Okay so here's the second chapter.

I'm only going to say this once: The characters in this story, especially Neal, will be Out Of Character (OOC). If you don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: I do not own White Collar or any of its characters

Warnings: None

As soon as Peter got to the office, his phone rang. He didn't recognize the number but answered it anyway. "Agent Burke."

"Agent Burke, this is Lidia from New York General. We need you to come down. We have a patient who is screaming for you. We can't help him with him flailing around. And we don't want to hurt him. He's been traumatized enough."

Peter knew exactly who it was. "I'll be there in 15 minutes." The agent let Hughes know he was going to the hospital. "He's a valuable witness," he provided when the older man gave him a curious look. Hughes let him go with a wave.

When he entered the hospital and before he could flash his badge, a brunette nurse raced up to him. "You're Agent Burke." It wasn't a question. "We need you in room 233." She turned on her heel and began to walk away. He quickly followed.

Loud, terrified screams of his name hit Peter's ears. The agent in him made him want to protect the tortured man. The nurse pushed the door opened and Peter tried not to cringe as the screams hit him full blast.

Looking into the room, he could understand why the man was screaming. A doctor and two nurses surrounded Nick, holding him down as another nurse tried to start an IV. "Back away from him. All you're doing is scaring him."

The nurses did as they were told but the doctor continued to look over Nick. Peter walked closer to the shivering, crying form on the bed. Nick had curled onto his side and was clutching the sheets. "I want to talk to your supervisors when I'm done here." A blonde nurse nodded and looked sheepishly at the floor. "Give me a few minutes with him…alone," he growled at the nurses that were crowded in one corner of the room. They all filed out and waited in the hallway.

"Nick, you're okay now. Everyone's gone," Peter tried to console but the man was in his own world. Trying to be comforting, the agent placed his hand on top of Nick's and gently rubbed the back of it. He noticed there were fresh bruises forming on top the old ones.

The touch was foreign, making the man yank his hand back. He whimpered when Peter moved away slightly. He may have not wanted to be touched but he wanted the man to stay.

Peter could take a hint and went to sit on the chair next to the bed. He was at a complete loss as to what to do to help the man relax. He didn't even know the man. The agent pulled out his phone and called his roommate. He needed advice on how to proceed.

"Hey, Peter. Is everything okay? You never call me while you're at work," Elizabeth said over the phone.

"I know. But I'm stuck in a rut." Peter took a look at the man across from him. Nick seemed to be lost to the world, but he wasn't crying as much as before. "We made a bust on a prostitution house. I'm with one of them now. He doesn't like to be touched and seems scared of everything. So how the hell am I supposed to calm him down?"

"He?" Elizabeth thought for sure it was a woman. "Just talk to him. Ask him questions like what his name is, what year it is. Simple recall calms the mind."

"Alright, I'll try that. Thanks, El." Peter hung up the phone and caught blue eyes staring at him. "Nick, can you tell me what year it is?"

Nick shook his head. "I-I think it's 2010. M-miss Kate celebrates my birthday with extra food." The man's eyes shifted to the door and he shrunk back into the bed. "They keep looking at me."

Peter stood up and glared through the glass in the door before holding up two fingers. Sitting back down, the agent asked, "Can you tell me how old you are?"

Nick thought about it for a second before stating that he was 24. He shifted slightly to sit up and get a better look at the agent.

"How long did Sara have you in that room?" He knew that the question could backfire and make the man clam up.

Instead it caused Nick to furrow his brow and stare down at the bed. "Miss Sara said that I had been around for three years. I-I can't remember." His fingers began to play with the blanket.

"That's all right." Peter thought that the younger man was calm enough to have the nurses come back in. "Nick, I'm going to let the nurses in. I need you to relax so they can help you get better. Nothing bad is going to happen. I'll be here the entire time." The agent walked up to the door and invited the nurses back in. Nick's whimper hit his ears and he did his best to ignore it. The man needed to get better.

"Do not be rough with him," Peter barked at the group of nurses. "You can come back in now." The agent shot a look at Nick and saw unadulterated fear. "Nick, it's okay," he comforted as he went back to the bed. Gently, he grabbed Nick's hand as a nurse came to start the IV. "Don't move, Nick," Peter warned as the man started to wiggle away.

When the IV was finally taped in place, Nick pulled away and up against Peter. "No more," he pleaded. He looked up at the agent in hopes of him making it stop.

"Agent Burke, we're going to give him a sedative so we can check him over and find out how to treat him correctly," another nurse informed him, her name badge said Kyla.

Peter nodded. "That would probably be best. Sorry, Nick." The agent carefully maneuvered Nick back onto the bed. The man clenched his hand around Peter's fingers as the sedative was injected into his IV. "You're going to be fine," he said as tears welled up in Nick's eyes.

"I'll behave, I swear!" Nick pleaded as he gripped the agent's hand in both of his. "Peter, I swear." The sedative in his veins finally made its way to his brain and his eyes began to droop. "Stay," he mumbled before he was dragged under.

"Agent," Kyla called, "there isn't any reason for you to stay in here while we check him over. When we're finished, I'll come get you."

"Give me your supervisors' names first." Pulling out his notepad, Peter took down the names. "Order him some food, too. I promised him food." The agent patted Nick's hand before he exited the room.

After taking to the supervisors, Peter's phone rang. "Agent Burke," he barked into the phone.

"Boss," Diana greeted, "we're asking the hospital staff to take pictures of the victims and fax them to us so we can put them through the facial recognition program. I know you're at the hospital and with one of a couple male victims. Take his picture for me so we can find out who he is."

"He says his name is Nick. He's 24 and has been held captive for three years." Peter shot a look into the man's room. He was asleep and a flimsy hospital gown finally covered his body as nurses flitted around him.

"I see. I'll make sure to put that in the criteria. I'll keep you in the loop, boss," Diana said before she hung up the phone.

Pocketing his phone, Peter edged his way into the room. "How is he?" he questioned.

"He's suffering from malnutrition, dehydration, and several severe contusions. He's got an infection in his scratches on his chest and thighs." The doctor tugged the blanket up on Nick as he shivered in his sleep. "I'll know more when I can do a proper physical exam." The man grabbed a thermometer and ran it along Nick's forehead to his ear and then under his jaw. "He has a fever also."

"That's from the infection, right?" He received a nod. "Is he going to have to have a psychological exam when he wakes up?"

"No, but I've already called our psychologist and he'll be here tomorrow morning. Did you want him to see someone else?"

Peter shook his head. "When's he going to be awake? I have some questions to ask him."

"At least another hour. We're hoping that if he has a little bit of rest, he won't be so upset. And when he does wake up, don't upset him or I'll have to remove you from the room." He smiled. "My name is Dr. Kaplan by the way."

Peter gave the man his name and then the doctor left. He remembered suddenly that Diana wanted pictures of the victims so he took his phone out and stood next to Nick's bed. He snapped the photo and sent it to Diana. Hopefully she could get a hit, even with Nick's eyes closed.

Not even five minutes later, Diana called him. "You won't believe who you're with right now," she said.

Peter scoffed quietly. "Who?" When she told him, his eyes went wide. "Neal Caffrey? I'm sitting next to Neal Caffrey? Are you sure?"

"Ran it four times, boss. Every single time it matched him to Caffrey. It's a 99.67% match." There was a noise of a keyboard being used. Then she made a confused noise. "He said his name was Nick, right? Do you think he was lying to you?"

"No, I think he firmly believes his name is Nick." Peter watched Nick's – Neal's – even breathing. "They must have changed it to degrade him."

The keyboard taps stopped abruptly and the phone was readjusted. "Boss?" Diana sounded lost.

"They stripped him of everything; his house, his money, his clothes and even his name. They took everything that was his." The agent couldn't take his eyes off the young man.

Neal rolled towards him, his arm hanging off the bed. A picture of innocence…and abuse. The bruises prominent and light scars horrifying.

"Who's they? Is Ellis working with someone else?" Diana was shuffling papers in a rush, anything to find someone connected to Ellis and Caffrey.

"I think there's two of them." Peter thought back to the room where he found Neal. "There's Ellis and a woman named Kate. I think they both kidnapped Caffrey and used the whore house as a cover."

"I'll look into it, boss. Are you staying at the hospital with Caffrey?" The paper shuffling resumed.

"Yeah until I figure out what's going to happen with him." A doctor strode in, his nose buried in the chart in his hand. "I have to go. Call me if you find anything." Peter snapped his phone shut and watched the doctor move Neal onto his back.

"I just need to get his statement and then I'll be out of here." Peter felt that Kaplan wasn't too interested in what the agent needed to do but the doctor surprised him with his response.

"Alright. I'll wake him up for you." He injected a small amount of a drug into the man's IV. "He'll be awake a couple of minutes. This will also help with finding out if he has any pain."

Peter nodded. He kept a sharp eye to find any discomfort on the man's face. A high pitched whine hit his ears as Neal shifted and his eyes fluttered opened. "Hey," he greeted quietly as he stood next to the bed.

Neal jerked violently before peeking between his long lashes. "Peter?" He reached up slowly just to check to see if he was real but pulled back just before his fingers touched Peter's face. "Hurts."

"What hurts, Nick?" the doctor asked, cutting the man off, and edging into Neal's line of sight.

He started, his eyes wide. "Everything." Neal reached for the agent, his fingers trembling. "Peter?"

"What is it?" Peter saw the fear in Neal's eyes. When the man just hid his face into Peter's arm, he hesitantly placed his hand into Neal's hair. "You're okay. I told you that you're safe here."

Neal nodded but didn't move away. "I'm cold. I can't get warm," he mumbled into Peter's sleeve. He pulled his knees to his chest, trying to conserve his heat.

The doctor went to a closet, grabbed another blanket and covered Neal with it. "Nick, I'm sorry but I need to take a look at the infection in the scrapes on your thighs. And I think your F.B.I. agent would like to take pictures for evidence."

Peter handed Dr. Kaplan his phone. "Take them for me, will you? I need to keep him calm so you can do your job." Neal hadn't moved and only tightened his grip on the agent's arm. "Let him look, Nick."

Slowly Neal's legs extended. His thighs felt achy, hot and tight. When the blankets were removed, he whined. He couldn't stay warm this way.

"Hey, look at me," Peter said. Neal didn't move. He crouched down so he was eye level with Neal. He needed to take the man's mind off of what the doctor was doing. "I need to tell you something important. Your name is not Nick, it's Neal."

Neal furrowed his brow. "That was my name before I became Miss Sara's, Miss Kate's and Miss Alex's. It was from my old life." He jerked his body away from the doctor's fingers when he swiped an antibiotic wash over his welts.

The doctor apologized quickly as he replaced the blankets. He grabbed the chart and scribbled something on it.

Peter looked back at Neal, who's eyes were closed. "Why did you tell me that your name was Nick?"

The man's blue eyes found him. "Miss Sara said I was never to say my real name. If I did, she would punish me."

"Excuse me, I'm giving you some pain medication. But before I do that, I want to know if you have pain anywhere else other than your thighs." The doctor looked a little peeved.

"No. I'm okay. I can handle it." Neal pulled into himself. "Can I sleep now? I'm so tired." His fingers idly played with Peter's suit sleeve.

The agent shot a look at the doctor. The man nodded. "Go ahead." Peter tried to wiggle his arm out from Neal's grasp but the man whimpered.

"A-are you going to be here when I wake up?" Neal's eyes were wet. He realized his hold on the agent and let go.

Peter sighed and patted Neal's hand. "Yes, I'll be here. I still need to get your side of the story." When the man nodded and his eyes closed, the agent pulled his chair closer to the bed. He was prepared to stay for a while.

xxWCxx

While Neal was asleep, Diana called to let Peter know she had found a Kate Moreau. She happened to be Neal's girlfriend. She had been frantically looking for her boyfriend for the first several months he had been missing. But after a year, it seemed she had given up on him coming home.

"That's because she knew where he was. She didn't have to look for him. It was all a show," Peter said in a hushed tone. "I have a new suspect for you. Her name is Alex. She kept Neal captive with Sara and Kate."

"I'll look into it for you." There was pencil scratching on paper. "How's Neal doing?"

"He's fine. I found out why he didn't tell me his real name. He just said that he would get punished if he told anyone." Neal's fingers tightened around the agent's wrist slightly. "I think he'll pull through this, though. He didn't give up in the three years they treated him like shit."

"You sound like you knew him before." She shuffled through some files. "You were the lead agent on his case. But you never solved it."

"No I didn't. I didn't have any leads. He couldn't think of anyone who would steal his warehouse and sell it."

"What did he use the warehouse for? I've never seen a layout like that before." Peter could picture her drawing out the floor plan on a pad of paper.

"Storage units. He made them only available to people who had valuable art that they needed to hide or store away. He took excellent care of the art, or so he said."

"So the women sent all the artifacts and art back to their owners and converted the units into a whorehouse."

"Exactly." Peter started as the young turned suddenly onto his back. The agent relaxed when Neal remained in the position. "He found out about the sale of his warehouse when a client called, upset, about his paintings being shipped to house and since no one had been there in a month – they were on vacation – the paintings were left out in the rain. That's when he came to us."

"You didn't know how it had happened, did you? You couldn't find out how they sold his warehouse or to who. And then two weeks later, Caffrey disappears."

"Yeah and then reappears three years later, terrified of everything that moves." Neal moved his legs, trying to find a comfortable position. "He doesn't trust the doctors or the nurses. He wants me to stay with him. A nurse told me that he cried for me in his sleep when I was talking to you earlier."

"I'm not surprised." When he asked why, she explained, "You saved him from those women. You're his hero, protector. You make all the frightening people go away."

"Yeah, I suppose. See if you can find an Alex in all of this and tie her to Caffrey or Ellis. We need to find out what happened to Neal."

Please review! It'll make my fingers work harder! =^.^=