John almost dropped the phone.
"John, are you still there?" Madison's anxious voice asked from the other end. "John,"
"Y-yes, I'm here, you are kidding right?" John stammered, his palms sweating and the phone almost slipping from his grip.
"No. He is literally right behind us." Madison spoke into the phone, the sound of a car engine revving in the background of the call.

"Alright, how much longer do we have?" John frowned, his leg jigging nervously.
"We'll be at the prison at 10pm." James informed him. John paced, winding and fiddling with the phone cord between his fingers.

"Okay, how many seats do you have free in your car?" John quickly asked.
"3." James spoke quickly.
"Shit." John cursed, running a hand through his hair. "Alright, we'll sort something out, thank you so much, hopefully we'll see you tonight," He sighed, leaning against the wall beside the phone now.
"Good luck John," James spoke quietly.
"We're gonna need it." John sighed before slapping the phone back into it's slot.

John raced back to his cell where Alexander, Lafayette and Hercules all sat patiently.
"Tonight." He panted after running up the stairs. Alex almost choked and Laf and Herc shared a nervous glance.
"Funny joke," Alex scoffed, leaning back against the wall.
"No. Tonight. And they don't have enough room in their car for everyone." John frowned, shifting his weight anxiously and shaking his hands. The cell fell silent before Alex spoke up.
"I'll make a call, you guys talk to Maria," he ordered, standing from his seat on the bed. John nodded and Alex jogged out of the cell, down to the phones to request a call.

John sent Laf and Herc a curt nod and the two boys jumped to their feet, following John down to the yard.
"I'm going to tell Lee and Seabury," Lafayette offered.
"Do you think Sam is going to be fit to do this?" John asked nervously.
"We can't just leave him," Herc piped up with a deep set frown.
"Alright, be quick," John sighed, waving Lafayette off as he and Hercules continued.

They made their way out into the yard with half an hour of designated yard-time to spare, but it didn't seem Maria was out there. The boys glanced at each other nervously and latched onto the fence, scanning the yard nervously, she was definitely inside. Fuck it.
"HEY!" John yelled into the yard, hoping to get someone's attention. Just his luck, a group of girls jumped a little at the sudden shout and saw him.
"What?" One of the girls spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest menacingly.
"Ca- Can you get Maria Reynolds?" John yelled with pleading eyes. The girls simply squinted at him.
"Why?" The same girl spat.
"It's an emergency, please?" John pleaded. He stuffed his hand in his pocket and found his lollipop from Maria, it was all he had.
He lifted the lollipop and held it up through the fence.

But instead of taking the lollipop in the deal, the girls backed away from it like their own kind of kryptonite. The girl who was talking before actually looked scared.
"We'll get her." She squeaked hurriedly before their entire group retreated inside the compound.

John slowly pulled his arm back and shoved the lollipop back in his pocket, sharing a glance with Hercules that mimicked a concoction of nervousness and confusion. Before either one of them could speak Maria was running over to the fence, her ponytail cracking like a whip behind her with her signature lollipop clamped between her teeth. She gradually slowed down into a slow saunter as she approached the fence, her hips swaying with each powerful step. A smirk graced her lips and she spat the empty lollipop stick into the grass, licking her red-painted lips.

"You pulled a lollipop on poor Abigail," she giggled in a low hum, resting her hands on her hips and raising a brow at John.
"I didn't kno-" John began before she shut him up with a dismissive wave of her well-manicured hand.
"Up-pup-pup! The bitch said you claimed this was an emergency?"
John and Hercules nodded and John opened his mouth to speak but couldn't quite put the sentence together.

"I think he's trying to say, tonight's the night." Hercules spoke quietly, slapping John's shoulder and squeezing it supportively.
Maria leaned back a little and her eyes widened, her thick lashes swinging up in surprise.
"Tonight?" She hissed. "Well I can but- do you have a getaway car?" She questioned, squinting as her eyes darted between the two boys.
"Yes." John quickly piped up, praying Alex's 'call' involved an extra set of wheels. "Can you do it?"
Maria sighed with a small, bitter laugh, crossing her arms across her rib cage and tapping her fingers along her arms rhythmically.
"Honey I've been planning this night for five years. Be ready for your date with death at 10pm, I'll come pick ya' up," she grinned, turning to leave.

"Great, and uh, I- Maria?" John murmured nervously, not wanting to come off as rude with his next question.
She swivelled around and watched him expectantly.
"Hurry up, I've got an extravagant escape to put into action," she rolled her eyes.
"I- uh, can we... trust you? You won't ditch or anything, right? And you're not lying to us?" He asked nervously, biting the inside of his cheek when he was done.

Maria frowned and tightened her arms, still crossed.
"I need to get out of here just as bad, if not more so than you. I'm 95% sure the fucker that put me here is still out there-" She pointed an accusing finger out beyond the yard wall. "-fucking things up for other people like me, and in turn for getting you guys out, you're gonna need to help me end him, I may as well be asking you the same question! I can confirm though, you can trust me," she finished with half a smile, her shoulders tensed and shrugged up a little, obviously uncomfortable with whatever information she just revealed about herself. People like me.

"You can trust us, we'll help you get justice in return for this, it's the least we can do," John smiled, Hercules grinning thankfully behind him.
"Thanks boys," she smirked with a lazy salute. "Now I'm off to kill me some coppers!" She laughed, hooking her arm excitedly.

John's face paled and he and Hercules shared a horrified glance.
"I'm kidding!" She cackled, still mid-walk back inside. "It says gullible on the ceiling." She mocked matter-of-factly.
Without a second thought, not registering what Maria had actually said, John looked up only to see the sky mid sunset.

"Oh my god, you're a new kind of stupid, John." Maria yelled before making her way back inside. "I wasn't kidding." She mumbled under her breath with a malicious smirk as she walked inside. Hercules laughed, slapping John's shoulder once more and this time pulling him towards the door that lead back into their cell block.
"She got you," Hercules chuckled, scratching his beanie.
"Sheee got me." John groaned as Hercules lead him back inside.

---

The boys all sat in Alex, John, Hercules and Lafayette's cell. Jackets and shoes on, lazily sprawled on the beds with adrenaline coursing through their veins. The actual cells only had cameras outside the doorway looking in, so as long as they were pressed against the walls of the cell, they couldn't be seen.
John peeked his head forward, out the doorway, 10:02pm.
He returned to Alex's embrace as they sat in John's bed, backs pressed against the cold cell wall, its vile pale yellow paint peeling.

"She did say 10, oui?" Lafayette questioned quietly, seated cross legged beside Hercules on his bunk, Sam and Charles on the bunk above.
"100% sure," John confirmed, tapping his fingers in an impatient rhythm on his knees. He opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by a painful, screeching siren smashing everyone's eardrums. Everyone flinched and their eyes darted around the cell on alert.
"That's our cue," Hercules grinned, jumping out of bed and pulling Laf with him. The others followed suit, racing out of the cell and running out to the balcony.

As soon as Alex's hands hit the railing a loud BANG echoed through the cell block from down where the main entrance was. The main doors were flung open and a slender figure charged inside. She was young, sporting a correctional officer's uniform, with immaculately braided cornrows looping through her hair. The boys noticed her uniform was ripped and frayed at the elbows as she lifted her gun defensively.

"AARON?" She yelled out, her head whipping around the cell block.
"THEO!"
With no further hesitation none other than Aaron Burr leaped out of his cell and rocketed down the stairs, sprinting straight towards the woman and scooping her up in his arms in a tight embrace. Their reunion was short lived though since as soon as this happened a new figure skidded into the cell block, two guns raised, hair flowing free from it's usual fluffy ponytail, and she was coated in glossy, Ferrari red blood. None of it was hers.

"Peggy?" Sam squeaked, eyes wide in horror. He almost fainted then and there, seeing her lookalike, covered in blood once more.
Charles and John shared a worried glance. Sam hadn't stepped foot outside of the cell block their entire stay so far, he barely even knew of her existence besides the casual mention at a discussion concerning escape.
Sam's eyes welled with tears and he squeezed the balcony rails, his knuckles fading to a ghostly white as he choked back a painful sob.
"No, no Sam c'mon, focus, that's not Peggy." Charles tried to soothe him while the others began running down the stairs. He cupped Sam's face in his hands and looked him dead in the eye. "That's. Not. Peggy."

Sam's face mimicked sheer terror and mourning but he nodded nonetheless, letting Charles tug him down the stairs.
When they got to the bottom the group was already moving out into the hallway, distributing weapons as they ran.

"Who's this?" John asked Maria as she passed him a gun. He stared at it for a moment before sheepishly throwing it to Lafayette, knowing he could probably kill a man with the gun if it didn't even have any ammunition.
"Officer Burr, Theodosia, this girl's been my partner in crime five years strong, you wouldn't have your instant escape without her," Maria smirked as Theodosia shot him a mischievous wink.
"My wife," Aaron grinned proudly, squeezing her hand as they ran.
"We agreed to work on this together as soon as she found out her husband was being transferred here, one escape, double the escapees," Maria explained with a sly smirk, skidding around a corner swiftly.

"Ah," John nodded in approval before Alex cut in, panting a little already as his stamina wasn't quite as up to speed as the others.
"May I ask, the blood?" He questioned breathlessly, a scared look on his features.

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do," Maria shrugged nonchalantly, batting her eyelashes like gentle butterfly wings. "Now, less talk, let's get the fuck outa' this joint," She grinned as 2 large male officers came charging towards them. She raised her gun and pulled the trigger effortlessly.
BANG

MORE FANART y'all the real MVPs ❤️ 1st one from wolfaboolizard  and second from mademoiselle_arlette