(Neal POV)

"One minute fifty-two seconds and counting."

"Alright, I'm going!" Neal was frantic. As he ran across the street, his hands mindlessly rolled up his sleeves and took off his suit, making him seem a lot more casual and ruffled than his usual sleek and classy self. He did this without thinking, years of practice making it seem effortless to pick a cover story that could convince this woman to give up the itinerary. As he reached the door, his hand ran through his hair to make him seem a bit frazzled, and then he stepped through.

There was no one inside except for the red-haired secretary, Kathy. She seemed to ignore him entering, and continued to look at her computer screen. Neal took a deep breath and stepped forward. He had to do this quickly, as to let this woman get home to her kids that night.

This was why Neal had stopped working with Wilkes years before. After one con that they had done together, Neal had immediately realized that Wilkes was too gung-ho and liked his guns way more than what Neal was comfortable with. Just seeing him interrogate and threaten the curator at gun point was too much for him to handle. Even though he probably could have gotten the curator to tell him personally what the security code was by just talking to him, Wilkes insisted they do it his way, which was "more efficient". True, it saved them time, but the man's face had been so petrified and filled with terror that it haunted Neal for weeks after. So, Neal had stolen the painting and took off with the money. That was enough to let Wilkes know that their partnership was over.

So now, Wilkes had Neal just where he wanted him. His front man, having to do things his way, otherwise innocent people paid the price.

One minute and thirty-seven seconds.

Neal cleared his throat and stepped forward, flashing one of his signature "I'm just ran here but still look great" smiles at the lady. She barely looked up, clearly unimpressed.

So this would be harder than he thought.

"Hi there! How you doing?" He said a little breathlessly.

"I'm fine," with a quick look and short smile was all he got before her head went back down and she went back to her work.

So he'd have to do all the work here, then.

"My name's Nick Halden. I'm, uh, an assistant with Level One Concierge Services." He continued to beam at her, in the hope that she would cave a little and become a bit easier to work with.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen any time soon. Kathy glanced up again and replied, "How can I help you, Nick Halden from Level One Concierge Services?" That was a little too sarcastic to be a good sign.

Neal tried to keep it up and immediately responded with another cover story he had used ages back in a similar case to this. Well, except for the fact that he had to do this right otherwise this innocent-yet-rude lady would die within a minute and twenty seconds (roughly). "We got a big client coming to town; Thomas Loze. You booked his travel. I need to make a weeks worth of five-star dinner reservations, only I misplaced his itinerary. And I blow another account, I'm toast, so-" he paused to let her finish his thought.

"So it sounds like you need to find a new line of work, Nick."

Ok, not what he had in mind.

"Come again?"

She leaned back in her chair and took off her headpiece. "You know, people like you really piss me off. You waltz in here, you flash some sort of grin, and you think you can get me to do something that would get me fired?"

Well, at least she noticed that he smiled at her.

"I don't think so," she finished. "But have a nice day."

She leaned back again and replaced her headpiece, turning to go back to her computer when the red dot appeared on her forehead and lingered, staying with her whichever way she leaned.

One minute.

Seeing the light made Neal a little more desperate. She needed to start cooperating, otherwise she was going to get herself killed right in front of him. He knew that he would never be able to live with himself if that happened.

"Please, please, Kathy. I really need this, ok?"

"I said, have a nice day." She looked thoroughly done with him, and looked away from him to her computer screen.

Seeing her reject him just like that made Neal's eyes grow wide with worry. She was gonna kill herself if she kept at him like this! "Okay, okay," Yes, he sounded desperate, but he definitely was at this point. He walked back to the window where he could see the sniper clearly. Crap. That just made it all seem so much more real.

Thinking quickly, Neal decided to change his tactics from worried concierge to desperate father. "And that is exactly what I'm saying gonna tell my son when I explain to him why Daddy lost his job." Hopefully Kathy would be a little more caring if she thought he had a child to take care of back home. He kept going. "His daddy is a failure. I'm gonna level with you, Kathy. I don't enjoy catering to guys who spend more on a bottle of Courvoisier than I make in a year, but it's all I got. Who am I to think that I can do this job and raise a five-year-old all by myself?"

Kathy had glanced up at him now, with hopefully a little pity in her face. That was good, she was listening now, he had finally struck a similar chord with her.

Neal was rambling a little now, anything to get that ugly red dot off of her forehead. "And now I gotta tell Joey we're going back to Cedar Rapids," Kathy looked up fully at that, "it's gonna break his heart. But kids bounce back, though. You know, they're tough."

Thirty seconds.

Kathy leaned forward a little. "Cedar Rapids?"

Really? That's what she picked up from his heart-throbbing story?

He decided to go with it. Just a simple "Yeah."

"I'm from Iowa City. U of I, '88!"

Well, whatever worked. "No kidding," Neal responded with a fake laugh.

Kathy seemed to be smiling at her thoughts, which Neal took as a good sign. If she could just take their connection and get over the fact that she could lose her job, then she might just survive today.

Twenty-four.

She seemed to come out of her train of thought and leaned on her desk to say something. Neal sighed in relief. This was what he was talking about. Nobody had to die. She could now just give him the itinerary and nobody had to be the wiser. They could all make it out of this.

He plastered a smile on his face and leaned a little forward in anticipation.

She spoke, but this time with a sweeter tinge and small smile. "You know Nick, you're really one of a kind. You actually managed to change my opinion on guys like you."

Nineteen.

Neal smiled inwardly. This was going great. He tried to mask the relief in his voice and said, "Well, we're not all bad, you know."

Kathy sighed and leaned back in her chair. "But as much as I like you, Nick-"

Oh no.

"-I just can't give you this information without a sort of I.D. or thumbs up from Mr. Loze himself." She looked almost guilty.

Fourteen.

Neal's face paled slightly, and he whipped around to see the sniper lined up in position. He looked back at that menacing red light on Kathy's forehead. Then Neal did sometime that he'd never done in his life-ever. He begged.

"Kathy, I'm telling you, no, I'm begging you. You have to let me access his itinerary now! If I don't get this information, you- I mean I- won't live through this!"

Ten.

"Nick, I'm sorry, but I'm sure you'll be able to get through this! I know someone like you will be able to find a job, or you could just smooth it over-"

Eight.

"Please! I need this information! It's a matter of life or death-"

Seven.

"Don't worry, it's not that bad-"

Six.

"Kathy! Just give it to me!"

Five.

"I can't do that, Nick."

Four.

"Just let me-"

Three.

"No! I'm sorry, but-"

Two.

"Kathy-"

One.

"KATHY!"

Suddenly the window crashed, and glass spewed all over the room. Kathy's head whipped backwards and her chair tipped backwards from the force of it, spilling her now lifeless body onto the floor.

Nicks eyes widened and he stumbled backwards in shock from the suddenness of it all. Sure, he had known it was coming if he failed, but he- he never failed.

And the one time it mattered, he'd broken that streak.

His hands shaking and clammy, Nick clambered back to his feet and stared in shock at the scene before him. A single hole in Kathy's forehead with a slight trickle of blood leaking from it was all that was different about her appearance from just ten seconds before. Her red hair was splayed behind her in a fiery mane, and her eyes stared unblinkingly at nothing.

Neal had never seen someone die up close before. Yes, he had seen some dead people in his time, but he always tried to stay clear of murders- or deaths in general. Of course it was inevitable in his line of work, but never had someone been gunned down so mercilessly from right in front of him. She was an innocent. She had a family. He had failed.

Neal stumbled towards her, his hands reaching out for a pulse he knew he would not find. He must have sat there for minutes on end when he numbly felt a rough hand on his shoulder, pushing him out of the way.

Neal came back to himself to realize that it was Wilkes. He had stepped over the body and was now immersed on the computer, scrolling through names. Neal glanced back down at Kathy. For once in his life he had no idea what to do. He was sure that he'd had a plan just minutes ago, something about contacting Mozzie- but now he couldn't recall anything. Everything was just a blur now, because all he could picture was that one moment. The moment when the glass shattered. When the bullet zoomed by. When the chair flipped backwards.

When she died.

A firm hand gripped Neal's arm, just below the shoulder and roughly hauled him to his feet. Neal registered that his eyes were still wide, his skin was still pale and clammy, and his mouth was open slightly. Quickly, Neal set out to remedy this.

Suddenly, next to his left ear, a voice whispered, "Nice going, Caffrey. This one's on you."

Immediately, Neal's hurriedly repaired outer expression and composure crumbled. Wilkes was right. Neal had failed, and someone had paid the ultimate price. He could feel that his breaths were coming short and rapid. He was hyperventilating from the shock. Wilkes seemed to notice this as well, and grinned.

"What? You never seen a little blood before, Caffrey? Get over it. You're working my way, now."

Wilkes' men grabbed Neal's arms from both sides and led him, stumbling, outside to the waiting silver van. The crowds in the busy Manhattan street were going crazy. Some people were running away from the scene, while others were simply confused, having not seen anything yet. Sirens were wailing in the distance, but Neal knew that he would be halfway across the city by the time they arrived. A woman screamed nearby, having seen the scene and Kathy lying on the floor, dead. This definitely drew more attention, which was Wilkes' sign that it was time to go.

A hand on the back of his head shoved Neal headfirst into the small space. Crashing on the floor, Neal rolled over and simply laid there. Not being too gentle about where they were stepping, Wilkes and one of his men clambered in alongside him. Again, Neal was pulled upwards and leaned against the back wall.

"So, after that little... fiasco, you think you're ready for round two?" Wilkes scoffed at him. His voice was still as smooth and controlled as ever, showing no sign that anything unusual had happened. Of course, for Wilkes, nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Not sure whether or not he could trust his voice yet, Neal's lips moved silently for a couple of seconds before he got out, "... There's no way I'm playing another round of your sick game, Wilkes. Never again."

Now Neal was getting mad. This was Wilkes' fault, not his. He would not be participating in one second more of this dangerous game.

Wilkes chuckled. "What, you can't stomach it, Caffrey? I didn't do anything back there except make good on my promise to you. You're the one who got that nice lady killed." As Wilkes spoke, he drew out each word, while leaning down slowly to get to Neal's eye-level. "As for round two, maybe you need a little 'break' to see what you're really working for here."

Wilkes abruptly straightened up and stalked to the other side of the van. "Tase this man again," he said to his thug next to him.

Neal flinched and tried to scoot backwards. "No, that's really not nece-" he couldn't finish, because then the taser hit him in the arm. He let out a small unintelligible objection, and then the world went black.