A/N: A big thank you goes to all the wonderful people who have taken the time to review the story so far! It's greatly appreciated and getting some more wouldn't hurt either:) Shall we see then what poor Jane has gotten himself into...

Chapter 6.

The men in the house hadn't thought anything about a lone, nondescript, non-threatening man who had come to the door to ask for help as his car had broken down, therefore having had no time to respond when the seemingly harmless man had exploded into action cutting their throats in very efficient manner. Now the blood was seeping into the floor and the house was quiet once again.

He got in the house easily, these thugs were so amateurs that it wasn't even funny anymore. No challenge at all, which made him annoyed. He held onto the bloody knife as he hadn't reached his target yet and silently moved towards the closed door where he knew the steps led downstairs. He opened the door to hear a man talking and his senses were assaulted by smells that spelled trouble.

XXX

Culpepper was just about to remove Jane's tongue with scissors when he simultaneously felt a hand on his shoulder and a cold blade on his throat. He froze. CBI wasn't suppose to know that they held Jane here! Nobody knew!

"Patrick Jane is mine", a soft voice whispered into his ear while the blade was sinking into his flesh, far enough to draw blood, but not far enough to cause any damage.

"I'm the only one to decide his fate. Not you. His future is mine, his life is mine", the voice hissed. Culpepper was confused and now scared. This wasn't the CBI, the police didn't operate this way. Who the hell was this guy and how had he found them?

The blade dig deeper and Culpepper was trying to lean backwards to get away from the blade, but he was held securely in place by a chest against his back. He was sweating profusely now as he was at loss, he wasn't in control anymore and he didn't understand what was going on.

"You have ruined all my plans and you will pay", the voice behind him announced darkly and all of the sudden he was pushed against the wall. Culpepper whirled around to face his attacker, only to be surprised as he had never seen the guy before. However the look on his face was familiar enough, the man was intent on killing him and taking all the pleasure he could from it. Culpepper tried to flee.

He was hit hard in the face and the room started spinning. Before he knew what was happening, he was back against the wall, feeling something pressing to his palm. The next second had him howling in pain. The bastard had used a nail gun on his hand! This fuelled Culpepper's desperation to get free but to no avail, the stranger had him nailed to the wall in no time.

When the stranger drew out a knife already covered in blood, Culpepper knew that he was done. Obviously his men had met this man upstairs. The stranger stepped closer and plunged the knife into Culpepper to be met with screams of agony. Again and again and again.

XXX

He was covered in blood but he was satisfied at his handiwork. The idiot in front of him was truly and properly gutted, but at least he had been sport enough to stay alive until the end when he had cut his throat. Now it was time to attend to the matter of Patrick Jane.

He walked to the man hanging from the chains, noting that he was still unconscious and hadn't stirred at all even with all the commotion going on in the room. He was still alive, although barely and it looked like he might not be alive for long.

"Oh, the things I do for you, dear Mr. Jane", the stranger sighed leaning closer, but not touching.

"That tongue of yours keeps getting you into trouble, but the game has been pleasant so far, so let's see what we can do to keep going, shall we?", he continued. He had noticed the rags in the corner of the room, which looked like they were Jane's clothes. He went to poke at them and found Jane's mobile phone. It was wet, but still working so he went to press the speed dial number one.

XXX

Lisbon was roused from deep sleep by the thrilling of her mobile. She blindly reached out for it, flipping it open and groaned with a muffled, "Lisbon", her face still in the pillow.

"Agent Lisbon. Tsk, tsk. Is this how you look after your team?", a soft voice answered her.

Lisbon sat up and look at the display, it was Jane's phone. Now she was fully alert and immediately worried.

"Who's this? Where's Jane?", she shot clipped questions at the stranger while clasping the phone tightly.

"Mr. Jane has unfortunately managed to get into trouble again and since you didn't seem to be inclined to help him, I had to step in. He is here", the man continued and rattled off an address that Lisbon quickly wrote down. She tried to ask the man what was going on but was cut off.

"I suggest you come soon. And that you call an ambulance. Goodbye." And the line went dead.

Lisbon was frantic, she called the team on her way out. She hadn't even bothered to change clothes, but was still wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt, just pausing enough to throw her leather jacket on. By the time she was in her car, she had called the emergency services with officer down request and had called Minelli. Luckily it was late and there were few cars around as she was speeding through the streets like the hounds of hell were chasing her. And maybe they were.

XXX

He threw the mobile back into the corner where he had found it and leaned towards Jane who was breathing very slowly and completely limp in his chains.

"Agent Lisbon is coming for you, but I wouldn't hold my breath that she will make it in time. Well, it was fun as long as it lasted. Goodbye Mr. Jane", the stranger said and strolled out of the room leaving behind a man barely alive hanging from the ceiling, a dead man nailed to the wall and a blood red smiley face on the wall to keep company to them both.

TBC