Author's notes: Thank you to those who shared their thoughts with me, I hope you like the last of the preliminary chapters.

The watcher places his lunch dishes in the sink and then takes one last look at his hapless victim. More than two days without food and water have taken their toll on his captive, he now lies in a heap, his movements lethargic and pitiful, as he tries to escape the human waste that invades the small living space the watcher's allowed him. Anticipation rises in him as he switches off the screen.

"It's been very entertaining watching you Mr. Jane, you've been a great sport. You have a lot of Spirit and determination. You will soon see exactly who it is that's done this to you and then the fun will truly begin."

He locks the door behind him, climbs into his car, and heads back to the forest.

Jane's having trouble keeping his hold on reality, and is beginning to question his determination to do so. Where ever his mind wants to take him must surely be better than the horror of his reality. Before dehydration and hunger got the better of him, he tried to find a way to escape his prison. His shackles proving too strong to escape from, he determined his only hope was the chain. It proved impossible to reach anything that he could lever himself against to pull against the chain and hopeful break it. It left only one other option open to him, and after pain numbing hours, he managed to maneuver himself so that one hand was over a screw holding the ring to the floor. But without something to use as a tool, moving it, even a fraction, proved impossible. His fingers tips are shredded and bleeding.

He knows he's in trouble, he's showing signs of severe dehydration. He doesn't want to die, but death has never held any fear for him. But he doesn't want to die here, like this. He's thought a lot these long days, to distract him from this nightmare and the pain. He's thought about his life, in which he has many regrets. The big one he put right as much as he could when he killed Red John. He thought about his life at the CBI. He realises the blessing that became in his life. It wasn't just a means to an end, but became his life line, it helped to rebuild him into a functioning human being. And brought Teresa into his life. Sometimes it proved too painful to think about her, imagining what she must be going through with him missing, but it was her face the kept him trying to turn the stupid screw.

'If this turns out badly Teresa I hope you understand how much I love you and how wonderful loving you has been these last few months. Your love brightens my life like a beautiful summer's day. Your beautiful, face, those stunning eyes that look at me filled will love, sustain me even now.'

As he feels the tendrils of exhaustion tighten its grip on him and his eyes begin to close, he wonders if he will have the strength to open them again.

"Arghh"

Pebbles are raining down on his body, his mind's in confusion, where? How?. The stinging on his skin is dragging his mind from its unconsciousness. He's cold, very cold, shivers and pain and noise. What is that noise? A loud, screeching, bird?

The pebbles are relentless, moving their way up and down his body…but it's not pebbles it's wet. There's relief, it's stopped, Pain on his face, it's being squeezed, it forces his mouth open, coolness,.wet..water, He swallows, it hurts, his body's forgotten how, his mouth fills, it spill down his chin, his cheeks, the pressure on his jaw increases, he instinctively gulps, but there's too much water, his throat constricts and he coughs, he tries to move his head away, to close his mouth, but it's impossible, he swallows, he coughs, the water spills, the pressure's released, his turns his head, coughs and as the last remaining water dribbles out, he catches it with his tongue

There's a voice close to his ear.

"Open your eyes Mr. Jane, you're not going to die yet."

He's here, he's finally here! He opens his eyes and turns his head towards the voice, but he's gone and the stinging pain returns.

"You made such a mess while I was gone Mr. Jane, I need to clean up a bit before we get better acquainted."

Jane now understands, the water's coming from a pressure washer, there's nothing he can do to escape it, as it switches between him and the floor around him. He can only lie there, shivering, waiting for it to end. He takes looks at the man when he's in his eye line, he seems tall, probably around six feet, he's heavily built, muscular from work, rather than the gym, it's an honest looking tan he sports, not from a bottle or lying around a pool.

"Almost finished Mr. Jane."

A boot on his back forces him to lie on his stomach, the water continues to pound on him. He closes his eyes against indignities and then it's over. He doesn't have the strength to turn himself back over, he lies there, the shivering increasing as his body's left to the cool air. He watches as the man stands by the open door and wraps the hose around his arm, he steps outside for just a moment and then is back, heading towards him. He steps over him and Jane turns his head to follow, he picks up the chair and places it near his feet. The man crouches beside him, and putting his hands underneath him turns him over on to his back, he straddles him and shoves his hands under his arms lifting him up. He drops him on the chair, making sure his arms go over the back. He puts him in position and moves around him. Jane tries to follow but loses sight. He hears a click as he's moving his head to the other side, but he's still out of sight. He hears a ripping sound, he recognizes and is not surprised when the man begins to wrap duck-tape across his arms, chest and back, pinning him to the chair. Jane's shivering is getting worse as it's fuelled by the fear of his helplessness at the hands of this man, he has one thought, as the duck-tape's wrapped around his ankles:

'Don't tape my mouth. Leave me something I can defend myself with.'

Relief floods Jane as the man returns to, what Jane surmises is a metal box of some kind, behind him. The man appears in front of him, he opens up a camping chair and sits his large frame upon it and Jane finally meets his captor eye to eye.