(Chapter 6)

Three days passed without word or sighting of where Neal Caffrey had disappeared to. He was like a ghost, simply having vanished from everywhere without a hint or sign of his even being in the New York area. Hughes had been only mildly upset more that the CI had disappeared without a anklet while sick rather than in the past tense thinking he had tried to run. Peter had explained what happened with Neal's sudden illness and how everyone had tried to help him recover minus the cause being Goru. Hughes understood that the young man had been vulnerable with all that had happened over the past year putting a warning out that Neal was not to be shot or hurt but simply brought in. Neal had been stressed knowing they were still investigating Fowler's and OPR part in Kate's death without any leads yet. Added stress came from Peter keeping the patchwork man he and Diana had discovered on their own time from Neal. He hated keeping secrets from his partner but till he had more info it was a necessity.

Peter sat at his desk when almost a week had passed without word from Neal. Elizabeth started her own side search when she wasn't working, looking through the daily blotters and police reports as had Peter on his own end. Several John Doe's had seemed close to being Neal but in the end they weren't which brought a sigh of relief to both their lips. Jones and Diana had joined in on the search voluntarily, offering to sweep anywhere that proved a possible hiding place for Neal. With all these people searching for Neal in addition to the US Marshalls and other agencies it was a surprise the con had remained off the radar so long.

Lunchtime rolled around and Peter left for the hot dog stand around the corner. El was busy with a luncheon for a local book publisher so she was unable to join him. They had been having lunch daily since Neal's disappearance, discussing their work and any clues to the young man's whereabouts. In a sad sort of way it had brought the two closer together searching for the con. Peter saw the sadness and worry in his wife's eyes as if they had lost a child or sibling. He knew that feeling, a pain in the pit of his stomach robbing him of an appetite and sleep as he worried and dreamed about what could have happened to Neal.

Mozzie hadn't heard anything and Peter knew when the little guy was lying. Still, he was surprised to find that Mozz had been visiting with both June and El during the day helping with the investigation in his own unusual manner. June had some old friends of Byron's looking for Neal. He didn't ask any questions just happy to have the help in searching.

It was one night, two weeks after Neal went missing that Peter had the dream.

oOoOoOo

Peter woke up to find himself standing at the edge of a large overgrown field. He didn't recognize the place but he felt it wasn't too far away from the city as he moved slowly forward into the tall grasses. He could feel the cool damp earth and grass beneath his bare feet, looking down to find he was in his pajamas. Peter didn't seem to care in the dream as he continued to walk through the thick knee high weeds, cattails and grasses till the field thinned to a flatter more caliche rock strewn path leading through a small copse of trees and brush.

The agent paused at the edge of the path before something made him move forward, the rough terrain tearing at his feet as he traversed without pausing. He could see the moon high above, waxing to just near fullness above the tree tops, the big dipper off to the right and a bright shiny star or planet, possibly Venus or Saturn just below. He felt like this was something he had to remember, noting it for future reference as he continued forward through the wooded area and came upon a sheer drop to a small dry creek bed below. The pull had stopped and Peter found himself glancing dangerously over the ledge, his feet just inches from tipping him over had he gone any further.

Peter wondered what this meant, his dream self standing there as he felt an almost lucidness about him as he analyzed everything. He tried to case the area from where he stood, taking in landmarks like an ancient looking oak with a large gnarled root that looked big enough for a grown man to camp underneath. The tree climbed up maybe two stories and peeked up just over the opposite edge of the drop. He also saw what appeared to be lights in the distance, perhaps a town or house. He felt himself squint in the gloom as he tried to see, a soft sound of wind whispering through the trees above.

"Why am I here?" He muttered, pulling his arms around him as he felt a little cold. His bare feet and pajamas were far from adequate for skulking around at night much less this place he had found himself at. He looked around at the lonely scene thinking it would be a good place to disappear when he felt the hand on his shoulder. He stiffened in response, thin wiry fingers gently grasping then letting go. There was no sound of footsteps but Peter knew someone was there and he had a good guess who it was.

"Neal?"

oOoOoOo

Peter sat up and turned, glancing across his bedroom in the darkness as he woke up. He heard a soft murmur as El started to wake, nudging him gently.

"Honey, you ok?" El's voice was still sleepy as she sat up beside him and pulled him closer. Peter leaned into her and hugged her back.

"Yeah... had a dream." He curled up with her, smelling the soft perfume of her hair and trying to figure out the dream as it mulled in his memory. El seemed to start just a little, turning her head and kissing him on the cheek.

"Was it about Neal?" Her voice sounded almost knowing, as she moved slightly away from him and he heard the click of the lamp going on. Her blue eyes blinked back at him as they both adjusted to the sudden light.

"It was." Peter wondered about her tone as if his wife were thinking hard about something. She averted her eyes ever so slightly before she spoke.

"I had a dream about him too."

Peter blinked back at her curiously, giving her his full attention.

"What was yours about?" He held her close, her head leaning on his chest as they lay back with the lights on. She nestled close, her voice soft as she spoke.

"I was in a taxi cab and it was night time. I felt cold but I didn't have a jacket with me. That's when I realized I was in my pajamas." El blushed ever so slightly considering she was wearing shorts and a tee. Peter hugged her closer, kissing her forehead.

"How embarrassing, but why were you in a cab?" He saw her blue eyes look up at him a moment before she grew thoughtful and tried to remember.

"I don't really know but I knew I was running from something. I kept looking behind me but nobody was there. Finally I told the cabbie to stop and paid him. I looked around and I was in the middle of nowhere, outside of town I guess and there was a bus stop nearby so I went and sat down on the bench under the flickering light. I noticed a poster on the cover for the bench, it had an image of that show from two months back at the MoMA... the one with Picasso. It looked faded and torn and someone had drawn over it with spray paint. I think I saw a large frog looking thing with big eyes superimposed and it had a thought cloud that said: 'Hi! How are you?' which I found kind of odd." She scrunched up her brow a bit, looking over as Peter pondered what she said.

"So it was all first person then?" He felt her nod before she continued.

"Yes but then I had this feeling someone was standing behind me and I felt a hand on my shoulder. I kept thinking it was Neal but I couldn't turn around. They moved away and when I turned to check if it was him, I woke up and heard you. What do you think it means?" She looked up at him and he held her closer thinking about his own dream and wondering if he should tell her.

"I don't know. Sounds like clues if I were given that as a description from a witness but otherwise I supposed it's just a dream." He sighed as did El, her blue eyes worried. She nudged him after a moment and he looked down at her.

"So what did you dream about?" El was looking up at him, noticing his expression. Peter finally consented and told her about his dream. She blinked, a thoughtful look on her face as she sat up and moved to the nightstand on her side and picked up a pad and pen.

"Maybe we should write these down?" She passed a few sheets to Peter and grabbed up another pen for him and they began to write down their dreams in earnest, Peter asking her to confirm things when she had finished. When they had all the details down, his cell buzzed quietly on the nightstand near him, Peter grabbing it up.

"Burke..." There was silence on the other end for a moment before Peter wondered if the call had dropped. He was about to hang up when he heard a familiar sneeze and sighed.

"I know you're there." He turned and let his wife know it was Mozz, her face curious as to why the little guy would be calling them at such an early hour.

"Morning, Suit... I need to talk to you about Neal." Mozzie's voice sounded a bit off as if he hadn't slept much. It sounded like everyone was up early this morning. Peter nodded.

"Do you know what time it is?" Peter wasn't exactly testy but he was surprised at Mozz calling him at all. He heard silence again, the slight hint of someone breathing before he heard a sneeze.

"Bless you... Did you find Neal?" Peter hoped the little guy had some info but heard silence again, El listening in beside him in interest.

"We need to talk." Mozz simply said it without much more than that, a sound of knocking coming from downstairs. Peter and El both turned, Peter standing up and walking towards the bedroom door.

"Someone's downstairs. Hold on a moment..." Peter handed the phone to El, walking out into the hall and down the stairs. He peered out the peephole and blinked, promptly opening up and seeing Mozzie there.

"So, you saw a poster for the Picasso show at the MoMa? I saw that. It was really... Oh, Hi Suit." Mozzie looked up from the cell as if he weren't expecting Peter to be standing there. He seemed to be in deep conversation with El who came down in a comfy robe as both men stepped into the den and sat down. She handed the cell back to Peter with a little shrug as he hung it up and Mozz seemed to react, finally hanging up his own cell. He sat there on the sofa stiffly, looking up at the two of them his clothes a bit disheveled.

"I'll put some coffee on." El excused herself to the kitchen with a little yawn, the sound of the door swinging softly open and closed. Peter turned to the little guy and waited for him to say something. Mozz just gave him a sideways glance and blinked.

"Giving me that look isn't making this any easier, Suit." Mozz sounded somewhat more paranoid than usual, wringing his hands in his lap. Peter tried to relax, thinking about the dreams both he and El had. What did they mean if anything?

"I had a dream, if you're wondering... about Neal." Mozz just started speaking, startling Peter out of his thoughts.

"I dreamed about this large tree, I think it was an oak, I'm not sure but it was big enough to hide inside of. I kept looking up at the sky and I saw Venus just under the moon, which wasn't full cause it was still waxing..." He was babbling now in a continual stream about Ursa Major, Orion's belt and some other astronomical stuff. Peter held up a hand, Mozzie stopping.

"So you dreamed of a huge oak... two stories tall in a ravine of a dry creek bed and the moon was nearly full..." Peter was beginning to think something was awry here if they were all dreaming of the same thing. Mozzie was nodding, taking off his glasses to rub tiredly at his eyes.

"Yeah, and I kept thinking Neal was there. I thought I saw him once but he was elusive... a ghost! I tried to find him but he was already gone and I woke up." Mozzie sounded almost calm now, something about how he spoke about finding Neal in the dream had soothed him. Peter realized that was how he had felt in his own dream once he knew Neal was there. He had felt a bit calmer until he woke up and realized it was only a dream.

"Is there any significance to that place, Mozz? Have you been there before?" Peter looked up as he heard El come back, the scent of fresh roasted coffee drifting in with her. Mozz seemed to notice too, his eyes bright as he glanced up. She passed a cup to each of them, placing the pot on the coffee table before sitting down herself. Everyone was quiet a moment before El broke the ice.

"Peter honey, Mozzie told me he had an interesting dream. Why don't you tell him about yours." She looked at Peter who nodded tiredly back, repeating what he'd told her. Mozz looked thoughtful, pulling out a notepad and writing a few things down. Once he was done he looked back up at them both.

"Have you ever heard of Collective or Mass consciousness experiments?" He saw the blank look on both El and Peter's faces, his head nodding in a cursory manner before he kept talking.

"Well, it's when you get a large group of people to all think about the same thing say praying for some one's health and all those minds together bring enough energy to cause the person in question to heal quickly." He saw El and Peter nod but obviously they weren't getting it, still he continued hoping they would or maybe he just wanted to finish his tangent.

"If enough people are of the same mindset, they will share certain thoughts and ideas on a higher level than you would normally think." He paused again, Peter looking at El as if unsure what was the point when he saw her blue eyes brighten up some.

"Mozz, are you trying to say that since we all have the same thought about finding Neal and are so close to him, we're all having a dream about where he is?" She was almost smiling now, Mozzie nodding back with a look of a teacher to a student who did well. Peter blinked, looking between the two, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"So, you're saying we all dreamed of Neal because obviously we're worried about him... but these dreams are actually telling us where he is?" He still looked rather incredulous, sipping at his coffee while trying to wake up and take it all in. He saw Mozzie nod with a smile.

"Exactly. It's not just that we're worried about him, he's actually projecting his location to us in pieces. We're all picking up a bit of where he is, wherever that may be." Mozzie's tone had lowered a bit, his enthusiasm there but with a hint of uncertainty. Peter shook his head and stifled a yawn as he stood up.

"Well, if that's the case. I need to go to the office and see what I can find out about any ancient oaks you can fit a man into around the area. That's not going to be in the city." Peter couldn't believe he was going to go looking for Neal based on what was in a dream but so far he had enough clues to suggest the area was near a bus stop, somewhere outside the city in the outskirts with woods and a large ravine. Satellite maps might work for that, he thought shaking his head still at the how. El reached over and hugged him gently.

"Peter, Neal's always put so much into belief. Maybe he is sending us signals." El sounded confident about the clues being real, Mozzie nodding.

"And the moon won't be at that point for another three days. I already check. So we have three days to find out where this place is. I'll look around on my end." He finished his coffee and stood up, looking around a bit nervously. El put her cup down and stood, walking over with him to the door.

"Are you sure you can't stay for breakfast, Mozz?" She felt rather that saw the look on Peter's face. He wasn't angry but the whole situation was just odd even for everything he'd seen with Neal and Mozz. Going into the spiritual and esoteric realms was just a wee bit too much for his stoic disposition.

"I think I should go but I will let you know if I find anything. Thanks for the coffee." He said nothing else before disappearing into the early morning, the faint rays of sunlight just coming over the city. El closed the door and walked back over, hugging Peter as she sat beside him on the sofa.

"It's a lot to take in but I think Mozzie is right. Why would we all have a similar dream about Neal at the same time. What other explanation is there?" She saw him look to her and nod, placing his cup on the table as he wrapped his arms around her gently.

"Yeah... I guess I have some work to do. I'll have to see if I can run this by everyone without invoking the spirits to do so." His voice was just under sarcastic as he grinned at her and they kissed.

"Well, don't do it before you take a shower and eat some breakfast. I'll get something started and we can look online for that oak tree. Must be something about it if it's as huge as you say it is. Most trees like that will be of a historical nature and under preservation." El had put a lot of thought into what the clues meant. Peter grinned, kissing her again and standing up.

"Ok... shower, then breakfast then... search."

()()()

It was just after 10 am that June called El. Peter was out at the office but he was expected back at any moment. Hughes had him working on finding Caffrey.

"Well, I just wanted to know if you had found any clues about Neal..." June's voice trailed off just a little with uncertainty. El had a feeling she wanted to ask a question of a touchy nature.

"Was there something on your mind, June? You can come here and we can talk." El heard a soft intake of air, a sigh of relief she thought from Neal's land lady and they made a date.

Twenty minutes later June was sitting on the sofa with El. They were talking about this and that, a small plate of brownies on the coffee table along with some mini sandwiches and coffee.

"Thanks for the brownies June. You didn't have to." El had taken one and was smiling at how good they were.

"Old family recipe. Neal... well he always liked them." She sipped quietly at her coffee a moment before speaking again.

"I hope you don't think this the doddering of an old woman but... I had the oddest dream this morning." June had a chagrined looked on her face as she spoke, grabbing up a sandwich and taking a bite. El blinked, putting down her cup and looking rather excited.

"You too? That makes four of us now." She watched the look on June's face as she put the sandwich down on her plate with a curious glance.

"You dreamed of him too? And Peter?" She looked excited now, fascinated almost. El nodded and smiled.

"Odd right? Mozz showed up early this morning and said he had had a dream as well. We compared notes."

Both women started chatting excitedly about their dreams, June telling El about what she had seen.

"So you saw the taxi? Did you get a plate number..." El paused shaking her head and sighing.

"Look at me. I sound like Peter now. Maybe I should get a badge." She was chuckling now, June smiling brightly.

"Actually, I did write it down. I even got the Cab number on the top. I don't know why I did but I used to have dreams like this about Byron when he was out for a while. I always wrote them down and often times... they were true." She winked. El looked intrigued.

"I've always been fascinated by stuff like this but never pursued it because it just seemed so silly. Peter doesn't put much count into those things but he does believe you can use your dreams to work problems out. It's the metaphysical stuff he discounts. Must be our upbringing." She shrugged, taking a sandwich and taking a quick bite. They both looked up as the door opened and Peter walked in.

"El, I'm... home. Hi June." Peter looked surprised, El getting up to hug and kiss him briefly, whispering in his ear:

"June had a dream about Neal..."

Peter looked at her wide eyed before turning to June and smiling. June seemed to understand what had been said.

"I already called. The taxi driver remembers Neal. I wrote it all down for you, Agent Burke." She was grinning now.

"Thank you June. I feel odd saying that my dreams have been more helpful than my waking life lately." Peter smirked, June standing up to give him a friendly hug.

"Sometimes dreams tell you what you need to know." She smiled at him knowingly.

"Well now we have something concrete to go on, thanks to June. I haven't discovered the site of the tree or the ravine. Too many bus stops to count but we'll find it. Jones and Diana are helping out in their off time, just hoping it all culminates to something soon. We have less than three days if Mozzie is correct." Peter looked tired, El motioning him to sit down as she made a small plate of sandwiches and brownies for him. She poured a mug of coffee for him and he smiled back thankfully.

"Brownies. These look good." He looked between June and El, June holding up her hand.

"Guilty as charged. I made them for Neal. Maybe it will help us find him."

Peter looked at the slip of paper with the information June had given him but it was apparently incomplete. There must have been more than one taxi driver since this one said he dropped him off somewhere near the edge of the city and not a bus stop out in the boonies. He took a bite of the brownie and smiled.

"June... this is good." He mused the thought over in his head when he remember that his wife also saw a taxi if only the inside.

"El, do you remember anything particular about the taxi you were in in your dream? Maybe the little card with the driver's picture?" He wondered if that could be the missing clue. He saw El furrow her brow to think, closing her eyes a moment.

"He was... dark haired I think... maybe tanned. I don't know for sure since it was night. I don't remember... wait! There was a little figure hanging off the rear-view mirror. I think it was a Virgin of Guadalupe." El sounded excited now as she remembered. Peter nodded, putting it all down on paper.

"I hate to cut this short but, I should call and see if we can find this second driver." Peter walked off to the corner to make a call on his cell. A few minutes later he looked excited.

"Found em! Luis Aguilar. They're going to have him call me back. Thank you El." He hugged her tight, kissing her on the cheek. She grinned back, June smiling at the two.

"Sounds like we have a lead on Neal. Let me go tell Mozzie. He wanted to talk to me." June excused herself, Peter and El walking with her to the door. When she was gone they went back to the den and sat down, Peter looking excited.

"If the driver can confirm that he had Neal in his cab and where he dropped him off, I think we'll have the final piece."

El smiled brightly at him, kissing him on the lips.

"If anyone can find him honey, it's you. I'm sure he's counting on it."

OoOoOo

Author's Note: That description of the wierd graffiti drawing in Elizabeth's dream is something I actually saw on a wall in Austin, TX. I figured it would be memorable as a thing for a story. ;) Also mentioned Virgin of Guadalupe because my mom likes that symbol so much. All the info on mass consciousness and such I just threw in from what I used to hear on a syndicated radio program. I used to be a big fan of a show that comes on at Midnight called Coast to Coast with Art Bell although the host now is George Nori (atleast last time I listened, he was.) They discuss a lot of weird things like afterlife, ghosts, demons etc. It's fun cause some of it is just plain corny. But anyhow, figured that all fit into the storyline as it was going and would make it a bit more real and less odd. ;)