The 'Under' Series
Part 4
Under Arrest?
AN: Thank you, Thank you, so much, TanyaUchiha for your great ideas. I think I will be using a lot of them. I will also have to do some research here. So, in advance, I know that there are people who know a heck of a lot more about these things than I do. Please forgive me for my inconsistencies, lack of follow-through, and down-right untruths. I am truly in uncharted territory here.
"Oh Peter, it is just beautiful." Elizabeth Burke stated, admiring her new acquisition on their anniversary. It was Peter's and El's eleventh anniversary. She repeatedly touched the necklace around her neck, admiring its beauty.
"Glad you like it, Hon." Peter replied. He knew she would like it. It's just her style. He just had no idea that she would like it so much.
"Oh, Hon. It's stunning." She said, touching the piece again.
"I did good?" Peter asked standing behind his wife, enjoying watching her expression in the mirror.
"You did great." El replied.
"Actually, I can't take all the credit." Peter admitted. "Neal kind of helped me make the final choice."
El turned and looked at Peter. "It's okay, Hon. We both know Neal has an…eye for these things. Of course, you would seek his advice."
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"So, do you recognize it?" Dean Winchester asked Neal, referring to the picture he had handed Neal.
Neal swallowed. He recognized it alright. He knew the piece very well, and right now he imagined it had a prominent place…around a certain FBI agent's wife's neck.
Sam studied Neal's expression. "You know it. You've seen it. Where is it, Neal?"
Neal looked from Sam to Dean before he answered. "It's around Elizabeth Burke's neck."
Dean stared at Neal for a moment. The name Burke, it was familiar. "You're not talking about…?" Dean asked, grinning.
"What are you smiling about?" Neal asked, perturbed at his friend. "What is up with this thing?"
"You're talking about Peter's wife right, the wife of the name who got you out of prison?" Sam looked at his brother. "Why do you find this amusing, Dean?"
Dean turned on the sarcasm. "Just enjoying the absurdity of it all…two of the fed's most wanted have to break into a fed's house to get back a piece of jewelry. And we are not even sure if it's the right stone."
"Why do you have to do it?" Neal asked. "I can do it. Remember the ship manifest thing?"
"If this really is what we think it is…we need to prepare. We can't just take it. We have to seal it or bind it first. There are rituals, preparations to be made…." Sam explained.
"How long have the Burkes had it?" Dean asked.
"Peter picked it up after work yesterday?" Neal replied concerned. "Why?"
Sam and Dean looked at each other. "We have got to get it, Neal..." Dean replied. "…as soon as possible."
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"Hon, I thought you liked the necklace." Peter said at breakfast the next morning. He had come downstairs and found the necklace lying on the floor in front of the couch.
"What are you talking about, Peter?" El asked, sipping her coffee.
"I found this downstairs this morning." Peter said holding up the necklace. "It was lying on the floor."
El shook her head. She put her hand to her neck. "I took it off and laid it on the bedside table. I don't know…."
They both looked at Satchemo. He raised his head and wined. He then lay back down.
"That would be a first, Peter." El replied. "He usually doesn't bother things like that."
Peter nodded. He looked at Satch and held up the necklace. "This is not your new chew toy!" He said firmly.
Satch wined again and lowered his head, properly chastised.
"Bad dog!" El added for emphasis. She took the necklace and laid it on the kitchen counter. "I would take it back upstairs." She said, looking at the clock. "But I'm running late." She kissed Peter and left.
Peter nodded. He grabbed his jacket, checked to make sure he had his weapon and badge and then he too headed out the door.
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Neal looked at the clock. "I've got to get to work." He grabbed his coat. "You two can stay here. But do not go to the Burke's house. Let me…we'll figure something out. I don't want to be reading about you guys in the paper tomorrow morning."
"But, you said…." Dean started.
"There are days Elizabeth works from home, and Peter could go home for lunch, or just stop by the house anytime we're out. It's not safe. Besides, you don't even know where to find it." Neal replied.
"Neither do you." Sam asked.
"No, but I can ask." Neal replied. "I can find out easily enough. I did help him pick it out, after all."
Sam and Dean nodded.
"I mean what I said, Guys..." Neal warned. "…unless you want to be spending the rest of your life in jail. Peter doesn't make deals with murderers."
Sam and Dean waited for Neal to leave.
"So, what…." Sam looked at his brother closely. "…what are you planning?" Sam asked, afraid of the answer.
"We are going to pay Elizabeth Burke a visit." Dean replied.
"Did you even hear Neal?" Sam asked, not believing his ears. "Did you listen to what he said? Breaking into a fed's house? Not one of your best ideas."
"We are not going to break in." Dean replied. "If Mrs. Burke is home we'll just pose as…."
Sam shook his head. "She'll know a lot of feds."
Dean nodded. "Good point. We'll…."
"We should wait until Neal gets back." Sam stated.
"I'll go crazy sitting here for eight hours." Dean replied.
"Dean, if Agent Burke finds us in his house. He is going to shoot first and ask questions later."
Dean nodded.
"But we're going anyway, aren't we?" Sam sighed.
Dean nodded again.
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Elizabeth Burke saw two very handsome young men standing at her door when she went to answer her doorbell. She hesitated. She was home alone, after all. She talked to the young men through her locked door for a few moments. She finally let them in when they told her that they were friends of Neal. They provided proof by giving her details about where Neal was staying and a little bit of personal information about Neal that El knew also.
Peter and Neal walked into the house a few moments later. Peter had needed to pick up a file he had left at home. He entered his house with Neal following close behind. Peter paused, recognizing the two people in his home. His hand moved to his holster, and he started to pull his gun.
"El, Honey, come over here!" Peter said in a voice firm enough to mean business. She looked from Sam and Dean to her husband. She moved closer to Peter.
"Honey!" El started.
"Come over here. Now!" Peter said. El went to her husband's side.
Neal stood between Peter and Sam and Dean. "Peter!"
"Neal, move!" Peter said as he leveled his gun.
"Peter! Please!" Neal pleaded, standing his ground.
"Neal, this is Sam and Dean Winchester. You know that. I want you to move!"
Neal stood his ground.
"Why are you protecting wanted murderers?" Peter said, not lowering his weapon.
Sam and Dean, meanwhile, were standing in the background, their hands up, looking to make a fast exit.
El was looking at Sam and Dean, wide-eyed. She moved closer to her husband.
"Sam and Dean are here to help you." Neal replied.
"Help me?" Peter said, lowering his gun slightly. "How are they going to help me?"
"You have an item that we need, Agent Burke." Sam replied.
"The only thing you need to do is get out of my house and away from my wife!" Peter said. "You're both under arrest!"
"Peter….!"
"You are aiding and abetting these guys, Neal. You have been for a long time!" Peter said frustrated. He shook his head. "I could send you back for this, Neal! You know that."
"You need their help, Peter. You…." Neal explained.
"What?" Peter asked, confused.
"You have an object we need to…dispose of." Dean replied.
"Fine, I'll throw it in the trash." Peter said, still not dropping his gun. "You two need to come with me."
"It's not that kind of throw away, Agent Burke." Dean stated.
"It's the kind you cleanse." Sam explained. He started to lower his hands.
"Keep 'em up!" Peter said.
Sam complied.
"What is your part in all this?" Peter asked Neal. "What did you do? What object are they talking about?"
Neal just looked at Peter for a moment. "That…that necklace I helped you find."
"What is this about cleansing?" El asked, recovering herself. "What does that mean?"
"That means it has something…attached." Dean replied.
Peter just looked at Dean, then at Sam. He was completely confused.
"We think the energy has…." Sam started.
"What? I don't believe in this new age stuff." Peter replied. "The next thing you guys will be talking about smoking weed and seeing all the pretty colors."
"This is not new age, Agent Burke." Dean reassured him. "It's actually several centuries old."
"We need to cleanse the crystal. It's got some bad juju attached to it." Sam replied.
"Juju?" Peter asked.
"Dean's word, not mine." Sam said. "Anyway, it's bad energy."
El looked at her husband. "Hear them out, Peter. We were talking before and…."
"Hear them out?" Peter replied. He looked at Sam and Dean but asked El. "How long were they here before we showed up?"
"Not long, about 15 minutes." El replied. "Just hear them out, Peter. If we have something…bad in the house shouldn't we know about it?"
"Since when do you believe in all this?" Peter asked. He muttered to himself. We have crazy murderers, killers in my house. My wife wants to hear them out…Great!
"My roommate in college was Wiccan. She was into a lot of this stuff." El explained.
Peter looked at his wife. He seemed to be considering his options. He lowered his gun and Sam and Dean put their hands down.
"You've got 10 minutes." Peter replied. He looked at Neal. "What did you get me into?" Peter asked shaking his head. He muttered again. Yep, we get to be on the eleven o'clock news…Murdered by maniacs, film at 11.
"Mrs. Burke, Neal says you have a necklace?" Sam asked. He was looking around the room and didn't see it.
El nodded. "I…it was right here." El said, indicating the kitchen counter. "I left it here this morning after I got after Satch for bringing it down stairs." El paused. "It's weird, he never used to pick things up and carry them around like that, just his toys." El looked at Peter. "You didn't take it upstairs after I left, did you?"
Peter shook his head. Great, this is freakin wonderful! My anniversary gift to my wife has sprouted legs and is wandering my house. Peter muttered.
Sam went over to Satch and sat down beside him. "Chances are he didn't. Dogs are sensitive to that type energy. It's likely he never went anywhere near it." Sam scratched Satchemo behind the ears as he spoke.
Peter watched Satch. He seemed to love Sam's attention. "So…" Peter said, choosing his words carefully. "…if I even believed in this stuff, I'm assuming you mean some bad energy." He paused. "How did the necklace get down here then? Because neither of us sleepwalk."
Dean and Neal looked around the living room and kitchen as Peter, El, and Sam spoke. Neither found the necklace.
"I don't see it, El." Neal spoke up.
Dean nodded. "It's some very bad energy. Crystals absorb good and bad from everyone who touches or comes in contact with them. Most of the time, the energies balance out, and it's fine. And people who know how to use crystals cleanse them. The problem comes when they are not cleansed and the energy, the bad energy accumulates. If it's really bad energy it can cause problems all on its own. If something attaches itself to that bad energy or there's a curse…."
Peter just looked at Dean. Then he re-examined his life. Just late night he had had a normal life. He and his wife had had a wonderful anniversary. He had brought her a gift she had really, truly loved. And now…now he was standing in his living room with two murderers and a convicted art thief. And they were discussing a necklace that had, apparently, grew legs and had left the premises. It was beyond absurd. Peter again muttered something about making the front page of the morning paper.
"We aren't crazy, Agent Burke." Sam reassured him. "This stuff is real. We need to get that stone. We need to cleanse it."
Peter sighed. "It didn't grow legs and just walk out of here. It's got to be here somewhere."
They all decided to look, and nobody was coming up with anything until they heard Satchemo bark. He had gone out onto back deck and was barking at one of the potted plants El had sitting there. Upon closer inspection they saw something shiny sticking up out of the dirt.
Dean pulled the necklace out of the dirt. He got a paper towel and laid it on the towel on the kitchen counter. Sam stopped Peter, El, and Neal from coming back into the house.
"It could get pretty nasty in here." Sam said through the open door. "It would be best of you all stayed out here."
"You can't keep me out of my own house." Peter stated.
"It would be for the best." Dean said echoing Sam's sentiments. "We don't know what kind of entity we're dealing with here."
"Neal, do you have the holy water?" Sam asked.
Neal nodded and produced a small clear plastic bottle.
Sam nodded. "Good. Use it to seal the doorway as soon as I close the door."
Sam then looked at Peter and El. "Whatever you see, whatever you hear, you are not to open this door. Once this starts…we can't guarantee your safety if that seal is broken. We'll let you know when it's safe to come back in."
Sam closed the door and Neal immediately made the sign of the cross above it after dipping his finger into the water.
"What now?" Peter asked, still looking at the two men who were now standing in his kitchen. "What are they doing?"
"We'll have to wait and see. Right now they're chanting." Neal said, looking in the windows. He took a seat at the patio table. Peter and El took seats also.
"I can't believe those two." Peter looked at Neal. "How did you meet them anyway?" He would sit and wait this out, against his better judgement.
Neal smiled. "We were after the same painting. I wanted to sell it. They wanted to destroy it."
"Who ended up with it?" El asked.
"Neither of us…" Neal admitted. "…we got scared off. The security guard heard us in the gallery and came to investigate. That was our first meeting. After that we kept seeming to go after the same items. I had to know what they did with them if they didn't sell them. When they told me what they did, I couldn't believe it." Neal paused. "How would you destroy priceless artwork?" Neal shook his head.
El and Peter kept their eyes on the two men in their kitchen. There seemed to be nothing happening. There were no flashes of light, no sonic booms. Not that they expected those things, but then again…they really didn't know what to expect.
"I can't believe I have two wanted murderers in my kitchen…" Peter looked at Neal. "…and it's all your fault." He ranted.
Neal sighed. "I told them to wait for me. I…we would figure out something. And like El said, they were alone with her for 15 minutes. They could have done anything. They didn't. They are keeping you, us, outside, right now, to protect us. They know what they're dealing with in there, we don't."
"In other words you were going to break into my house and steal El's necklace." Peter surmised. He glared at Neal.
"I was going to…borrow it." Neal corrected. "And I can't believe that's all you got from what I just said."
"There are wanted murderers in my house and they are in their doing God-knows-what with that necklace! They could be putting a hex on my dog." Peter raved.
"They're not. They take this stuff seriously. And you should too." Neal stated. "There's something to it."
"You believe in this…whatever this is?" Peter asked.
"There's something to it, Peter." Neal shook his head. "The stuff I've seen…."
Peter looked at Neal. "Back a few months ago when you were wearing that medal of protection…?"
"I got to experience their world first hand." Neal replied.
Both Peter and El looked at him.
"Trust me, you don't want to know." Neal stated.
"I should be arresting them, Neal. Not sitting out here waiting for them to finish up whatever the hell it is they are doing in there." Peter ranted again.
"Peter…Sam and Dean are okay." El replied. "Whatever they're doing in there…."
"Oh, El…" Peter sighed. "…really…not you too?"
"They're okay." El stated. "I was with them for 15 minutes before you got home, Peter."
Peter shook his head. But it was true. El had been alone in the house with them. If they had wanted to do something to her, they had had plenty of time to do the deed and to get away.
"You always told me I was a good judge of character. Neal…." El replied.
"Oh, no!" Peter shook his head vigorously. "They are absolutely nothing alike, apples and oranges. Neal never killed anyone." Peter insisted.
El implored, stating her case gently. "Sam and Dean are a lot like Neal. They just want to help. They do what they do for the right reasons."
"There is never a right reason to kill someone, unless you're enforcing the law, El." Peter paused. "Taking the law into your own hands…."
"I like them, Peter." El replied.
"Don't smile, Neal." Peter said, seeing Neal's expression. "El's just a sucker for a pretty face."
El glared at her husband right before she smacked his arm. "They are pretty cute." El admitted, knowing how it would make Peter momentarily jealous.
Sam Winchester opened the back door. "We're finished." He said leaving the door open and stepping aside to let them all enter.
"The stone is fine." Dean picked it up and handed it to El. "It's clear. You should have no problems. The entity was a young one, low-level, very easy to get rid of."
El and Peter were relieved, though they really didn't understand what Dean was saying.
El took the necklace. "Thank you…for whatever it was you did. Thank you."
Peter started to speak.
"You've got to let them go." Neal said, reading Peter's mind.
"I'm an FBI Agent. They are on the FBI's Most Wanted." Peter replied. "I should be hauling them in."
"They are not killers, Peter." El replied.
"They leave a trail of dead people behind them, El." Peter stated. "I think that is the very definition of killer."
"They are not killers, Peter." Neal said. "It's just that…sometimes the people get in the way."
Peter looked at Neal. "You've said that before, what exactly does it mean?"
"Sometimes, evil would rather just…kill its victim than let him go." Sam replied.
"You're talking like…possession?" Peter asked.
Dean nodded. "In its severe form…yes."
"That's just…." Peter started.
"Real." Dean replied. "Neal has just…he speaks so highly of the both of you. He's been a good friend. We…."
Meanwhile, Satch had come over to Dean and was standing between him and Sam. Dean stroked Satch's head while he spoke.
Peter watched the interaction. Well, Satch seems to like them, maybe they're not…to bad.
"They wanted to help you, as sort of a thank you…to me." Neal confessed. "When I told them who had the necklace, it suddenly become…personal."
"Since he's started working with you, Agent Burke, Neal's become a different person…in a good way." Sam admitted.
"Okay, okay." Peter said. "You two were never here. But if we cross paths again…." He warned.
Both Sam and Dean nodded. They started to leave. "No Sam, we cannot get a dog." Dean said just as he closed the back door.
THE END
END NOTES: I am not sure if this story was…exciting enough. Was there too much dialogue? (Too long and boring?) Tell me what you think. Is it a mere tweaking or a complete overhaul? Jackie