~You could offer the world, baby,

But I'll take this instead,

Yeah, yeah, yeah~

It was the second Thursday that Declan and Niall were sneaking out in the middle of the night to make the guards mad. Niall had gained significant ground in that time on the lock picking front, so this time he opened the cell door. They made it to the main hallway before a guard stepped out - one of the ones that always worked on the nights that Declan snuck out. "Back to the cell, boys."

"Come on, Steve-O," Declan smiled his all-American smile, but it wasn't going to work. It never did.

"Sorry to bother you," Niall replied crisply, the adrenaline of sneaking out running through his body.

Steve the Guard escorted the both of them back to their cells and put their handcuffs back on. "I'm going to have to tell the warden about this, guys."

Declan groaned loudly, and the panic cut through Niall's gut like a knife. What was the warden going to do to them? His worry must have shown on his face, because Declan hurried to soothe his worries. "Hey, it's all good. What's he going to do?"

"He's the warden, Dec!" Niall said, exasperated.

"Quiet time!" Another guard shouted. The two of them promptly got into bed and whisper-talking, to avoid getting in real trouble.

Declan leaned out of the bottom bunk to talk to his cellmate. "We'll be fine, Niall. Don't worry."

"How am I not supposed to worry?" He asked. But Declan was already getting ready for bed and could not answer his question.

---

It was first thing in the morning that Warden Modest had to deal with the two hooligans who had been sneaking out of their cell. Declan was bleary-eyed, but Niall sat calmly and fearfully in the chair next to him. "This has got to stop, plain and simple." This warden was far scarier than the one at the prison Niall had worked at. This was a tall military man with brown eyes that stared through your soul and commanded you to do what he asked.

"Yes, sir," Niall immediately answered, fearing any sort of backlash. But apparently, Declan had a plan of some sort, because he put a hand on Niall's chest and chuckled.

"Warden, please excuse my jumping the gun pal here, but I've got some conditions."

Niall said it before Modest did. "We're in no position to negotiate, you idiot!" He looked down at his lap the second he realized that he had raised his voice,.

"Mr. Horan is right, Mr. Seward," Modest answered with a sharp glare at the bolder of the two.

"With all due respect, I've been doing this for a while, and I've never hurt anyone. It's just a little fun and games to get my blood rising so I don't do get too antsy and actually hurt someone. This little fella here is the same way." Niall was taken aback by the structural soundness of the argument, but was missing the point, which Declan had yet to come to. "If we're to stop this - breaking out of our cell, then we need something else to unlock. Fake tumblers, locks. That sort of thing."

A beat of silence. Then, "Your audacity, Mr. Seward," Modest scoffed. "Those things have sharp edges which can be weapons. That sort of thing shows special privilege, too! Which we do not allow!"

"I don't have any part of this plan, Warden. But Declan nor I have ever showed any violent tendencies," Niall interjected, a fact which seemed to ring true once said for the second time in the conversation.

"The state can't provide the money for those things," Modest added. "That'll run up a pretty penny."

Declan furrowed his eyebrows - the one part of the plan that he, perhaps, did not consider. Then Niall jumped into the conversation once more. "I'll pay. Everything I have."

The warden looked surprised at the offer for someone who claimed not to be in on the plan Declan was proposing. In fact, everyone in the room looked surprised. But Niall stood his ground and looked Modest in the eyes. "I'll get the money too you. I just need access to a phone."

"Okay," The man ceded. "I need your word. Both of you. That the breaking out of your cell, and handcuffs will stop. No more."

"I give you my word. I swear on my million dollars buried underneath the carpet in hotel room number 7, London Marriott County Hall," Declan smiled widely, looking over at Niall, who couldn't tell if he was joking.

"I don't have money to swear on. I swear on my nephew I guess,"

"Why your nephew?" Modest questioned, slightly amused with the antics.

Niall shrugged. "He's cute?"

The deal was sealed, and Niall was escorted out of the room to a phone where he could make as many phone calls as he needed too. And since he was almost never on his personal cell phone when he was outside these walls, he had numbers memorized in case of an emergency. Because he knew that there was going to be a time when he forgot that damn phone at home and he'd get into a caffeinated crash on the way to work. Then he'd have to call someone.

So now, he called Greg first. His only option. Niall's parents knew he was in prison, obviously, and were at the trial and said goodbye. But he wasn't going to subject them to any more pain. Besides, were they really going to drive all the way out here to give him money? It was highly suspicious.

Which was exactly what Greg happened to say after confirming that he was, in fact, speaking to his younger brother. "Are you now a drug dealer? Are you buying drugs? You've been in there three weeks, Niall!"

"It's not for drugs! It's a really long story. But I'm not in trouble. This is too...this is too keep me out of trouble."

That was the wrong thing to say. "You're buying protection? Are you getting beat up?"

Niall struggled to find the words that would explain this in a normal way. "No, Greg. I'm fine. The money is to buy some things that will keep me entertained. Not drugs, not protection."

Greg sighed, and anger laced his next words. "You don't need to be entertained, Niall. You're in prison. You should be thinking about what you've done and praying for absolution for your sins." Niall was ready to strike back, but Greg continued talking. "This is the first time in probably your whole life that you're stuck in one place, unable to move fast. Time is going slow and you hate it, don't you?" He did. Greg knew that. A response to the question wasn't needed. "I'm not sending you the money. Be bored for once."

Without a goodbye, Greg hung up the phone. His own brother, casting him out. Niall's heart started to break. He had promised Declan he could get the money here. But he didn't have any friends to help him. No family either. The tears welled up in his eyes, and he held the phone in his hand and lightly tapped his forehead against it.

Then he called Denise.

"Hello, this is Denise."

"Hi, Den. It's Niall."

"Hello, Niall! You doing alright?" Her cheery voice was definitely doing his emotions wonders. Just force it down. Put on a brave face. Until Declan leaves to shower tonight and you can sob into your pillow so that no one else hears it.

"I'm doing well. As well as one can in my situation. How's Theo?" His heart lit up imagining his nephew. And it broke again when he remembered that he would never get to see him grow up. Unless Denise took him to visit, because Greg was sure as hell never going to.

Denise's love for her son crossed through the phone. "He's doing so well. Getting stronger and bigger every day. It just flies by." Then she paused. "Were you calling about something in particular, Niall? I know they don't just let you make calls randomly. Did Greg not answer? He is at work."

"Well, I was wondering if you could do something for me. And I kind of need you to trust me," He explained that he needed the money from his savings account, and if she would kindly take it out of the account, put it in an envelope, and mail it to the warden, that would be great. "It's not for drugs. I'd never get into something like that. And it's not for anything illegal, I promise. It's just to help me stay busy. The warden is going to buy some stuff so that I'm not bored all the time."

Denise was willing to hear him out. "Are you positive that this is what you want?" Of course he was positive, he had had a whole 20 minutes to think about this.

"Yes." He told her.

She sighed. "Then I'll get you the money."