This chapter is not beta'd either so all flaws are mine.

Neal's agonized screams echoed in everyone's ears long after the screen went black again.

Every agent knew not to say anything to Peter as they feared if they did he would either lash out or breakdown and start crying. Diana had already broken two pens from the death grip she had on them and was working on her third. Jones was getting everyone coffee as there was nothing for him to do. Hughes was giving out orders to his agents to re-check everything they already checked half a dozen times.

No one wanted to watch the video again, but there was no more getting out of it. "Play it again," Hughes ordered Jones.

Jones looked at Peter for a second then started the video again.

WCWCWCWC

Neal woke from his painless bliss to the hell that's become his life.

He looked at the clock to see he was unconscious for an hour. The camera was off again and Keller was nowhere to be seen.

Neal was wrong - Keller was capable of torture. And he seemed to actually like it. The look in his eyes when he was hurting Neal was going to haunt his dreams for a very long time. That is if he made it out of this alive.

What was helping Neal stay sane was the thought that Peter was doing everything in his power to get him out of there. Neal knew for a fact that he was doing everything he could, but would he make it in time? Of course he will make it in time - he's Peter. Peter always finds him.

But what if he didn't? Neal couldn't take much more of what Keller was doing to him. He had to get out of the zip ties, but the only way to even have a chance was to dislocate his thumb. He wasn't sure he could take anymore pain, let alone be the one to cause it.

But it was the only way.

Decision made, Neal steeled himself for the pain while he moved his fingers into position. Just the right amount of pressure in just the right spot and pop.

The pain was intense, but he held back the scream that wanted to escape. If Keller heard him he might come back sooner than expected.

The zip ties where tight and he already rubbed his wrists raw, but after ten agonizing minutes, he was out of his bindings. His shoulders where screaming from the position they were in for more than seven hours, as was the rest of his stiff body, so he moved them around to loosen them up.

His first attempt to stand quickly brought him back in his seat when his head swam and pulsed. He held his head in his hands, careful of his left thumb, while the dizziness and pain passed. When he opened his eyes again he saw his next problem - the ankle cuff. He was so used to having a weight there that he actually forgot about it. The beatings he took probably didn't help either.

He carefully bent down and examined it. It was thicker than an ordinary ankle cuff, and the chain attached to it was bolted to the wall behind the chair and it didn't look like it would come loose any time soon. But it did have a key hole, and that is something that Neal could work with.

He looked around the room without getting up. There wasn't anything he could see from that position that would help him, so he slowly stood up and was proud to see that he could that time. The chain was about five feet long so he couldn't reach the camera, the table with the timer or the door. He could only reach two of the corners, but there wasn't anything there except old newspapers and cigarette butts.

Finally after looking at everything he could around the room, he turned to himself. Keller probably took all of his lock picks, but he might as well look.

He already knew the one in his shirt cuff was gone, his belt was gone so the one in it was as well and the ones in each of the heels of his shoes were gone. There was only one more place to look.

Neal pulled out the pocket of his pants and checked the seem. There it was, the thing that was going to get him out of there - a little metal lock pick.

With his left thumb dislocated, Neal had a little trouble getting it out, but he eventually did. The lock on the cuff was actually very easy to pick, easier than FBI issued handcuffs that he mastered long ago. Neal suspected that Keller didn't expect him to get out of the zip ties, or have any lock picks left. Keller had underestimated him.

After getting out of the ankle cuff, Neal went over to the door to see if he could open it, but there wasn't even a nob. There was no lock to pick, or hinges to take apart. He was going to have to wait until Keller came back and attack then.

He looked back at the timer to see that he had ten minutes until Keller came back. His gaze went to the video camera that had been recording his beatings. A wave of humiliation came across him at the thought of so many people watching his moments of weakness and fear.

Many of the people at the office see him as Neal Caffery, the suave, charismatic ex-conman that proved his worth by helping close case after case for the bureau. Now what they see is a conman being tortured for treasure that was supposed to have been destroyed. Peter had to know by now that Neal knew about it the whole time.

Was he going to jail if he managed to escape? Would Peter really do that? He did know about the treasure and not say anything about it. But he couldn't possibly tell Peter without Mozzie or himself spending time behind bars, and he couldn't do that to his oldest friend. And prison wasn't fun the first time for Neal, so going back was something he would like to avoid if he could.

Neal sighed. He would deal with all of that after he escaped. Two minutes until Keller came back in, he had to focus now.

Neal walked over and picked up the chair he had been sitting in. It was the only weapon he had, so it was going to have to work. He walked back over to the door and stood behind it.

Adrenaline was keeping the pain at bay, but that was going to run out soon. Hopefully he could take down Keller before then.

3...2...1. The heavy metal door opened and Keller walked in. "Caffery, guess what," he said without looking at the spot where Neal was supposed to be.

That was Neal's chance. He charged Keller with the chair held high and swung it at him as hard as he could. Keller, not prepared for an attack, went down. Neal lifted the chair for another swing when a agonizing pain in his foot made him loose his balance. With the chair in mid swing, he couldn't correct his course and he fell forward and would have landed on top of Keller if Keller didn't move before he was landed on.

Neal looked up to see Keller standing above him holding a knife that was slick with blood. Keller swung his foot to kick Neal, but Neal blocked that attack and grabbed Keller's other ankle and pulled as hard as he could. Keller lost his balance and they were both on the ground.

Keller still had the knife but pulled out his gun from the waist of his pants and pointed it at Neal, who reluctantly raised his hands in surrender.

"Damn Caffery, you got a mean swing," Keller said as he wiped the blood that was coming from a cut on his forehead.

"Could've won if you didn't cheat," Neal said a little breathlessly, indicating the gun in Keller's hand.

Keller shrugged. "Do what ya gotta do. Now up," he instructed with a wave of his gun.

Neal started to rise, but the pain in his foot came back and he gasped in pain. He looked down to see that there was a hole in his shoe and there was blood coming from it. He then looked up to the knife that was still in Keller's hand. "You stabbed my foot?"

"You hit me with a chair," Keller countered.

Neal wasn't going to get into it with Keller about everything that he's done to him in the last half a day, so he just stood up, mostly using his left foot.

"Put the chair back where it was and sit down," Keller ordered.

Neal limped over to where the chair landed and picked it up, then put it back in front of the camera. Keller put the knife back in his pocket and looked away for a second to turn on the camera.

Neal had only one more chance to get out of there and he wasn't going to waist it.

Neal used his finely honed pickpocket skills to grab the knife out of Keller's pocket. He held it up to Keller's throat and made sure to put enough force behind it to show he was serious. "Give me the gun," he ordered in Keller's ear.

Even from behind Keller, Neal could see the grin on his face. "I guess you do have balls," he said and handed Neal the gun handle first over his shoulder.

While Neal was temporarily distracted with taking the gun, Keller grabbed the arm that had the knife and elbowed Neal in the stomach at the same time. The gun dropped to the ground under the two men's feet. Neal tried to resist, but in his weakened state, he was no match against Keller and Keller elbowed him again and took back the knife.

Before Neal could try to get the gun, Keller turned kneed him in the stomach, hitting the bruises and cuts already there. Neal went down and landed hard on the cement floor, sending shockwaves of pain over his body and rendering him paralyzed by the pain; The adrenaline was definitely wearing off.

Keller took that opportunity to kick Neal in the stomach. Neal curled up into himself to try to protect himself from more damage. Keller took the gun and kicked Neal again.

"You can't win, Caffery," Keller said. "You're stuck here until I say otherwise." He turned the camera and said, "how do you keep him in line, Burke? He just won't listen to me." Only then did Neal realize that the camera was on the whole time.

Keller turned back and pistol-whipped Neal in the head. The last thing Neal saw before everything went black was that manic smile on Keller's face.

I have a question for my faithful viewers: Do you want to wait a few more days for a beta'd chapter, or have me post un-beta'd chapters sooner? I'll update them later with the beta'd version if I posted the un-beta'd version. Tell me what you want and it shall be done.