A/N : Once again, thank you to all the readers and reviewers who have gotten this far with me. Can you believe it? Chapter 21! Are you getting bored? Let me know.

XO

Sara

She anxiously knocked on the door and waited for his low voice to answer her, invite her in and speak her mind. She could only hope he would accept what she wanted to say. "Yes?"

"Sir, it's Sara." She could hear the soothing sound of his chair being pushed back and his heavy feet being dragged across the floor, before his hand pushed the handle down and invited her in. A small smile appeared on Henry Pope's face.

"Doctor. What can I do for you?" He ushered her in. "Come in, come in – sit down. Would you like some coffee? I've just made a pot." A hand rubbed across his tired face. "Need to stay away, you know."

Sara smiled at him. "No thank you. I won't keep you long, Sir." In her mind, her thoughts raced as she tried to recreate the speech she had prepared for him.

"Right." He nodded his head and gazed at her with a friendly expression. "So, what brings you to the other side of the prison tonight?"

She swallowed hard. "Sir, I..." Her hands started fidgeting and she used them to make wild gestures, trying to show her nervousness. Sort of in an I really feel bad about asking this of you. Sara hoped it would help.

"It's okay, Sara." His eyes reassured her. "You can ask me."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "Sir, you have been more of a father to me in these last years than my biological one has ever been to me. I want to thank you for that..."

"You are an amazing person, Sara. I am glad to be a part of your life."

Her heart sank a little as she nodded her head lightly. "Right. Right. Thank you. I – er...thank you. Sir, in all those years I've known you, I have never asked you for a thing." Her gaze travelled across the room and her hands stilled for a moment, before they travelled to her necklace, where she found the strength she needed to continue. She turned her eyes back to him and sighed a little. " Until now. "

His eyes looked at her with concern. "Sara?"

"Michael." She wispered to him, as she saw his eyes begin to widen. "Michael."

He clicked his tongue and shook his head a little in...defeat, shock,...she couldn't figure it out. "Sara, I know the two of you are friends, but I –"

"I love him." She blurted out. The Warden's face turned to compassion and she felt as if she could read his mind. Poor Sara, he must be thinking right about now. Poor Sara, falling in love with someone who doesn't...

"And he loves me."

He sighed. "How do you know? What makes you think he isn't just...using you?" She shook her head.

"For starters, the fact that he's been with me for the last week." She heard his gasp and smiled a little. "He was running, but as soon as he knew it was safe for him to, he ran to me. He found his safe place with me, not with his brother, who had been set free. He came to me and he loved me. It's real, Henry." He relaxed at his first name. "It's real."

He stood up abruptly and walked over to the window, gazing out into the darkness, faintly seeing the outlines of the hundreds of cellwindows. " In this place, there is no room for love." He stated matter-of-factly.

She rolled her lips into her mouth. "There's room for love anywhere, if you just create it."

"Damn it, Sara." She was taken aback from his harsh tone for a minute, until he continued on a softer tone. "There isn't anything I can do."

Inside, she squealed because of his understanding, even though she knew he still couldn't quite grasp the idea. But she thought it was because Michael was helping him build the Taj for his wife, that he had come to acknowledge him as a good man. And with all the attention in the media, and his true story coming out, he must have felt damn proud. If she was the daughter he never had, then Michael certainly was the son.

But she knew he was right. There wasn't anything he could do. "But his monthly check-ups, could it be like that time? Only me and Katie." He shook his head.

"Sara, I can't let the leader of the Fox River Eight go outside of these walls with only a doctor and her nurse accompanying him. No." He looked lost in thought for a moment, then nodded.

"I'll go with you."

Michael ( thirty-seven hours, twenty-three minutes and fifty-four seconds)

"Hey Ben?"

His cellmate snapped his fingers once above him, a sign that Michael supposed meant yes. He folded his hand underneath his head and heaved a sigh.

"Do you have a someone waiting for you on the outside?"

Two snaps. No.

"Oh. And on the inside?"

Silence answered him and he saw his cellie's head appear over the side of the bed, a curious look on his features. Michael chuckled.

He swiftly motioned the words with his hands (all those fundraisers and charity doing had their benefits). Can you keep a secret?

Ben snorted. It's not like I'm telling anybody.

Michael chuckled and Ben smiled a little. Funny.

His cellmate climbed down and sat on the floor, so he could look at Michael without too much blood rushing to his head. He raised his eyebrows at him, willing to continue.

See, Michael continued. There's this woman...

The next day ( fifty-three hours, twelve minutes and forty-nine seconds)
"Michael" she said to him. "I bought us some time."

He frowned. "How?"

A small, mysterious smile appeared on her face. "I have my connections." She tapped the syringe and gently pushed it into his flesh. "But not now – on your 'monthly check-ups'."

Don't get him wrong, he was excited that the had gotten time together, but his worry of 'who to thank for this time together' was still on his mind. And then he knew, and his eyes widened. "You told the Warden?"

She sighed, knowing he wasn't pleased with her move. "Michael, I've known him for many years – I knew what to say, which buttons to push."

"What if he'd fired you!"

"I knew he wouldn't. Michael – I've trusted you all this time, so trust me when I say that I knew exactly what I was doing." She uttered somewhat defensive. Hell, it was true, wasn't it? She'd always trusted him to make the right decisions, so why couldn't he do the same?

His hand briefly touched her cheek. "I'm sorry, okay?" He looked into her eyes and damn her, for not being able to stay mad at him. She hated that about herself.

She huffed. "Yeah, it's okay. I knew, Michael. Besides, what if he had found out? Then he wouldn't have been so kind to us." He nodded.

"So how are you fitting in?"

He shrugged. "Got lucky with cell-mates again..." She gave him a questioning look while pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Who did you get?"

"Scott."

"The non-talking one?" Her eyebrows shot up.

He chuckled and spoke to her with his hands. What do you mean, non-talking?

She smiled. "I see... I suppose he knows about us?"

"Yeah" Michael answered. "How do you know?"

"For instance, the fact that he was staring at me with a huge smile on his face this morning." He looked at her guiltily.

"I don't mind," she continued. "When you get out, you'll be shouting it from the rooftops anyways."She shrugged as if it was no big deal, almost a logical thing for him to do.

She gave him a wink.

"Good day, Mr. Scofield. I'll see you tomorrow."

I know some of you must be surprised that she told the Warden, but anyway, it flowed out of my fingers, and it made sense to me. Now they'll have a 'Higher Power' LOL protecting them.

Let me know what you think!

XO