(Chapter 3)

Elizabeth returned to find chaos around her husband's room as she rounded the corner and noticed not just Jones and Diana but Hughes with some other higher ups in the FBI food chain standing around looking grim. Someone she couldn't quite see was sitting in the corner outside on a chair as the two younger agents seemed to be talking to Hughes who just threw up his hands and barked some orders at them until they lifted the figure up and started to lead them away. She was trying to tell who it was as the group parted. They were cuffed, dark hair falling over their face messily as he was led away.

Neal?

Why was Neal being led away in cuffs? She noticed one of his arms sagged a bit too much despite being cuffed and the agents seemed to be holding up his weight as they walked away. He hadn't seen her but she started to walk faster towards the group when Hughes turned and noticed her, a flush coming to his cheeks.

"Reese... why are Jones and Diana taking Neal away? What happened?"

She was looking at the partially opened door to Peter's room and turned to enter before her husband's boss could stop her. El was already inside when she saw the blood on the floor, small droplets but enough to make her gasp when she saw Peter laying apparently sleeping on the bed. His shoulder was freshly bandaged but still partially bloodied where the hospital robe had sat over the wound. The nurses were hurrying around with the doctor looking over her husband as she moved closer.

"What happened? Peter?"

Her voice cracked as the doctor turned to talk to her, his face as comforting as it could be. She grasped Peter's hand in her own as the doctor motioned for her to sit.

"Mrs. Burke... your husband is stable. We stopped the bleeding and were able to stitch the wound shut. He lost very little blood but we will have to keep him here a few days longer while he heals."

Elizabeth didn't know what to say, turning as the door opened and Hughes stepped inside. The agent and doctor gave each other a particular look before he nodded and gently patted El's arm.

"He's resting. If you need anything, push the nurse call."

Something was up if the doctor was leaving at Hughes' insistence and there had been no words. A cold feeling fell over her and she wanted to wake up her husband and find out why he was hurt and especially why Neal had been dragged away in chains. The nurses left soon after and as they did Reese leaned on the door before he finally moved towards her.

"Elizabeth... I'm guessing the doctor told you about Peter?"

She shook her head, holding Peter's hand in her own and feeling stressed. This was supposed to be a calm moment. Neal and Peter had been chatting and she had gone to get coffee hoping to come back to find them talking as they usually did. Her mind went back to seeing the young man taken away in cuffs by two of his colleagues and wondered what could have happened.

"No but he told me that they stopped the bleeding and he's stable. Reese, tell me what happened. Why was Neal taken away in cuffs and why is my husband hurt?"

Her voice rose from stress more than anger but she was angry. Peter was supposed to be out at the end of the week but instead he was hurting more and his partner had been taken into custody for something she didn't understand. She hadn't been gone but 20 minutes so her mind couldn't fathom what could have occurred in such a short time. She looked up to see Reese had pulled a chair beside her and sat down. He looked as if he wasn't sure how to tell her something.

"Just tell me what happened Reese. Please."

He nodded back, licking his lips before he finally spoke.

"We're not sure exactly what happened. One of the nurses who came to check on Peter called security and said that she found him stabbed by a scalpel and... Peter said Caffrey had done it."

Elizabeth's jaw dropped, all the color fading from her face. Neal stabbed Peter? There wasn't... he wouldn't... it didn't make any sense to her why this would happen. There had been no provocation as she tried to think back to how Neal was acting when she met him earlier outside Peter's room. He had seemed a bit nervous about something but she had put it down to worry about how Peter was doing. He was the most gentle person she knew. It made absolutely no sense that he would stab her husband.

"There has to be a mistake! Why would Neal hurt Peter? Why would Peter say Neal hurt him? Something is wrong here, Reese. You know this isn't right!"

She wanted to see the surveillance footage if there was any but Reese held up a hand.

"We have the nurse's word that Peter was stabbed and he did say Neal did it. I can't confirm it directly as your husband was unconscious when we arrived but the nurse has been checked out and so far it looks like it may have happened as she told it. Once Peter wakes up we can take his statement for our own records but the security guard that showed up also says Peter told him Neal hurt him. I'm sorry, Elizabeth."

El wanted to cry but everything seemed so twisted and off. Neal wasn't violent and he wasn't a killer. Peter treated Neal like family so why did he say what he'd said? Her chest hurt as she tried to process it all.

"I just don't understand, Reese. Neal... you know he isn't violent. Something else has to be going on here. What did he say happened?"

The agent stood and wiped at his face a moment as if tired.

"He said nothing. Caffrey was in bad shape. The security guard said it looked like they'd been fighting although Neal was beat up a bit more than Peter. We'll have to wait until your husband wakes up and see what he tells us. For now... Neal's going to be in custody. Diana and Jones took him downstairs to a holding area until we leave. I'm sorry, Elizabeth. Let me know if you need anything."

She nodded stiffly, her hand continuing to hold Peter's as she turned and looked at Reese.

"Can I talk to Neal? Maybe..."

She hesitated hoping he would understand but Reese shook his head.

"Caffrey will be in isolation until we can determine what happened here. You understand."

His tone was final but gentle as she nodded at him with a frown. Neal was beat up? Was there some other force at work here trying to turn everyone against the young con. He did very well on his own at times alienating himself but not to this degree. She would have to find a way to talk to him if she could find a way. The door opened and Jones peeked in. Reese moved closer as the two whispered and the senior agent left, Jones glancing over at her with a pitying glance.

"Clinton..."

She used his first name hoping for some tidbit but he shook his head with a helpless shrug as he followed his boss out of the room. Elizabeth was alone, the soft breathing of her husband filling the room. She turned her attention back to him watching his face which seemed taut with some unspoken worry.

"Peter... what happened here? Hon?"

The agent she'd come to love and cherish as her own continued his slumber like some figure trapped in a fairy tale as she sat by his side and waited for him to wake up.

()()()

Neal felt pain, horrible pain as his arm pulled from his socket if only partially. He wanted to cry out in agony but someone held his nose and mouth firmly shut. The scent of cigarettes filled his nostrils and for a moment he looked up through pain hazed eyes to see Knox there smiling with those yellow teeth of his, green eyes flickering like dark emeralds down at him. He blinked, closing his eyes only a moment to glance up and see Peter there with the same cold expression but he knew it wasn't the agent. He was only vaguely aware of the agent talking to him and knowing it was Knox pulling the strings although how he knew this, he wasn't sure.

"Nurse! Help me... he... he attacked me!"

He felt the hand removed from his mouth and nose, blessed air flowing back into his lungs as he wheezed and coughed. He felt black and blue, Peter's grip having been stronger than he recalled but then this wasn't the Peter he knew. Knox played the victim card as he collapsed by the door pointing back at Neal as if he'd been attacked. Neal was too tired to say much or move, his voice lost as he tried to regain his breath. He slumped back against the floor as he noted the nurse helping Peter to the bed, looking over his wounds but keeping a wary eye on Neal as she called security. Good... maybe someone would see some sense he thought as he closed his eyes and lay back against the cool tile.

"Angie, what's going on?"

Neal opened his eyes at the sound of someone new in the room. He looked up to see a man in a blue security uniform glancing down at him curiously yet cautiously as the nurse in blue scrubs continued to take care of Peter's wounds. They whispered too quietly for him to pick up anything said as he continued to lay on the floor in agony. He wanted to ask the nurse to take a look at his arm but knew staying put was best under the circumstances. Knox had used Peter to put him in a particularly hard place. Maybe it was some after result of the concussion he'd gotten but he really did believe Knox was possessing Peter. It made more sense than Peter trying to make him look bad and send him to prison so he closed his eyes again till something nudged him hard and his bad arm was yanked hard enough he winced audibly.

"Get up! Come on..."

The man was gruff, pulling him up by the bad arm until Neal wanted to faint from the pain but somehow he stayed awake and got to his feet. He wobbled there and swayed, pushed up against the wall as the man cuffed him roughly but made a whistling sound.

"You sure he wasn't a victim too, Angie? This guy looks just as beat up as your patient there."

She shrugged from what he could see of her in his peripheral as the guard turned him around and pushed him towards the door with little regard for the hurt arm. Neal did his best not to react but he turned slightly seeing Peter smirking at him when nobody saw before he exited the room. Outside was the doctor coming to see what was up as their eyes met and Neal averted his eyes. The guard moved him to a chair outside as he slumped into it thankfully and the two men talked in hushed voices off the side from him. The doctor glanced at him walking over to check him out but the guard told him something. Still the doctor moved closer, looking down at him with a disarming glance.

"Are you ok, Mr. Caffrey? Did you need anything?"

Neal wasn't sure what to make of the doctor's manner but he was obviously trying to be kind. Why would he be nice if the guard told him what happened? He shrugged, wincing some but hiding it as he shook his head.

"I'm fine."

He could have said what he thought but who'd believe him much more the doctor caring for an FBI agent. He was just an ex-con. Nobody would care and Peter... he had no help from there while Knox was in control. He felt a hand on his shoulder, the bad one by chance and looked up through half open eyes, gritting his teeth against the pain. The doctor seemed to notice, his hand feeling around the arm as Neal winced again and he sighed.

"I think your arm is partially dislocated. I can help with the pain if you want."

Neal shrugged, gasping as the pain increased but it was too late to say much more as he saw Diana and Jones coming around the corner with Hughes and some other agents he'd only seen a few times before. They were bigwigs he knew but nothing more. The doctor was called away reluctant it seemed to leave his side but called nonetheless as the bigwigs and Hughes talked to him about Peter as much as he could overhear as he slumped in the chair tiredly. He was forgotten but for the guard watching him before even the guard was called away for some other duty and he sat there obediently, exhausted and almost glad when Diana and Jones pulled him away. He wasn't happy Jones had his bad arm in his hands, yanking it without realizing the discomfort and agony he was causing but Neal remained quiet as they led him away, his feet scuffing some as he was partially carried.

"Caffrey... hey buddy you ok?"

Jones was being kindly noticing his arm more than Diana had. Her face was set in an angry scowl but still seemed uncertain what to think about the situation. He wondered how much they knew about the incident as they turned the corner and he couldn't keep up the pace slow as it was. He collapsed in their arms, Diana hissing at him to get up but he was tired and his body hurt. Peter had gotten him good, Knox or not, the agent was stronger than he thought and the con was feeling the toll now as he felt the cuffs removed and Jones sighed upset at something.

"We have a situation... yes we have him in custody... no sir, he's not resisting. He's hurt! His arm is partially dislocated. Why didn't anyone look at him? Yes we'll keep an eye on him... not a problem."

Jones had been talking on a cell but he was just conscious of it, Diana putting her jacket under his head as he lay there. Jones stopped a passing nurse and asked for a secured room and gurney. They needed a doctor to look at someone and he heard her give a gasp of some kind looking up to see Jones and Diana flashing badges. The nurse hurried off to help find a doctor and get Neal out of the hall as he felt his eyes shut. He didn't pass out because someone slapped his face gently.

"Stay with us, Neal. Hey buddy... come on."

Jones knelt beside him acting his usual self despite what they must know happened. Maybe the agent was his friend despite everything? He wanted to believe that but at the moment he knew he was in between a rock and hard place if anything. Knox wanted something from him and he was using Peter to get it. That thought kept him from losing faith in Peter. If he could just free the agent... his mind slipped into the darkness and he finally passed out there on the floor.

()()()

Peter was trapped in darkness, suffocating Stygian gloom that seemed to eat away at his very soul but he pushed and swam up as hard as he could through the thick goo and woke up gasping for breath. Elizabeth was at his side immediately, his eyes moving to find her presence both comforting and unnerving. He was afraid of what he might do, a memory of sorts forming in his mind telling him he had done something bad. He tried to think what but he was drawing at the air as if through a straw before finally he could breath a bit more normally. A nurse rushed in after his wife reached across, her words comforting to him as she pushed the nurse call button. A young woman in green scrubs moved close and felt his neck, poked at his chest with a stethoscope and checked his bandaged injuries. Injuries... he had been stabbed. He tried to think by whom but his mind kept pushing him away from the fleeting thoughts as they flashed passed him in momentary hints. He had done something bad he needed to fix.

"Mr. Burke... I need you to take in a deep breath. Slowly... just relax ok?"

Peter nodded at her with fear in his eyes, one hand holding his wife's while the nurse checked him top to bottom before his breathing began to level out and slow down. He wasn't gasping anymore and the wheezing left him as he relaxed and his body slumped back against the hospital bed. The nurse smiled, Elizabeth looking worried and concerned as she continued her grip on his hand. He didn't want her to let go and yet he felt he shouldn't be near her. Something was the matter that he was forgetting. Something...

"Sounds like you may have a little infection in your lungs. I'll get an antibiotic drip started for you. Are you allergic to anything?"

Both he and El shook their heads as the nurse nodded and left the room. El was looking at him, gently caressing his forehead and sighing in relief.

"You're not warm... how are you feeling?"

He sensed a kind of stress about her that didn't fit just being worried about him. There was something on her mind.

"Tired like I just swam up through molasses. I keep thinking I forgot something. Where's Neal? Did he go home already?"

Peter winced as he moved to look for his friend. He glanced down to see his freshly bandaged shoulder and realized it hadn't been that way before. Peter blinked at the new bandage wondering how he'd hurt himself and wondering how Neal had left so quickly. They had been talking about something and then... he must have passed out or something. He heard his wife cough, his eyes turning to look at her curiously and seeing a look he didn't recognize from her.

"Honey, if you just stare at me and don't talk, I won't know what you're thinking."

He watched her blue eyes studying him a moment before she stood up and walked away to the window. She stood there a moment then finally turned back with her arms crossed over her chest. Something was bothering Elizabeth but he wasn't sure what.

"Neal..."

She paused as the nurse came back in and added the drip to his IV, checked him one last time and then left them alone again. Elizabeth seemed to be uncertain what to say before moving back towards him and sitting down again.

"What about Neal, El?"

He noticed her hesitation but finally she relaxed enough to speak.

"He was cuffed and taken away."

Peter blinked wondering why they'd have taken Neal away in cuffs but could think of nothing they had spoke of that dealt with the young man being arrested. Had he confessed to something while he had been out of it? The agent couldn't think to anything relevant as his eyes searched his wife's face for answers. She seemed to be doing the same back to him before she sighed and nodded.

"Must be a mistake. The nurse and guard... they said... You'll have to tell them the truth, Peter. Tell them it was a mistake."

Now he was thoroughly confused, flashes of something dealing with his now pained shoulder coming back if only faintly. He wasn't sure what was going on but Neal had been arrested.

"I don't understand. Neal was cuffed by whom and why, El? We were talking after you left for coffee and then I don't remember anything. I think I must have passed out."

He moved to sit up a bit as El assisted him and he leaned back heavily against the pillows. Something was draining him but for the moment he didn't care. Neal had been arrested and El seemed upset but why wouldn't she be.

"Honey... the nurse said she found you bleeding. There was a scalpel stuck in your shoulder and you said..."

Her voice shook with some terrifying thought, blue eyes watery as she fought to speak.

"You told her Neal had done it. You don't remember anything that happened in here while I was gone? Hughes was going to come back and ask about what happened in the morning when you woke up."

Peter felt his jaw drop. He'd accused Neal of stabbing him? Why would... the idea of it felt so alien to him. Neal had never even tried to hit him but there had been some underlying tension back when the young man thought he might have Kate but nothing violent. He didn't think Neal could hurt him. Peter couldn't speak for a bit as he waited for his mind to stop contemplating the idea of being stabbed by Neal. His shoulder hurt so something had happened but stabbing? His mind saw a scalpel but whose hand held it? He fought to see but his mind refused to let him know, his head aching as he tried to think back. He was having too many blackouts for a simple injury. Maybe he'd hit his head a bit harder than he thought.

"Peter honey? Do you remember anything? Was someone else here?"

He looked up at her but shook his head then realized he did remember someone else and nodded.

"I... someone... I can't think straight. We weren't alone. Someone else was here... I think. I don't know."

He had been seeing flashes of someone else there, the smell of something noxious in his mind's eye but now it was gone and he couldn't get the idea back as a headache made his temples pulse in pain. Elizabeth nodded with a concern look.

"Rest, Peter. Try to remember what happened... Please."

She hugged him gently, his arms holding her tightly like a man holding on to a life preserver. He wasn't sure what was going on but he had to figure it out before something bad happened. Peter knew something or someone was keeping him in the dark but why they were after Neal was a mystery.

()()()

Neal was placed in a room, waking up when they had left him alone. It was a small examination room at best a large closet or small office maybe. He was cuffed to the chair by one wrist but his bad arm was in a sling now and an IV was stuck in his cuffed arm feeding him something he thought must be making him feel good cause his arm barely hurt. He glanced at the bag but didn't recognize the contents as he sat up on the gurney and glanced around. There was little in the room but a few locked shelves and a small counter top with a sink, drawers and cabinets. He stood up with shaky legs as he reached for something shiny on the surface and pulled it back towards him. He bent the clip with some effort before he pushed it into the cuff lock and freed himself. Neal removed the IV as he moved towards the door and glanced out through the frosted window. He sensed movement outside so someone was guarding him but who, he didn't know. He was a bit high off of whatever they'd given him but probably best with his arm hurting and the manhandling Peter had given him.

Peter...

The agent was compromised but how was he to prove it? He had to do something to clear his name and help his friend. If Knox used Peter to hurt him what would he do to someone like Elizabeth? Knox had the agent body and soul but Peter must be fighting him if he kept showing up again. Neal only hoped the agent could keep himself from falling further under Knox's influence as he noticed a vent up above. Those blank spots in Peter's memory would be his undoing if Neal couldn't help him get rid of Knox. He pushed himself up, his bad arm out of the sling as he pulled himself up to the vent and inside the duct.

()()()

Mozzie didn't know what was going on when he showed up at the thrift store near Neal's place. The text had been cryptic at best but he had come with a bag of his friend's clothes and toiletries when June was out. Best she wasn't involved and he had a backup key she'd given him for emergencies. The housekeeper was off so it was a win win as he snuck in, grabbed up some things as instructed and left without anyone the wiser. Now he stood behind the thrift store in a kind of narrow side street waiting for his friend to show.

"Mozz?"

He turned to see Neal pop up behind the loading dock for the place. The young man looked out of breath and pale, his face tired if not exhausted. Something had happened and it was bad if anything from the look on Neal's face.

"Neal... why all the spy moves. Are you finally running?"

The con shook his head pointing down to his anklet still in place. Mozzie felt confusion. Why the con had that leash still on he didn't understand but he nodded back as he handed the bag over. Neal gave a wince, his right shoulder noticeably slack compared to the other.

"You're hurt! Ok... Neal, you have to tell me what's wrong."

Neal shook his head pointing down at the anklet.

"Have to get this off to help Peter."

He left it at that so Mozzie nodded his head again as they ducked into the alley and he pulled out some tailor shears. Neal propped his leg up pained as he was up on a small ledge as Mozz hunched over to cut the anklet off.

"I hope this is for a good reason, Neal."

The anklet finally cut off and they were off, the con man limping some from his former injuries as Mozzie helped him down the side street and they vanished.

()()()

Peter dreamed he was in prison, literally. He had on the same orange jumpsuit he teased Neal with and realized for the first time maybe he had been a bit harsh in doing so. It was itchy as if made of wool and it felt as if he had nothing on but thin cotton boxers and a tee underneath which made the outfit that much more uncomfortable as he stood up and glanced out of the bars that enclosed him in the small cell. There was dim light outside revealing a long hallway with more cells up and down the aisle. He glanced out over an expanse of metal and high security bars before he finally moved back and sat on the small bunk that was in the corner. The agent wasn't sure why he was dreaming he was here or what he could have done to come here until he heard footsteps hurrying along the floor towards him. Suddenly a silhouette of a familiar figure stood before the bars breathless.

"Peter... hon. They won't let me stay long but they're prosecuting. You're going to get life!"

He glanced at his wife but remained rooted in place where he sat on the bunk. Life for what? What had he done?

"El? I don't understand. What did I do? Why am I here?"

He tried to rise but again he felt rooted to the spot as if someone were holding him there as he watched the shadowy form of his wife glance back at him through the bars.

"Murder, Peter. You killed Neal. Don't you remember? You cut his throat!"

The voice changed slightly at the end from his wife's to someone else's as Peter tried to move but remained stuck where he was, coldness overcoming him as the shadowy form slipped like oil through the bars towards him. It wasn't his wife that was visiting him here. The figure's eyes glittered like emeralds, dark and cold like ice, their smile yellowed as they approached. He could smell the noxious scent of cigarettes and suddenly he knew what was going on but he couldn't fight, as they caught him off guard.

"You miss her don't you? Even in sleep you miss your sweet wife. If I don't get what I want, you'll really miss her once I take control for good."

Knox's voice was directly in his ear, the stink of smoking on him with just a hint of menthol that made it worse as Peter tried to move away but couldn't. The man laughed.

"I'm not letting you go... yet"

oOoOoOo

Author's Note: Sorry for the delays in posting. Seems my modem was a big reason why my PC was acting up. Now that it's been replaced it seems to be acting much nicer. I can finally work from home again!