Authors note: Thank you all so much for the amazing reviews! You've inspired to keep the chapters coming fast. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

Neal's POV

Neal followed Agent Cruz towards the surveillance van that would take him closer to his destination. As a potential buyer of a potentially stolen painting he would of course be arriving at Mr. Walker's office by limousine. He greeted Peter with a smile and Peter returned with a curt nod.

"Let's go over the details once again," Peter said.

"I'll introduce myself to Mr. Walker as Tom Stanton, collector of rare artwork. I'll ask to see the painting and determine whether or not it's a real Degas," Neal explained noticing that Lauren was staring at him as though he might keel over at any time. He wished she would not do that.

"I'll be accompanying you as your personal assistant and accountant, Olivia Westbrook," Lauren added.

"Right, just stick to the plan and get in and out as fast as possible. If he is in possession of the real Degas we'll head in as soon as you and Lauren are clear," Peter said.

Neal settled back into his seat and tried to make himself as comfortable as possible. He quickly discovered that getting comfortable simply was not possible for him. Every position made the pain in his back or ribs worse and he felt as though someone was continuously beating his head with a bat. It seemed to pound with every heartbeat. He closed his eyes against the nausea that was making itself known once again.

Neal was feeling truly awful by the time they stopped a few blocks from Mr. Walker's office. He could feel cold sweat forming on his brow and didn't know how much longer he could control his nausea. He quickly got out of the van and stood stood breathing in the cool air, hoping it would clear his head and calm his stomach.

Lauren joined him on the sidewalk. "You're a wreck. We need confident Neal Caffrey right now, you look too clammy."

"Just give me a moment," Neal said before ducking into a nearby restaurant to use their restroom. He quickly splashed his face with cool water and though it did nothing to invigorate him he at least didn't look sweaty. He stared at his pale, tired features for only a moment before heading back to Lauren who was waiting in the limo.

"Peter will be able to hear everything that is said through this," Lauren said as she pointed to her watch.

"FBI seems to enjoy bugging watches," Neal said with a sigh. He was not looking forward to another ride so soon after the last. He squeezed his eyes shut as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

The limo driver seemed to find every pothole on the road and the jarring from hitting was about to send Neal over the edge. His head throbbed with a renewed viciousness that made his eyes water. He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead while the other arm wrapped protectively around his waist.

When the limo stopped, Neal was out the door as fast as he could go. Lauren found him vomiting quietly in a nearby alley.

He raised his hand to motion her to stay back. He wanted to protect a little of his dignity in front of the attractive agent. "I'm okay," he finally said as he slowly got up and brushed off his clothes with his hand.

She laughed mirthlessly, "Sure Neal, whatever you say. Are you ready to meet the buyer?"

Neal just followed quietly, trying to get into the character of a confident conman; he almost found it funny that he was having to work so hard to feel like the confident con he used to be. Of course that could be because he was having trouble focusing on anything but the feeling that his head was about to crack in two allowing his brain to just fall out onto the floor. He giggled at the thought. Lauren looked at him with something close to fear.

Everything felt oddly surreal as Neal followed Lauren to the man waiting to meet them. He vaguely noticed the two large men flanking the smaller Mr. Walker. He dumbly thought about how nice it would've been to have those men looking out for him last night. Focus...Neal thought to himself. He shook his head as though to clear it and the resulting pain and light show stopped Neal in his tracks.

Pain was surrounding him, he could not see past it, could not even think. "Lauren," he said weakly, "I don't feel so good."

"Lauren?" Neal heard the small man ask, whose name he had already forgotten. "You just told me your name was Olivia. This is a setup."

Through squinted eyes Neal watched as Lauren pulled her gun on the three men while yelling for Neal to get down and for Peter to send in the cavalry. None of this made any sense to Neal and he was suddenly very concerned for Lauren. With all the strength he had left he ran towards the large man that was still in the room with no plan for what he was going to do when he got there. No plan was needed; Neal simply saw a fist approaching his face before darkness overcame him.

Peter's POV

Peter's heart was racing as he ran towards Mr. Walker's office. He couldn't believe that such a simple operation had already went horribly wrong. He imagined the worst as he entered the office. He saw Lauren bending over Neal, who was not moving at all. His heart went into his throat as he demanded to know what happened.

Lauren quickly explained that all three perps had escaped out the back. Peter ordered his agents to search the surrounding areas while he focused his attention on Neal.

"What happened here?" he asked as he looked at Neal who was to his relief, still breathing. There was a little blood trickling out of one of his nostrils. "Was he attacked?" he asked as he tried waking Neal up. Neal remained out cold.

Peter called for an ambulance and listened as Lauren explained what had happened. Neal was the smartest man he had ever met so it made little sense to him that Neal would lunge himself at a man twice his size for no apparent reason. He knew that she was leaving out some important details but his concern for Neal was overpowering everything else. He stared at Neal, willing him to wake up, and as he looked at the ex con he started noticing things.

Was that a partially healed cut on his temple? Why was he so very pale with dark smudges under both eyes? He looked so ill and Peter was wondering how he could not have noticed this before. "Lauren, was Neal feeling sick today? Please tell me what's going on," he said in the calmest voice he could muster.

Lauren sighed, "He swore to me that he would be fine...I was against him going from the beginning. I could tell he wasn't well but all he wanted was to help you wrap up this case."

Peter knew she was stalling because she felt guilty but he wanted some answers. "Tell me everything you know," he demanded.

"I found him sleeping in the break room this afternoon. It took me forever to even get him to wake up. He seemed to be in a lot of pain and he really didn't want to tell me what happened," she glanced at Peter who was glaring impatiently, "He said he was beaten by a group of drunks last night," she finally finished.

Whatever Peter had expected, it was certainly not this. His heart clenched painfully. Neal, who was his responsibility, had been attacked last night. It was hard for that to even sink in. How could Neal have not called him? He knew he had been distracted with his own problems but he would have never thought Neal would keep something like this from him.

He looked down at the unconscious man and realized that guilt was also creeping into his chest. Had he even looked at Neal today? He could not believe he sent his friend into a dangerous situation when he was obviously injured. He carefully brushed one of Neal's curls out of his eye noticing as he did so a lump on the side of his head. Peter's worry increased and he was grateful to see that paramedics had arrived.

Peter insisted on riding with Neal to the hospital as he was determined to not let him out of his sight until he knew that he was going to be okay. Lauren called Elizabeth and Mozzie and they were to meet everyone at the hospital. Peter told the paramedics that Neal had been beaten the night before so they would be mindful of other possible injuries. Peter could not help but gasp when he saw Neal's black and blue chest. "Oh my god Neal," he whispered.

Peter's anger was igniting again at the sight of his friend looking that way and he was determined that the men who did this would be found and arrested. Peter gritted his teeth and hoped for those mens' sakes that Neal made a full recovery.

Neal had still not regained consciousness by the time they arrived at the hospital so he was whisked away for tests and Peter was left standing in the waiting room, alone for the moment with his worry and guilt. He wasn't alone for long and was relieved when he found himself in his beautiful wife's arms.

"Peter, what happened? Is Neal alright?" she asked with concern in her eyes.

"I don't know anything yet, the doctor has not been out," Peter replied helplessly. He told Elizabeth all he knew that had happened and she was in tears once she found that Neal had been attacked.

"How could this happen? Didn't you notice that Neal was hurt?" she asked. The simple question stabbed Peter's heart painfully.

"God El, don't you think I feel bad enough?" he couldn't help but ask. "I know I let him down, I've not been able to focus on anything but us this week."

Elizabeth burst into tears, "This is all my fault," she said thickly. Peter could not bear to see his wife so upset.

"Stop that right now El, you know that none of this is your fault."

"I've caused you so much pain this week," she continued tearfully, "Even though I know that you're just as devastated as I am, I just keep adding to it. I'm so sorry Peter."

Peter found himself hardly being able to hold back his own tears. "I'm sorry Elizabeth, you'll never know how very sorry I am. I feel like I've failed you as a man, not being able to give you something you've always wanted so badly. Something I've always wanted so badly as well," he finished sadly.

Elizabeth threw her arms around him again, "We'll get through this Peter. Our love is stronger than this and I'm so sorry for making this so hard on you."

Peter gazed down at the love of his life and felt the ache in his heart lessen just a bit. "I love you too El," he said as he gently wiped the tears from her cheeks.

They were distracted by Mozzie who was looking pale and terrified at the sight of a tearful Elizabeth. "Oh my god...is Neal..." he trailed off weakly.

"He's unconscious, the doctors are running tests and will let us know how he is as soon as they can," Peter told the worried man. Mozzie visibly relaxed and took a seat in the waiting room.

After more than an hour of waiting, Peter heard, "Family of Neal Caffrey?"

He showed the doctor his badge and waited for the news.

To be continued