My first fic ever! Tread softly...
Title: OF GETTING
Author: FBI_shadow
Characters: Michael, Alex
Category: gen; If someone manages to find anything slashy, it's because those two are HOT per se!
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Alex was going to get Michael. He didn't have a choice. But Michael got to him first. He didn't have a choice, too.
Spoilers: beginning of season 3, flashbacks to season 2, with a bit of time/fact twisting
Disclaimer: Neh. Not mine. (sigh)
Note: English is not my mother tongue; This fic was not beta read, sorry if it's not perfect. God knows I'm not. I hope you'll enjoy it, and please, tell me what you think. Thank you.
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OF GETTING
Panama. Sona. Dirty, stinky prison packed with testosterone, fear, desperation…with cons barely clinging to the last remnants of civilized behavior ….
Mahone’s knowing eyes followed a younger man walking slowly across the prison yard… his gaze sharp like a hawk’s watching an unaware rabbit in the field…noticing younger man’s grey, long-sleeved shirt (which, Mahone knew, covered the fascinating maze tattooed on his chest, back and arms) stained with sweat, his perfect, shaved head gleaming like a homing beacon...
Alex knew that boyish/man figure, that fine profile, knew those intense, clever eyes, those long arms, hands with elongated fingers and delicate wrists…”Those hands were not meant to be cuffed, restrained with cold, hard metal” Mahone thought…”those hands had the power to build and create”…after all, last time he checked he was a structural engineer… so appropriate… Alex knew this man, learned every detail staring for hours, during the manhunt, at the documents and pictures telling the tale of his quite unusual query... Scofield. No. Michael.
Manhunt…a past tense…some other life, seems now eons ago…Time when he relentlessly, mercilessly hunted him down… hunted Michael. “I had no choice…no choice”…Alex kept repeating in his mind…”Cam…they ran him over with the car, broke his legs…my boy, they were going to kill him if…if he didn’t kill Michael, kill all of them…”They all die” Company ordered”.
Mahone noticed how thin Michael became…his jeans, once perfectly fitting his tall, lean body, now hanged low on his hips, the curve of his neck more prominent… Planning to get his brother out, imprisonment in Fox River, the escape, the long run, and now Sona… all left their toll... Alex noticed the dark rings around Michael’s eyes, making them even more intense… noticed the smoldering pain deep inside the green irises… inner emotional turmoil making brooding burrow in Michael’s forehead deeper…
Michael stopped momentarily, squinting in the bright sun. He looked lost, fragile…. definitely not belonging in this place. That boy had it: high IQ combined with the “Mozart syndrome” (Alex remembered reading that Micheal had the LLI) made him a creative genius! It was a crying shame to waste that potential in a place like this! Truth be told, Mahone have had admiration for Michael…for his mind and cunning, since the day one, but wouldn’t let it show…couldn’t let it get in the way…
At that moment Michael looked up and met Alex’s eyes. His lips were a bit opened, like he was having difficulty breathing, weariness and exhaustion plain on his handsome face… He acknowledged Alex with a few seconds of intense stare, and then his eyes shifted back to the prison yard. Slowly he resumed walking and finally entered the main building.
Mahone always knew he’d eventually get Micheal, but what he couldn’t know was that by that time the ingenious boy will get under his skin… Mahone wasn’t sure when exactly that happened…
Was it when he just couldn’t let Michael go and be killed in that set up “chicken foot” fight, when he instructed him to go for the knee cap, and Michael looked at him with those impossible eyes and said “You know Alex, you sound like you really care”?! “Just stay alive” was Alex’s earnest response.
He regarded Michael as his “free ticket out of Sona”, so, keeping an eye on him was the most logical thing to do…at least he thought so then. There were so many nasty things looming in a place like this, which young, geeky engineer was not prepared to deal with, not even remotely… but Alex was. His military and agency training made him dangerous… deadly dangerous… Pills or no pills, he could still kill a man with his bare (even shaking from withdrawal) hands, and he proved it yesterday in the yard, saving Michael’s life…
Later that night, Mahone stayed close to Michael’s cell, keeping an eye over exhausted, fallen asleep Michael… Michael never knew.
Mahone wasn’t sure when Michael got to him. Perhaps it was that time when Alex had him and Lincoln…had Michael at the gun point at the border near Las Cruces...
***
Alex could have and should have killed them then and there, both of them, and he prepared to do it... but somehow he kept prolonging the moment... couldn't stop talking to them, to Michael (actually, it was like Lincoln was not there at all, Alex had eyes only for Michael...funny that…), ordering Michael to get up, to turn around, telling them he didn't want any one of them, that he only wanted his life back...
Alex was aware part of him was reluctant to do what needed to be done....He tried to avoid it, tried to talk the Company out of it…by God he didn't want to kill Abruzzi, even less to kill Tweener, or Patoshik, or any of them! And now he was again being forced to kill two other man…or his family will be killed. He felt sick, caught in the venomous web.
At one point, Alex thought he'd finally steeled himself enough to do it, acutely aware all the time that his gun holding hand was moving from Linc to Michael, while he was trying to decide whom to shoot first... And when he did finally decide it would be Michael, he knew it was because he wouldn't want Michael to watch his brother die before his very eyes after he's given everything and worked so hard to save Linc; at the same time Alex was aware how silly that line of thought was, to think about not hurting Michael's feelings when the very next moment he's about to kill him!!
Michael's dark eyes were locked onto Alex's and he saw Mahone made a decision. The gun was now pointed straight in his direction, hand holding it, steady...Alex's jaw tightened, his lips twitched and were drawn back baring gritted white teeth... (A voice in Alex’s head said: “yes, put the bullet between those eyes, and finally it'd be over, you'd be able to see your family again, see Pam and Cam...”). He focused and aimed…wouldn’t let be distracted…(The other voice contradicted: who are you kidding? You know you've been doomed, whether you do the brothers or not, they will never let you live with all the knowledge you have on the company...).
Michael closed his eyes and slowly turned his head, thus revealing his temple to the gun. A desperate gesture of a man aware that he’s about to die, and unconsciously attempting to avoid looking at the bullet he was sure would come instantly…
Alex noticed Michael was not even trying to protect himself at all, didn't even turn his body sideways or tried to run, but offered his chest as an easy target, his hands loosely put down, standing passively there like a lamb brought to be slaughtered...
Now that Michael's eyes were closed, Alex's eyes caught on dried streaks on his face...tears? weariness? desperation?....Michael's long lashes cast shadows onto his bruised cheeks...Suddenly, Michael's face became Cam's face...Alex blinked...In his mind’s eye he saw his boy being intimidated and threatened by the Company’s bully… He was no different…a realization hit him and Mahone’s stomach painfully clenched, his hand hurting and numb from the severe hold on the gun…
When the bullet did not come, Michael dared open his eyes and turn his blurred gaze towards agent Mahone.... This time Mahone's hand trembled slightly...a fleeting moment...almost invisible…. And then…
„ This is the US border patrol, put your weapons down… or we will put you down!“ came a roar from the BP official…
Alex’s eyes became glazed.... a few seconds he was standing still, his gun still aimed at Michael…then he inhaled sharply, swallowed, and dropped his aim, pointing a finger at Michael in a “catch you later” gesture. With his eyes never leaving Michael’s, he slowly put the gun down on to the ground, his face clearly showing a disappointment and frustration of a weary hunter who lost his prey in the last moment… but in those aquamarine eyes a trace of something else gleamed, if only for a moment...something close to… relief?!
Michael’s brow went up, puzzled, unsure of whether what he saw was real…
****
Or did it happen earlier, that time when Michael confronted President Caroline Reynolds with the incriminating tape conversation with her brother…
*****
Agent Mahone opened the door and entered the basement. Two things Mahone became aware of instantly: the killing lust in agent Kim's eyes, and darkened, pain stricken Michael's eyes.
Michael was cuffed to the chair, his body bent awkwardly back and to the side, his head and neck painfully arched…a menacing barrel of agent’s Kim gun close to his head...
Michael was bleeding profoundly from multiple cuts and bruises agent Kim’s fists left on his lips, cheeks, eyebrow… Alex knew a brutal beating when he saw one (“you don’t do that to that face!” a thought fleshed in Mahone's mind uninvited).
There was a small pond of fresh blood on the floor next to the chair, made of blood dripping from Michael's freshly cut lip... Desperation creeping on him, his breathing labored, chest heaving, Michael was waiting for the inevitable as it seemed this time there was no way out for a genius con.
Kim had his gun pointed directly at Michael's head from a point blank distance. He wore a sly smirk on the face that would put a hyena to shame, enjoying every bit of his „handy work“.
„Hello Alex“ Kim said turning his head in an angular mode, resembling a serpent preparing to strike. „Lost your prized deer? Again I have to clean the mess you were supposed to clean...“ Kim once accused Mahone of having a soft spot when it came to Scofield…. Kim turned back to Michael, his eyes becoming black slits.
„There is a big difference between Agent Mahone here and me, Scofield, and you'll learn it now. Agent Mahone doesn't appreciate a bird in his hand, keeps beating at the same bush over and over again. But I say: One down, one to go“.
At that his lips thinned over his teeth and his finger started to squeeze the trigger.
In a split of a second, Mahone's eyes flicked from Kim back to Michael... Never before Michael looked so totally helpless and vulnerable… those eyes, usually so expressive and daring ...they were filled now with deep hurt, sorrow, desperation, acceptance and… yes, there...actually, it was there from the very moment Alex showed up... a tiny spark of… hope? Alex was puzzled, because Michael must have known Alex could only be there for the same purpose as Kim… yet another predator interested only in one thing to do when he catches his pray...
„Wait!“ Alex yelled and Kim was startled and thrown aback.
„Let me do it…” Mahone’s voice became unexpectedly soft, but the voice was not matched with the meltdown in his eyes that remained ice blue. “I need it… this one made me look bad for far too long“.
In one swift stride, Mahone was at Kim’s side, his Glock already in his hand, pointed at Micheal. But the next second, in the same liquid movement, he turned the gun on Kim and fired.
“You’ll never again make a mistake to come after my Cam…or Pam…” Mahone’s voice was bitter. Agent Kim was dead before he hit the ground, a small dark hole in his forehead. Destiny that was imminent to happen to Michael…
Alex’s eyes were back on Michael, his gaze now mild and curious. Micheal’s eyes were wide and puzzled, his breath shallow, lips slightly parted. There was a moment of awkward silence. Both men stared at each other. Than, in one swift, practiced movement, Mahone holstered his gun and got around Micheal. Michael felt Mahone’s hands on his wrists. They were steady and warm. Then the cuffs opened and Mahone’s harsh voice from behind said: “Go, Michael! Run, before I change my mind! I’ll pretend this never happened…but next time…next time…”
He didn’t finish…Michael stood up and turned around facing agent Mahone, his eyes puzzled and weary, never leaving Mahone’s. Mahone stood motionless, his body language not confirming any imminent threat. Michael started to back up towards the exit. When he reached the doors, stopped and said in a husky, low voice Mahone so well remembered from their phone conversation a few weeks ago: “Thank you… Alex.” He stood there for a few more seconds and then disappeared through the exit.
Alex tilted his head to the side and twisted his lower lip, a tic he’d developed whenever he was puzzled and/or amused… he couldn’t but notice and be strangely amused by Michael calling him by his given name…first time…Somehow, Alex was thinking of Michael as Michael almost from the beginning…
Mahone cast a glance at the dead body of agent Kim on the floor. “Told you I’m gonna get Scofield eventually, but...» Mahone made a cute little shrug "You can't kill the handsome guy." He turned and walked out in the daylight.
****
Perhaps Michael got to him in that factory, when he ended up locked in the cage, with propane filling the room…? Or was it even earlier in that Otis elevator…? Or…?
Alex wasn’t… couldn’t be sure. But he was glad Michael did get to him before he got Michael... Being who he is, Michael couldn’t but help Alex remember who Alex really was… is - a good man.
*****
Alex stretched his fit, muscular body, run a hand over his soft, light stubble, and sighed. Yet another day to spend in this hellhole called Sona penitentiary. But at least, Alex had a new purpose which kept him very busy. Watching over Michael proved to be a 24/7 job ….
End.