Neal awoke to a kick to the face; he groaned putting his hand on his face. His hand had regained some feeling, he wasn't sure but he might have frost bite.
"I've spent 10 years planning what to do with you. There's a nice cliff outside, and a car. The car is to represent the car that hit my daughter. You will be in it, a brick on the gas, headed toward the cliff. If you don't die on impact, you will die from your injuries soon after," Collins informed him.
"Please," Neal muttered, unsure to even himself if he meant please stop or please end his life.
"I'll see you in hell," Collins muttered before Gary dragged him away. He had no energy left to fight. Once he was outside he was blinded by the sun as his skin scraped on the rocks and sticks on the ground. He saw the car, an old rusty black thing that looked like it would fall to pieces. Gary took the ties on Neal's wrists which had rubbed raw and replaced them with duct tape. He was then taped to the back seat of the car, preventing escape. Not like Neal could escape with no feeling in his legs, barely any food in who knows how long, and loss of energy from everything else that happened.
The car was turned on and set in park, and then a brick was tied to the gas pedal. The engine revved loudly waiting to be put into motion.
Just then, a car pulled up and he heard screaming, "FBI, Get on the ground!"
Gary put the car into drive and jumped out.
"Can't save him now anyway," Collins laughed as the scene unfolded.
As Peter realized Neal was in the car headed for a cliff, he also realized he was not fast enough to catch up. He shot at the left side tire, hoping the blow would send it sideways and into the bushes nearby.
The car started spinning and rolled over. Luckily it stopped before the cliff, but now Neal was sitting upside down in the car.
"I doubt he could have survived that, especially after everything else we put him through," Collins said as Jones cuffed him.
Peter had a gun in one hand pointed at Gary while he used his other hand to call an ambulance.
As soon as Jones got Collins into the car and started cuffing Gary, Peter ran toward the car hoping his friend was safe.
He noticed Neal was duct taped by the wrists and arms to the seat, leaving his body dangling upside down curved in the middle.
"Neal?" his CI didn't respond. He untapped him from the car and managed to get him out from the seat.
He laid him on the ground and sat down with his head in his lap. There was a pulse but it was slow. He finally started noticing how bad Neal looked. His entire backside was bruised, bruise on the head, some on his arms as well. He also had scrapes and scabs all over. He looked sickly pale especially against the dark bruises and red spots covering him.
Peter saw Neal's hand twitch, "Neal?"
Neal blinked a few times slowly. He then whispered, "Peter, thank you. Don't worry, I'll be with Kate," he coughed a few times before going limp.
"Neal? NEAL!" Peter tried to find the pulse again but failed; he moved around and started CPR on his friend.
Jones, who finished arresting Collins and Gary, came up, "Ambulance should be here any minute."
Just as he said that, the ambulance came up and the crew got out and got to work. They pushed Peter aside, and he felt useless just sitting there. He wanted to take a few rounds out on the men arrested in the car, but he knew it wouldn't be right.
The crew didn't allow him to go with Neal, and he couldn't go in the car with Jones because he'd kill the two in back. He walked around and waited for Diana who he'd called and updated.
He decided to take a look around the building. It looked like an old house. There was a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom. There was one bed, one couch, a fridge, but other than that, the main part of the house was empty. There was a hallway though, that opened up with a large door. It looked like it had been added on to the house at some point. He took a look and the first room in the hall was an empty room, but when he turned the light on he noticed blood and vomit on the floor.
'Is this where they kept Neal?' he thought to himself feeling sick.
He went down to the next room which looked like it had been turned into a large freezer. The walls were metal and frost coated the room. He noticed more blood and what looked like skin on the floor. He thought of his friend and wondered what kind of things they put him through. He kneeled down for a moment, overcome with worry for his CI's life. He calmed himself down and continued. There was only one room left and it looked like a supply closet. He opened it up and noticed piles of duct tape, rope, bats and other weapons, probably all used on Neal.
He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, "Here boss," he heard Diana on the other side of the line. He closed the closet door and prepared himself for the agonizing ride to the hospital. He knew it would probably be a while before anyone would be allowed in Neal's room, if he even survived the trauma and was revived.
He arrived at the car and sat down; he was quiet, almost in shock of what happened and what he had seen.
"Boss, you know we are all worried about him, it's ok to take time to process it. But first you need to make some calls. Also, I got you some lunch because I don't know when you'll eat again," Diana greeted him bringing him back to focus.
He nodded and got to his calls. First was El, who was worried and said she'd meet him up at the hospital. Next was Mozzie, who barely responded to Peters words and hung up without a goodbye. Peter wasn't sure if Mozzie was just worried or if he was mad at Peter for not finding Neal faster. He wouldn't be surprised if it was both. Last he called June. He knew she cared for him like a son, and even though she was out of town at the moment, he wanted to inform her of the situation.
Peter spent the remainder of the ride barely picking at his food. Every time he took a bite, he felt like it would come back up.
They finally arrived at the hospital, and Peter all but ran into the building waiting to hear news about his friend.
"He's alive," the nurse said, taking them to a small private waiting room.