This was supposed to be a one-shot but I got caught up in detail and some more background so it'll be maybe two or three chapters instead. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter One
This should not require the aid of the White Collar division.
That was the thought on repeat in Neal's head. As he watched agents from all divisions in New York rush around him, he could help but think this. To him, most of them were not doing anything very productive to solve the problem anyway. They were just creating more chaos. That was how Neal saw it anyway.
"In a situation like this, every hand is needed," Peter had explained.
Well, that was wrong according to Neal, because Neal had been left behind. So it was actually every trusted hand that was needed. This did not include the growing crowd of civilians; did not include Neal.
So, he was being forced to watch from the sidelines. This was not his forte. It was especially not his forte when he thought he could be of use. Well, that was what he kept telling himself. Further down, he knew he was actually frustrated because he hated waiting for an outcome that might turn out bad for people he knew. The fact that the White Collar division were a building that had a bomb, a crazy man, and hostages in it did not sit well with Neal.
The crazy man was Robert Matterson. The F.B.I. knew him for his seven bank heists where he had killed several people. It was thought that he did not care much about the money, but more about the terror. He would use the money to hide himself behind larger crime men while he planned his next move. Overtime, his moves had become smoke screens for those larger crime men. It was the perfect set up for Matterson: keep reigning terror while being protected or paid to do so. But now, he had gone to the next level.
When he, the bomb, and the hostages had been discovered, the building was immediately evacuated. Peter and Neal had been driving to question someone about a new case when they received a call from Diana explaining the situation. Nearly all of New York's law enforcement was descending on the problem.
When they had arrived on the scene, Peter had been handed a vest and helmet. But there wasn't any gear for Neal.
"Not you Caffrey," Hughes had said. "I can't let you go inside."
Neal had looked to Peter for support, but Peter had just shaken his head.
"Go on Neal," he had said. "Wait out here."
And then, he was gone.
So, there Neal was, directly behind the police line at the front of the civilian crowd. He hadn't even been allowed to stand with the F.B.I. At first, it was rather ironic. He could very easily use this as the greatest diversion. It would be so easy to slip off the anklet without anyone noticing and then getting a long head start. But he would never do that. he couldn't ever do that without his conscience eating him alive; not in a situation like this.
Neal watched as the techies tenaciously worked on their computers. It had been determined (or so they hoped) that Matterson did not have the bomb with him in the room. This was because he was holding some sort of remote. He was barricaded in a room with a gun and the remote and seven hostages. He had already claimed to have injured one man, and said he had no qualms about killing if they tried to get him out of the room. The worst case scenario that the F.B.I. was even imagining was that they would have to leave the building, and Matterson would blow himself up, taking the building and the hostages with him. But that, of course, was not an option.
"You G-men," Mozzie would say.
The techies were working on scrambling the signal. There were also about fifty agents and another fifty SWAT members inside the building looking for the bomb. Then, there were at least another hundred law enforcement all around the building coordinating and finding all the ways to get in and out of the building. All these people that would be injured or killed at the press of a button whenever Matterson damn-well pleased.
He has a remote, remember?
Neal wanted to run to the F.B.I. agents outside. He wanted to be in that chaos he thought he was a part of now. He wanted to know if there was a time limit on this bomb. He wanted to know if they had found anything. If the techies were having any luck. If the agents were going to be pulled out anytime soon.
He wanted to know something.
Well, be careful what you ask for Caffrey.
"Caffrey!"
Neal's head spun as he scanned the agents for who had called his name.
"Caffrey!"
Neal mentally groaned. It was Agent Ruiz. Ruiz motioned for him to come over, and Neal's heart leapt in his chest. The cops lifted the police line and he could do nothing but rush over to Ruiz. Though Ruiz didn't seem too pleased about whatever he was about to do, Neal could see that he was definitely doing out of a necessity. The feeling was mutual.
"Burke's on the radio." Ruiz handed him a walkie-talkie.
"Peter?"
"Neal, look at the blueprints of the building. We've looked high and low for this bomb, torn most of the rooms apart and we've still got nothing. But Matterson's M.O. was always finding a way in that no one knew about. We think that might be where he would hide the bomb."
"Okay, I'm on it."
Ruiz led Neal over to a car, where on the hood the blueprints of the building were laid out. Still clutching the radio, Neal looked over them. While he did, he talked to Ruiz.
"Tell me about the bomb. Do we think he has to be close to it to set it off with that remote?"
Whatever grudge Ruiz had against Neal, he was letting it go for now; just for the occasion.
"Yeah. Matterson is on the fourth floor. We think that it can't be too much further than about three or maybe four floors away. Especially since it's homemade."
"Okay," muttered Neal. He flipped a page of the blueprints to the fourth floor.
The radio crackled. "Anything?"
"Not yet."
Neal looked up at the building. Connected to the third floor and on, was a parking garage.
"What about in there," asked Neal. "He could've gotten into the building through there, right?"
"Of course," replied Ruiz. "We've been checking it out."
"Do you have the blueprints of that?"
Ruiz called someone over, and the two blueprints were laid side by side. Neal bent over them, looking at every place one could get in. A thought struck him and he looked up at the building again. "Pre-war," he muttered to himself. But the garage wasn't. That made perfect sense.
Neal looked over the building's blueprints again, skimming the edge of the building that was connected to the garage. He stopped on the second floor.
"Peter where are you?"
"Fifth floor."
"Okay get down to the second floor. I think I know where it could be."
Static was the response.
"Peter?"
Just static. Then some choppy words from Peter's end. "…peat…hear…Neal…" Static again. Neal looked at Ruiz, who was now watching other agents around him.
"The radios aren't working," said another agent.
"Did Matterson do it," asked Neal. "Or was it caused by our own techies?"
"I don't think our techies did it," said Ruiz. He was looking at their van where they all looked quite perplexed. "Something just happened."
Neal looked at the police. Theirs weren't working either. Just then, Hughes walked over.
"Did you find anything, Caffrey?"
"I think. What's standard procedure if there's no contact between agents?"
"Regrouping," answered Hughes. "Hopefully enough will come out to tell us something. But you know where it is?"
"I think I might," said Neal, moving over for Hughes Ruiz to see that map. "This building is way older than the parking garage. The age doesn't really matter, just that it's older. The notches here in the blueprints tell me that it was connected to another building at some point. Now, it's only connected to the parking garage. If these notches have just been covered with a wall and not actually filled in with cement, it would be the perfect place to hide anything. And the perfect way to get to it would be through the garage."
"Okay," said Hughes. "Ruiz, Caffrey, grab some vests. Ruiz you take Caffrey to the parking garage to find this thing."
For a moment, Neal was surprised and a little scared. This was a bomb he was looking for; something that could go off at any moment. At any moment he could die, just like that.
But so could Peter. So could a lot of agents who had just gone into that building seemingly without a second thought, with the same possibilities hanging over their heads. So, Neal tossed his jacket aside, and pulled on the vest that Ruiz handed to him. With a deep breath, he ran after Ruiz across the fifty yard radius that had been taken up by the F.B.I. and into the parking garage.