Beta Credit: Thanks to mam711!
I don't own White Collar and all mistakes are my own.
Chapter 8: Reason
Day 3, 4:35pm
Neal had spent the last day and a half alone, assembling the pieces of furniture El had brought the previous morning. El unfortunately had to catch up on her event planning; she'd let things lag by planning Neal's kidnapping, and then shopping, but she had promised to stop in first thing the next morning if she didn't come by that evening. She'd left Neal with a good supply of food so Neal had been making his own healthy meals in his kitchen, putting things away as he went. She had also left Neal a spare change of pants and his pajama pants in place by the panel. Maybe Neal should have been grateful and impressed, but the fact that he could go one, maybe two days without seeing El just made him feel worse. When El left him to his own devices, he became obsolete. The world went on without him. Neal Caffrey; criminal genius had been taken out of commission. And there was nothing to do here, except decorate his gilded cage!
And worry: El hadn't returned since breakfast yesterday; Neal hoped she was all right.
Neal was just finishing the set-up of the entertainment unit. He'd already assembled the bookend tables, the shelves, the cabinets, and the drawers, and he'd also put away the supplies where he could; the clothes, barring suits, had been put away in the drawers; the bathroom supplies had been sorted in the cabinets and on the counters.
He'd left the entertainment unit until last because he didn't really have anything that needed to be stored in it. Once he was satisfied with the spot he'd chosen to put the assembled unit (the right wall), Neal plucked a wall hook and the clock out of the bags that he'd grouped in a corner and spent ten minutes testing all the best places to hang it.
It was when he'd decided to hang it on the wall just behind the TV unit that he heard the locks. He placed the clock down on the unit and turned.
El burst through, frowning and holding her phone in her left hand and Neal started forward, worried; El was already pacing, obviously wracked with worry. He had to stop before he could reach her, though; she was still a yard beyond Neal's length of chain.
He stood silently, hands in pockets, and waited, knowing that El was still trying to sort her thoughts and that she would answer the questions in his head soon enough; he just needed to be patient. El finally stopped and looked at Neal as if realizing he was there for the first time.
"Mozzie knows!" El exclaimed, stressed.
Neal kept his face carefully neutral but inside he was cringing; obviously Mozzie hadn't investigated quietly. "El, what happened?"
Elizabeth swallowed. "He … he went to Peter."
Neal narrowed his eyes. "With what? He went to Peter with what?"
Elizabeth moved forward, phone in hand, and Neal had to reject the thought of seizing the phone—so undignified; besides, El could beat him in a scuffle any day. El scanned the room, noticing his assembled furniture, but Neal didn't want El to be distracted.
He waved. "El?"
El looked back at Neal. "After I drugged you, I took your phone and I texted Moz with a message. I pretended to be you—told him you were going to find Alex."
Neal remembered his contact list and he guessed at what had happened, but he let El explain anyway.
"There were fourteen contact numbers with 'M' next to them. I didn't know which one was Mozzie's, so I sent a text to all of them." El squared her shoulders. "I figured the wrong ones would assume it was a mistake."
Neal sighed. "All of them are Mozzie's."
El nodded, "He came to me, worried; he said someone had obtained your phone and pretended to be you."
Neal stayed still.
El shook her head, irritated. "Seriously, Neal, a different number for the morning and afternoon of each day?"
"What happened?" Neal whispered, without bothering to defend his friend's paranoia.
El sighed. "Moz insisted on reporting his suspicions to Peter."
Neal grimaced in sympathy. "But Mozzie doesn't know anything, obviously—so why are you worried?"
El looked at him, wildly, and Neal almost face-palmed. "No, don't tell me—Peter's rushing around trying to find me, isn't he?"
"He's stressed; he thinks something bad happened to you."
"Something bad did happen to me; I was drugged, kidnapped and subsequently imprisoned," Neal pointed out.
El nodded, unfazed, and accepted the truth of Neal's words. "I know—but you're safe. Peter doesn't know that; he's worried about you!"
Neal sighed and eyed the phone. "You need to tell him."
El looked at the phone, too. "Actually, I was hoping if he heard from you..."
Neal nodded slowly. "El—ordinarily that might work but.…"
Neal froze; had he been about to tell her two very good reasons for not calling Peter?
Unfortunately his thoughtless objection had made El think and she began pacing again, annoyed and muttering. "Of course … you want him to know … you'd tell him … if only so that he can help me, and of course this is my phone. Caller ID!"
Neal kept quiet. He didn't want to 'help' El any more than he already had.
Elizabeth sighed, regretfully. "I threw your phone away.… I figured you'd do that if you really had left."
Neal gritted his teeth. "Elizabeth, if I know Mozzie, and I do, he's going to find me and when he does, you won't have any control over what happens. Moz could turn you in."
At the back of his mind, Neal remembered the many times he had seen Moz with El. Those two got along well together.
"He probably won't, but you can't know for sure; Mozzie is unpredictable. Peter, on the other hand—he's smart enough to fend off Mozzie; I mean he found Kate where Mozzie couldn't, remember? Peter will protect you and he's going to find out anyway; you may as well tell him your side before he finds out on his own."
Elizabeth listened quietly, calmly, standing in one place.
Neal continued, "Consider this, Elizabeth, the first thing Peter's going to have to do is involve his team in order to find me. Then what? He and his fellow agents will work out your part in it. Peter will be forced to either arrest you or protect you in front of them; either way you'll end up in trouble and Peter won't be happy. He might even be arrested as an accomplice, especially if he tries to protect you."
El was now looking at Neal, hating the truth of his words.
Neal softened his voice. "You need to tell him while you still have a handle on the situation, El."
El nodded and handed Neal the phone; she couldn't back out now. Neal blinked, surprised. He had assumed El would want to reveal the truth to Peter herself. He looked at her face carefully and noted the tension in her jaw. Elizabeth was hiding it well, but she was fighting to control her nerves.
Before even so much as looking at the phone, Neal pulled Elizabeth towards him then guided her to his bed, the only place to sit available.
Satisfied, Neal took a deep breath and pressed Peter's speed dial.
A/N: Any questions? I always respond...
For the record, I do not believe El is losing her 'health'. Neal does. I think she just showed another part of herself - a part that was patient and lenient when it mattered and tough and proactive now that things have changed. I love El and hold only respect for her character.
