Chapter 10

As the plane landed in New York, Peter could swear he still felt the flashing of images which were used to remove the Intersect in his head. Being without the Intersect was still strange; his head felt lighter and he was kind of dazed. Although, he had only got two hours sleep in a proper bed and that might be the reason he was out of it.

Or a result of the excruciating past six hours he had spent on that plane.

At least he was faring better than Neal. Neal, who was carrying a semi-conscious Morgan, looked frazzled. His hair was still parted Bryce-style in the middle, framing his forehead and face, and slightly curled in random directions. It probably didn't help that he was standing lopsided in order to keep Morgan from curling over.

Neal heaved Morgan into the waiting taxi and almost collapsed next to him.

"You know, you didn't have to drug him," Chuck commented, now that the only person who could overhear was the taxi driver. Morgan mumbled in his sleep as leant on Chuck's shoulder.

"Yes, I did," Neal responded. He could still feel the way his blood pressure had spiked when Morgan had slipped into the seat next to his during boarding.

"Taking Chuck to New York, are we?" he had commented, "where Chuck goes, I go. And I've always wanted to see the Big Apple." And then Morgan just wouldn't stop talking.

Neal had only been able to get a bit of shut-eye after drugging the annoyance to sleep. He was just glad that Peter was okay with going to June's first since El would still be at work. He could hear him in the front seat;

"Hey hon, I'm back. Uh, call me when you get this message." Wait. Hadn't Peter dialled two numbers before speaking? Neal shifted out of his seat and leant forward.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I've called her work number and the home number," Peter commented with a worried frown, "no answer." Despite knowing that she could just be in a meeting for busy or something, Peter couldn't help worrying.

"She was fine when I left, although really worried about you," Neal commented. Peter felt a spike in worry as he realised that El could have literally worried herself sick. "Call Yvonne, she should be able to tell you."

"I'm a little worried about how you keep tabs on people who associate with my wife," Peter commented as he dialled the number Neal gave him.

"It's kind of my job," Neal quipped. Peter playfully held up a finger to silence him.

"My wife is not a spy."

"Stalker," Morgan mumbled, waking up for a moment before going back under. Neal glared back at him and Chuck lightly shrugged his shoulders and held out his hands in a 'what can you do?' manner.

"Yvonne? Peter Burke. Have you seen El?" He paused for a moment, frowning as Yvonne responded. "Wait! Wait! Don't cry! I'm sorry. Can you tell me what happened?" Neal shared a look with Chuck that told the other that this was not normal. Except Peter getting flustered around crying women; he couldn't handle it when a woman cried. "What? When did that happen? How did that happen?"

"What is it?" Chuck asked. Neal didn't like the way Peter's hand was lightly trembling.

"El went to check out a location for an event and now she's being held hostage," Peter responded in a hoarse voice after he hung up. "No one knows who the criminal is, just that he locked down the building and is currently conferring with the FBI."

"The FBI?" Neal questioned, "isn't it normally the police who handle this sort of thing?"

"I don't understand either," Peter responded, "I'm calling Hughes."

"What now?" Chuck asked.

"Dump Bryce and go find nerdvana," Morgan mumbled, his eyelids fluttering. Apparently, he had been hanging around Casey too much.

Neal shot Morgan and dirty look.

"Chuck, I slipped some smelling salts into your carry-on bag. Get them out and wave them under Morgan's nose," he suggested before turning back to Peter. He was completely out of his seat by this point, leaning on the two front seats for balance. "Peter, you got the address?" Peter knew what address he meant. "Let's go straight there."

The street was closed off while the police and FBI worked. Police tape everywhere, vans and people milling around. Peter took one look and stalled.

"Wait!" he said, grabbing Neal's arm. "I don't have my badge on me."

Neal pulled a black CIA badge out of his pocket.

"I've got mine," he said, "and the FBI knows you, Peter. But, if anyone is stupid enough to question your presence, just say you're with me."

"Yeah, that's going to go down well," Peter grumbled in response. The thought of El in danger wound him up tighter than a spring and he was terrified he would do something wrong.

"You'll be surprised," Neal responded. For a moment, Peter thought he was as cool as ever and hated him for it. But, when he actually looked; Neal was tense. He was still wearing the leather jacket over a white button up shirt he borrowed from Chuck with black slacks and his hair was neat but not impeccable. Neal had forgone stopping at June's and giving himself time to clean up and put on one of his suits, his armour, in order to get here as soon as possible.

Peter had a moment of realisation. This both was and wasn't Neal Caffrey. This was the Neal who had saved Peter's life when he was accidentally poisoned, the Neal who had risked everything to save El when Keller kidnapped her, but also the Neal who had lost Kate and almost killed a man over it; this was the Neal who Peter sometimes wished he would see outside of when people's lives depended on it. It wasn't the impeccable conman who was always ready with a smile and lie, who stole things and forged things for his own gain, and who wore suits he could never afford and trusted no one.

Peter wondered how much of Neal Caffrey was a lie which parts were false, constructed to hide the spy inside, and wondered if those parts were the ones where he found Neal lacking. The too fake and shiny parts that often made him wonder what Neal was hiding now.

"Hughes said he was in the black van," Peter said, scanning the area for a van which fit the description. He pointed when he found it. "There."

As they walked over, they could hear Chuck updating Morgan.

"So, a hostage situation; that's cool. Sucks that Peter's wife is in there though. Think they'll let us break in to save them? I could try 'The Morgan' on the guy, Casey says it's a killer move."

Chuck's reply was a little apprehensive, "yeah, a little too killer. How about we sit this out, hey buddy? Let the Bryce and the police handle it?"

"No way," Morgan responded and his instant response had everything to do with his perceived rivalry with Bryce, "they don't have the Intersect, man. It's out duty to help."

"Hughes!" Peter called out, when he spotted the man in the back of the van. The van's back entrance was open, giving them a full view of the agents and equipment inside.

"Peter!" Hughes responded in his gruff manner. The lines in his face seemed to instantly increase when he lay eyes on the group. "Look, I know I told you I was here but you shouldn't have come. We can handle it."

"We can help!" Morgan insisted, not even faltering a little as Hughes turned his disapproving look to him.

"And you are?"

"Uh, Charles Carmichael," Chuck responded quickly, "CIA."

"Right!" Morgan said, catching on that they were using their spy aliases. "Michael Carmichael, I'm a member of Charles' team."

Author's note: Morgan's response to the news that Bryce was taking Chuck to New York; tag along and undermine the guy almost every chance he can get. And the 'almost' is only because lives are at stake. As for how Morgan knew and managed to get a seat next to Neal? General Beckman. I'm thinking I should write some outtakes when I'm done the main story; just so I can write that scene. Let me know if there's anything you want to see (I already think I'll need do the bit where Mary turns up at the Bartowski house).

Also, I had to Google the amount of time the flight would take to get from California to New York (5 hours, 20 minutes) and rounded up for bag checks and pre-flight checks and all that stuff that leaves you sitting in the seat waiting for the plane to take off or for the attendants to say you can leave.

Also, who saw this coming? Some famous last words from the previous chapter (which I didn't notice until after I wrote this chapter);

Chuck said, "and it's not like we'll be working the moment we land."