AN: I usually don't include an Author's Note at the beginning because I find it annoying and distracting but this is more of a warning than a note. CAUTION: This chapter and most of the following chapters will contain quite a bit of whumpage and could be considered a little dark. This will be my onlywarning. Also, I apologize for the time it took to post this chapter, please forgive me.
"Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional." –Anonymous
Neal's eyes fluttered open. An excruciating headache assaulted him and he groaned. Wilkes' voice said, "Speaking of Caffrey…he's finally waking up."
Neal sat up to look for the voice. Wilkes was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, with a big smile on his face. "Well good morning Sleeping Beauty! How are you feeling?"
Neal smiled in spite of the pain in his head. "Peachy."
"We can't have that." Wilkes said. He walked over to Neal and held out a hand. Neal ignored the hand and stood up himself. Wilkes slugged him in the stomach.
Perhaps by sheer coincidence Wilkes had hit him exactly where the Director had hit him. The already ugly bruise flared from a dull ache to a stabbing pain and he collapsed to his knees again. Wilkes spoke. "Next time I offer to help you, don't turn it down."
Wilkes held out his hand again and this time Neal took it.
Peter pulled up to the left of the alley. The APB on the car had proved useful when a routine drive by the local PD had spotted it. Unfortunately, the car was here but Neal wasn't. Diana was already there talking to a middle-aged woman. Diana spotted Peter and waved him closer.
"Mrs. O'Hara, could you please tell Agent Burke what you just told me." Diana said.
The woman nodded. "I work at the restaurant over there, across the street. Every day I come outside for a smoke break at noon, five, and ten. At noon when I came out I saw a red Taurus parked in the alleyway which was weird because you don't just leave a car in an alley way. Not on this side of town."
Peter didn't fail to notice that his car was a red Taurus as well, which probably was Wilkes playing games. Mrs. O'Hara continued. "When I came out at five there was a second car parked in the alleyway. Two men got into the Taurus and drove away."
"Could you describe the two men to me?" Peter asked.
"Sure. There was a black man dressed real nicely, in a suit and tie you know? He seemed real angry at the other man." She said. "The other man was white and smaller than the black man. He had some beautiful blue eyes that matched his tie. I mean, he was just gorgeous."
Peter couldn't help but roll his eyes. Even kidnapped and under duress Neal was managing to leave a trail of broken hearts. "Did you see anything at ten?"
"Just the cop cars, that's when I realized it might be about those two men and the cars and came over to give my statement." She said.
"Thank you very much." Peter said. He pointed to one of the Harvard boys standing around. "If you would go over to that man and give him you statement, he'll take it down to paper."
She nodded and left. Peter pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wilkes is switching cars. That car was our biggest lead."
"We'll be on the lookout for a red Taurus." Diana said.
"I have a red Taurus Diana. He's mocking us." Peter said.
Diana laid a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get him back Boss."
Peter nodded, "I know that. But will we get him back alive?"
Neal stared at Wilkes waiting for him to do something; instead he just stood there watching Neal. He knew Wilkes was playing mind games but that didn't stop them from working.
Wilkes shifted and Neal nearly jumped out of his skin. Wilkes grinned and said, "Don't worry Caffrey, I'm not going to hurt you."
"You aren't?" Neal asked warily.
"No. This is a new suit. I don't want to get blood on it." Wilkes said. He knocked on the door and after a moment it was opened and the grizzly stepped in. "Hugo, on the other hand, had to qualms about what he gets on his clothes."
Wilkes left the room. Neal forced a laugh. "Hugo huh? That is really an awful name."
Hugo backed Neal into the wall and then snatched his arm and pulled. He screamed before slipping into blissful unconsciousness.
Neal awoke with fire ripping through his shoulder. He took big gulps of air and closed his eyes. Not long ago Peter had dislocated his shoulder; to put it back in he'd had to slam it into the wall. That had looked more painful than the actual dislocation.
It took three times, three agonizing times of slamming his shoulder into the wall to put it back in. He had tears streaming down his face by the end.
Neal took a few breaths in a, failed, attempt to regain his composure. He went to the door to check the lock.
There was no lock. Hell! There wasn't even a doorknob! The door was completely smooth on his side. Neal slid down the wall and rested his head in his hands as one of Mozzie's favorite sayings played through his mind, The only impossible lock is the one that doesn't exist.
AN: The whumpage isn't too bad currently but it will get worse. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I'm excited to see the continuance of Peter's race to save Neal. Also, I included the name of a character of another USA TV show but it is NOT the same person. I wonder how many of you can guess who the character was and what show they're on. Feel free to review!
