Clara and Sara both had no idea what was going on. They didn't know what was going to happen nor did they know what the plan was. They were trapped in the penthouse and in the dark. The only person who was left was T-Bag standing guard over them. Clara had held Sara tightly, feeling even more protective of her since she had told her the news. She had held her by the hand, her other arm around her waist.

"You know he's going to let me do what I want to you, pretty?" T-Bag gloated to Sara and Clara tightened her grip around the woman, her glare increasing as she watched T-Bag, knowing full well that he would do things they did not wish to think of.

"You are going nowhere near her," Clara sniped back. "Unless you want to go through me."

T-Bag eyed her up and down. "I'm sure that can be arranged to."

Clara felt bile in her throat before she saw Krantz step into the room, pocketing his cell into his shirt pocket and looking to the two women on the sofa.

"Michael has Scylla. We're going to meet him."

"Then you exchange Scylla for Sara," Clara said with haste, moving to her feet and looking at her uncle. "You take her and you let them go. You leave them alone."

Looking over her, Krantz allowed his lip to curl upwards as he shook his head and let out a soft sigh.

"You just don't get it, do you, Clara?" he said to her. "If Michael thinks that he is going to walk out of this game as the winner then he has another thing coming. He is not having Sara back, nor is he walking away with his life."

Clara felt her cheeks begin to burn as she lunged forwards, but one of Krantz's men stopped her from attacking him. He looked over his niece as she tried to push them off, nodding to one of the men as she continued to fight. His hand made contact with Clara's cheek, sending her tumbling to the floor after bouncing off the corner of the sofa. Sara moved with haste then, dropping down onto her knees and helping Clara sit up.

"You bastard," Clara hissed at him.

"No, I do what I have to do to survive," Krantz said. "It's a shame your parents didn't learn that when they should have."

She said nothing in response, feeling sick as she heard him.

"Bagwell, I trust you can handle these two?"

"It would be my pleasure," he hissed back.

She felt the rage boil through her again as she watched her uncle and his posse leave the penthouse. There was only Bagwell left and he was looking at both of them as though he had won, but there was no chance that Clara was going to let him hurt Sara. Moving frantically to her feet alongside Sara, she ignored the throbbing in her cheek as she stood in front of Sara.

"Do not touch her," Clara demanded.

"Step aside or I'll show you how truly painful a punch can be," Bagwell said.

"Don't," Sara said to Bagwell. "Just don't go near her."

"It's not her I want," Bagwell sniped back. "But if I have to go through her to get what I want then so be it."

Moving forwards, Bagwell pushed at Clara, grabbing her hair in his grip and pulling it as she screamed out loud in pain. Sara shrieked for him to stop, moving with haste to punch at him on the back as he let his hand punch Clara straight across the jaw, sending her tumbling to the floor. Moving towards her again, he bent down to try and haul her up, but Clara was quicker. Lifting her foot, she kicked T-Bag in the crotch, listening to him roar in pain.

Sara moved to kick at him, watching him fall to the floor. But he was quick. He kicked at Sara's ankles, sending her tumbling to the floor as Clara clutched onto her jaw, feeling the stinging of it as she moved to her knees, panting for breath as she noted Bagwell straddling Sara. She lunged towards him, knocking him from the woman and onto the ground, hastily moving to her feet as Sara did the same, grabbing hold of Clara and tugging her back.

Running a hand through his hair, Bagwell chuckled before reaching into his pocket, aiming a gun at the two women who clung onto each other.

"Now," he said in a gasp of breath, "I take it you two are going to behave?"

"Clara," Sara said in a warning voice as the woman tried to move forwards.

"You're not going to do this," Clara said.

"If I have to shoot you then I will, don't think that I won't."

Clara let her lips quirk upwards. "I'm his niece," she said. "You shoot me and you answer to him."

Bagwell shrugged. "I don't think he cares as much as you think he does," he responded. "He murdered your parents, didn't he? I doubt he'd mind his niece following them into the grave. Now, step aside and let me at Sara."

"No," Clara said with haste.

"Clara," Sara protested.

"What is it, Bagwell?" Clara asked from him, taking a step forward and wondering if he had it in him to shoot her. He remained still, the gun raised in mid-air as she shrugged. "You think that my uncle is going to keep you around after all this is done? You clearly don't know him. As soon as everything is finished he will kill you. I doubt he would do it himself. He doesn't deal with low lives like you."

"You think this is going to work?" Bagwell demanded from her. "Stalling me?"

"Perhaps." She shrugged at him.

"Then you're more of a fool than I thought."

It was then when the blast echoed through the room.

…

Mahone didn't know how he had managed to escape with Lincoln. He had gone to Christina with a plan to trick her, but the bomb hadn't gone off when it was supposed to. Mahone had somehow managed to trigger it automatically, giving him time to escape with Lincoln in tow. Lincoln had been badly injured, but the man was still touch enough to limp by Alex's side. After being captured by Christine, the woman had been willing to let him die from blood loss after demanding Scylla back from Michael.

Alex had done his best to help Lincoln out of the building, rushing onto the street and away from the blast. Noticing the sight of Michael in a car by the curb, he watched on as Michael and Clara hopped out of the car, both of them looking anything but relieved. It was then when Alex saw her.

Sara pulled open the back door of the car to reveal Clara sat up, but Mahone had focused on something else. He was too busy looking at the blood pouring from her side. As Michael took hold of Lincoln, Alex rushed forwards, standing by the car as he looked to Clara, his eyes frantically roaming over her as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Moving a hand towards him, she felt his fingers grip hold of hers, his lips pressing against her knuckles as he saw a bandage on her side, but it wasn't helping.

"She protected me from T-Bag," Sara said with a shaky voice. "She needs to go to a hospital."

"He'll find me and know," Clara managed to whimper as Lincoln struggled into the backseat.

"I don't care," Alex was the one to snap. "Clara, I don't care what happens. We are going to a hospital and we are going now."

"We can't," Lincoln said. "They would put us in jail."

"No, they would put you in jail, but Clara is not wanted for anything," Alex said and looked to Michael and Sara as they watched him. "Take us to a hospital and then go. Linc can do as he wants, but I am taking her and I am going with her."

Michael looked to Alex before taking hold of his arm and dragging him to the side for a moment, his hand dropping from Clara's.

"You know what this means, right?" Michael asked from Alex. "If you go into hospital with her and they find you then we can't help you. We can't bail you out. We need to finish this."

"I know," Alex said, thinking clearly. "Just get us to hospital."

Michael didn't argue, nor did Sara. The guilt was eating her up as she watched Alex remove his jacket and push it into a ball. He sat next to Clara in the backseat, pressing his jacket against the wound as she hissed in pain.

"We need to try and stem the bleeding," Mahone said to her.

"I know," she muttered before looking to Linc. "And what happened to you?"

"Mummy issues," he managed to say and Clara let her lips quirk upwards despite everything as the car sped off. "I'll be fine though. Mine doesn't look as bad as yours."

"Damn right," Clara mumbled. "I try to do everything better than you."

"Well I wish you wouldn't," Alex said to her as he kept hold of her hand in one of his, his other hand still holding the jacket. He could feel her staring at him, but she said nothing. Instead she simply closed her eyes and swayed forwards as Alex shook his head.

"Clara," he spoke her name with haste. "Clara…come on…"

She opened her eyes slightly then as she looked to him and managed a sad smile, a hand moving to his cheek as she looked him in the eye.

"Bagwell was going to hurt Sara," she explained to him. "I couldn't let him do it…I couldn't…I had to stop him."

"Sh, sh, sh," Mahone urged from her, his hand moving to stroke her cheek as he tried to offer her some form of comfort, his eyes not once leaving hers as she gulped and inhaled a sharp breath. He saw the signs of her losing consciousness and he knew he had to keep her talking. "I don't blame you, Clara. None of this is your fault. You did the right thing. You always do the right thing. You always do."

"No, I don't," she responded with a shake of her head. "Alex…I've done some bad things."

"No," Alex said with a shake of his head. "Clara, you did everything right…everything…you're the best thing in my life. You're the only good thing in my life. I need you to stay with me, alright? I need you because you're the one thing that keeps me going. Do you understand me?"

"I…I love you, Alex," Clara said to him. "I don't know what else I can say. I'm such an idiot because I know…I know you care, but I know that deep down you-"

"-I do," Alex interrupted her with haste, stopping her from talking. He didn't care who was listening in as he kept hold of Clara's cheek, her eyes seeming to widen as he spoke and saw her shake her head.

"You don't need to say it to make me feel better."

"I'm not," Alex promised her. "I'm telling you it because it's the truth, Clara. I'm telling you because I do love you. I've known it for a while. I just didn't know how to admit it to myself, never mind to you. But…I'm not going to say it again, do you understand me? I'm not going to say it again because it sounds like we are saying goodbye and this is not goodbye. I am not saying goodbye to you because you're going to make it. You're going to make it through this."

Clara managed to let her lips quirk before jutting her chin out. She managed to press her lips against Alex's, the motion soft and tender before she pulled back, her forehead resting against his. Her breathing grew shallower before Alex noted her eyes closed. Moving his hand to run over her cheek, he shook his head with haste.

"Clara," he spoke her name harshly. "Clara, don't you do this to me."

But she said nothing back.

"How far away are we?" Alex snapped at Michael.

"A minute tops," Michael said.

"Clara…come on…Clara…"

"Clara, listen to me," Lincoln chimed in, trying to get her to open her eyes again.

The car screeched to a halt and Alex jumped from his seat, taking hold of Clara by the waist and tipping her into his arms, forgetting about his jacket as he ran forwards, forgetting about Michael, Lincoln and Sara. He knew they would drive off. They had a mission to complete, but all Alex cared about was getting Clara into the hospital. Running into the ER, Alex looked around as nurses stopped going about their business and they watched him.

"She's been shot," Alex said, his voice verging on hysteria. "Please…I don't think she's breathing."

The nurses leapt into action and before Alex could process what was happening, she was laid on a bed, nurses fussing around her as she was wheeled down corridors, her clothes being ripped open as they assessed the wound. Alex followed them, his eyes never leaving her as he willed for her to wake up and pull through. It was only when they came to one set of doors did Alex feel a hand on his chest, stopping him from going any further.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to wait here," the nurse said.

"But she…I need…" Alex was unsure of what he was trying to say as the woman nodded sternly.

"She's in the best place now," she promised him. "Are you her husband?"

Alex shook his head. "Her partner," he said, the words sounding so natural to him. "Please…she…I need her…I need her to be alright…"

"We'll do our best for her," the woman said and left Alex alone in the waiting area.

Alex moved to stand near the wall, his fist slamming against the wall as he bowed his head, his eyes closing. He needed her to be alright. He needed her to pull through. He had so much that he wanted to tell her. He had so much that he wanted to say. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to show her a normal life. He wanted to do normal things with her. If that was going to be snatched away from both of them then Alex swore he would have his revenge on Bagwell sooner rather than later. Either way, he vowed that Bagwell would pay for what he had done to Clara and Alex knew about getting revenge.

…

A/N: Do let me know what you think!