Chapter Forty-three
"Neal! Stay on your toes! Neal!"
Peter looked away as Neal failed to move out of the way quickly enough and ended up getting kicked in the stomach by his opponent; Slattery. The crowd's mock hiss of sympathy boiled Peter's already heated blood as they collectively enjoyed the blood sport at their feet without a trace of guilt. Although his opponent was a little smaller than he was Neal was not fairing well against the wiry man's vaguely mix martial arts type moves. Peter knew he wouldn't be doing any better against the quick less traditional fighting style either. Neal's only saving grace at the moment was that Slattery didn't have the physical mass to do too much damage but the kick had still doubled Neal over.
Already having been sucking for breath before Neal stumbled back gagging for air. In the two days since his near drowning Neal had increased difficulty breathing that Peter had suspected was far worse than Neal had been admitting to. Being forced to exert himself Neal couldn't hide how quickly he had started to pant and sweat as his already taxed body was pushed harder. Peter coughed against the back of his hand partly in empathy and partly from what he feared was his own slowly developing case of pneumonia. Having fought first Peter was only just now getting his breath back and it still felt somewhat like trying to breathe through a wet sponge.
Glancing over his shoulder at Jake Peter noticed that he wasn't looking so good either. With his arms laced through the bars he was leaning against the cross bar with his forehead resting against one of the upright bars. With a glassy look in his eyes he wasn't watching the fight he was just staring at the dirty concrete floor. His pale skin glistened with a fine layer of sweat further betraying his deteriorating health. If Jake passed out Peter wouldn't be surprised. The two guards that always kept watch kept glancing at him since they were used to Jake being far more animated during these matches.
More concerned with Neal than Jake Peter turned away his attention back to the fight as the crowd roared in approval. Losing his temper or perhaps just fearing that he was going to run out of endurance Neal had more aggressively attacked Slattery and managed to knock him to the ground. Peter hated seeing Neal go on the defensive but it gave him a few moments rest while the other man got back to his feet. Neal seemed like he regretted the move as well, to Peter it looked like Neal was actively resisting helping Slattery back up.
Humiliated by ending up on the ground Slattery didn't need the assistance as sprung up and threw himself at Neal in a blind rage. Neal was able to back away from his first lashing swing but he wasn't as prepared for second attempt. Peter cringed as Neal was caught by a right hook to his jaw. Neal's head was turned violently by the blow, spraying sweat and blood tainted saliva, however as one of the stronger bones in the body Neal's jaw was far tougher than the delicate bones in Slattery's hand. Not having used good technique when he'd taken the swing Slattery howled in pain as he recoiled with his hand held protectively against his chest.
Looking a little dazed Neal made no attempt to take advantage of Slattery's injury and just stood his ground. With seven minutes still left in the fight the crowd started booing and cat calling at the pair as they just stared at one another. When a full minute passed by without any move by either party to continue the fight Neal looked nervously over his shoulder to make sure that Peter wasn't about to pay for the lackluster lull in the fight. Peter quickly assured him he was okay and guided Neal to keep his eye on Slattery. Remembering how disastrous taking his eyes of Marco had been Neal snapped his attention back to Slattery.
"Jake," one of the guards spoke up "are you going to do something about this?"
"Slattery knows that if he doesn't get back in there he loses by default." Jake replied without much interest.
"So you're just going to let Caffrey stand there? Are you getting lazy or are you actually getting soft?" The guard mocked in a good natured tone. "Although I have to admit I can see why you'd fall for that one. What's the price tag on getting him for fifteen minutes outside the ring…or is he for your 'personal use only'?"
Momentarily distracted from the ring by the lurid turn in the conversation Peter happened to look back in time to see the murderous glare ignite in Jake's previously dead eyes. Tensing Peter back up against the bars fully expecting Jake to step into the cage to try and force him into encouraging Neal to fight. As much as he wanted to think that they had an uneasy truce Peter knew Jake couldn't afford to let that show in front of anyone who worked for York. Peter had managed to win his own fight without any major injuries but he was still too exhausted to be any kind of match against Jake.
Pushing himself away from the cross bar that he'd been using as support Jake calmly walked over to the guard that had questioned him. Without any warning Jake grabbed the man by the shoulders and drove his knee up into the guard's stomach. Not expecting the attack the ambush brought the man to his knees where Jake used the height advantage to grab his hair and yank his head back so he could repeatedly strike him in the face. Unlike Slattery Jake knew exactly how to use his fist as a weapon and the guard was quickly bloody and crying out for help.
The other guard had been so shocked by the sudden violence that it took him a second to react to it. By the time he rushed over to pull Jake off his coworker the man was nearly unconscious. Before the second guard had a chance to touch him Jake snapped out of his psychotic rage and stepped back from his victim. Not wanting to incur Jake's wrath the second guard simply went to keep the first one from collapsing completely.
"Never tell me how to do my job." Jake growled darkly. "And 'yes' he's mine, they both are."
Peter had held his breath during the brief explosive interaction disturbed by how quickly Jake could still turn deadly. It was a far cry from the frightened man who had spent the past two nights sleeping against their door not wanting to be alone. Even if it had been somewhat in defense of Neal Jake's hair trigger temper was concerning. Peter had never been very clear on the dynamic between the guards and Jake, but considering the second one didn't seek any retribution it showed that Jake had some true authority down here despite being branded.
Jake wandered back over to the bars and leaned against them again as if nothing had happened. Peter watched him for a moment but Jake made it a point not to look up at him and just stared at the ground while the last minutes of the fight continued to count down. Jake did jerk his head up when there was a blood curdling cry from the ring followed by a roar of applause. Whipping around Peter only caught the tail end of what had happened as Slattery fought to free his broken hand from Neal's grip. Peter assumed Slattery must have gone to reenter the fight and that Neal had grabbed his injured hand in a desperate act to defend himself.
It was difficult to tell if Neal actually released Slattery or if the blood on his hands simply caused his grip to slip. Either way Slattery fell backwards and landed hard on his tailbone which judging from the screech he made had probably broken as well. With three minutes still left Peter expected Neal to stand his ground again, and for almost exactly thirty seconds he did but then he stepped towards Slattery with obvious and deliberate aggressive intent. Terrified by his approach Slattery stared up at Neal like a deer stuck in headlights. Slattery's submissive pose did nothing to stop Neal from clenching his fist as he prepared to attack him causing Slattery to put his uninjured hand up in a plea for mercy that Neal didn't look like he was going to grant.
"Neal!" Peter barked. "No!"
Jolted by Peter's voice Neal froze in place which gave Slattery a chance to react. Giving up on the fight Slattery scrambled back away from Neal to the booing and hissing of the disapproving crowd. Neal risked glancing over his shoulder again and when he saw Peter safe at the bars he didn't chase after Slattery this time. Two and half minutes was a long time to have nothing happen in a fight and after another minute of Slattery continuing to crawl away in surrender the judges of the fight made the decision to call it early and declare Neal the winner. The second that the bell rang Neal turned on his heels and ran back over to the bars.
"Peter, are you okay?"
"Neal, what the hell was that?"
"I...I thought Jake was…"
"We'll talk about it later." Peter interrupted quickly realizing that Neal had overheard the violence behind the bars and come to a logical if faulty conclusion about it. "How's your jaw, it's not broken is it?"
"I don't think so." Neal replied before experimentally moving his jaw. "No, just sore."
"Good."
"Peter, what…"
Neal stopped as Jake entered the small cage to unlock the gate into the ring. Spotting the blood soaking Jake's fist Neal turned a concerned look on Peter. With Peter fresh from a fight himself it was impossible for Neal to tell if any of his new injuries had been inflicted by Jake when he'd first stopped fighting Slattery. Suspicious of Jake Neal didn't immediately step towards him to exit the ring.
"It's okay, Neal." Peter assured. "Come on."
Giving in for the moment Neal walked over to the uncharacteristically quiet Jake. Getting a closer look at Jake and the fact that he was barely on his feet Neal's furrowed his brow as he tried to figure out what had happened while he was out in the ring. Not interested in explaining himself Jake just walked off back towards the tunnels expecting Neal and Peter to follow him.
"Jake didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No." Peter assured. "He went after one of the guards."
"What? I'm sorry, Peter, I heard fighting and he's used me to get you to fight in the past so I assu."
"I know, Neal, it's okay."
"It's not okay, I attacked Sla…"
"It's over." Peter interrupted again not wanting Neal to dwell on his actions. "It's just a broken hand, Slattery will be fine, don't worry about him."
"I'm more worried about myself. I..."
"You did what you thought was best."
Seeing that Neal didn't look very convinced Peter put his arm over his shoulder and guided him to follow Jake back to the elevator. They could talk about it later but right now Peter just wanted to get him safely back to their room. Jake had stopped halfway down the dank hall and was leaned against the stone wall waiting for them. As the pair caught up Jake leaned forward and struggled for a moment to push himself away from the wall. Unsteady on his feet he staggered forward.
"Jake?" Neal asked.
"Shut up." Jake snarled without looking back. "Slattery failed to break your face, but I won't."
Neal was a little taken aback by Jake's aggressive response until Peter pointed out the intersection just up head. They were about to turn down the hallway that had the elevator and there would be another of York's men waiting there. They couldn't afford to be caught helping Jake in front of him or even showing concern. Just before they turned the corner Jake made a point of putting his shoulders back. Jake's life had depended on his appearance of alpha dog status for so long that he naturally slipped into the role once more. The man at the elevator looked nervous as Jake approached, having already seen what kind of mood Jake was in when the bloodied guard had been brought through.
Peter had at first thought that the elevator operator might be the weakest point of their prison, but he had quickly learned that he was little more than an extra layer of protection. He didn't actually move the elevator he just made sure the right people got on and off. Inside was a camera that showed the operator which direction to run it. Interestingly enough Jake had made mention that the elevator camera was the only actual operable camera in the Labyrinth. The ones in the tunnels were fakes designed to make the unbranded men think that York was keeping an eye on them. In truth they didn't record because York feared that any kind of feed could be hacked into.
In the elevator Jake continued to stand tall but as soon as they were out and the door slid shut he had to brace himself against the wall. Peter allowed Neal to take a chance to approach Jake now that they were relatively safe in the Labyrinth. Neal hadn't lost his resolve to try and help Jake, however so far Jake had been keeping some distance between them. They could hear when he came and went from his place at the locked door, but it wasn't until it was time to head to the ring that he'd opened it. After having heard that Neal wanted to help him Peter wasn't sure what was keeping Jake licking his wounds in private but now seemed to be no exception as Jake jerked away from Neal.
"Don't touch me!" Jake snapped.
"Jake, you don't look well." Neal said gently.
"I'm fine." Jake hissed. "Let's just get you back to your room before Sawyer gets back, his fight is next and he's increasingly frustrated with not being able to take Peter on in the ring."
"So you're still setting the fights?"
"For now."
The anxiety in Jake's voice betrayed the fact that he was still very much on thin ice as far as York was concerned. Neal went to stay something more but Peter put his hand on his shoulder to stop him. Agitating Jake right now was likely to trigger his pent up rage again and there was no guarantee that he wouldn't take it out on Neal. As ill as he looked he was still powerful and even more unpredictable than usual. Giving into Peter's silent request Neal stayed by his side as they followed Jake back to the room. Unlike before when Jake allowed them to control the door lock now he always locked it from the outside.
Jake got them all the way back but after unlocking the door he dropped down to one knee with a cry of pain. Peter and Neal both stepped forward to help him back up but he blindly lashed out to keep them back. Neal looked to Peter for guidance on their next move. When Jake fought and failed to get back to his feet Peter ignored the possible repercussions and reached down to help him up. Jake didn't exactly accept the help but he didn't pull away until Peter had him on his feet. Jake was sweating heavily as his chest heaved for breath. Having gotten closer Peter could smell the distinct scent of rot and infection coming off a Jake.
"Get off me!"
"You're burning up." Peter said calmly. "You need help."
"I'm fine." Jake insisted stubbornly.
"Jake, have you changed your shirt since York bra…"
"No." Jake interrupted in a terrified voice before Peter could finish. "No…I…I can't. I can't look at it."
Peter sighed in empathy as he finally understood why Jake was insisting on keeping his distance. Unable to face the psychological pain of his injury he was ignoring it physically as well in a childish attempt to avoid dealing with either. He had known that if they had picked up on his infection sooner they would have insisted on tending to it. Peter cursed himself for not having thought of this sooner. The cotton of Jake's shirt was probably stuck to the burn by now leaving a perfect place for bacteria to breed out of control.
"Jake," Neal spoke up "we need to clean the wound."
"No, please…I can't."
"Not on your own you can't," Peter agreed "but we're going to help you through it."
"Trust us." Neal added.
"If York finds out…" Jake started to shiver in fear. "If he finds out you're helping me he'll re-brand you too."
"That's a risk we're willing to take." Peter confidently answered for them both. "More than that it's a price we're willing to pay."
