Chapter 4


It was a four-bedroom house. Sarah was sleeping in the master bedroom. As Chuck as said, the bedroom with the flowers painted on the door was filled with half-unpacked baby stuff. Peter was sleeping in one of the spare rooms; after telling Neal that they would be talking in the morning.

Neal couldn't sleep. Had he done the right thing? Going after Peter meant reviving Bryce Larkin; as there was always a chance the wrong people could find out he was alive. He could end up putting his friends back in New York in even more danger.

He thought back to the complex they had Peter locked in. His partner had been locked in that place for days; Neal had seen how jarring just being in the outer offices had been for him.

Neal's hand clenched around the fridge door. Peter was safe. He was out. All they had to do was wait for Chuck to develop the program to get the Intersect out and then return home.

"Midnight snack?" Chuck's voice jolted him out of his thoughts. Neal jumped and turned to face him as the kitchen light came on.

"I was just seeing if you had any drinks," he said. Wine or beer; it didn't matter right now, only that he got some alcohol in his system. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to sleep. Not with all the worries floating around his head.

"What aren't you telling us, Bryce?" Chuck asked, acting just as suspicious as Peter on a bad day. For a moment, Neal flashed back to the day Chuck left Stanford when he passive-aggressively confronted him about his role in getting him kicked out.

"A lot," he responded with a sigh. It couldn't hurt to apologise. "Look, I'm sorry about this."

"This?"

"Appearing on your doorstep with another Intersect."

Chuck snorted a laugh.

"You should be apologising for letting us think you're dead," he responded, "or that it takes an Intersect for you to even bother appearing in my life."

"The General didn't want anyone to know that Bryce Larkin was alive; including you guys. It was hard enough to convince her that I had a safe alias I could use."

"How come?"

Neal smiled.

"Neal was in prison when everything involving the Intersect went down."


Peter woke feeling better than he had in ages. The slight disorientation from waking up in a bed that obviously wasn't his, without the warm presence of his wife, kept the memories at bay for a moment.

Neal! The realisation hit him and the air hissed out of his lungs. He threw himself out of the bed and sought his friend.

Neal was sitting at the dining room table, munching away on a bit of toast with the paper in one hand and a coffee before him.

"Neal," Peter grumbled, pointing a finger at the content looking man. "You're going to tell me what's going on, now."

Neal blinked and smiled; just like he had the morning after he got out of prison on anklet.

"Breakfast?" he suggested, as if it was obvious, "and then we'll head to the secret spy base."

"I'm not setting foot in any spy base until you explain what you're doing here," Peter countered, "and why you broke me out of a CIA facility and the whole 'Agent Larkin' thing."

Neal froze for a moment. His smile didn't drop but the light faded from his eyes a little.

"Can't we eat first?" he said.

Peter considered that. His stomach was aching for food and something smelled good. But, if he put off getting answers; he might never get them. And wasn't it weird to be eating a regular breakfast when the CIA might be after them?

Sarah chose that moment to walk in, carrying a plate of stacked toast and a glass of orange juice. The pang in Peter's belly made the decision for him.

He gathered his own breakfast and sat down.

"If you want, I could tell you about Bryce Larkin," Sarah said. Peter didn't know what to make of that. This woman seemed to still be in some kind of silent glaring match with Neal. Every time she looked at him, her eyes narrowed and her mouth turned to a slight frown.

"He's a CIA agent," Peter said, "and is apparently sitting across from me."

"That's all?" Neal questioned, his brow furrowing in thought.

"What do you mean, 'that's all'?" Peter asked.

"That is strange," Sarah pointed out. Upon seeing Peter's frown at being left out, she explained, "you should have flashed on Bryce. Chuck did."

"'Flashed'?" All these new terms were giving Peter a headache, despite his fancy new watch.

Neal put the paper and his coffee aside and lent across the table.

"That's what Chuck calls it when the Intersect gives him information," he explained, "Peter, would you mind looking at me for a moment?"

Peter did more than just look. He glared. Interestingly enough, Neal was dressed a little less impeccably than he was back in New York. His hair was loose and parted at the side, instead of pulled back. He was wearing a black jacket and plain grey shirt which were more casual than his expensive suits.

However, when Peter's gaze focused on Neal's face; he felt the disconnection between mind and body that accompanied a 'flash'.

Bryce Larkin... CIA... Deceased... Shot dead by Major John Casey; NSA, after destroying the Intersect and sending to unidentified individual... Agent in Charge of Intersect 2.0 project... Shot by Ring Agent and bled to death minutes later...

"Ow," Peter groaned as Neal backed away and the influx of information halted. It was a case of 'ask and ye shall receive'. Peter now knew about Bryce Larkin. Or the information on Bryce Larkin that was contained in the Intersect computer.

"'Ow'?" When had Chuck walked in? "Is the Governor watch not working correctly?"

Peter waved off the other's concerns and glared at Neal.

"It was just a lot to take in, that's all."

Neal looked a little shy, retreating into himself as they spoke.

"Faster than looking at files though," Neal quipped when he spotted Peter's concerned gaze.


Chuck offered to drive them all to his work; the place where the 'spy base' was. Peter accepted, as long as Neal came with them. Neal looked like he was about to refuse but, when Peter stated his condition, agreed.

Peter wondered if Neal didn't trust these people alone with him or if there was something else going on here, something that wasn't included in the Intersect files.

When Chuck parked the car, Peter felt a sudden burst of disbelief. This had to be a joke.

"A Buy More?" he questioned.

"Uh huh," Neal confirmed, "Chuck works in the Nerd Herd."

"I actually own the place," Chuck informed him, making Peter feel marginally better about this. "It's a secret though, so I keep up my work in the Nerd Herd to keep people from getting suspicious."

"You work there because you like fiddling with computers," Neal countered in a good-natured manner.

"No," Chuck responded quickly.

"Yes," Neal said.

"Are you going inside?" Peter questioned as they stood side-by-side and blocked the doorway, although he was smiling too. Being around these two when they were like this made him momentarily forget about the danger he was in.

The Buy More certainly didn't give off an aura of a secret spy base and it was a far cry from wherever it was that Peter was being held before.

There were electronics everywhere. The wall of TVs was the only thing to really catch Peter's eye since he didn't really care about electronics outside ones that gave him sports and those he needed to know for his job; although Jones was his go-to guy for technology related cases and evidence.

A giant sign for the 'Nerd Herd' hung above a circular counter towards the middle of the store. Behind it sat two men; one with a very receded hairline and one who Peter could only describe as 'greasy' from his limp dark hair to the way he approached his work.

"Who are your friends, Chuck?" the greasy one asked, moving out from behind the desk.

"Lester," Chuck introduced, "this is Bryce and Peter."

Lester nodded while examining them from top to bottom.

"I'm Lester, as you know; the lead singer of Jeffster!" he said, getting into Peter's personal space.

"We're between gigs at the moment," the other man said in a slow, dull drawl.

"And that's Jeff," Lester said, turning back to glare at the man in question. "Also of Jeffster!"

"That's nice," Peter responded. He glanced at Neal, silently begging the man to help him.

Neal relayed that look to Chuck, who responded quickly but awkwardly.

"Uh, look guys, I'm currently looking after these two so, could you man the desk?"

"Huh?" For a moment it seemed like Lester wasn't going to agree. "Alright, fine." He moved back behind the desk and reclined on the chair with his feet on the table.

Chuck sighed and motioned for Neal and Peter to follow him. They walked into the enclosed Home Entertainment area.

"This is a problem," Lester said in a conspiratorial tone to Jeff.

Jeff nodded slowly. He asked, "what do we do?"

"Call Morgan."