Disclaimer: All characters are property of USA network, Jeff Eastin, ect. I just borrow them for some fun and then hand them back to their owners. I did however take the dialog from the episode as this is meant to be a deeper look into a scene.
Special thanks to my dear friend Sarah (1983Sarah) for all her help and encouragement and the great beta. Any mistakes that are still in there are mine. Also thanks to everyone who reviewed/alerted one of my stories!
"I cannot believe you," Peter hissed as he kneeled down next to the conman who was slumped against a wall of the clinic's conference room. The agent's voice was low but the anger in it was more than evident.
He knew that this wasn't really the place - or, more importantly, the time - to have this conversation; they wouldn't be safe until they were out of the building. But his gut urged him to do it, to get all the facts out of his, admittedly, not really cooperating consultant before they moved any further.
It didn't look like anyone would use this room in the near future, so they should hopefully remain undetected for a bit longer; which was a good thing as he could plan the next step. Because it seemed like getting into this building and finding Neal had been the easy part. How was he supposed to leave unnoticed with a drugged and loudly singing Neal? But he'd cross that bridge after he had gotten all the information he needed.
"Why would you do something like this?" As much as it sounded like a rhetorical question, for once the agent really wasn't sure. Because this time it had nothing to do with Kate, the other man's motivator number one. And while Peter didn't know what happened between Neal sending the fax and he finding him, he had a pretty good idea as the evidence more or less spoke for itself, literally. Apparently Caffrey had been caught, which was a rarity as Burke knew from experience, showing that the conman either hadn't thought this completely through or had screwed up big. And as much as he knew that Neal was eager to solve this case, Peter couldn't see any logic in jeopardizing it with a stunt like this.
As expected the answer he got was evasive. "Oh, Peter, I've done sooooo many worse things that you don't even know about," Caffrey almost slurred in a voice that sounded so different from his usual one. Not guarded, almost carefree, Burke noticed absentmindedly. If it hadn't been such a serious situation, the agent would have found Neal's condition amusing.
"Just shut up," he ordered sternly before, out of habit, looking around to make sure that they were still safe. After a moment his curiosity got the better of him though, so he asked lowly and with less anger in his voice, "Like what things?"
Neal's eyes looked directly into his and Peter wondered if the man, even in this severely drugged state, would catch on and redirect the conversation like he always did when asked about his past crimes. So he was surprised when Caffrey actually gave a real answer with a smile that, again, was unlike his usual one. "You remember the Antioch manuscripts?"
"You took those?" Peter's reply out of disbelieve came automatically, but he didn't doubt that Caffrey was telling the truth. The crime was worthy of a great conman like Neal.
Seeing the sitting man to his right lifting one shoulder in a half-shrug but not giving an explanation, or rather bragging about it like he usually did, the agent added, "How?" This was probably the only chance he was ever gonna get to find out more about this crime.
"Carrier pigeons," Caffrey explained with almost a smug grin and in a definitely proud tone as if it was the most obvious thing ever. Peter exhaled loudly. Both because he regretted to have asked, since he now had another crime of Neal's to either add to the list or, more likely, to keep quiet about, and at the absurdity of it all.
Burke caught a part of himself wondering where he could get whatever drug Neal had been given - it would make working with the man so much easier if he was always this truthful - only to reprimand himself for that thought. As much as it might look funny or even adorable, it shouldn't be taken lightly.
As he tried to find a better crouching position to accommodate his protesting lower limbs he saw out of the corner of his eye the conman tapping his left index finger against the side of his head while saying, "Think about it."
Contemplating his next move while visually checking their surroundings for any signs of trouble, he only listened half to the conman's continued ramblings. "Look, who cares? Peter, that's not what's important. It's not about money, it's about people." If it would have come up in a normal, casual conversation, Burke would have welcomed this insight into the other man's mindset. Now, though, it only fueled his anger.
"Good," he replied in his most serious tone, looking the other man directly in the eye, "cause you're gonna be spending a lot of quality time with people in orange jumpsuits once I get you out of here." Normally it was fun for Burke to tease his consultant with the threat of putting him back behind bars. But this time it was too real to be enjoyable. And this time he was trying with everything he's got at his disposal to get the reality and the consequences of the man's actions across, and hopefully through the drug-induced barrier.
"Right," Caffrey agreed, dejected now, and Peter would have cheered that, however late, the seriousness of the situation was sinking in with the young man if it wasn't for the next sentence out of Neal's mouth. "I'm going down once they see those security tapes of me breaking in here."
Burke crunched up his face. Could this situation get any worse? "There's surveillance cameras," he said angrily, more to himself.
Up until now he could have convinced himself that this had just been another misstep of the other man during a case that he could have covered up for if he wanted to. Now there was proof of it, hard evidence, even if they would make it out of here undetected.
It looked like he'd better start thinking of a good explanation for when he would get confronted with the recording of the surveillance cameras. Involuntarily his mind flashed back to their last case where, just like now, it was a tape that held the threat. And, again just like now, he knew about it before it became official but couldn't do anything about it.
Last time though, it had been him and the problem had been eliminated before it could do any harm, ironically by the very same person who now had created it.
Peter got distracted in his brooding by Neal's left hand lightly tapping against his upper right arm as the other man demanded his attention. "Before I go back, you should know this," he said with an air of urgency, if slightly slurred. His expression was serious now, no comparison to the loopy grin he was spotting earlier.
Turning his head toward the younger man, Peter had no idea what kind of admission he should expect. Whatever it was though, from the sound of it, it was worth his full attention. His features softened as he listened to Neal's words. "Out of all the people in my life, Mozzie, even Kate, you know-" he made a small pause before he continued with emphasis on every word, "you're the only one."
When no further explanation followed Peter decided, against the tiny voice in the back of his head, to ask, "The only one what?" He noticed that the tone he used did sound more like he'd only indulged the conman than a genuine interest in the answer.
To be honest, he had no idea why this was so important that it couldn't wait until they were out of here.
Punctuated by the repeated pointing of his left index finger in the agent's direction Caffrey replied with raised eyebrows and widely open eyes, "The only person in my life I trust."
For a moment they just looked at each other before Peter had to avert his gaze for a moment. Neal's eyes, usually sparkling with mischief, were overwhelmingly full of emotions. Without the usual mask he looked so impossibly young, so lost and vulnerable; and so different from the cocky conman that the agent could swear that there was a different person sitting in front of him here.
The admission had caught Peter completely off guard. He didn't know what to say, how to react. More out of instinct than a conscious move his left hand reached out to rest on top of Neal's head in a comforting gesture. He was amazed by the young man's trust. One that the agent had no idea how he had earned it, and that wasn't really deserved in his book.
But for some reason it was there.
And Burke believed in the truthfulness of the words. If Neal would be as open as to confess to a crime Peter, and the FBI, didn't know was his doing yet, it was hard for him to doubt the sincerity of the sentiment.
It reminded the agent that Caffrey wasn't a normal criminal, or a normal conman. Sometimes, just like here, there was no gain for him in his cons, he didn't do it for money or out of criminal energy. Neal did it because he had a heart, and quite a big one. Like the man had said just a minute ago, it was about people. In this case he did it out of his heart for June.
And, as the agent knew all to well as well, the conman also had the habit of doing dumb things when his emotions were involved. As Peter now realized, this was one of those times.
Burke remembered the happy face Neal had made when he had stuck on the fake sheriff's badge. He just wanted to do good and help June and her granddaughter. Only he went too far, risking much more with it than just going back to prison. It also meant losing Kate when he wasn't free to find the music box in order to save her and get her back.
And just for a moment Peter wasn't the agent, he was a human being who couldn't bring himself to see it as being fair, not when Neal had only been acting out of kindness, even if it was the wrong way, and even if Burke had warned him that yes, he could bring the details but no, he wasn't allowed to act on them.
In hindsight, the agent probably had contributed to it all.
After all, it had been him who had told Caffrey about the Howser Clinic, that he thought that the proof to their theory was right there but that they couldn't take a look because of doctor-patient-confidentiality, and that they had to look at it another way. He should have known what these words would sound like to Caffrey, that he practically gave the younger man the idea in the first place. Because it hadn't been the first time that Neal had done some creative thinking and semi-legal things to get them the evidence they needed. So he pretty much should have seen something like this coming.
And, along that line, he should have specifically told Neal that under no circumstances was he allowed to set foot in the clinic.
In his defense though, Peter had thought that his warning with the story about Jimmy Burger had been enough to make Caffrey understand how dangerous it could be to go up against criminals on his own. And to be honest, being drugged was some of the less bad things that the agent could think of. It wasn't hard to imagine what else could have happened to Neal, even though Burke tried his hardest to not go down that road.
Peter's hand slid off of Neal's head and came to land on the man's left shoulder, not quite wanting to break the physical contact just yet.
He thought about the "mysteriously" erased tape that quite possibly could have ended his career. Though he had no idea how Neal had achieved that - which probably was for the best - the conman had put his probation, his chance to be out of prison and search for Kate, on the line for him.
Determined, Peter stood up and walked over to the long table in the middle of the room. He pulled out the nearest chair and wheeled it over to the conman before taking out his handcuffs. Kneeling down again, he fastened one end of the metal chain to Caffrey's left wrist and the other to the metal tube leading to one of the chair's wheels as a precaution. He didn't wanna have to search for Neal again or, even worse, have the man staggering around and singing on top of his lungs. Not when he was trying to fix this problem.
"Don't. Pick. This," he ordered in a low but firm tone, emphasizing every word and looking the other man directly in the eye. He didn't get a response but he wasn't expecting one anyway. Standing up, he turned toward the door they had entered the room through earlier. With the security guards now probably looking for the escaped Caffrey, he figured he could slip in the surveillance room and get the incriminating tape without getting seen. There were only a handful of cameras - it was a hospital, not Ford Knox after all - so it shouldn't take him long to find what he was looking for.
As mad as he was at Neal for having put him into this situation, it now was his turn to cross the line instead of walking it, repaying the debt.
He couldn't save Jimmy Burger, but he could damn well try to save Neal Caffrey.
A/N: Thanks for reading! If you have some time please leave a review! Constructive criticism is always appreciated.