 Flashbacks show how the inmates arrived at Fox River Penitentiary. Brothers Michael and Lincoln share a tumultuous relationship where Michael feels he is more responsible than Lincoln, who is older. Michael is a successful structural engineer where Linc is a failure. One sunny day, Michael must let Linc back into his apartment and is visibly disgusted with his brother. After Michael leaves, Linc meets with an employee of The Company, who informs him that he must shoot someone to pay off his $90,000 debt. Lincoln is not told that the victim is none other than the Vice President s brother and his former employer, Terrence Steadman. One evening at a bar, Michael reconnects with his brother s ex-girlfriend, Veronica, and they are sexually attracted to one another. When Lincoln calls Michael, their passionate moment is interrupted--although Michael does not answer the call. When Linc can t reach Michael and does not find a solution to his desperate situation, he must carry out his mission. Upon his arrival at Steadman s car in the parking garage, Linc finds that someone already shot the body inside the car. He flees the parking garage without having discharged his weapon. Agents Kellerman and Hale manipulate the footage from the camera in the garage to make it appear that Lincoln shot Steadman. Following Linc s arrest, Michael visits him in jail. He believes his brother was capable of killing Steadman and had a motive to do so because Linc was recently fired from a company owned by Steadman. Linc insists that he didn t do it and that he was framed. Veronica berates Michael for his behavior and tells him that Lincoln s $90,000 debt was due to the fact that he paid for Michael s education. Linc never wanted Michael to know that the money came from him and had allowed Michael to believe that their mother left him some insurance money. Feeling remorse for doubting his brother, Michael continues to visit him in jail and comes to believe he is innocent. When Linc is transferred to Fox River, Michael puts the framework of his escape plan in place. C-Note is a soldier in the US Army and serves in Iraq. He is skilled at obtaining black market goods. When he witnessed some Iraqi prisoners being tortured by other soldiers, he reports it to his commanding officer. The commander, who supports the torture, has C-Note dishonorably discharged from the Army. C-Note returns to Chicago where he is unable to find employment. When his brother-in-law offers him an opportunity to transport stolen goods, he reluctantly accepts. Arrested during the trip, C-Note is sentenced to serve time in Fox River. C-Note lies to his wife and daughter--telling them he is going back to Iraq. One the same night as the assassination of the Vice President s brother, Sucre meets Maricruz and falls in love with her. He repeatedly robs the same liquor store to get money to sustain their relationship. When he robs the store for money for an engagement ring, his jealous cousin (Hector) calls the cops--sending him to Fox River. T-Bag is a wanted criminal, but is dating a woman who is unaware of his background. As he has dinner with her and her family one evening, she sees T-Bag on America s Most Wanted, and turns him in to the police--leading to his incarceration at Fox River. Dr. Sara Tancredi works at a hospital, but suffers from an addiction to morphine. One afternoon, Sara and her boyfriend witness an auto accident where a pedestrian is injured. In her drug impaired state, Sara is unable to help the victim. Regretting her actions, Sara goes into rehab. At a meeting for former drug abusers, she meets Brad Bellick, a guard at Fox River. Brad asks her on a date (which she declines) and informs her about a job opening at the prison. Vice President Caroline Reynolds is informed by Agent Kellerman of her brother s death. They also discuss the purchase of a property in Montana. She tells him to use her brother s money to pay for it because he owes her for cleaning up his mess. Later at the house in Montana, she speaks to someone hidden in the shadows--telling him that Lincoln will soon be executed. The person s hand reaches for a set of false teeth and the man is revealed to be her brother who is very much alive. Michael Scofield takes out a pair of guns and prepares to rob the bank.