Chapter 1: Broken

Peter stood in his living room he ignored the throbbing pain in his foot as he limped around trying to keep his mind off of Neal. He watched as the agents searched for clues. Nearly at the end of his rope Peter looked at everyone and wished that they would just leave.

When the agents had finally finished the sun was breaking the horizon. The FBI agents filed out of the house leaving Peter and Elizabeth alone.

"Peter, you need to relax… you know that the others will do everything to find Neal and bring him home." Elizabeth said as she put her arms around Peter and held him close. She knew her husband was worried about the young con man he worked with.

The two of them stood in their living room in each other's arms. Peter moved over to the couch and picked up the blanket that Neal had left the couch and folded it up before putting it back down.

As the sun rose higher into the sky Peter couldn't sit still any longer he had to get out of the house and locate Neal or clues to finding Neal. When Elizabeth had left for work finally she had made Peter promise her that he wouldn't do anything crazy to locate Neal.

The FBI agent looked around the living room before grabbing his phone, after calling a contractor that had come highly recommended by his boss Peter began to pace. It relaxed him to walk around; it made him forget about the throbbing pain in his foot.

Fowler is in jail, Kate the hospital the only one I can think of that would attempt to do this is Briarcroft but he's in Taiwan… or so the reports say. Neal told me he was forced to make six passports. So he could be called anything right now and be anywhere. Peter thought picking up one of the case files Neal had been looking at.

Peter was going stir crazy; he finally understood how Neal felt when he was in jail. He knew he had to get out of the house soon and find his friend. With the front door still broken he knew that going out anywhere was not an option till it was fixed.

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Neal groaned softly as he moved his arms a bit, the pain in his already raw wrists woke him further. Looking up at his arms Neal saw that his wrists had been handcuffed to a straight bar that hung from the ceiling.

"You're finally awake, I was beginning to worry the sedative that they gave you was too strong. Well since your awake maybe it's time to get you free from those handcuffs." The man said with a chuckle.

The con man let himself hang there "You know just how to make a person feel real welcome… so what should I call you? I'm sure by now you are going by a different name." Neal said keeping his breath steady as he looked at the other man.

"Clever boy, but you can call me Francelin" Briarcroft said chucking at his French alias.

Neal nodded his head "That's French for Freeman; very clever… you know Peter is going find and save me again." Neal said with confidence. Neal tugged on the bar he was cuffed to in hopes that it would give way and he would be free.

The captor chuckled "I learned from my mistakes, so you're not getting free to drop any clues to your owner. Looks like he's got to do it on his own for once there is no help from the peanut gallery." The older art thief said patting Neal on the cheek roughly as he walked behind Neal.

It was at that moment that Neal realized if he fought he would stay chained up. If I use reverse psychology I'll get out of these cuffs and that way I'll be able to get word to Peter that I'm all right. Neal thought as his trademark smile graced his lips.

"I don't know if I should be telling you this but I missed the freedom you gave me. It would be perfect if you let me go so that we can work together." Neal said in a seductive tone.

Briarcroft could only laugh at the younger man "I see that you think I'm dumb enough to fall for that. I have to say I didn't think you would try it so soon." He said as he moved away from Neal.

Neal groaned as he attempted to twist himself around to look at the other man, jumping up as high as he could Neal hoped his bodyweight would pull the bar down. When the bar stayed hooked to the ceiling Neal groaned at the pain in his shoulders.

"You should be more careful or you could end up dislocating your shoulders and we wouldn't want that would we?" the man asked moving back into Neal's line of sight. "You should be thanking me I didn't have my men kill the agent and his wife. It would have been easy for two of them to go upstairs and pull the trigger."The older man said as he smirked at the look on Neal's face.

Not wanting to anger the man Neal swallowed his pride "Thank you and I'll behave, I've realized that now I'm free and I never have to go back." Neal said smiling "I never realized until now that as long as I don't leave bread crumbs for Peter to follow I can actually be free to do as I wish. There is nothing tying me this city anymore." He added remembering his encounter with Kate and Fowler.

"Well you can't stay in this country, how about France or England where there is more culture and respect. I'll get the paperwork and passports ready; you keep yourself occupied in here I should be done in a few hours. Now you'll understand that I have to keep you locked up so I can trust you." William said with a smirk as he left the room and locked the deadbolt behind him.

Peter is going to kill me for this but it's going to be the only way… Neal thought as he struggled against the handcuffs, if it wasn't for the bar keeping his hands apart he would have picked the cuffs and been free. After enough tugging Neal finally got the bar free from the ceiling. Giving a sigh of relief Neal let his arms fall in front of him.

Letting the pain in his shoulders dull Neal walked around the room "I'm so going back to jail for this… but who cares anymore it's not like I have anyone to worry or care about me." Neal mumbled to himself as he walked over to the covered window.

Grabbing onto the curtain Neal pulled it open and blinked at the bright sunlight. Giving a sad smile Neal looked at the view "Goodbye June, goodbye Mozzie and goodbye freedom" Neal said softly as he dropped the curtain and sat down on an old couch.

As he looked at the floor Neal started to come up with new alias after running a thousand names through his head trying to come up with one good name that wouldn't relate to any of his old ones that Peter knew about. Sighing loudly Neal curled his arms up to keep blood flowing to his hands, when he had done a few arm curls he let his arms drop down.

I tried so hard to get Peter to fall for me but it just failed, I never thought I would see the day when someone would be immune to my charms. Peter isn't blind to my flirting but it still didn't do anything, he didn't even show the slightest interest. Neal thought as he stood up and circled the room again trying to keep his emotions in check.

Just as he made his third pass around the small room the door opened again and William now going by the name Francelin walked in holding a fresh passport. "Say goodbye to Neal Caffrey and say hello to James Wright" the man said as he un-cuffed Neal's wrists from the bar.

"So have you decided where you want to run to James?" William said chuckling as he handed Neal the new passport for him to inspect. Neal looked at the passport "very nice work, though it should be since I made it" Neal said giving a small chuckle. "I think we should head north, I know that if we can get into Canada then it would be easier to go to London or Paris." Neal added as he stood up.

Neal closed the passport "What's the earliest we can leave?" he asked with his charming trademark smile.

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Peter looked at the new door that had been put in, he was glad that the locks and handles from the old door could be salvaged. After making sure Satchmo had water Peter left the house and got into a waiting taxi that he had called to take him into work.

When he got to the office Peter walked up to Jones "I know I've been pulled from Neal's case but something occurred to me. I want you to pull up Neal's tracker information and any traffic cameras in the area that he may have passed by." Peter said as he walked toward his office.

"It will take a few minutes but I'll get it pulled up and get the information synced up. Don't worry we'll find Neal and I promise I'll keep you informed on the case." Jones said giving an encouraging smile to his friend and co-worker.

Nodding his head Peter sat behind his desk and looked at the empty chair across from his desk where Neal always sat when they talked about a case.

Jones left the room and pulled up the requested information when he had finished going over it and syncing up the information Jones walked back into Peter's office and pulled the information up through the shared computer network.

"You were right Neal's tracker drove past four traffic cameras, and every time this white van went by each traffic camera following the same path and even after the tracker was cut we were able to follow the van past a few more cameras before we lost it. We traced the license plate to a company that reported the van stolen last night just after six before the night shift began." Jones said handing the file to Peter.

Peter opened the report and looked it over. "So is there any idea where this van might be, does the company use GPS?" Peter asked looking up in time to see Jones shake his head.

"That was the only truck that hadn't had the tracking chip and GPS installed yet, it was the only out of the ten vans that hadn't been upgraded yet. That isn't the only strange part the van was found outside the warehouse this morning completely sanitized inside and out. Neal's anklet was left in the back of the van also clean of fingerprints." Jones added handing the next file over.

After reading the file Peter sighed loudly and dropped the folder on his desk before standing up. "Thanks Jones, you should go tell the others I'll find something to do" he said turn his chair so he was facing the window.

Just be safe Neal don't do anything stupid I'll find you and get you away from this man for good. Peter thought as looked out over the city. He wanted to be looking for clues to where Neal could be.

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"Are you ready to leave this life behind?" William asked as turned the key in the ignition of the sports car while looking at his passenger.

Neal chuckled and leaned back in the seat "I'm ready" he said laying his head back against the headrest. The rumble of the rumbling on the engine was comforting enough to the younger man that he felt safe enough to lower his guard a bit.

William looked over at the younger man as they drove out of the city "How long has it been since you left the city?" he asked noticing Neal looking out the window.

"Almost five years" Neal said as he watched buildings start to spread out and gain distance between each other. Office buildings gave way to supermarkets and strip malls. Neal watched as other cars went by, when they passed by a police cruiser or police station he held his breath till they were out of sight.

The car moved carefully through traffic at the speed limit, flying under the radar was second nature to both men. They were like the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing when given some time they could blend in to any situation and lay low until the heat was off them.

Neal was in deep thought for a few minutes before he spoke again "Do you think we'll actually make it?" Neal asked cautiously.

"The FBI think they know me and that I'm going to hold you and give you a chance to send them little clues, they never would have thought you would backstab them and run off with me. They still think you're a prisoner." William said with a chuckle.

As soon as the words were out of William's mouth Neal felt them stab him in the heart like a knife. Neal cleared his throat to get rid of the lump that had grown. "They never would have guessed." He agreed his voice sounding forced.

Two hours passed slowly as Neal started to grow bored he had tried little mind games with license plates and models of cars but that soon became boring. The radio was of little use at that time, there were few radio stations past the city. They were on the highway at that point with nothing to really look at Neal decided to nap.

When the car began to slowdown Neal opened his eyes and looked at the clock he had been asleep for an hour but to him it only felt like he just closed his eyes. They pulled off the highway and into the first parking lot they found. Neal looked and saw it was a food market, seeing the store his stomach clenched together with hunger.

Neal walked beside William as they went into the store and began to shop; they picked up sandwiches from the deli and drinks. After paying they left the store and ate by the car before getting back in.

William looked over at Neal and reached over and brushed some hair back. Neal wanted to flinch away. When the hand was gone Neal went back to looking out the window at the moving scenery.

It was late in the afternoon by the time Neal and William made it to the Canadian border. They sat in line waiting as the patrol walked up to their car.

Rolling the window down William looked at the man and talked to him for a few minutes before handing his and Neal's passports over to be checked. The guard looked the passports over for a few moments before handing them back and waving them through with a smile.

"Well we're finally free" William said softly as they continued on their way to Montréal. Neal felt an increasing weight on his chest when he realized that if he went back to New York he would end up in jail.

Peter sat in his office; it had been hours since Neal had been taken. The fact that there was zero contact scared Peter. When Jones walked into his office it barely registered to Peter.

"We may have caught a break; Lauren has been searching for any signs of the van to figure where Neal might have been taken. A white van matching ours was spotted idling outside of an apartment that a neighbor said was bought three days ago." Jones said.

Jumping up from where he was sitting Peter made a move for the door. "We already searched the place, it's empty but we found the suit Neal had been wearing yesterday." Jones added.

Peter sighed "So Neal was there, but we missed him by maybe a few hours" Peter stated as Hughes walked in.

"The name of the man who owned that apartment was Pierre LeBlanc, clearly a fake name. It seems he owns a storage locker in the city." Hughes said handling the report over.

Peter stood there for a moment "Sir, I have to be put onto this case I'm Neal's handler and if he is trying to leave a trail then I'm the only one who would notice it." Peter said almost pleading.

"Fine Jones, fill him in on everything though I'm sure you already know everything so it doesn't matter." Hughes said as he left Peter's office and went back to his.

With a sigh Peter sat down as he tried to think of where Neal could be. After a few minutes Peter decided to call it a day and go home early. When he finally caught a cab home he started to think about Neal. By the time he walked in the front door Peter noticed that Elizabeth hadn't even started to make dinner yet.

"Hey honey, did you have any luck finding Neal yet?" she asked walking up to her and putting her arms around him.

Shaking his head Peter looked at his wife "No, but I was put on the case though. If Neal is smart he'll leave clues again if he can" Peter said softly as he held Elizabeth close.

Dinner went by quickly; Peter was lost in his own thoughts for quite some time. He passed on watching the game that evening to turn in for the night. Walking up the stairs to the master bedroom he climbed onto his bed and lay there fully clothed.