Chapter 2
At HQ – 1 year earlier
"Come on! Just lemme grab some coffee! I won't be gone long - look, 5 minutes! 10 at the most!"
Peter smiled. Neal could be so annoying when he had to stay put and do his work. But he had to admit that this case was giving him a serious headache even without Neal begging and whining for letting him out a few minutes.
"I said no." He watched the frown on Neal's face.
"Ok then. How about I grab a sandwich for you on my way? You know, the ones from the shop with the dirty toilets?" Neal was now fiddling with his hat and bouncing in the chair. "You know what I'm talking about, right?"
Peter sighed. "Yes, I do know that you are talking about a deviled ham sandwich, and no, I'm not letting you go. End of discussion."
Neal didn't smile anymore. He seemed to have changed tactics, and went for the pouting instead.
"You know, it wouldn't hurt you to be nice at least once in a month, Peter. Seriously, I have done everything you requested, why won't you let me go on a coffee run? On rainy days you even force me to do them!" Neal rose from the chair. "Know what? Never mind. I knew you were mean from the beginning."
He turned to leave, but Peter, admitting his defeat sighed and rose too. "Neal."
Neal stopped but didn't turn. "I really could use a coffee myself now. What do you think?"
Peter already had grabbed his wallet while Neal remained still.
"Come on, let's go."
He took Neal by his elbow and steered him into the bullpen. "Don't forget your wallet, I'm not gonna pay for you. Clear?" Neal grinned at him. "Crystal."
Another won round for the ever annoying Neal Caffrey, Peter thought but smiled.
Peter watched Neal getting coffee and returning to their table. "Here you go, Big Brother." Neal said playfully.
"Shut up, Caffrey." Peter grinned. "What do I owe you?"
"Nah, Peter! You're invited!" Neal said with his dazzling smile.
That made Peter suspicious. Neal was a generous guy, but this smile…it always meant trouble for Peter.
"You paid those, right?" He pointed at the two steaming cups of coffee.
"I did, Peter. I even let a tip." Neal raised an eyebrow, no doubt to underline his statement.
"Alright, then. Thank you." Peter murmured, and they started talking about their latest case.
It wasn't – for Neal's sake – another mortgage fraud, but it didn't catch his interest at general. Neal loved the art cases, the forgery cases, but the other, he wasn't interested in. Not fully.
"So, this guy…we don't even have an alias? Nothing?"
"Nope. He's slippery. But I don't believe that he's the brain of this whole story. No, there's someone pulling the strings. But I don't know either how we could find out who it is without even an alias to start."
Peter looked tired and a little worn out. He seemed to have worked a lot the last few days but Neal didn't know why. They hadn't had any case at all, so they all were looking through cold cases, until this one came up. So Peter should be rested and motivated. But he was grumpy instead.
Neal didn't like it. He decided to give it a shot.
"Hey Peter."
"Mh?"
"Ah…everything alright? At home? With Elizabeth, I mean?"
Peter shot him a glance. Neal was intently studying his mug.
Poor Neal, he's not sure this is a topic he's supposed to concern. Peter smirked.
"Yeah, everything's fine. But thanks for asking, anyway. Appreciate the concern."
Neal looked up and this look in those stunning blue eyes nearly broke Peter's heart right then.
"Really? I mean…" He was at loss for words once. "You don't mind me…taking interest in…er…you?" Neal shrugged, unhappy with his poor choice of words.
"I mean – I just wondered – well at work, we didn't have much to do and you seem tired and I – "
"Neal, Neal. No, I don't mind and I'm happy to have you as my partner and my friend, and you are allowed to be interested in what's going on. That is no crime, you know." Peter winked at him. "Come on, buddy, let's get back to work."
They rose from the table and went back to the HQ for another day of solve a puzzle of bits and pieces of information on their newest case.