Title: Behind His Eyelids

Warnings: Langauges, SLASH OF THE BROTHERLY KIND

Disclaimer: Me no own, You no sue.

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He doesn't pay much attention to anything anymore. Just lets the days pass on by while he closes his eyes and drifts.

And in the darkness behind his eyelids, memories flash, and though there is no sound, he feels as if it's all happening again: Michael's ear-to-ear grin when he doesn't come home high; LJ's first steps; Veronica walking away in a huff, she's off to college now and can't be bothered with a junkie for a boyfriend; empty syringes, Mikey's not gonna be happy about this one; an oncoming fist; he turns the TV off, tells him to do his homework, Michael pouts and he suddenly has a hard-on.

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He doesn't pay much attention to anything anymore. Just let's the days pass on by while he closes his eyes and wades through countless scenes of his life.

And in the darkness behind his eyelids, memories flash, and though there are no visuals, the emotions still make his insides feel heavy: Michael calls out his name as they come in perfect sync; Veronica shouting angrily when she finds out about his addictions (not the Michael one, for which he's thankful); Lisa telling him she's pregnant; Michael shouting his name as he bursts through the bar's doors, seeking his older brother's undeniable protection.

-

He doesn't pay much attention to anything anymore. But still everyone is awed by the power he exudes, just walking into the room and everyone knows who the real boss is.

He levels an empty stare at the man in the black clothes as he recites passages from the Bible. He hears the new fish come in, but doesn't even bother to turn his head, they're not worth the energy required to do so. When Chapel is over, he rises, gathering his bulk and in a smooth upward motion, stands upon his chained feet. And then he sees this face, the face of the one he loves more than just about anything.

"Michael?" the name is whispered and everything that he had shoved away, every emotion, every single last bit of hope comes rushing back and he is suddenly whole again. All just from seeing this face again, without mesh wire or bars to obscure the view, granted the chains are still there, but that's just part of his remaining life.

-

He's watching everything. Watching as the other inmates interact with each other, as the other Kings rule their bits of land.

Bellick notices the change and he has no idea what brought it all on, and it frightens him just a little at the possiblity that Link the Sink is back. So he adds on more chains and takes away more hours. And in the yard, he follows Link's steady gaze, it's trained on a new fish, and here in prison that could mean one of two things: (a) Sink's suddenly wanting this fish as his own personal bitch or (b) he wants to kick the guy's ass. He decides not to say anything, it's not a problem until Sink actually does something.

But, looking back on it now, he wishes a thousand times over that he had intervened, that he had kept them apart. However, he knows that nothing could've been done, Scofield was smart and as much as he hates to admit it, Scofield was smarter than him.

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He watches. Watches as Michael moves about the tiny hut, he's singing quietly and Lincoln just closes his eyes and lays his head on the table. He listens to the sound of his voice, letting it wash over him.

And in the darkness behind his eyelids, he can still picture Michael tidying up thier little shack. He'll be doing this for a little while, just until the end of the song. And when the song is done, he'll push Lincoln off his chair and tell him to go open the shop and Lincoln will cuss under his breath but he'll do as he was told. He pictures it all just before it happens, the song's coming to a close, they've been doing this for almost two years now, and the routine's never failed.

Lincoln listen's to Michael's footsteps, mentally counting down and just as he hits zero, the chair is yanked out from underneath him and Michael is tossing the keys into his face "Go open the door," he says. And Lincoln curses under his breath before shooting out his snide reply, "Yes, mommy," narrowly ducking just in time to miss the spoon thrown his way.

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End