White Collar: The Labyrinth ch 7
Chapter Seven
"Please, stop…please."
"Neal…"
"No. I can't do this."
"I know it hurts, but we have to…"
"Peter, no…I need a break, please." Neal begged as his voice dropped to a miserable whisper. "Stop…please…"
Giving into the despondent plea Peter nodded, holding up his blood soaked hands up in peaceful surrender. Sitting on the wet shower floor with his back to Peter Neal reached back over his shoulder and protectively held his hand over the source of the river of blood that was running down the right side of his bare back. With his stomach knotted painful in sympathy Peter looked down at the slowly growing pile of clear glass shards that he had spent the past hour painstakingly digging out of Neal's shoulder. Unable to see the smaller pieces past the gore Peter had to run his finger tips across the area until he either felt the glass or Neal jerked in pain. He had left most of the largest pieces in for last to keep the bleeding to a minimum since he couldn't apply pressure until all of the glass was out, but there was still an alarming amount of blood coursing down Neal's ivory pale skin.
Having defeated Campbell one of Jake's men had come into the ring from the far gate to unlock the bars that would let Peter back into the cell where Neal was being held. Peter cursed how cautious Jake was with how he handled moving his captives around. By not opening the cell from the inside himself Jake didn't expose himself to the risk of being trapped in a small space with an angry Federal Agent. Peter could have aggressively gone for the guard who had entered the ring but Jake would instantly have Neal as a hostage.
Stepping into the cell Peter's breath hissed sharply over his teeth as he caught sight of Neal strung up against the bars dripping in blood and sweat. His eyes were open but with his head bowed he was just staring blankly at the floor wiht his only motion coming from his heavy labored breathing. The three obvious electrical burn marks combined with the fact that his brand was dripping fresh blood instantly told Peter just how hard Neal had fought to keep silent. Jake hadn't just prodded the two cries of distress Peter had heard he had out of Neal he had violently torn them from him.
Panicked by the state his friend was in Peter rushed up to him without thinking of the consequences. Having been pouring all of his concentration into staying conscious Neal didn't instantly recognize who was approaching and automatically assumed Peter was a threat. Throwing his head back against the bars Neal weld his eyes shut and growled between clenched teeth as he yanked at his restraints. Peter reached up and grabbed Neal's blood slicked forearms to hold him still to keep him from doing more damage. Bringing his head back down Neal bared his teeth at Peter in an animalistic snarl before recognition set in and his rage turned to relief which just as quickly degraded into concern as he looked at the blood that was still dripping down Peter's throat from his open lip forming a large v-shaped stain down his cotton undershirt.
"Peter…"
"I'm here." Peter assured before glaring at Jake who was watching them from the far side of the bars. "Cut him down."
"What's the magic word?" Jake mocked.
Neal took a breath with obvious intent to use it to swear at Jake but he begrudgingly kept it to himself when Peter briefly increased the grip he had on his pinned arms in a silent request that he not antagonize Jake further. Peter admired Neal's bravery but right now he needed discretion to be the stronger half of his valor.
"Please." Peter provided.
"That didn't sound like you meant it." Jake tisked. "I swear you Feds have no manners. You're too used to used to being the ones in charge."
"Please, cut him down." Peter repeated as submissively as he could manage.
Hearing the pleading tone Jake was forcing out of Peter Neal brought his eyes up to meet Peter's with a mortified apologetic expression darkening his usually bright eyes. Peter shook his head almost imperceptibly, not willing to accept an apology when it wasn't warranted. Jake took a moment to contemplate Peter's sincerity before he whistled at one of his men and jerked his head in Neal's direction. The man pulled a large knife out from a holster on his hip and walked over towards the bars. Peter kept a wary eye on the weapon fearing that the man was just as likely to sink it into Neal's back as he was to cut him free. Luckily the man simply reached up and sliced through the plastic tie.
Peter wrapped his arms around Neal's waist to keep him from falling as he lost the support of the restraint. Neal wrapped his arms around around Peter's neck to prevent the exact same thing as he struggled to get his legs to support his weight. Helping him Peter guided Neal a few feet away from the bars and Jake before stopping. Resting against Peter Neal took a few deep shuddering breaths before leaning back to attempt to stand on his own. Peter let Neal back away but kept his hands on his hips in case he needed help. Neal was shaking slightly but he succeeded in keeping himself upright.
"Neal…"
"I'm okay." Neal said unconvincingly.
"He fought hard to keep from distracting you," Jake said "but he should have let you take care of yourself and saved that energy for the ring. I had to reset his odds to 10 to 1 instead of the 5 I had originally planned."
"What?" Peter asked horrified.
Peter noticed Neal tensing up and looked over his shoulder to find two of Jake's men entering the cell from the arena side both armed with metal batons. Turning around to face the men Peter automatically put himself between them and Neal, however Neal stepped out from behind him to willing walk towards the guards.
"Neal, no..."
"Peter, I have a better chance against whoever they are going to match me up with than either one of us have against these two. At least whoever is in the ring will be unarmed."
"Listen to your CI, Agent, he's a smart one." Jake advised.
Peter knew Neal was right but he still didn't want to just let him walk out into the lion's den alone. Neal flashed Peter a resigned smile before turning back towards the ring. His left knee buckled but he was able to stabilize himself before Peter could step forward to help him.
"Neal, wait."
"Peter, I hav…"
"Take your shirt off, you're just going to get tangled in it like that." Peter interrupted. "Keep your thumb on the outside of your fist, keep your wrist slightly bent down and go for the body not the face. Skulls are very solid, the bones in your hand are not. Keep your opponent moving, your greatest advantage is your cardio."
Neal nodded at the quick advice and tore open the last few inches of his ruined shirt that had still been together before shrugging it off. Peter had to look away as Neal stepped out into the ring to the jeers of the bloodthirsty crowd. Peter looked up as the gate between them clanged shut behind Neal. Out in the center of the ring Neal was doing his best to look calm but his body betrayed his panic as he panted heavily for breath.
"For a con Caffrey's got more man in him than I was expecting." Jake said with a hint of admiration. "Did you teach him that? From everything I've seen in the past people who make a living by lying tend to be cowards."
"Jake, please." Peter begged pointlessly. "You can't make him fight, he's half dead already. You already said that we're not worth as much to you if we die quickly, he will not last fifteen minutes out there."
"You do make a good point. Tell you what we'll make this first fight seven minuets instead of fifteen since he already put up such a good fight against me."
Peter just nodded his agreement knowing that having the fight cut in half was better than nothing at all but he wasn't about to verbally thank Jake for the small mercy. Jake sent one of his men off to have the clock changed showing Peter that they didn't seem to have any kind of communications system set up. Peter wasn't sure if he could use that information in any meaningful way or not but he made note of it.
Out in the ring Neal shifted his weight nervously as he waited for his opponent to arrive. He was momentarily distracted as the clock went from zero to seven. The crowd hissed their disapproval of the change in the fight. Surprised by the reduced time as well Neal looked over to where Peter was even though he couldn't see into the shadowed cell. Looking a little more confident he stopped swaying his weight, although the continued general tremor showed that most of what was keeping him upright was pure adrenaline.
Neal and Peter both brought their focus to the far gate as a lanky man several years younger than Neal joined him in the ring. Looking Neal over the man spat on the ground before making a show of grabbing the crotch of his pants. Neal just furrowed his brow at the obscene gesture, neither offended nor intimidated by it.
"That's Richards, he's a first timer as well. He's paying off a debt of honor not money, unsurprisingly he offended someone high in the ranks. He's a weasel, he'll be just as happy to have a shorter fight as Caffrey. He's not a killer, but he does have something to prove."
Peter did not want or need Jake's commentary, he just wanted Neal to make it through the next seven minutes without any major injury. There was a great deal of skill, science, and even art that went into bare knuckle fighting that Neal had never had occasion to learn. He had made it his whole life by mostly avoiding physical confrontation with a silver tongue, but no amount of talk was going to get him out of this. When the bell rang Richards didn't show any of the hesitation that Campbell had. He stalked calmly towards Neal with malicious intent burning in his dark eyes. Neal changed his stance to defend himself but he simply widened it rather than staggered it as he stood seemingly frozen to the spot.
"Neal, move!" Peter barked.
Reminded that his best bet was to keep out of Richards' range Neal jumped back as Richards took a swing at his face. Missing his initial swing exposed Richards back and Neal lashed out to take the strike. Richards howled in pain as Neal slammed his fist into his shoulderblade but Neal also ended up backing up shaking out his hand. Having not connected correctly he had injuring himself as well. For the next few minutes Neal did a fair job of keeping just out of Richards range. Richards landed several hits but none of them with had much power as he struggled to keep up with Neal's speed. Even after only four minutes Richards was sucking for breath as Neal made him jab out two to three times for every actual hit that connected.
Getting irritated that Neal wasn't the easy target he had assumed he'd be Richards switched to a more calculating mode. He feinted a left hook and when Neal fell for it Richards had a clear shot at Neal's center mass. Peter cried out but couldn't warn Neal in time and Richards knocked Neal breathless with a well placed strike to the point where his sternum and abdomen met. This may be Richards' first time in the ring but not his first altercation, he knew that the area was a classic weak spot.
Neal staggered back, doubled over by the strategic blow as he struggled to catch his breath. With a cruel smile Richards circled around and kicked the back of Neal's knee to drop him. Gulping for air Neal fought blindly to get back to his feet knowing he was vulnerable down on his hands and knees. Richards let Neal get back up but only so that he'd have a better shot at his right kidney. Peter held his breath as he watched Neal lose control of the fight. He had no way of helping as any instructions he tried to give now would just further confuse and disorient Neal.
Richards struck him in the back again and forced Neal forward but he managed to keep his balance. Turning to face Richards Neal held his hands up in what looked like surrender. Not interested in peacefully accepting a win Richards closed in on him again. Trying to keep Richards back by any means possible Neal did exactly what Peter had warned him not to do and swung at Richards' face. He was lucky enough to hit Richards' nose hard enough to bloody it but the way Richards reacted Peter doubted that he'd managed to actually break it.
Enraged by the painful but not incapacitating strike Richards rushed Neal for a full body knock down. Neal tried to back up but that just set him further off balance as Richards put his shoulder down and slammed into him. Neal landed hard on his back with a sharp cracking sound that seemed out of place for just being flesh hitting the floor. Arching back with Richards still on top of him Neal screamed like he'd just been mortally wounded.
"Neal!"
Having put his hands up to defend himself when Richards ran at him Neal ended up with his palms against his attacker's chest. Neal used his purchase to shove Richards back and off himself in a surprising show of strength. Richards jumped to his feet and was about to kick Neal but hesitated when Neal didn't even make an attempt to get back up. Writhing in pain Neal screamed again, his voice rising above the excited roar of the crowd. Peter couldn't see what was wrong with Richards standing in the way as he paced at the bars to try and see what was happening. Not taking advantage of a downed opponent Richards backed away revealing that Neal was laying in a quickly expanding pool of blood.
"Neal!"
"What the hell happened?" Jake asked confused.
Ignoring Jake but having the same question in his mind Peter called out to Neal again to encourage him to get up however he doubted that Neal could hear him over the crowd as they encouraged Richards to finish what he'd started. Snarling useless threats Peter tore at the bars as Richards appeased the crowd by brutally kicking Neal in the ribs. Crying out in pain and fear Neal forced himself into a sitting position and tried to scramble back away from Richards. Quickly backing himself into the wall Neal put up his violently trembling hand up and stared up desperately at Richards in hopes of mercy.
"Stop!" Peter yelled at Richards. "You've won! Leave him alone!"
Richards had hesitated to take advantage before but he'd been keyed up by the crowd and wasted no time knocking Neal's hand out of the way so he could reach down and grab a fist full of his sweat drenched hair. Hauling Neal to his knees Richards drew his hand back to throw his full force into a knock out blow, however before he got the chance the bell signifying the end of the match suddenly rang out. Adhering to the rules Richards released Neal and threw his hands up in victory like he had just scored a touchdown rather than nearly beaten a man to death. Without Richards supporting him Neal dropped back to the floor like a rag doll.
"Neal!" Peter called again before turning to Jake. "The fights over, let me out there!"
When Jake hesitated to step into the cell to open the gate to the ring Peter dropped down to his knees and put his hands up behind his head with his fingers laced together to prove that he had no intention of attacking him. Satisfied that Peter would behave Jake unlocked the cell and stepped over to the other gate and unlocked it as well. Stepping to the side he nodded to let Peter know he could get up and go to his fallen partner.
It took Peter two tries to get back to his feet as the stress and starvation worked against his adrenaline and willpower. Once up Peter rushed out into the blood soaked ring. Jake followed behind at a slower pace with his metal baton in hand just in case. Richards looked over his shoulder as the crowd reacted to Peter jeeringly. Emboldened by the audience and the recent victory Richards stepped up to Peter fearlessly.
"You should have taught your pet how to fight, Fed." Richards mocked brazenly.
Without breaking stride Peter slammed the heel of his palm into the exact spot on Richards' chest that Richards had first struck Neal. The crowd laughed as Richards was knocked back on his ass sputtering for breath. Having not expected the blow he had been easily taken off balance. Gasping for breath Richards looked up sourly at Jake clearly expecting him to do something to Peter in retaliation for the assault.
"What?" Jake chuckled at Richards. "You shouldn't have pissed him off."
"Jake…" Richards whined.
"He's allowed to attack anyone he wants, I only take it personally when its me."
Richards got back to his feet and contemplated starting a new fight however seeing the look in Peter's eyes he wisely backed down and left the ring with what was left of his dignity. Peter continued over to Neal and knelt down next to him, the blood on the floor quickly soaked through the fabric of his pants. Gasping in quick shallow breaths Neal looked up at Peter in terror as he continued to bleed out. Needing to assess the situation Peter carefully slipped his hand under Neal's head and helped him sit up. Looking over Neal's shoulder Peter's heart sank at the sight of the jagged glass shards sticking out of his flesh. Richards had pushed him down onto the glass bottle that someone had thrown at Peter when he'd had Campbell pinned and it had shattered under the impact.
Horrified by the damage and unable to do anything about the bleeding right now Peter just pulled Neal in against his chest in a light embrace to give him a small measure of psychological support. Accepting the gesture Neal curled up against him as a wracking tremor ran through his body as his adrenaline and endurance bottomed out. Peter couldn't let Neal rest too long, he had to get him out of the exposed arena and back to the relative safety of their room so he could attempt to remove the glass and stop the bleeding.
Peter threaded one arm under Neal's knees and attempted to lift him up off the floor. Finding himself too weak to move Neal's weight he had to switch tactics. As soon as Neal realized what Peter was trying to do he started attempting to get to his feet on his own. Peter slipped in under Neal's good shoulder to help him stand. Jake stepped closer and went to reach down to grab Neal's other arm causing Peter to jerk Neal away from him as best he could.
"Back off!" Peter snapped.
"I'm just trying to help."
"Touch him and you're going to have a personal problem on your hands!"
"Fair enough, Agent, take care of your own."
"Believe me...I plan to."
Chapter 8: (soon)
"Please, stop…please."
"Neal…"
"No. I can't do this."
"I know it hurts, but we have to…"
"Peter, no…I need a break, please." Neal begged as his voice dropped to a miserable whisper. "Stop…please…"
Giving into the despondent plea Peter nodded, holding up his blood soaked hands up in peaceful surrender. Sitting on the wet shower floor with his back to Peter Neal reached back over his shoulder and protectively held his hand over the source of the river of blood that was running down the right side of his bare back. With his stomach knotted painful in sympathy Peter looked down at the slowly growing pile of clear glass shards that he had spent the past hour painstakingly digging out of Neal's shoulder. Unable to see the smaller pieces past the gore Peter had to run his finger tips across the area until he either felt the glass or Neal jerked in pain. He had left most of the largest pieces in for last to keep the bleeding to a minimum since he couldn't apply pressure until all of the glass was out, but there was still an alarming amount of blood coursing down Neal's ivory pale skin.
Having defeated Campbell one of Jake's men had come into the ring from the far gate to unlock the bars that would let Peter back into the cell where Neal was being held. Peter cursed how cautious Jake was with how he handled moving his captives around. By not opening the cell from the inside himself Jake didn't expose himself to the risk of being trapped in a small space with an angry Federal Agent. Peter could have aggressively gone for the guard who had entered the ring but Jake would instantly have Neal as a hostage.
Stepping into the cell Peter's breath hissed sharply over his teeth as he caught sight of Neal strung up against the bars dripping in blood and sweat. His eyes were open but with his head bowed he was just staring blankly at the floor wiht his only motion coming from his heavy labored breathing. The three obvious electrical burn marks combined with the fact that his brand was dripping fresh blood instantly told Peter just how hard Neal had fought to keep silent. Jake hadn't just prodded the two cries of distress Peter had heard he had out of Neal he had violently torn them from him.
Panicked by the state his friend was in Peter rushed up to him without thinking of the consequences. Having been pouring all of his concentration into staying conscious Neal didn't instantly recognize who was approaching and automatically assumed Peter was a threat. Throwing his head back against the bars Neal weld his eyes shut and growled between clenched teeth as he yanked at his restraints. Peter reached up and grabbed Neal's blood slicked forearms to hold him still to keep him from doing more damage. Bringing his head back down Neal bared his teeth at Peter in an animalistic snarl before recognition set in and his rage turned to relief which just as quickly degraded into concern as he looked at the blood that was still dripping down Peter's throat from his open lip forming a large v-shaped stain down his cotton undershirt.
"Peter…"
"I'm here." Peter assured before glaring at Jake who was watching them from the far side of the bars. "Cut him down."
"What's the magic word?" Jake mocked.
Neal took a breath with obvious intent to use it to swear at Jake but he begrudgingly kept it to himself when Peter briefly increased the grip he had on his pinned arms in a silent request that he not antagonize Jake further. Peter admired Neal's bravery but right now he needed discretion to be the stronger half of his valor.
"Please." Peter provided.
"That didn't sound like you meant it." Jake tisked. "I swear you Feds have no manners. You're too used to used to being the ones in charge."
"Please, cut him down." Peter repeated as submissively as he could manage.
Hearing the pleading tone Jake was forcing out of Peter Neal brought his eyes up to meet Peter's with a mortified apologetic expression darkening his usually bright eyes. Peter shook his head almost imperceptibly, not willing to accept an apology when it wasn't warranted. Jake took a moment to contemplate Peter's sincerity before he whistled at one of his men and jerked his head in Neal's direction. The man pulled a large knife out from a holster on his hip and walked over towards the bars. Peter kept a wary eye on the weapon fearing that the man was just as likely to sink it into Neal's back as he was to cut him free. Luckily the man simply reached up and sliced through the plastic tie.
Peter wrapped his arms around Neal's waist to keep him from falling as he lost the support of the restraint. Neal wrapped his arms around around Peter's neck to prevent the exact same thing as he struggled to get his legs to support his weight. Helping him Peter guided Neal a few feet away from the bars and Jake before stopping. Resting against Peter Neal took a few deep shuddering breaths before leaning back to attempt to stand on his own. Peter let Neal back away but kept his hands on his hips in case he needed help. Neal was shaking slightly but he succeeded in keeping himself upright.
"Neal…"
"I'm okay." Neal said unconvincingly.
"He fought hard to keep from distracting you," Jake said "but he should have let you take care of yourself and saved that energy for the ring. I had to reset his odds to 10 to 1 instead of the 5 I had originally planned."
"What?" Peter asked horrified.
Peter noticed Neal tensing up and looked over his shoulder to find two of Jake's men entering the cell from the arena side both armed with metal batons. Turning around to face the men Peter automatically put himself between them and Neal, however Neal stepped out from behind him to willing walk towards the guards.
"Neal, no..."
"Peter, I have a better chance against whoever they are going to match me up with than either one of us have against these two. At least whoever is in the ring will be unarmed."
"Listen to your CI, Agent, he's a smart one." Jake advised.
Peter knew Neal was right but he still didn't want to just let him walk out into the lion's den alone. Neal flashed Peter a resigned smile before turning back towards the ring. His left knee buckled but he was able to stabilize himself before Peter could step forward to help him.
"Neal, wait."
"Peter, I hav…"
"Take your shirt off, you're just going to get tangled in it like that." Peter interrupted. "Keep your thumb on the outside of your fist, keep your wrist slightly bent down and go for the body not the face. Skulls are very solid, the bones in your hand are not. Keep your opponent moving, your greatest advantage is your cardio."
Neal nodded at the quick advice and tore open the last few inches of his ruined shirt that had still been together before shrugging it off. Peter had to look away as Neal stepped out into the ring to the jeers of the bloodthirsty crowd. Peter looked up as the gate between them clanged shut behind Neal. Out in the center of the ring Neal was doing his best to look calm but his body betrayed his panic as he panted heavily for breath.
"For a con Caffrey's got more man in him than I was expecting." Jake said with a hint of admiration. "Did you teach him that? From everything I've seen in the past people who make a living by lying tend to be cowards."
"Jake, please." Peter begged pointlessly. "You can't make him fight, he's half dead already. You already said that we're not worth as much to you if we die quickly, he will not last fifteen minutes out there."
"You do make a good point. Tell you what we'll make this first fight seven minuets instead of fifteen since he already put up such a good fight against me."
Peter just nodded his agreement knowing that having the fight cut in half was better than nothing at all but he wasn't about to verbally thank Jake for the small mercy. Jake sent one of his men off to have the clock changed showing Peter that they didn't seem to have any kind of communications system set up. Peter wasn't sure if he could use that information in any meaningful way or not but he made note of it.
Out in the ring Neal shifted his weight nervously as he waited for his opponent to arrive. He was momentarily distracted as the clock went from zero to seven. The crowd hissed their disapproval of the change in the fight. Surprised by the reduced time as well Neal looked over to where Peter was even though he couldn't see into the shadowed cell. Looking a little more confident he stopped swaying his weight, although the continued general tremor showed that most of what was keeping him upright was pure adrenaline.
Neal and Peter both brought their focus to the far gate as a lanky man several years younger than Neal joined him in the ring. Looking Neal over the man spat on the ground before making a show of grabbing the crotch of his pants. Neal just furrowed his brow at the obscene gesture, neither offended nor intimidated by it.
"That's Richards, he's a first timer as well. He's paying off a debt of honor not money, unsurprisingly he offended someone high in the ranks. He's a weasel, he'll be just as happy to have a shorter fight as Caffrey. He's not a killer, but he does have something to prove."
Peter did not want or need Jake's commentary, he just wanted Neal to make it through the next seven minutes without any major injury. There was a great deal of skill, science, and even art that went into bare knuckle fighting that Neal had never had occasion to learn. He had made it his whole life by mostly avoiding physical confrontation with a silver tongue, but no amount of talk was going to get him out of this. When the bell rang Richards didn't show any of the hesitation that Campbell had. He stalked calmly towards Neal with malicious intent burning in his dark eyes. Neal changed his stance to defend himself but he simply widened it rather than staggered it as he stood seemingly frozen to the spot.
"Neal, move!" Peter barked.
Reminded that his best bet was to keep out of Richards' range Neal jumped back as Richards took a swing at his face. Missing his initial swing exposed Richards back and Neal lashed out to take the strike. Richards howled in pain as Neal slammed his fist into his shoulderblade but Neal also ended up backing up shaking out his hand. Having not connected correctly he had injuring himself as well. For the next few minutes Neal did a fair job of keeping just out of Richards range. Richards landed several hits but none of them with had much power as he struggled to keep up with Neal's speed. Even after only four minutes Richards was sucking for breath as Neal made him jab out two to three times for every actual hit that connected.
Getting irritated that Neal wasn't the easy target he had assumed he'd be Richards switched to a more calculating mode. He feinted a left hook and when Neal fell for it Richards had a clear shot at Neal's center mass. Peter cried out but couldn't warn Neal in time and Richards knocked Neal breathless with a well placed strike to the point where his sternum and abdomen met. This may be Richards' first time in the ring but not his first altercation, he knew that the area was a classic weak spot.
Neal staggered back, doubled over by the strategic blow as he struggled to catch his breath. With a cruel smile Richards circled around and kicked the back of Neal's knee to drop him. Gulping for air Neal fought blindly to get back to his feet knowing he was vulnerable down on his hands and knees. Richards let Neal get back up but only so that he'd have a better shot at his right kidney. Peter held his breath as he watched Neal lose control of the fight. He had no way of helping as any instructions he tried to give now would just further confuse and disorient Neal.
Richards struck him in the back again and forced Neal forward but he managed to keep his balance. Turning to face Richards Neal held his hands up in what looked like surrender. Not interested in peacefully accepting a win Richards closed in on him again. Trying to keep Richards back by any means possible Neal did exactly what Peter had warned him not to do and swung at Richards' face. He was lucky enough to hit Richards' nose hard enough to bloody it but the way Richards reacted Peter doubted that he'd managed to actually break it.
Enraged by the painful but not incapacitating strike Richards rushed Neal for a full body knock down. Neal tried to back up but that just set him further off balance as Richards put his shoulder down and slammed into him. Neal landed hard on his back with a sharp cracking sound that seemed out of place for just being flesh hitting the floor. Arching back with Richards still on top of him Neal screamed like he'd just been mortally wounded.
"Neal!"
Having put his hands up to defend himself when Richards ran at him Neal ended up with his palms against his attacker's chest. Neal used his purchase to shove Richards back and off himself in a surprising show of strength. Richards jumped to his feet and was about to kick Neal but hesitated when Neal didn't even make an attempt to get back up. Writhing in pain Neal screamed again, his voice rising above the excited roar of the crowd. Peter couldn't see what was wrong with Richards standing in the way as he paced at the bars to try and see what was happening. Not taking advantage of a downed opponent Richards backed away revealing that Neal was laying in a quickly expanding pool of blood.
"Neal!"
"What the hell happened?" Jake asked confused.
Ignoring Jake but having the same question in his mind Peter called out to Neal again to encourage him to get up however he doubted that Neal could hear him over the crowd as they encouraged Richards to finish what he'd started. Snarling useless threats Peter tore at the bars as Richards appeased the crowd by brutally kicking Neal in the ribs. Crying out in pain and fear Neal forced himself into a sitting position and tried to scramble back away from Richards. Quickly backing himself into the wall Neal put up his violently trembling hand up and stared up desperately at Richards in hopes of mercy.
"Stop!" Peter yelled at Richards. "You've won! Leave him alone!"
Richards had hesitated to take advantage before but he'd been keyed up by the crowd and wasted no time knocking Neal's hand out of the way so he could reach down and grab a fist full of his sweat drenched hair. Hauling Neal to his knees Richards drew his hand back to throw his full force into a knock out blow, however before he got the chance the bell signifying the end of the match suddenly rang out. Adhering to the rules Richards released Neal and threw his hands up in victory like he had just scored a touchdown rather than nearly beaten a man to death. Without Richards supporting him Neal dropped back to the floor like a rag doll.
"Neal!" Peter called again before turning to Jake. "The fights over, let me out there!"
When Jake hesitated to step into the cell to open the gate to the ring Peter dropped down to his knees and put his hands up behind his head with his fingers laced together to prove that he had no intention of attacking him. Satisfied that Peter would behave Jake unlocked the cell and stepped over to the other gate and unlocked it as well. Stepping to the side he nodded to let Peter know he could get up and go to his fallen partner.
It took Peter two tries to get back to his feet as the stress and starvation worked against his adrenaline and willpower. Once up Peter rushed out into the blood soaked ring. Jake followed behind at a slower pace with his metal baton in hand just in case. Richards looked over his shoulder as the crowd reacted to Peter jeeringly. Emboldened by the audience and the recent victory Richards stepped up to Peter fearlessly.
"You should have taught your pet how to fight, Fed." Richards mocked brazenly.
Without breaking stride Peter slammed the heel of his palm into the exact spot on Richards' chest that Richards had first struck Neal. The crowd laughed as Richards was knocked back on his ass sputtering for breath. Having not expected the blow he had been easily taken off balance. Gasping for breath Richards looked up sourly at Jake clearly expecting him to do something to Peter in retaliation for the assault.
"What?" Jake chuckled at Richards. "You shouldn't have pissed him off."
"Jake…" Richards whined.
"He's allowed to attack anyone he wants, I only take it personally when its me."
Richards got back to his feet and contemplated starting a new fight however seeing the look in Peter's eyes he wisely backed down and left the ring with what was left of his dignity. Peter continued over to Neal and knelt down next to him, the blood on the floor quickly soaked through the fabric of his pants. Gasping in quick shallow breaths Neal looked up at Peter in terror as he continued to bleed out. Needing to assess the situation Peter carefully slipped his hand under Neal's head and helped him sit up. Looking over Neal's shoulder Peter's heart sank at the sight of the jagged glass shards sticking out of his flesh. Richards had pushed him down onto the glass bottle that someone had thrown at Peter when he'd had Campbell pinned and it had shattered under the impact.
Horrified by the damage and unable to do anything about the bleeding right now Peter just pulled Neal in against his chest in a light embrace to give him a small measure of psychological support. Accepting the gesture Neal curled up against him as a wracking tremor ran through his body as his adrenaline and endurance bottomed out. Peter couldn't let Neal rest too long, he had to get him out of the exposed arena and back to the relative safety of their room so he could attempt to remove the glass and stop the bleeding.
Peter threaded one arm under Neal's knees and attempted to lift him up off the floor. Finding himself too weak to move Neal's weight he had to switch tactics. As soon as Neal realized what Peter was trying to do he started attempting to get to his feet on his own. Peter slipped in under Neal's good shoulder to help him stand. Jake stepped closer and went to reach down to grab Neal's other arm causing Peter to jerk Neal away from him as best he could.
"Back off!" Peter snapped.
"I'm just trying to help."
"Touch him and you're going to have a personal problem on your hands!"
"Fair enough, Agent, take care of your own."
"Believe me...I plan to."
Chapter 8: (soon)