Diana watched the young man in the cell. He paced restlessly. Clearly the confinement was getting to him. she didn't feel the least bit sorry for him. Antoni Martinelli deserved whatever he got for the role he played in holding Caffrey... but his uncle didn't deserve to walk out of this clean. So... she was willing to cut a deal with the kid to get the evidence she needed to make sure the Elder Martinelli was locked up until he was too old to be a threat to anyone.

The agent squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. She needed to be completely calm to do this. She frantically pushed aside thoughts of the horror show they put Caffrey through... Convincing everyone else he was dead was diabolically clever but to try to make him believe it... to try to convince Neal that he was in Hell... by those methods... that took the cruelest of minds.

She stepped into the cell and met Antoni's eyes.

"You're ok with letting your uncle get away with this." She looked him straight in the eyes. "While you spend the next 30 years in prison..."

"My uncle he has some pretty good Lawyers." the kid said, "Doubt it will be more than a year or two."

"Adrian Marinelli does have good lawyers." Diana said, "But I haven't seen them coming to help you."

"He'll send them" the kid said confidently. "He's family."

"Or he's getting rid of you... Just like your dad... except then he had the nerve to look him in the eyes when he stuck the knife in him."

"No one ever proved he did that."

"No..." she sighed "I guess we never did but... I'd consider the possibility."

"Are you sure you don't want to try the-" He kept his hand on the kid's shoulder.

"I'm not crazy Peter."

"I know you're not." He wrapped his arm around the younger man to help him from the wheelchair to the car. Warm, breathing, alive but also trembling violently with illness and injury or maybe fear Neal needed the support.

"And I'm not going to do anything... stupid" Neal sighed with relief as his still far to thin frame lowered into the seat.

"I know that too." Peter closed the door gently and walked around to get into the driver's seat. Neither said anything as he pulled away from the curb, but Peter reached over and laid his hand on the younger man's knee to ground him in the here and now.

"I just want to go home, Peter." Neal's voice was terribly soft "I just want to remember that ... I need to remember who I am."

"Ok" Peter sighed again. "let's get you home then." he turned the car toward June's."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"When do you need to to put my jewelry back on?"

"I'm not." Peter looked at him "you kept your end of the deal... so did I. You are a free man."

"Free..." The stunned look faded into the brilliant grin Peter had missed so fervently.

"One hundred percent." Peter chuckled painfully "You could disappear to Sri Lanka tomorrow if you want."

"I could..." Neal smiled "probably not the best plan though... all things considered."

Peter felt the eyes of the room on him as he stepped off the elevator. Everyone in the office wanted news. He fielded the questions the best he could, making optimistic noises for the younger agents. They cared about Neal in their way, and they had missed him too Peter was sure.

"When can we visit him?" Nelson asked.

"he's home now so..." Peter hesitated looking around at the hopeful faces. "I'll ask him when he'll be up for it but... it might be best to give him time to... readjust."

The young agents nodded acceptingly. Peter sighed as he made his way up to his office. Neal could hold a conversation like always... as long as he remained convinced you were real... but his habit of completely zoning out for hours or trailing off mid conversation sometimes when he lost physical contact was... disconcerting at best.

"How is he really?" Diana asked as Peter closed the door to his office.

"Lost." He sank into his desk chair. "He had a panic attack when he saw the easel in his apartment."

"It's only been a few days boss... it's going to take some time." She chewed her lip "What they did to him-"

"I know." Peter cut her off "I know he may never recover."

"He will." She sounded entirely to confident. "This is Caffrey we're talking about. He's the bounce back king." she smiled softly "But even he needs time."

"Right." Peter studied his hands "I'm... we found him Diana and he's not..." he swallowed hard "But sometimes it feels like we found a ghost.

"I think sometimes it feels that way to him too boss." she turned to go "But you'll both figure it out ... you always do."

"Thanks... any luck on cracking Antoni?"

"Progress... but he's not going to openly finger his uncle." Diana hesitated "But he might point us in the right direction."