Title: The Cage
Chapter 1 – Trapped

Summary: AU Simmons gets more than he bargained for when they head to Greece when he's kidnapped by their unsub & the next one to wake up in the cage and a fight for survival is forced upon him. Will he win? Will the team find him in time? Or lose him for good? Based on eppy 2.08 'Pankration'

Disclaimer: Same as always. I own nothing but my muse and my love for all things #TeamHenny/Simmons and #CMBB

A/N: Okay so I hope (READ WE BETTER) be getting season 3 but wanted to do a little hurt/whump Matt one shot based off Pankration and the cage scene with my little whump-filled twist on it! *evil grin* And yes this is labelled AU (alternate universe) only b/c I kinda made up my own events to get Simmons in danger.

NOTE: "Words in italics and double quotes taken directly from the eppy." Just italics are thoughts and 'single is a past convo.'

Pankration – meaning 'all of power/strength/might. Was a sporting event introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC & was an empty-hand submission sport with scarcely any rules.'

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"Welcome Agent Simmons…"

His head pounded, heart raced and body ached as his brain tried to get his eyes to open and then acclimate to his dimly lit surroundings and focus on where he was being held captive. He tried to recall events that led up to his current situation but at the moment it was all still a bit fuzzy.

"Wh…at…" Simmons tried as his body felt an instant chill; his eyes travelling downward to see that he had been stripped of his jacket and sweater and was only wearing his white undershirt. He was finally able to get everything into focus but when it did – he was almost sorry that it happened. He wasn't bound but it was very clear to him that he was a prisoner…captive…hostage to their killer's sadistic fantasies.

He finally knew where the kidnapped and beaten men were taken – a shipping container, located God knows where in the city; the same place he too was now unwilling prisoner. He was locked in a windowless box and at the far end was a man that had nothing to lose – literally. He had been kidnapped, mentally tortured, emotionally beaten down and physically primed and now had only one thing on his mind – his next kill and for Simmons that now was him.

"The FBI…is on to you," Simmons stated with a small grunt as he tried to shift his seated position, looking up the familiar face that started back from the shadows. "My team is closing in as we speak."

The man's dark eyes narrowed at the captive FBI Agent as he pushed a button and a small hiss of electricity is heard a few feet from the left side of Simmons face.

"Welcome to hell…Agent Simmons. Hope you've prepared your soul for death," the gruff voice uttered in a low tone; verbally dismissing the threat that Simmons had offered.

In truth he wasn't sure if Monty had a lead for the team on who was behind all these deaths. "Who are you?"

"All that matters is who is the man in the cage with you."

With that a light is flipped on at the far end of the trailer and Simmons turned to see another man – the one they had been looking for staring back at him with an angry but almost zombie-like glower. All the pieces had fallen into place and now he knew why the men were beaten to death and what caused the marks on their hands.

Trouble was…he was next and it was kill or be killed.

"You're next."

This…this can't be happening, Simmons mind raced with horror as he briefly flashed back to how he ended up in his current nightmarish situation.

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Simmons headed into the family restaurant of the man they suspected of being their killer only to find one dead end after another – literally. He looked around the unfamiliar and unfriendly place before he pulled his phone and got an update from Mae.

"…since you are tracking Paul's last steps, I might have a lead for you."

"That's good since no one here's willing to talk."

"There were traces of urine and cleaning products in Paul's hair and embedded in his scalp. As if…"

"He was dragged across the bathroom floor," he concluded correctly as he hung up the phone and headed for the bathroom with a determined expression. Simmons pulled his small flashlight and then carefully entered the quiet men's room. He paused at the doorway before entering and then slowly looked around before his dark eyes instantly rested on another piece of the puzzle.

A door that led to outside.

"That's probably how the killer entered and exited without being seen," he muttered as he headed for the door and pushed his way outside where he ran into Paul's cousin – Leo Stavros. Who, even after he explained who he worked for and what he was doing there, got the same stone-wall as his father – Elias Stavros, the man they favored for the murders. Leo told Simmons that his father didn't do it but offered nothing else and his silence frustrated Simmons more and more. He tried to reason but it was to no avail.

"I can help you."

But Leo Stavros only gives them one more ghost to chase – Nazmi Dushku, the man who basically ran the port in that area; a formidable man and one who some said was the most powerful man in Athens. Even Jack said he, Nazmi, might think himself untouchable because of his position. But then it might also explain the reluctance the Stavros's had in fingering him because he controlled all the goods coming into the area and that was for their business also.

Extortion? Murder. No matter the motive, in the end it spelt murder and there was still someone out there who knew or was party to men being kidnapped and then beaten to death. He couldn't imagine what those men must have been thinking or feeling, being taken like that and forced into a terrifying situation – one they might not live to tell about.

How were they chosen? Where were they taken? And who….was behind it all? Was it Nazmi Dushku? Was this a turf war with him and the Stavros clan? Revenge battle? Why were these me choose and who could be next? They didn't have to wait too long for a few answers as another body presented itself and once again they were left wondering about the two men they now had in custody and how they were tied to string of grisly murders.

Jack thought putting Stavros and Duskhu in the same room together might force one of them to tip their hand but instead all they did was point fingers at the other and argue about who owed who what and what the other might do about it. It too was a dead end and he and Clara headed back to the plane to reconvene with Monty about anything on a DNA match while Mae headed for the local coroner's office to look at their latest victim.

Chasing so many hardened criminals over the years, always forced him to have eyes that looked in all directions and as Simmons headed back for the Stavros tavern he couldn't help but feel he was being watched.

"Hello?" He called out as he entered. A few seconds later one of the wait-staff approached with a friendly smile. "Any of the Stavros men about?"

"Not at the moment, but you're welcome to wait."

"Thanks…" Simmons replied slowly as he headed for the men's washroom once more. This time he headed straight for the back door and pushed his way outside into the early evening light. He looked around the tightly enclosed alley space before he decided to explore a bit more. But his mind was so preoccupied with retracing the killer's steps after Stavros was dragged from the bar he failed to notice the stranger walking up to him until it was too late.

"Pardon me," the man who would later be identified as - Giannis Petrou.

"Sure," Simmons offered as he turned to look at the man pause and then turn back to him. "Something I…can…" he started but then stopped when he realized something was very wrong. "Uh…help…y…"

"What's that…Agent?"

"I think…" Simmons stammered as his hand quickly reached for his phone.

"Don't think you'll be needing that," Petrou snapped as he slapped the phone away, letting it clatter to the ground as he started to drag Simmons faltering frame toward his waiting van.

The message that would be missed was from Jack and it urgently stated – 'Giannis Petrou is our man. Here's his picture.' Something that would have alerted and readied Simmons, if only it had been delivered a few seconds later.

"You'll be my warning message to your leader," Petrou sneered as he bodily lifted Simmons now unconscious frame into the back of his van and slammed the door shut. "The next body Agent Garrett finds…will be yours!"

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Simmons frame rattled with as a clang at the far end of the dimly lit, deathly smelling container resounded in the stuffy metal box and gritted his teeth. Collin Marks simply stared back at him with a haunted expression. He had been so mentally beaten down that when that door opened, Simmons knew if he didn't successfully verbally talk Collin out of fighting he could be either the next victim…or worse – the next victor. Then he'd end up the captive. And of course when he'd refuse to fight the next victim to the death…he'd be put to death and Petrou would simply find another he could entrap and brainwash into executing more needless killings.

"I am not your enemy," Simmons tried as he slowly picked himself upright and looked at Marks with a heavy frown; although at the moment he didn't know who Collin Marks was or his motivation. But he would soon learn that Marks was ex-military and that would add to his fighting skills and determination to survive at any cost. What Simmons also didn't know was that Marks was an emotional loose canon and had been told by Petrou that with each fresh kill he was one punch closer to securing his freedom.

Marks just glowered back and clutched his fingers though the cage fencing that kept him trapped inside; his pent-up frenzied energy just waiting for a release…waiting to be released on the man a few meters from him.

"He can't hear you Agent Simmons," Petrou replied calmly as Simmons turned back to look at him with a sharply narrowed gaze. "He's got only one thing on his mind…"

Simmons didn't need Petrou to finish that sentence as he already knew why he was there – to be Marks next victim; to stop Marks or die trying.

"To kill you," Petrou's lips twisted upward in the dark as he emerged from the shadows once more and locked his gaze with Simmons. "Or you kill him first….the choice…is yours."

A/N: So I had planned to make this a one shot but then it became too long so it'll become a two shot and hope that's okay. Will Jack and the rest of the IRT find Matt in time? Will he have to take out his opponent? Or will he really be the next victim? Would love your reviews on this little ficlet so please do review before you go and thanks so much!