A steady throbbing in his upper arm woke Tony around dawn. He took two painkillers from the packet the doctor left and swallowed them with the glass of water he had carried upstairs, lying down again. The attic was dark and silent, a large empty area. Pedro had obviously moved to this house recently for it was free of any junk. It was warm enough, and the mattress was not uncomfortable. Tony sighed, ashamed of his annoyance. After all, he had arrived unannounced and had cost Pedro money – two things that never failed to rattle his cousin, and had still been given a bed. He tried to guess what time it could be, feeling naked without his watch. It must have been early as the entire area was silent. Feeling slightly better he pulled his blanket up to his chin and fell asleep again.

'You having breakfast or lunch, Tony?' his cousin inquired, as Tony opened his eyes. He sat up in a hurry, his face turning red. Pedro stood beside the mattress with folded arms, a more neutral expression on his face.

'What's the time?'

'10:00 o'clock. You always start work at this hour?'

Tony grabbed his clothes and dressed in a hurry. 'I'll be down in a sec, Pedro,' he promised, climbing down the ladder rapidly. A few minutes later he went in search of his cousin, finding him reading a newspaper outside on the verandah.

Pedro nodded his head at the wooden table they had eaten at the previous day. 'Sit down. Look at this.' He held up the front page for Tony to examine. 'The president has a mistress!'

'Really?' Tony remarked, searching the table's contents. He was hungry again, and he wondered whether it would be too impolite to help himself before his cousin began to eat.

'Sí. She's almost 30 years his junior. She has red hair.' Pedro chuckled aloud. 'Some people have all the luck! What's wrong, Tony? Do you grudge a hard working man a little amusement?'

Tony shook his head. 'Of course not. Could we start eating?'

Pedro laughed aloud. 'Watch out, cousin, you'll turn into a gringo! Alright, let's eat. There's lots of stuff to do today. I'm pressed for time.'

Tony glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes, noting the ease with which he sat at the table. 'Aha,' he said, and took two eggs, two toasts, a mug of coffee and a glass of juice. 'Thanks for letting me stay,' he said softly.

'Sí, well, Abuelo drummed religion into us all, if you remember. We're supposed to provide for penniless relatives. And anyway, maybe one day you'll prove useful, who knows. And if not you, then one of your grateful brothers or sisters. Now, you're unable to do any building this week, but if you want to stay even and not owe anything else, you can do some stuff round the house.'

'Sure,' Tony agreed, amused by the continuing meanness. 'Whatever I can do one handed.'

'You see these benches,' Pedro told him, pointing to the table they sat on. 'They're fading. I need you to polish them with the machine, and give them two coats of varnish. Think you can manage that?'

Tony folded his arms and glanced sarcastically back. 'Lemme see. Yeah, I might be able to cope with such a challenging task!'

Pedro nodded. 'Good. You can start after breakfast. You'll find everything you need in the cellar.'

He spent the morning polishing, and applied the first coat of varnish just before lunch. Taking care not to get his hands sticky, he dragged the furniture further into the sunshine, before he found a shady tree to sit under. Back propped against the tree he gazed round the garden, allowing his thoughts to roam. He was healthy, his arm was fixed and would be functional within the week, and he had somewhere to stay. Unfortunately he had no money and was unable to flee the continent as he had planned, but it would come in time. In the meantime he was reasonably secure. His clothes and general unkempt appearance were a perfect disguise, and no one expected him to be in the center of the country. He was going to be ok.

A few scattered white clouds sailed high above him as he gazed upwards, never tiring of being outdoors since his imprisonment. He wondered what the weather was like in LA and where his parents and Michelle were. What day could it be? Tony spent the next few minutes working out when he had run, concluding that it was in fact Friday. He tried to remember what they had planned for the weekend, before he sat up suddenly. His parents were invited to dinner to the Martinez family and he had a feeling he could find the phone number easily enough on the internet. He would call them briefly the following evening. He said a quick prayer begging God to make certain they would not cancel that invitation.

He speculated about the identity of the mole yet again. Which district head was the traitor? Had Jack been able to piece together his data, which he had collected haphazardly, never expecting anyone else to have to use it? He desperately hoped so, aware of the threat such a man posed. A sudden thought came to him and he rose uneasily. That mole would be perfectly aware of his hacking, and had managed to move all leaks onto him, that much he had known, but would the man stop there? Would he feel safe to carry on his clandestine activities knowing Tony was on the loose, potentially able to surface and clear his name? If he wouldn't feel safe, then what steps would he take to secure himself? 'He's gonna come after you, Almeida, he'll want to kill you,' Tony muttered to himself, rubbing his face. 'He'll find you and pay some hit man, who won't even know why he's got to kill you. Your only hope is to get some money as soon as you can and move to the end of the earth.'

'Tony, there you are,' Pedro told him, discovering him behind the trees. 'You done a good job, it covered the doctor. Varnish it again tomorrow and you'll start earning your keep.'

He nodded silently.

Jack took a deep breath and knocked again, aware of the futility of his mission. There was little chance Tony's parents would trust him, they hadn't even answered the door! Jack knocked a third time, persistently. Whether they told him anything useful or not, he was determined to speak to them.

The door opened a crack, noiselessly. Jack straightened. 'Good morning, Mr. Almeida. We need to take a short walk.'

Tony's father looked him over coldly, an empty look in his eyes. 'I'm busy right now, Mr. Bauer.'

'Please don't do this, sir,' Jack begged, pushing his foot in the door to prevent it being slammed on him. 'It won't take long.' They faced each other in silence before Tony's father gave a slight nod.

'Alright, I have a few minutes.' He pulled on his jacket and locked the house, stopping to face Jack. 'You have a place in mind?'

'Just a walk to the park would be fine,' Jack told him. They set off, the silence growing oppressive between them. Jack sighed; aware he had broken their trust and would likely never regain it.

'So, Mr. Bauer, I am waiting. I have a pile of work do to, and I'm seriously behind,' Tony's father began. 'It's been a rather difficult time, as you might guess.'

Jack settled on a bench and waited till Tony's father joined him. 'I don't have to "guess" sir, I got a daughter. I wouldn't get much done either, if she were missing.'

Tony's father remained silent, examining the path, eyes hard. 'What do you need, Jack? We asked for your help almost two weeks ago, and you promised to call us. You know, I even allowed myself to believe that Tony had a friend, but I was wrong. Every one of his acquaintances wishes only to stab him in the back.'

'Mr. Almeida,' Jack began, dismayed by the depth of the man's pain. 'Tony does have a friend from CTU, me. I would have called, but I couldn't. Your phone is bugged and your house watched.'

'So they knew we called you. You could at least have called to say you couldn't find my son.'

'But I found him, sir,' Jack said quietly. 'I loosened his restraints, so he could escape.'

Tony's father glanced up, nodding thoughtfully. 'You'll have to trust me on this. I checked his research, he uncovered some mole. Sir, its imperative that I find Tony before that man does.'

'He'll bring Tony home in chains?' his father asked dully.

'Not exactly,' Jack said, gently. 'It's not in his interest to have him return and testify.'

Tony's father remained motionless. 'I understand. He will search for my son until he finds him, and kill him.'

'Yes sir,' Jack told him, unable to explain the rest. 'It's real important I get to Tony and warn him. I'm heading over to protect him, but I don't know where to go. Sir, if you have any ideas at all, I'd be real grateful.'

'You want me to trust you, Jack.' Tony's father sighed heavily. 'How do I know you won't just go to CTU and have him arrested? He barely survived prison last time; I don't think he could take it again. He would prefer to die.' Jack remained silent, watching him. 'The truth is I really don't know where he is. If I knew, I would have gone there myself to take him money.' He paused, seeing Jack's face. 'Look, if I hear anything, I'll call your cell.'

'You shouldn't feed them, you know, there's already too many of them,' Jack remarked, coming up behind her so suddenly she hadn't heard his approach. She chided herself for her lack of attention to her surroundings and tossed the remaining piece of crumpled bread to the ever hungry sea gulls.

'Tony told me the same thing,' she said unemotionally. 'He called them pests, but whenever they walked over his beach towel he always shared his lunch. I used to pack him three sandwiches and hope he'd eat one.' A lame pelican flew over to the crowd of birds and Michelle sat on the sand, opening a plastic bag. 'He's not here yet Big Bird,' she said gently, placing her hand into the bag and withdrawing a roll. 'Sit down Jack, you're bothering him! You gonna come to me?'

'Big Bird?' Jack asked wide eyed.

'It's Tony's pelican! We came here for a swim every evening, you know, and once he saw him tangled on some Asian's fishing rod. That whole group was jabbering away and they got a bag out, and cut the line and dumped the bird inside and Tony… He looked mad! He went straight over and threatened to arrest the lot of them, and they left in a hurry. He took that bird to the vet,' she chuckled softly. 'I remember the vet looked as though he was mad, but Tony paid, so he took the hook out and treated the leg. Tony kept him a coupla days but then brought him back here. He said no one should ever lose their freedom, especially not birds.' She was crying openly now.

'When was this?' Jack asked, putting his arm around her.

'Two years ago, I think.' She pulled another roll out and placed it on her knees, and both watched the bird take it and fly away.

Jack watched her in silence, his heart aching. A sudden thought came to him and he was unable to dismiss it. 'What about when he was in prison?'

Michelle took a handful of sand, allowing it to trickle through her fingers. 'When I was in LA I brought some bread.' She chewed her upper lip avoiding his gaze. 'Tony asked me to as soon as he was permitted to write his first letter, but I'd already been doing it. You're going after him, aren't you, Jack? I can read you pretty well by now. You're risking a lot.'

Jack glanced round yet again to make certain he hadn't been followed. 'Michelle, Hammond called me last night. Tony's in this much deeper than I thought. Apparently Hodgeson's aware he's got a mole but doesn't know he's identity, so he's made it top priority for District to apprehend Tony. He's gonna watch to see who gets him, but asked Hammond to send agents to keep an eye out for him to prevent him being killed. He's being used as live bait.'

Michelle's face turned red and her eyes flashed. 'How dare they! After all he's been through! After all the years he worked for them! He discovered their leak, and they're still using him! Dammit Jack, he's just out of prison. He's not well at all yet, and they do this to him…'

'Michelle, I know it sounds heartless, but he did hack in after all,' Jack said, attempting to calm her. 'At the moment, Hodgeson just hopes the mole will feel threatened and search for him, coz we're all back to square one if he doesn't. At least Hodgeson knows Tony's innocent – he'll be allowed to return once the mole is caught.'

'If he's still alive,' she muttered, rubbing her eyes.

'I'm going to protect him,' he told her reassuringly. 'If you know where he could be, I gotta know it now, his time could be running out. I just spoke to his father; I don't think he's got a clue.'

'They don't know,' she told him tiredly. 'I don't know either, Jack. He'd never go to any of his relatives, I already told you that. He'd NEVER get anyone else involved in his problems.'

'He wouldn't have any untraceable ones, by any chance?' Jack inquired casually.

She shrugged. 'I don't know. They were all checked out by Mexican Intelligence and they're all clean.' Closing her eyes, she buried her head in her hands. 'I just don't know who else would help him if they don't.'

Jack pulled a list from his jacket and handed it to her. 'His parents wrote that for Agent Main. The Mexican ones are circled in red. You wouldn't know which ones he was particularly close to, would you?'

She took the list and read through the names. 'I only heard of this one – Jose Rosales. He inherited their grandfather's house and lives there now. He doesn't speak English. I only met him once, he seemed decent.'

'And he'd never betray Tony, even if knew something,' Jack concluded, watching her nod. 'I'll go talk to him, he might know something. It's as good a place to start as any.'

'It'll take you a while,' she warned. 'Half the journey is on back roads and some of them are not real well maintained. Find him for me, Jack. Bring him home safe, please.'

'You got it,' he agreed, hoping he could keep that promise.

Tony awoke and stretched lazily, rubbing his eyes. He felt better rested for the siesta everyone in Pedro's house enjoyed. A few voices floated up from the family room indicating the day's activities were about to be resumed. He dressed and joined his cousin. 'You got any other jobs?' he asked. 'The varnish won't have dried yet.'

'Of course,' Pedro told him. 'You may pull the weeds from the garden path. They're growing between the stones. The last owners really let this house go.'

Tony worked hard the rest of the afternoon, and the following day. The garden furniture was given a second coat of varnish and shone in the sun, the path was cleared of weeds, and he had tidied up the cellar. 'Hey Pedro, I'm done. You can take a look,' he said, waiting patiently while his cousin examined the cellar.

'Ok, Tony, you've earned yourself 30 dollars,' he said.

'Only 30?' Tony echoed. 'You got to be kidding. I worked for two full days.'

'I pay more for building,' Pedro told him. 'You want the money, or not?'

'Yeah, I want it. I need some coins; I want to make a phone call. Where's the nearest box?'

'Down the road, about half an hour walk from here,' Pedro told him. 'You sure it's safe?'

'Aha, they're at a friend's'. Tony walked along the side of a narrow road, his hat pulled low over his head in his work clothes and sandals, among the poorer dressed of the town's inhabitants. Nobody spared him a second glance as they walked past him, entering shops or homes. Cars rattled along the rough surface close beside him playing music. Tony's eyes searched the surroundings continuously, unable to relax. The phone box he eventually reached stood in front of an ice-cream shop, occupied by two teenage girls who discussed every boy in their class in great detail in between fits of laughter. Tony bought himself the cheapest ice-cream available and settled at the nearest table, amused. The sun sank and lights came on, bringing more people out to eat pizzas close by him. Presently the girls hung up and he entered the phone box, a pile of coins in his pocket. Please be there, mom.

The phone was lifted on the fifth ring, and he recognized Eva Martinez's voice saying hello. Tony swallowed and attempted to disguise his voice slightly, asking for his mother. He was told to wait a moment and stared at the phone impatiently, adding a second coin.

'Hello,' his mother answered, her voice expressing uncertainty.

'Mom,' Tony began softly, leaning against the side of the booth. 'It's me.'

He heard a gasp at the other end. 'Tony, my baby. You're alive. Thank God. We prayed for you all the time. They said you were shot. Are you ok?' She was crying, he could tell.

'Mom, it's ok,' he told her gently, wishing he could see her. 'I'm fine. The bullet went into my arm, but it's out now. I'm quite safe.'

'Sweetheart, where are you?' she asked, longing to hug him.

'I can't tell you that right now. I'm collecting a little money and then I'll move further and… I'd love to see you again.'

'You will,' his mother promised, determination in her voice. 'Can we send you anything?'

'No, it's not safe for you to do that,' he assured her. 'Don't worry about me anymore, ok?'

'Tony,' his mother told him, slightly exasperated. 'How can you ask that? We're all real worried about you. We're afraid they will find you and hurt you.'

Tony rubbed his face, wondering how his mother had reached the same conclusion he had arrived at the day before. 'Mom its ok, I'm keeping my eyes open. Is Papa there? I'd like to talk to him a bit too, before I run out of coins.'

She said goodbye and assured him again of her love, and called his father, while he blinked hard. Why couldn't you just have forgotten about the leak, Almeida? Look where it got you. You're hiding out, unable to go home and the mole's fine, earning a terrific salary and selling further secrets. He rubbed a hand across his eyes, straightening as his father took the phone.

'Tony, how are you?' Tony assured his father he was fine, and inquired after the family. 'They're all fine too.'

'And Michelle?' he questioned eagerly. 'She must be back now. Have you seen her? Is she okay?'

'We saw her yesterday. She's alright, working in the same place. She just wants to know why you ran.'

'I had no other choice,' he said softly. 'Tell her I love her and I'll try and contact her when things settle a bit.'

'You got it. Listen Antonio, Jack came by. He said you should watch your back; the man you came close to uncovering must surely be looking for you. They all are, in that department.'

'I guessed they would be,' Tony replied, sighing heavily. If Jack had bothered to go and warn his parents he was in danger, he would need to exercise extra vigilance. 'He helped me, you know.'

'I know. Tony, he's heading to Mexico to help you. If you'd tell me where you are, I could let him know.'

'No don't, Papa. Right now I'm fine, there's no one here. I'd like to keep it that way. I can take care of myself,' he answered, adamant. 'Don't even try to guess where I am.'

'Are you sure about that? He seemed quite worried.'

Tony frowned, puzzled. 'Jack knows I can take care of myself. If he came here there'd be a second trail, it would be dangerous. And why would he wish to risk his own freedom helping a fugitive? I don't get it, Papa. No, don't tell him anything, except "thank you".' The phone beeped and he dropped his last coin inside. 'I've got about another minute, Papa. I miss you so much.'

'Tony, we can't leave it like this. They accused you of awful things…'

Tony shook his head. 'Papa, they'll figure out they're wrong soon enough. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll declare me innocent. As long as you and mom know the truth, that's ok.' Who are you kidding, Almeida? You're ready to slam your head into this phone box, except that it won't help. They're calling you a traitor again.

He hung up, a strange longing in his heart. I wanna go home. I want the mole to be exposed and to be allowed to return. I can't keep going like this. He chided himself seconds later for allowing himself to sink into depression. You can keep going, Almeida, because you must. The alternative is unthinkable. There's no way you're going to walk into another cell again and face a wall, ever.

He warmed his dinner up in the silent kitchen, carrying it into the lounge on a tray to join Pedro watching the news. A sense of foreboding filled him as the announcers came on, and he laid his dinner on the coffee table, unwilling to miss a single word. What catastrophe had been averted that day by his colleagues? Had they been successful? It turned out that they had been, for the news contained little of interest. Tony picked through his dinner, his heart aching too much to enable him to enjoy it. After washing his dishes he excused himself, pleading weakness from the surgery.

The attic was dark and silent as he emerged from the ladder. Tony flicked his small lamp on and lay on his mattress, blinking hard. He replayed the conversation with his parents, listening to their voices as they spoke of their feelings for him. He swallowed down his unshed tears, determined to ask Pedro for a photo of them the following day. 'I'll give you a dollar for it,' he muttered into the silence, feeling a little better. Once a few more days had passed he would download Michelle's photo from the internet. It would have to keep him going until his name would be cleared.

Tony opened his eyes and let them roam, examining the top of the attic. Beyond that lay the tree that shaded the house, and above it the sky and the stars. His family would see the same stars if they looked out that night; he really wasn't so far from them at all. Most likely his parents were still at the Martinez's dinner. Once again he replayed the conversation, wishing the whole nightmare would end.

So Jack visited Papa and warned him the man I tried to uncover is searching for me. That's not really news, Jack! I knew he wouldn't just forget about me. So everyone in District is searching for me. That's bad - it means they truly consider me an ongoing threat. It's even worse, for the real mole remains free of suspicion. And why are you heading to Mexico, Jack? You surely can't think of getting involved in my problems, you already released me. You're not coming to watch my back, it doesn't work that way. Did someone send you? Have you allowed yourself to be convinced I am a threat? He rubbed his face, feeling his despair rush through him again. I can't believe you're here to take me back, Jack. You must know I'd NEVER do anything to harm my country. But if you're not here for that, then why are you coming?

The silent ceiling failed to provide him with an answer.