(Chapter 4)

Neal dreamed of what happened after he had been found trying to escape. If he had been miserable before, Lynkos made sure he was worse off. He was only fed once or twice a week at best, someone always on guard to keep watch. Andre wasn't on the list of people who guarded him after what happened but the man was still on board. He would see him sometimes walk by the open hatch with a sad look on his face quickly hidden if the guard or Lynkos passed. Most of the men he had befriended that guarded him had to act the part despite the occasional looks of pity and concern. He was no longer asked his opinion on anything by the captain after his attempted escape. Lynkos had no use for him but kept him around as a living example to the others what not to do. It seemed to keep them in place but Neal thought he heard dissension amongst some of the men or maybe he was dreaming. He could hear voices on nights Lynkos left them alone, men speaking quietly outside the hatch.

Another month or more passed, the young man having lost count of his imprisonment as he knelt in agony in the hull. He had begun to hallucinate, memories of that day he was lost coming back to him. He heard the voice from his dreams and now he had a face and name, the man standing before him as he gazed blearily up at the phantom.

"Pee... ter?"

He remembered now, so many months after but there were others floating in the background he couldn't quite see yet. Figures he thought he knew.

Cowboy up, Neal. You're better than this!

Neal blinked up at the figure, nodding weakly as he licked at dry cracked lips and tried to respond.

"I... tri... ied. Too... ma... any."

He coughed, his chest hurting and a wet phlegmy sound coming from his throat. Neal was sick if not feverish as he was forced to kneel there in the hull in the dim darkness. Lynkos was a tyrant but he was most of all a monster. Peter or the memory of him moved closer, the agent's brown eyes looking into his gently.

He's just one man, Neal. You've heard them talking. They want out of here just as much as you. Try harder! Use that silver tongue of yours.

Neal thought he felt his friend's hand on his head, hair mussed up some before he nodded back, a slight smile on his face.

"Yankee?"

He turned his head towards the voice, a blurry figure there. Was he still dreaming? He looked to where Peter had been but his friend was gone. Someone touched his cheek and he flinched away.

"You are talking to friends? I have friends... family even. I talk to them in my sleep. Untie him."

He wasn't sure what Andre meant, others coming closer as he cowered away but they were gentle, unlatching the manacles and lowering him from where he had knelt for so long. He lay painfully on his side, his back still sore from the lashing so many weeks ago. He heard someone cluck their tongue in sympathy words passed he didn't understand. Andre nodded.

"Lynkos went for several days. We will be ready for him when he returns. You will help us. Please?"

Neal looked up at them with little sympathy, his fear turning to anger at the thought of how he had been treated by everyone. He was too tired to do much more than glare up at them before his eyes rolled back and he passed out, Andre's voice in the background.

"Rest and consider. We will do what you want this time. I promise."

Neal woke up, sitting up and looking at his surroundings. The lamp was still on as he lay there in the dimly lit guestroom. He no longer heard the creaking of the ship or lapping of water on the outside of the hull. He was on land again. His stomach felt a bit sick as he rolled out of bed and left the room for the bathroom. He closed the door and threw up in the toilet several times before he finally could give no more, collapsing there on the floor. Those men had finally decided to follow his lead after so many months and years of fear. They had seen his example and finally followed it as discontent rose within them to a boiling point. He never wanted to be a hero but he had gone after those men from the case and then... he had been on that hellish ship with those frightened men and a real life Captain Bligh. Neal wasn't a hero if anything. He was self-absorbed and selfish. He didn't sacrifice himself for others...

"Neal?"

He heard the voice outside the door and watched it open slowly. Peter stood there in a white tee and gray sweats. Neal wanted to laugh suddenly despite everything, the memory of that day he'd been caught looking for Kate returning to him. Peter was the quintessential minimalist when it came to his clothing although time with the con had made him reconsider a piece here and there, Elizabeth happy to see her husband a bit more fashion conscious. He looked up at the agent from the floor and smiled slightly.

"Down here..."

Peter moved closer, crouching beside him.

"Hey buddy..."

Neal took his hand and they stood, as he flushed the toilet and moved over to the sink to wash his hands, face and rinse out his mouth. His face looked somewhat pale in the mirror, a small narrow scar along his hairline and left temple. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned as Peter led him from the bathroom and they went downstairs. Peter went straight to the kitchen with Neal in tow, pulling open the fridge and removing a couple of beers handing one back to him. They quietly popped the tops and sat down at the counter.

"I guess you couldn't sleep either..."

Neal left it at that as he saw Peter nod and take another sip of his beer.

"No. I... you never finished what happened Neal. How did you get back here? Have you contacted anyone else?"

Peter wanted to ask him more he could tell but was still too much in shock from his return. Maybe that was a good thing, Peter without questions. He was too flustered to be an agent which made him smile.

"Nobody but you. Well... I did try to contact Mozzie but his numbers don't work anymore but I think I know a way to send up a flare."

Peter nodded, taking another sip of his beer as he opened up the fridge and pulled out some sandwich making materials.

"I'm suddenly really hungry. How about you?"

Neal nodded with a smile as they spread out several slices of bread and started to smear mayo over them. They were just about to grab the meat when they heard a sound.

"It's a little late for a midnight snack isn't it?"

Elizabeth was wrapped up in her fuzzy light blue robe, matching slippers on her feet as she walked in with a yawn. Both men looked up at the clock and looked sheepishly back.

"Sorry hon, I didn't mean to wake you."

Peter reached over and hugged his wife as she kissed him on the cheek and pulled up a stool.

"I'll help myself to a bit of that if you don't mind."

Neal nodded, handing her a plate with two slices of bread and the mayo as they all stood around the island and made sandwiches. Satchmo watched them curiously from the doorway as the three finished up making sandwiches and took them out to the dining table. Elizabeth turned on some lights, pouring herself and Neal some wine once they had settled down to eat and chat. It was several hours later they finally started to yawn as they felt their little second wind leave them. Elizabeth was the first to go, kissing her husband good-night and good-morning as she moved over to Neal and gave him a small hug and peck on the cheek.

"I'm going back to sleep for a bit. We can have a late brunch when you boys decide to wake up later."

She said it with a yawn as Neal and Peter smiled sleepily back at her. The wine, beer and food were making them all relaxed as both men rose and started to clean up their mess. Satchmo gave a doggy yawn as he moved back to his pillow and curled up as the two men finished and went back upstairs. They paused before the guestroom, Peter's hand on his arm.

"We'll take this slow. You can stay here for now and we can look for Mozzie. El can talk to June."

Neal nodded smiling softly back as Peter squeezed his arm gently before saying good-night and they parted, Neal watching his friend close his bedroom door before he did the same leaning on it. He was back. After everything that had happened he was back. He felt a mixture of fear and relief hit him hard, uncertain he knew what to do. He felt misplaced despite feeling so much at home. Neal walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it as he looked at the clock and sighed. It was nearly 6 am and the sun was already touching the sky outside with light hints of early morning glow as he lay back on the bed and tried to think. He could stay here and find somewhere that would be more permanent with Peter's help. He could find work now that he wasn't a felon anymore. He was free.

The thought hit him hard but it scared him. Freedom was something he'd always dreamed of even while working with Peter. It was what he wanted but now that he had what he wanted those old words of Mozzie's returned: "Be careful what you wish for." Maybe the old Chinese saying was right but then why be afraid of freedom? He wasn't going to rob anyone any more was he? After his experiences with Lynkos a life of crime no matter how innocent seemed less and less enticing and yet he wanted that feeling to go where he wanted and do anything he felt like doing at the drop of a hat. Maybe he had become that elephant trapped from birth thinking the puny rope on his adult leg was something far more insidious. Something holding him captive keeping him from leaving, but Peter and El weren't a rope holding him in place; They were his family, friends he could trust.

He sighed tiredly uncertain what he wanted or what to think as he curled back up under the blankets and stared out the window to his right. The light was still dim but the sun was coming up over the buildings as his eyes shut and he slowly fell into an exhausted sleep.

()()()

Six months ago...

Andre and the others nursed Neal back to health despite the short time they had before Lynkos would return. He had left them knowing he had them under his thumb but they had finally given in to the guilt of what they had done to Neal. He may have only joined them a short time ago but he was like them only he fought back. He had tried to leave to defy their captor and master. Neal woke to find himself up in the galley on a regular bunk all the men there but for a couple outside as scouts. They were already armed and looked like they were readying for something. Angry as he was at their betrayal he could understand it.

"An... dre? What's going on?"

Neal found himself looking up at the little French man, the short haired brunette smiling relieved at him. He was a scrawny little guy with big eyes and a round face that made him look almost froggish, his brown eyes gaping back at him.

"You are awake, Yankee. We worried about you. It's been two days you were with fever. Jankov used his doctoring on you. Did you know he was a surgeon once? I think a good one. Your wounds are healing well aren't they, Jankov?"

The big Russian looking man blushed ever so slightly, sea blue eyes rolling as if to deny the charge.

"I do nothing special. He showed me kindness, I do the same after what happened. We should all be sorry but past is past is it not?"

Neal saw all the men seemingly cowing at their guilt for what had happened to him. They truly felt a sorrow at what they had done and the fear they'd used to justify it. Lynkos was one man. Isn't that what Peter's ghost had told him?

"So... what is this plan we have? How do you propose you take Lynkos?"

The men seemed to grow quiet but Jankov stood, big fists hitting the table loudly.

"I don't like violence but for him I would change. I would squeeze his neck in my hands. I am bigger than he am I not?"

Andre and the others agreed smiling as Neal held up a hand.

"Strength is not everything... you should have a plan. A good strategy beats strength every time. Trust me. I didn't get as far as I did because I was strong. There is something to be said about wits and being open for the unexpected."

He hadn't exactly forgiven them but he could strategize with them if it meant freedom from Lynkos. They had time to plan a successful mutiny.

"What plan would you suggest, Yankee? We are simple men unlike you. I know who you were before you came here. He was a great thief."

The others awed in a way as Andre spoke of things he'd heard Lynkos whisper to one of his closest comrades. Neal listened and he worried about them placing him too high up on the pedestal.

"I was a thief once. I stole from people because I could but only those who could afford it or deserved it. It was a challenge. A rush of sorts..."

He paused thinking of Peter and how things had changed. How he had changed. His mind went to June and how much he wished for a life like her and Byron's to grow old with the one you loved and have a family.

"And so what happened? Lynkos wanted to sell you for profit, your talents very popular he said."

Neal sat up despite feeling weak, Andre helping him as he handed him some water. He drank a bit before he finished, uncertain what to say. How did he explain Peter and their relationship?

"I met someone... I guess you could call him a mentor of sorts. I didn't think of him as such at first. He was just another mark; someone to hustle to get what I wanted."

They all listened genuinely interested in his story as he tried to figure out how to explain things. He wasn't sure how he felt really till he started to speak.

"But things changed. I found I didn't want to lie anymore or cheat. I still found the thrill there but I had other interests now. I had friends and a place to call home. I wasn't alone anymore."

They nodded smiling as Andre grinned.

"We are like a family aren't we? We will get rid of Lynkos and leave this place to find one of our own. You will come with us, Yankee?"

Neal shook his head without thinking about it.

"I have my own home to return to but I will help as I can."

()()()

In the end they debated the topic and Neal convinced them to run. Lynkos wouldn't know and they were more than able to sail the ship alone. Everyone agreed as they prepared with the supplies they had to leave this place and move before Lynkos returned. Somewhere along the way Neal would leave them when they were certain of their path. They were finally free of the man, setting sail along the coast towards a safe place. Neal had been out here once before so he helped them move along the shore till they found a safe place to moor the boat. He found out that one of the men, a wiry looking Slav had some experience with reading maps so he would help with navigation, Neal getting them organized to move out on their own.

"So you really stole a Da Vinci? I can't believe. You must be telling stories!"

Jankov laughed with a slightly bemused tone as did some of the others but Neal just nodded.

"I tell the truth but alas, I no longer have it. Probably for the best. I found a better home for it."

The sat around a small fire along the beach where they had made camp. Neal was to leave them there and they would go on along the coast and leave US waters. They had managed to avoid Lynkos and the Coast Guard thus far but he figured the captain was livid at finding his boat missing. The thought made him smile.

"Yankee... that smile makes me think you tell more than tales. Share your thoughts."

Neal shrugged, sitting back in the sand. It was chilly but the sand was still warm.

"We're free. You're all free. Enjoy this last night before we say Adieu!"

They all cheered holding up bottles of booze before they continued their small celebration. Neal leaned back and looked up at the stars above. They were bright over the little desolate cove they'd chosen to hide. He looked at Orion's belt high over head and his faithful dogs Sirius and Procyon at his feet and thought about Peter and Satchmo. A sigh passed his lips as the others prodded him back into the group and they sang songs and told stories til the drink ran dry.