Chapter 2

Peter-

Peter was pacing the hospital's "waiting room", feeling nervous. Neal had been admitted into the Emergency Room, had been in the operating room for three hours, and they were still working on him! He rubbed the back of his head. This was all his fault. If he hadn't let Neal talk him into going home early to see Elizabeth, his friend wouldn't have been shot, wouldn't have been in the hospital, he would have been safe. Peter cursed himself mentally as he continued his pacing. He was tired, but he wanted...needed to be awake when the doctor came out with the news of his friend.

As if the thought of the doctor had summoned him, a tired looking man who went by the name of Dr. Paul Gray, walked into the room. "Neal Caffrey?" He asked. Peter's head snapped towards the doctor, fixing brown eyes the other man, his gaze filled with worry and fear as he walked over to him.

"I'm Agent Peter Burke, Neal's partner. How is he?" He asked, a tightness in his chest as he waited for the reply.

"We lost him twice on the table, but his condition is stable right now. He lost a great deal of blood." Dr. Gray said. Peter felt the tightness in his chest loosen a tiny bit.

"I'm going to see him. What room is he in?" Peter said, watching in dismay as the doctor shook his head.

"I can't let you see him yet. He needs rest, besides, it is late, you should head home." The doctor said softly, his eyes holding a sympathetic look as Peter's brown eyes flashed with anger.

"Look, Neal is an FBI Consultant, he is my friend, he is my partner, he is practically family. There is nothing that is going to stop me from seeing him right now! WHERE IS HIS ROOM?" Peter snapped, prodding the doctor in the chest in his anger. He saw the doctor go pale, and after a few long moment, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Room 402."

Peter gave a last glare at the doctor before he started walking down the hall, coming to a stop in front of the room that held his friend, his partner, Neal Caffrey. He hesitated for a moment before he walked in, his gaze automatically drawn to Neal's still form. Again, as Peter stared at him, he was reminded of the innocent child, and again, Neal felt a wave of guilt flood through him. He walked over to Neal and grabbed his hand gently.

"Neal?" He asked quietly, and felt Neal's hand shift in his grip. He blinked, stunned for a moment. "Neal?" He asked again, and again, Neal's hand shifted, and then he felt a light tapping on his hand. Morse Code, and yet Neal hadn't opened his eyes, Peter had no way of knowing if Neal was unconscious or not. It wouldn't be the first time Neal had been able to talk to him through Morse Code while he was still unconscious, and how he did it, Peter had no clue.

P-E-T-E-R

N-E-A-L-H-O-W-D-O-Y-O-U-F-E-E-L

I-V-E-H-A-D-B-E-T-T-E-R-D-A-Y-S

I-M-S-O-R-R-Y

N-O-T-Y-O-U-R-F-A-U-L-T Neal's hand quivered for a few minutes before it continued tapping. Q-U-I-T-B-L-A-M-I-N-G-Y-O-U-R-S-E-L-F

Peter blinked, wishing his friend didn't know him so well. He let out a soft sigh, watching as Neal's eyes flutter open for a few seconds, blue eyes blinking for a few seconds, looking straight at him, before his eyes closed and his head tilted to the side, his hand going limp in Peter's as Neal fell unconscious. He stayed there for a long while, just watching the young man breath, the only thing making any real sound was the monitors telling him how his friend was doing. He looked around, spotting a chair nearby. Not the most comfortable looking thing, but right now, Peter refused to leave Neal. He lightly patted the younger man's leg before he walked over to the chair and sat down in it, his eyes closing, and within a few minutes, a light snore rose from the FBI agent's lips.

Neal-

Neal Caffrey was dreaming.

Pain blossomed in his side as a fist rained blows down on him. He lifted his blue gaze to try to catch a glimpse of his tormentor's face, but all he saw was a fist flying towards him, and then felt pain in his face as he heard the sharp crack of his nose as it broke. He let out a muffled groan of pain.

"Bring his friend in!" A voice ordered...was that female? Neal blinked, lifting his head to watch through swollen eyes as Peter was dragged in, unconscious. Noooo! Peter! You shouldn't have come! The words howled in his mind before he heard a sharp click as one of his tormentors aimed a gun at Peter.

"NO!" He cried, leaping forward despite the fact that his hands and feet were bound. He heard the report of a gun go off...

Neal jerked awake, gasping in terror, and a thin sheet of icy sweat covering his face. After a few moments, his eyes focused on a pair of concerned brown eyes in front of him.

"Neal? You're awake! You ok?" He heard his friend say, and though Neal could not get the image of Peter just...laying there, out of his head, Neal nodded.

"Y..ye...ah..." Neal wasn't ok though, he was terrified, though he wouldn't let Peter know that. Heck, he could be dying and he'd say he was fine. That was how it was with him. "H...how long...?" Neal asked, gazing up at his friend.

"Four days." Neal blinked in shock. He had been in the hospital for four days? No wonder his voice sounded so raspy! His eyes flickered to a figure as she walked through the door, carrying two cups filled with coffee. It was Elizabeth Burke, Peter's wife. He flashed her a smile and watched as she grinned back at him.

"You're awake! Peter and I were worried sick about you!" She exclaimed. Neal blinked, feeling all fuzzy inside. It was nice to know that he had people who cared about him...friends. Peter cleared his throat.

"Neal...do you know who did this to you?" He asked, gazing at his partner. Neal shook his head faintly, wishing he could tell his friend that he did know who had attacked him, but he didn't.

"No. Sorry Peter." He apologized. Peter let out a soft sigh.

"You don't remember anything?"

"I know that there were three people, one girl and two men. The girl's hair was a light blond color and she had dark brown eyes while the two men had dark brown or black hair, but other than that I don't remember, didn't get a good enough look at them."

"Well, when we find them..." Peter's voice trailed off, but Neal got the message. The girl and the two men were screwed. His lips twitched in a faint smile, but he closed his eyes, still tired, and within moments, he was asleep.

It had been a few days, but finally, Neal Caffrey was allowed to finally leave the hospital, and he couldn't have been more glad. He found the hospital very boring, yeah, he knew he had almost died from a gunshot wound, and that the doctors had saved him, but that didn't mean the hospital was a boring place.

Neal chuckled slightly, remembering how Peter had insisted that he drive Neal to his apartment, just as Neal had insisted Peter go spend time with his wife a week ago. He shook his head slightly, smiling to himself as he unlocked the door to his apartment. Peter had told Neal off for being so careless, and that he had to be more careful when he was alone, but Neal had understood why Peter acted the way he did. He was being Peter, just showing Neal that he had been worried. He walked in and closed the door before he flicked on the lights. The apartment seemed unusually dark.

He gave a small frown as the lights didn't come on. Had there some power-outage? Neal frowned, no...that didn't seem right. There was something wrong here. Very very very bad. As his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, he grabbed his phone and dialed Peter's number just as a voice spoke.

"I'm surprised to see you alive Neal Caffrey."

The young man stiffened in shock, and he didn't register to Peter's voice on the other line of the phone. Oh, he knew he was there all right, but Neal wouldn't take the chance to reply to his partner, in case Peter was somehow found and hurt. Instead he did the only thing that made sense. He pushed the speaker button and willed Peter to stay quiet.

"I bet you are." He replied to the voice as a bright light flashed in his eyes, temporarily blinding him. Where had all the light come from? He felt strong hands grip him from behind and he automatically began struggling, finding it hard to breathe as the grip tightened around his chest. "Get your hands off me!" He yelled, fighting to break free as he looked around, his vision returning to normal. He almost did when a fist came out of nowhere. It smashed into his temple, and the young man went totally limp, slumping to the floor as the phone dropped out of his hands.

"You know where to take him." The female said coldly. It was she who had spoken first, saying she was surprised to see the ex-con alive. She stared at the phone for a moment as her accomplices obeyed her orders, dragging Neal Caffrey away. She then picked up the phone and saw who Neal had called. She chuckled darkly. "Hello Peter. I do trust you can remember who I am."

She heard Peter gasp, and she knew he had recognized her voice. Her lips twitched into a dark smile as she heard Peter shouting at her through the phone. "If you hurt one hair on his head I swear you will regret it for the rest of your miserable life!"

"Nonsense Peter. Why would I hurt Neal Caffrey. Oh wait, I remember. To show you how it feels to know that your best friend and partner is gone forever! Truth be told, at first, I just wanted to kill you, but this seems far better." She chuckled, ending the call with that. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a card, her personal calling card. Just something left behind to annoy the feds. She placed in in Neal's phone and snapped it shut before she left the room.

On the card was the girl's first two initials. S.S. And under that were two words. Sasha Storm. The whole thing was written in beautiful calligraphy, and as Sasha got into the car with Jason and Mark, the two men helping her, and an unconscious Neal Caffrey, she smiled to herself. Finally, after all the long years of hunting down and observing Peter Burke, she would get her revenge...