The Labyrinth: Ch 14
Chapter Fourteen
Agitated and growing increasingly anxious as the seconds ticked by Peter stopped his pointless pacing and wrapped his arms over his stomach as his emotional distressed transformed into a searing physical pain. The longer Neal was gone with Jake the harder it was becoming to keep his mounting panic and increasingly active imagination under any kind of control. Peter had kept quiet about it but he had dreaded from the start that Jake would turn to Neal to slake his unsavory thirsts for pain, violence, and power in an act of depraved brutality against him. Neal had been brave about leaving with Jake and Peter admired that but he also felt guilty knowing that Neal only cooperated in order to keep Jake from retaliating against them both. Once they were alone Neal would fight harder against him, but he simply wasn't a match for Jake's strength and skill.
Grinding his teeth against a wave of nausea Peter first cursed Jake for taking Neal in the first place and them himself for not doing more to stop him. Beyond being unable to help Neal now Peter feared that he was going to be just as useless to help him in the aftermath. The FBI had done some training in comforting victims, although Peter felt that 'managing' was a better term for it than actually comforting them. It had mostly been about quick fixes to snap victims of violence out of shock long enough to get some useful information out of them to help go after their attackers before handing them over to professional psychologists. The two days worth of training had done nothing to prepared him to be able to help his friend cope with a devastating trauma in any meaningful way.
"There will be no quick fixes for any of this." Peter sighed to himself miserably.
A chilling wash of adrenaline poured through Peter's veins as the subway rattled the stone above him. The way time moved agonizingly slow during times of stress had made it difficult for Peter to know how long Neal had been gone. He had hoped that the time lapse had been closer to minutes, however the clockwork running of the late night transit system told him that Neal had been subjected to Jake's torments for over an hour now. Coming up with a myriad horrifying reasons why things were taking so long the imaginary knife twisting in his stomach was joined by an alarming pressure around his heart. Recognizing the symptom as a simple panic attack and not a true cardiac issue didn't help Peter feel any better.
Suddenly panting for breath Peter went back over to the door and slammed his shoulder into the locked steel door for the dozenth time since Jake had locked him in. He could practically hear Mozzie's voice telling him that the 'definition of insanity was trying the same thing over and over again expecting different results' but he had reached his limit for standing idly by and doing nothing. Just like the other times he'd struck the door it proved once again to be unmovable. Angered by the door's indifference to his assault Peter put more effort into beating himself against it.
After two more fruitless tries to break the heavy door down Peter backed away and raked his fingers through his hair finding it drenched in a cold sweat. Fighting the debilitating combination of fear and frustration Peter found himself digging his fingers into the angry bite wound in his arm. The results were surprisingly calming as he used the self-inflicted pain that he could control to drown out the pain of helplessness that he couldn't do anything about. Peter was to the point of drawing blood when he heard Neal angrily snarling incoherently at Jake in the hallway.
Peter gave serious consideration to standing by the door to ambush Jake when he opened it but he decided that right now it was more important to just get Neal away from him as quickly as possible and the fastest way to do that was to keep back. As satisfying as it would be killing Jake at this point wouldn't help their situation, in fact with the way Sawyer always backed down from him Peter got the distinct impression that the only way out of her was through Jake. Without Jake there was a good chance that York would just seal the Labyrinth into a tomb, even if he didn't he'd just send someone to take Jake's place.
Even having talked himself through the pointlessness of seeking revenge Peter still had to use all his willpower to stick to his plan not to rush Jake as he heard the key grinding in the lock. Peter clenched his hands into tight fists when he heard Neal yelp before there was the sound of brief struggle followed by a breathless sputtering that gave Peter the impression that Jake had just driven his knee into Neal's stomach. His fear was confirmed when Jake kicked open the door and revealed that Neal was doubled over as he tried to catch his breath.
Jake had Neal by the back of the neck and practically threw him into the room. Peter rushed up to meet Neal as he stumbled forward and caught him. Unable to keep Neal on his feel he eased him down to his knees. Following him down Peter kept his hands lightly on Neal's shoulders as he pitched forward onto his hands and started dry heaving uncontrollably. Without thinking Peter went to card his hand into Neal's hair to try and help comfort him. Considering how often that exact move had been used to painfully control him lately Neal jerked away violently. Nearly losing his balance despite already being on his hands and knees Neal cried out angrily before continuing to lose the battle over his rebelling stomach to the point where he was barely able to breathe. Clearly having no real hold on what was going on around him Neal weakly struggled to escape from Peter.
"Neal…"
Startled by Peter's voice Neal pulled his head up. Misjudging the force necessary he clumsily reared up, sitting back heavily on his heels Neal ended up staring up at the ceiling before managing to bring his head back to a neutral position. Momentarily freed from the violent stomach heaving Neal stared blankly at Peter as he slowly worked on recognizing him. The moment that Neal put the pieces together he visibly relaxed to the point of near collapse forcing Peter to reach out and put his hands on his shoulders to steady him. Peter stared at him in horror, Neal was in far worse shape that he had feared with the confusion, the blood dripping down his face from his temple and the dazed look in his glassy stare he looked like he was suffering from a massive concussion. When Neal exhaled heavily Peter was given a different explanation for his friend's symptoms when he caught the distinct powerful scent of alcohol.
"How's his breath?" Jake asked knowingly.
"What the hell did you do to him?!"
"Do you honestly want to know?" Jake mocked. "Let's just say I put a fire in his belly…among other things."
Peter's blood boiled at Jake's winking tone but it was Neal that suddenly twisted around with a roar of rage and went to launch himself at Jake in a drunken haze. Distracted from his own anger Peter automatically lashed out and caught Neal around the waist to hold him back. Still kneeling on the floor Peter held Neal against his chest to prevent him from going after Jake, partly because it was his instinct to prevent violence, but mostly because he knew that Neal would just end up on the floor if he tried to fight Jake. Neal fought bitterly but briefly to free himself before giving in and resting against his captor while gulping heavily for air as if he'd just run a marathon. Bowing his head Neal whimpered pitifully as the room undoubtedly spun around him. Not knowing how else to help Peter just held on to him as exhaustion and alcohol stole what little strength Neal had left. Jake waited patiently for Peter to look up at him with a deadly glare which eventually he did.
"I want you to remember this moment the next time I tell you to do something, Burke." Jake said darkly. "Your cooperation will directly determine whether or not this happens to him again. Never assume that I can't make things worse for either one of you."
"Jake…"
"If you don't behave and there is a next time you're going to know exactly what I do to him because I'm going to make you watch."
Every muscle in Peter's body snapped tight as his usually even temper quickly eroded away at his better judgment. Feeling the increased tension Neal started to become agitated again. Holding Neal tighter Peter fought to remind himself that Jake's fuse was more like a switch and an aggressive act now could easily lead to getting them both killed. Neal was in no condition to even pretend to defend himself and as motivated as he was Peter was still no match for Jake while he remained armed with the metal baton that he'd shown amazing proficiency with. Easily reading Peter's thought process Jake stared him down in an open challenge that he knew Peter wasn't going to accept. With a noise of frustration and disgust Peter looked away as he silently admitted defeat.
"Good call, Burke. Save this feeling though, it will serve you well in the ring." Jake said seriously. "The next fight is tomorrow night, put on a good enough show and I'll cancel Caffrey's round."
"No!" Neal protested as he started to blindly try to escape Peter again. "He's not fighting for you, you sick ba..."
"Think about it, Burke." Jake said ignoring Neal. "It could be a life and death call, he's going to have a hell of a hangover to contend with tomorrow."
Peter didn't give Jake an answer either way, he just kept a hold of Neal to keep him from attempting another uncoordinated attack. Nearly losing consciousness from the renewed effort Neal spat and swore in inebriated frustration as he rested against Peter again when his body refused to cooperate with his desires in any meaningful way. With his attention locked on Jake Peter didn't miss the brief look of empathy tinged with genuine sorrow that clouded his usually smug expression as he watched Neal struggle. It wasn't the first time Peter had seen him hesitate in his role of torturer. He was quick to anger and clearly delighted in having the upper hand, but at the same time moments of something very close to compassion kept slipping through. Peter strongly suspected that there was more than just pure loyalty to York that kept Jake working down here. Before Peter could try to capitalize in Jake's volatile mood that had momentarily swung in their direction Jake's personality switched again and he sneered at his captives before he turned away and quickly left. Slamming the door shut he left the pair in a moment of palpable silence that was all the more deafening in the wake of the stressful encounter.
"Coward." Neal snarled quietly.
"I'm sor…"
"Not you, him."
Chapter 15 (soon):
Agitated and growing increasingly anxious as the seconds ticked by Peter stopped his pointless pacing and wrapped his arms over his stomach as his emotional distressed transformed into a searing physical pain. The longer Neal was gone with Jake the harder it was becoming to keep his mounting panic and increasingly active imagination under any kind of control. Peter had kept quiet about it but he had dreaded from the start that Jake would turn to Neal to slake his unsavory thirsts for pain, violence, and power in an act of depraved brutality against him. Neal had been brave about leaving with Jake and Peter admired that but he also felt guilty knowing that Neal only cooperated in order to keep Jake from retaliating against them both. Once they were alone Neal would fight harder against him, but he simply wasn't a match for Jake's strength and skill.
Grinding his teeth against a wave of nausea Peter first cursed Jake for taking Neal in the first place and them himself for not doing more to stop him. Beyond being unable to help Neal now Peter feared that he was going to be just as useless to help him in the aftermath. The FBI had done some training in comforting victims, although Peter felt that 'managing' was a better term for it than actually comforting them. It had mostly been about quick fixes to snap victims of violence out of shock long enough to get some useful information out of them to help go after their attackers before handing them over to professional psychologists. The two days worth of training had done nothing to prepared him to be able to help his friend cope with a devastating trauma in any meaningful way.
"There will be no quick fixes for any of this." Peter sighed to himself miserably.
A chilling wash of adrenaline poured through Peter's veins as the subway rattled the stone above him. The way time moved agonizingly slow during times of stress had made it difficult for Peter to know how long Neal had been gone. He had hoped that the time lapse had been closer to minutes, however the clockwork running of the late night transit system told him that Neal had been subjected to Jake's torments for over an hour now. Coming up with a myriad horrifying reasons why things were taking so long the imaginary knife twisting in his stomach was joined by an alarming pressure around his heart. Recognizing the symptom as a simple panic attack and not a true cardiac issue didn't help Peter feel any better.
Suddenly panting for breath Peter went back over to the door and slammed his shoulder into the locked steel door for the dozenth time since Jake had locked him in. He could practically hear Mozzie's voice telling him that the 'definition of insanity was trying the same thing over and over again expecting different results' but he had reached his limit for standing idly by and doing nothing. Just like the other times he'd struck the door it proved once again to be unmovable. Angered by the door's indifference to his assault Peter put more effort into beating himself against it.
After two more fruitless tries to break the heavy door down Peter backed away and raked his fingers through his hair finding it drenched in a cold sweat. Fighting the debilitating combination of fear and frustration Peter found himself digging his fingers into the angry bite wound in his arm. The results were surprisingly calming as he used the self-inflicted pain that he could control to drown out the pain of helplessness that he couldn't do anything about. Peter was to the point of drawing blood when he heard Neal angrily snarling incoherently at Jake in the hallway.
Peter gave serious consideration to standing by the door to ambush Jake when he opened it but he decided that right now it was more important to just get Neal away from him as quickly as possible and the fastest way to do that was to keep back. As satisfying as it would be killing Jake at this point wouldn't help their situation, in fact with the way Sawyer always backed down from him Peter got the distinct impression that the only way out of her was through Jake. Without Jake there was a good chance that York would just seal the Labyrinth into a tomb, even if he didn't he'd just send someone to take Jake's place.
Even having talked himself through the pointlessness of seeking revenge Peter still had to use all his willpower to stick to his plan not to rush Jake as he heard the key grinding in the lock. Peter clenched his hands into tight fists when he heard Neal yelp before there was the sound of brief struggle followed by a breathless sputtering that gave Peter the impression that Jake had just driven his knee into Neal's stomach. His fear was confirmed when Jake kicked open the door and revealed that Neal was doubled over as he tried to catch his breath.
Jake had Neal by the back of the neck and practically threw him into the room. Peter rushed up to meet Neal as he stumbled forward and caught him. Unable to keep Neal on his feel he eased him down to his knees. Following him down Peter kept his hands lightly on Neal's shoulders as he pitched forward onto his hands and started dry heaving uncontrollably. Without thinking Peter went to card his hand into Neal's hair to try and help comfort him. Considering how often that exact move had been used to painfully control him lately Neal jerked away violently. Nearly losing his balance despite already being on his hands and knees Neal cried out angrily before continuing to lose the battle over his rebelling stomach to the point where he was barely able to breathe. Clearly having no real hold on what was going on around him Neal weakly struggled to escape from Peter.
"Neal…"
Startled by Peter's voice Neal pulled his head up. Misjudging the force necessary he clumsily reared up, sitting back heavily on his heels Neal ended up staring up at the ceiling before managing to bring his head back to a neutral position. Momentarily freed from the violent stomach heaving Neal stared blankly at Peter as he slowly worked on recognizing him. The moment that Neal put the pieces together he visibly relaxed to the point of near collapse forcing Peter to reach out and put his hands on his shoulders to steady him. Peter stared at him in horror, Neal was in far worse shape that he had feared with the confusion, the blood dripping down his face from his temple and the dazed look in his glassy stare he looked like he was suffering from a massive concussion. When Neal exhaled heavily Peter was given a different explanation for his friend's symptoms when he caught the distinct powerful scent of alcohol.
"How's his breath?" Jake asked knowingly.
"What the hell did you do to him?!"
"Do you honestly want to know?" Jake mocked. "Let's just say I put a fire in his belly…among other things."
Peter's blood boiled at Jake's winking tone but it was Neal that suddenly twisted around with a roar of rage and went to launch himself at Jake in a drunken haze. Distracted from his own anger Peter automatically lashed out and caught Neal around the waist to hold him back. Still kneeling on the floor Peter held Neal against his chest to prevent him from going after Jake, partly because it was his instinct to prevent violence, but mostly because he knew that Neal would just end up on the floor if he tried to fight Jake. Neal fought bitterly but briefly to free himself before giving in and resting against his captor while gulping heavily for air as if he'd just run a marathon. Bowing his head Neal whimpered pitifully as the room undoubtedly spun around him. Not knowing how else to help Peter just held on to him as exhaustion and alcohol stole what little strength Neal had left. Jake waited patiently for Peter to look up at him with a deadly glare which eventually he did.
"I want you to remember this moment the next time I tell you to do something, Burke." Jake said darkly. "Your cooperation will directly determine whether or not this happens to him again. Never assume that I can't make things worse for either one of you."
"Jake…"
"If you don't behave and there is a next time you're going to know exactly what I do to him because I'm going to make you watch."
Every muscle in Peter's body snapped tight as his usually even temper quickly eroded away at his better judgment. Feeling the increased tension Neal started to become agitated again. Holding Neal tighter Peter fought to remind himself that Jake's fuse was more like a switch and an aggressive act now could easily lead to getting them both killed. Neal was in no condition to even pretend to defend himself and as motivated as he was Peter was still no match for Jake while he remained armed with the metal baton that he'd shown amazing proficiency with. Easily reading Peter's thought process Jake stared him down in an open challenge that he knew Peter wasn't going to accept. With a noise of frustration and disgust Peter looked away as he silently admitted defeat.
"Good call, Burke. Save this feeling though, it will serve you well in the ring." Jake said seriously. "The next fight is tomorrow night, put on a good enough show and I'll cancel Caffrey's round."
"No!" Neal protested as he started to blindly try to escape Peter again. "He's not fighting for you, you sick ba..."
"Think about it, Burke." Jake said ignoring Neal. "It could be a life and death call, he's going to have a hell of a hangover to contend with tomorrow."
Peter didn't give Jake an answer either way, he just kept a hold of Neal to keep him from attempting another uncoordinated attack. Nearly losing consciousness from the renewed effort Neal spat and swore in inebriated frustration as he rested against Peter again when his body refused to cooperate with his desires in any meaningful way. With his attention locked on Jake Peter didn't miss the brief look of empathy tinged with genuine sorrow that clouded his usually smug expression as he watched Neal struggle. It wasn't the first time Peter had seen him hesitate in his role of torturer. He was quick to anger and clearly delighted in having the upper hand, but at the same time moments of something very close to compassion kept slipping through. Peter strongly suspected that there was more than just pure loyalty to York that kept Jake working down here. Before Peter could try to capitalize in Jake's volatile mood that had momentarily swung in their direction Jake's personality switched again and he sneered at his captives before he turned away and quickly left. Slamming the door shut he left the pair in a moment of palpable silence that was all the more deafening in the wake of the stressful encounter.
"Coward." Neal snarled quietly.
"I'm sor…"
"Not you, him."
Chapter 15 (soon):