Okay so got two chapters to upload this time. Hope you enjoy. I still plan on uploading to my other story soon. I just decided to wrap this one up.

Also thank you so much to everyone's reviews. I am glad you are enjoying the story.

Chapter Seven

It had been two weeks since Neal and Levi entered into their agreement with Icey, and so far it seemed to work. Rocco had been leaving Neal alone, even his lingering vengeful eyes had moved on to a new subject. Neal was not sure exactly why Rocco seemed to suddenly be ignoring him; he had not seen Icey or his men make a threat to Rocco, he had not even seen the slightest bit of warning glances between them. But whatever the cause of this momentary peace, he was grateful for it.

Neal sat silently at the small desk towards the back of the cell, a pen clenched in his hand, the tip of it hovering above a blank card. He stared at the empty white canvas. The cell was dark aside from the small desk lamp that illuminated the corner with a weak yellow glow. The sounds of the prison mostly silent that night an odd rarity that occurred only during an inspection week. Neal enjoyed those times, despite the fact that the guards ran a zero tolerance policy during the inspection; the prisoners mostly kept to themselves and avoided any confrontation that might cast undue attention upon themselves during that week.

Levi slowly awoke to the soft glow at the corner of the room. He turned over and looked down from his top bunk to see Neal deep in thought. His pen looked as if it was threatening the paper to cast out the written words upon it. "Hey Picasso, if the guards catch you with that light on there'll be hell to pay." He whispered.

Neal glanced over his shoulder up at Levi. "This won't take long."

"What are you doing anyhow?"

"Trying to make an unlikely friend."

Levi frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Remember when I told you about the FBI Agent that put me in here?"

"Yeah."

"I'm writing him."

"Well if anyone can make an unlikely friend, it'd be you." Levi chuckled and rolled onto his back staring up at the ceiling.

Neal smiled and glanced back down at the paper. His pen fell and began to taint it with blue ink. Words forming with every lift of the pen creating beautifully formed sentences. His own words and thoughts now filling the paper.

Levi grinned as he listened to the sound of pen strokes floating over paper. It was a sound he learned to love sharing a cell with an artist. Whether Neal was painting beautiful pictures, forging prison stamps, or simply writing a letter, he had of way of creating music with paper and ink.

Suddenly there was a loud thud against the bars of their cell with an aggravated shout. "Caffrey, lights were out two hours ago."

Levi quickly opened his eyes and saw the new guard, Henderson, standing at the cell door with his black baton hammering against the metal bars. He had been transferred to this prison three days ago and he seemed to pick trouble with Neal for some reason.

Neal turned around to face him and smiled. He reached his hand out and clicked the light off. "Sorry, I must have forgotten."

"You disrespecting me boy?" The guard pulled his keys from his belt and began unlocking the cell door.

Neal stood to his feet. "No sir wouldn't dream of it." He declared with a slight sarcasm in his tone.

Levi looked at Neal, "Picasso you're treading on thin ice."

"I'd listen to your cell mate kid." The guard was now standing in the cell face to face with Neal.

Neal knew this guard hated him for some reason and it had begun to irritate him to no end the constant hassle of even the smallest of matters from Henderson. But he knew Levi was right and he needed to tread lightly around Henderson. So he softly replied. "Yes sir. I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't." Henderson growled.

Neal nodded his head and as he turned to return the pen he was holding to the desk, the guard shouted and charged towards him. "Don't even think about it!" Henderson gripped Neal's wrist and twisted his arm behind his back shoving him against the wall. He yelled. "DON'T MOVE! DON'T MOVE!"

Neal felt the pressure of the guards arm in his back forcing him against the cement wall. His arm twisted up behind his back at any moment he thought his arm would snap in to. "I'm not doing anything." Neal tried to declare through the pain Henderson was inflicting upon him.

Levi quickly sat up in bed, he wanted to come to Neal's defense but this was a guard, not another inmate. This move would have dire repercussions if he assaulted a guard. But the anguish on Neal's face gave evidence of the extreme pain he was in. Henderson had Neal's arm so high up against his back and held his thumb while he twisted his arm. Levi leaped off of his bed and just as his feet hit the ground two other guards appeared at their cell. One shoved Levi against the opposite wall to prevent him from attacking anyone. The second guard quickly rushed to Henderson's side and helped him secure Neal in handcuffs. He looked at Henderson and asked. "What happened?"

Henderson roughly shoved Neal in front of him and out of the cell door. "He tried to attack me with that pen." He pointed to the pen that rested on the floor of the cell.

Levi yelled out. "He's lying! Neal didn't do anything. That guy hates Neal."

The guard holding Levi against the wall gripped at his collar and slammed his head against the wall. "Shut up, no one asked you."

Henderson roughly continued shoving Neal down the alley way. The second guard following closely behind. He was slightly in disbelief that Neal would do something like that. "Are you sure? That doesn't sound like Caffrey, he's not the violent type."

Henderson spun around and growled. "You're going to take a criminals word over mine, Carl?"

Carl looked down and hesitantly nodded his head. "Well no, are you sure you were not just mistaken? Neal, what happened?" Carl looked at Neal.

Henderson shoved Neal again before he could say a word. "I can't believe you Carl. I'm not an idiot. I know when someone is trying to attack me. Besides of course he's going to lie. Isn't that what conmen do?"

Carl paused and watched as Henderson continued to lead Neal towards the solitary confinement cells. He frowned then bolted into a jog to catch up. "Okay, okay, if you say that's what happened, I believe you. But we have to file a report and then they will do an investigation into the matter."

Henderson spun around to face Carl. His face softened. "Alright listen. Didn't you say this was unlike him?"

Carl nodded. "Well, yeah, it is."

"So then let's take care of it off the record and then it won't go on file and make us look bad."

"But that's not procedure."

"I know. But every time we have a report of an inmate attacking an officer it goes down in record and the more we get, the more inspections we receive, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Then let's just make reports on the inmates that we have trouble controlling. Guys like Caffrey are easy enough to handle ourselves."

"But that's not the way it's supposed to work."

"Carl, how long have you been a prison guard?"

"Two years now."

"And I've been one for fifteen years. So don't you think I have a little more experience in this area than you?"

Carl sighed and looked at Neal who was silently listening to them. "I guess so."

Neal was really beginning to hate this Henderson guy. He himself was a conman in disguise.

Henderson roughly gripped Neal by the arm he had injured moments ago and Neal winced in pain. He drug him down a long dark hallway and unlocked a cell door and shoved him inside. He laughed as he closed the door and Neal heard the iron locks snap into place.

Neal sat down on the empty cot and rubbed his injured arm. He felt closely to make sure nothing was broken, thankfully it was just a bad sprain with a pulled muscle. At least to the best of his medical knowledge that's what his diagnosis was. Somehow pulling a con as a Doctor for three days did not improve his medical skills all that much.

The next day Levi looked for Icey in the rec. yard. He spotted him sitting with his three goons at the poker table. He approached but just as he got within speaking distance the three men stood up acting as a well between him and Icey. "What do you want?" they demanded to know.

Levi tried to look past them at Icey but they were large enough to easily block his view to the notorious prisoner. He had no choice but to go through them. His best shot was speaking loud enough to be heard by Icey. "Neal's in trouble." He announced.

"Too bad for him. Now get lost." One of the men declared.

But suddenly Icey spoke from behind them. "Let him through."

The men looked shocked and slowly they stepped to the side and allowed Levi to pass them.

Levi walked up to Icey. Icey twirled a flat rock between his fingers. "What's wrong with the kid?"

"One of the guards is after him. He lied and said that Neal tried to attack him last night. Now he's in solitary.

"Whoa. You said one of the guards?"

"Yeah. Henderson. You have to do something to help him."

"No I don't."

"We had a deal!"

"Yes we did. But that deal did not involve anything with guards. Especially Henderson."

"Why? Who is Henderson?"

"Henderson is one of the most corrupt Prison Guards I've ever met. I stay clear of him. You'd be smart to do the same."

"You have to help. If you don't I'll tip the guards off about you like Neal said."

Icey chuckled and leaned closer towards Levi. "Go ahead. Like I said, Henderson is corrupt. I may avoid crossing him, but I won't hesitate for a second to make a deal with him."

Levi growled. "What could you ever offer him?"

"Plenty my friend. I may be in here, but I have money and friends out there." He leaned back in his chair again and smiled. "So I guess since Henderson is now in my prison, our deal is off."

Levi frowned. "You can't do that."

"Oh I can, and I just did." Icey raised his hand in the air and snapped his fingers.

Two of his men gripped Levi by his arms and pulled him back away from Icey. They again stood blocking his view of Icey and smiled. "You heard him, now get lost."

Levi slowly backed away from them. He had no idea what to do. With Henderson there, everything was falling apart now. Not only would Rocco be back onto Neal, but now he also had this Henderson Guard to deal with who hated Neal for some reason.

That evening when he was back in his cell he leaned against the wall and stared down at the card Neal had wrote to Agent Peter Burke. He picked it up and began to read:

Dear Peter,

I know it's probably not what you expected to receive a card from me, but I often do the unexpected. I am about to do something else unexpected, I am going to make a request of you. I understand I have no right to make a request like this and I will fully understand if you deny this request. But there comes a time in a man's life that he realizes he's in too deep and he needs help, yes even a conman such as myself. I have developed a high respect for you and now I would like to ask you to visit me here in prison.

If you just come at least one time, you will see I am not trying to pull a con. This is the real me making this request. Hope you consider it carefully.

Sincerely

Neal Caffrey.

Levi looked down at the desk and saw the envelope that was lying beneath the card. It was already addressed and ready to mail. He lifted the envelope and slipped the card inside. He sealed it and laid it down on the desk. If it was the only thing he could do for his friend, he would make sure that card made it to Agent Burke.

Neal had been in solitary for one week. The door only opened three times a day to deliver a tray of food. It was surprising at how quickly solitary confinement began to eat away at you. It allowed your thoughts to wonder to dark locations you often only found in disturbing dreams. The only way to know what day it was, was to count the number of meals you had received. Time was another that was only managed by the meals. Eggs and bacon were delivered for breakfast in the morning, beans and rice arrived around noon, and dinner often amounted to a rather disgusting looking meat that was hard to identify with a mound of runny mashed potatoes in the late afternoon.

Neal was beginning to feel frustrated. He had no idea how long they planned on keeping him in there and that alone could drive a man to the edge. At least the knowledge that there was an end in sight gave one hope. But not having that was emotional and mental torture. Neal gritted his teeth. He had tried multiple times to gain a response from one of the guards that delivered his meals, but they always kept silent. They ignored his pleading. He had to get some type of reply from them. He had to get their attention. He lifted his cot and began kicking at the wooden leg trying to break it free from the frame. He kicked multiple times, the bottom of his foot was beginning to feel the impact but he ignored the pain. At least this pain kept his mind off of the throbbing pain he still had when he moved his arm.

Suddenly the leg broke free and bent backwards from the frame. Neal reached out and ripped it away from the cot. He walked over to the door and began banging it against the solid metal cell door.

A guard from the outside walked down and yelled out to him. "HEY! Stop that."

Neal recognized the guard's voice. It was Carl. Carl was the one that wanted to follow procedure. He was Neal's best shot. He needed to talk to him. He continued to bang on the door.

"I mean it Caffrey. Stop or I'll have to come in there."

Yes that's what he wanted. He pulled his arms back and ignored the sharp pain piercing through his arm and slammed the wood into the door again. Louder, and louder he managed to make the annoying sound resonate through the hallway.

After several minutes of continues pounding suddenly he heard the cell doors iron locks releasing. He stepped back away from the door. This was his chance. The one person that might help him was Carl, and this was his opportunity to convince him that he was innocent.

The door began to open, but the face that stared back at him was not Carl. It was Henderson. Before Neal could say anything he was suddenly thrust to the ground with electrifying pain. His body convulsed as electrical pulses surged through him. He had been tasered. He was lying on the cold floor of the cell when just as his body began to relax he felt a blow to his stomach. Henderson kicked him. He bent down and gripped Neal by the shirt and lifted him slightly off the ground and delivered a blow to his face, refusing to let go he hit him again, and again.

Carl stood in the door way with wide eyes as he watched on in horror. "Henderson, stop. Enough." Carl walked into the cell to stop him from hitting Neal a fourth time. He gripped Henderson's arm and loudly Demanded. "Stop or I'll file a report of prisoner abuse."

Henderson stopped. He dropped Neal to the ground and turned around to face Carl. "You saw him, he was about to assault us with a weapon." Henderson pointed to the wooden cot leg lying beside the unconscious Neal on the floor.

"We don't know that." Carl shouted in anger.

"What else would he have been doing with it Carl? Think. Stop making these rookie mistakes or I'll file a report on you not taking appropriate action." He sounded threatening.

"That was not appropriate action Henderson. I'm filing a report against you." Carl turned and began to walk away.

"And who do you think they'll believe Carl? You the newcomer? Or me the veteran Guard with over a dozen awards? Think about it Carl! I could have you fired."

Carl paused then turned to face him. He frowned. "If it happens again. I will file a report next time Henderson."

Henderson turned and closed the cell door. He muttered under his breath. "Yeah, we'll see about that."

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