34. ♞ THE PATHWAY TO HELL

MICHAEL AND PHOEBE WALKED THROUGH the cell block in direction of their cell, Phoebe's arm linked through Michael's as Michael's hands were shoved into his pockets, the duo laughing quietly together.

"You were right. Sucre basically came crawling back." Phoebe said with a chuckle, Michael smiling at her.

"We all have needs and desires. His is to be with his girlfriend and get her away from the man that wants to steal her away from him." Michael explained with a chuckle. Phoebe nodded.

"Alright, but now the question is how and when are we getting rid of Haywire." She whispered. Michael sighed.

"As soon as possible." He said, "I think we'll have to use your idea." He said quietly as they released their hold on each other as they approached their cell, Phoebe entering before Michael. Upon entering, Phoebe froze in her spot at the entrance of the cell as Haywire had many drawings spread out on top of Phoebe and Michael's bed. Phoebe's eyes widened as she inspected the drawings, realizing it was Michael's tattoos, the blueprints of the penitentiary. Michael stood behind Phoebe, looking over her shoulder at the mess. Haywire snapped his head over to look at them. He looked sweaty and disheveled.

"It's a pathway." Haywire said to them, as the cell door closed behind Michael and Phoebe. Michael grabbed Phoebe's hips, pulling her aside as he stepped in front of her, letting her go as he stood as a shield between Phoebe and Haywire in case things went bad. "Where does it lead?" Haywire asked, gripping a piece of paper in his hands. Michael slowly reached out to grab the paper, and Phoebe grabbed onto the back of his shirt nervously, seeing the crazed look in Haywire's eyes as he scrunched the paper tightly in his hands and pulled away from Michael.

"Michael..." Phoebe whispered anxiously, her heart racing, tightly gripping Michael's shirt. Michael turned to face her, about to speak, when suddenly Haywire charged at Michael.

"Where are you taking me?!" Haywire snapped, as Michael grabbed onto Haywire's shirt and pushed him away from them. He quickly turned around to face Phoebe.

"I have to do it now." Michael mumbled, pushing past Phoebe and grabbing onto the bars of the cell door. Phoebe furrowed her brows, overwhelmed and confused, as she watched Michael suddenly slam his head on the bars repeatedly. Phoebe slapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes watering, heart racing. She was feeling dizzy as she saw blood start to trickle down Michael's forehead and face, and she was loosing balance. She tumbled down against the cell doors dizzily, the room around her moving as her breathing began to get heavy and fast.

"What are you, nuts?" Haywire asked suddenly as he watched them, unsure of what was happening as Michael placed his hand over his bleeding wound, unaware of Phoebe's distress as he shouted.

"Officer! I need an officer!" Michael shouted, turning slightly to look over at Phoebe. As he looked at her, his initial thought was that she was acting as well, but upon seeing her rapidly rising chest, her watery eyes, and her pale face, he realized it wasn't an act.

"What the hell's the problem down here?" An officer shouted as he approached the cell, looking in at Michael and Phoebe. The officer groaned. "What? Son of a bitch. Open up on forty!" He shouted as the cell door then was quickly opened. Phoebe's eyes darted over to the officers, trying to calm her racing heart.

"He's got the pathway on his body. It leads somewhere." Haywire said to them, pointing at Michael.

"Back off, Haywire!" The officer warned, pointing at him. Haywire shook his head.

"No, look. Look at his tattoos. It's a pathway." Haywire said again, "And hers, they're symbols. They're messages." He said as he then pointed at Phoebe. Michael turned to face Phoebe, giving her a reassuring look as more officers approached the cell.

"Haywire, I said back off. You want a hot shot?" The officer snarled, walking closer to Haywire. Haywire growled angrily and desperately.

"I'm telling you!" He said, charging towards Michael again, "Look at—" Just as he approached Michael in attempt to pull at his shirt, the officer sprayed pepper spray in Haywire's face.

"Back off!" The officer shouted as Haywire screamed in pain. "Let's go!" He said as two more officers walked in past Michael and Phoebe, grabbing ahold of Haywire and dragging him out.

"It's a pathway to hell! They're taking us all to hell!" Haywire screamed and cried throughout the cell block as he was dragged away, the cell door closing. Michael, not worried about his bleeding wound, rushed to Phoebe's side, who was breathing quickly and heavily, anxiety consuming her.

"Hey, Phoebe. Phoebe. Hey!" Michael called out, cupping her face in his hands as he gently patted her cheek with his hand. Phoebe couldn't breathe, staring at Michael with tearful eyes.

"I... I can't... I'm sorry I don't know why this happened..." She apologized, tears rolling down her cheeks. Michael frowned, his chest aching. It was moments like this that made him hate himself for bringing Phoebe along. He quickly grabbed Phoebe's legs and dragged her slowly towards the center of the cell, sitting with his back against the concrete wall across from the beds as he pulled Phoebe into his hold, pulling her in between his legs in the sitting position.

He positioned her so her back was pressed against his chest, the back of her head resting against his collarbone. He intertwined his fingers in hers and crossed her arms across her chest, with his arms on top of hers, hugging her close. Phoebe groaned gently, trying to calm herself down as Michael held her close. He rested his cheek on her head, holding her tightly.

"It's okay... I've got you... We're alright..." Michael whispered in her ear reassuringly. Phoebe felt safe in his hold, and her heartbeat slowly started to settle down as she shut her eyes and let herself relax in his grip. "There you go... It's okay..." Michael continued. Phoebe started to take deep breaths, and Michael nodded to himself. "See? It's okay." He said. Phoebe nodded, finally fully relaxing in his hold as she sniffled.

"Thank you." She whispered, still facing the beds in front of them. Michael nodded, but said nothing as they sat in silence, Michael holding Phoebe tightly. They almost fell asleep in that position, before Phoebe turned her head to face Michael and her eyes widened. "Your head.. you're bleeding..." Phoebe said as she pulled away from him, Michael gently releasing his hold on her as she faced him, still sitting on the ground. Michael nodded, having forgotten his wound. He brought a hand up to touch his forehead gently, clenching his jaw at the uncomfortable feeling and sight of his fingertips getting coated in a thin layer of drying blood.

"It's nothing. It had to be done." He said with a small shrug. Phoebe nodded.

"I know. It doesn't mean it's nothing, though." She said quietly. Michael grinned and nodded. "You helped me, let me help you clean up." She said as she stood up, wiping her dry tears away and taking a deep breath to compose herself as she grabbed a small rag from the table in the corner of the cell. She got it wet and approached Michael, sitting beside him this time. Michael stared at her as Phoebe slowly and carefully wiped away at his bloody face, cleaning all the blood off gently and slowly. Michael couldn't help but admire her, his eyes shining as he stared at her. Phoebe felt his gaze, but ignored it as she continued.

Once she was finished, she looked at him, their eyes locking as she smiled at him.

"What?" She asked quietly. Michael smiled, staring at her.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked. Phoebe nodded.

"Yeah... thank you... You always know what to do to make me feel better." She whispered. Michael chuckled softly.

"So do you..." He whispered back. They couldn't help but stare at each other for a few seconds, Michael's eyes flicking down to look at Phoebe's lips before looking back at her eyes. Phoebe's heart started to race again, but not in a bad way, as she leaned in ever so gently, and Michael mirrored her actions.

As they both leaned in, suddenly they both decided to not hold back anymore. Finally, their lips attached in a slow and gentle kiss, fireworks exploding around their insides as Phoebe slowly brought her hands up to wrap around his neck. Michael wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close as their kiss felt like something they had needed all along. They slowly pulled apart, staring at each other. Phoebe suddenly laughed nervously, looking away as she released her grip on his neck and sat back down, but Michael didn't let go.

"Sorry..." Phoebe whispered. Michael smiled and shook his head, leaning in again to give her a small kiss.

"Don't be... I've wanted to do that for a while but... I thought..." He paused, unsure of how to continue. But Phoebe knew exactly what he meant.

"I know... I thought... you would... reject me, I guess..." She whispered, to which Michael chuckled softly and shook his head.

"Never..." He whispered back. "But... we can't. At least not yet. Not here." He reminded her. Phoebe frowned and nodded.

"I know... The plan is Sarah. And no one can know about any of this." She agreed, nodding, although deep down, it hurt. She was finally admitting her feelings, and she couldn't be open about it. Michael sighed.

"When we're out..." He whispered, cupping her face in his hands. "No one can stop us..." He said. Phoebe smiled and nodded.

"I know..." She whispered. "This stays between us." She said with a shrug. "For now." Michael nodded, standing up and pulling Phoebe to her feet.

"We should... sleep." He said. Phoebe nodded and smiled.

"I know the bunk is free now, but... can you... just... sleep with me this last time?" She asked quietly. Michael smiled and nodded, cupping her face and kissing her cheek.

"Last time..." He whispered, to which Phoebe nodded as she crawled into the bottom bunk with Michael beside her, the two finally cuddling in a conscious state. They were happy in the moment. And they wouldn't trade that moment for the world.

[ DEDICATED TO aguacate_en_tanga & IamyesInfires ]