Unfinished Business [for @allforfamily]

[loistheintrepid]

News happens fast around the bullpen. That much has always been true. An earthquake in Malaysia, wildfires in California, terror in Yemen. It's flash after flash of unrest in all corners of the world, and it weighs heavy on Lois's shoulders at the end of each week. 

Still, it's hope that gets her through the job when the world starts to look dark. Hope that there are good people helping when they can, hope that things can be <i>done</i> to counteract, maybe even put a stop to some of that darkness out there. 

She's been working on the Abruzzi story for a while now. Months of quiet digging, prying into the small corner of the mob under his hand. His arrest is a surprise, for sure, but with the power and the contacts a man like Abruzzi has behind him, it won't be enough. 

She's tracked down Burrows on a hunch. There's nothing solid tying him to Abruzzi's arrest, but then again nothing's all that solid when it comes to the powers they're dealing with. Still, he's the only thread she can find to pull on, after all the dead ends, and maybe... maybe the events in Yemen will at least earn her a few minutes to find out what he knows.

She takes a breath, glancing skeptically at the door a moment, and knocks.

Comments

[allforfamily]

Lincoln is done with Chicago. The old neighborhood, the place where he keeps falling into old patterns. Michael is in New York with Sarah and his son and it's time Linc follows. Abruzzi is still gunning for him, even from jail. Jacob is secure in Fox River and he has to appreciate Michael's sense of poetry in having him paired up with T-bag.

Two more weeks and the lease is up and he can get in his car and head east. To family.

The knock earns a grimace as he heads to the door. And sees a face he didn't expect. In fact, the last time he had seen her was in Yemen when things were falling apart.

"How did you.. never mind. Of course you found me." He steps aside to let her in.

[loistheintrepid]

She has to give him credit for letting only a flicker of confusion surface onto his features before he lets her in. She'd been ready to have to sweet talk her way into a conversation, but she's not about to complain when he makes it easy for her.

"If it helps, you weren't all that easy to find," she offers, stepping inside and glancing at the sparse living room before returning her attention to him.

"Glad to see you made it home in one piece, though."

[allforfamily]

In truth they'd barely made it home. But they had and the threat against their family was dealt with. Done. It was time to move on.

If she hadn't been there to help them in Yemen, to help C-Note and Sheba and her family get to safety, Linc probably would have closed the door on her.

But she did. So here they are.

"That's kind of the point. My brother is home, it's time I go too."

And, you know, before Abruzzi shoots him again.

[loistheintrepid]

The news of Kaniel Outis's capture and framing had been a media shit storm she'd barely been able to dig herself out of. She knew that story inside and out, and it's part of what had led her to Lincoln's door.

Her brow furrows at the finality of his statement. At the idea that all the trouble he'd been through could be over and done with at last.

"I'm happy for you, Lincoln. I am. It's great that you have your brother back, and... and that you're all home safe, but..." She glances up at him, willing herself to choose the right words.

"The story didn't end when you put Abruzzi away. It just kind of... pivoted."

[allforfamily]

Frankly neither of them wanted their names or faces in the papers and it was only through the intervention of the CIA that they'd managed, if barely. Michael, Sarah and Lincoln had endured enough.

Her words are like a shot of ice water down his spine because of course it isn't over yet. Of course they aren't free. "Pivoted. What do you mean, pivoted?" What screwup did he leave in his wake that could potentially threaten Michael's very hard earned peace?

[loistheintrepid]

She knew that look was coming. That tired slump of his shoulders when he realizes the fight's not done. It's not what she wants, but he's the only contact she's got left that's connected to this piece of the puzzle, and she can't let him go without trying.

She tugs a file from her purse, handing it over to him.

"Luca's been busy since his father's death. He's tied himself to a hell of a lot more than John's corner of the mob, and even if his case does see trial, he's connected himself well enough to walk free without a second thought."

She crosses her arms over her chest, eyeing him carefully.

"I've been ID'ing as much of his contacts as I can, trying to get a sense of how to trip them up. Find the piece that'll stick in court and put these assholes away for good. Problem is, nobody's gotten close enough to these guys to know them by name."

[allforfamily]

More than ten years and the fight still isn't over. Linc is so goddamn tired. But he isn't going to bring Michael into this. His fight was over. Done. He deserves his peace with his family and whatever comes he's going to figure this out on his own.

A wince as the wound in his chest pulls when he takes the file. "Of course he has." And if Luca got free he was a dead man.

"Come on inside. I'll ID who I can for you."

[loistheintrepid]

To say that Lincoln Burrows has been through a lot would be both an insult and an understatement. Pulling him back into this now feels wrong, somehow, but at the same time... he's put the wheels in motion on something only he could help her stop.

She glances down at his chest, brow furrowing at his injuries as she makes her way inside.

"I wish it were that simple. I wish that was all I needed, but Lincoln... We've got a short window of opportunity here. With Luca in custody, there are pieces of this organization shifting to fill the void. This could be our chance to slip in, find out how to take them down."

[allforfamily]

"'We'," he echoes, moving to pull a pair of beers from the kitchen fridge. His fight may not be over, but this was his fight. He'd gone back to the old neighborhood, he'd been the one to start moving things for Luca. Him. Whatever happened this was on him to sort out.

"There's always a shift in power when someone gets taken in," he answers. "But something tells me you've already got something in mind."

[loistheintrepid]

She watches him curiously as he moves, trying to gauge if that 'we' is an accepting one or a skeptical one. Best guess is he's on the fence, which at the very least isn't a complete shut down.

"Not just a shift in power. A shift in place, too. No matter how tight-lipped Luca might be, they'll be moving his base of operations quickly. All that product has to go somewhere, and if we can tail it now, without them noticing, there's a good chance we can find out a hell of a lot more along with it."

[allforfamily]

Linc pauses to regard her curiously. "You're not just looking to track the next drug shipment or where he's keeping his product. You want to take down the whole Abruzzi family."

Dangerous. But it might also guarantee peace for him and his family. After all, Lincoln was a marked man and there was a pretty damned good chance that Luca wouldn't just forget what he'd done.