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And yes, Something Not So Normal…Jack and Lincoln will be kicking some you-know-what: )
Chapter 42: Reunion
The next morning, Jack and Lincoln woke up early to go to the office of the American Consul.
They sat patiently on a sofa in the lobby while the Consul talked to someone on the phone regarding Michael and Alex's situation.
Suddenly, the Consul hung up the phone and beckoned to Jack and Lincoln. They practically ran over to the counter.
"Yeah?" asked Lincoln, impatiently, "What's the verdict?"
"It looks like your boys will be released and moved to another facility within the next forty-eight hours," replied the Consul.
Lincoln and Jack nearly collapsed with relief.
"Come on," said Jack, suddenly, "We have to tell them."
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Lincoln and Jack pulled up to SONA in a rental car. They looked out the window and stared at the massive tan stone structure before them. A woman was standing outside screaming as loud as she could for the guards to bring out the dead. She claimed that her husband had been killed the night before and she wanted to claim his body.
Lincoln and Jack watched the scene for a moment more, and then climbed out of the car and approached the guard shack. They signed in and waited for them to call Michael and Alex out for visitation.
Jack glanced over at Lincoln.
"You know," she said quietly, "I don't mean to rain on the parade, but are we sure this is going to happen? I mean, working for The Company and all, I learned pretty quickly not to get your hopes up. People tell you they're going to do something but when it comes down to it, they end up doing something else. I just…I don't know. It all seems a little too…easy. Nothing is ever this easy."
Lincoln frowned, "I don't know. Maybe this'll be a first. I prefer to stay optimistic."
Jack rolled her eyes at his cutting tone of voice.
"Yeah," she sneered, "You try working for them for a day and tell me how optimistic you are afterwards. You listen to your parents die over the phone and then tell me how happy you are."
She turned away from him to hide the tears that began to form in her eyes. She had lost so much so quickly and she was afraid she may lose Alex too. The thought sent a shudder of dread through her entire body. He was all she had left. She was not sure she could cope with the loss of Alex.
She took a deep breath, straightened up in her chair, and lifted her chin boldly, silently defying The Company and anyone else who would try to take Alex from her. She needed him and every fiber of her being ached to just see him…touch him…
Just then the guard nodded to them, indicated that they could now go see Michael and Alex.
Jack and Lincoln stood and walked outside. There were several chain-length cages that protruded from SONA. Jack glanced around and saw a couple prisoners in some cages further down talking to their friends or loved ones. She frowned in disappointment when she realized that the visitors had to stay on one side of the fence and the prisoners on the other side.
"Lincoln!" called Michael from one of the cages to their right.
Lincoln and Jack whirled around at the sound of Michael's voice. Lincoln did not hesitate. He ran over to Michael and began to talk to him.
"Michael!" he said, "You alright?"
"Yeah," replied Michael, gazing over Lincoln's shoulder at Jack.
Jack smiled politely and walked over to stand beside Lincoln.
"Hey, Michael," she said quietly.
Michael gave her a head-to-toe glance and then looked back at Lincoln.
"Can she be trusted?" he asked.
Jack's eyes flashed briefly in anger, but she held her tongue.
"Yeah," said Lincoln after awhile, "So far, yeah."
Just then, one of the doors slid open from SONA and Alexander Mahone walked out, blinking in the bright sunlight. He looked around, wondering who was visiting him. Suddenly, his eyes met Jack's. He felt his heart skip a beat and a huge weight lift off his chest. She was okay…she made it.
Jack stopped breathing for a moment when she saw Alex. Although she knew he was okay, seeing him for herself made her feel so much better.
Alex walked quickly to the end of the cage and pressed himself up against the fence, trying to get as close to Jack as he could.
Jack did the same and they interlocked fingers through the barbed wire. She gazed into his eyes and smiled slightly.
"You're okay," whispered Alex, "Thank God…you're okay."
Jack nodded, "Yeah…I'm fine," she glanced away for a moment, "But I shouldn't have left you…"
"Hey, don't blame yourself for this. If you would have stayed you would have gotten caught too."
Jack nodded slowly, "Yeah…I guess you're right. So…what happened?"
"Michael…Michael tried to set us up."
Jack's eyes narrowed in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"He left a fairly good amount of drugs in the boat so when I had to get the inspection done, the authorities found it."
Jack's eyes grew dark with anger.
"So you're in here because of him? You'd be a free man right now if he wouldn't have done that?"
"Yeah…pretty much," he said, quietly.
Jack shook her head in disbelief. Part of her said that she could not blame him because of what they had done to them, but the other part of her raged in anger. If Michael had left well-enough alone, she and Alex would be a long way away from here right now.
Just then, a guard yelled for the prisoners to leave the visiting area and return to SONA.
"I got to go," whispered Alex, "Come back sometime…okay?"
Jack's eyes grew watery with the thought of leaving him alone in this place.
"Yeah…yeah, I'll come back, I promise."
Alex gave her one last smile, and then turned to go back into SONA.
Jack watched him leave and did not turn to leave, herself, until she saw his form disappear into the shadows of SONA.
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Lincoln and Jack drove away from SONA in silence. Soon, they arrived at the Panama City police station.
They walked in and gave the Constable a picture of Sara and asked him to call if they happened to find her.
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Later that evening, they finally arrived back at the hotel.
Lincoln parked the car just as his cell phone rang.
"It's from the Constable," he said as he glanced at the caller ID.
He and Jack exchanged nervous glances as he flipped open the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Lincoln?"
"Yeah."
"We've found Sara Tancredi."
Lincoln glanced at Jack and whispered that they had found Sara. Jack's eyes brightened. That was good news. She had admired Sara. Her unwavering devotion to Michael had been made evident in hotel back in Chicago. She had refused to give him up and even allowed herself to be arrested for his sake. She would go to the ends of the earth for Michael. Jack felt like she could relate to Sara. She felt the same way about Alex.
Then, she saw Lincoln's face fall as he listened to the Constable. He hung up slowly and looked at Jack with shock on his face.
"Lincoln?" asked Jack, suddenly very concerned, "What is it?"
"Sara…she's at the morgue…"
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Whew! These chapters are taking about twice the time as the others have…it takes a little more pre-writing before I can actually sit at my computer and type it all up…
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