Start Over, Try Again: Chapter 1
For any of you who remember the poll I put out a long time ago, here is the winning White Collar plot line! I know it's been a while since I've done a White Collar fic, but I've been busy. My other stories stretched on much farther than I had originally intended. However, I secretly working on this story as I finished the others ;)
Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own White Collar no matter how much I might wish it.
Warnings: Mainly some angst. Some violence. Some child abuse in later chapters.
Code Word
"What's the code word, Neal. I'm not letting you go in there until I hear it come out of your mouth." Neal rolled his eyes at the FBI agent in his ear, and sighed.
"Plane. Now, let me go inside, before I look even more suspicious than I already do lingering at the doorway." Back in the van, Peter mimicked his partner's earlier actions and rolled his eyes. Lifting the walkie talkie to his mouth, he gave the go ahead.
"You'll think of something. Now, go before you're late for your meeting." Jones was currently on van duty with Peter, and bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at his boss and CI. They bickered like an old married couple, as his Mama used to say, and really it was the only thing remotely interesting about getting stuck in the van. He got to listen to those two go at it, and see their respective facial expressions.
They watched via the button camera on Neal's jacket as he entered the fancy lobby and was approached by a tall, muscular man in a generic but obviously expensive suit. Security, they all thought at the same time.
"Mr. Landom? We've been expecting you." Neal chuckled, and the camera jostled as he slipped something, his phone, into his pocket.
"Yes, sorry about that. The wife loves to nag." The man didn't crack a smile or any other facial expression for that matter, and only turned, expecting Neal to follow. They all started to feel a bit uneasy about this. Neal stayed relaxed however.
He followed the man up the elevator and into…an empty floor. There were no offices or anything of the kind that would suggest this floor was being used for anything.
"What is this?" The large man grabbed Neal's arm when he started to back away. Neal didn't struggle, but he sure as hell made his displeasure known. "I thought I was meeting with Johnson."
"You are." There was no expression on the man's face, though Neal could almost feel the smugness washing off of the guy.
"Neal, Neal! We are coming in there. Just hang on!" Neal clenched his jaw, and could only hope Peter got there in time to prevent what was likely to be an unpleasant 'meeting'. Though the agent was jumping the gun, Neal appreciated it. The con man didn't think he was going to get out of here completely unscathed.
They rounded a corner, and Neal was surprised to find a lone desk sitting at the far end of the room. He nearly rolled his eyes at the scene, as he had seen it in one too many movies, but figured he probably shouldn't. The man behind the desk looked up as he heard them approach and smiled at them. That scared Neal more than the giant with his hand locked around his arm. Mr. Johnson stood as they got closer.
"Mr. Caffrey, so nice of you to join us." Neal tensed as he heard his name pass the man's lips. Damn. He couldn't figure out what had gone wrong, but this man knew his real identity, and that never ended well for him. The mark laughed as he saw the surprise on Neal's face and pulled a gun out of his desk drawer.
"I have very good security, Mr. Caffrey, and they do very thorough background checks. I don't know what you were hoping to accomplish, but I will give you a choice." Johnson ran his fingers over the weapon, not looking at the tense con man. "Help me. There are a few things that I would like for you to acquire for me. Do this and I'll let this little indiscretion go. Or…" The man simply lifted the gun to point it directly at Neal's forehead. "I let you stain my floor. Your choice." Neal did roll his eyes then, because obviously this guy had seen too many movies, but he could not help but feel ever so slightly relieved. It seemed that despite how good Johnson's security team was, they weren't thorough enough to figure out he was helping the FBI. Small miracles.
Neal backed up again, but was blocked once more by the bulky security guard. His large hands wrapped around Neal's upper arms and held him in place.
"Look, I've got a plane to catch this afternoon, so I don't think this will work out." The door to the stairwell burst open then, and the FBI poured in, Peter, Diana and Jones leading the pack.
"FBI! Mr. Johnson, drop your weapon and put your hands up." They all had their guns trained at the two men beside Neal, as the muscle man had also pulled a gun. The guy still held tight to Neal, and even dragged him partially in front of him as a shield. It really wasn't his day, Neal thought. Instead of giving in to his shock like most of their marks usually did, this man's rage boiled over. One glance at the security guy and shots started to ring out. The big guy was taken out easily, and Neal was dragged down with him. The back of his head met concrete, and his vision blacked out for a moment. When he could see again, he didn't hesitate to do the first thing that came to his mind. Run!
There was something none of them were counting on though.
There was a third man on the floor, with another gun. Neal spotted him when he skidded around the corner, and just when he heard the gun shots stop behind him, he saw the weapon aimed at him.
"Peter!" The FBI agent turned just in time to see his CI turn to run. The shooter didn't hesitate, and Neal was just a second too late. The shot rang out and when everything went black this time, it stayed black.
"Neal!" Peter's heart stopped when he heard the shot and saw Neal go down. Without another thought, his feet were flying him across the room, and his gun fired off a few rounds. None of them hit, and he barely saw someone fleeing out of the corner of his eye, before he stopped. He wanted to chase the man down, but he had to check on Neal. See if…if…
As Peter knelt by his CI, Diana and Jones rushed past him to try and catch up with the shooter. The agent saw red, and not just anger. There was so much red pooling around Neal's head. Peter's fingers shook as he reached forward to feel for a pulse. Everything around him was muffled as his focus was taken up completely by his fallen friend.
He nearly shouted for joy when he felt a pulse beating under his finger tips.
"Call in an ambulance! Agent down!" No one corrected him. At this point, Neal was one of them, and it was hard on everyone when they saw him bleeding on the ground. Peter motioned another agent over, and they gently rolled Neal onto his back. They were confused however, when they didn't see the wound right away. Peter began to gently feel around Neal's head and came across the gash in the back first. Wincing in sympathy, he continued to card his fingers through Neal's hair. He found the wound on the side of his CI's head. The bullet had grazed his head, causing profuse bleeding. Neal's unconsciousness was probably a combination of the head wound, gun shot wound, and shock.
"Boss," Peter looked up to find Diana and Jones hurrying towards him. He scowled at not seeing a shooter in their custody. The two agents were scowling too.
"He got away. Slipped into the stairwell and just disappeared. How's Neal?" Peter was not happy to hear that the shooter got away, but right now his CI was his focus.
"He has a nice gash on the back of his head, and the bullet grazed the side of his head, hence all of the blood. His breathing is fine though, and so is his heart rate. I think it was mainly pain and shock that caused him to fall unconscious." Peter stopped and perked up when EMT's came into view. He ushered them over and stepped back to let them work.
The paramedics got Neal onto a stretcher, and Peter insisted on coming with them in the back of the ambulance.
"Sir-" Peter flashed his badge.
"This man is my confidential informant, and the man who shot him got away. I'm coming." With a sigh the EMT let him in the back, and Peter told Diana and Jones to secure the scene before coming to the hospital.
When they arrived, Neal was quickly taken in the back, and Peter was forced to remain in the waiting room. This gave him plenty of time to pace, call El, and pace.
El was horrified when she heard the news, though she felt a bit guilty over the initial relief that it wasn't Peter who was shot. She insisted on coming to the hospital, saying she would call Mozzie and June to let them know. Peter hung up and was back on his feet. At one point, he was given forms to fill out, but he left most of Neal's medical history blank. The only thing he could really fill in was the bare minimum information the Bureau had on Caffrey and the health insurance provided for the employees. Diana and Jones showed up when he was finishing up with the paperwork.
"Peter, anything?" He shook his head.
"Not yet." Clinton peeked at what he was filling out and snorted.
"I'm not sure if any of that is going to be helpful." Peter glared at him.
"Do you want to fill it out?" Jones held his hands up in surrender, and Peter gave the forms to the nurse. He stopped her, before she could get away.
"Is there any news?" She promised to check, and left them all standing there once more. Peter and Jones settled into the uncomfortable chairs, while Diana, unable to keep still decided on getting some crappy hospital coffee. When she returned, the other two agents were right where she had left them. Peter broke the silence.
"What could you get on the shooter?" Diana shook her head.
"Not much. He was wearing dark clothes, nothing distinctive. Dark hair. Caucasian. Maybe late thirties? That's it. Never saw his face." Jones nodded.
"He was fast and knew exactly where he was going. If he didn't work for Johnson, then he sure knew his way around." This gave Peter something to think about, get his mind off of Neal. However, that only lasted for a few moments, because the nurse came back. Well, rushing back more like it.
"You are family of Mr. Caffrey right?" Scared by the look on her face, Peter only nodded. Not seeming to care if he was lying or not, she gestured for him to follow her.
"Is everything alright? What happened?" The nurse looked back at the small group of agents following her.
"He insists on leaving, and the doctor is afraid if someone doesn't calm him down, he'll jump out a window or crawl through a vent to do it." Jones snorted, because they all knew Caffrey could do it. However, Peter was more disturbed by the fact that Neal was throwing a fit. It was common knowledge that his CI didn't like hospitals, especially being a patient in one, but he wasn't the type to fight. He would try and charm the nurses to let him out, and if that didn't work, simply pout.
He heard them as they got close to the room. Their voices weren't really raised, but it was clear Neal was unhappy.
"Look, I don't see why you can't just let me go home. You stitched me up, right? So, I'm fine." Peter's brow furrowed. It was Neal's voice, but…something seemed off.
"We really must insist that you stay for observation, at least overnight, Mr. Caffrey-"
"Why does everyone keep calling me that?!" The trio of agents stopped in their tracks, shared a look and hurried into the hospital room. They found Neal, a doctor and a male nurse all gathered by a hospital bed. Neal appeared to be trying to find his clothes or simply get out of the bed, but the doctor was blocking his path, and the male nurse kept trying to push him down. Peter didn't like how rough the nurse was being and stepped in.
"Excuse me, what are you doing?" The nurse scowled until he saw the badge Peter flashed at him.
"The patient is refusing to stay and listen to the advice of his doctor. We were told he wasn't allowed to leave unless it was with his…keeper." Diana opened her mouth to give the guy a piece of her mind, when Neal beat her to it.
"Keeper? I'm not a dog. Now, could you get your hands off of me?" When the nurse looked at him skeptically, Neal sighed dramatically. "Please." The nurse slowly released him, and Neal crossed his arms, surreptitiously rubbing the spots when the man had held him. Peter narrowed his eyes at the nurse.
"Who told you that?" Peter knew he hadn't said anything. He never has, then again, Neal hasn't ever ended up in the hospital like this. The agents saw that the nurse was starting to get pissed and as he opened his mouth for, no doubt, some sort of rude remark, the doctor cut him off.
"The EMT told us that Mr. Caffrey was a confidential informant for the FBI." It seemed like a lot of interrupting was going on today, because before Jones could comment, Neal did.
"FBI?! What the Hell are you all talking about?"
Well? What did you think? Did you miss my White Collar stories? :)
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