Chapter 14

Peter was surprised when Chuck followed him and Neal. Neal wanted to go home for some reason and Peter; suspicious as always, offered to give him a lift.

They had just had a major breakthrough and Neal wanted to leave.

Peter tried to remind himself to not be suspicious but, there was a ball of worry in his gut. He was scared that he would lose Neal after all this, not that he was willing to admit that to himself.

Chuck seemed to be worried about his wife. Neal wanted to go home and Sarah was there.

"I'm sure she's fine," was all Neal would say on that matter.

"Are you okay?" Chuck asked. Neal was looked strangely pale. He was also very still, for Neal, and quiet.

Peter pulled up outside of June's and Neal jumped out. Peter swore and hurried to follow him while Chuck stared at the building for a moment.

"Come on!" Peter said to him, following Neal into the building and up the stairs.

"I don't care who you are! I'm not leaving until I see Neal!" Sara Ellis' voice was firm, stubborn and audible from the stairs.

"We're in the middle of a very important mission right now," Sarah Bartowski's voice was just as firm and just as audible. Peter glanced back at Chuck and the other man gave him a weak smile.

"And you can't tell me anything?" Sara said in a demanding tone. It sounded like she had heard that before.

"That would be correct."

Peter reached the entrance to Neal's apartment, stopping as Neal stood right in front of the door; hesitating.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"I don't want to go in there," Neal admitted.

"Why?" Chuck said, in something that sounded slightly like a whine. Now that they weren't hurrying, he was panting slightly as he tried to catch his breath.

As if in response, Sara screeched, "I already told you, I'm not leaving!"

"Neal, get inside," Peter ordered.

There was a crash and Peter's FBI training kicked in. He pushed past Neal to open the door. He found Sara Ellis with her baton in hand and Sarah Bartowski with a gun in hand and pointed at the other woman.

Both women turned to him, weapons also moving to aim at him. Sara's face turned to cheer as she realised who had just entered.

"Peter! This woman has a gun! She's trying to make me leave! Where's Neal?"

"Agent Burke, this woman entered without permission. She's disrupting our operation."

A nervous smile twitched onto Peter's face. He could only describe this as 'walking into the lion's den' and he now knew what Neal was trying to avoid.

Peter turned back to the door, but was unable to see Neal or Chuck.

"Neal!" he bellowed, hoping that the other man hadn't run off. "Get in here! If you left, I'll send you back to prison!"

"Peter, that hurts," Neal commented, walking through the door as if he just arrived there and hadn't been listening from the top of the stairs. "I thought we were beyond 'back to prison' threats by now."

Peter glared at him and jerked his head in the direction of the two women. 'Look at what you let me walk into,' he conveyed silently.

"Neal!" Sara said, glad to see him. She lowered her baton.

"Care to explain who this is?" Sarah asked in an annoyed tone, "and why she has a key to your apartment?"

"Excuse me?" Sara questioned in an offended tone. "And who are you, anyway?" She turned to Neal. "Please don't tell me she's your rebound girl."

Peter saw a vein in Neal's neck jump and his ears tint red. Behind him, Chuck snorted.

"This isn't funny, Chuck," Neal barked, embarrassed.

"Rebound girl?" Sarah squeaked, offended. She turned to Chuck, imploring him with her eyes to say something.

"Hi, I'm Chuck." Chuck held out his hand for Sarah to shake. "And that's my wife, Sarah Bartowski. We're spies. With the CIA." He waited a moment for it to sink in, and then asked in a quiet tone, "so, are you Neal's girlfriend?"

"Chuck!" Sarah and Neal barked at the same time. Sara, on the other hand and to Neal's horror, blushed slightly.

"Sara Ellis, insurance investigator," she said.

Chuck's eyebrow rose at the name and he turned to Neal. Sarah and Sara?

"Whatever you're thinking, that isn't it," Neal defended, "it's a coincidence."

"So, how do two CIA agents know Neal?" Sara asked.

"Bryce Larkin," Peter responded, slightly cursing the name. "He was an agent with the CIA."

"Really?" Sara didn't sound convinced. "What's the CIA want with a conman and thief?"

"The CIA came first," Neal pointed out, "then the cons."

All eyes turned to him and the room went silent at the unexpected information he revealed.

Casey glared at the man beyond the two-way glass. He knew Evan York couldn't see him, but the man had to know that there were people beyond the mirrors.

"Stupid FBI," Casey grumbled under his breath as Agent Jones asked another question which would get them nowhere.

They were useless questions; ones about the former crimes and making him aware of what the FBI had on him. Casey could see that York wasn't even the least bit scared of them. York sat there, relaxed. They guy even yawned a few times!

None of this would help them with Larkin and Kramer.

"Let me question him," Casey growled at Agent Berrigan. The FBI woman stood there with her arms crossed against her chest and her gaze level with his.

"I don't care if you're NSA, we arrested him and no one gets to see him until Agent Burke returns," she responded.

Casey pointed at Agent Jones and she just raised an eyebrow. Casey sneered. He let out a low growl. Casey tried to lift her gun and she stepped back and out of reach.

"Touch my gun and I'll break your hand," she informed him. She had let Neal pick her pocket a few times as it was good training for countering pickpockets.

Casey pulled out his phone and rang Larkin. When he didn't pick up, Casey rang Mozzie instead.

"Where's Larkin?" he barked into the phone, before the little guy could say anything. Knowing the little guy, he probably had a voice changer all ready to go.

There was a groan from the other end and some clicking as things were moved around.

"He's in his apartment."

Casey growled. He was supposed to be in the office, in order to make it easier for Casey to get access to York and pressure Kramer.

"Get him."

"Look, I don't know if you know, but I'm not going out there," Mozzie responded, "it's Armageddon, Doomsday, the Apocalypse! Its-"

"Get your hairless head out there and give the phone to Larkin," Casey interrupted, "and then you can run to whatever little hole you haul yourself up in when you're not working."

"You don't have to be mean about it. Also, I don't work," Mozzie responded, "work is a concept created-"

"Hop to it, Mozman!" Agent Barrigan looked at him strangely as he said that and he couldn't blame her.

There was a grumble on the other end and then a burst of sound. Casey could hear Sarah in the background, acting unprofessional, and Larkin trying to defend himself and some other woman's voice. It didn't take much to guess what was happening.

"Look Sara," he said, "it's not like I was hiding that I was CIA or anything, I quit." A pause. "And Sarah, I didn't tell you about the conning and stealing because you'd probably shot me if I did."

"I still might," Sarah responded.

"Neal?" Mozzie intervened, "I have a very angry Trigger Suit on the phone."

"'Trigger Suit'?" Neal questioned as the phone changed hands, "sounds about right."

"If you're done handling your women problems, get yourself back here," Casey growled darkly into the phone.

"It can wait, can't it?"

"No. The FBI can't keep him a secret forever, you idiot. If your Agent Kramer finds out about him, we could spook the guy. I would like to get something out of this trip."

"You got your gun back," Neal responded in a deadpan tone. "And you're doing this as a favour to Mozzie."

"Casey, Beckman wants us to find the leak," Chuck said, having taken the phone from Neal. "We need to know if Evan is the guy telling Kramer everything."

"They won't let me interrogate him," Casey reminded him.

There was a hushed conversation on the other end. Casey waited, not so patiently, and Agent Jones left the room and reported to Diana.

"Let him think we're after Neal Caffrey," Chuck said after a few moments.

"What?"

"Let him think we're chasing Neal Caffrey. Imply he told something from the CIA."

"He did steal something from the CIA," Casey reminded him, hearing Larkin in the background remind Chuck of the same thing. "And it's in your head, you moron."

"Okay, so he stole something. Just don't mention the 'in my head' part. See what he tells you or gives you."

"And see if it matches top secret information," Casey realised, "that's actually a good idea for once."

Silence. Then, "it was really Neal's idea." And Casey's natural order of things was restored.

"One problem though, I can't get in to speak with him."

"Give Agent Barrigan or Agent Jones the phone," Chuck directed.

Casey handed the phone to Agent Jones; he didn't like Agent Barrigan. The agent's face turned to the frown as he listened to whatever the person on the other end was saying. He asked for confirmation; and then let Casey into the room.

Let the fun begin, Casey thought with a rare smile.

Author's notes: Casey does not like Chuck Bartowskis or Bryce Larkins messing with the plan (they were supposed to be there, not back at the apartment). However, Casey does like interrogating traitors.