Reuniting
Moving to protect Elizabeth, Neal wasn't given much choice. Either he held his ground allowing the needle to pierce him, or he moved to allow Elizabeth to be hit. Taking the needle in his arm, he knew he was likely allowing Kieran to dose him up with the drug concoction again.
Fending off the attack, Neal managed to prevent the plunger from being pushed down much before he pulled the needle out. Then he tossed it aside for later evidence. "It didn't kill me any of the other times I've ended up in those medical transports. By the way, did the Ring have a going out of business sale and your new bosses decide to pick up you and some extra gear for a cheaper price?"
"Did you choose to go from a world-renowned hero to playing a measly con, or was that all you were good for after the last time you were nearly killed?" Kieran growled in response.
"Ooh, burn… I got under the skin with that one didn't I. Maybe the organization should have hired more goons to support you. Last I heard, attempting to murder defenseless little girls was more your style, but then, even a five-year-old was beyond your reach."
Terrified, Peter could only watch as Neal and this man maneuvered back and forth in a standoff. Neal was between Elizabeth and Kieran, which also meant he was between Kieran and escape. There hadn't been much of a physical fight beyond the needle and knife, but they seemed to be in a verbal match of insults to see who would physically weaken first. The odds weren't in Neal's favor considering he'd been injected with something, but he seemed determined to hold his own.
"I don't see your ex here to protect you, or that friend of yours and the rest of his team. What makes you think you can stop me?" Kieran tried to play the game back, but he didn't have the same level of insults to take Neal down. Rushing forwards, Kieran made his move on Neal and tried to gain an advantage.
Holding his ground, Neal got the knife away from Kieran before delivering a series of blows forceful enough to send the agent staggering backward. "Aww, and you think I need them to protect me? They've been busy protecting my friends and family, but I can take care of myself. The bigger question is who is going to protect you to help you escape?" Neal turned the question back.
Knowing he was in trouble, Kieran shifted to show he was biting something in his teeth. Then as he choked and dropped to the ground, white foam started showing out of his mouth.
Covering her mouth with her hands, Elizabeth was trying not to scream. His eyes were glued to Kieran and she had tears streaming down her face.
Beckoning Hughes out of his office where he had been watching the events from behind, Neal directed him towards Elizabeth. "Take her down below and don't let go of her, this isn't over." Then turning towards Jones and Diana, he double finger pointed them to Peter. "Release their hostage from his bonds."
Standing still, Peter didn't react when Jones and Diana removed the hood that had been obscuring his identity.
"Which one is Peter?" Diana automatically asked while looking back and forth between him and his doppelganger.
Unable to answer, Peter only hoped Neal knew who he was dealing with.
"The one not trying to kill me," Neal answered with a sarcastic undertone. The answer seemed to be obvious in his opinion, but everyone else was full of questions.
"Not helpful, Caffrey," Diana's tone had a bite of stress to it. She didn't feel comfortable dealing with two people who looked alike while knowing one was friend with the other foe.
Providing a more definite answer, Neal pointed. "Peter is the one standing in the chains between you since Kieran probably wanted him handy so he couldn't blow his cover. Meanwhile, Kieran is the one playing possum on the floor." Lightly kicking his shoe, Neal rolled his eyes with a slight snort and a mutter, 'I'm not falling for this again,' that Peter only caught from reading his lips.
"How do you know how to tell them apart?" Jones asked while undoing the chains around Peter's hands.
"Kieran here was my handler several years ago… once I learned there were two of them I made sure Peter had nothing to do with Kieran and learned how to tell them apart in the event something like this should ever happen," Neal shrugged as he answered.
Distracted for a moment, Peter waited while Jones and Diana finished removing the chains before helping him over to a chair and sitting him down. Elizabeth moved to lean on the desk beside him as he wasn't moving much which made her worried and uncomfortable.
"It's alright Elizabeth, they tend to use a drug for their hostages that keeps them docile and almost unable to move. Peter will be fine once it wears off." Neal reassured from above.
The room was still generally frozen in shock as the team hadn't recovered from the recent events yet. Directing the few who began to move to remain in place, Neal stood on the landing surveying the room. "It looks like everyone is safer this time. I guess it's as good a time as any for round two." Pulling a needle out of his jacket, Neal plunged it into Kieran's chest before injecting the contents.
Jumping backward as Kieran quickly recovered, Neal worked to evade a slower attack.
"I'm curious, how did it feel when you held the future and stability of the entire world in your hands? Was it heady, like Atlas carrying the fate of humanity?" Kieran taunted, but Peter couldn't understand what he was getting at.
"It felt like I was going to die," Neal kept it simple and pulled a stunt to prevent Kieran from distracting him.
Sneering, Kieran wasn't impressed. "For your reputation as such a hero, I don't know why the bosses tried to recruit you. You could have done anything, but like the good little straight-laced agent you are, you sacrificed yourself for a bunch of idiots who will never know what you did for them."
Smiling, Neal wasn't bothered by the belittling attitude. "Probably the same reasons the government recruited me for. Besides, I know what I did, and the rest don't matter."
Throwing caution to the wind, Kieran turned lethal battling for supremacy.
Getting more focused on his combat, the banter seemed to be over so Neal gave nearly as good as he got. His technique wasn't focused on being so lethal, more of a defensive series of moves to prevent the fight from turning deadly.
Losing a move, Kieran fell down the stairs. Reaching the bottom, he righted himself fairly quickly only losing a moment for the short flight. Showing intent to go after Peter, he started moving across the room.
Flipping over the railing, Neal reached the ground faster and cut off his avenue of escape. Then tossing his tranquilizing gun to Jones, he gave a terse command. "Shoot the guards; otherwise they'll probably come around again soon."
Frowning slightly, Jones turned his attention to the guards before shooting each man. "Take off the other guy's watch." He instructed Diana while he handled the one nearest to him. "They seem to be shocking them back into consciousness."
Working together, they had the agents cuffed and were back to focusing on the fight within a few moments.
Peter caught this from his peripheral, but his focus was still on Neal fighting with his doppelganger.
Kieran was caught between his desire to hurt Neal, to hurt Peter, and to cut his losses and run. Each time he tried to fulfill one of those desires; Neal blocked his path or fended off his attack. Reaching a point of desperation, Kieran took off running towards the doorway hoping to escape.
Peter didn't want to see him escape so he stopped breathing in anxiety as he watched the attempt. Kieran had already caused a great deal of trouble, he needed to face charges for his crimes and allow those he tried to hurt to get on with their lives. He didn't want to live in fear knowing the man could resurface at any time to hurt Neal, his wife, or make his life complicated again.
Stepping off of the elevator, Peter recognized Caleb meeting Kieran at the doorway to the office. "Peaches," he smiled before decking the opponent before him.
As Kieran dropped to the ground, Caleb pulled his own tranquilizing gun out to shoot him… several times. Then he looked up at the observing office. "What? He tried to murder my sister in law, has messed with my wife, tortured my best friend, hurt his friends, and held his entire family as a hostage against him in an effort to manipulate him into being a criminal." With an indifferent shrug, he put the gun away. "It isn't like it'll hurt him at all. They're just tranquilizing darts so he'll remain unconscious longer."
Snorting and rolling his eyes, Neal seemed amused by Caleb. "That's so like you, Chuck." Then he waved to the agents about the room indicating that the situation had been resolved enough for them to react.
Teaming up, several agents split up to transport the unconscious men down to the holding cells.
Remaining in the chair, Peter watched as Hughes patted him on the shoulder before leaving to help manage the arrests of the agents with OPR. Jones and Diana remained loyally by his side to offer their support while Peter still couldn't move much and Elizabeth was shaking beside him.
Across the room, Neal and this stranger seemed to be engaged in a coded conversation, but only Jones seemed to be minding it.
"What is my family doing here?" Neal suddenly blurted as he noticed a group of people waiting outside the doors. "They aren't supposed to know I'm alive!"
Waving at the group, Chuck answered. "Since they've been being held as hostages against you, they knew you were alive but didn't understand what was happening. Your parents, sister, and brother in law deserve to know who you really are. Besides, after having saved my life, years of protecting my father and his 'third-best creation,' having helped protect my extended family, and all the sacrifices you've made since joining the agency, it doesn't hurt for you to get something of your family and friends back. Call it returning the favor." The man grinned happily at Neal's bewildered expression.
"Chuck…?" Neal looked like he didn't know what to say.
"Stop it. You've been integral to taking down most of the organizations that have plagued our families for nearly thirty years. Although it isn't safe enough to ignore the threat, you can stand for who you really are and enjoy having a support system of people who care about you around." Chuck continued to smile.
Sighing, Neal apparently couldn't fight this battle. "How many other rogue agents are left in the building?"
"How do you know I stayed in the business and am still a guardian?" Chuck bantered back, "You've been out of touch since the last time they nearly killed you and stuck you in one those stupid medical transport boxes."
"I was named 'Agent in Charge' of the… special project, now wasn't I? In addition to being your counterpart and protégé of your father, I know something of what is going on pertaining to the operation." Neal countered even though he had air quotes with his title.
"True…" Chuck frowned. "Let's just say, there are believed to be a few more, but they haven't been verified as connected yet. The organizations have all had deep cover traitors so it's hard to prove or disprove associations."
"You've definitely grown more cynical, you know that?" Neal frowned in response to the answer.
"What do you expect when supposedly one of the 'good' guys tells me that your near deaths, my father's death, my mother being trapped undercover in the enemy for years, and so on is all just a game of chess, that no matter what we do, we are simply fighting the pawns as we are no more than pawns ourselves? It's difficult to fend of cynicism in such circumstances as that." Chuck shook his head like he was trying to avoid going into dark memories. "Then there are people like you who take the blame for things they never did, give everything they have for the cause, and keep on fighting when they have nothing left because they won't go down as long as they have the strength to keep trying." Smiling sadly at Neal, Chuck softened his tone from where it had been rising in emotion. "You once said that the situation I was being drafted for would destroy me, that I don't have the heart for that kind of life. Well, you're right. That's why I officially left the agency and now work freelance, but I still do a lot of contract work for the government where I'm not such a puppet since I can choose which battles to fight."
Looking a little sick, Neal wasn't happy with that. "So you allowed yourself to be coerced back into everything for me?"
Getting irritated, Chuck let his voice rise again. "No, Neal. I chose to be an honorary Director Special Agent with no badge but authority due to past experience in order to help out a friend. But if helping you protect your family required picking up a badge and reentering the playing field officially, you can bet I would; just like you took two bullets, over a year and a half of captivity between the two events, and six months of torture to help protect my family. I know you took on the entire government to protect me back in college… I saw the recording, but I am able to hold my own ground now so I only need support or assistance. You can ease up on the whole protective big brother thing, buddy because you already helped me find what I needed."
Relaxing his shoulders while Chuck seemed to be getting riled up, Neal smiled softly. "Good to hear. I never did like the idea of you losing yourself to the job, and I'm glad you were able to help the rest of the team find their humanity again too."
"You've talked to them?" Chuck looked confused.
"No. Wildcard was my partner and girlfriend while the cold school killer used to rival me in the field because he didn't like my 'pathetic' means of completing a mission. You were my roommate for four years of college and I worked several more years in the field with your father. I know a little about the lot of you so it isn't hard to imagine the 'Chuck effect' getting to them eventually." Neal seemed to calm down even more, to the point of almost laughing at his friend's expression.
Chuck look puzzled. "Chuck effect?"
"Yeah, the effect that people like you have in common. It's what an honest man can do to a hardened agent used to guarding their back against everyone, including the allies. You're the type of agent that a person can learn to let their guard down around which is a strength and a weakness. A strength because everyone needs someone to have their back and honest people are best for that, but a weakness because others see that trust as a target." Neal's eyes flickered in Peter's direction giving him hope. Maybe Neal wasn't so upset with him… could it be possible, that his comments were a part of his show to trap Kieran?
Relaxing again, Chuck seemed to be satisfied with the answer. "I believe there is an FBI agent over there who has become your other best friend, and although he probably can't talk right now, I bet he would like to know you're going to catch up with him later before you go spend some time with your family."
Neal turned to look at Peter, but there was still a look of reservation in his eyes. Although Peter couldn't talk, Neal wasn't ready to.
Feeling sad, Peter knew he didn't know his friend nearly so well as he had thought, but he wasn't going to hurt him anymore. Flicking his eyes, he directed that Neal should go be with his family.
Nodding, Neal turned to walk out of the office to his family while Chuck followed after.
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