Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter! It means a lot(: this is the first chapter from Neal's pov

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Neal heard the door scrape open, his breath hitching involuntarily. His head was lolled against his chest, giving him a moment to school his features into an unreadable mask. Slow, measured footsteps echoed through the room as they made their way to the chair he was strapped to.

His head was violently pulled back by his hair. Somehow, Neal managed not to flinch as his head throbbed with a new ferocity. Instead, he glared daggers at Jax's smug face.

Jax gave a low whistle. "Still got that fight in you? How unfortunate."

"Still balding? How unfortunate."

Jax punched him in the face, the force sending his chair off balance and toppling to the floor. Neal felt his head bounce on the concrete, causing his vision to blacken for a moment before returning. Jax swiftly kicked him in the ribs. Neal bit back a groan, wanting to curl in on himself but hindered by his restraints.

Eventually, Jax hauled the chair back up, the room spinning sickeningly at the change. "Are you ready to behave now?"

Neal narrowed his eyes. "You really are stupid, huh?"

Jax clenched his fists, but he smiled smugly. "Fine. Be that way. But you're meeting the boss today, and I don't think he'll take too kindly to that smart mouth of yours."

Neal shrugged as well as he could while being shackled to a chair. "I'm sure you've heard of a con man before. My 'smart mouth' is pretty useful."

Jax let out a chilling laugh. "Not this time."

Suddenly, the room was filled with a frantic beeping. Jax's sneering face faded, along with the rest of the dank room. Neal was in a sea of darkness; the only sensation he was aware of was a tight grip on his wrist. The con man tried to shake it off, but his limbs weren't listening properly.

Panic filled his mind. Jax must have drugged him. The beeping sped up and added to the air of confusion. Neal managed to tear his eyes open, but he was blinded by the sudden brightness. He squeezed his eyes shut again against the onslaught of light and tried to pull his wrist back. This time Jax released his grip, and Neal immediately backed up to the opposite side of the bed.

"Neal, calm down!" a voice broke in over the blood pounding in his ears.

Neal squeezed his eyes shut tighter and took stock of his situation. He tried to think through the panic and realized things weren't adding up. The bed, the frantic beeping, the familiar voice, the antiseptic smell... shit, he was in a hospital.

The buzzing in his ears quieted and the beeping slowed. Neal kept his eyes closed while he composed himself. He kicked himself for freaking out in front of Peter and slowly opened his eyes with new resolve. He let a relaxed smile spread across his face. "Oh, hey Peter. What's up?"

Peter's worried look turned incredulous. "Oh, y'know, we brought you here dehydrated with a grade 3 concussion and broken ribs. What's up with you?"

"Living the high life, you know me. Trying to be a upstanding and law-abiding citizen-"

"Caffrey," Peter cut him off. "Be serious." He opened his mouth and hesitated. Neal guessed he was going to go with the classic 'how are you feeling?' and was glad that Peter ditched the idea, because it wouldn't have been taken kindly. Instead, he said, "Do you remember sending us that stupid message in your forgery?"

Neal made a show of scrunching his face up into a confused expression. "I do remember sending a message with very clear instructions. But a stupid one? I don't recall."

Peter's eyes smoldered. "You were kidnapped and had a chance to send us a message, and all you said was don't come! In my book, that counts as stupid."

"Peter, I didn't know you wrote your own book!" Peter's face hardened at Neal's cheesy attempt to break the tension. Neal sighed. "Peter, you've chased me long enough to know that I'm at least moderately smart. Now, don't you think I had a reason?"

Peter's expression didn't lighten. "No address, no clue, just another mysterious-"

"What, do you think I just liked Jax's company? I didn't send that message because I wanted my very own sadistic murderer best friend!" Neal bit out sarcastically, his carefree façade fading. Peter was ranting like an angry wife, which had the potential to be hilarious, but Neal wasn't in the mood to mess with him all night.

Peter's fight visibly drained at Neal's change in demeanor, leaving him looking worried and weary. "Okay, Neal. Why then?"

Neal sighed. "I saved your life twice and you can't even follow my one request."

"C'mon, Caffrey. You know I couldn't do that. Why didn't you want us to come?"

"I knew that something about Jax didn't add up. He just wasn't smart enough to avoid the FBI for this long. His boss, however, is."

Peter furrowed his brow. "His boss? I thought he was the boss."

Neal shook his head. "So did I. But then he introduced me to him like a kid at show and tell." How an brute like Jax managed to kidnap him right under the FBI's nose was a conversation he was going to have to take up with Peter. That was a story he definitely wanted to hear.

"Who is it?"

"Peter, I didn't want you or any of the FBI in this for a reason. Any good agent who isn't corrupted will ruin their career, and the ones that are corrupted will tip him off."

"Neal," Peter demanded. "It's my decision if I want to take this guy down, and I accept the risk. Now, who is it?"

Neal hesitated, but gave up under Peter's imploring stare. The guy did get him away from Jax, after all.

"The mayor of New York City."

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sorry this was shorter than usual! I'll make the next chapter extra long to make up for it(; hope you enjoyed