A/N: This chapter is where the story is going to start picking up with the plot a little and veer away from the original storyline... but only a little.. Enjoy =)

At some point, we had to stop on the side of the road to figure out where the hell we were even at. I grabbed the scanner from my bag and I had to fight every urge in my body not to turn it on. I went to stick at the bottom of my bag so it wouldn't tempt me, and I saw the cell phone that Melanie had left me. I pulled it out and turned it on and a blue screen flashed. The first thing that popped up was that picture of Melanie and I that she had put in her bathroom. Then the phone beeped because I had a new message. I opened it:

Laney, good luck on the finding the answers you are looking for. Even though I don't understand everything that is going on, I do trust you and I know that you will follow whatever you think is right in your heart. To be honest, I am also slightly jealous that you get to spend all that quality time with the brothers, they are pretty good looking. =) BTW, I found this piece of paper with your old clothes and it had some kind of a phone number on it so I put it in your contact list. Please come back soon as you are my best friend and I love you like a sister. Mel

I was smiling by the time I got through reading the message. Melanie always knew how to brighten up my day at the right time. But after reading the message, I felt like smacking myself in the head. I had completely forgot that Abruzzi had given me his phone number before he left. I doubled checked and indeed there was a number in my contact list. I could hardly contain my excitement as I hurriedly hopped out of the car. Michael and Lincoln were discussing things which each other and Nitka was pacing back and forth nervously. What did she have to be nervous about? Michael and Lincoln were headed back in our direction and I was going to tell them about the cell phone, but Nitka pulled out a gun and pointed it right at Michael. Dumb bitch.

"What are you doing?" asked Michael.

"With the three of you turned in I would get to keep all that reward money," she explained.

She only kept her eyes on Michael who was just staring back at her. I personally wanted to charge her and punch her lights out.

"I loved you Michael, and all you had to do was love me back."

I could see the hurt in Nitka's eyes, and it brought on a strange feeling. Nitka had loved and devoted herself to helping Michael, and he turned his feelings towards someone. Not that he devoted himself to me, but in Fox River Tbag had told me that he had feelings for me. And I pretty much threw it in his face by choosing Tweener. It was never that I didn't care about Tbag, but I loved Tweener in a way that I would probably never love Tbag. Let's be honest, Tbag scares the shit out of me, and you can't be with someone that scares you. I was snapped out of my thoughts when Lincoln started to approach Nitka.

"Stay back or I'll shoot!" she threatened.

"No you won't," Lincoln said calmly.

He held out his hand and my eyes widened when I saw that he the clips for the gun. Nitka's face sunk and she lowered the gun. Lincoln stormed over to her and ripped the gun roughly out of her hands. She looked like she was about to cry, and Michael approached her but didn't say anything. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"Start walking," Michael finally said.

Nitka was staring at him in disbelief, and I figured that Michael would change his mind but he just stared angrily at her until she turned the other direction and started walking. Lincoln followed her with his eyes, but nobody said anything. Michael looked back to me and I could see the guilt in his eyes for sending Nitka away. I gave him a reassuring smile, and held out my cell phone.

"I'm going to make a phone call, you can check the scanner if you want."

Michael nodded at me and I walked a ways down the road while dialing the phone. I took a deep breath and the phone was ringing. It rang four times before it went to a voicemail system. I let out an annoyed huff that I hoped wasn't going to be in the message.

"John, I think you know who this is. By now you probably have heard a tip that Fibonacci has been spotted. I know how bad you must want to go confront him, but listen to me John you just can't. I suspect that it is a trap because there is no way for any reason that they would pull someone out of the witness protection program. Look, I know that you have every reason not to trust me, but please for your own good do not go to that hotel."

The phone beeped that the message had been sent. I clicked the phone off and just hoped that I could get through to Abruzzi before it was too late. I made my way back to the car and Michael and Lincoln were bent over listening to the scanner. They had extremely worried looks on their faces and I was afraid it had something to do with Abruzzi. I hurried over to where they were standing.

"Hey what's going on?" I asked.

They both turned and looked at me with shocked faces. Something was definitely going on, and I wanted to know what. Michael put his hands on my shoulders and walked me backwards a few steps.

"Laney, I'm sorry," he started.

I pushed his hands off of my shoulders.

"What do you mean you're sorry?"

I didn't even wait for him to answer before I was pushing past him. I walked right up to Lincoln and ripped the scanner out of his hands and turned up the volume.

"It's tragic really, the poor girl never got a chance to live," said an unfamiliar voice.

I looked at Michael and Lincoln confused. I didn't understand what any of this had to do with me. I listened in to Mahone's voice.

"She might have lived to if she hadn't gotten involved with the escape."

My heart suddenly sunk. There were only a handful of people that knew about the escape, and an even smaller number of girls. I immediately thought the worst. My chest was tightening and it was getting harder to breathe. It couldn't be, it just couldn't be her.

"So are we assuming it was one of the convicts," asked the woman, "she was spotted with them."

The tears were starting to well in my eyes. Please God, don't let it be her.

"Yes. Since she worked with the FBI there will be a private service for her this weekend so everyone can mourn the death of Melanie Fitzpatrick."

I dropped the scanner. My mouth was hanging open, but no sound was coming out. The tears were just freely falling from my face. This had to be a dream, please let me wake up soon. I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder, but I stayed in my trance. Michael came down to my eye level.

"I'm sorry Laney," he said heavily.

I shut my eyes as the tears burned the edges. My hands were starting to shake at my sides. I felt as if I was going to pass out. Melanie couldn't be dead.

"How?" I choked out.

Michael's eyes flickered over to Lincoln's as if trying to decide whether to tell me or not. I thought my legs were going to give out.

"She was shot three times."

"I have to go…. I have to go see her… I have to go see for myself," I rambled.

I spun away from Michael and started to hurry down the street, but Lincoln quickly caught my wrist. They were trying to explain that the police would expect me to show up, and that I couldn't go. They just didn't understand.

"No! Stop! Let me go! Please, let me go!" I sobbed.

Lincoln pulled against his chest and I struggled with everything I had. I think I even kicked Lincoln once or twice. I screamed and screamed at the top of my lungs, but he wasn't letting me go. Finally, I collapsed on the ground letting out my convulsive sobs. Melanie. My sister. My partner in crime. My best friend. The one who knew all my secrets and I knew hers. Melanie was dead. The more I thought about it the more loudly I started to cry.

"No!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I screamed it again and again and again. My throat was getting raw from the screaming. I tried running again, but I didn't make it very far before Michael caught me. He had his arms securely around me, and I was staining his shirt with my tears. I couldn't do this without knowing that I would never see her again. I didn't want to live the rest of my life without her. My legs gave out and Michael was the only thing keeping me up. I had quieted down and the tears had stopped flowing, but I never stopped shaking. Michael scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the car. He put in the backseat, and I didn't even have the energy to sit up. I laid there on my back trying to catch my breath and I felt the car moving forward. I wanted to just go to sleep and wake up to everything being the way it was and to see Melanie smiling at me again.

But even I knew as I drifted off to sleep that this pain would never go away.