Lincoln ushered Clara in, checking the corridor before he shut the door and locked it. He watched her step in and saw her shaking, wondering what the hell had happened. Moving to the mini bar, he pulled it open and grabbed hold of a small bottle of vodka. Passing it to her, she took it from his fingertips and drained the contents as he folded his arm over his chest.
"What happened?" he asked of her and she tossed the bottle into the wastebasket before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"I was on my way back to the hotel to pick up the rest of my things," Clara began to explain to him, "I'd been moved to another hotel until I testified with Alex."
"How did that go?" Lincoln couldn't resist asking.
"Shit," she answered bluntly. "They were taking him back to Sona when I last checked. No idea how long he will last in there…he's in a state…anyway…I got side tracked."
"You did," Lincoln nodded.
"So I was on my way back to the hotel and I got out of the cab. There was this guy there…tall…dark hair…dressed in a fine looking suit. I imagine you can guess where this is going?" Clara wondered as she went to Lincoln's mini fridge and helped herself to another bottle of vodka, opening the top as Lincoln watched her and he perched on the sofa.
"I can," Lincoln confirmed. "Something to do with The Company."
Clara held her hands over her head. "We have a winner," she said, voice laden with sarcasm as she lowered her arms and shook her head slowly. "So, anyway, he said that he wanted me to go with him. As if that was going to happen. I asked him what he wanted and he said that someone wanted to know why I had been hanging around with Lincoln Burrows and why I was trying to save Alexander Mahone."
"They didn't try to shoot you?" Lincoln wondered from her. "Usually my dealings with The Company end in them trying to kill me."
"That's the weird part," Clara said, finishing the vodka and then tossing the bottle in the bin. "He didn't even pull out his gun or threaten to kill me. If anything, he was against hurting me. Whoever I know inside of The Company…whoever might want to protect me…I need to find out who it is."
Lincoln motioned to her arm where the scratch sat. "Doesn't explain the cut or the ripped dress."
"Oh," Clara said, glancing down to her arm and then down to her skirt. "I kind of started kicking at him and screaming to attract attention. He fought back…not much."
"Clever," Lincoln told her. "But, again, that doesn't explain why you want to join us. I'm here to get my brother out of jail and then I'm done with The Company once I have my son back."
"Sensible," Clara responded to him. "But I want to help you until then. Maybe I can find something further out? I don't know. I just know that everything…everything in my life has gone to shit in the past year since Shales and I want to rebuild it."
"You're not going to do that by digging into The Company," Lincoln informed her and she shrugged.
"Maybe not," she agreed with him on that matter, "but I'm tired of not knowing things."
"You know that this is pretty dangerous? I mean, I'm not sure what you want me to help you with. All I'm doing is helping Michael break out of that craphole."
"And he is going to take Alex with him, right?" Clara wondered. "Because that is what Alex is probably thinking. We both know differently. I know how your brother thinks and how you think. Alex shot your father. Why would you help to break him out?"
Lincoln chewed down on the inside of his cheek as he listened to her and she folded her arms over her chest, looking to Lincoln expectantly with an arched brow. She was doing her best not to seem too pushy, but she knew that Alex's only chance of getting out of Sona was breaking out. There would be no chance the FBI would help him after the stunt he just pulled.
"No doubt Michael will try to set him up," Lincoln agreed.
"Then you need to tell him not to."
Lincoln chuckled, flopping back on the sofa and scratching the back of his head. "I'm not exactly Michael's favourite person right now. He found out that Sara had died and I didn't tell him. He didn't take the news very well."
Nodding, Clara seemed to understand. "I can imagine not," she whispered and Lincoln watched her continue to speak. "But he needs to break Alex out too. Don't string him along and then drop him."
"If he gets out then I intend to put a bullet through his head anyway," Lincoln shrugged, eyes narrowing as he watched Clara and she bit down on her lip at hearing him speak in such a manner. "Besides, why would we keep him around?"
"Because there might come a time when you need me as a bargaining chip," Clara declared, hands going to her hips as Lincoln eyed her with suspicion. "We both know that there is someone inside of The Company who wants to keep me around and alive. We don't know why or who it is, but there is someone. Keep me close and use my life for your son's if it comes to it, but Alex is part of the plan. You're not to play him."
"You still bargain for him," Lincoln scoffed, head shaking back and forth.
"Do we have a deal?" Clara wondered, not in the mood for getting into her motives and why she was doing what she was doing. Instead she watched Lincoln with intrigue and he managed a shrug of his shoulders.
"Come with me to Sona tomorrow and we will talk to Michael."
…
Standing in the glaring son, Clara wondered what the hell was going on. They had been told that they could not visit Michael in the visitation area. Apparently he was in solitary confinement. Clara had no idea what he had done, but she let Lincoln argue with the man behind the front desk while she signed in to visit Alex. She needed to make sure he was alive and well.
She walked to the usual spot, waiting to see him come out. He moved, his body seeming to curl in on itself as his hands remained laced together in front of his stomach. He had his gaze on the ground before he came to stand opposite her. He managed to look up and she saw how rough he looked, but the words he spoke were enough to give her some hope.
"I haven't taken anything," he told her and she gave him an encouraging nod and a small smile.
"Good," she said in a small voice, moving closer to him as she wrapped her hands around the barbed wire. "I'm guessing it hurts?"
Alex let out a small chuckle, nodding profusely. "Just a bit," he told her. "But I'm keeping busy. Scofield has let me back in on the escape effort according to Whistler. We're tunnelling out of here."
"And then what?" Clara wondered.
"No idea," Alex admitted to her, "but they dragged Scofield out this morning and chucked him in solitary. I was coming back in when I saw him in this box outside…covered in a plastic sheet of some kind to trap the heat. While I was gone there was an escape attempt for Whistler involving a helicopter and Michael was caught trying to stop him."
"That makes sense why we can't talk to him then."
"We?" Alex arched a brow and Clara looked behind her, wondering if she could see Lincoln in the distance, but there was no sign of him.
"I'm working with Lincoln Burrows to make sure you get out of here. Someone from The Company saw me on the way back to the hotel last night and demanded to know what I had been doing with Burrows. I put up a fight, but he didn't do much back…ripped my dress…scratched me. For some reason they still don't want me dead."
"So Lincoln is letting you work with him?" Alex continued to question her, giving his mind something to focus on instead of the pain he was feeling.
"There might be a day when he needs me as a bargaining chip to get his son back," Clara tried to sound nonchalant as she shrugged her shoulders and Alex almost looked horrified at her attitude. "So I'm going to be that chip, providing that Michael breaks you out and doesn't throw you under the bus."
Alex chuckled. "Funny," he mumbled.
"What is?"
"Michael said he would be prepared to use you as leverage if he had to," Alex spoke. "Well, they do say that great minds think alike. But…you're right. The thought of Scofield double crossing me did enter my mind."
"So you're on high alert?" Clara enquired and Alex nodded.
"I'm always on high alert," he informed her. "You have to be in this place…it doesn't help that Bagwell keeps coming to offer me drugs…wanting to fight this man for some reason I don't know."
"I assume you turned it down?"
Wiping his forehead free from sweat, Alex nodded. "Yeah," he told her. "I'm just focused on getting out of here now…nothing else…no matter how much I crave it."
Clara shook her head at hearing him speak in such a manner. She longed to be able to reach out and touch his arm, offer him some encouragement, but she couldn't. Instead she could only wonder what words of encouragement she could offer him. She had nothing. She remained quiet instead, letting Alex be the one to speak.
"Anyway, you should be careful," Alex said. "If The Company think you're working with Burrows then they'll send someone after you again."
"I know," Clara nodded. "Good job Burrows has offered to teach me some basic self-defence tonight. Who says it hurts to know a crook, huh?"
She tried to be humorous, but all Alex could picture was her spending time with Lincoln. For some reason, he felt his stomach clench before he shook the image away. He didn't need to think about that or feel that way. He had Pam. He had to break out and get himself back home for Pam's sake. His son needed him too. Cameron hadn't seen his father in too long.
"Just look after yourself, alright?" Alex urged from her. "And don't do anything stupid."
"You're one to talk," she scoffed, looking up to the jail.
"And look where I am," Alex said to her. "I mean it, Clara," he moved his hand to take hold of hers through the wire, his fingers warm against hers as he held them in his grip. "You need to be careful."
"I will be," Clara promised him, gripping onto him tightly for a moment. "Listen, I should go. Lincoln has this massive list of things to do today and he's my lift back to the hotel. I'll come back sometime soon to make sure you're okay."
"Yeah," Alex nodded, releasing her hand as she moved hers to dangle back down by her side as she offered him a slim smile and began to back away. "Take care, Clara."
"You too," she said, "and keep thinking about why you're doing this…for Pam and your son…"
As she turned on her heel to leave, Alex stared after her. "They're not the only ones getting me through this."
…
Clara had been locked in Lincoln's hotel suite that evening, waiting for him to return. When he did, he was furious and Clara could only look up from the magazine she had been reading to glance across to him.
"What happened?" she wondered.
He scoffed. "What hasn't happened since I dropped you off this morning?" Lincoln wondered from her. "It was going well. I had this fake argument with Sucre this morning so that I could get him to work as a spy on Susan. That went great, but then I went to meet with her this afternoon and she was arrested. I had no idea what happened…apparently Michael had told this General who put him in solitary about her and why he had to escape because of her and to save my son."
"So what happened?" Clara worried, standing up and tossing the magazine down.
"They took LJ to a different location so that the General couldn't find him," Lincoln said. "And I also learned that Susan isn't this chick's real name…it's Gretchen."
"Talk about a busy day," Clara mumbled, arms going over her chest as she spoke and Lincoln scoffed, nodding his head as he listened to her and she moved around the room. "So this General believes Michael about The Company?"
"No idea," Lincolns shrugged. "He's dead now. Gretchen saw to that and Michael's back in gen pop along with Whistler."
"Christ," Clara muttered. "This Gretchen sounds…"
"Crazy?" Lincolns suggested when Clara struggled to find the right words and he nodded at her. "She is."
"So what do we do?" Clara wondered from Lincoln.
"Try and stay one step ahead of Gretchen," Lincoln responded. "I have no idea if we can do it, but we have to try and do something. But you're not getting messed up in that business. It's bad enough I have Sofia tagging along and questioning Whistler."
"She's his girlfriend, right?"
"Yeah," Lincoln mumbled, not wanting to discuss it. "Anyway, I promised to teach you how to fight, didn't I?"
"That you did," Clara nodded. "So where do we start?"
…
Alex could only hope that he had gotten over the worst of the addiction. He had been curled up on his bunk, holding onto the picture of his son that had been sent through the post. He had no idea who had sent it, but he was grateful. Clutching it to his chest, he closed his eyes and thought of what Clara had said. He had to do this for Pam and for Cameron. But he also had to do this for her; for Clara.
She had been the one to try and bail him out of this mess. He owed it to her to find a way to repay her and while him coming off of drugs had no direct impact on her life, he hoped to show her that he could do it. Somehow that might repay all the favours she had done for him.
"Mahone."
Looking up from where he had been laid, he saw Michael stood in the doorway. Gulping, he nodded his head at the sight of the man in front of him. Michael had been admitted back into Sona and had suggested they start work digging the tunnel straight away.
Whistler was stood behind Michael as Alex stood up and they moved down the corridors and back towards the tunnel they were digging. Rolling his sleeves up, Alex let them rest on his elbows as Bagwell found them moving towards Lechero's quarters.
"What is he doing here?" Michael demanded to know.
"He had something I needed while you were out there so he's coming with us," Whistler declared.
Stepping down into the bunker, Lechero stood in the corner, looking at them as Bagwell stood to their other side. Alex said nothing, feeling his shirt begin to grow with sweat. Instead he ignored Bagwell as he rushed around them and demanded that he be taken along with them on the escape plan. Alex didn't care who they were dragging out, so long as they were getting out.
Michael demanded for Lechero to go and find saws that they would need along with Bagwell, leaving the three of them locked in the tunnel underneath Lechero's quarters. Michael began looking at the hole they were making, digging upwards as he watched the hole with intrigue.
"We need to stabilise it," Michael said to them. "So we need something like four feet wood."
"Got it," Alex muttered before they heard a noise from behind the door.
Keeping quiet, the three of them turned to look to the door, biting down on their lips and keeping silent as they waited for the noise to disappear. It soon did and they went back to work, looking for what Michael had told them to look for. Alex remained silent, crouching down to find what he needed.
It was then when they heard a loud roar from outside and they looked around, wondering what was happening. Alex saw Whistler find a plank of wood and Alex nodded, motioning to the hole where it needed to go. Whistler climbed up and stabilised the section before climbing back down.
They kept on working in silence and Alex patted the pocket of his shirt, feeling the photo of his son there, still secure and with him. He went back to working, closing his eyes for a moment as he found another piece of wood. He let his hand move over his forehead to wipe the sweat from it.
"Is something going on out there?" Alex wondered as another roar sounded from outside.
"Whatever it is does not concern us," Whistler declared. "We'll be gone in two days."
"Once we're outside we're finished," Michael said. "As soon as I have swapped you for my nephew then this is over."
"Fine with me," Whistler agreed with a nod of his head while Alex wondered what he would do on the outside.
Would he go back to the States and find his wife and son? He could go back to them and try to make things work. He would be sober by then and back to his usual self.
"Alex, we need help here," Michael suddenly said, pulling him from his thoughts as Whistler held the wood in the hole to support the weight above them.
Jumping onto the boxes, Alex lifted his hands above his head to support the wood as he groaned in pain and Michael screwed something into it to stabilise it. Alex watched on as Michael shot him a sharp nod.
"Let go," he demanded from Alex and he did as he was told with hesitation, letting go of the wood before climbing down from the wood and looking up, shocked that it was holding all of that weight.
"How many more of those do we need?" Alex wondered from Michael.
"Twenty more," Michael said, hands on his hips as he jumped down and stood on the ground.
"And then what?" Whistler wondered.
"A helicopter would be nice," Michael replied, his voice snide as Whistler rolled his eyes and Alex stayed out of their conversation, searching for more wood.
"I was supposed to kill you, but I didn't," Whistler responded.
"I'm so grateful," Michael responded, sarcasm in his voice as he watched Whistler. "But what happens once we're out of the hole is my business. You'll know when it happens. Just be grateful you're getting out."
"We can all agree on that," Alex responded. "But where the hell is Lechero?"
"He's not our concern right now," Michael said with a shake of his head. "We need to do this and get it done quickly. So long as he brings the tools in another half an hour then we'll be fine."
"Should I go and look for him?" Alex wondered and Whistler shrugged.
"Might not be a bad idea," Whistler agreed.
Before he could move, there was another roar from outside and Alex shook his head. On second thought, he might just wait until they returned. He went back to snapping wood. But it was then when he shook his head and looked to the uneven plank as Michael looked.
"The saw…" Alex said, trailing off as he spoke. "We need it, but whatever is going on out there I don't want to know about."
"Give him a bit more time," Michael nodded.
It was then when Whistler spoke, clearly needing to get something off of his chest as he flapped his arms by his side.
"I am a fisherman," he informed them, despite the fact no one believed that story anymore. "But I'm just connected. You see, I used to run charters and one day that woman…Gretchen…she came to me and asked if I wanted to be exclusive to her company. I mean, she was offering good money, I just didn't know how deep this thing got."
"Right," Michael said, his eyes narrowed before he looked to Alex. "I need a wedge."
"Here," Alex responded, handing Michael a piece of thick wood and he took it to observe it as Whistler continued with his story.
"Look," he said, pulling out the bird book he had been sent. He flicked it open as Alex went back to scouring amongst the piles of wood, his gaze set on that instead of what the man opposite was showing them. "These are all just coordinates…about where I have been…that's it."
"Just stop," Alex demanded, in no mood to hear the man. "It's embarrassing having to listen to you go on about this. As far as I'm concerned, you work for The Company. Michael?"
"Yeah," Michael agreed.
"But they're using me, just like they used you," Whistler complained.
"Great," Alex said, voice sarcastic as he spoke. "I'm glad we got that sorted out, now let's just get back to work so we can think about getting out of here."
Alex picked up another piece of wood and they went about their own business for a while, doing what they could without the tools they had. It was only after a few moments when Michael spoke to Whistler, his tone still holding a sense of accusation.
"So the book is just coordinates?" Michael asked and Whistler pulled it open.
"Take a look," Whistler declared.
The two men began talking as Michael questioned him on the book. Alex said nothing for a moment as Michael read out random words like Gate and Stampede. Shaking his head, Alex moved back over to them, looking between them with intrigue.
"Why does this matter?" Alex wondered.
"It matters because I am being accused of being someone I am not and I don't want Michael leaving me out when the time comes to escape."
"He won't," Alex said confidently. "Besides, if he was going to leave someone behind then he would leave me, but if he even thinks of leaving anyone then we alert the authorities and he's never going to get out of Panama."
Michael eyed Alex with suspicion as the elder man shot him a questioning gaze.
"Right?" he asked.
"Right," Michael reluctantly agreed. "Besides, I hear that you have Clara with my brother making sure I don't abandon you."
"Yeah," Alex mumbled. "What of it?"
"Nothing," Michael said, "just that Lincoln said she seemed pretty keen to get to the bottom of who she knows in The Company. Just wondering if you think that's wise."
Alex chuckled then, looking down before grabbing a piece of wood. "Clara's able to make her own decisions."
"You know as well as I that she's going to get hurt if she keeps on digging," Michael responded.
"Why do you care?" Alex wondered and Michael eyed Alex with suspicion.
"Because my brother seems to care," Michael responded. "And for some reason that I don't understand, he seems to have taken a liking to her."
Michael didn't know what he was doing, but he suspected he was trying to see what reaction he could gain from Mahone. The man sniffed loudly and ran a hand under his nose before wiping his forehead. He said nothing for a moment, thinking about how he had felt when Clara had told him that she was working alongside Lincoln Burrows. He remained silent then, not bothering to respond to Michael's statement.
"We need that saw," Alex said instead. "We need Lechero and he is up there."
"When we are sure it is safe to go then we go." Michael replied.
"I'm with Alex," Whistler said, pointing to Mahone who simply shrugged.
Alex ignored Michael and made his way to the end of the tunnel, pushing the door open and leaving it on the latch so that they could get back in. Moving to the staircase, they went in a line, quietly moving upwards until they came to Lechero's quarters. Alex went in first, looking around and seeing some men they barely recognised.
"Hey," one called over to them, "you here for the fight? Grab a beer and take a seat."
Once they saw the other two men on the sofa, Whistler and Michael turned around and began running back to the tunnel, Alex overtaking them and rushing down the steps as the men chased them, not relenting. Alex was the first one to the door, grabbing Michael and shoving him inside as he held it open. Whistler was last, panting for breath as one of the men grabbed hold of his ankle and he tripped, falling to the floor as Michael pushed past Alex and reached for him.
He failed miserably, the men grabbing hold of Whistler while Alex took Michael, pushing him behind his body and into the tunnel before kicking a man in the stomach who tried to get into the door. Closing the door, Alex panted for breath as they heard the grunts from Whistler as the men beat him.
"We need to go out there," Michael said, his breathing shallow and voice hoarse as Alex held his hands up, blocking Michael from going anywhere.
"And what do you think will happen when we do?" Alex asked. "They'll kill us."
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
Looking around the room, Alex moved past Michael as he spoke in a low voice. "We get ready for them."
Alex wandered down the tunnel, trying to tune out the noise of Whistler being beaten as he went, hands on his hips as he searched for something that might resemble a weapon. He had no idea what was happening outside, but he knew that Lechero was no longer in charge. If he was then he would be out there demanding for the men to release Whistler.
Finally, Alex found something to make. It was some form of rebar. He held it up and stuck a piece of rock in between it, hoping to weight it down a bit. Holding it in his grip, he knew that someone could do damage with it. Passing it to Michael, he practically forced him to take hold of it before looking for something else.
But then Michael moved by towards the door and Alex watched him, eyes wide as he wondered what the hell he was doing.
"We have you friend Lechero here," a voice called out and Alex swore that it sounded like Sammy. "He's going to give me the combination and then we're coming for you."
Alex and Michael looked to each other before a gunshot echoed and Michael made his move.
"I'm opening the door," he snapped, pulling the door wide open and the men entered.
Alex backed away, pressing himself to the wall as the men moved forwards and he dropped the weapon that he had been holding. Alex groaned lowly as Sammy roared at Lechero once he had seen the hole in the tunnel. Michael began telling Sammy how he could get out, but he made Sammy promise that he would take Whistler. He responded with a swift punch to Michael's face.
Michael bent over as Whistler responded, telling Sammy how it was in his best interests to keep Michael in the plan. Moving to the hole, Sammy peered into it and Alex wondered what was happening before the entire weight that the wood had been holding collapsed down on top of Sammy. Alex pushed his hand to his mouth, stopping him from inhaling any dust as Sammy came tumbling back down.
But the other men in the tunnel acted with haste, ready for a fight. Alex grabbed hold of one of them, his arm coming around his neck as his other hand went to squeeze tightly on his shoulder, keeping him on the ground as he broke his neck in his fingertips. Before he could stop another man, Lechero had the gun that Sammy had dropped and had shot him in the back, leaving them alone in the tunnel.
The men gasped loudly for breath as Alex doubled over for a moment.
"How far does this set us back?" Lechero was the one to wonder.
"We should be more concerned about the guards not seeing the sinkhole," Alex responded quickly and ran away from the tunnel, the other men following him.
They raced towards a cell before coming to the window, peering out and looking over no man's land. Alex let out a deep sigh of relief. They were safe for now. He said nothing, instead keeping his grip on the window as everyone left him alone. He remained stood where he was for a moment before thinking of Michael and what the man must be feeling right about now.
He stayed where he was for a moment before leaving, grabbing a cloth and some alcohol on his way to Whistler's cell. He found him sat on the bunk and handed him the supplies, urging for him to put them to his forehead.
"You could have killed us all," Whistler complained to Michael who shrugged.
"Next time I will try to do better," Michael said and Alex looked at him, knowing exactly what the man was feeling. He felt the same thing most of the time.
"I'm going to head back down and try to salvage some of the braces," Alex responded.
"Yeah, I'll join you," Whistler responded, still annoyed with Michael as he made his way from the cell and Alex followed him before turning back, his hands going to his hips as he looked to Michael for a moment.
"I'd like to tell you it gets easier," he said.
"But it doesn't," Michael concluded.
"No," Alex responded. "Never does."
He began to move again, but before he did, he gripped the cell and turned his head over his shoulder to look back to Michael again. "And as for Clara snooping around The Company…I…I need you to get me out so that I can have her back. I know you hate me and I get it…but…but I owe her."
"I'd have thought you'd run off back to your family," Michael deadpanned and Alex shook his head.
"I need to keep her safe first," he responded and left the room without a second glance behind him.
…
A/N: Do let me know what you think! I have the next four chapters written so I might bulk post soon depending on what people want!