Disclaimer I do not own this yadda…yadda… I crave reviews I snack on them as I write hehe. Warning some light dusting of slash, I wanted to say I hope everyone enjoys the chapter. Thanks again Peppe, I never would have finished this chapter without you)
Chapter 2: Without You
Dante walked up and down the streets keeping a mental map of the area in case he ever needed to make an escape attempt. He looked as his watch and saw it was time to make another move, so he walked back the way he came and ducked down an alley and made his way up the fire escape to the roof.
Once he was on the roof Dante pulled out his camera and began to take pictures of Neal talking with his landlady. To mess with his cousin Dante pulled out his cell phone and dialed Neal's number and hit send, and waited for Neal to pick up after a couple rings.
"You dripped some coffee on your shirt, make sure you don't let it stain too bad shrimp," Dante said before hanging up. He raised his telephoto lens camera to watch Neal's reaction to his call.
Neal dropped his phone and looked down at his shirt and saw the coffee, right away he looked up at the nearby buildings looking for any signs of his cousin. Where is he, where is he… Neal thought as he jumped up from his chair and ran over to the chest high wall and looked at the windows and rooftops.
"Leave me alone!" Neal yelled as he turned around and sank down to the stone floor and put his hands over his temples and gripped his head. "Leave me alone…" Neal whispered as he became lost in his own world.
June grabbed Neal's phone and hit the speed dial for Peter's home and hit send she waited a few rings before Elizabeth picked up. "Is Peter there? its important" June said as she walked over and put a comforting hand on Neal's hand.
"He just walked in the door, Honey… don't take your coat off," Elizabeth said as she handed the phone over as she mouthed June's name as he took the phone. Peter raised the phone to his ear. "June… what's wrong?" he asked as a worried tone creeping into his voice he could hear someone in the background talking though it was faint over sounds of the city.
The older woman sat on the edge of the large planter and began to pet Neal's hair "One minute we were drinking coffee then he received a phone call and he started to yell to be left alone and I believe he's having a panic attack. You should get over here as soon as you can," She said as she worried about Neal.
Peter nodded his head "I'll be right over," he said before hanging up "I… I have to go El, its Neal." He added as he ran back out the door and jumped into his car, and drove back to June's as fast as he could. Peter parked the car and jumped out. He used his spare key to get into the well decorated home. Peter rushed upstairs and ran out the door onto the terrace.
"Neal…" he whispered as he walked over and pulled the ex con's hands off his head and looked at the terror in Neal's eyes. "Who was on the phone Neal?" Peter asked softly as he pulled Neal into his arms and began to rub his back.
"They're here…if I move they'll see me" Neal said softly. Giving a sigh Peter attempted to pull Neal from his hiding place against the wall. "I can't move they'll see us…they know I'm here Peter." Neal said as he pulled away from Peter and pushed himself against the wall. Peter bit his lip for a moment as he thought of how to get Neal to calm down. "They are not going to see you in your bedroom." Peter said trying to convince Neal he was safe.
Whimpering lightly Neal slowly stood up and made his quickly into his apartment and over to his bed. Peter walked in after Neal after glancing outside once more before walking over to the bedroom area.
"Why don't you change and get into bed I think you need some rest Neal," Peter said as he walked back across the apartment to the kitchen area. "I'll tell everyone you felt sick, that's the beauty of being a consultant you don't have to worry about your sick days," Peter said as he grabbed a small medicine bottle off the top shelf.
Once Neal changed his clothes Peter had a couple pills and a glass of water ready. "Here take these, they'll help you relax and I'll stay till you fall asleep," Peter said as he watched his partner get cleaned up and brush his teeth before climbing into bed. After a few minutes Neal was drifting between conscious and unconscious.
Peter looked around the apartment; he had taken Neal cell phone and looked at the call log and as soon as he saw the unlisted number he knew it had to have been the caller that scared Neal. After pocketing the phone Peter noticed a photo hastily tucked away on the coffee table.
I know that snooping into Neal's privacy is wrong but if it's going to help him I'm all for it, Peter thought as he picked up the photo; it took the agent all of three seconds to realize that he was looking at a picture of his house. Flipping the picture over Peter saw his and Elizabeth's schedule and when he saw that Peter took it upon himself to search Neal's apartment finding the letter that most likely came with the picture.
The agent was seeing red as he read the letter; then he pulled his phone out and took a deep breath before dialing the numbers. "Diana it's me, can you go into my office and look up a number for Margret O'Malley," Peter said as he grabbed a pen and paper and jotted the number down. "And before you go Diana, please look at Neal's phone log there is an unlisted number there that I need tracked down… also tell Hughes I'm going to stay with Neal he freaked out pretty badly and he shouldn't be alone right now," Peter added as he sat back on the love-seat.
Dante was pleased with himself as he put his camera back in his bag; he had systematically broken his cousin down to a quivering mess. After making sure that no one was watching Dante climbed down the fire escape to the dark alley, although he knew Colin wouldn't be happy that Neal's partner was there with him.
After hailing a cab Dante sat back as the cab traveled through mid afternoon traffic back to the Plaza Hotel. Once he was there the former Interpol agent climbed out of the cab and paid the driver four dollars as he walked into the hotel and rode the elevator to the suite. Once he walked inside he avoided looking directly at Colin as he walked over to the laptop on the desk.
"So how is my Baby; do you have any good news?" Colin asked as he put the book down that he was reading. He looked at the camera as Dante pulled the card out once more "He's scared out of his wits that you're coming for him and his handler showed up after I called him to torture him a bit," he replied quickly.
Colin snapped his head back to face Dante "I told you to let me take care of frightening my Baby. Now Burke is going to be over protective of Neal and he won't let him out of his sight," Colin said grabbing a bottle of wine and uncorking it. After pouring the remaining wine out into a glass, Colin corked it again as he walked up behind Dante and when he moved closer he swung the bottle catching Dante on the side of the head.
Hissing loudly Dante grabbed the side of his head "You're certifiable Traux, you know that," Dante growled as he got up from the chair and went to the bathroom to grab a towel. "Unless you have forgotten; let me remind you that I still have friends in Interpol," he said leaving the bathroom with a towel pressed firmly against his head.
"We have to change our tactics now thanks to you, the next time you go out leave your phone behind, chances are Burke is going to try and trace it so turn it off now if you know what's good for you," Colin warned as he picked up the shards of the wine glass. "You should let me check for glass shards in your wound or you're just making it worse by pressing against it," Colin said as he ripped the towel away. Right away Colin pulled a few shards out of Dante's wound.
Colin smirked as he pulled some of Dante's recently grown hair back a bit before pushing the towel against the bloody wound. "You look good with long hair, it fits you better," Colin remarked as he checked the wound once more. "I'm sorry for that Sweetie, I shouldn't have done that since you're so well behaved that but I was mad that you did something so wreckless," he added reaching down and turning Dante's hand to reveal a brand on his wrist.
"Here drink this, it will make the pain go away," Colin said as he handed Dante the wine glass. "I want you to stay in the rest of the night," Colin ordered as he put a bandage on Dante's head.
Neal groaned in his sleep as he rolled over wrapping himself tighter in the blankets; he felt light headed as he opened his eyes. He had been asleep for no more than twenty minutes before felt the urge to wake again. "Mmm… Peter… you smell nice," Neal mumbled still under the influence of the sedatives.
Peter chuckled as he walked away from the kitchen stove where he had some canned soup cooking for Neal. "That's the soup I'm making for you. June said you haven't eaten much recently," he said giving the soup a quick stir.
"I'm not talking about now, I'm talking about in general… you always smell so nice. I just never had the guts to say anything…I just wish you would stop wearing such cheap suits; because I know you're not a cheap man at all," Neal mumbled again as he put his arm over his eyes as he fell back asleep. The agent rolled his eyes as he turned the heat down on the stove and moved the pot of soup to a cool burner. Peter covered the soup before walking over to Neal's bedside to check on him. "Neal… can you tell me who called you before?" Peter asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.
Neal rolled over and curled around Peter like Satchmo would do sometimes. "It was Dante…he said I spilled coffee and I did. My shirt was dirty too," Neal grumbled as he sat up in bed his head felt like it was spinning. "Peter, do you like spending time with me or am I a burden on your life?" the ex con asked as he pushed the pillows up so he could sit up in bed.
Peter looked at the younger man "Neal, I don't find you a burden at all… whatever gave you that idea?" Peter asked as he looked at his friend. "It was something Colin said to me once; he said that you find me a burden," Neal said as he began to sober up from the drugs. "Forget about him and if he comes anywhere near you I'll shoot him," Peter said with a smile as he clapped Neal on the shoulder.
The rest of the week passed without any problem. Neal had solved numerous small fraud cases to keep his mind busy while looking forward to the museum trip the next day with Peter. Neal looked up when Diana approached him. "Can I help you?" he asked with a smile.
"Actually I was thinking maybe I can help you," she said holding up the report Neal had just given her. The report had been decorated in the margins with little doodles of flowers and birds. "I was hoping you could maybe explain this?" Diana asked with a smile.
Neal made a grab for the report "I just got a little bored with the talk is all; I'll rewrite the report before Peter sees it," Neal said as Diana pulled the report away. "No way not until you explain these drawings, you did them without realizing it didn't you?"She asked as she put the report in her folder.
Giving a defeated sigh Neal looked at the female agent "Fine I was day dreaming about something and I ended up drawing on the report I was writing." Neal admitted as he made another grab for the paper only to have Diana step back out of Neal's reach. "What were you day dreaming about?" She asked with a smirk.
The ex con stood up and made one more grab of the paper, just as his fingers brushed against it the paper was pulled away this time by Peter. "So this is why I haven't gotten the report, you two are messing around out here," Peter said as he looked down at the report and saw the drawings.
"Cute and Neal tomorrow about our trip to the museum I'm going to have to cancel I have to do an interview for this art heist. Maybe we can reschedule for next weekend." Peter said as he watched Neal's face fall.
Diana knew Neal had been talking about the trip for days. "I'll do the interview tomorrow I know how much Neal has been looking forward to this trip so it will be fine," Diana said with a smile as she walked back to her desk to call Christie and fill her in.
Neal looked up at Peter with a smile "I plan on teaching you about so much art tomorrow that you will have respect for everything around the world more than normal," Neal said as he leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk. Peter chuckled and knocked Neal's feet off the desk. "I'll pick you up at seven and we'll have breakfast first then go to the museum for a few hours and you can teach me about art; how does that sound?" Peter asked.
The younger man smiled "It sounds like a date," he joked as he got up from his desk and walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself another cup of coffee. I haven't heard anything from Dante and Colin in days, maybe it was just a bad nightmare, Neal thought as walked back to his desk. Peter watched his partner close.
"I'm going to be at my desk if you need me," Peter said as he walked away from Neal's desk and back to his own. He had worried about the younger man all week. Now that the week was almost over he had a feeling that Colin would try something. Jones walked into the office carrying a large envelope "This just came for Neal but you said you wanted to look at his mail first," Jones said handing the envelope over.
Peter grabbed his letter opener and slit the tape open. He looked up to make sure Neal was at his desk before dumping the envelope onto his desk. The contents of the envelope clattered against his desk. Looking down both men saw a collar and a tag reading Baby. Peter grabbed the collar and stuffed it into his top drawer. "Never mention that to Neal," Peter warned.
Jones nodded his head before walking out of the office as he looked across the bullpen at Neal who had taken to doodling in the sketchbook he brought to work that morning. Jones then walked back to his desk and began to type another report up.
Neal had an uneasy feeling that he was being watched but when he looked up he saw no one looking at him he decided to check his email instead. He signed onto his private email that kept for private contacts and family instead of his FBI account. After making sure that no one was watching him type in his password Neal saw a few emails pop up.
Three emails were from his mother and one from his aunt. Neal opened the letter from his aunt; he looked it over for a couple seconds to mentally translate the message. So Dante quit his Interpol job that would have been nice to know a head of time; I should check this email more often. Neal signed off his email and opened up the website for the museum, he the museum he and Peter were going to visit before typing in a few things and smiling at the news. After closing the website Neal scribbled some notes down. He looked at his watch as he counted down the time 'til he would be spending the day with Peter.
Dante yawned as he downed a third cup of coffee. "I've been watching him all week, I hand delivered the package to the FBI where I could have been recognized, and I have pulled double all nighters watching my cousin for the last two nights to see how he would react to your gifts and it was all for nothing...there have been no reactions" Dante said as he ordered a fourth cup of coffee.
Colin rubbed his chin "Maybe it's time I do some asking of my own to find out how m pet is feeling about his gifts, and being at an internet friendly coffee shop is a good thing," he remarked as he opened up his email and began to write a quick email to Neal.
"Now you're sure that this email address is still in use?" Colin asked as Dante brought over two more coffees. The former agent nodded as he poured the sugar into his coffee. He had never used the email but he had seen his mother use it many times to keep in contact with his cousin. "I think he still uses it;" Dante said as he stirred his coffee with a plastic stirrer.
Once the email was finished Colin clicked on the send button and signed off the computer. "There is a good chance they'll trace the email so we should get going as soon as possible so we're not caught because as soon as Neal opens that email we'll be able to get into the FBI computers;"Colin said with a smirk as he grabbed his coffee and left the shop with his current pet catching up from behind him.
Neal realized he had forgotten to read his mother's emails so he re-logged into his email when a new email popped up from an unknown address; he looked at the subject line as he clicked on email and then after reading the email he suddenly realized who it was from and shakily stood up and walked into Peter's office and asked "Hey Peter…I just got an email from Colin, he asked me about the gifts and if I liked them. Care to explain?"
Peter sighed and pulled the desk drawer open and pulled out the dog collar, a tightly folded up leather skirt and a small stack of photos out of his top drawer and dropped them on his desk. "I informed everyone that any mail addressed to you came through me first, I did it to protect you," Peter admitted as he looked down at the items on his desk.
"Thanks Peter, I'm glad I have you looking out for me. I'll just erase that email and get back to work," Neal said as he kept his gaze away from the items on Peter's desk. The FBI agent nodded his head slightly. "Get as much done as you can before six, I'm actually going home for dinner tonight on time," he said smiling at his little joke.
The ex con laughed "Hey you're not chasing me anymore so you should be able to make it on time for dinner more often now," he said as he walked out of the office with a new spring in his step. Peter worried about his friend when his friend had shown no emotion to the email. Moving to the open door he hung around the corner "Neal how about coming over for dinner El wouldn't mind" he offered with a warm smile.
Neal shook his head "I'm fine Peter, you don't need to worry, I'm not freaking out about that email because I know you'll protect me you always do." He said as he practically danced down the stairs to his desk to delete the email.