The Escape.

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That afternoon after a long morning of rest and a lunch that could actually be called a 'meal' of actual 'food' for once in the prison, Elizabeth was more than glad to finally be out of bed and lying on her back on the warmed concrete in the exercise yard with the other inmates for their recreation time. The wound was stitched, covered with gauze and a heavy bandage and very well hidden under her clean tee shirt. The dark angel was under orders to be careful about moving around too much, especially sitting down and standing up, but other than that she was free to roam.

"So he just stabbed you?" the jittery young Sam asked after Elizabeth had just regaled most of the story about what had happened in her cell and the dungeons that morning between her and Thomas.

"He didn't stab me," Elizabeth corrected opening one eye in the bright sunlight to look at the red haired and freckled man who had been listening intently to the story. "He just cut me, badly, but that's about the most of it."

"Where was McNeill?" one of the other men asked who was sitting out of her line of sight and losing a game of cards to Sutton.

"He was off on the mainland for a while this morning." Elizabeth closed her eyes again and attempted to drift off to sleep in the warm sunlight, the ether still making her slightly drowsy.

"What-"

"Listen," Elizabeth cut in as she craned her neck to look at the man who was about to ask her yet another question, her voice suddenly turning cold and deadly serious. "Would you all just shut up for a minute or two, I would like to enjoy the sunlight while I can."

All the men instantly fell silent as though they were children that had just been scolded by their Mother and went back to their card game.

Elizabeth closed her beautiful green eyes under the warm rays of the sun that were shining down upon her and remembered the white sanded and turquoise watered deserted beach that her and Jonathon had ventured to for their honeymoon so many years ago.

A pang of longing and grief filled her heart as she thought again about Simon. She had pushed her grief so far down for so long that she didn't even know how to begin to deal with the fact that it was now more than 1 year on from his death.

McNeill was standing on the bulky concrete stairs in the large yard overlooking the inmates as they smoked and played card games and chatted amongst themselves. He talked to one of the guards for a few moments before making his way into the crowd of inmates and crossing the yard to find Elizabeth. Dropping down next to her the Warden checked to make sure that his angel was okay and whispered a loving goodbye before making his way back through the yard and out of the prison block to his house.

Walking in through the backdoor once again McNeill snatched up the paper bag he had left on the bench and sat down at the kitchen table as he considered the escape plan he had come up with. Opening the paper bag the warden pulled out a box of sleeping pills so heavy they could take down an elephant if you gave him enough, along with it he pulled out a razorblade and a thin sheet of medical paper.

Placing the bag down on the table a syringe also rolled out of it.

McNeill popped out four of the pills from their packet and placed them in a small pile on the tabletop; taking the sharp razorblade from its plastic packaging he started crushing them into a small pile.

When all the small pills were crushed into the state of a fine white powder, McNeill brushed the powder into a glass that had only a few drops of hot water in it and completely dissolved the sleeping solution before drawing the fluid into the syringe.

He crushed up another four sleeping pills into the same fine powder and brushed it into the thin medical paper he had also brought from the drug store. Carefully folding the paper around the powder to make sure none of it would escape McNeill stored it in the kitchen drawer to use later that night.

* * * * *


"Come on in Thomas," McNeill greeted his once respected and now absolutely loathed co-worker as he opened the large wooden front door to him, with a greatly forced warm and friendly smile.

With nothing less than cautious pessimism, Thomas walked into McNeill's small house that was laid out in much similarity to his own, still wondering what the hidden agenda was behind the Warden's dinner invitation with the bad blood currently lying between them.

"Ready for dinner?" McNeill asked with a convincing smile as he walked through to the kitchen to retrieve the necessary items to set the beautiful wooden dining room table.

Relaxing slightly after a knife wielding maniacal inmate didn't come running at him from behind a closed door or a hallway, Thomas patted his growling stomach and explained, "I'm starved."

After setting the table and one of the kitchen staff soon delivering their meal, McNeill and Thomas sat down and rather amicably ate a delicious dinner together. Most of their conversation revolved around the prison and some of the more memorable inmates that they had worked with during their time together on the Island.

Somewhere deep down in the pit of his still churning stomach, Thomas felt like he was betraying someone who could have been a life-long friend, but knew that his job forced his hand in alerting the District Warden of the relationship between Elizabeth and the Warden.

After both the men ate only small portions of their dinner and pushing the rest of it around on their plates they sat at the table in the dining room and swapped stories about when they were young and mischievous.

"Would you like some more wine?" McNeill asked rather hastily after he watched Thomas swallow down the last mouthful of red in his glass. The quicker the night was over between him and the Associate Warden, the quicker he could get Elizabeth off this damned Island.

"Thanks." Thomas nodded his head and held out the glass for McNeill to take as he walked past on his way to the kitchen.

Searching for a sweet enough wine that would conceal the acrid taste of the sleeping pills, McNeill looked over his rack of wines that sat above the kitchen cupboard. Retrieving a fairly fruity bottle of red from the rack, the Warden stood at the bench and quietly pulled out the small packet of crushed up heavy sleeping pills that he had hidden away earlier that day. Filling the glass only half way with wine before adding the fine white powder the Warden topped the glass up and his own before gently swirling the wine through the crystalline glass and walking back through to the dining room to finish off the evening.

"Here you go," handing Thomas the spiked glass of wine McNeill continued walking through to the adjacent lounge room and flopped down in his favourite reclining chair.

Almost like a loyal and obedient dog the Associate Warden followed along and dropped down into a chair opposite the Warden's and regaled a story of how he used to climb trees with his younger sister when they were children and how relaxing it was to sit in the treetops when they were sick of being home, especially when it was obvious to the both of them that they were quite unwanted by their Father who had a serious alcohol problem. Thomas's Mother had died during the birth of his sister.

"What about you Warden?" Thomas asked almost finished with his glass of wine, the sleeping aid would be starting to filter into the Associate Warden's bloodstream and was likely that it would become active within only a few more minutes.

"No." McNeill shook his head as he stared intently at Thomas's shiny black shoes. "But I do have a question that I would like an answer to before I leave the Island tomorrow."

Knowing exactly what the Warden was going to ask him and not at all wanting to be the one who would have to answer it, Thomas dropped his head down to his lap and shook his head no, silently begging McNeill not to ask the question.

McNeill paused for a brief moment as he watched this reaction come from the Associate Warden, no surprise whatsoever pulling forth in his demeanor. "Why did you stab Elizabeth, Thomas?" his voice was quiet as the words escaped the Warden's mouth.

Thomas swallowed a mouthful of wine and looked up at the man that once he held so much respect for, in only a few months so much had changed between them. "I don't really think you want to know Warden," Thomas's voice was just as quiet, almost resentful.

Shaking his head the Warden instantly replied. "No Thomas, I do want to know the answer otherwise I wouldn't have asked the question. I want to know what compelled you to take your knife and stab something so..." McNeill paused for a moment and looked around the room as though the right words were hidden somewhere. "Someone so amazing." His voice had fallen to a haunted whisper at those last words.

Searching the Warden's blue-gray eyes for a reason to not answer the question at all, Thomas found nothing more than the Warden's desperate need for an answer. "I was doing exactly as you taught me to do Warden. One of the first things you taught me when I arrived here on Alcatraz Island was 'control the problem and always show the inmates who's in charge.' Those are your words sir, not mine. She is a murderer and a rule breaker. She needs to be brought into line. You couldn't do it, now the duty falls on me to control her."

Not quite knowing what to say in reply to the young man's statement, McNeill shrugged his shoulders, still not understanding how Thomas could have done what he did to Elizabeth. "So you just stabbed her?"

Drinking down the last mouthful of wine in his glass Thomas's eyes fell down to the stretch of wooden floor between the two men. Shame rose up inside him as the realization of what he did dawned on him. This was not the man he wanted to be. He had become everything he hated about his father. "I was just showing her who's in control Warden."

McNeill clenched his fists into tight little balls and unclenched them again, trying to control the anger of the Executioner that was bubbling up in his blood before Thomas wore a backhanding and ended up in the hospital wing.

"I'm feeling awfully sleepy," Thomas said as he unsteadily stood to his feet. Not really wanting to stick around to see the anger finally burst forth he continued with, "I should probably get on back to my own home." Walking into the kitchen he placed the glass down on the sink then showed himself out the front door, quietly closing it behind him.

Standing to his feet McNeill angrily paced up and down the lounge room for a few seconds before turning around and throwing his glass that was still half full of red wine at the closest wall. "Bastard! Fucking Bastard!" the Warden screamed as the glass shattered into thousands of tiny shards and the wine spread out over the floor.

Hearing the shouting on his way home Thomas shook his head as he continued stumbling along the rocky path. "Shouldn't have told him,"

After a few moments of self-loathing for leaving Elizabeth alone on the Island that morning, and everything else that he had ever done to cause her harm and pain, McNeill wrapped a thick overcoat around his body and walked out to the parade grounds of the Island that overlooked the peninsula. He threw a few large rocks with as much force as he could into the water to release his anger before he hurt someone that didn't deserve it.

After two hours wondering around in the dark over rocks and grass from here to there and back again more than several times and continually attempting to persuade himself not to go and harm Thomas for what he had done, the Warden returned to his house.

Stopping momentarily to look at the shattered glass on the floor and the stain of red wine on the rug, McNeill walked through to the kitchen and found the syringe he had filled with the sleeping solution earlier that day. Not bothering to clean up the glass the Warden walked back out of the house that was no longer his and quietly made his way to Thomas's residence.

Stealthily approaching the bedroom window at the front of the house McNeill peered through the glass pane that was covered on the inside with lace curtains and saw what looked like Thomas sleeping soundly on his bed.

Knowing that the Associate Warden would almost definitely be in a deep sleep until his alarm went off in the morning, McNeill calmly made his way to the main cell house, hiding the syringe in the pocket of his overcoat. By nothing more than instinct he made his way through the dark entry hallways and into his office. Fumbling slightly to find the switch, he flicked it up and the small desktop lamp illuminated the wooden desk. McNeill rummaged through his top drawer and found the letter of resignation he had written up a few days before. Switching off the lamp again the Warden walked through to Thomas's office and placed the letter on his desk.

From there McNeill walked through to the small administration office at the entry way to the offices and looked through the vast collection of keys under lock in a large cabinet upon the back wall. Finding the spare keys to the ferry that he was looking for, the Warden quietly unlocked the cabinet and retrieved the large brass key from its holder, closing and locking the door again once he was done.

McNeill knew the next part of his plan would be the hardest, he needed to distract the guards for at least half an hour so tucking the keys away from the sight of curious eyes into the pocket of his thick overcoat, the Warden quietly made his way out of the offices and into the prison block to the east gallery where the guards would be standing watch.

Finding the two younger guards on shift in the exact area where they should have been, McNeill greeted them both with absolutely no hint of a smile. "How are we this morning men?"

"Warden," the young blonde haired and innocent looking guard replied with a start as he turned to see who was joining them in the gallery. "What are you doing down here at this time of morning?"

"Couldn't sleep tonight for some reason, need something like 'quiet contemplation' I think." The Warden calmly lied in an attempt to offer his guards a favor. "Come down to see if you two men want to go down to the officers club for an hour or so for a couple of drinks or a quick rest."

The two men looked from the Warden with his stern and emotionless face to each other then back again. "You sure sir?" this time the slightly older man spoke, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. Never before had he heard of Warden McNeill wanting to take over a night shift for an hour or so because he couldn't sleep.

"Positive." McNeill nodded his head as he turned away from them and leant against the cold metal railings overlooking the darkened hallways of the prison block. The thick mesh that covered the balcony made the Warden feel like he was now the one confined and locked into a small space. "I just need something to do."

With a simultaneous noncommittal shrug of their shoulders the two guards nodded in gracious acceptance of the generous and incredibly rare offer from the Warden, whom they had never known to be so generous, and walked back the way McNeill had come up the stairs. Talking quietly to each other they made their way out of the main cell house to the officer's lounge in a separate building that wasn't too far from the main cell block.

McNeill walked up and down the metal balcony of the east gallery lookout for what he thought must have been a good fifteen minutes at least, watching the darkened hallways to see if there was anyone around that shouldn't be. When he was absolutely sure that no one would be walking in and foiling their plan, the Warden walked back down the stairs and unlocked the six gates that he needed to go through as quietly as he could possibly manage before briskly walking to Elizabeth's cell.

"Elizabeth." Silently unlocking the door and sliding it open just enough so he could slip through the gap, McNeill walked into the small cell and shook the sleeping angel gently in an attempt to wake her. "Come on Liz wake up."

Elizabeth gingerly sat up in bed and groggily rubbed the fatigue out of her eyes with the back of her hands. "What?"

Smiling happily as Elizabeth's bright green eyes looked up at him with intrigue, McNeill quietly whispered, "come on it's time to get up baby, get changed into something warmer, we haven't got much time."

Groggily dragging herself out of the small and uncomfortable bed, Elizabeth dropped her bare feet onto the cold concrete floor and walked over to where her changes of clothes were kept. Grabbing what she thought would do her the dark angel pulled on a thick and fleecy pair of black and white striped pants and a long sleeved navy shirt.

While Elizabeth's back was turned as she was getting changed into her warmer clothes, McNeill silently pulled the syringe out of his pocket and took the protective tip off, squeezing the first few drops from the needlepoint and checking that there was no air in the tube.

Elizabeth turned back around to face the Warden after slipping her shoes on, her smile was more beautiful than the Warden had ever seen before and nearly made him drop the syringe being held tightly in his hand. Before she could see the needle however, McNeill regained control of himself and threw his arms around his angel in what seemed to be a hug.

Moving his hand just slightly so as to allow easy penetration of the needle tip, the Warden quietly whispered, "I'm sorry," into Elizabeth's ear as he held her close.

Elizabeth's beautiful bright green eyes widened with fear as the words registered on her brain after a few seconds and the feeling that she was safe with this man instantly slipped away. "What?"

But by the time she realized what was happening it was already too late. McNeill stabbed the sharp needle of the syringe into the fleshy muscle just under the dark angel's ribs and injected the potent sleeping solution in one foul swoop of a movement.

As soon as the Warden's grip loosened around Elizabeth's body she pulled back and looked up at him in shock. Everything that she had known about the Warden was now being questioned all over again and her emotions were instantaneously jumbled into a chaotic mess. "What was that?"

McNeill reached out and placed the palm of his hand on her cheek in an attempt to calm her. "Don't worry Liz it was just a sleeping solution, trust me it will be much easier this way, I'm sorry darling. I love you."

Slightly shaking her head in disbelief of what had just happened and attempting to ward off the oncoming fatigue that was quickly threatening to take hold of her scrawny little body, Elizabeth took a shaky step backwards and lifted a hand up to her spinning head before collapsing.

McNeill quickly stepped forward and caught the dark angel as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her knees buckled underneath her. Carefully picking her up around the back and under her legs and trying his hardest to avoid touching the stitches on her stomach and not to injure her further, the Warden ran for the exit doors that he had left open.

Walking briskly and attempting to keep as quiet as he could, McNeill managed to close all the gates silently behind him as his escape plan fell into place step by flawless step. If all continued to go according to plan then no one would know that anything was wrong until the two young guards from the east gallery came back to finish their shift.

The Warden silently adjusted his grip on Elizabeth, who

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