Breakout Kings

Beyond The Border

"No, Ray," Julianne stated. "No, absolutely not!" Julianne paced across the room, phone in one hand, and her scarf in the other. Her fingers didn't stop twisting and gripping the piece of cloth wrapped around her neck as she talked to her mentor.

"Jules," Ray's voice said over the speakerphone. "We need you to do this. I wouldn't ask unless it was completely necessary!"

Julianne could hear the urgency in his voice, but what he was asking was too much.

"Ray, I can't. How can you ask me this? You know that I can't do this," Julianne exclaimed. She plopped down into her desk chair and slammed her computer shut.

"Listen, Jules, you can do this," Ray said, and Julianne's eyes dropped.

"You want me, to go to the prison, and pick up Lloyd?" Julianne stated, even though she knew this was exactly what he wanted since he had told her ten times already.

Charlie, Ray, and the "Breakout Kings", as they had been called, were asked to help with a case in another state over. Lloyd had a court date he couldn't miss, and he wasn't able to go with them. Ray had called her twenty minutes ago telling her that she had to go pick up Lloyd at the prison because they needed his expertise on the case they were working. They just needed to talk to him back at base, not that she had to drive him all the way across the state, but just the ten minute drive to the prison was enough to rattle Julianne to her core. She couldn't do this. Not with her social anxiety...not with her agoraphobia...not with no time to prepare.

"Jules," Ray said, breaking her from her reverie.

"Ray, I just can't do it, why can't you send someone over to pick him up?" Julianne asked.

"Because no one knows about this operation but us, and you know, if people at the prison found out they wouldn't hesitate to take any of them out," Ray said, and Julianne knew what he was saying was true.

"Ray, I," Julianne began to say, but Ray interrupted her.

"Julianne!" Ray shouted over the phone, and Julianne immediately shrunk back in her chair. He only called her by her full name when he was really angry. "We need you!"

Julianne felt her body tense up, but she didn't want to let Ray down. He had been so good to her, so supportive and understanding. She could do this. Not long ago she had driven her and Lloyd to talk to a little girl and relieve her from her nightmare, and she had gotten through that. At least Lloyd will be with me on the way back to help me through it. The thought comforted Julianne and she took a breath.

"Ok," Julianne said, quietly.

"Thank you, Jules. We really appreciate it. Just call me when you get back in," Ray stated and then he hung up the phone.

Julianne grabbed her keys and walked out the door. She got to her car, which was parked a few blocks down, and got behind the wheel.

Her hands began to shake a little as she cranked up the car. "Just breath, Julianne," she said to herself, trying to calm her nerves.

She put the car in drive and pulled out slowly. "Here goes nothing."

Lloyd stared at the ceiling in his cell contemplating the days events. His hearing had been re-scheduled for a later date because of some technicalities and he wasn't too happy. He had to miss out on the new fugitive case because of it, which means he was out of getting another month knocked off of his sentence. They need me anyway, no way Shea or Erica could provide the insight my amazing IQ could come up with.

"Lowery, up," a voice shouted, and Lloyd, startled by the sudden interruption, flipped over and almost fell right off his bunk. Regaining his balance and trying to do it smoothly as to not look so stupid, he looked up into the eyes of one of the guards.

"Time to go," the guard said, and Lloyd looked at him quizzically.

"Go? Go where?" Lloyd said, looking behind to see a few of his fellow inmates staring at him.

"You're needed for work detail," the guard said, motioning for Lloyd to turn around. Lloyd felt his mouth upturn into a confident smirk. I knew they couldn't last long without me. Lloyd turned around and put his arms behind his back and let the guard cuff him. Leading the way through the cell bars and ignoring the snide comments of his peers, he strutted off into the lobby. He turned the corner, ready to make some smart remark to either Charlie and Ray, but he stopped short when he saw who was standing there waiting for him.

Lloyd watched as Julianne hovered in the corner of the room. She was gripping the bag on her shoulder so tightly Lloyd could see the whites of her knuckles. Her scarf was pulled a little tighter, her coat buttoned in the front, and she was biting her lower lip. Her eyes conveyed just how scared and nervous she was and Lloyd felt for her. He immediately recognized all the signs as her anxiety acting up, and he couldn't blame her. The situation must have been bad for her to come out here. He did, however, feel proud of her for actually making it there. Lloyd could only imagine what that drive must have been like.

He was about to make his way over, when he saw a couple of inmates walk up to her. Lloyd watched as Julianne turned more into the wall, trying to get as far away from them as possible.

"Hey Beautiful, what are you doing here?" one of them said and Julianne didn't say anything.

"You here for a conjugal visit?" another one said, and Julianne just continued to ignore them.

"What? You to good for us, bitch?" the third said, and Lloyd had enough. He walked right over to Julianne and stepped between her and the three men.

"I believe the lady isn't answering you because she clearly finds your questions absurd and lacking any sort of intellect. How many times you think she's heard those lines? I don't think pickup lines like those will work on anyone besides maybe your mother," Lloyd stated and the three men all became angry.

"You're gonna regret that," the first one said, and he started to close in and Lloyd backed up a little, pushing Julianne a little farther behind him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you unless you three want to spend time in solitary confinement for the next year," Lloyd stated, and pointed to the three guards standing close by.

Lloyd didn't wait for them to answer, he turned to Julianne, placed his hand on her back, and led her to the gate where the last guard buzzed them through and out the door they went.

Lloyd turned back and couldn't help smirking at the three men, who only got angry again, but they couldn't get him out here. Now, when he came back in a few days, maybe they would seek revenge, but usually in prison things like that usually would blow over because some other person would just tick them off and this incident would be completely forgotten.

"So, what's this case? It's gotta be big if they made you come and pick me up," Lloyd stated. He didn't hear anything, and he turned to look at Julianne who was clearly walking in a daze.

Lloyd's concern grew and he wanted to kick his own ass. There he goes thinking of himself first. He immediately felt bad for not checking on Julianne. She had just driven across town to get him, and then was confronted in a situation she clearly wasn't ready to face.

Lloyd placed his hand on Julianne's shoulder, and she stopped, but didn't look up.

"Julianne?" Lloyd said, softly. "Are you ok?"

Julianne still didn't say anything, she just stared ahead, gripping her bag even tighter and she lightly began to shake.

"Julianne, listen, you have to breathe. Calm down. The situation is through, you got out of there, and you are in the fresh air, away from that place and those men," Lloyd said, trying to help her the only way he knew best.

Julianne still didn't say anything, and her bottom lip began to quiver and her eyes filled with tears. She began to pant, and Lloyd knew she was hyperventilating.

His next move maybe wasn't the smartest thing, or even the right thing, but it was the first thing that came to his mind, so he went with it. He leaned over and gave Julianne a peck on the cheek. It was light and subtle, nothing too abrasive or intrusive, but it was huge when you deal with someone who suffers from agoraphobia.

Julianne stopped panting and turned to look at Lloyd fully. "What are you doing?" she asked, anger filling her face.

"What I had to," Lloyd said, and Julianne just stared at him.

"What do you mean?" Julianne questioned and Lloyd rubbed his face and drew in a deep breath.

"You were about to start hyperventilating and have a panic attack, so I helped stop it," Lloyd told her.

"By invading my personal space and kissing me?" Julianne said.

"That was hardly kissing you, just a peck, and it worked didn't it," Lloyd said, giving Julianne a smirk.

"I...uh," Julianne began, realizing that he was right. It did stop her panic attack. She completely forgot about the other incident, and focused on a new one.

"You were experiencing anxiety due to having to drive here and deal with those three imbeciles, but by me taking your attention away from them and onto me, who you are more familiar with, completely negated your anxiety," Lloyd stated.

Julianne didn't say anything, she just turned and headed back to the car. She got in the driver's seat and Lloyd got into the passenger seat.

She didn't move at first, and Lloyd didn't say anything. "Thank you," Julianne said, and Lloyd turned to her. "Thank you for sticking up for me in there and for helping me through my panic attack."

"I'm known for my doctor skills," Lloyd joked and Julianne turned to look at him.

"You're also a good friend," Julianne said, giving him a smile. Lloyd was shocked. No one had ever said something like that to him. He had always been congratulated on his achievements or praised for his intellect, but no one had ever commented on him as a person, and it brought a smile to his face.

Julianne sat up straight and grabbed her seatbelt. "Alright, I need your help getting back," Julianne said. "On the way here I drove twenty miles under the speed limit, caused a traffic jam, and almost hit an old lady."

A chuckle escaped Lloyd's lips and he nodded his head. "Okay then," he said, buckling himself up. "Let's get going, crazy." Julianne laughed at his comment and started to pull out onto the road.

As Lloyd began talking Julianne through the drive home, two different, yet similar thoughts crossed their minds. Julianne wondered how long until he admitted he kissed her and Lloyd wondered how long until she admitted she liked it.