Title: Life on the Moon
Category: TV Shows » White Collar
Author: GwenhwyfarRose
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T
Genre: Angst/General
Published: 03-09-11
Chapter: 1, Words: 940
Warnings/Spoilers: If you haven't seen through 2x11 (Forging Bonds) then stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled. If you squint you can see spoilers through the Finale (Under the Radar).
Summary: It's the cost of getting out of here alive.
Official Disclaimer: All White Collar characters and plots belong to Jeff Eastin and USA Network. I do not hold stock either the man or the company. Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke, and any other character featured are NOT mine. The title and summary comes from the David Cook song Life on the Moon, and I don't own that either.
Three o'clock in the morning was the time for sleep.
He could have sworn he had said it aloud as his cell phone rang for the fourth time. Then again, he could have sworn that the Bureau gave him voice-mail for moments such as this. After ensuring that his anklet was back in place and sending Neal home that day in the warehouse district, Peter spent the next two finishing up the paperwork on the Adler case, the destruction of the Nazi treasure and getting Alex's information off of Interpol. The general census of the office after they shut down the file was that they wouldn't even think of picking up another case until they all had a very nice, long weekend.
When she'd told the office that unless it was an emergency, she was unavailable, Peter had hoped to spend all four days of it in bed with his wife, who was currently reaching for his cell phone in order to get the offending object to stop ringing.
Wait, was that the house phone?
Elle didn't even try to say 'hello' before Peter could make out the clipped tones of none other than Diana apologizing for the time and demanding to speak to him. "I wasn't sleeping anyway," Elizabeth brushed off and turned, holding the cordless out to her husband. "Diana." She said needlessly.
"Burke." The phone wasn't even to his ear as Peter rolled onto his other side, shoving his feet into his slippers and pushing the covers off of his body. Just because he was being forced out of bed by the Bureau didn't mean his wife had to stay awake with him.
"You need to get dressed and meet me at Lennox Hill." From the sound of it, Diana was already moving; He could hear the steady hum of her car radio over the phone.
He didn't even have it in him to swear, heading to the closet for a pair of jeans. If he was being woken up this early, someone could forgive his lack of regulation suit. He kept spare slacks in his trunk anyway, if the need to change arose. "What the hell did Neal do this time?" Elizabeth was sitting up now, and Peter cursed his CI for whatever it was.
"It's not Neal." Diana heard him let out a breath, and frowned. While she understood that the situation between agent and CI was volatile now, she knew Peter would forgive her for calling him first. That was after she reminded herself that she really didn't want to admit why she was getting him out of bed. Things were just going to get a lot more complicated.
"If it's not Neal…" He let the sentence hang, hoping that Diana took the hint.
"Carlson called." There was a beat and then Diana backtracked. "NYPD narcotics unit made a bust in Manhattan a few hours ago; Luxury drug den off of Ninth. We were called in after the smoke cleared." She hoped that he understood that the 'we' she was referring to was the FBI not them in particular.
Peter kissed his wife gently, whispering that he would call her once he figured out what this was about and shoved his feet into his shoes. He'd tie them when he got to the hospital. None of what Diana was saying made any sense, and he vowed that the next time he had to be woken up at three in the morning, Jones better be on the other end of the line. Whatever it was that Diana didn't want to tell him was going to wind up pissing him off. "How'd we get the call?" He rushed, grabbing his keys off of the side table in the hall and shoving his wallet into the pocket of his jeans. For a second Peter thought of calling Neal, but it he wasn't involved, and Diana didn't mention needing him at the hospital than it was best to let him sleep. The last thing they needed was the tension, or Neal snarking his way through a witness statement.
Obviously Diana had thrown out whatever it was that she hadn't wanted to say, and in his mental conversation with Neal, Peter had missed it. "I'm sorry Diana," he started as he opened his car door and shoved the key in the ignition. "Could you repeat that?"
"They found girls in the basement; six of them. SVU rode in with them to the hospital." She listened to Peter swear, and didn't give him time to ask why White Collar was being called in for human trafficking. "Carlson's got a possible ID on one of the girls and he needs you to confirm."
He was halfway across the bridge, lights going but no siren, when her words caught up to him. "Wait, why me?"
"He wanted Neal." Diana swallowed the last chug of her coffee as she pulled herself out of her car. Nodding to the officer at the door and flashing her badge at the closest orderly. She didn't even have to say anything before Jones shouted her name from down the hall. "Agreed to let you take a look at her after I told him that we weren't letting Caffrey anywhere near the hospital until after the ID was definite." There was dead air as Peter tried to process why they would want a White Collar CI to identify a girl being held in a basement.
It hit him just as he turned the corner and he actually physically stopped the car at a green light. This time Diana didn't have to repeat herself.
"Carl swears its Kate Moreau."
I'm just test running this. Let me know if I should continue.