Atlanta - Break Out (Bastian/Brennan)

[Florian Raniari]

Sastre watched as the warden skimmed over the file.

"We believe that McClain may have been involved in a smuggling ring that my associates and I have been hard-pressed to stamp out," the hunter said, narrating what Warden Sharp was more than likely reading for himself. Continuing with his smooth French accent, Sastre said, "Assuming we are correct, there is a good chance that he used his connections within the police force to aid in the smuggling operation. Of course, if that is true, then there are probably others involved as well, so this must be kept quiet. I'm sure you understand."

"Yes, yes, of course," the warden replied, nodding absently. "That would be the logical assumption to make."

Sastre smiled, seeing that Sharp was beginning to get pulled into the story. "We cannot afford to have any of his possible accomplices catch wind of this and scatter. If McClain is unwilling to help us in our investigation, we may need to look into some of the others."

"And that's why your transferring him to a secure facility, for questioning?" Warden Sharp asked, looking up from the file.

"Yes, sir," Sastre answered, adjusting his sling a bit. "And, as I said, I would appreciate your complete and total discretion in the matter. If word of this leaks out too soon..." He shrugged, leaving the thought unfinished.

"Well, everything certainly looks to be in order, Agent Lucas." The warden handed the file back to Sastre, leaning back in his seat thoughtfully. "And your credentials, and those of your associates in the FBI, all checked out, so I suppose there isn't much I can do. My hands are tied, as it were." Standing up, and turning to look out the window behind his desk, Sharp went on. "But I do feel its necessary to warn you that Just McClain is very dangerous. He is an ex-cop, as you know; he's had training, and the very crime that put him here was one so violent, so savage, that we were worried about how he'd interact with the other inmates."

"I understand, and am completely prepared for any situation that may arise," Sastre told the warden, standing up also. "If that's all, Warden?"

"Yes, I suppose it is," Sharp replied with a sigh. "I'd like to say that it was a pleasure, but... Well, good day, Agent. And good luck with your investigation." Walking around the desk, the warden opened the office door and gestured for Sastre to leave.

"Farewell, Warden," Sastre said with a smile, walking past him. "I appreciate your assistance in my case. I'll be sure to mention your stellar cooperation when next I speak with my superiors." Nodding to Sharp, Sastre moved quickly and casually down the corridor, whistling to himself all the way.

[bastian]

Bastian watched the man like a hawk as he was shackled and lead out of the cell. There was something eerily familiar about this, but Bastian just couldn’t seem to put his finger in on what. The thought didn’t cross his face though as he remained the perfect vision of stoic, dickhead agent. Which, at the moment, is what was going to get them out of there. He was sort of glad he didn’t know the guy. If Justin’s face had shown anything other than complete surprise, well they’d probably be boned.

“Don’t worry about what’s going on,” Bastian said roughly. “Just keep moving.” He noted the guards give a small smile out of the corner of his mouth. Bastian raised a brow at him as they continued down the corridor, Justin taking small steps in front of him.

The guard leaned in and whispered, “You know this bastard went after a cop right? Could be we arrange for an accident.”

Bastian saw Justin stiffen at that, but the man continued walking and he idly wondered how many ‘accidents’ Justin had in this place. His gaze flicked to the guard, cold as blue steel. “No accidents will be necessary, thank you. We need him all in one piece” Translate in Bastian speak, to ‘You slimy son of a bitch, I’ll show you an accident’, but unfortunately he was Wentworth Miller at the moment and they were escorting a very dangerous prisoner.

The guard actually looked disappointed, but didn’t push the issue. Bastian forced the tension out of his shoulders, making it seem as though he’d heard this sort of thing several times before. If he were a real agent he would have busted the guards head open, but unfortunately he wasn’t and they were working this on false papers. They didn’t need any unnecessary attention.

[Florian Raniari]

Sastre walked out into the bright morning sunlight.

Slipping his dark glasses on once again, he looked over and smiled slightly to himself as he saw Justin being loaded into the back of the transport van by Brennan, Bastian, and two guards. Good, they'd managed to get the man out of the prison with no surprises, but Sastre knew that the plan was only half complete, and that they'd need a substantial amount of luck to pull off the next part.

His stomach twisted when he thought about what it was he was going to have to do, the pain that he was no doubt going to be causing Madison. He tried to justify it by reminding himself that she'd only be hurt for a few hours, a day at the most, but it was cold comfort. Not for the first time, Sastre wondered if she would ever forgive him for this...

Pushing those thoughts aside, "Agent Julien Lucas" nodded his thanks to the accompanying guards and indicated they could return to their posts now. Giving a curt nod to Bastian, Sastre stepped up into the back of the van, taking a seat on the bench directly across from Justin and absently adjusting his sling. Flashing the soon-to-be-former-convict a reassuring smile, the hunter banged twice on the side of the van, letting Heath and Adams know that it was time to go. Once the van was moving, Sastre relaxed a bit, running over the rest of the plan again in his mind and unable to find any major flaws.

Returning his full attention to Justin, Sastre pocketed his his sunglasses once again and studied him closely, a bit unbelieving that he was finally here, face to face with the man that he'd been plotting to spring from prison all these weeks.

"My name is Sastre, and I'm a friend of your sister's," he said without preamble. "And in a few hours, you are going to be a free man, Justin."

[justin]

Justin just blinked at the agent, well okay not an agent apparently, but the man who called himself Sastre. He was a friend of Madison's? Justin blinked not realizing his sister had made friends with people who were apparently able to pull of break outs. That made him wary of this entire situation.

"You're a friend of Madison's?" He looked Sastre up and down in disbelief. "My sister wouldn't hang out with the kind of people who break other people out of jail. Assuming that's what this is. I mean I can't imagine that you're going to make me a free man by legal means." He raised his eyebrows at Sastre.

Justin leaned against the wall of the van, gaze never wavering from Sastre. "It's more likely that Steven set this up to get me killed. This way he can sink his claws into my sister permanently." He clenched his hands into fists at the thought of Steven anywhere near Madison. If he ever had the chance he would kill that man.

He held up his cuffed hands to Sastre. "Well if I'm gonna be a free man do I really need these?" He didn't know what was going on or who was behind this, but not for a moment, did he believe his sister had found a way to break him out of jail.

[Abigail Faraday-Brennan]

Brennan helped Bastian load Justin into the van, thankfully without incident. The hunter had been praying that Justin would control his temper since she had felt him tense at the guard’s earlier comment. She could have taken him down, of course, had he tried anything, but she was loath to bring any more harm on him, and it would be so much easier if everything went off without a hitch. Even as Brennan thought this, she was going through the motions of a seasoned law enforcement agent, pushing Justin’s head down as he stepped into the transport van, double checking his shackles, making sure he was sitting securely. She smiled inwardly at the thought that if she ever gave up hunting, she already had a head start on most of the training needed to become a legitimate agent.

Brennan nodded at Sastre as she stepped back down and headed casually back to their car, keeping her pace carefully controlled. She was more than ready to be done and out of this place, but it wouldn’t do to look too eager and tip their hand at this stage. Though buried deep, that feeling of dread was still rolling around in her gut, and she’d be damned if she screwed things up and ruined Madison, Justin, and Sastre’s chance at a relatively normal future. So Brennan kept her movements to a confident saunter and slid into the passenger seat of their “borrowed” car as if she hadn’t a care in the world – as if the trickiest part of this whole plan didn’t still lay ahead of them.

Hiding her anxiety and tapping her fingers restlessly on the arm rest, Brennan waited to get moving, praying for the second part of the plan to go as smoothly as the first.

[Florian Raniari]

Sastre smiled mirthlessly.

"Steven won't hurt either of you again," he said, stepping forward and unlocking the shackles without a second thought. "And you're right, this isn't legal, not even close. But he would never have let you out, Justin. You know that. He would have just continued to hurt Madison, and to lie to her, until finally he went too far and killed her. Now, I made a promise to your sister that I wouldn't go after him, that I wouldn't kill him, so this is the only thing I can do."

He returned to his seat across from Justin, meeting the other man's distrustful gaze. Sastre didn't blame Justin for not trusting him, but he did hope that he'd go along with this plan. Sastre needed Justin to be free, so that they could get the hell away from Steven. If Justin were to remain in prison, then Madison would never agree to leave.

"A lot has happened in the past few months, Justin. Certain events have conspired to bring your sister into contact with people like me. I have resources that have made all of this possible, and you will be free, but there'll be a price. And if you're not willing to pay it, then I can have them turn the van around right now and head back to the prison."

Sastre paused, letting Justin think on his words. It didn't really matter how long this conversation took, as they had a couple of hours to blow before the next real part of the plan went into action. It was true that he didn't really know much about Madison's brother, but he hoped that he would think the entire situation through before making up his mind. This would work... This had to work.

Reaching down under the bench, Sastre pulled out a specially-modified bullet-proof vest and tossed it to Justin. It was actually something of a movie prop, with several packs of "blood" attached to the back so that, when shot, the results would be suitably realistic. It didn't matter if it didn't hold up to very close scrutiny, for if everything went according to plan, no one who wasn't involved would ever get a look at it anyway.

"You'll need to put this on soon, under your uniform. In two hours, the van will swerve off the road and, after you manage to overpower me, you will try to escape. And I will shoot you, in plain view of all the highway traffic so that there are plenty of witnesses. Several minutes later, an ambulance staffed with people I can trust will come to pick you up and take you to a local medical examiner's office, where you will be declared dead. There will be a mistake in the paperwork, and your body will be accidentally 'disposed of' before any of your close friends or family can make a positive I.D. We'll take what comes after that as it comes. Do you understand?"

[justin]

When Steven's name came up Justin began grinding his teeth. All the times that Madison had come to see him, hiding the bruises behind sunglasses and make up had made him want to break through the glass and find Steven and beat him into a pulp again. That son of a bitch had hurt his sister entirely too long. Using her weaknesses and her caring for other people against her. Steven knew how to pull Madison's strings. Justin had often thought her too kind for her own good.

It wasn't even that Madison didn't know what Steven was doing. It was that she was willing to sacrifice everything to help Justin. She didn't want to see him wasting away in prison. Not because of her. God damnit why couldn't she see from the beginning that it wasn't because of her? That it wasn't her fault? Steven had completely dominated her, taking control of Madison and her life. Justin had told her to leave on so many occasions, but she was too stubborn in her pursuit to help him.

Justin rubbed his wrists where Sastre removed the shackles and then easily caught the vest tossed at him. He listened to Sastre's story wondering what the hell his sweet sister had gotten herself into. He imagined it something like a fifties gangster movie with underground connections, but he honestly couldn't see Madison doing that. He didn't like at all that Sastre was being so vague on the subject.

Unbottoning the top of his orange jumper, Justin pulled it down enough to slide the vest on. It wasn't that he trusted this man, in all seriousness he didn't, but a Kevlar vest was a Kevlar vest and if bullets were coming his way it was better to be protected. He rearranged his jumpsuit to cover the vest.

"Yeah? Let's say this works or whatever, I'll still be a wanted man if someone recognizes me." He rolled his shoulders, hands moving to rub his wrists where the metal no longer shackled him. "And what does Madison have to say about all this? I mean honestly, man, I know my sister. This is not something she would go along with."

[Florian Raniari]

Sastre raised a single finger.

"First of all," he told Justin, "we will be leaving the area as soon as possible and relocating further out west. Probably in Texas or New Mexico." Lifting a second finger, the hunter went on. "Secondly, if anyone does recognize you, their claims shouldn't be taken seriously, as you will be legally dead, with the signatures and reports of several well-trusted medical professionals--as well as "Agent Lucas" and his FBI associates--to verify that."

Furrowing his brow and frowning a bit, Sastre continued, his voice soft.

"And no, Madison doesn't know about this," he confessed, lowering his eyes. "But she trusts me to do the right thing, Justin, and believe me: this is the right thing. With you out of prison, Steven won't have anything to hold over her head, and she'll finally be able to leave. And if the bastard comes after us..." At this Sastre shrugged, saying, "Then I'll take care of him."

[justin]

Justin looked over Sastre curiously. His sister had mentioned that she'd been staying away from Steven for a while now. That she'd met someone who was kind and generous and always looked out for her. Who wanted to keep her safe and get her away from Steven. Justin had told her to go, though he wanted to meet this guy first. He hadn't found it suspicious that Madison wouldn't give a name, nor would she bring him by. Prison's had camera's and listening devices and if Steven got wind of things, well it could go bad. The only thing Madison called him by was 'S'.

The look on Sastre's face when he mentioned Steven was stoic, but the fire in his eyes said this man wanted to kill Steven as bad as Justin did. Justin gawked for a moment as realization dawned on him. Sastre was not what he'd been expecting. Hell the man was older than he was. "Christ!" He ran a hand through his hair. "You're 'S'?" He laughed, more from the sheer shock than anything. "You're the guy my sister is head over heels in love with?" He laughed again his head hanging for a moment.

What the hell had he missed being in prison? Madison was hanging out with guys who knew how to break people out of jail? Dating one in fact? Okay so the age thing sort of was getting to him too, but Madison had warned Justin that he was older. Leaning back against the wall of the van he shook his head, before his eyes went hard and he rested them on Sastre. "You hurt her, I will kill you. I don't care how many connections you have, how well you fight, or anything else. I will put a bullet in your head."

Justin was tired of seeing his sister get hurt. Tired of seeing her suffer. She may love Sastre, but she had thought she'd loved Steven once upon a time too. Justin would do whatever he could to protect her from here on out. Whether Madison liked it or not.

"That being said," He said with a slight smirk. "When do I get to see the brat?"

[Florian Raniari]

Sastre chuckled wryly at Justin's words.

"If I ever do hurt her," the hunter said, still smiling a bit, "I'll take you up on that. I know you don't know me, Justin, and I know that you're wary after what happened with Steven, but I can promise you that I love your sister more than I've loved anyone in a long, long time." He paused, sobering a bit and adding, "And I need you to understand that everything I do, no matter how it seems, I do for her sake. I only want her to be safe, and happy, no matter what. And," he went on, his smile returning, "I expect you to keep her safe when I'm not around."

Sastre found that he actually liked Justin, though he'd only known him for a short time. The man spoke his mind, and he was unafraid to tell Sastre off despite the fact that, by now, he must have realized that the hunter was a very resourceful, very dangerous man. And he obviously cared deeply about his sister, which relieved Sastre quite a bit. It would be easier to go out and do what he needed to do if he knew that Madison had someone else to look out for her. Not for the first time, Sastre prayed that his plan worked out...

"You'll be able to see her in a few days, a week at most," the older man answered Justin's question. "We're taking you to a safehouse out west operated by some associates of mine. Once you're settled in there, they'll go about getting you set up with a new identity. Madison and I will follow shortly after you, as soon as we get whatever she needs packed up and ready to go."