Fallen

#13

"So, did he tell you what Michael's up to?" Veronica asked me as the two of us, along with Nick and L.J, ate dinner in the rec room of my house. "No. He said that he promised him that he wouldn't tell anyone, and he has to honor that promise." I answered.

"Well, what did he tell you?" she inquired further. "Mostly, he just told me about the guys on P.I. apparently, one of them has a pregnant girlfriend and his cousin is trying to move in on her. Turns out he and Scofield share more than a job on P.I. They're cellmates." I said taking a bite of my pizza.

"You're gonna talk to him right?" Nick asked. "I have to. I mean, the man spends all of his time with Scofield. If they work P.I and have a cell together, he's got to know something."

"He's not just gonna tell you though, is he? How can you be sure he'll tell you anything and if he does how are you going to know that he's not full of it?" L.J asked. "I have a plan, don't worry. The hard part is going to be handling Abruzzi." I said knowing that the conversation just got a little more interesting.

"Abruzzi? As in mob boss John Abruzzi?" Nick asked, half surprised and partly envious. "The one and only." I replied simply. "No way, Cal! Do you know how dangerous guys like Abruzzi are? Even behind bars, who knows how many of his cronies that are on the outside hang around that place." Veronica exclaimed, getting all riled up, just like I knew she would. "Veronica, most people on the outside think Lincoln is a guy like Abruzzi! From what Lincoln has told me, Abruzzi pulls a lot of weight in Fox River. Not to mention he cut two of Scofields toes off! I mean you don't just cut a guys toes off and then give him a job without having a damn good reason." I explained.

A couple of hour later Veronica made her way up to my bedroom, where she was staying while I slept on the floor, and Nick to the guest room. L.J. had the entire basement to him self, so he never had to go upstairs. I sat on the floor in a sea of papers that I had been taking notes on. "Wanna play poker?" L.J asked from the couch. "Don't know how." I answered. "Black Jack?" "Nope." "Rummy?" "Sorry." He plopped back with his feet on the coffee table letting out a loud sigh. "Go fish?" he asked. I chuckled, got up, walked over to the couch and plopped down next to him. "Now, go fish, I know." I said smiling. "I'd hope so!" He teased with a smirk. "Smartass" I thought, "Just deal the cards!"

"Got any threes?" I asked. "Go fish. Got any kings?" he asked. "Damn!" I said as I handed them over, I was losing badly. "Can I ask you something?" L.J asked hesitantly. "Shoot" I said, anxiously awaiting the question. "What happened between you and Uncle Mike?" I wasn't really shocked; L.J was only eleven when I left. I couldn't help but feel guilty for leaving, maybe if I had stayed I could have helped him somehow, kept him out of trouble. "What makes you think that something happened between us?" I asked knowing that it was a stupid question. L.J. has always been a bright kid, not to mention you could cut the tension with a knife whenever this subject came up. "Every time you and Uncle Mike are mentioned in the same sentence, Veronica tenses, and I have never heard anyone refer to him as "Scofield" but you. Once when I was staying with my dad, Uncle Mike was visiting and I remember then talking about you. I always though that you two were together." He said.

"L.J., after your dad was sentenced, things here got hard to handle. For everyone. There wasn't one single reason why I left; it was a number of things. As far as your Uncle and I are concerned, well, that's not important. What is important is that I'm back now, and we are going to get your dad out. I promise you, we are going to get through this." Some may think that I was just saying that to comfort the kid. I didn't. I said it because it was true, Lincoln was going to get out of that prison alive and we were going to get through this.

L.J. just nodded, "Got any threes?" he asked. "What?" I shouted. "I just asked you that!" I smacked him on the arm, he just laughed. "I should have known" I said shaking my head. "Never play cards with a Burrows!"