(Chapter 3)
Neal lay back on the red dyed sofa, Kate brushing at his hair gently. She kissed him along the neck again, her bite gentle but he could feel something cold again. He knew something was wrong but he didn't seem to care and just lay there murmuring softly, his body limp in her hands.
"Neal, where is the music box?" He murmured at her through half opened eyes. His words slurred a bit as if he were drunk.
"Fowler... gave it to Fowler. Gave us the paperwork. Men...tor..." His voice trailed off.
"You're just a little boy, aren't you? It's a shame things have to be the way they are." She kept caressing his cheek, looking at his face which was relaxed and calm. His lips moved softly, eyes closed.
"Kate... stay with me forever." She kissed him again and the young man fell into a light sleep. A shadow fell over the two figures and she turned. A man with an unusual ring on his finger looked down at them and she stared up at him curiously.
"He seems to think I'm her. The one you killed. He knows who has the box. Someone named Fowler has it?" The man nodded and she looked back at Neal, moving away and leaving his limp form on the sofa.
"Why do you want to kill him so badly? He doesn't seem like a threat to me." She fell back as the person slapped her across the face hard, the ring leaving a bit of a bruise and cut across her milky cheek. Monica glared up at the man.
"I've done my part. Just pay me so I can disappear again." The man nodded and pulled out a small parcel from his pocket, handing it to her. She took it and stood up stiffly.
"This is only half of what you promised me." Her face angry, violet eyes flashing brightly up at the figure.
"Finish the job and you'll get the other half." The man's voice was low bass. He turned and left the room, leaving Monica with Neal. She looked back at the young man, brushing at the hair that fell across his brow. She looked almost wistfully down at him then at the money in her other hand.
(intel)
"Peter!" Jones came running into the agent's office looking somewhat out of breath. He looked up at the young man with a hopeful expression.
"I think we found her... Vladislav. Someone matching her description was scene checking into a luxury suite at a condo off the park. Fancy Schmancy type of place only big wigs and millionaires rent out." Peter smiled and his face looked relieved.
"Good work, Jones!" Peter looked at the information provided and his face suddenly quirked. He looked up from the paper and then back down.
"It says the room was rented out to a person by the name of Anillo. Anillo... why does that seem familiar?" Jones shrugged at his boss, turning when they heard a knock at the office door. Ruiz came in.
"I'm off guys. It's 5 pm." She looked at them a moment trying to figure out what was going on and closed the door.
"I'm guessing you're both working on something unofficial and it's to do with Neal... am I right?" Peter and Jones looked between themselves and then at Ruiz. She took a seat and sat down.
"I want to help. Give me the dirt." Peter blinked as did Jones and finally they pushed the paper over to her and let her read the case files. They filled her in on the details and she whistled.
"Anillo... oh! Yeah... Spanish!" Peter looked at her and smiled with a bit of a blush.
"I was terrible at foreign languages. Ask El." Jones nodded in agreement.
"Same here. I'm lucky I can conjugate in English sometimes." Ruiz looked between the both of them curiously as Peter nodded at the young woman to continue. She pointed at the name of the leasee.
"Anillo in Spanish means "ring." Peter gawked at her and then he walked around and squeezed her shoulder.
"Ruiz... If I could give you a raise..." Jones perked up aswell. He seemed a little lost.
Peter just smiled knowingly and grabbed up his jacket.
"Ruiz, have a good trip home... Jones, follow me." Peter walked out of the office and they left the building.
(a little death)
Neal was sleeping the sleep of the dead. His body felt cold and numb as he lay there in the darkness. He was forgetting something but he couldn't remember what. Something about Kate. It was important. He gave up when his head started to hurt and concentrated on his surroundings.
He was unconscious but he could still pick up on a few things. Mostly he felt drugged. Everytime Kate kissed him on the neck, he felt a kind of "pinch" of her teeth against his skin. He couldn't remember her ever kissing him like that in the past. He tried to think about it but his head hurt more so he concentrated on what was going on around him.
Neal heard voices, low murmurs speaking. It sounded like a man and a woman but neither voice was familiar to him. He started to remember that he had been out for a walk not too long ago and then... He paused in his thoughts realizing he was missing time. He woke up at the Burkes and then Kate had showed up out of the blue. He had been headed home to his apt at June's when she had come to him. Neal had wondered why she wouldn't want to meet Peter and El but at the time it seemed unimportant as she kissed him again and he felt his mind slipping.
"He seems to think I'm her. The one you killed. He knows who has the box. Someone named Fowler has it?" It was only a faint voice but the sentence rang clear through his mind.
Dead... someone died.
Neal tried to push around the headache but it seemed to block everything. He could see Kate but nothing else. Something kept him from accessing memories that would tell him why everything that felt so right, wasn't.
"It really is a shame. You seem like a nice guy." He felt someone kiss him gently on the forehead and he murmured softly back as he fought to wake up. His body felt cold and numb as if he had taken a dip in an icy lake. He shivered slightly, sensing danger but not able to see what was coming.
"This will only hurt for a little bit then you'll feel sleepy. Very sleepy and nothing will matter anymore." Her voice was soft but he knew it wasn't Kate's. Kate wouldn't do this to him. Kate...
He saw smoke and fire. He heard an explosion that threw him backwards and he fell against someone. Peter. Peter had been there. Wreckage... something...
"Just stay still and it will all be over." He felt himself nod unconsciously to the voice and then felt something sharp dig into his neck slowly, deeply. Then warmth. Something wet and warm dribbled down his neck and onto his shoulder in a slow but steady stream. Someone caressed his hair gently trying to calm him.
"Just lay still and it will end soon. All the pain... everything." Neal felt himself trying to move but he couldn't. His body refused to respond and the wetness dribbled from his neck slow and sure, his body growing colder.
Something had blown up... someone... he lost someone.
"KATE!!!!" He heard himself calling her name but someone held him back from going to her. He saw flames and smoke and fiery wreckage.
