Blue
A White Collar-Heist Society Crossover
Chapter Four: Uncertain
I do not own White Collar or Heist Society
Kat opened her eyes groggily, very confused. She felt terrible- her head was pounding, one of her arms hurt and she just felt unbelievably tired. A sour, fowl taste was in her mouth and she felt like throwing up. Then she realized she was duct taped to a chair bolted to the floor.
...
Mr. Bennet and Mr. Sands took a quick break to 'update their superiors.' In reality, Nick and Simon needed to talk, decide what to do with their 'superiors' incapacitated. Or, rather, Nick needed to yell at Simon.
"Hale got shot. Kat got kidnapped. We should have left while we had the chance!" Simon was not reacting calmly. He was the worst actor of the group, there was a reason he was usually behind a computer screen, and with the added pressure he was cracking. "We need to, to, to check on Hale. No! We need to find Kat! Did he get Gabrielle? The Bagshaws? They were at the house, weren't they? Or were they-"
"Simon, shut up!" Nick snapped, unable to take anymore of Simon's rambling. He was already hearing all of this within his own thoughts, he didn't need any more of it. Luckily, Nick was among the best actors of the group and he didn't let it show. He was able to put up a front and pretend that he could still think rationally, that he could still prioritize the mission. The first thing someone who cared about the stupid, dumb, add-any-expletive-you-fancy, mission would try to stay undercover so the Feds wouldn't catch on to their ruse and arrest them when Kat could need their help. That would mean calming Simon down. He could do that... right?
"What are we going to do Nick!" The techie was near panicking.
Nick knew he couldn't admit that he didn't know either. He couldn't tell Simon that all he could think about was that Kat was quite possibly in the hands of what sounded like a psychopath. He was slightly ashamed that he didn't care more about Hale but it wasn't like he was dead. A darker part of him thought that Hale deserved it for not keeping Kat safe but he knew that was neither true nor fair. If he had been there then...
He forced those thought back and came up with facts. Best stick with facts. Non-subjective, cold, easy facts. Things he didn't have to think about.
"We need more information. One of us needs to go to Uncle Eddies and one of us needs to get Hale's story from the hospital."
"How do you know Hale can even talk right now?"
Nick didn't. In fact, it was very likely that Hale was under some anesthetic or pain medication. But he couldn't focus on that. Hale had to know what happened! Hale had to have some clue about where he took Kat! He had to!
"The police thing said something about a kidnapping, Hale must have told them. He can't be too badly hurt."
Simon seemed to take some comfort from this.
"I'm going to see Hale."
"No, you aren't!" Nick said, a little too emotionally. If Simon went then he wouldn't get to interrogate him! He couldn't have that, he couldn't. "You, um, you would be better at the house. Since you know it better and everything. I'm still new."
"You don't like Hale." Simon stated,
"Not in particular..." Nick was unable to lie about that when the truth was obvious, "But he's still one of us, isn't he?"
"But are you one of us?" Simon asked, "I know Kat- Kat trusts you but... Are you one of us?"
"I'm here aren't I?"
"That wasn't the question. Are you one of us?" Can I trust you?
Nick hesitated. He was Kat's. He wasn't one of the family. He didn't care about any of their nuances or goals. He was only there for Kat, even when it became quite clear that nothing romantic would ever happen between them, he was still there for her. He was treated like her pet, never quite all the way in the group and he didn't mind that. He kept himself away from the group as well. He wasn't the family.
He was Kat's.
"Yes." Nick answered, "Yes."
"Then I'll go to the house. Just... be careful."
...
Kat looked around, surveying her surroundings, trying to make sense of everything. There was a concrete floor. The light looked to be natural so there had to be a window somewhere. The wall in front of her was concrete.
"She's awake."
...
Neal was somewhat troubled. There were so many things that just weren't right.
"When did the Hale's get mixed up into art theft?" Neal said, "And why was their kid there? Why wasn't he kidnapped?"
"Maybe he was but it went wrong?" Peter shrugged, looking at something on his computer,
"I don't see why Keller would shoot the heir to a billion dollar fortune. It doesn't make sense. And why would he kidnap a thief? That means nothing to the department, he can't extort either of us Peter."
"Are you saying that this isn't about us?"
"It has us tied in somewhere but I don't see where." Neal said. That scared him. Keller was always more than one step ahead of him but usually Neal had some idea where he was going. This time Neal couldn't begun to guess. How could he connect a stolen hat with a fifteen year old thief with a very rich kid?
"Maybe the kid who got shot is who Keller's trying to get something from?" Peter guessed, "Katarina could be his girlfriend."
"Okay, so maybe Katarina is trying to run a con on W.W. Hale the fifth when she somehow gets word about Keller's Da Vinci. She tries going after it and Keller notices her. Then Keller grabs her and tells W.W.- what is the kid's first name?- that he needed something or he'll kill her."
"Mr. Hale might have been trying to defend her, that's why he got shot."
"Maybe that was a message to his parents for letting something slip around our teenaged thief."
"We need to talk with his parents then."
"They certainly have the money to get into something big." Neal looked at Peter's screen, currently on a page about the Hale's finances.
"Has anyone contacted his parents?" Peter asked loudly, "Where are they?"
"W.W. Hale the Fifth's emergency contact was apparently his butler, Marcus. Emergency services called him and he's in the hospital with him now." Diana reported,
"Someone get a hold of Mr. Hale the Forth then- otherwise their going to find out about their son's shooting from the news."
"Unless Keller sent them a message." Neal corrected,
"Either way, we need to talk to them." Peter announced.
As the FBI office became a flurry of activity, Neal found himself left to his own thoughts. He couldn't do anything until Peter actually left to get to the hospital, and with the pace it was going it was going to take a while to get out the door.
He looked at the two who had mysteriously appeared from Interpol, others who had nothing they could do until the proper paperwork and information had been pulled together. They were a curious bunch and awfully... young looking.
Neal tried to pull it from his brain, after all looked younger than he was, but couldn't. They were just to young looking to merely be young looking.
This reminded him of the last person he'd seen who was to young looking. Katarina Bishop.
But they couldn't be! The Interpol agents had no connection to her other than following her case... did they? It had been rather convenient how they'd appeared a day after she did.
And her lawyer- Neal remembered the blond as well. Young. Mozzie had reported that she had been referred to a 'Gabs.'
His mind started spinning a pattern.
W.W. Hale the Fifth had a butler as his emergency contact. Not his parents. So they wouldn't be close.
Katarina had gone to a boarding school. Away from her father. Possibly continents away, judging Bobby Bishop like Europe.
No adults in the house when Katarina had been taken.
There were no adults in these kids' lives.
This led to more questions. Where the rest of the Bishop family? Who was Gabs? Who was Mr. Bennet and Mr. Sands because they sure as heck weren't Interpol?
Had the crime world been taken over by teenagers?
Neal sincerely hoped not.
But how had teenagers, without, he was presuming, any adult supervision, fooled the FBI into thinking they were Interpol? How had teenagers nearly stolen a Da Vinci? How had they gotten involved at all with Keller?
Assuming he was right about Mr. Bennet and Mr. Sands there were two people in the room who could answer these questions. He wondered if he should play his cards with them now or later. As soon as he revealed he knew they weren't Interpol, they'd run.
Telling Peter about them didn't cross his mind.
Neal figured that he'd watch them for now and confront them later. The two fake Interpol agents looked worried and confused so it would probably go better if he waited for the opportune moment.
...
Peter arrive at the hospital, Neal and Mr. Bennet in tow. He had called ahead and it seemed that W.W. Hale was out of surgery and was responsive, although the kid was still a little loopy. He just hoped that the kid could tell him what happened.
The rich kid sat in the hospital bed, slightly reclined and obviously was not quite all the way there.
"Mr. Hale-" he started but the kid interrupted him,
"Just Hale."
Neal had a realization that this kid must be the 'Hail' that Mozzie had mentioned the girls talking about.
"Hale, I'm Special Agent Peter Burke and this is my partner Neal Caffery and we're from the FBI. Mr. Bennet is from Interpol. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"
"Depends on what they are. If they're about how I get my hair so perfect than no."
Peter couldn't tell how much was good natured snarking or pain meds.
"You were found at one Edward Bishop's residence with a gunshot wound just grazing your shoulder. Can you identify the shooter?"
This seemed to affect the kid, he turned slightly frantic and very blathery. Mr. Bennet raised his eyebrow.
"Mathew Keller, it was this really, really bad guy named Keller and, and he took Kat- I don't know where but, but you got to find her. Find her before something bad happens. He, he threatened something... I can't quite recall-" This sent Hale further into panic mode, "But he wanted his, the Da Visily. No, it's not that, it's the Visily Romani- No, no, no! That- no, the Vinci Romani? The Visily Vinci? Very-silly Vinci. The paintingy thing that's important to Kat. And that other thing. And, and, and-" Hale suddenly stopped, "What?" He looked very confused.
Peter felt sorry for him but was pleased at all of the info he may have gotten. He didn't know what Visily Romani was but it could be something important.
"You're ok, kid. Do you know when your parents will be here?"
"Never." He answered, "I'm attending Knightsbury, you see."
Peter didn't see but he noticed that something had upset Neal. Maybe the Visily Romani character? Mr. Bennet was also looking a little pale but Peter didn't know him well enough to read him. He couldn't help but feel that there was something off about the man but suspected it was only a bad case of outer-agency rivalry.
"Can you describe what happened when you got shot? What were you doing before?"
Hale's face smashed into a grimace of stubbornness and the franticness of someone trying to come up with a good lie.
"I was... I was washing dishes."
The boy looked like he had never washed dishes in his life.
"The more you tell us, the faster we can find Kat."
"I can't tell you, it was part of the plan!" Hale told him, "But me and Kat and Gabs were talking and then that Keller guy came in. Kat threw a plate at his head and them he shot me and- then it gets blurry. They were screaming and crying and he took her and-" Hale had tears start to go down his face. Obviously pain meds.
"Peter, I think we should go." Neal suggested, clearly in-at-ease with the drugged up teenager, "I think that's all he can give us."
"Do you remember his car or...?" Peter tried one last time,
"No." He sounded so miserable that if Elizabeth would have been there then Hale would have received a hug.
"If you remember anything else, just give us a call." Peter place his card on the bed table and left the room.
As soon as the trio on law-enforcers (as far as Peter knew and cared to think about anyway) entered an area that it was safe to talk he said,
"We need to find Gabs." Peter looked at the two other men, seeing if they'd picked up on there being a third person in the room as a witness, "She might be able to tell us more."
"To be fair, the kid did get shot today."
"Yes, and we're just lucky his ramblings didn't include unicorns." Mr. Bennet said.
"Also, Neal? Who is Visily Romani?" Peter asked,
Neal's face turned serious.
"I have no idea. Nobody does."
"What do you mean?"
"Have you ever heard of a Chelovek Pseduonima? Visily Romani is a thief who has been around for more than a hundred years and has never been caught. He means it's serious business."
...
Simon was trying his hardest to keep it together. It wasn't easy seeing his second home being cataloged. Or have blood spatter on the wall. Or have definite signs of a struggle.
Diana, Jones and the others left Mr. Sands alone, busy in their investigations. Simon had to look like he was working and try to keep the police damage down to a minimum. If anyone found some of the artwork in that house then the Bishops would be toast. Right now, he was just thankful that they seemed to take the paintings on the walls as reproductions.
What was he going to do? He may have been smart in many ways but this was more of Kat's area. Kat planned and he followed. He trusted her implicitly, never arguing.
However, she was gone.
Simon was left with Nick. Nick, or all people! Simon trusted Nick only because Kat did, there was nothing he really liked about the guy from his own merits.
Simon didn't want to follow Nick. He wanted to get to the hospital and ask Hale what to do. Actually he wanted to be at the hospital to see if Hale was alright first. He heard it was only a graze around the shoulder but that was still a bullet. He'd heard about people dying from a bullet to there are from trauma. But Hale was fine, he had to be. Hale couldn't not be fine.
Where was Gabrielle? Angus? Hamish? Were they with Kat or regrouping elsewhere. Was there a secret rendezvous spot that he couldn't remember? Could he track their funds online or something? Hack into the CIA and steal a satellite to find them with? Hack into Torchwood?
Now he knew he was getting ridiculous.
All he had to do was look professional and detached.
Why was that so hard?
...
Gabrielle sat in a coffee shop, looking utterly normal. From a distance. Up close, her face was pale, her hands were shaking and her jacket was drawn around her tight to hide stains on her shirt. She stared at the note in her left hand, unconsciously drinking her coffee with her right.
I want my Da Vinci. If so, you get the little Kat back. Throw in a Van Gogh to one of the boys, a Monet would cover the other one. Your families collection would bring them back alive.
Please call the police, talk to the FBI. I don't mind. I'd actually recommend it. I might give you some sort of discount if you did.
Oh, and Neal, if your reading this, don't worry. You're incentive is coming along. You have a very interesting past by the way.
She put her coffee down and folded the papered, stuffing it in her pocket. She couldn't bear to look at it anymore. She couldn't think anything but raw despair. She knew it was shock so she tried not to dwell on it.
That still didn't stop the question- What was she going to do!
A/N: I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long! I've had some computer issues and have been busy with other stuff as well.
And now a very belated thanking of everyone who reviewed-
To QuayJaquelinXeomaraZendaya- Well here's what happens. I'm sorry about the wait. Thanks for your reveiw!
To StarPhire27- I'm glad you liked last chapter, I hope you enjoyed this one as well. Thank you a bunch for reveiwing!
To Skier Chick- It's now updated! Thanks for your review!
To The Red Fedora- Thank you for not hating me and your reveiw!
To kitcool- Here it is! I wrote it! Thanks for reveiwing. It means a lot.
To everyone who favorited and alerted- I hope you guys like this chapter as well. Thanks for reading!
Next Chapter- Elizabeth has an idea, Kat learns just how much trouble she's in and just maybe the character's find out what they're going to do!
