Peter looked between the two agents standing to his left and the unconscious consultant on the floor to his right. He ran a hand through his hair and gritted his teeth. He pushed away or at least attempted to forget about the panic that sat in his chest as he focused on the matter at hand. He searched the basement and took in his surroundings.

The floor. The walls. The ceiling…..The ceiling! Peter felt relief flood through him.

"I've got it! Start piling things up towards the ceiling. Make sure it is stable enough we can climb and stand on. Move now! Go!" Peter ordered.

"Boss, what is plan?" Diana asked not seeing the point in all of this as she scooted a table over to Jones.

"This is an old house so the ceiling, to the basement, it's just the hardwood floors from the first level of the house! If we can reach it which it shouldn't be difficult, the ceiling isn't that high, we can hopefully pry some of the boards up or if there is a saw we can make an opening in the floor and climb through." Peter informed as he bent down next to Neal.

Diana went and searched for something to use to get through the floor seeing that Jones had completed the first task.

Peter gently tapped Neal on the side of the face.

"Neal. Neal! Come on, Buddy. Wake up!" Finally Neal started to wake.

Neal could barely open his eyes. He was so weak. But he could still tell it was Peter up above him.

"P…r" Neal's eyes began to close.

"Hey, Buddy. No! No. No. Come on you gotta stay awake for me Neal. I need you to open your eyes for me and listen to me." Peter said as he patted Neal's face once again. Neal opened his eyes half mast. Peter noticed how shallow his breathing was and knew his body was growing weaker from all the poison that was just injected into him. The antidote did help. He could tell that Neal was no longer in any pain, which made Peter feel a little better, but now Neal was so weak he could barely open his eyes. They didn't have long before Neal kept his eyes closed forever.

"P`tr….wha…happ`n?...I….f-feel…..weird." Neal said fear lacing in his voice.

Peter detected the fear.

"It's alright. You're gonna be fine. We gave you the antidote, so…. that's probably why you feel so strange. It's just working through your system." Peter couldn't bring himself to tell Neal the truth. Hell, he couldn't even bear the thought himself. Luckily, Neal was too out of it to notice.

Diana walked back into the room holding a crow bar.

"Boss, will this work?"

"Yeah, that should work." Peter made to get up, so he could pry up the boards himself, but a weak voice stopped him.

"P`tr."

"It's ok, Neal. We are going to pry the boards above us to get out of here." Peter informed as he moved again to get up but Neal stopped him again.

"P`tr….w-wait."

"No, Neal. We don't have-"Peter stopped short as he looked at the conman. Neal looked scared and wouldn't look at him, as if he was embarrassed. Peter finally understood.

"Diana, tell Jones to start working on the floor. Make sure he doesn't fall. We don't need any more injuries."

"Sure thing, Boss." She nodded and walked back to Jones.

Peter turned back to Neal.

"Hey. Look at me." Peter ordered.

Neal hesitated for a moment before turning half opened eyes towards Peter.

The agent waited till blue eyes met his before speaking.

"It's ok to be scared, Neal. But everything is going to be ok. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Understand? We are partners and partners take care of each other." Peter stated, his voice shaking slightly. Neal looked at him with such admiration, Peter had to look away as tears threaten to roll down his cheeks. But, quickly turned back around when Neal started coughing.

Neal's body shook with every brutal cough that came. Tears rolled down his face and he gasped for air. Peter realized Neal was choking so he grabbed him under the arms and pulled him into a sitting position. He held Neal up with one hand and rubbed small circles on his back with the other. After a few minutes the coughing stopped. Peter sat in front of Neal holding him up by his shoulders. Neal's head hung loosely. Having no energy to hold it up his self, Peter lifted the younger man's head up, but immediately regretted it once he took in the sight before him. A small trickle of blood dripped out of the corner of Neal's mouth.

"Shit." Peter cursed aloud even though he only meant to say it in hid mind. He hoped Neal hadn't heard but his hopes were quickly diminished.

"W….wha`…wron-g?" Neal struggled to ask as he gasped for air.

Peter hesitated before responding, making sure his voice wouldn't waver when he spoke.

"Nothing, Buddy. Just focus on breathing, ok?"

Any strength Neal had left, exited his body. He fell forward, his head resting on Peter's shoulder. Peter moved Neal so he would be move comfortable and make it easier for him to breathe. Neal's head rested on Peter's chest when he spoke.

"I-I-it's …..so…..h-hard to…..breathe." Neal said as he turned his head so his eyes were hidden in Peter's chest. Peter bit his lip so he wouldn't let his emotions get the best of him. He was about to respond, but Diana brought him the best news they had had in the last five hours.

"Hey, Boss! Jones got through! He's trying to find something to open the door with, so we can get Neal out of here." Peter felt relief flood through him.

"Hey, Buddy you hear that? We are getting out of here! You'll feel better in no time." Peter said as he hugged Neal close to him.

A few minutes later the basement door opened and Jones walked down the steps.

"Alright, let's get out of here." He said with a smile as he walked over to the others. But his smile quickly faded when his train of thought caught up with the Peter and Diana's.

"We have to carry him." Peter stated flatly. Jones nodded and moved to Neal's feet.

"Hey, Neal. Listen, we are going to get out of here. Jones and I are going to carry you ok? We are going to pick you up now, alright?" Peter asked gently.

Neal didn't respond. He didn't want to be carried but knew there was no other way.

"Neal?" Peter asked urgently.

He felt Neal nod his head against his chest and began to stand. He bent down and picked Neal up under the arms as Jones picked up his feet. Diana walked beside them just in case. Once they made it to the stairs they laid him down, taking a break before they took on the difficult task of getting up the stairs.

"For someone so skinny, he is sure heavy to carry." Jones told Peter, but it was Neal who weakly responded.

"May-be ….y-you should….workout…m-more." Neal smiled a little.

Jones laughed and patted Neal on the leg. "One day, Peter ought to let you come workout with me and we will see if you can beat me at bench pressing."

"Oh! He's all yours. I just hope you extend the invitation because I sure would love to see him lose." Peter said light heartedly.

"Well, I'll beat the both of you." Diana stated and for the first time in hours all four of them shared a real laugh. But when Neal stated coughing again and more blood became visible, they went back to business.

Seven minutes and a stumble from Peter later, they were out of the basement and standing outside of the house. They looked around and felt relief flood through them. Peter's Taurus sat in the driveway with the keys in the ignition.

They made their way over to the car. Peter and Jones laid Neal in the backseat.

"Jones you drive. Diana sit up front. I'll ride in the back with Neal." Peter ordered as all three agents got in the car.

Jones sped out of the driveway and back the way they came five hours earlier.

Neal's head was in Peter's lap. He began to ruffle Neal's hair but stopped short when he took in the younger man's appearance. Neal's eyes were fully closed, his face was pale, deathly pale and a bluish tint made its way onto Neal's lips. He checked for a pulse only to find it had grown weaker. But when Peter held a hand above Neal's nose and mouth, he felt nothing. Peter's heart dropped.

"Jones! Drive faster!" Peter yelled.

Jones did as he was told.

"What's wrong, Boss?" Diana asked turning around in her seat.

"He isn't breathing."

AN: I apologize for the suck-iness of this chapter. There was so many distractions as I wrote this. Just to clear up a few things. I jumped right into this story and didn't explain how they got to the house.. They drove there to arrest a suspect when all this happened so that's why Peter's car was there. Anyway! Again sorry for this horible chapter, I promise the next one will be better! I know this chapter isn't review worthy, but it would appreciated if you would be so kind and let me know what ya think. Thanks guys!