Chapter 3

Neal-

"Wake him up." The voice was cold, but definitely female, and it her voice barely registered in Neal Caffrey's clouded mind before the sharp sting of someone slapping him jerked him out of his semi-conscious state. He let out a small groan, blinking until his blue gaze finally managed to focus on a pair of dark brown eyes in front of him. At first, he thought it was Peter, but the eyes held no hint of worry or fondness in them. Instead, they gazed at Neal Caffrey in disgust. Soon, his gaze sharpened as he shook off the clinging threads of unconsciousness, and he took in all the features of everything he saw, starting with the girl.

The young woman was actually quite pretty, she had slightly pale skin, she had honey blond hair that framed her face with gentle curls and her eyes dark brown in color. Though her eyes did not show the usual emotion Neal could usually see in everybody's eyes. Humor. Happiness. Fear. Shock. Anger. Her eyes were dark. Only one true emotion filling them. Hate. Blinking, Neal looked away from her, and noticed that they were in some sort of basement, though of what building, he had no idea.

Again, Neal blinked, and tried to move, only to find that he was tied tight to a metal pole. His gaze shifted back to the girl and he glared at her in annoyance. "Who are you? What do you want?" He snapped, sounding angry. That was almost a rare emotion for the ex-con. He never seemed angry, or when he was, he usually hid it well.

The young woman chuckled darkly. "My name is Sasha Storm. And as for what I want, that is simple. I want Peter Burke to suffer the way I did when he killed my brother."

Neal's blue eyes narrowed slightly. "Peter doesn't kill unless he has to, so I'm sure your brother deserved it." He retorted, glaring at Sasha. He saw her hand flash forward, and felt sharp agony rip through him as her hand connected with his chest, right where he got shot. He couldn't help utter out a cry of pain.

"Take that back Neal Caffrey!" Sasha Storm's dark brown eyes held the light of rage in them. "You take that back right now, or else you will regret it!"

"Oh really? What are you going to do? Shoot me again?" Neal replied, finding it a bit hard to breath. Sasha gazed at the young man for a long moment before she turned around to the two men just behind her.

"Jason. Mark. Stand him up. He needs a lesson in manners." Sasha barked out the orders, watching as the two men hauled the ex-con to his feet. "Now Neal, I will give you one chance to take back what you said about your partner killing my brother." She said, watching him. "If you don't, you will regret it."

Neal let out a small laugh, wincing at the pain in his chest flickered throughout him. "I will not apologize for the truth." He replied, holding his head high even though he knew he was in for it. Then, he saw Sasha smile grimly before she struck, hitting Neal right in the gut, driving the breath out of him. He doubled over slightly, going as far as he could go with both being tied up and held by the two thugs. He felt pain in his ribs, chest, stomach. Everywhere Sasha hit, pain followed. Finally, after about an hour of getting beaten by her, she stepped over to the thug on his right side, Jason. She tapped him once and then took his place, now holding Neal. Her grip was merciless throughout Jason's round of beating Neal, hitting the young ex-con everywhere. In the face. In the chest. The stomach. Every part of Neal's upper torso.

Then it was Mark's turn. "Untie him and let him go. I want to see how he reacts." Mark said quietly, and as Sasha and Jason did so, he studied Neal Caffrey. The young man didn't look so great. A black eye was forming on the right side of his face, his lips were split and bleeding, and it looked as if his nose had been broken. He watched the young man sway as Sasha and Jason backed away from him. Mark's lips twitched into a fierce smile. This would be all too easy.

With a fierce yell, Mark darted forward, ramming into the ex-con, throwing him backwards, straight into the metal pole that he had been tied to. He watched as the young man's features lit with pain, his blue eyes holding a sort of dead, hollow look in them. Mark's right fist swung upward, connecting with the lower part of Neal's ribcage. He heard a few sharp cracking sounds, which told Mark he had broken a few of Caffrey's ribs. He struck the young man again, this time in the chest, and when he pulled his hand away, he could see blood leaking through the ex-con's shirt.

On and on, the beating proceeded, until finally, Jason had to drag Mark away from Neal Caffrey, who now had a broken arm, a few broken ribs, a broken nose, a black eye, bruises covering the entire upper part of his body, blood staining his shirt from his chest wound, and split, slightly swollen, bleeding lips. Sasha, seeming not satisfied, grabbed a knife from a nearby shelf. She stalked over to Neal and shoved him up against a wall before she sent the knife straight into the young man's left shoulder. It wasn't until she heard him howl in pain that she ripped the knife out of his shoulder and stepped back as blood soaked the entire left side of his shirt. Neal sank to the floor, his blue eyes uncharacteristically dull and vacant as he stared off into the middle of nowhere. He had gotten in a couple of good blows to Mark, but it hadn't been enough. His face was extremely pale in color, and it didn't really look like he was breathing, which wasn't really surprising as he had been finding it hard to breath anyway. He had gone into shock, and within seconds, he was unconscious.

Sasha, satisfied, for now at least, pulled out a phone and made a phone call as Jason dragged the unconscious ex-con back over to the metal pole they had tied him up to, and retied him to it.

Peter-

Peter glared at the card that had been inside Neal's phone. He had rushed over to his friend's apartment as fast as he could, but it had been too late. Neal had been gone, and there were definitely signs of a struggle. Peter was furious. With himself. He should have insisted Neal go home with him, but no...he hadn't even really thought of that as an option, and now, his partner was missing. So now he was sitting at home, trying to think, though finding it near impossible.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Peter yelled at himself mentally. He had no idea where Neal was! They hadn't placed the tracking anklet on him, no, they were going to do that tomorrow morning. Well, too late now!

Peter nearly leaped five feet in the air when his phone started ringing. With an annoyed sigh, he flipped it open.

"Burke." He said.

"Enjoying yourself Agent Burke?" A voice asked. Peter shot bolt right up.

"Sasha! Let me speak to Neal right now!" He spat, one fist clenching into a fist. It was the one that held the card Sasha Storm had left behind.

"I'm afraid I can't do that..." Sasha's voice held a dark humor to it.

"What did you do to him?" Peter growled, furious.

"Nothing too serious. He's just in shock right now from the beating we delivered to him." Sasha laughed. Peter sat there, frozen with fear for his friend, and very angry.

"You beat him? WHY?" Peter was yelling now.

"Do you remember when you killed Alex Storm?"

"Alex Storm, the one who stole a million dollars worth of paintings?"

"Yes. Glad you do remember him. Remember that girl who promised revenge because you killed her partner? That was me. And what better way to get revenge than to kill your partner before I take you out? Of course, I'm enjoying hearing you suffer, and I know I enjoyed watching your partner get thrashed."

"Touch him again, and you will regret it. Kill him and you die." Peter's voice was cold, clipped.

"I doubt that." Came the reply. "I'd hurry Agent Burke...your pet con won't be able to hold on much longer, especially with the bomb that will go off in 24 hours. Oops. Sorry I let that slip." Sasha's voice was filled with sarcasm at the end, and there was a click, telling Peter she had hung up. Peter sat there, stiff with shock as Sasha's words replayed in his mind.

Your pet con can't hold on much longer, especially with the bomb that will go off in the next 24 hours...

Peter dialed a number on his phone quickly.

"Jones! We need to find Caffrey! Now!"