(Chapter 4)

Peter watched as the construction crew continued to work into the afternoon and evening, pulling out as much as two stories worth of rubble but there was still quite a bit of stone and masonry laying about before they could get far enough down to the basement level. He turned to see El sitting on a nearby cooler, Mozzie sitting near her on the corner both deep in conversation about something. He sighed, thinking about Neal. Once the call had cut out, they had no way to contact him. He wasn't sure what was going on with the young man or if he was even still alive.

"Honey, why don't you sit down with us? You've been standing there for hours. Please?" Elizabeth stood and walked over, wrapping her arms around his waist, nestling her head against him as she led him back to the cooler. He sat down, El sitting on his lap as he held her close.

"He's going to be ok, Peter." She hugged him, leaning her head on his shoulder as he leaned his chin gently on her head. They stayed like that for a while, Jones passing by a few times to give Peter progress reports. Hughes was near the actual excavation keeping an eye on things while having his agents keep track of Farrold's men. Peter felt helpless, trying to think positively. Neal must be ok. He has to be!

()()()

Neal went home, walking up to the building where the loft he shared with Kate was. He took the stairs two at a time feeling happier as he reached their floor. He pulled out his key to open the door when someone grasped his arm and turned him around.

"Neal Caffrey?" The voice seemed familiar but he couldn't quite place it, looking at its source. A man just slightly taller than himself with brown hair and eyes, a typical government issue suit and beige Columbo-like jacket looked down at him as he stood leaning back against the door. Neal gulped, his blue eyes widening as he realized what was going on.

"I thought so. You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent…" He listened in tense silence as he was read his rights, the agent cuffing him with a look like a father catching his son doing something wrong. Neal woke up from his surprise after a moment as he was being led away from the apartment.

()()()

Neal sulked in the holding cell, curled up on the small bed, eyes closed and wishing he were anywhere else. He wasn't sure why he was being held and had refused to say anything, the agent in charge looking at him sadly. He did make his one phone call letting Mozzie know where he was and to let Kate know.

"Caffrey, you have a visitor!" The voice of the guard spoke loudly, the sound of footsteps nearing and then a soft spoken but familiar voice.

"Neal?" Kate's voice was like a lighthouse signal in a storm, Neal turning and sitting up.

"Kate? What are you doing here?" He walked over to the bars and held a hand out to her. She grasped his and they stood like that a few minutes before the guard coughed.

"Five minutes, Caffrey." The guard yelled, Kate turning. She looked frightened but he smiled at her confidently.

"They can't prove anything." He whispered to her Kate nodding ever so slightly.

"I'll be out soon. Don't worry." He kissed her as best he could through the bars before the guard returned and she had to go. Neal leaned against the bars watching her till she disappeared out of sight, turning and slipping down to the floor as he leaned against the bars. He was breathing hard, feeling as if the bars were pushing in on him. Neal curled up on the floor, back against the bars, his chest feeling tight as he lay there.

"Hey, are you ok?" He barely heard the voice, his pulse ringing in his ears as he lay there hyperventilating. Neal's body shuddered ever so slightly, the sound of something clanging open and then a hand touched his shoulder. He didn't react, eyes closed as the hand gently patted his arm.

"Just take a deep breath. Ok? Breathe… Breathe…" The voice was soothing, familiar he thought. He felt his body relaxing, chest loosening up as he began to calm down. Neal finally turned his head, opening his eyes and looked up into two brown ones. He sat up with a start, pushing back against the cell bars.

"Feeling better?" Agent Burke crouched there beside him, a soft smile on his face. Neal just stared at the Fed, unsure of what to think. The man who'd been chasing him was helping him? He saw Burke hold out a hand, an expectant look on his face. Neal cautiously held up his hand and took hold, allowing the agent to pull him up to his feet.

"Did you need a doctor?" Burke was still being very nice to him, the action making him cautious. Neal shook his head.

"I'm good. Are you here to interrogate me?" He didn't say much else, walking back to the cot and sitting down. He made a motion for the agent to join him, the guard outside looked leery but Burke just waved a hand, sitting on the bunk across from Neal.

"We have all the evidence you know; everything to try and convict you. I just…" The agent paused as if unsure what to say. Neal would almost think he cared but how could they be friends? He was a con and Burke a Fed. Neal kept his eyes square on the agent, unsure of what he was trying to do.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm innocent." Neal kept his façade up, never admitting to or letting on he was guilty. He wouldn't give the man the satisfaction. Burke had caught him fair and square but he couldn't have anything on him. How could he? Mozz would help him; find a way for him to stay out of prison.

"I know you think these people are your friends, but you were ratted out. I just thought I'd let you know. You don't have to talk to me but…" The agent paused as he saw the look on Neal's face, a sense of guilt at being so blunt but the kid was going to prison. He had to know the truth.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I want a lawyer." Neal's voice was soft, almost lost sounding. He was leaning back against the wall of the cot, sliding down to lay back against it. Neal felt more tired than ever. Was he telling him the truth and if so who could have turned him in? Mozzie wouldn't have. Neither would Kate. He tried to think…

"I… You'll be provided with a lawyer." He heard Burke stand up, footsteps echoing as he walked back to the door and the guard let him out. Neal sat up for a moment and looked across the cell at the agent.

"Thanks." He said, not really sure why. The agent turned and looked at him curiously and nodded his face still with that soft smile. Neal watched as the agent disappeared out of sight before he leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. It was metal, the walls metal… the bars. He was over the worse of his claustrophobia but it still hit him hard knowing he might go to prison. He wondered who his lawyer would be and who may have ratted on him. Why did the agent tell him that? Neal added that to one of many mysteries as he felt himself start to fall asleep.

()()()

Farrold nodded into the phone as he leaned back against the rich leather inside the limo. He didn't look happy, his brow furrowed.

"You should have taken care of it! When they find him, the con will tell them what happened. Why wouldn't they believe him?" His voice was firm with just enough anger to show he meant business.

"Fine… just be sure he's not alive to say anything. Have someone there to help him out if you know what I mean. Just get it done! I can't have anything helping the FBI in their investigation." He hung up the cell and threw it on the seat beside him in frustration. They were supposed to have made the CI disappear to distract Burke but they had botched it. If the con was alive when they got him out of the rubble, which he seriously doubted after this much time, he could implicate them all. They had better not screw up.

()()()

Peter gave the keys to the car to his wife, El looking at him with watery eyes.

"Call me if… Just call me." She kissed and hugged him, slipping into the car. She rolled the window down and he leaned in and kissed her again.

"Drive safe." Peter watched her nod, moving back as she started up the car and took off. He felt lonely all of a sudden, standing there in the dust left by the car. He stood there looking after the car when he felt a hand on arm. Peter turned to see Mozzie standing beside him.

"You think… he's ok?" Mozz's voice seemed quieter than usual, surprising Peter who didn't know what to think or feel. A numbness had fallen over him or maybe exhaustion. He'd been searching for Neal all day and the dig had been going on since just before noon. It was nearly 9 pm now. It had been almost 12 hours since they'd found Neal and still they were only dragging the surface with the debris. Could he still be alive after all this time?

"Peter…" Mozz had called him by his name. Peter looked down and stared with watery eyes, blinking back the tears. Mozz seemed to be in the same boat, wiping at his glasses tiredly.

"Mozz, I can only hope he is." Peter didn't try to smile, not sure how to feel with everything going on. If this had been meant as a distraction on Farrold's part from the case, it had worked. He wasn't thinking about Farrold getting put away for racketeering, money laundering or even slum lording. He was hoping for the death penalty. If Neal was dead... he didn't want to think about it despite the obvious possibility, but if he was, Peter would make sure Farrold went down. He would make the man's life miserable.

"Hey boss!" Jones came running up, his voice staggered from running. He caught his breath, leaning over a moment and then looked at Peter.

"Jones, what's up?" Peter noticed a kind of excited gleam in the junior agent's eyes, his lips curling up ever so slightly.

"They found him, Peter. They found Neal!" Jones looked about as excited as he could be, Peter unsure how to react other than to let the tears he'd been holding back flow if only a little. He had to go see for himself.

"Neal's alive?" Mozzie's tone was dumbfounded and then he perked up a little, their exhaustion fading.

"Neal's alive!" He said it again, looking between Peter and Jones all of them looking suddenly bright and eager again. Peter felt a weight lifting off of him as they started to run towards the site. He had to be there. He had to make sure the first face Neal saw was a friendly one.

()()()

Prison were hellish for the young con. He didn't hold anyone responsible for his downfall but himself although he always wondered at Burke's words:

"I know you think these people are your friends, but you were ratted out. I just thought I'd let you know. You don't have to talk to me but…"

The agent had been square with him. They had a past if nothing else but nothing that held them beyond a cop chasing a criminal. Still the man had been kind to him even when he was at his worse, something that puzzled and intrigued him. Neal found out as much as he could about Peter Burke and with the little resources he had sent the man cards on his birthday. Heck he had once sent them champagne during a stakeout on him why not a card once a year. Let the agent try to puzzle this out.

Time passed and Kate came like clockwork to visit him. He'd been in prison two years, the ache for freedom like a drug but he could wait if she was there. He knew he could.

"I'm sorry, Neal. I can't wait anymore. I... I have to move on with my life. Don't try to find me." Her voice was flat and expressionless, her hand putting the receiver back on the cradle. He touched the glass as she stood, pressing his hands against it and looking anxiously at her.

"Kate... we can make this work. Please don't leave. I... I'll be out soon and we can start over." He was desperate to keep her here, make her stay but she shook her head and started to turn.

"I can't do this anymore, Neal. I'm tired of waiting. Good-bye." She was crying, he saw the tears she was hiding as she turned to leave. He felt the same warmth in his eyes, his hands pressing against the glass.

"KATE! KATE!"

The guard came in and looked at him. Neal wiped at his eyes glaring at the man as he held out his hands for the manacles as they led him back to his cell. He shrugged out of the same bindings as they freed him and closed the cell door shut. He curled up in the corner of his cell and sulked. He found her picture on the wall and pulled it off, looking at it and holding it to his chest.

"Maybe she was just angry. She'll be here next week."

A week passed and he had no visitors. He asked the guard Rudy if Kate had called or left a note but there was nothing. The guard almost seemed to feel sorry for him which made it harder to deal with. Neal didn't want pity, he wanted to know why Kate had left him. He couldn't understand what had driven her away although he knew deep in his heart it had been his failure. He pushed that thought away, not ready to accept his own fault for her going. She would come back. It had only been a week.

Another week passed and there was no news of Kate or a visit. He began to worry, looking at himself in the glass as he passed it on the way to his work assignment. He had a few weeks growth but he didn't care. Who would notice he had been shaving, who was there to shave for? He barely noticed his surroundings anymore, all this thoughts on Kate and why she was gone. He tried to find out where she'd gone but nobody knew. She had vanished like a ghost.

Another month went by and he had a full grown beard now, his hair shaggy and looked nothing like his former self. Nobody would recognize him as Neal Caffrey in the outside world and everyone here was used to this version. He had to make a break. He had to find Kate.

Neal pooled everything he could to make his escape. It was easy. He was a model prisoner so he got whatever he asked for. Nobody thought to question his use of a tape recorder. He wanted to hear music so they brought him one although an old worn out model but it would do. He only needed to modify it enough to change the key card he took from the guard. He borrowed some books from the prison library on car repair when the book cart came around asking a few of his more friendlier car thieves about their line of work. He learned a lot in a very short time.

He traded with another prisoner for a shard of mirror and shaver. It wasn't hard for him to get office duties for one day and quickly dig through the Warden's desk and PC and get enough info to steal his wife's credit card information and buy a uniform. Don't these people know who they're dealing with?

He had it all, Neal was going to get out. He just had to wait for the right moment and he could go search for Kate. Neal snuck into the staff quarters for the guards where he had hidden his little stash. He opened up the toilet tank and pulled out the items he'd put there, using the clean water to tidy up his look so he fit in. Nobody remembered the clean cut Neal Caffrey so he would blend in as a guard once he finished.

It took less than 20 minutes for him to shave, cut some of his hair off and wash up. He pulled on the uniform and boots and pushed the key card into his pocket. He stashed the old things back in the bag and stuffed it inside the tank again before making his break.

He made it out of the Super-max feeling like a superstar. He hot-wired a prison maintenance truck and from then on it was all easy going. He bought himself a yellow coat to blend in at the airport and get himself a nice set of wheels. The man even tipped him a hundred dollars making it easier to get around. He needed to contact Mozzie but for now he was concerned with finding Kate. She must still be at the loft.

Neal ran up the stairs three at a time, his feet light as he thought about seeing her again. He was free and he would help her with whatever it was she was going through. They were meant to be and he was going to be there for her. He knocked, not getting a reply then picked the lock and went inside.

The loft was empty except for a few small items that had been left behind. He walked around the small space looking for some small sign she might still be there but there was nothing. He continued to explore every corner, every inch till he found it and cradled the item in his arms. She had left him a message and his heart began to break. He slipped down to the floor leaning back against a pillar in the middle of the space and stared at the wine bottle, his vision blurring as they filled with tears.

"I can't do this anymore, Neal. I'm tired of waiting. Good-bye."

He heard those words and realized maybe, just maybe she really had left him. Neal looked at the item over and over again, puzzling her behavior when he heard light footsteps heading his way.

"I see she left."

Neal perked up, wiping at his eyes quickly but not getting up, the bottle still held tightly like a baby in his hands.

"I missed her by two days." He said those words sadly, looking up to see Agent Peter Burke come into view from behind him and walk around.

"You packing?" The agent asked but Neal just shook his head without standing.

"You know I don't like guns." He was watching the agent, Burke looking down at him and nodding.

"She leave you a note in that?" Peter seemed honestly concerned as he asked that, Neal answering back automatically.

"The bottle is the message." Neal tried not to sound too sad when he said it but it was true. She had left him the bottle as a sign she didn't believe his promises. Peter nodded.

"You know they're going to give you four more years for this?" Peter almost sounded sorry but Neal didn't want to be pitied. He was hurt and at this point he just wanted to be alone.

"I don't care." Neal finally pushed himself up slowly to his feet and stood looking at the agent a small smile forming on his face.

"Is that the same suit you caught me in?" He saw the agent smile back, looking down briefly at himself and nodding with a silly grin.

"It's a classic. Suspect is clean." Neal perked up, watching the man speak into a walkie-talkie, both of them so casual despite the situation."

"How many are there?" He was feeling worried now, flashing lights reflected from outside and the sound of sirens reaching up. Neal thought he heard footsteps coming closer.

"Including me and my men and the state troopers and cops... all of them." Peter sounded about as sorry as he could be without really saying it. Neal was glad it had been Peter and not someone else who'd caught him. Anyone else would have shot him on sight or cuffed him by now. There wouldn't have been any chat and that's what he had needed was someone to bend the ear of if only a little.

"Neal..." He heard the agent speaking to him but this felt different. The scene deviating.

"I need you to do something for me." The agent's voice sounded calmer, gentler. Neal nodded unsure of what to expect.

"What is it?" Neal noticed the little red glimmer of something on the man's jacket but he was distracted by the conversation and its sudden turn.

"Wake up."

()()()

Peter made it to the site first with Jones and Mozzie right at his heels. He saw Hughes smiling at him, walking over to pat him on the shoulder.

"I see Jones told you the good news? The search dogs have located Caffrey. We're just waiting for them to dig him out. They're almost there." Hughes' eyes seemed almost shiny with relief, Peter glad to know his boss was just as happy to find the CI as he was.

"Do they know if he's..." He paused unsure if he wanted to curse a good thing by saying what he was thinking. He saw the knowing look on Reese's face.

"We'll find out in a moment. Here..." Hughes took off the hard hat, vest and glasses and handed them to Burke.

"You'll need them to get closer. I'm going to watch from the sidelines for a few." He smiled at the agent and Peter grinned back, his heart beating in hopeful anticipation. Jones was already set up with hard hat, vest and glasses both agents moving in a little closer as they saw the rescue crew working hard on a particular pile of rock.

"I see him!" Someone shouted, Peter getting excited and moving a bit closer to see what was going on. The rescue dog was looking excited, the handler pulling it aside before two other men came in and started to reach into a space in the ground. After a moment he saw a very ragged looking figure pulled out of the hole. Peter moved forward as they placed the figure on a gurney an ambulance standing by.

"Neal... Is he alive?" He had moved in next to the EMTs as they carried him over to the ambulance. He saw them lay the gurney down near the back of the truck, a respirator pulled out and several other pieces of equipment as they check the young man's vitals. He was barely recognizable, his body covered from head to toe in gray sooty ash. He looked pale and almost boyish, eyes shut tightly, body limp one arm hanging loosely. Peter noticed the cuts and bruising on his friend's skin around the wrists and hands. He felt an anger in him, rage threatening to blind him but he held back.

"I'm not getting a pulse or respiration." The EMTs began to work on the young man immediately performing CPR. Peter stood aside but he wanted to push them all aside and shake the young man, threaten him to wake up.

"Neal... wake up... please..." He whispered, a cold feeling washing over him as he watched them work on his friend. Finally someone spoke after what seemed a long silence.

"Respiration and Pulse, positive." He saw them push the respirator onto the young man's face as they picked up the gurney again and started to push it into the back of the ambulance. Peter walked up before they closed it and asked to ride with him. They agreed reluctantly, Peter leaving the hardhat, vest and glasses with Jones. Mozzie looked up at him before the doors closed expectantly.

"Take care of him Suit..." He wasn't threatening, just asking. Peter nodded making a comment that Jones take the little guy home and tell Hughes where he was. The doors shut and the sirens rang as the ambulance took off. Peter looked down at his friend, taking one hand in his.

"Neal, it's Peter. Can you hear me?" Neal didn't move, his face still as the stone dust that covered his skin. He looked so pale like a statue from ancient Greece and just as delicate.

"Neal?" He kept talking hoping for a reply till he felt it. He looked down and saw the young man's fingers move if only a little, leaving a small imprint of white dust on his hand before they relaxed again.

()()()

Mozzie watched as Neal was carted into the ambulance, Peter going in with him. He would have gone but for his fear of hospitals and the feeling of helplessness with the situation. He saw that in Peter but knew the agent would be stronger than he if need be. He'd make sure Neal stayed alive.

"Hey..." Jones was talking to him, looking at Mozz curiously.

"I can use that ride The Suit mentioned if you're still offering." He saw Jones nod and smile slightly.

"Yeah... let me just talk to our boss and I'll be right back." Jones motioned toward Hughes, Mozzie nodding as the agent took off. Mozz walked back to the trailer realizing he had left his jacket over at the cooler. He was just picking it up when he heard someone talking inside the portable building.

"Fine... it's being taken care of. They're following the agent and CI now. Don't worry so much!" Mozzie froze as he heard the voice wondering who was talking even though he knew who they were speaking about. He heard the door opening and ducked behind the trailer into the shadows.

Two men left the trailer, one man wearing a very distinctive watch. It seemed to have something engraved along the side but in the dim light around the trailer it was hard to see what. Mozz had noticed the man earlier trying to remember who he was. He was about to peer around to see more but someone grabbed his shoulder and he almost screamed.

"Hey it's just me. Been looking for you." Jones stood there looking down at Neal's friend curiously. Mozz looked up at him and then back at the man with the watch.

"Jones was it? I need to call the Suit. Do you have his number?" He saw Jones nod.

"Good, let's go."