"And if I only could

Make a deal with God

And get him to swap our places

Be running up that hill

Running up that road

Running up that building." –Running Up that Hill by Placebo

Chapter 6: Spies

There were many times in one's life when your brain seemed to be on autopilot. You got from one place to another without having any impulse decision or control. Your brain just sent out one message:

Go.

This was one of those moments for Peter. He wasn't sure how he made it from Neal's hospital room to his car or how his foot seemed to be putting the petal to the medal. All he knew was that Nicolas Shaffer was back…

And he must have been connected to Neal.

"That's impossible though…" Peter whispered to himself. "Nicolas isn't even here anymore…"

Nicolas Shaffer had been a criminal that was one of the first people that Peter was made to investigate. Peter had been investigating a series of jewelry thefts and forgeries and all the signs pointed to Nicolas. But during the trial, a good lawyer and a dazzling smile got Nicolas the chance to walk free and continue his wreck on stores and other things. Unfourtanly, that other thing had become a killing spree and Nicolas went away from white collar crimes to homicides and other killings. Nobody had ever been able to link him to any of those crimes, but Peter knew it was him.

It was only Nicolas…only you never thought of him. He was perfect and everyone had put that incident behind them, blaming an apprentice FBI agent who still had to show his ID to get a beer.

Peter didn't know what Nicolas wanted from Neal, but he knew it wasn't good. Nicolas was smart and cunning, not the type to be easily caught. In fact, Peter was surprised that Nicolas had even let the car be traced back to him. Either Nicolas must be getting senile in his old age, or it was a trap…

No, had to be old age. Shaffer must be around later forties by now, and criminals tended to get sloppy the older they got. Peter refused to believe that any more harm could come to his loved ones…Neal included in that pile.

These thoughts pumped adrenalin through Peter's veins and he pressed down harder on the gas, determined to make it to the FBI building in less then an hour.

-

"Set the bait?" the man asked. He was pacing now, stretching his long legs after so long of sitting in his chair.

"Yes. The agent has already left. The only people who are still with him are the agent's wife and Caffery," Robert reported.

"When you move in to take Caffery, leave the wife. We don't need her and I don't like extra baggage."

"But she's a fine piece, might be good for some fun if you know what I mean, sir."

"Shut up! I do not share your interests in the sexual world. Sex gets old after a while, killing people…now that's a pleasure worth while."

Robert nodded, though he still thought sex was better. "But if we take the wife, Burke will be more likely to come and find her and Caffery. He will not take any chances if we have them both."

The man waved his hand at Robert. "Very well, do as you wish. Did Shaffer comply?"

"Yes. I sent out Fred to pay him in full."

"Excellent. The plan is moving as we expected."

"There's still one question I have, sir."

"What is it? And it better not be another pointless question. I don't have time for those anymore."

"Why did we even let Caffery go if we were going to just take him again? Wouldn't it be easier to just leave out this whole letting go and taking him hostage again?"

The man laughed. "Oh, you are so naïve. Well, think of this Robert, how would you feel if your wife went missing?"

"I'm not married."

"Okay, how about if your finest hooker went missing?"

"I would be…sad I guess?"

"Pretend you would be devastated. This woman give you pleasure like no other woman could and now she's gone."

Robert shrugged. "I guess I would feel that way." No I wouldn't, thought Robert to himself.

"Then you got her back again and everything was finally right. You finally allowed yourself to relax and just have sex again."

"That would be nice, sir."

"Then she's taken again. Do you think that would hurt more? To have someone ripped out from beneath you just after you rescued them and could finally hang back and have sec like you did before."

"I think that would be a lot more emotional traumatizing, sir, but do we really care about that?"

"Of course we do!" the man yelled in his commanding voice. "Why else do you think we were even doing this silly ass mission?"

"To have fun with Caffery?"

"No! It's to ruin Burke's precious little life and family that's he has tried to create. We are just going to rip it all away from him and then laugh at what's left. That is our purpose."

"Can't we just kill Burke, kill Caffery, and take the girl?"

"You are a dumbass. This is all just to cause Burke pain!"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you so intent on causing this man pain?"

The man sighed. "Because of what he did to me."

-

Elizabeth was sitting by Neal's bedside, rubbing her temples to stop the oncoming headache that was starting to form. She had been put through a lot in the past twenty-four hours and now she was expected to sit here alone next to her injured friend.

When Neal had first come to their house, Elizabeth didn't know what to think of him. He seemed so…human. For some reason Elizabeth had expected him to just be some form of a supernatural being or an alien. Her husband had spent many years trying to catch him and her husband was one of the best. How could a normal human outsmart her husband for so long when her husband was the best?

So Elizabeth had taken a keen interest to Neal and who he was as a person. He was very charming, but also very kind and just seemed like a regular person that you would find off of the streets. But, Elizabeth knew that beneath all the exterior laid a man who was struggling to get over an addiction…an addiction to crime and all the things that were bad. Neal was turning around his life like an ex-drug addict.

Elizabeth admired him for that.

While she was deep in her thoughts, a male nurse walked in and began to fiddle around with the wires at Neal's bedside.

"Hello," he said.

"Hi," Elizabeth said, but much quieter. This man made her uneasy for some reason.

"You know, you really are a fine piece of work."

"What the hell?" Elizabeth stood up to slap the man, but he pulled out a gun and took a step towards her.

"Now, we are going to do this nice and easy. You don't want me to kill your friend right here…do you?" The man said and he held up a rusty needle that probably had all sorts of infections in it, not to mention what was even in the needle.

"No," Elizabeth said, tears beginning to form.

"Now, I'm going to roll him out of her and you are going to follow. Just like we are taking him to be checked out of the hospital. My friend has a van parked out back, and we are going to go there and you're going to come along."

"What if I scream?"

"Then say goodbye to your friend. I hope when you die later on that you can tell him in the afterlife that you caused both of their deaths." The man paused. "Now will you come quietly?"

Elizabeth nodded and watched as the man picked up Neal and put him in a wheelchair.

"Walk," he ordered.

I awake to find no peace of mind
I said how do you live
As a fugitive?
Down here, where I cannot see so clear
I said what do I know?
Show me the right way to go

Elizabeth tried to keep the tears at bay. She was leading Neal right into another hostage situation and not doing anything about it.

And the spies came out of the water
And you're feeling so bad 'cause you know
And the spies hide out in every corner
But you can't touch them, no
'Cause they're all spies

They're all spies

Peter had trusted her to keep a watch on Neal, but she couldn't do that simple task. She was going to get Neal killed.

I awake to see that no one is free
We're all fugitives, look at the way we live
Down here, I cannot sleep from fear, no
I said which way do I turn?
Oh I forget everything I learn

"You know, you're doing the right thing," the man whispered in her ear. "Your friend might not die as painfully thanks to your cooperation."

Spies came out of the water
And you're feeling so bad 'cause you know
And the spies hide out in every corner
But you can't touch them, no
'Cause they're all spies

They're all spies

"Now that gives me a lot of comfort," Elizabeth hissed back as they walked out the front doors and to the van that the man had mentioned before.

And if we don't hide here
They're gonna find us
And if we don't hide now
They're gonna catch us when we sleep
And if we don't hide here
They're gonna find us

"Get in," the man said and Elizabeth obeyed. Neal's limp body was placed next to her and the wheelchair was thrown aside. Neal was beginning to show signs of pain thanks to there being no pain meds and Elizabeth watched helplessly as the doors closed, shutting off all communication to the outside world.

Spies came out of the water
And you're feeling so good 'cause you know
But those spies hide out in every corner
They can't touch you, no
'Cause they're just spies

-

Peter was just filling in Jones and Hughes about Nicolas Shaffer when his cell buzzed in his pocket. Peter checked the caller ID and saw that it was private.

"This better be pretty damn important," Peter hissed as he took a step away from Hughes and Jones.

"Oh it is," a strange voice said.

"Who is this?"

"Not important, but I have some pretty important baggage here that you might care about."

"What do you mean?" But Peter had a pretty good bet on who it was.

"Your little bitch criminal and your other little bitch," the man said and cackled slightly.

"You better not hurt them!"

"I won't as long as you follow the man's instructions."

"Which are?"

"You play the game."

Peter nearly screamed as the line went dead. Hughes and Jones ran over to him and were filled in.

"They have Neal and Elizabeth."

They're just spies

"We'll find them. Now, what did they say they wanted you to do? Any ransom? Immunity perhaps?" Hughes asked.

Peter shook his head. "No, he just said that I had to play the game."

They're just spies

"I think the captor will call again and ask for something a little more. Kidnappers often like to play game with their victims loved ones for cash or other things," Jones explained.

"Peter give me your phone, we'll try to track the place where the call was made," Hughes ordered and Peter complied.

"Do you think it was Shaffer?" Jones asked.

Peter shook his head. "No, Shaffer's probably dead by now."

They're just spies

"Then do you have any idea who took them?"

"I don't know who the man on the phone is," Peter said, but an idea came to him. "But I do know who the real mastermind is."

They're just spies

Author's Note: Sorry about the wait. My computer was in the hospital with swine flu. The song that's played is called Spies by Coldplay. Really great song and band. Anyone have questions? Comments? Confused at all? Send me a review and keep on checking up on what's going on. This is getting intense :)

Kai