Michael stood rigid in shock as he watched a muscle jumping and quivering beneath the pallid skin of Paul's forearm while said man held back the hefty man's angry red fist. Paul pulled his other balled hand back quickly, pushing it forward scantily, grazing Avocado's chin. The large man stumbled back in surprise seeming to wobble before he sprang at Paul with a flurry of sloppy hits. The smaller man's arms rushed to shield his face as he was caught between the fractured buttress wall and Avocado's callous cuffs.

Michael could not watch this dire scene playing out before him any longer. He leapt into action instantaneously throwing himself against Avocado's back and wrapping his thin upper limbs across Avocado's bulging neck. As Avocado held and mashed the scrabbling Paul against the drab concrete with his lower arm, his other hand caught one of Michael's white lanky arms and squeezed. He gasped as his arm was crushed under the man's harsh grip.

*****

"Whaddya say, John? Do we have a deal?" T-Bag gave a crooked grin at John's contemplating face and winked maliciously in his buoyancy at Alex whom nodded stoically in knowing. John scrutinized T-bag carefully. Like him the man was a Prison. It must have been for murder, but the slighter man had never told a soul inside these partitions if there was any truth in the rumors.

John held his hand out reluctantly and they shook on it. "You have a deal," he rasped.

T-Bag turned around smiling with a flourish. His half lidded eyes instantly searched out for Jason and Michael at their normal spot. Alex shifted so that his shoulders aligned with T-Bag's and so he could walk alongside him easier. It was then that he noticed the other man's unusually stiff appearance.

Alex stared at their spot and finally realized as T-Bag spoke, "Where in the hell's Maytag?"

*****

The dark-skinned man gripped Jason's bicep loosely pulling him toward himself as he backed away into the throng of brightly hospital gowned men. "Chico bonito, ven conmigo."

Jason yanked back his arm. "Let go of my arm," he voiced urgently. Jason recognized this man immediately. This man was part of Avocado's faction. He looked for T-Bag through the robed men and failed to find him. He gazed back worriedly at the man. "Miguel," he whispered, "I can't do this right now. I need to find my friend."

Miguel towered over Jason, despite his race's stereotype, and his black locks tickled Jason's chin as he was grabbed again. "No, necesitas venir para tu amigo."

Jason exhaled noisily but let himself be dragged. "I don't understand. What are you saying?"

Miguel sighed and glanced around Pen apprehensively. "The man, you know pretty one?" he elaborated with a thick Hispanic accent. "The one I see you with? My boss, he told to bring man to Scrub Thug. That one with the…how say…," he pointed to his eyes.

"You mean the weirdo with the glasses?" Jason's eyes widened with surprise.

Miguel nodded enthusiastically at Jason's understanding. "Si, si. He come by himself."

"He was alone? I've never heard of a Scrub Thug coming to Pen outside of their schedule."

Miguel's deep brown eyes watched Jason kindly as he pulled him along. "Is close to Herding time. Maybe it have something to do with that?"

Jason was quiet in thought. Some Scrub Thug wanted to meet Michael? Glasses no less. In the few months Jason had made his home in Pen he had only had had a few encounters with Glasses. There was nothing physically wrong with the man. Nothing he could see anyway. He would probably be considered handsome if it wasn't for his strange demeanor.

Glasses was a pale man with neat black hair. His eyes were probably his most notable feature. The surgical mask that always graced the faces of the Scrub Thugs made for a stark contrast so that the man's eyes almost appeared to be two black holes behind his glasses.

*****

Michael moaned as he was shoved into the wall next to Paul by his right wrist that now lay pinned above his head. His other hand scratched frantically at the fist holding him against the wall and bright red marks were left in his nails wake.

Paul knew this had been his entire fault, but he couldn't let it get to him at a time like this. Paul's breath became shallow as he realized the advantage of Avocado's close proximity. In a quick burst of strength his knee shot up and connected with the sordid man's abdomen with a loud thump.

The air rushed from Avocado's lungs and he clutched his stomach in pain. Michael dropped to the floor like a rag doll, holding his wrist warily and examining with wide eyes Paul's strange disposition. Paul stood firm on his feet and Michael allowed loose a quaking pant as Paul quickly let his leg piston out in an arc across Avocado's blanching face.

Cherry colored droplets of dewy blood splattered over Paul's bare foot and across the ground.