it sounded as if someone was knocking on the glass of the slide door that led to the balcony, but the drapes were drawn and she could not see behind them.
Whoever was in the balcony was clearly in a hurry, as the knocking persisted repeatedly. Kate's her first instinct was to alert Mahone, but then, as soon as she had started to head for the door of the room, she came to a sudden stop when she realized that had the 'knocker' wanted to contact Alex, he/she could have done it accessing the room by the corridor, not by the balcony.
Kate then took a deep breath and turned to face the drapes. She was well aware that it could be anyone, even intended to harm her, but Mahone's words from the night before were still ringing in her head. In the situation she was in, she needed to find answers, and maybe some of those answers were right there, in the balcony.
So she took a few steps and opened the drapes with a quick motion. What Kate saw then almost made her jump with joy and her blood run cold at the same time: Linc was on the other side of the glass sliding door. It was obvious that he had been knocking but as soon as he saw Kate he smiled and brought his index finger to his mouth, signaling her to be quiet.
Not thinking twice about the fact that Mahone was probably just outside the room, waiting for her in the corridor, she quickly slided the door open and threw herself into Lincoln's strong arms, thick tears running down her cheeks as he engulfed her in a tight hug.