Tony paced up and down in the cell, completely unable to occupy himself with his two books. He had woken long before the siren wailed and lay in the dim light, struggling to recall what he was excited about. Surely nothing remained in his life to look forward to anymore except…. A small grin moved the corners of his mouth, the only remainder of his smiles before his arrest. Today was his scheduled visit, and he had managed to avoid a D-report for the fortnight, so if anyone of his family could be bothered making the 400 mile trip to see him, he would get to see someone smile at him, hear someone ask how he was, feel someone's love reach him through the glass.

Settle down, Almeida. It's a real long trip, there's a good chance no one will come. Marco and Joey aren't even in the country at the moment and Papa's working. Michelle's in Washington this entire week. That still leaves…Stop it now, Almeida! You'll feel real bad when they won't come. But someone MUST be coming, they promised! I know them, someone will come.

His eyes moved to the rules stuck on the wall above the basin in a plastic folder.

"Rule 201 Convicts shall remain seated on their beds whenever the mail trolley enters their catwalk. They may retrieve their mail only after the trolley has moved three cells beyond their own."

He shook his head, sighing in frustration. How many years would it take him to accept all the hundreds of restrictions placed on his every movement? Stop thinking about it now, Almeida! You're here for life, get used to it. If you piss them off they'll transfer you again, and so far that you won't ever get to see anyone again.

He had spent the previous fortnight making notes on everything he recalled about Aziz, forcing his brain to recall all he had put into his computer He had drawn up several lists, Aziz's friends, his contacts, other groups he had been known to associate with, and their contacts. He had known there were inevitable gaps in his list, but it was the best he could do. Somewhere a pattern lay hidden, waiting for him to uncover. He had plenty of time to do so, but he was severely limited in resources. At the back of his mind was the urgent need to hurry, to prevent any further bloodshed. A clue came to him suddenly the previous night as he lay thinking over his lists, unable to sleep. His pattern was now complete!

He resumed his pacing. Tony rubbed his face and sighed again. It wasn't quite 7:00 o'clock, and visiting hours began at 10:00. Pressing his face against the bars he watched the other prisoners begin their day, writing mail, reading, playing games, passing notes between the cells. At least his reputation had preceded him, everyone aware he had been transferred for attempting to escape. So far no one had approached him looking for trouble, and he had kept as much to himself as possible, speaking only to Sanchez, who appeared as lonely as he was.

An hour later the mail trolley was pushed past. He watched it with his usual blank expression, forcing himself to remain calm. He had received a letter the day before from his father, and several the previous week, it was unlikely anyone would write again this soon. The trolley paused before his cell and a letter was laid in his slot. Once the trolley moved past he leapt up and reached trembling hands into the slot, picking it up. He pulled it out, recognizing the handwriting.

Sweetheart

I got a position in Seattle, it'll last a couple of months. I can't tell you what it entails, but it's only temporary, I promise! I love you very much, I'll write to you everyday!

Michelle

He swallowed, feeling tears prick his eyes. She had promised to come and visit him once a month and now he would be forced to wait three or four months to see her again. Chewing his lip he put her letter into his pocket and climbed onto his bunk, reading every word carefully. If he tried hard enough he could 'hear' her voice reading the letter to him. Depressed, he lay on his blanket, gazing at the ceiling. How long do you imagine she'll come to visit you anyway, Almeida? It's no life for her, you know that.

He read the letter again before placing it in his growing pile. Time dragged. He lay on his bed gazing at the ceiling, counting the cracks directly above him. Breakfast passed in a blur and they were locked in their cells again, their yard time refused due to heavy rain.

'Convict, face the wall and put your hands behind your back,' snapped an irritated voice. Tony looked up startled, having fallen asleep staring upwards. He moved eagerly, hearing them entering his cell. Cold cuffs were placed on his arms and he was led outside and pushed into a queue in the middle of the floor. 'Any sound or movement in the queue, your visit is cancelled,' snapped a guard. He waited in utter silence with the others, not daring to move a muscle. Someone came to see me! Someone came!

They were read the usual list of rules pertaining to visitors and were led into the visiting chamber individually. Tony followed two guards inside, startled to see his sister Rita sitting opposite the glass. His right leg was shackled to the table and his cuffs were removed. Eagerly he reached for the phone, smiling at her.

'What are you doing here, Rita? Its miles away for you.'

Rita grinned back at him, obviously prepared for the sight of him in chains. 'I missed you. Marco and I drove out here to see you, he's home to see his kids for two weeks. Hell, Tony, you should see him driving! He just got in, made sure I had my belt on, and off we went, dodging cars and trucks.' She shook her head.

Tony found himself grinning more broadly. 'He's spent too long in the middle east. They're affecting him. Don't worry though, he's an excellent driver.'

'Yeah, but around halfway through I made him stop, and I drove the rest of the way,' Rita told him, shaking her head. 'I got real scared when he gave way to a massive truck, saying they had right of way, they're bigger than us, and then asked if we should run a motorbike off the road, we're bigger!'

Tony found himself laughing with her, genuinely amused. 'It's ok honey; he was just demonstrating how they drive over there. Still, I think he could do with being stationed at home for a while now.'

They stared at each other in silence, thinking of Bobby, both determined not to depress the other. 'I sure wish Bob would have made it,' she said softly. He nodded in silence. Rita pulled herself together first. 'Tony, do you need anything? We all sent you some money, you can get stuff from the shop, but is there anything else?'

He shook his head, moved. 'Rita, don't send anything. I'm not allowed to receive parcels for another six months. And tell everyone to stop sending money, I'll only be allowed to buy stuff next month, and I got plenty for toothpastes. Have fun with the kids.'

'What about all the money you leant for my doctorate?' she reminded him.

Tony shook his head. 'Keep it, it's a gift. Don't give it back whatever you do. Tell me about your students.'

Rita amused him with tales of teaching in college at San Francisco, and he soaked in every word, thrilled to hear about people leading normal lives. 'What about you, Tony, what have you been doing?' She eyed him carefully, searching for bruises. He felt relieved the majority were hidden by his clothes.

'Well, I got to spend all yesterday scrubbing garbage cans,' he told her, determined not to discuss the previous month in the SHU, and unable to speak about his escape. He saw her putting a hand across her mouth, half horrified and half amused. 'It's ok, Rita, you can laugh. There were fifteen of them for me, and they hadn't been cleaned for months, so I was kinda occupied.'

'God Tony, how could they make you do that? You're…'

'I'm just the same as the rest, honey, just a con,' he interrupted firmly.

She shook her head. 'Jack said…'

'You saw Jack?' he interrupted, startled. 'I thought he would've given up on me by now.'

'Well he won't. He said to tell you to hang in there and behave.'

Tony felt another grin tug the corners of his mouth. So he had one friend outside, apart from his family. 'Tell him I'm trying real hard,' he replied, exchanging a meaningful look with his sister.

'I will. Tony, I'm going to stay with mom this month, she's pretty devastated about Bobby. I've applied for a transfer to LA for Miguel too, so we can be closer.'

Tony looked startled. 'Won't he mind?'

Rita shook her head. 'He might not even notice,' she told him amused, 'as long as all his books are put in the same order on his shelves. I'll do that. Oh, we brought you a huge box of chocolates. It was real hard not to open them and eat a few on the way, but we managed not to.'

He shook his head regretfully. 'You should've. They'll never give it to me.'

'Sure they will. Marco gave it to the guard in the booth, and he made him promise it would get given to you in your cell.' She bit her tongue at the final word. Tony reached forward, touching the glass.

'I hope they will. Rita, don't worry, you can say 'your cell.' You should, it's my home now.'

Rita shook her head, standing up regretfully. 'I got to go now, Marco wanted half this visit.' They said their goodbyes and he closed his eyes briefly, composing himself for the sight of his brother.

His breath left him as he saw Marco enter the visitors' area, settle on a chair and pick up the phone, gazing through the glass at him. 'Hi Tony.' There was an awkward pause while they contemplated each other.

'Marco, it's been a while,' he began uncomfortably.

Marco shrugged. 'I just had a little disagreement with a guard about handing over some chocolate and a coupla books. The guard said the chocolate should be fine provided it got through the metal detector, but he did object slightly to the books. Anyway, they'll take them up to you later, or they better do – otherwise I'll have to come talk to them again!' He chewed his lips fiercely, his eyes moistening. 'God, Tony, how could they do this to you?'

Tony sighed heavily. 'They seem to have reached a unanimous decision to keep me here. I had it coming, Marco, I kinda knew there'd be trouble when I went to get her…I couldn't leave her. I saw her face…At least she's ok,' he finished.

Marco nodded. 'Yeah, I guess so. You didn't leave me either, when I got captured. Listen Tony, you remember the name of that horrible dog next door in Chicago?' Tony nodded puzzled. 'You should write to me sometimes, I'll come.'

Write the name of the dog and I'll come help you out immediately. Tony shook his head mildly.

'Remember Mr. Lamont at school – he always hated you. I saw him once heading for you directly across the quadrangle, and you saw him and grabbed your bag and hurried down a corridor, and he changed direction at once. I intercepted him,' Marco grinned slightly, 'asked some bullshit about the last lesson and you…'

And I got away!

'Sometimes the oddest things repeat themselves,' Marco continued, watching him carefully, his grey eyes never wavering.

I can't let you do it, Marco! You'd lose everything you got, and become a wanted fugitive.

'The divorce is settled,' Marco continued, ignoring his shaking head. 'I left her the house and the car, and I'll pay maintenance for the kids.'

'That house was half yours!' Tony exclaimed. 'She never worked a day in her life! Where do you live now?'

Marco shrugged, dismissing his concern. 'I live on the ship, of course. Neither of us would've had enough to buy a house with half the money. I wasn't going to be responsible for throwing my kids out of their home – it was the only thing I could do. I left them everything…'

You're telling me you got nothing to lose, but it's not true, little brother. You got a good job and you had a great career till I ruined it. Hell, you really haven't got that much to lose thanks to me!

'Marco, I'm real sorry,' Tony began softly. 'I deserve what I got, but you'll suffer too and…'

Marco interrupted him forcefully. 'I won't! I just made captain last year, I'm not due a promotion for ages, and no one knows anyway. I'll come…'

Tony leaned closer against the glass, determined not to allow his brother to ruin his life. 'Listen to me. You know why I got transferred.' He saw his brother's nod. 'I got another clause added to my sentence. If I repeat that action, I get the death penalty, without appeal. Look after mom and Papa instead; you're their eldest son now.'

Marco shook his head, leaning his elbows on the table. 'I'll do that, of course, but YOU'RE their eldest son – I'm not taking your place!' He glared at Tony, pausing to rub a hand rapidly across his eyes.

'I'll write to you,' Tony said gently. 'If you're sure you wanna receive mail from a federal prison. I got all yours too.'

'They'll pardon you, Tony,' Marco said finally, 'they got to. I want you to write to me, whatever happens. How could you even think I wouldn't?' He opened his mouth, interrupting what Tony began to say. 'No, you listen! I want you to, ok!'

Tony nodded, deeply moved. This is the one relative apart from Michelle my actions have hurt the most, and he's here to support me! He nodded again, chewing his lip. 'Yeah, ok. What happened with Bob?' he asked much quieter, hating the need to ask but knowing he would find no peace till he had the details.

Marco buried his head in a hand. 'We were out on exercises,' he began eventually, just as Tony gave up all hope of getting an answer. 'Captain Melville did the best, as usual, he hit all the targets, he eliminated everything, and he finished first, while I was struggling with finding a submerged ship to aim at. He called me on the radio, laughing as usual. "I'm done, Almeida. See you back in the harbor. Try heading over to those reefs, there's bound to be something there." I laughed too, congratulating him, telling him the drinks were on him, and moved closer to the reefs. We heard a massive explosion soon after we began our journey back. The entire port was ripped apart – a lot of the buildings exploded, the quay exploded, and the ship's side was blown away. The whole side, Tony! Melville had just granted a coupla hours shore leave for all but a skeleton crew to celebrate his victory, and most were on the quay or waiting to disembark when it happened.'

He raised his eyes and stared through the glass. 'Go on,' Tony urged him, able to read his brother perfectly. 'You went to find Bobby.'

Marco ran a hand through his hair. 'We were ordered straight out to sea. I left the ship to my first lieutenant and took a motor boat back, to find Bob. There were bodies everywhere, in the water and on the pieces of quay, floating all round me. There were medics who put the wounded in a row, waiting for helicopter rides to hospitals, sorting through the injured. He wasn't among them, so I searched everywhere. He wasn't far away, Tony, lying on his side, his clothes covered with blood. I saw a medic step over him without administering anything; he was gone before I arrived. Bobby was struggling to breathe, he had a hole under his clothes, bones and blood and muscle all round him – he had nothing on his left side, nothing left. I said I'd get some morph, but he just grabbed my arm and said to stay, and he just closed his eyes…His clothes were soaking wet, he'd somehow managed to swim out…'

They gazed at each other in silence, one cursing himself for having arrived too late to ease Bobby's pain, the other cursing fate for having kept him incarcerated and unable to prevent the entire incident. Aware of the lack of time, Tony spoke first.

'Listen, Marco, I need you to do something for me. Aziz was part of a larger group, the ringleader was a guy called Rashid. He was in Kuwait with others; at least he was five months ago. I'm afraid they'll go for soft targets next. The rest of the group is listed in a file under his name. They're all US citizens, one day they'll return. Marco, they spent a lot of time here with another suspicious character called Ghazi, who also knows plenty about explosives. I need you go to CTU and warn them to search both files, his is under Domestic Surveillance.'

'You want ME to go to CTU, after what they done to you?' Marco exclaimed, shaking his head.

'Will you just forget about me? I'm not permitted access to a phone, and the letter I wrote Hammond seems to have gone missing – he never acknowledged it, or asked anything. They're real detailed files, if he wanted to search through them he'd have needed to ask something. You got to go; I got no one else to send. Marco, don't let this happen again.'

Marco nodded reluctantly. 'Ok, I'll go. Remember Tony, if you need to see me for anything, just write about the dog, and I'll come.'

'Yeah,' he agreed, managing to smile as his brother was led away.