Eleanor continued walked down the street, the pressure of the gun on her back increasing and decreasing with every step. She could run, but then not only would she be putting her own life at risk but the lives of those around her. They came to a corner and Ricky nudged her to turn. It was a side street with very little foot traffic. Maybe now they would look somewhat suspicious. But much to Eleanor's dismay, they continued on their way without being stopped. At the end of the street was a black van with tinted windows. Perfect, she thought, a kidnapping van. Ricky pushed her against the van, the gun pointed at her head. He slid open the door and waved for her to get in. Taking her time, Eleanor stepped in the van only to be pushed into a seat.

"Not one for manners I see." She quipped.

"Shut up and hold out your hands."

"Or what, you gonna shoot me?"

"I might." Ricky grumbled yanking her hands out in front of her. He held them together as he slipped on a zip tie and pulled them tight.

"ow." She said sarcastically. Ricky just sneered and pulled a black cloth bag over her head and slammed the door. Eleanor's fear was overwhelming. Here she was in the back of a van, a bag over head, her hands zip tied together, in the car with the same man that held a gun to her head. Things were going downhill fast and there was nothing she could do about it.


"Neal, do you know where Eleanor was when she made that call?"

"Yeah, a little French bistro called Bons Plats; I was supposed to meet her there for lunch."

"Alright, Jones, pull a team together and get down to Bons Plats, start canvassing the area for witnesses. Get me surveillance cameras, traffic cameras, ATM cameras, everything. People don't get taken in the middle of the day without someone noticing something. Diana contact Agent Kimberly Rice from Kidnapping and Missing Persons, I want her and her team monitoring Carmichaels' known hideouts at all times. And tell them to hang back, I don't want Carmichael and his men spooked. If she gives you any crap tell her to take it up with Hughes." Peter said pausing from his list of orders to look around the conference room full of agents. His eyes finally rested on Neal. He was in the back with his arms folded. He was trying to hide it, but the fear and worry he felt was too powerful to sweep up under the rug. Peter felt a surge of pity pull at his heart.

After Kate died, Peter didn't think he'd ever see Neal happy again. But a little mishap on a case landed Neal in the hospital and in the care of one Eleanor Roberts. It was like the sun had come out from behind the clouds. Neal was himself again, his normal pain in the ass self Peter had come to know, only better. His eyes were brighter, his smiles grew wider, and he seemed to emit a sort of happy energy that affected everyone around him. Eleanor had done so much more than nurse him back to health; she had given him a second chance at love. And now as her life was put in danger, he saw the dark clouds that surrounded him after Kate's death return. Neal had already been through enough, he couldn't put his partner though this again. It was his idea to send Eleanor undercover and it was his responsibility to bring her back alive. And to hell with anybody who gets in his way.

"This is not going down on my watch people. I want Eleanor found and these bastards behind bars. Let's get to work." he said dismissing his agents. There was a flurry of jackets, case files being closed, and bodies as the room emptied out. Then it was just him and Neal.

"What can I do?" Neal said walking up to Peter. There was determination shining in his magnificent blue eyes. It seemed as if Neal's desire to save Eleanor had erased most of his worry and replaced it with a fury that could make a grown man cower in a corner. It was admirable, but in a delicate situation such as this, it was very dangerous. As much as he hated to do this, he needed to get Neal as far away from here as possible.

"You can go home."

"Peter, I can help you, I've done it before in the past!" he argued.

"Yeah you have only it wasn't your girlfriend that was kidnapped." Peter tried to explain. He could see the anger rearing its head in his eyes, but he had to do it. "I'm sorry Neal but you're too close to this. Go home; I'll call you if anything changes."

"What if this was Elizabeth Peter? Would you just go home or would you do something?" Neal spat. Peter closed his eyes and sighed. He saw this one coming and he was sure that if he was in Neal's shoes he would be doing the exact same thing Neal was doing.

"Yes Neal I would." Neal snorted with disbelief and turned away from him. "I wouldn't want to put Elizabeth in anymore danger than she was already in. If you stay here, you'll get too caught up in the action, you could get seriously hurt and I can't have that."

"So you're saying that I'm a liability?"

"No Neal I'm saying that you aren't thinking strait and that you need to take a step back and cool your head. I'm not saying that I'm cutting you off completely, I just don't want you here in the middle of it all."

"Are you going to put me under house arrest?"

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to that." He said solemnly. Peter watched as Neal glared at him. Never before had he seen such anger in those eyes. It was almost frightful. Neal looked as if he was debating whether or not to punch him, the muscles in his jaw twitching. Right about now, Peter would gladly take a punch from Neal; after all, this was mostly his fault. If he had listened to Neal in the first place then Eleanor wouldn't have gotten into this mess. Finally Neal seemed to relax a little; giving in. he picked up his suit jacket and made his way to the door. But before he could leave, Peter stopped him, grabbing him by the arm. "Don't do anything stupid Neal; I don't want to lose you too." Neal just swallowed and nodded. Peter watched as Neal stormed passed his desk and out the double doors to the elevator. He knew with all his pent up anger and rage that Neal would try something, hell he was probably calling Mozzie right now, planning something. Neal had become so much more than just a consultant over the years; he couldn't have something happen to him too. Peter closed his eyes a prayed, Please God don't let him do something stupid.


Eleanor felt like she was going to be sick. It smelled like stale beer and three week old garbage in the van. The sporadic jarring of hitting bumps in the road and her sudden loss of vision didn't make things better. She tried to follow where Ricky was taking her, it felt like something Neal would have done, but she lost track five minutes in. frustration and anger had taken over her fear. Now she was pissed. She did not like being tied up in a stinky old van and she did not like that Ricky had commandeered her lunch with Neal. And she was going to let him know it as soon as she could.

Just then the van came to stop, sending Eleanor forward. She slammed into the seat in front of her, and then hit the floor board with a crunch. The smell down here was ten times as bad, making her eyes water. She heard Ricky's coarse laughter as he got out and walked around the van. The sliding door opened and tiny pin pricks of light filtered in through the dark cloth covering her face. Ricky's hands grabbed for her, pulling her out and to her feet.

Eleanor was greeted with the calming sounds of water, the methodical clang of a water buoy, and the shrill cries of seagulls. She was by the water. But she didn't have long to gather anymore information. Ricky held her under her arm and dragged her, her feet stumbling on the gravel.

"Come on." He grumbled.

"If you took this blindfold off maybe I would be able to walk better moron." She hissed back. Ricky's grip on her arm grew tighter but that was it, no comment, no backlash. There was the sound of rusty metal scraping across rusty metal, and then Eleanor's feet hit smooth ground. The light, playful air from outside had been replaced with foul smelling dead air that made her gag. "Ugh, what is with you and these smells? Do you not know how to clean or something? Or do you enjoy living in your own filth?"

"Shut up!" he snapped, his voice echoing. More clues to the puzzle, she thought. Ricky had taken her to a warehouse by the water. It wasn't much, but at least she had some idea where she was. Ricky continued to drag her along for what seemed like forever until he finally stopped. Eleanor heard yet another door open, this time squeaky, like the hinges had rusted over. She felt herself being pushed from behind, making her stumble. The door shut and the bag around her head was removed. Eleanor was standing in an old empty meat locker. A single florescent light flickered above casting the locker in a dim eerie light. Ricky took out a switch blade from his pant pocket and held it up. A chill ran down Eleanor's spine as she stepped back. Ricky smiled and reached for her hands, cutting the zip tie.

"Oh well thank you." she sneered. Ricky rolled his eyes and left the locker, slamming the door shut. Eleanor ran to the door and listened to his heavy footsteps start to fade. Just when she thought he was gone a voice rang out.

"Ricky what the hell is going on?" Justin Carmichael's voice boomed in the open warehouse space just beyond her door. "I get this text telling me to come here and then Bobby tells me you've gone and kidnapped some girl?"

"Yeah, that chick from the Sampson, I grabbed her."

"Michele O'Reily, George Devore's girl?" Justin yelled. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"I don't trust her."

"I don't trust a lot of people that doesn't mean I go and kidnap them you idiot! What am I suppose to tell Devore? 'Oh sorry my dumb ass employee kidnapped your girl?' Damn it Ricky you never think!"

"I've been following her Justin, there's something off about her. You even said yourself that you suspect they're up to something. And today I heard her on the phone talking to some guy named Neal. She's lying to us man."

"Really, did it ever cross your tiny little mind that maybe this 'Neal' is a friend or relative of hers?"

"No…but her conversation, she was telling Neal that something was wrong, she was spooked." Ricky pleaded. There was silence which Eleanor could only imagine Carmichael filling with the shaking his head.

"Do you still have her phone?" Carmichael asked sounding exasperated.

"No I dumped it."

"Damn it Ricky!" he yelled. "If she was lying to us, we could have used her phone to find out who she really is!"

"Oh…"

"Yeah oh. God you must be the stupidest person on this planet."

"So what now?"

"Go back and find her phone, we need it."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna have a nice little chat with Ms. O'Reily." Eleanor backed away from the door, her breathing labored. If she thought she was in trouble before she was in real trouble now. Carmichael's expensive shoes grew closer and closer. Eleanor panicked. What should she do? Should she play along as Michele O'Reily for as long as she could or should she make a run of it? Time was running out, she needed to make up her mind and fast. What would Neal do? What would Neal do? She thought over and over. The footsteps stopped right outside the door along with her heart. There was a soft knocking before it swung open to reveal a smartly dressed Justin Carmichael. "Ms. O'Reily, how are you?"

"Considering that my lunch was rudely interrupted, I was held at gun point by your thug, again, shoved into his disgusting van, and then held captive in this meat locker, not so well."

"I apologize for my colleague's actions; he can be barbaric at times."

"So you gonna let me go?" she asked crossing her arms.

"No, I'm afraid not." He said clasping his hands together. "While I've got you here, I want to ask you some questions."

"Is that so? Well if you wanted to chat you should have called, there are better ways to get a hold of me other than kidnapping."

"I'll try to remember that next time." he smiled. "So on to business. Ms. O'Reily as I'm sure you are aware by now my colleague, Ricky-"

"You mean your resident pig?"

"Yes, Ricky seems to think that you and Mr. Devore haven't been very truthful. Can you tell me why that might be?"

"Not a clue."

"Really, there isn't anything that you're being dishonest about?"

"People lie, that's life. We came to you looking for a job; you're the one who hired us. Why don't you stop acting like my school teacher and start acting like a man." she spat. Carmichael's eyes flashed his cool demeanor slipping.

"You're right Ms. O'Reily I did hire you, which makes me your boss. And as your boss I require my employees to show me some respect. Talk like that to me again-"

"Or what? You gonna torture me? Shoot me? You've already kidnapped me why not go for the trifecta?"

"Shut up!" he yelled as his hand landed hard on Eleanor's face. Her cheek burned and her eyes stung with tears but she held her head high. She had accomplished what she wanted, she struck a nerve. "I was trying to be nice but I see that won't work." He reached behind his back and pulled out a gun, pointing it at Eleanor's face. "Now, why don't you tell me what you're hiding?"

A/n: Bum bum bum! Tell me what you think!