Once again, thank you so much for the reviews for chapter ten! They were very inspiring! I hope you enjoy this chapter, as well!

Testing Bonds Chapter 11

Peter felt himself shaking as he stepped out of his car in front of FBI Headquarters. Jones, who was waiting on the sidewalk, walked to him rapidly, calling out his name.

"What the hell is going on, Jones?" It was the only thing Peter could ask, because it was the only thing he could think about on the way over. His mind had provided a million different scenarios and possibilities, and he hadn't liked any of them. Jones had refused earlier to tell him over the phone what had occurred, and that—in and of itself—spoke volumes. He had a gut wrenching feeling that it was something that wasn't going to be solved very easily.

Jones looked angry as he gestured towards the building and replied, "They lost Caffrey, Peter. Organized Crime drop the ball and Neal's paying the price."

Instantly, the world seemed to slow down. Peter stopped walking and felt his heart rise into his throat.

Jones noticed and was instantly worried. "Boss?" he questioned as he settled a hand on the senior agent's bicep.

Peter didn't hear Jones' words, but he felt his touch and it snapped him out of his trance. "Damn it, Jones!" he snapped angrily. He knew the younger man would know he wasn't really angry with him, so he didn't say anything else at that second. Instead, he stormed into the building and his agent immediately followed.

=)=)=)

He wanted to panic. He wanted to scour the city looking for Neal right away, but Peter knew he had to calm his irrational desires and overwhelming emotions. He knew his first course of action was to speak with Williamson.

Jones and he immediately stormed off of the elevator as soon as the doors opened and entered the Organized Crime offices. As expected, the bullpen was not at all calm. Agents were running from desk to desk, people were on their phones, and in the midst of all the chaos was just whom Peter wanted to see.

"Jerry," he called out and walked to the case agent determinedly.

Williamson saw Peter heading his way and lifted his hands defensively. "I didn't mean for this to happen, Peter!"

Peter stood directly in front of him and had to remind himself silently not to touch Jerry. Peter wanted desperately to grab the guy, force him against the wall, and demand answers. At least he could do one of them: "What did you do?" he asked, angrily. "What happened? What went wrong?"

Williamson looked over McRae and Bierce, and the two agents immediately came to stand beside their boss. It was a united front, but Peter wasn't intimidated and he even felt a little pride when Jones stepped forward to glare at the agents.

Williamson kept his eyes on Peter and replied, "I'm doing everything I can to find Neal, Peter, and I assure you that I will."

Peter merely lifted his brow and countered firmly, "You're not doing everything you can if you don't bring me in on this. I always find Neal, always, and I'm not going to be shut out of this investigation anymore. Now, tell me what happened."

Williamson pursed his lips together, and for a split second, Peter thought the man was going to argue with him, so he was surprised when Williamson said, "Let's take this to the conference room."

=)=)=)

Blinding light was the only thing Neal could make out as he opened his eyes. As a result, he immediately closed them and let out a low pain-induced groan.

"He's awake," an unrecognized voice said.

He heard footsteps come closer, but he kept his eyes closed. As each second past, he felt his head spin slowly and he knew if he reopened his eyes, the sensation would only get worse.

"Get up," he heard the voice demand.

He only groaned again in response. Then, he felt a swift kick to his stomach and his head pounded when a loud yell suddenly rang across the room.

"NO! He's already damaged enough as it is!"

The man closest to him mumbled and he couldn't make out what he was saying.

Neal, very slowly, opened one eye and tried to adjust it to the light. Then, he opened the other. The man in front of him was facing the other and walking away, so he took the opportunity to look at his surroundings without moving his head. He appeared to be in a basement. The floor was dank and cool against his skin. The walls were made of large bricks and everything was dirty from disuse.

He closed his eyes again momentarily when he felt a pain shoot in his abdomen. When he reopened his eyes again, he saw Levington kneeling before him.

"I'm glad you're awake, Neal. We want you awake for the process; it makes it so much more enjoyable for us."

Neal didn't like the sadistic look in the man's eyes.

=)=)=)

Peter stood with his hands on his hips in the conference room. He was glaring at Williamson as the man obviously tried to diffuse the situation without really telling him a damn thing.

"They recognized him! That's all!" Williamson exclaimed. "We had no way of knowing that they would!"

Peter wrinkled his face in disdain as he shook his head slowly. "That's always a possibility," he countered. "Neal's face has been in the Times quite a few times in recent years unfortunately. You have to remember that when dealing with him. That's why my team and I are always close when Neal undergoes operations like this. Not to mention, Neal has a lot of enemies, so we consider nothing routine with him. We know how easily things can go south when he's involved."

Williamson rolled his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. "This isn't a competition right now to see who can handle Caffrey better. Right now, I have to save this operation and I need to focus on that."

Unexpectedly, even to himself, Peter slammed his fist on the table. "This operation?" he repeated "You want to save this operation?"

"Peter," he heard Jones say, but he didn't care.

"No, you better damn well be focused on Neal. We need to figure out what went wrong and we need to know who all the players are to figure out where they took him. We need to see if there are any cameras in the area that recorded what occurred, and I need to hear the tape."

Williamson stared at Peter long and hard before replying, "This is not your case. Besides, I told you all the information you need to know from the recording, so it would be pointless…"

"If it's pointless, then why should it matter that you let me hear it?"

Williamson visibly grinded his teeth a little and said, "I think you should leave, Agent Burke."

Peter's jaw twitched with anger, but then he smiled smugly. "Don't think for one second that this is over, Jerry. I can go over your head and I can guarantee you won't like it when I do. Just remember, I tried to work with you." He spun around and addressed his agent. "Come on, Jones. I'm through dealing with him."

=)=)=)

It's shorter than I wanted, but with what I want to do next, it makes sense for it to be its own chapter. In any case, I hope you enjoyed this anyway. Let me know what you think, please!