In the Hospital ward on his morning shift, Miguel tried to find out as much as possible about the attack on Guerra and, more importantly to Alvarez, if he was likely to recover. Information was suprizingly scarce. No one seemed to know who had attacked him and the man, unconscious in bed hooked up to monitors and IV drips, was not telling. From all Miguel could see through the door it looked bad. Such a shame! He was smirking. He tried to get in to make sure that one of his enemies would never tell but got stopped by a Hack.

"What missin' your friend?" sarcastically spoken by Howell.

Miguel turned and tried to think of something innocent sounding to say. "What happened to him?"

"Come off it Alvarez. You're more likely to know than me. What, finally had enough? Tried but failed? That why you skulkin' here? Come to finnish the job?" The hack stared at him, trying to gage if she had hit the mark.

Shit. Miguel replied aghast, "Me? I don't know nothin'. Nothin' to do with me!"

Howell laughed. "Lucky though, huh?"

Miguel glanced away, Fuck! More trouble for him he just didn't need and if he was the Hack's favourite for the job, what of Herandez and Ricardo? If he managed to survive this day, what of the night? No, surely the morning count theory still held true but he could expect little sleep.

"Well?" She inquired leaning in, "Don't ya want to confess?"

Alvarez gave her an evil look. He thought that he had escaped the whore bitch on leaving solitary. "Arcch, have I upset you?" She tired of the game. "Get movin' and stay away from here!"

He almost ran but instead nonchalantly walked back to the main ward, feeling her glare behind him. The drugs in his underwear felt so enormous surely she would see them but as he turned the corner and glanced back, he saw her peering in at Guerra laughing. 'Yeah, she was only glad when one of us feels pain,' he thought. The fucking bitch! She had relished beating him.

Heading to the canteen for a lunch he didn't want, Ryan O'Riely appeared from no where, beckoning him over. They moved to the shadows but there was nowhere near here completely private. Miguel scratched his belly looking to the Irish man. "What you want man?"

Ryan, eyes searching around, poked him in the stomach, the sign that all was clear. The drugs were quickly retrieved by the still scratching fingers and passed on. They were going to have to change the routine, one to be safe and two before people began to think him infested with something the amount of scratching he did. "Your ass is in big trouble, hermano!"

Alvarez could have laughed, if only he knew how true that was. "Had nothin' to do with Guerra. They can't pin that one on me." That he was confident about. The only thing.

Ryan grinned "No. I said your ass!"

'Oh God,' thought Miguel, 'what do you know?' He stared at the dancing face and wanted to smash it. Fists clenched, he managed to sound uninterested, "Yeah? And why's that?"

"I heard a story." The grin widening, Ryan leant in, a finger running up the other man's arm. He knew he had his full attention as Alvarez was pretty crap at covering his feelings. "'Bout a man in another prison. Another man took a liking to him, started watching, following him. Never into man on man, knew nothing till he found himself repeatedly 'taken'."

Ryan watched Alvarez closely, playing with the hem of his sweatshirt, poking him in the ribs on the last word and felt him tense up. He was enjoying this. Miguel didn't move, was seeing something besides O'Riely. "Couldn't do nothin' about it. Got to like it!" That was definitely a flinch. Ryan let his fingers play on Alvarez's skin, the man appeared to be oblivious, he carried on, "All around him bad things happened, to his enemies, some friends as well. Knew he was next." Ryan couldn't resist embellishing his stories. He paused.

"And?" sounding like he really didn't want to know, but he did. He was scared.

"His admirer made himself known. Nothing he could do, he was caught..."

"And?" very quietly, very nervously.

Oh yes, Ryan was definitely having fun. "They lived happily ever after." Alvarez looked up at him, disbelief in his haunted eyes. "Until that is.." Ryan was making this up as he went along, "the man was found dead."

Alvarez swallowed hard "Wha..?"

"Well his admirer was leaving prison. Time up. Couldn't leave his little love behind for someone else now could he?" Miguel seemed to shrink before his yes. Yes, it was always fun toying with this Latino. Ryan patted Miguel's stomach, a slight smacking sound, hand on skin.

Alvarez studied O'Riely through lowered lashes, always flirting, always touching him but now he just couldn't summon up the energy to slap him off. And the man loved telling this tale. Surely he couldn't know. But then again?

"Who told you this 'story'?" Ryan obviously knew of the attacks, knew his attacker! He must do.

The grin flashed, evil glints in his eyes and he leant in to whisper to him but then must have seen something behind Miguel for he sprang backwards and away. "Gotta go." He looked almost scared, very unusual.

Miguel spun around. What, who had he seen? But it could have been anything, anyone as a whole load of prisoners walked along the corridor heading for the trough and feeding time. Not one seemed interested in him, no faces stood out, none of his suspects. He had missed who or whatever had spooked O'Riely.

Miguel lost what little appetite he had and headed back to the infirmary. "Changed my mind," he mumbled to the Hack on the gate. But one thing he could do, knock Beecher off his list for certain. He'd never been in another prison.

==000==

Miguel slowly headed back to the 'bullpen'. With his last shift of the day over he had no more excuses to stay in the infirmary. He knew he faced another sleepless night spent fretting over Hernandez' not so heavily veiled threats. He would be lucky to survive the day. He had to act first and soon!

After speaking with O'Riely, he had stayed in the hospital and, after no lunch, what little breakfast he had forced down still felt a solid knot stuck in his stomach. Instead of the afternoon drugs for Ryan, he'd just have to wait till later if there was indeed to be a later for him, Miguel had stolen something for himself. He could feel it now, a reassuring metallic hardness safely concealed at his spine. He had to be ready.

It had come on his way back from a session with Sister Pete this afternoon. Oh they knew him; he was always distracted after visiting the nun. All it took was the Hack sending him on around the corner to head back to the ward and they were on him! Death bore down in the form of Hernandez and Ricardo. Slammed against the wall, he dropped to the ground, hand going to his back to grab his makeshift shank. Too late! He was kicked in the stomach, the breath knocked out of him, his head yanked up hard by his hair leaving his throat exposed and vulnerable.

Oh God! His final sight in this world would be the ugly smiling face of Hernandez. He knew he was to die now as he saw it in the eyes staring at him.

Shouts, running feet, a scuffle and he was released and left gasping on all fours. The commotion brought other feet running around the corner. "What the hells goin' on out here?" A hack followed by others but all Miguel could see was a forest of legs. Not caring how meek he looked, he crawled away and climbed to his feet, looking back once and fled towards the hospital ward, the confusion in the hallway hiding his flight.

Once more he had managed to narrowly escape death!

=0=

"Lockdown. Lockdown!" sounded over the speakers and Miguel was pushed against the wall as the S.W.O.T. team ran past, shields at the ready through the gates into Em City. A Hack held him there as the inmates were herded into the pods. "Where the hell you been Alvarez?" Murphy advanced towards him.

"Hospital ward," sulkily as he wondered what the hell was going on, the attack on him would not have caused this.

"Anyone see ya?" Murphy was angry but resigned, just another day, another incident for the head officer to deal with.

"Dunt, don't know." Miguel was nervous. What did the man think he had done? Thank God he'd already passed on today's consignment to O'Riely, as he could not face the thought of 'The Hole' or worse, solitary. Not now. Not now he had finally come to a decision and it had to be carried out soon.

"Yeah, he just came from that way," a faceless hack supplied. "Can soon check it out with Nathan when he left. I reckon he's clear." Relief, but clear of what?

"Take him in," Murphy ordered and Miguel's 'saviour', one he didn't even recognise, grabbed his upper arm and frog marched him into the chaos in Em City as it was swiftly being brought under control. Men banging on windows, hoots, shouts, prisoners held to the floor swearing defiance. "Back to his pod." The Head Officer commanded as he followed them in.

"Murphy. Not possible," another uniformed figure spoke.

"What?" disbelief on the head guard's face at being countermanded.

"That's where we just found the bodies!"

"What?" Murphy swore mightily as Alvarez went into shock, staring open mouthed towards his pod with Murphy watching his reaction carefully.

Bodies. Plural. In his pod? Who? How? It took a moment or more to register. Bodies in his pod. In his pod? His next thought wondered if he was supposed to be one of them.

"Shit!" Murphy again deciding, "Right take him to solitary till we can find somewhere."

..No..! He began to yell, "I've done nadda, nothing," and began to struggle against the hands holding him, breaking out sweating. Not there, please God. Not for nothing!

The hands holding him tightened their grip and Miguel just slumped, shaking, "What about Gen Pop or...that pod?" his restrainer indicated with his head, "Only got one in it."

"Okay. Okay!" Murphy said exasperated, losing his patience big time. "Just lock him in somewhere!" Alvarez was shoved through the door immediately turning to press against the window.

What the Fuck was going on? He watched as several inmates were hauled up from the floor and taken away, Beecher, Keller, a couple of the Aryan gang and for good measure, Cyril O'Riely. All were showing evidence of a fierce fight with Cyril screaming for Ryan and Ryan banging on his pod windows looking down, screaming at Murphy.

Things slowly began to quieten down as the men were carried away, their defiant voices fading as they were taken from view. Responding to the hasty radio call, interns rushed by carrying stretchers directed up the stairs to Miguel's usual pod. He strained to see but once away from the window the figures disappeared.

Two corpses were brought down and Miguel just had time to see the lifeless face as Hernandez was carried past. A movement from the other stretcher, a yelled "We got a live one!" as they speeded up but from the look on their faces there was some doubt it would last.

Alvarez couldn't believe it! He just kept repeating, "fuck, fuck, fuck" under his breath, still bodily plastered against the glass, trying to see as much as possible before they went out of view.

"O'Riely. Shut the fuck up!" screamed Murphy up at him. Ryan gave a final beating to the window then retreated from view.

Miguel relaxed somewhat, just stood staring at the floor. What the hell had happened? This afternoon he had had to run for his life, literally from Hernandez and Riccardo. Now they were dead or close to it. Could his problems be over with after this and once his decision was carried out? He'd had nothing to do with this. Sure he'd be questioned, McManus knew there had been 'stuff' going on between the Latino population but Alvarez was clear, no where near it. Even that Hack had said so! He let out a huge sigh, throwing his head back, triumph surging through him. His enemies were dead or in intensive care. The bane of his life gone!

"You are happy my friend?"

Miguel spun around. With all the action going on outside he hadn't spared a thought for where he was. He stopped breathing as his eyes took in the other occupant.

Nikoli Petrovich Stanislavski sat calmly looking up at him with that damned smile on his lips with his eyes dancing.

"Fuck!" spat Miguel grabbing at his head as he sank down to sit on the floor.

==000==

TBC…