Clara had fallen back to sleep, but that sleep was interrupted as soon as she heard a loud voice booming from outside. Groaning lowly, Clara sat up, hand going to her head as she felt a sense of dizziness sweep over her. She managed to stand, her legs slightly shaky as she blinked profusely, accustoming herself to the light once she was outside the boat.

Folding her arms over her chest, she tentatively walked forwards and towards the meeting area. She recognised everyone except for one man who was stood at the front, his arms in front of him as he snapped at the people around the table. He had curly blonde hair on the top of his head, his chin square and his face wrinkled up as he continued to snap. His voice was harsh and far too loud.

Dressed in a brown shirt and tie, the man turned his glance over to Clara as she saw Alex sat on the table, a grey zip up jacket on his body on top of his grey top.

"Who is this?" he demanded.

Michael rubbed his forehead for a moment. "Clara Reynolds, the woman I told you about."

Alex instantly turned his head over his shoulder to see her, moving to his feet as she shot him a nod, telling him that she was fine in a silent manner as he then backed off, letting her move towards the man who she assumed was running this entire operation. Holding her hand out, she remained polite as he took hold of it, shaking it more forcefully than she had thought he might.

"Pleasure," Clara nodded at him. "I take it you're Agent Self."

"Correct," he nodded. "So you're our key to the General, huh?"

Clara shook her head. "Not anymore," she said and he looked perturbed. "He knows that I was working against him. He sent this guy…Wyatt…he was torturing me to get information, but I didn't say anything, not that I remember anyway. He drugged me pretty well."

Self seemed to freeze then, dropping her hand as he glanced to her, his eyes wide. "Wyatt?" he asked her and then glanced to Alex. "Can I talk to the pair of you outside?"

Clara had no idea what was going on, but she nodded, moving behind Self as Alex fell into step besides her, his hands stuffed up and in his pockets as they wandered to the outside of the warehouse. They stood still as Self moved around them, his face tinted pink before he spoke.

"That Wyatt came to me," he informed them. "Last night, he came to me and…you know what? I've dealt with hundreds of investigations before, but I've never had a hit man come after me before."

"What did he want?" Alex asked.

"What did he want?" Self asked, his voice continuing to grow in a mixture of panic and anger as they stood by the edge of the dock and Self moved his hand through the air frantically. "He didn't discuss that, but I'd say it was to scare me off. If he can find me once then how do I know that he can't find me again?"

Alex placed a hand on his hips and moved from one foot to the other as the sun beat down on them. Clara shrugged her shoulders as she answered him, her voice truthful and honest.

"You won't know that he can't find you again," she told him, her voice honest. "If my uncle is who we think he is then he's probably hired the best hit man in the entire States."

Self scoffed at hearing her, shaking his head back and forth. "That's not entirely comforting."

"It isn't meant to be," Alex told him.

"So what do I do?" Self wondered. "You were an agent once before."

Alex let out a hysterical chuckle then; although Clara suspected that he didn't find anything particularly entertaining. Moving forwards, Alex looked down for a second before glowering at Self.

"Really?" Alex asked, still perturbed. "So you would have left me in a jail cell to rot and now you want my help?"

"I couldn't get you out," Self said. "Besides, getting arrested was your fault."

Alex looked away from him then as Self began to pace, a silence brewing between the two of them as they let their thoughts consume them. Clara didn't know how long it was before they next spoke and she looked to Alex.

"I've tracked down killers…rapists…but none of them got to me, not like an engineer from Fox River. And he did that because he stopped running and he became aggressive. He was the one to bring the game to me."

Alex nodded as Self looked worried. That wasn't entirely the answer he wanted, but it was the one he got. "That's what you do," Alex told him.

Self wandered off then, clearly thinking about what he had just been told as Clara watched him go and climb into a car. She let out a low whistle as he drove off and Alex remained silent for a few moments before glancing out to the water.

"He'll either kill him or Self will get lucky and I'll get him first," Alex said.

"Don't say things like that," Clara urged him, moving to hit him on the arm gently. "If he kills Self then you end up back in jail. Is that what you want?"

"Not really," Alex said. "Guess I'll just have to kill him first. Anyway, how you feeling? I checked up on you earlier but you were still sleeping. Sara's just popped out but you should go back inside and wait-"

"-Slow down," Clara interrupted, holding her hands up to stop him for continuously talking. "Take a breath for a moment and let me tell you that I'm fine. I feel fine…well…just a bit fragile and cold, but I blame this dress. I should really find some more clothes."

"I'm sure Sara can lend you some of hers," Alex responded in the process of pulling his jacket off his arms.

"I'll be fine," she told him once she understood his intention.

Rolling his eyes, he moved to help her into it, pulling it onto her arms as he stood behind her and she almost shuddered at the feeling of his fingers brushing along her bare skin as he helped her into it. Of course she refrained herself, choosing to blush instead before she dared to move her hands up to his as they sat on her shoulders. Keeping them there, she kept her gaze away from him.

"Thank you," she said and he shrugged.

"Just a jacket," he told her.

"Not just for the jacket," she responded in a small voice. "I do remember some things from last night…not much…but I remember you telling me that you called Michael to send Lincoln to find me."

"It was my fault you were in that police station in the first place," Alex responded with a scoff. "If I hadn't been stupid enough to get arrested then you wouldn't have needed to come. Seems like you're always trying to bail me out of things and I always land you in the crap."

She turned around then, taking her hands from his as she looked him in the eye. "Is that what you think?"

He wrinkled his forehead, looking at her with a face of disbelief. "Come on, Clara," he urged her. "Those scars on your back are because I burdened you with all of this…and then yesterday he got you because you came after me-"

"-Stop blaming yourself," Clara interrupted, "or having a pity party or whatever this," she motioned to him, "is. I am old enough to make my own decisions, Alex. I was the one who chose to come to New Mexico. I was the one who followed you to Panama. I was the one who went to find you in a jail cell. You don't ask for all of this to happen, just like I don't. We're just two people who seem to be unlucky enough to fall into it."

The pair of them went quiet before Clara heard Lincoln call for them from the doorway. Holding a finger up, she indicated that she would be a minute as she turned her gaze back to Alex, managing a small nod for him as he watched her for a second, a hand going to tousle his hair.

"We need to go in," she said. "So just stop blaming yourself and help me get the truth from my uncle, yeah?"

"Yeah," he managed to agree and followed her back inside, noting how the jacket was far too big on her.

Once in, everyone was sat on the red seats and Sara instantly stood up from her spot. Moving over to Clara, she took hold of her gently by the arm, leading her towards the sofa.

"How do you feel?" she asked from her, instantly going into her doctor mode.

"Fine," Clara said, "just a bit uneasy."

"Understandable," Sara said and Clara became aware that everyone was listening in as Sara continued to talk. "You're going to have to stay here and rest for the next twenty four hours to make sure it's all left your system."

"Which is a good job because we need to split up," Michael said. "As you all know, Howard Sucredi will be on a flight to Vegas in the next few hours, meaning that he is taking his card with him. Self wants the card asap so some of us are going to have to go to Vegas."

"I'll stay here," Alex piped up, leaning against a fence.

"Good," Michael said, "because while you were out there Bellick got a call. T-Bag has been spotted and the woman who spotted him wants two grand. So…Linc…you take Roland, Sara, Sucre to Vegas and we will stay and deal with T-Bag."

Clara furrowed her brow, piping up for a moment. "Why do we need Bagwell?"

"He has Whistler's bird book," Michael said. "We think it has information on The Company inside of it."

"Got ya," Clara nodded as the team dispersed and Bellick moved over to look to Michael and Alex as they began speaking.

Sara moved a hand to Clara's shoulder, holding onto it as she shot her a warning look. "I mean it," she told her. "Nothing for twenty four hours."

Clara nodded. "Thanks, Sara…for everything."

She managed a small smile, nodding her head back before going off as Michael went to catch up with her. Moving to her feet, Clara stood in front of Alex as she spoke to him.

"So where are we meeting this woman?" she wondered from him.

"We?" he asked from her. "Didn't Sara just demand for you to rest?"

"And stay in this warehouse all alone?" Clara wondered, looking around. "After yesterday I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that, Alex. I'd rather just come with you. I'll sit in the car and be quiet, like a good little child." Her tone was sarcastic as Alex chuckled at hearing her, shrugging his shoulders before seeing that the Vegas crew were all heading to the cars.

"Just wait until Sara has gone before following."

"Got it."

…

Sitting in the back of the car, Clara leant forwards in between the two seats. She still wore her dress from yesterday but had zipped Alex's jacket up to her neck, hands stuffed in her pockets as she saw Alex check on his watch.

"What is taking Bellick so long?" Alex wondered.

"He should have what we need," Michael agreed.

"How do you know you can trust this woman who phoned and asked to meet him?" Clara enquired.

"We can't," Michael replied to her. "Problem is we can't exactly trust anyone."

It was then when Michael's cell rang and he answered after a moment. "How much more?" he demanded before hanging up a moment later.

Alex felt his teeth grind together as Michael opened the car door. "He wants us to go and talk to her," he declared and Alex nodded, opening the door before looking behind to Clara, shooting her a warning look as she sunk back in her seat.

"Staying," she said, her voice a mutter as the two men wandered off.

Leaning back in the seat, Clara kept her hands in the pockets of the jacket as she closed her eyes for a moment, a fleeting sense of tiredness taking over her. She looked around, but she couldn't see anything as she tried to stay awake. There was not much to see except for the other cars they had parked near.

She didn't know how long had passed before she heard the car door open again and Alex's panting breath entered the cab. Leaning forwards as he shut the door, he turned around to see her perching on the edge of the seat, her hands holding onto either side of the chair as she looked confused.

"What happened?" she asked from him.

"T-Bag set us up," Alex declared. "He had a gun and was telling us to get in the van. Can you untie me?"

He held his hands up and Clara moved her fingers to tug at the material that was bound around his wrists. Tugging it off, she tossed it to the side before Alex started the engine, grateful that Michael had left the keys in the ignition. Clara moved forwards, climbing to the front seat and slipping into it, one hand on the dashboard as she saw Alex move his hand into his jean pocket and pull out his cell.

Tossing it onto her lap, he slipped the car into drive before moving off. "Call Self," he urged her. "Tell him I need a location on Michael."

"Yeah," Clara nodded.

Doing as she was told, she called Self who told her to meet him in his building's underground car park. She relayed the message back to Alex and he nodded, driving through the streets as fast as possible while Clara quizzed him.

"If he wanted to kill Michael then he would have done," she mused. "Do you think he has something up his sleeve?"

"Yeah," Alex nodded. "He's a psychopath, but he has a plan. Like you said, if he wanted to kill Michael then he would have just done it without any hesitation. But he doesn't want Michael dead so long as he gets what he wants and Michael remains useful."

"So we need to be quick," Clara confirmed.

"Yeah," Alex responded.

They both remained tense as they pulled into the car park and Alex parked in a spot furthest from the door that Self was loitering by. He came over to them, a device in his fingertips before he opened the door to the car and Alex looked to it. He took hold of the device.

"So what does he want?" Self wondered.

"No idea," Alex admitted, "but I need to get to this location and find Michael before he does something to him."

"Do you think he will?"

"Only if Michael gives him what he wants," Alex shrugged to Self.

"I'll come with you."

"No," Alex responded. "I can handle this. You stay here and stick to the plan."

Passing the device over to Clara, she looked down at it and began to help navigate the way that they had to go. It didn't take too long before they pulled up outside the building. Forcing herself from the car, Clara stepped onto the sidewalk before Alex was in front of her, hands on her shoulders to keep her still.

"Stay here," he told her.

"No chance," she responded. "Come on…I can help."

"You could get shot," Alex responded.

"Maybe," Clara said, "but we're in this together, remember? So stop trying to protect me and let me help for once."

He had no choice to argue as she slipped from his grip, holding the device as she followed it towards a stairwell. Climbing the steps, the device kept bleeping, indicating that they were getting closer to the location. Tentatively moving onto a landing, Clara walked down it, close to the wall while Alex followed her.

Only when they came to the door did Clara see it was open. Alex moved his hand into his back pocket, pulling out a gun before raising it. She let him go first then as she walked behind him, both of them remaining silent. But it soon became clear that no one was there. They had gone.

Lowering the gun, Alex groaned lowly before noticing a bird made of paper on the floor. Michael's trademark. Picking it up, he looked to it before unfolding it.

"Gate," he said.

"What's that?" Clara asked, still looking around but finding nothing.

Alex shrugged. "Michael left a clue but all it says is Gate."

It was then when Clara noticed the box on the desk and it triggered something in her memory. Frowning, she picked the empty box up and saw a logo on the side. It said Gate on it. Turning it around to show Alex, she nodded her head.

"I've seen this before," Clara told him. "GATE…Greatness Achieved Through Excellence…I saw it when I went to see my uncle because I laughed at it in my head and how daft it sounded. But why would Michael want us to go there?"

"Where did you meet your uncle?"

"The building he works in, why?"

"And is it next to GATE?" he wondered from her.

"Yeah," she told him. "But…why…do you think he is hiding Scylla in GATE or something?"

"Or something," Alex confirmed to her. "I think the way to Scylla might be through GATE. Why else would Whistler have written that down? What interest would that company have to him?"

"None judging by the stupid adverts," Clara responded. "So what do we do? We head down there?"

"Seems like it's the only lead we have," he responded and Clara was already leaving the apartment.

"Let's go then," she said.

…

"We need a plan," Clara said as they took the elevator up to GATE. "They're not just going to let us in the office if we have no reason to be there."

"Leave it to me," Alex said.

Stepping out of the lift, Clara followed Alex and she was almost shocked as she felt him wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her close as he led her towards the reception. She said nothing for a moment, instead watching Alex fix his smile onto his face.

"Hi," he said to the receptionist. "I'm sorry to bother you, but me and my wife were talking with this salesman just outside…and we couldn't catch his name, but he had this smart grey suit…moustache…"

"Oh, Cole!" the woman exclaimed, nodding enthusiastically before turning her head over her shoulder and seeing that his office was free. "He must have just gone to the bathroom. He was in his office a moment ago."

"Do you mind we just go and wait for him?" Alex asked, putting on the charm offensive as Clara did her best not to gag at hearing him. Instead she let her lips quirk upward.

"Of course not," she said. "Just the office in the corner. Did you want a drink?"

"We're good," Clara finally said. "Thanks."

Alex kept up the pretence, smiling at people as they greeted them on their way to the office, his arm still around Clara as they entered the room and saw a door to a cupboard.

"What do you think?" Clara wondered.

"I think we go through here," Alex responded, pulling the door open and letting her go as she moved behind him, making sure no one was watching them.

"Would you look at that," she mumbled, the sight of a ladder leading down into, what looked like, tunnels, enough to make her eyes widen. Alex took the first step and she climbed down behind him, feeling his hands on her waist to steady her on the final step.

She tried not to let his touch have the usual effect on her, but it was proving to be difficult. Instead she stayed behind him as he pulled his gun out, voices entering their ears. Moving closer towards them, they saw Michael with Bagwell. T-Bag had his back to them and it was then when Clara heard Michael's words.

"I think now I'm going to lock you in that room and let the police have you," Michael said and T-Bag chuckled.

"And how you going to do that?" he wondered.

But before he had a chance to say anything else, Michael looked over his shoulder and Bagwell followed his gaze. It was then when Alex punched him in the face, sending him flying to the floor before Michael helped to pick him up with Alex, both of them pushing him into a room behind a metal gate, using a screw to lock it.

Bagwell moved to the wire, pulling on it as Alex walked away, handing Michael the paper he had left them.

"Clara decoded your message," he said.

"Yeah," she replied. "You know my uncle works right next door, right?"

"I do now," Michael said with a nod. "Thanks…both of you."

"No problem," Alex said. "We should call Self and get this guy locked up."

"Agreed," Clara mumbled.

The three of them began to leave as Alex called Self to tell him where Bagwell was. The man locked up continued to yell, demanding to be released. Clara looked over her shoulder, his screams still loud enough to be heard by the ladder back up. She climbed up in front of Alex before the three of them left the office, Alex's hand on the small of her back as they went, relieved to be outside.

"I should get her out of here," Alex said.

"I'll wait for Self," Michael replied. "That tunnel down there leads to the building next door, which now I have learnt is the building that Krantz works in. That means that Scylla is down there. The bird book was a map…blueprints that lead us straight to Scylla. I just need to decode some of it and we need to set to work."

"How are you going to do that?" Clara wondered as Alex continued to look around nervously, hoping no one spotted them in the courtyard.

"We need access at all times to GATE," Michael said.

Alex shrugged. "Can't you convince Self that we're IRS and need to go in there? With what they're running it wouldn't be too difficult."

"Probably not," Michael said. "Anyway, you disappear-"

"-Too late," Clara responded, her gaze moving over Michael's shoulder as she saw her.

She was watching her back and Clara felt her hands ball into fists before she moved from behind Michael and marched over to her, each step she took determined. Alex chased after her, moving to grab hold of her by the elbow and stop her, but it wasn't working.

"Did you know?" Clara snapped as she came closer. "Did you know what he did?"

Saying nothing, Lisa held a hand up to her bodyguards, urging for them to leave her be as she moved towards Clara. The glare on her face was intense and Alex knew that they had to go before they were compromised. But Clara was not going anywhere. She remained firmly planted, her gaze accusatory as she watched Lisa.

"Did you know?" she asked, this time a little bit louder.

"No," Lisa said, spitting out the word and looking down to the ground. "I didn't know until that night-"

"-But you work for them," Clara interrupted her. "You work for The Company and you never bothered to tell me. You sat there and kept that from me…lied to me…"

"Because I didn't understand, Clara," Lisa said. "The Company…I'm not…I didn't know what he did…who he sent."

"Am I supposed to believe that?" Clara wondered from her. "How can I believe you, Lisa?"

"Because you're my cousin," she responded. "I would never hurt you."

"No," she said, "but your father let someone hurt me. Do you know what else he did? He sent someone to torture me again yesterday…pump me full of drugs…that's your father, Lisa. Your father who probably killed my parents too."

Shaking her head, Lisa looked away. "No."

"Yes," Clara responded. "And you're too blind to see it…what he did …what he does…come on, Lisa."

"I didn't know," was all she could offer, at least having the decency to look ashamed as Alex kept his grip on Clara's arm.

"We need to go," Alex whispered into her ear. "Clara…we need to get moving."

"Yeah," Clara nodded, continuing to glare at her cousin.

"Please," Lisa said, "Clara, please come with me and I can look after you."

"No," Clara said with a shake of her head. "You know what he did to me and you still went to meet him now, didn't you? You lied to me…lied to my face…I can never trust you again, Lisa."

"Clara, please," Lisa pleaded, but Clara was already turning away, letting Alex rest his hand in the small of her back as he pushed her forwards.

"You alright?" Alex asked from her.

"Surprisingly," she said, "yes."

…

He found her sat outside later on, basking in the evening son. She was perched on the edge of some crates, still wearing his jacket but having changed into a pair of jeans and shirt that she picked up on the way back to the building. Alex had changed into a striped blue shirt, his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he sat down on the crate next to her.

"I remember what I said last night," Clara admitted to him in a low voice. "When I was out of it in the boat…and you were there…"

"Really?" Alex wondered from her and she rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to make this difficult for me to talk about or easy?" she wondered from him.

He chuckled. "Depends," he responded. "I mean, I've had my suspicions for a long time that you cared more than you let on."

She scoffed. "Just so you remember," she told him, "it was you who kissed me in Panama, not the other way round. I mean, we haven't brought that up since it happened."

"And you want to discuss it now?" Alex asked and Clara shrugged.

"I don't know," she said to him. "I'm not really in the mood to get into a deep conversation about feelings right now. I mean…I don't really know how I feel and it's not like this is a normal scenario. All I know is that…I care, okay? I care a lot and that's all you're going to get right now."

Alex nodded, but before he could speak she had continued.

"And it's not like I want you to say the same thing out of a sense of obligation," she told him. "I know we've been through a lot together but I don't want you to think that means you owe me…or that we should be this way…"

He shook his head. "It's not that," he promised her. "I genuinely do care."

"So if you saw me in a bar then you'd feel the same?"

"Oh no," Alex said, his tone light. "I've seen you drink a full bottle of wine in less than an hour. If I saw you in a bar then I'd think that you were an alcoholic."

Clara laughed before leaning her head back. "Oh shut up," she said, still chuckling as Alex let himself laugh along with her.

"Perhaps we could discuss it once this is done?" Alex suggested.

"Deal," Clara agreed. "I can live with that."