After 'Arrivals and Departures', I'm taking you way back to the beginning – a story in the 'Neal and Sara's Wonderful Adventure' verse. This story happens immediately after 'Special Delivery', hours after Hope's birth. For those of you who wish to climb aboard, the roller-coaster ride continues...

Daddy's home

(1 day old)

March 27th, 6:48 p.m.

The sun was hanging in the sky like a big orange ball when Peter Burke passed the rather dilapidated sign by the side of the highway: Flemington, Pennsylvania, Population 1,300. Although it was just slightly over an hour and a half away from New York City, Peter had never even heard of the place until it had shown up on his computer screen earlier that afternoon. He dialed Neal's cell phone number for the umpteenth time and listened with annoyance as it went straight to voice mail, cursing under his breath.

The last place he wanted to be on this late March evening was chasing his impulsive criminal informant across state lines. Despite his better judgement, he'd gone out on a limb and decided to give Neal the benefit of the doubt, considering the present circumstances, but now, he shook his head at the realization that the young man was putting himself and Peter in an impossible position – again! He thought back to all the times Neal's reckless behavior had put him in such a spot and he briefly wondered if he was angrier at Neal or at himself for not calling his partner out for his crazy, irresponsible behavior. He swallowed and tried to collect his thoughts; whatever reason Neal had for being in this god forsaken out of the way town a mere 17 hours after his baby daughter's birth, Peter had to hear him out before deciding if he should haul him back to New York... in handcuffs. There was Sara to consider and now... there was a little person who needed her daddy.

March 27th, 3:45 p.m.

Peter was headed to a briefing with Reese Hughes when he felt the phone vibrate in his jacket pocket; he grabbed it and sent the call to voicemail without even checking the screen. Hughes had just given him the double finger point and everybody knew that when you got the double finger point, you responded immediately, no questions asked. Turned out, the bigwigs in D.C. wanted Peter and his team to get to work on a money laundering scheme – now.

By the time he finally came out of his boss' office with direct instructions to get his team together first thing in the morning, the calls to his voicemail had somehow multiplied to eight and he had more than an inkling all was not right with the world. Two of the calls were from Sara's cell and another six from Elizabeth; Peter took a deep breath, preparing for the worse and closed the door to his office, taking his place behind his desk to call his wife - something was brewing and he suddenly had a foreboding sense that this involved his unpredictable CI.

'Hi honey, I just got your message. What's up?' Peter said into the phone

'Thank God, Peter. I've been trying to call you for over an hour' Elizabeth answered, sounding frantic

He could hear her moving around and the sound of a door closing as she came back on the line.

'I'm at the hospital with Sara' she whispered 'and there's no sign of Neal anywhere'

'What do you mean 'no sign of Neal'?' Peter asked

'He went home to shower and change at about ten o'clock this morning and he hasn't been back' she continued, her voice quiet 'He's not answering his phone and Sara's going crazy'

Peter thought back to the events of the previous night; Neal had been over the moon as he'd introduced baby Hope to his extended family, nothing but pure joy and excitement dancing in his eyes. What could possibly be keeping him from being with his new family less than a day later?

'Did you try Mozzie?' Peter asked, as he sat at his computer, typing in his FBI identification number and password

'He's not answering either' El responded, her voice growing shrill 'Honey, I'm running out of rationalizations. I've been trying to tell Sara that Neal probably just fell asleep but she's not stupid... Do you think he's had an accident? Or...' she hesitated before continuing 'do you think he'd run?'

'Look' Peter said, as he began to access the Federal Marshall's website, hoping against hope to find Neal's anklet flashing over on Riverside Drive in Manhattan

'You just keep working on keeping Sara calm and I'll see what I can find out' he added, not wanting to alarm Elizabeth by sharing what he'd just discovered staring him back on his computer screen

'Hurry Peter, Sara's all over the map and she's imagining the worse' El said

Peter hung up absentmindedly as he gawked at the alert flashing in front of his eyes, notifying him that his CI had stepped out of his two mile radius – although 'stepped out' was hardly an apt description considering he was over 60 miles away, somewhere in Pennsylvania. There had to be a mistake – or an explanation – and Peter grabbed his phone to contact the Marshalls; the last thing he wanted was to have Neal picked up for violation of his release conditions, today of all days.

'This is Agent Peter Burke from the White Collar Division in New York. I... I forgot to notify you that my CI was with me today at a meeting in...' Peter glanced at his computer 'Pennsylvania'

'Yes sir. We were just about to contact you about him breaching his radius' said the disembodied voice on the other end

'Well, no need. Sorry about that' Peter muttered

He took a slow steadying breath and felt another gray hair sprout on his thinning head. This was not the first time Neal had pulled such a stunt and if the younger man had been standing before him, Peter would not have hesitated to throttle him.

Instead, Peter grabbed his jacket and ran out of the Federal Building on his search for his partner and friend.

WCWCWC

Sara sat up in her hospital bed breastfeeding little Hope Ellis-Caffrey who lay calmly in her arms, thankfully unaware of her mom's presently frazzled state of mind. Elizabeth sat nearby, smiling at her friend, the two women taking turns trying to reassure each other; with every ticking minute, the explanations were becoming less and less likely and the worry factor was climbing to disproportionate levels. Their eyes met and Sara kicked off again, her voice shaking.

'Something's happened to him' she said again

'Honey, let's not jump to any conclusions' said El, hand on her friend's arm, desperately trying to keep her calm

'But if he could, he would have called...' Sara said, on the verge of tears

She'd given birth less than twenty four hours before and her emotions were all over the map to say nothing of her dwindling energy after a long, exhausting labor. As horrible as it was to imagine Neal in a ditch somewhere, any other possible explanation was somehow even worse – that he couldn't handle his new responsibilities as a dad and he'd run off to parts unknown. Mozzie had been impossible to reach which was suspicious in and of itself; he always took Mrs. Suit's calls and yet, in this instance, he'd been missing in action, just like his buddy.

'Peter's on it, Sara. Let's give him time. He can track Neal's anklet and he'll call as soon as he knows something' she said, trying to sound reassuring

Sara looked down at her daughter, their daughter, and thought back to the night before when Neal had held the newborn so lovingly in his arms, his face alight with pride and joy at her arrival. They'd lain together in Sara's hospital bed after everyone had left and watched their baby girl sleeping in the small bassinette nearby. She remembered Neal's words as he'd curled up behind her and spoke softly in her ear: 'You were incredible' he'd whispered 'Look at her, she's perfect'

By morning, after a couple of hours of restless sleep, she'd awakened to find Neal, sitting by her bed with Hope in his arms, singing gently to the newborn as he gazed down fondly at her. The image was etched in her mind and, recalling the look of pure bliss on his face, she could not imagine any possible explanation as to why Neal wasn't here by her side.

Elizabeth Burke knew Neal Caffrey almost as well as Sara Ellis did and her mind dared to wander to the possibility that the man's new status as 'daddy' had pushed him over the edge. All throughout Sara's pregnancy, Neal had been nothing but loving and caring and so very excited at the prospect of holding his baby daughter in his arms. But Neal was Neal and perhaps the reality of the situation had simply been too much for him to handle. El knew how he'd struggled when they'd first found out about Sara's delicate condition; the pregnancy had been unplanned and Neal had thought long and hard before finally convincing Sara of his unwavering commitment to being there to parent this child alongside her.

He'd become more and more devoted as the pregnancy evolved and three weeks ago, he'd proposed to Sara, realizing this was the life he wanted more than anything. He'd been happier than she'd ever seen him over the past few weeks as they awaited the blessed event. He'd doted on Sara and talked endlessly about the baby's arrival and he was nothing but thrilled about the upcoming birth.

Sara was having similar thoughts, afraid to voice them for fear they might come true. There had been no sign that Neal was feeling overwhelmed by Hope's arrival. After he'd finally convinced her of his unwavering commitment to being there for the baby, she'd taken a leap of faith and over the past eight months, Neal had not let her down once, committed to every step of their journey to parenthood. He'd been amazing throughout the labor, keeping Sara's spirits up and the look in his eyes as Hope had finally come into the world had been enough to reassure her that they had made the right decision; they were a family now.

No, she thought, Neal would never do this to her or to the baby. There had to be another explanation and she stared down as Hope began to fuss in her arms.

'It's okay, sweetheart' she murmured 'Daddy will be here soon'

Elizabeth smiled tentatively at her friend; she hoped Sara was right and that Neal would come walking through that door any minute.

March 27th, 7:03 p.m.

The building looked abandoned although, from the street, Peter could see some light shining from the third floor window. He began the long climb up the stairwell, unsure exactly where he was headed. Strange city, strange building; all he knew was that the flashing dot had led him to this place and for whatever reason he had yet to comprehend, Neal – or at least his anklet – was nearby.

The ninety minute drive had been tedious considering he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. His goddaughter's arrival in the early morning hours had left them all excited – and exhausted – and he'd somehow managed to drag himself to the office at the usual time despite having had a mere two hours rest.

He'd been relieved to see how Neal had handled things over the past year as his relationship with Sara had turned serious. Peter recalled the look of pure joy on Neal's face, less than twenty four hours before, as he'd walked into the nearby waiting room, inviting everyone into Sara's hospital room to meet their daughter. Peter had known Neal Caffrey for years and he'd seen him continue to evolve as he'd begun to finally trust in himself and his instincts and he'd been thrilled to see Neal and Sara settle into a warm and loving relationship as they awaited their daughter's arrival. Neal's proposal had been unexpected in some ways yet it all made perfect sense; he'd finally realized that he could have that life he thought he'd never have and Peter had been delighted to see the evolution in his friend as time passed. Hope's arrival had been the icing on the cake and now, he wondered if all that happiness wasn't just too much for a man who had doubts as to whether or not he deserved to be happy.

Peter arrived in front of a battered wooden door and stopped to listen, hearing some muffled voices coming from behind it and he stepped up, resolutely knocking as he called out.

'Neal! Are you in there?' he asked as he knocked more insistently a second time

The door opened and there he stood, in an undershirt and a pair of khakis, looking haggard, his eyes red and his hair hanging in his eyes.

'Hi Peter' Neal said simply

TBC