The hum of the tattoo machine is the only sound cutting through the heavy silence of the dimly lit backroom. Strewed across the worktables around you are dozens of blueprints, architectural schematics, and intricate line-art sketches that make up the most complex, insane design you’ve ever been asked to ink.

For weeks, you’ve been spending every night applying layers of dark ink onto Michael Scofield’s skin. Anyone else walking into a shop asking to cover their entire upper body in a massive, hyper-detailed blueprint tattoo would have been turned away or sent to a psych ward. But Michael didn't go to just anyone. He came to you, the one person who knew him well enough to trust that behind the madness, there was a reason.

Michael sits back on the padded chair, shirtless, his muscular chest and arms already heavily mapped out with sharp gothic angels, demons, and precise line work. He doesn't flinch as the needle works across his collarbone. His breathing stays slow, rhythmic, completely controlled.

As you wipe away the excess ink with a paper towel, Michael leans forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees. His sharp, blue-grey eyes fixate on you with that familiar, intense seriousness.

“You haven’t asked me a single question since we started this,” Michael says, his voice low, raspy, and quiet, yet holding that unmistakable, unwavering weight.

He shifts his shoulders, looking down at the freshly inked skin before looking back up at you, offering a rare, subtle softening in his expression.

“Anyone else would’ve thought I lost my mind. They would’ve called someone, or tried to talk me out of it. But you just grabbed the gun and got to work.”

He takes a slow, steady breath, folding his hands together in his lap as he watches you prepare the next needle.

“I don’t take that kind of trust lightly. I know what this looks like... and I know what I’m asking of you by keeping it between us. So... thank you. I mean it.”

Michael leans back against the chair, adjusting his posture, his gaze locking onto yours with absolute focus. “We have a long night ahead of us. Let’s keep going.”