Stunned silence fell between them as Peter tried to absorb what his friend had told them. He glanced up at Diana catching her gaze. A mask of disbelief covered her features.

"An E.L.E.?!" Diana said in surprise and horror. Neal managed to shoot her a warning glance despite his own obvious torment.

"Ignorance is bliss, Diana." He whispered looking significantly at the other agents just a few feet away. Peter placed a hand on Neal's back guiding him to his feet.

"I think we are going to take him in to be checked out… just to be sure he's ok." he announced calmly though his hands were suddenly shaking.

"Probably a good plan." Jones agreed. Peter followed Neal outside while Diana trailed in their wake…

"An E.L.E? You mean an Extinction Level Event?!" she hissed fiercely as soon as the van door closed behind them.

"Yes." He met her eyes… keeping his tone as calm as he could manage.

"You are talking about the end of the world, Caffrey!" She snapped.

"I know…" he shuttered "Believe me I know." Peter felt the tremors return to Neal's rigid back.

"What did they say exactly?" Peter asked. He spoke in a gentle placating tone. His expression clearly said he was worried about his consultant's sanity. Neal managed to shoot him an offended glare despite his still shaken appearance.

"I didn't catch all of it." Neal swallowed harshly, maintaining his carefully assembled control "I couldn't hear them I was reading lips through the glass."

"Ok, what did you see?" Diana growled shortly.

"They mentioned the E.L.E. and something about building bunkers… I think that is where Lancaster's contract comes in." He shrugged helplessly

"Did they say when?" Diana asked "Are you sure this is happening in our life time… they could be planning for something a hundred years from now…" she said with desperate hope. Neal flinched, thinking of Theo… just two months old, who would probably never grow up and if he did… what kind of a world would he grow up in?

"They were talking months." He said sadly "I'm sorry." He swallowed hard. He couldn't look her in the eye, as though it was his fault somehow that a huge chunk of stone was hurtling through space to steal their future.

"Months?" Peter nearly choked, clearly thinking of his pregnant wife. "Months… how many months…"

"I don't know…I think they mentioned spring." He looked at the older man, horror dawning in his eyes as he remembered. "Oh G** Peter I'm so sorry!" He dropped his gaze. Diana's son would never learn to talk … and Peter and Elizabeth's baby might never even be born… tears stung his eyes, but he didn't let them escape. After all he was the one in this conversation with the least to lose.

"What?" Diana looked between them

"Elizabeth's pregnant… we just found out… she's due in May." Peter said it so quietly it was almost lost in the overwhelming silence that roared in their ears, but his pain echoed clearly.

Peter wrapped his arms around her waist, quietly clinging to his wife as his hand settled over the spot where his child rested in her womb. She smiled gently. He knew she could feel the tension bleeding off him no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

"Rough day, Hon?" she carefully extradited herself from his embrace and turned to face him. He dropped his eyes. He didn't keep secrets from Elizabeth, but he couldn't tell her what he learned today… he would not tell her. She was so excited about finally becoming a mother, she had even been looking at nursery décor already. He refused to take that joy away from her, but she always knew when something was on his mind.

"Yeah." He sighed, forcing his gaze up to meet her eyes. He read the concern and love in them and managed a wobbly smile.

"What did Neal do?" the innocent question sparked a moment of irrational anger at the younger man. Neal should have kept his horrible knowledge to himself. Better yet he should have waited patiently to meet with Lancaster instead of spying on the earlier cession… The anger was foolish and even Peter knew it, ignorance would not change what was coming. He pushed the anger aside and sighed again.

"Nothing." At his wife's raised eyebrow he found a chuckle on his lips. "Nothing worse than on a normal day. He stole my wallet again this morning…" That was actually true. "Which oddly enough is a relief. He hasn't done that in a while… since my promotion actually. I think it means we are back on comfortable footing" Elle shook her head and smiled.

"Then that's good I guess." She still wasn't entirely sure how big of a role she wanted Neal to play in their future, Peter knew, but she didn't know how short that future would be. He swallowed hard. "So if it isn't Neal… what is wrong?"

"It's just our current case, Hon… We found something disturbing… I can't really discuss it." he stumbled over the words before he pulled away "I'm going to go take a shower before dinner." With that he rushed up the stairs and into the bathroom. He just got the shower running before the tears got away from him. He stood under the hot water until it ran cold while he sobbed for all that would never be.

Stepping out of the shower he felt better. He wouldn't give up hope, he still had a few months to think… and they were building bunkers for a reason…

The rocking chair squeaked slightly on its gliders as she sat in the dark nursery. Theo slept peacefully in her arms blissfully unaware of his mother's turmoil. She should put him in his crib and go to bed, Diana thought, but she couldn't bring herself to break the contact with his warm little body. The baby stirred slightly and sighed, his breath feather soft against her cold skin. The young woman ran a shaky hand through her hair as her mind played the conversation from the van on a constant loop.

"They were talking months… spring… spring…" She swallowed forcefully. Diana was a strong independent woman, top of her class at Quantico, an excellent field agent for the FBI because she could take down any man no matter his size… she was not crying, even if her cheeks were damp. Her breath caught in her chest, escaping with a sound that was suspiciously close to a sob. Her baby… her beautiful little boy that she decided to have on her own last year was never going to grow up. He was going to die before he learned to walk or talk or… And not just Theo… her mind wandered to her parents… her friends at the office… everyone she knew and loved would be dead by the end of spring. She choked… and then she was crying, really crying, clutching her sleeping child and weeping for the future he would never have… that they would never have.

Theo woke fussing at her tight grasp and she shifted him to eat. Defiantly she dried her tears. One break down. She had allowed herself one break down, now it was time to start thinking, because her baby was going to have future… no matter what she had to do to insure that, he would grow up. She just needed a plan.

The city lights sparkled over the river, beautiful and alive… Neal sat his wine glass absently on the balustrade and leaned against the stone, lost in thought. Looking up he could see just a faded scattering of stars in the dark sky. He wondered for a moment if one of them was the monster coming to destroy them. The clock in his kitchen said it was nearly three in the morning, but it didn't matter, he would not sleep tonight.

Earlier when he first realized what the men and women in that meeting were discussing he had been horrified… sick and shocked. Now… now he closed his eyes and let the early morning breeze wash over his face, carrying the faint traffic noises to his ears from below. He felt a soft serenity invade his thoughts as he accepted the truth. Life was unpredictable, often shocking cruel, you took the good you could find and let the rest go… and it really was a magnificent view.

He had accepted the inevitable… he would not live to see another summer, he would never be free as he had hoped when he left his apartment yesterday morning. He would die with the anklet firmly in place, but he could not accept that fate for those he cared about. The faces of his friends… his family, floated through his mind. Peter and Elizabeth would hold their child, Diana would watch Theo grow into the strong man Neal didn't doubt he would become, June would see her great grandchildren, and Mozzie would find his niche in the world that would emerge from the ashes of this one… one by one he thought of Alex, Sara, and Jones…

The foundations of a plan were already being laid in his imagination. Obviously the selection process, whatever that might be, for the public bunkers was too much of a gamble. He needed to get closer to Mr. Lancaster… he was the key and Neal needed to learn to read him clearly… and the best way to do that was to get the man what he wanted… in vast quantities.

Getting the art appealed to him anyway. Saving that beauty, that piece of what made humanity… human for future generations… it made him a part of something bigger. It made him forever a part of the paintings and sculptures he protected. Even if no one ever remembered he once walked this earth, a part of him would still exist in the art he left behind.

Stepping reluctantly away from the terrace he pulled out his easel and set it up. He let his mind continue to pick at the problems he still had to resolve while he lost himself in the painting that took shape under his steady hands…

Everything would work out in the end… for those he loved anyway.