Chapter Twenty-seven

With his back pressed against the cold concrete wall Jake smiled to himself when he heard Neal's footsteps coming down the hallway. It had been a bit of a gamble that he'd know to come down this way but it was towards the room where they had shared a drink and Jake had figured that Neal would be smart enough to come looking for him there first. Hiding just on the near side of the intersection that Neal was about to cross Jake held his breath as he froze in place. Human sight was alerted by motion and Jake was banking on Neal being more focused on other things to notice the ambush.

Preoccupied with his destination and what was going to happen when he reached it Neal stepped right through the intersection. Like a lion hiding in the tall grass Jake attacked Neal from behind. Not wanting to alert anyone who might be within ear shot even though this section of the tunnels tended to be abandoned Jake reached around and clamped his hand down over Neal's mouth and used the hold to yank Neal closer. Quickly snatching Neal's right wrist Jake pulled it behind Neal's back in a classic police hold. When Neal tried to pull away Jake just jerked up on his wrist to subdue him.

"You aren't nearly careful enough to be wandering these halls." Jake purred into Neal's ear. "I don't think I need to explain to you what would happen if Sawyer caught you like this, or anyone else for that matter. I'm disgusted by rape, but not everyone down here is."

Neal angrily growled unintelligibly under Jake's hand at his odd set of morals before trying to free himself again. The way Neal simply leaned forward gave Jake the impression that Neal expected him to just release him. Annoyed by the assumption Jake tightened his grip. Neal made an irritated noise of protest and pointlessly tried to elbow Jake in the ribs with his free arm, but he didn't have enough leverage in the position he was in to cause any real damage.

"You're missing the obvious move here which is to bite me." Jake chuckled.

Neal shook his head slightly in Jake's grip to show that he had thought about that option and already ruled it out.

"Good point." Jake nodded. "You're worried about what I'd do to you if you chomped down on my hand. You're right, I'd probably break your shoulder out of sheer spite. Shoulders are so poorly put together in the first place, it doesn't take much pressure in a vulnerable position to tear them apart."

Neal whimpered in pain as Jake jerked up on his wrist to illustrate his point about how easy it would be to separate his shoulder. Having fun Jake pulled Neal closer against his chest and spent a moment enjoying the way Neal's hot panicked breath rushed across the back of his hand. Being at York's constant mercy had amplified Jake's own desire to control and the terrified heaving of his prey's chest gave him a chance to feel powerful even if it was just an illusion.

"Okay, enough fooling around." Jake said in a business like tone. "It's instinct to try and use your free arm to defend yourself, but that just opens you up to painful retribution. What you…"

Uninterested in Jake's lesson Neal suddenly tried to free him by twisting. Jake easily stopped his struggling by forcing his wrist up higher between his shoulder blades again.

"Relax, Caffrey, I'm trying to teach you something here. Just listen for a second."

Neal snarled something that sounded like an swear but he did stop struggling to avoid having his should dislocated.

"That's better. Okay, so first shift all your weight onto your left foot." Jake continued using his grip on Neal to guide him into complying. "Good, now reach back with your right foot behind mine and yank me off my balance. When I start to fall I'll have to bring your arm down to catch myself, that's when you turn into my grip and slam your left fist into my ribs or side, either will work. Surprise me."

Jake waited a moment before rolling his eyes with a noise of frustration when Neal took the pacifist route and just peacefully accepted Jake's hold thinking that Jake would get bored and let him go. Although annoyed Jake smiled at Neal's ability to not completely lose himself to panic or anger the way most did, Jake rarely even attempted to teach any of his captives anything either because they were too dangerous to begin with or too terrified to even try. Neal was clever enough to be fun to play with but not hardened enough yet to pose any real threat. The way he had beaten Marco proved that he could do some damage if he wanted to but Jake was confident that all he'd have to do to defend himself against Neal if things got out of hand would be to put his hands up in momentary surrender.

Jake didn't over think his deep seeded need for human interaction in the dark loneliness of the Labyrinth or the fact that force wasn't the best way of going about getting it. He was just enjoying the game while it lasted knowing that his new toy wouldn't last more than a month or two down here. Jake knew it was pointless to make friends in this life, but he still found himself drawn to Neal anyway. Determined to get Neal to fight back Jake started to pull his wrist up again. Jake chuckled at Neal's stubbornness to give in despite the fact that he could feel him grinding his jaw under his hand to help bare the pain.

"I'm just going to keep hurting you till you at least try." Jake warned. "This trick might save your life in the ring one day."

Jake smiled as Neal sighed in defeat. He was a little slow to put his foot back which in a real life situation would have alerted Jake to his next move giving him time to stop him, but since this was just practice Jake allowed it. Once committed to the action Neal was a bit quicker as he swept Jake's leg out from underneath him. Jake kept his hold on Neal's wrist but did bring it down to steady himself. However when Neal turned to hit him in the ribs Jake released him and turned to the side causing Neal to strike the wall instead. Yelping in pain Neal recoiled back with his hand held protectively against his chest.

"That was really half hearted, Caffrey." Jake tisked.

"I did what you asked." Neal said sourly as he glared up at Jake. "What more do you want?"

"You pulled your punch," Jake pointed out "if you had really intended to hit me you would have just broken your hand. I just gave you a free shot and you didn't even really try to take it."

"I'm not looking to start a real fight with you, Jake, we both know how it would end."

"You are the definition of 'no fun'." Jake complained.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Neal asked plaintively. "Do you treat all your captives like this?"

"You're not my captive, you're York's." Jake corrected. "And don't worry, Caffrey, you're special. I don't even let the other branded wander the halls."

"Then why are you letting me do it?"

"Because I know as long as Burke is still alive that you'll always return to him and I won't have to go looking for you."

"There has to be something more to it than that." Neal said carefully. "You seem to have a genuine interest in me. Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's those pretty blue eyes of yours." Jake chuckled as he stepped into Neal's personal space while staring him down. "They remind me of the sky."

"Remind you?" Neal questioned as he backed himself up into the wall. "When was the last time you saw the sky?"

Jake's heart dropped into his stomach at the question not only because he realized he had just made a major slip with Neal but because he honestly didn't know the answer. Jake knew it had to have been years by now. After all the loyalty he'd shown York over the years he only every had one request, he knew that York would never set him free but he kept hoping that he'd grant him just a few minutes topside to see the sky one last time. So far every time he'd asked he'd earned a beating, but with literally nothing to lose he continued to beg just in case York decided to show him a little mercy one day.

"…Jake?" Neal asked hesitantly.

Having fallen silent Jake was still staring at the one splash of color in the mostly monotone world of the Labyrinth suddenly aware that they really were one of the reasons he kept seeking Neal out. There had been a time when Jake used to spend his time cutting both himself and his victims for a chance to see some bright color, but after a while he had grown weary of red. The expression in Neal's sapphire eyes slowly changed from fear to concern as Jake continued to be lost in both them and his own thoughts. Seeing the pity caused Jake's temper to flare and he responded by slamming his fist into Neal's side without warning. Gasping sharply Neal would have fallen to his knees if Jake hadn't been right there to push him up against the wall.

"Don't worry about why I'm interested in you, Caffrey, just be grateful that I am." Jake hissed darkly. "I'm the only thing between you and long slow torture by Sawyer's hand. At least in the ring you're free to fight back. Although if you apologize to another opponent and survive I'll personally assist Sawyer in making you scream until your voice literally fails you. No more asking questions about me either. Do you understand me?"

Still working on catching his breath from the painful blow to his side Neal just nodded. Smiling brightly Jake threw his arm over Neal's shoulder as though they were old friends.

"Let's find somewhere a little more private." Jake suggested cheerfully as he lead Neal away. "I'm going to teach you some moves so you don't end up stuck in a hold the way you did with Marco, you almost died and if you had York would have been livid with me. Whatever you did to piss York off it must have been serious, he's made it clear he wants you two suffer for a while."

"We didn't…we didn't do anything to York."

"You may not know what you did, but trust me you did something to him or else you wouldn't be down here."

"No, someone paid York to take us." Neal clarified.

"What?"

"York told us he was acting as a 'revenge proxy', I thought you knew that. Weren't you there when Peter and I were branded?"

"What did I say about asking questions?"

"I'm sorry, I just assumed…"

"Well don't, and stop apologizing. Seriously." Jake interrupted to change the subject away from the fact that he wasn't involved in new captive branding. "Besides, it doesn't make any difference why you're branded, you are and that's all that matters. No forgiveness, no second chances, innocent or not."

Neal fell into a contemplative silence that made Jake nervous. If anyone found out that he was branded as well he'd be a dead man in seconds. He had worked hard to earn York's trust enough to let him keep order down here and part of that effort was to kill the man who used to run the show along with everyone who had ever seen his marked chest. If Sawyer found out he was branded he would be free and clear to murder him, and he wouldn't hesitate to do so. Pushing the thought of being discovered out of his mind Jake forced Neal into the nearest empty room shoving him forward hard enough to send him to his hands and knees.

"Lesson one: when someone pushes you down roll over on your back and kick at their shin because if you don't…"

Still trying not to incite a fight Neal was simply trying to get back to his feet when Jake reached down and wrapped his arm around Neal's neck in a classic head lock. To his credit Neal was quick enough to get one hand around Jake's forearm allowing him some leverage to protect his throat. Keeping Neal bent over Jake brought him up into a half stand to remove some of the power in his legs. Neal struggle briefly but quickly realized he was trapped as Jake squeezed his throat tighter.

"Let me go!" Neal demanded.

"No one is ever just going to 'let you go', Caffrey." Jake rolled his eyes. "You have got to stop staying that, it's embarrassing."

"Jake…"

"Now what you want to do is…"

Before Jake could finish Neal used all his strength to punch Jake in the inner thigh. Surprised by the painful attack Jake loosened his hold and Neal twisted his way out of his grip. Neal instantly bolted for the door but when he put his hand on the doorknob he hesitated. Rubbing his leg Jake smiled brightly as Neal walked back over to him knowing that if he left he'd just be followed or worse that Jake would bring Peter into this.

"So you know that trick." Jake laughed ruefully. "Or was that just a lucky guess? Either way it looks like we are getting somewhere, that was the most painful strike you've landed on me so far."

"I don't want to hurt you." Neal said honestly. "Please, I don't want to do this."

"You should be thanking me, this is going to keep you alive."

"Peter can teach me anything I need to know. I don't need..."

"He can't give you real experience like I can. Think fast…"

Jake sprung at Neal and despite the warning he was able to grab him around the waist and drive him into the closed door. Jake grabbed Neal's wrists and lifted his arms up over his head as he stared into his eyes looking for a hint of anger or a flash of fear, Jake didn't really care which he just wanted to elicit a reaction. Jake would never admit it but there had been a time when he'd been just like Neal, reluctant to fight and wanting to hold onto the man he thought he was. Having failed to keep his own hands clean of blood he was determined to drag Neal down to his own level and show himself that no one spent any time in the Labyrinth without becoming tainted.

"Don't let me push you around like this, I know you can do better."

"Not giving into fighting you is how I do better." Neal replied. "You're not going to kill me so why should I play your game?"

"You're right, I'm not going to kill you, but that doesn't mean I won't hurt you."

Still taking the peaceful path Neal continued to let Jake pin him to the door, he knew from experience that whether or not he fought back the results were basically the same. Without a near lethal amount of alcohol in his blood like last time Neal was doing a better job at not losing his temper making him harder to goad into a true sparing match. Frustrated Jake tangled his hand into Neal hair and used the painful hold to throw Neal down, tripping his legs in the process to make sure he hit the floor. Having learned his lesson Neal rolled over on his back to face Jake but he didn't lash out.

"Jake…"

Neal was cut off as Jake sat down heavily on his stomach. Jake looked down at Neal and smiled cruelly as he came up with a new plan to break Neal of his passive restive ways. Physical assault didn't seem to be riling him up but Jake felt a physiological attack had a better chance of getting Neal to show his primal side and bring him down a peg or two.

"So, tell me about you." Jake said casually. "What did you do that got you hooked up with a Fed? Are you one of those criminals who's sorry for what you did? Or more sorry that you got caught?"

Uninterested in having this conversation Neal just stared up coldly at Jake. Sitting back on Neal's hips Jake pulled on Neal's hair again to get him to sit up as well before releasing him.

"Or…are you not even sorry you got caught? That's it isn't it?" Jake continued raising an eye-brow in amusement. "I bet you misbehave cause you want an authority figure to pay attention to you. You got daddy issues or something? Did he leave you and your momma before teaching you right and wrong?"

Having a nerve struck Neal showed his teeth like an angry wolf Neal as he pulled his fist back, and before he could stop himself brought it back hard to strike Jake. Jake turned his head to the side slightly to avoid having his nose broken but he allow Neal to hit him. He was curious if he'd do it again or if he'd recoil in horror at his loss of temper and apologize. Neal didn't apologize but he did stare at the bright red spot on Jake's cheek that was later going to develop into a bruise with a look of instant regret. Satisfied that he'd shown that Neal he wasn't so different than himself Jake smiled. Neal tensed and batted Jake's hand away when Jake reached out and ruffled his hair playfully.

"There's that fire again." Jake taunted. "Good job."

"Leave me alone." Neal begged wearily. "Please."

"You need to let go of the idea that you're some sort of saint who's above a little cathartic rage or even some justified self-defense." Jake advised as he got off Neal's hips and sat down in front of him. "We're all just animals, born for fight or flight. Flights not an options down here so you might as well see how hard you can fight. Come on, let's have some fun with this."

"This isn't fun for me, Jake." Neal said seriously. "This is life or death nightmare."

"No it isn't." Jake shrugged. "This is just your death, you're not making it out of here alive so don't even worry about it."

"So you're suggestion to me is to make my death a slow one?"

"A slow death is an interesting one, a lucky one, you get to explore who you really are."

"I already know who I am." Neal snarled.

"Really?" Jake asked doubtfully. "Before the other night did you think you were the kind of man capable of brutally blinding someone and crushing their face with your foot?"

Neal feel silent, turning visibly pale at the violent memory.

"Nothing brings out your true character quite like fighting for your life, whether it be against an enemy, the forces of nature or even a disease. As far as I'm concerned people who live charmed lives and die without warning are the unfortunate ones. They never get to learn what their full potential is. Admit it, you've already discovered a lot about yourself in just two fights."

"No." Neal said firmly. "Forcing someone to defend themselves doesn't tell you anything about who they are, it is just instinct to fight for your life at any cost."

"I strongly disagree, in fact now that I think about it I bet if it wasn't for Burke you would have let Marco kill you."

"What?"

"You might want to reconsider your relationship with him, he has more power over you than you know. If anyone down here is going to ruin you, it's going to be him. In fact it's too late, he already has. Burke is the one you should blame for what you're becoming, not me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your instinct wasn't to kick Marco in face, just the opposite, your instinct was to show mercy and hope you'd get in return. Foolish, but that's who you were and that's who you would have died as if Burke hadn't called out your name in that critical moment. He was the one who demanded that you use violence and you listened to him without thought. He sparked the killer in you, made you defend yourself with lethal force against your own better judgment."

"I...I didn't kill Marco." Neal said quickly with an uncertain tone in his voice showing he wasn't certain that Marco had lived.

"Only because of sheer luck. When you slammed your heel into his face you *knew* there was a high chance that he would die and you did it any way. And when the time comes you're going to do it again, and it's not going to take long before your new 'instinct' is to go straight for the throat and you can thank Burke for that. The hard part is over, you've proven that you're willing to kill, after this you'll find actually doing it rather anti-climatic."

"No. Never." Neal shook his head vehemently in denial. "I'm not a killer."

"No, not yet, but you're *well* past the point of no return. Now that you've taken that first step it's only a matter of time before you take the next one." Jake said deadly seriously. "Burke gave you that push, that last bit of strength you needed to survive at any cost, without it you'd be dead now but it also tainted you. There's no shame in it, there is a great thrill in being a life taker. Ask Burke, I know he's killed in the line of duty, I can smell the blood on him."

"Jake…"

"He saved your life, but it came at a cost that I can see the effects of already. In that one split second he fundamentally changed who you are."

"No..."

"Face it Neal, Burke took that killer instinct that's in his own heart and he gave it to you. And I'm willing to bet he's going to live just long enough to regret what he did to you."

"No, Peter was only trying to protect me."

"It doesn't matter what Peter's intentions were, that violence is now a part of you…forever."