Chapter Sixty-nine

Escorted by an Agent Mozzie and Elizabeth made their way up from the cafeteria and back to the CCU. Neither one of them had been particularly hungry but they had both eaten something to keep up appearances, but they were mostly just giving Peter some time to talk Neal into eating something. They hadn't really had the mental or emotional strength to make small talk but luckily they were comfortable enough with one another to allow for a restful silence. After about an hour it was obvious that Elizabeth was starting to get too anxious to stay away from Peter any longer so Mozzie had suggested they at least return to the CCU floor. Once there they had been given the go ahead to enter the room by the guarding Agent.

Stepping into Peter's room Mozzie wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't finding them curled up together in the corner like a pair of puppy littermates. Neal had already been a little unrecognizable with his battered body, drastic weight loss and anxious behavior, but seeing him laying on his side with his ear pressed against Peter's chest gave Mozzie a moment of cognitive dissonance. Peter had his arms wrapped around Neal as if he was afraid someone was going to take him from him. Thinking about it Mozzie realized that was probably exactly Peter's fear. Extremely restless Peter twitched and panted for breath in the throws of a nightmare as he pressed his back harder into the corner and drew Neal closer. Even with his eyes closed he had a painfully frightened expression as he mewled quietly. Mozzie glanced over at Elizabeth and found she had her hand over her mouth as she struggled to stifle tears.

"I'm sorry." Elizabeth whispered.

"It's okay." Mozzie assured.

"It's so hard to see Peter fearful like this, it's not a side of him that he's ever let me see."

Mozzie hadn't even known that Peter had a fearful side until Keller had taken Elizabeth. Even then it had more been a frantic undercurrent to his determined exterior and not the heartbreaking display they were seeing now. In contrast Neal looked the most peaceful Mozzie had seen him since his rescue. Neal had been in a state of sheer panic when Peter was still trapped and even afterward he had been gripped with nightmares while Peter was in surgery.
Living one of the same nightmares now Peter jerked and whimpered in his sleep again. This time Neal surfaced somewhat and nuzzled at Peter's chest to calm him. The action worked surprisingly quickly and both men fell back into a deeper more restful sleep.

"They are going to be hard to separate after this." Mozzie noted sadly.

"They've always been hard to separate." Elizabeth smiled. "That little piece of plastic around Neal's ankle didn't keep him from running, and the contract Peter signed wasn't what kept him from sending Neal back to prison."

"I'll admit at times I've been more than a little jealous of their seemingly illogical loyalty to one another."

"Me too." Elizabeth chuckled.

Mozzie smiled at Elizabeth's good natured acceptance of having to share her husband to a certain degree with the con man. Mozzie hadn't always been so keen on having to share Neal with Peter, he had never fully trusted Peter's intention or liked the duality he had caused in Neal. However seeing them now he had to admit that the bond they shared was genuine, and if it hadn't been a hundred percent altruistic before it certainly was now. Still teary eyed Elizabeth suddenly yawned and looked around lost.

"Elizabeth?"

"What time is it? Or day for that matter?" She asked seriously. "I've completely lost track, it feels like I've been in this hospital for weeks and yet only minutes all at the same time. I'm exhausted but I was just sleeping not that long ago."

"Get some more sleep." Mozzie encouraged. "I'll keep and eye on Neal and Peter."

"Thank you, Mozzie. I couldn't have gotten through this without you."

"Anything to help." Mozzie blushed.

Elizabeth started to walk over to the couch but Mozzie redirected her to lay down on the hospital bed that Peter wasn't using. His hope was that she might actually get some real rest in the bed. It didn't take more than a few minutes for Elizabeth to fall asleep. With the amount of grief she had been carrying suddenly lifted the months of lost sleep were catching up to her. It had been difficult for Mozzie to see her so heart shattered with Peter gone. Looking over at Neal and Peter on the floor Mozzie was relieved beyond measure to have them back, but he was concerned about what the future held for them. Neal in particular had always been highly emotional and reactive and now he had another layer of complexity to add to it. So much had changed in Neal over the past few years that Mozzie had barely known how to deal with him even before this horrific event. Neal had become so much less carefree and internally torn since pairing up with Peter, but despite all the frustrations and difficult times he had always insisted on staying.

"Maybe it's finally be time to start an entirely new life somewhere, leave this all behind…for both your sakes."

Sighing to himself Mozzie decided that he would see where the next few weeks took Neal first before suggesting anything. However he was concerned that Neal's already questionable dependence on Peter was going to become unhealthily strong after this. Peter's first priority was always going to be Elizabeth, and understandably so, but that meant he might not have the extra emotional strength left over to deal with a broken Neal. Sitting down on the couch Mozzie watched the pair sleeping trying to figure out an outcome that would be best for everyone. It didn't take long for Neal to be the one suffering from a bad dream, but just as Neal had sensed Peter's restlessness Peter now did the same. Curling up around Neal tighter Peter was able to ease Neal back into a dreamless state almost instantly. Seeing the display Mozzie felt a little guilty for questioning Peter's commitment to Neal.

"You did keep him alive, Suit." Mozzie admitted. "Thank you."

"Mozzie?" Neal asked sleepily.

Mozzie jolted, not having expected to be over heard. Mozzie got up off the couch and walked over towards the pair. Seeing Mozzie approach Neal tensed and shook his head as he put his hand up to stop Mozzie.

"Neal?" Mozzie asked in an injured tone.

"Don't come any closer." Neal warned quietly. "Peter can be very violent when he wakes up and sees someone near me."

"Neal, wha…"

"Mozzie," Neal interrupted urgently in a hushed whisper "I need you to do something for me, quickly before Peter wakes."

"What do you need?"

"Do you know anything about this Walker?"

"Charles Walker, he's the CEO of a charity for missing persons called Light for the Lost…"

"A missing persons charity?" Neal questioned in disgust.

"Yeah, there is a very weak connection between him and someone whose son was killed as an indirect result of getting arrested by Peter. There's not much evidence against him, but I don't like him. He sought Elizabeth out offering to help her after you two disappeared, but no one was supposed to know about the abduction."

"I need to see a picture of him, right away."

"Sure." Mozzie nodded. "Hang on."

Mozzie stepped over to Elizabeth's purse and after double checking to make sure that she and Peter were both still asleep he opened the purse. Pulling Elizabeth's smartphone out of the pocket she kept it in he noticed that she had missed several calls from Asha as well as had ignored multiple texts from her asking if everything was okay. Mozzie could understand Elizabeth's hesitation to communicate anything with her now that the FBI directly suspected her boss of being the source of all this pain. Tapping Elizabeth's passcode into the phone Mozzie opened a browser and went to the Light for the Lost website and pulled up a professionally shot photo of Walker smiling warmly next to his written bio.

When Mozzie came back over Neal carefully reached out as far as he could with a shaky hand to take the phone from him without Mozzie having to get too close. Neal stared at the photo for a solid minute with his brow knit. Tightening his bruised jaw in a look of frustration Neal offered the phone back to Mozzie so he could put it back. Mozzie cleared the phone's webbrowser and used the corner of his shirt to wipe off his and Neal's fingerprints before putting it back in Elizabeth's purse.

"Well?" Mozzie asked. "Is it him?"

"I don't know." Neal admitted. "He's certainly not what I was expecting."

"What…wait, Neal, tell me you saw your captor."

"No." Neal replied bitterly. "Only Peter saw him, but I know it's Walker, it has to be. I can tell Hughes the memory came back to me once I was feeling better."

"What if you're wrong?"

"Do you think I'm wrong?"

"No, but, Neal, you can't identify Walker without having seen him."

"I've seen him now."