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Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from White Collar. None what so ever, no likeness, nothing.. Sadly.. That right belongs to the shows amazing creator Jeff Eastin! But I do own my OC's.

Authors Note: Well I decided to post this a little early! Enjoy! And yes, I know… another Cliffie! Sorry! : )

Chapter 8: The Promise

Neal collapsed to the ground, immediately grasping the bullet wound on his side. He bit his cheek, trying to not cry out at the added pressure on the wound. He took deep breaths, trying to will the pain away. He'd been grazed before, but never full on shot, and the pain was unbearable. He screwed his eyes shut as a new wave of pain crossed over him. All he could hear was his blood pounding in his ears, as Burton approached.

All of a sudden, a new pain, one that felt like a bomb had exploded in his side, radiated through Neal. He opened his mouth, an earsplitting scream escaping his lips. Pain, worse than getting shot, shot throughout Neal, causing him to pant once again. His side was throbbing, and he felt more blood escaping his wound.

Neal took deep breaths, as deep as he could at least, trying to calm down as felt himself going into shock. He knew that if he went into shock, there was no way he was going to survive. He opened his eyes, seeing Burton standing over him, smirking. Neal wanted to smack the smirk off of his face, but found that he didn't even have the strength to speak.

Just as Neal was finally getting his breathing under a little control, pain exploded in his stomach once more. Neal screamed as loud as he could, the pain overbearing. He began coughing, feeling something spilling out of his mouth. He felt tired all of a sudden and glanced up at the camera, silently praying that Peter would find him soon, as his eyes closed.

Burton looked down at Neal, smirking at the dying ex-con. His plan for revenge was almost complete. As soon as Caffrey was dead, he would dump his body outside of the FBI Headquarters. He knew most of the Agents there cared for Caffrey, and he wanted them to feel loss. He wanted to take Caffrey away from them, just as they had taken Maria from him. He knew that Maria would be pissed that he did it but he didn't care, he did it all for her. Once Caffrey was dead, he would find a way to get Maria out of prison, he'd find a way to get her back. Burton was too busy staring at Neal, to see Jim run inside. He rushed over to Burton.

"Shawn, we have to go." Jim said, breathlessly.

"What?" Burton asked, turning to look at Jim. "Why?"

"Cops are coming, I hear sirens." Jim answered, glancing around the room

"How did they find us so fast?" Burton asked, standing up.

"You've been staring at Caffrey for about 15 Minutes now. They must've checked out Maria after we cut the feed."

"Damnit." Burton cursed, looking down at Neal.

"We've got to go, Now." Jim urged, hearing the sirens getting closer.

"No. I'm not leaving until Caffrey's dead." Burton replied.

"Fine, put another bullet in him and let's go already!"

"No. He's not getting off that easily, he deserves to suffer for what he did to Maria!" Burton yelled. Jim looked at the door, hearing the sirens right outside.

"Look, he's gonna die anyways! Maria's already in prison, there's no need for you to go to prison too!" Jim grabbed Burton and turned him around. " Brother, please!" He pleaded. Burton looked at him for a second and shook his head.

"No. I'm not leaving until he's dead." Burton replied. He glanced at the door, hearing car doors closing. "Go, get out of here Jim. I'll hold them off.""No Shawn, no." Jim shook his head.

"Promise me something Jim," Jim looked at him. "If anything happens… finish what I started." He said, staring at Jim.

"Shawn-" Jim began.

"Promise me Brother!" Burton yelled. Jim looked at him for a second, and then nodded.

"I promise." Burton smiled."Good, now get out of here!" He yelled, hearing footsteps in the hall. Jim nodded.

"Be careful little brother." Jim said, turning and quickly slipping out of the window.

Burton watched as his brother left out the window. He turned to the door, hearing the sound of a battering ram hitting it. He looked down at Neal, an evil smile spreading across his face.