I apologize for the shorter update - it's all I had time to edit! More soon...

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"He parked over on the next block," Neal told Mozzie in a hushed tone as they walked down the sidewalk, away from the Burke residence. "It's not far."

"So let me get this straight…" Mozzie replied in an equally quiet tone. "His surveillance team got a spot closer to his house than he did?"

Neal wasn't sure if Mozzie was intentionally trying to be sarcastic or whether it had just come out that way, but given the current circumstances he wasn't in the mood to find humor in the situation. "Moz…" he chided, only briefly glancing his friend's way.

Mozzie simply shrugged. "Just an observation…"

Neal sighed, continuing forward without responding. His steps were intentionally brisk. They were on a timeline after all. Not to mention that it was very possible, to Mozzie's point, that they were being watched... He felt somewhat exposed being outside.

To make matters worse, he couldn't even be certain who was watching. The fact that there were multiple options was unsettling. Perhaps the car Mozzie had spotted, the one that Peter had known about, had an eye on them, or it could be someone more nefarious... Dean himself or someone he was colluding with.

It took a lot of restraint for him to refrain from looking around and scanning the cars on the street himself. He also initially considered asking Mozzie to point out the car he'd noticed earlier once they were outside, but then decided against it. Despite his uncomfortable curiosity, he knew it was better to appear nonchalant and focus on the task ahead. So instead, he kept his attention on nothing but the pavement ahead of him.

The faster he walked, the better.

Mozzie stuffed his hands into his pockets, occasionally glancing sideways at Neal as he took longer than typical strides to keep up with his taller friend, who suddenly seemed to have hastened his step. Normally he'd ask him to slow down, but this time he also appreciated the hurriedness, sensing Neal's anxiety, and felt the need to simply keep up with him.

"Neal..." be began. "One thing…"

"Mm-hmm," Neal answered, a little distractedly.

Mozzie squinted ahead of them. The sky had grown much darker since he'd arrived. "Why'd you steal his keys?"

"Huh?" Neal looked his way again, frowning. "What do you mean?"

Mozzie simply gave him a look. "You know what I mean. If he was going to give them to you anyway, why play with fire?"

Neal's lips curved upwards with slight playfulness. "Moz, I'm not. I actually think he finds it funny."

"You think he finds it funny?" Mozzie responded skeptically. He shook his head. "Neal, did we not just watch the same reaction? He wasn't laughing."

"Trust me."

"I trust my eyes." Mozzie scrutinized his friend as they walked. "Do you regularly steal things from him?"

"No," Neal answered quickly, giving Mozzie a disapproving look. "Of course not." Then he paused. "I mean, I wouldn't call it regularly." He paused. "Though I did steal his Gold card..."

Mozzie sighed. "Neal…" he admonished gently. "Why?"

"To see if he'd notice."

"Did he?"

"Yeah," Neal admitted.

"Jesus, Neal. Why are you testing him?"

"He wasn't even mad, Moz… Told me to keep it."

"To keep it," Mozzie echoed in disbelief. He somehow couldn't picture that. Feeling the need to instill wisdom into his friend, he persisted, "Do you really think it's wise to play games with the authorities, Neal? Do I need to remind you that it, you know, hasn't worked out so well for you in the past…?"

"It's Peter," Neal replied dismissively.

"Right," Mozzie scoffed, giving him an incredulous stare. "Only the person that decides whether or not you get to roam the streets…"

"Not exactly roaming when they monitor my every move, Moz," Neal replied, gesturing down towards his anklet with raised eyebrows.

"Well, nonetheless, clearly your fingers are still roaming…"

Neal sighed. "Moz, I don't need a lecture."

"Maybe you do," Mozzie returned. "Be careful how often you fly too close to the sun. You've been burned before. He isn't your friend."

"Moz…"

"He's not. Don't for a minute think he is, Neal. He's not someone to play with."

Neal sighed and simply shook his head, not responding. He appreciated Mozzie's concern, but it was also hard to explain to him that he had grown to trust Peter. Despite the frequent threats to send him back, of all the things that would actually land him back inside, he was pretty certain that showing off his sleight of hand was not one of them.

But trying to explain that to Moz would just elicit another well-intended but unnecessary talking-to, and Neal didn't have the energy or focus to defend himself. Trusting a Fed wasn't something that Neal was going to be able to convince Mozzie of overnight.

Mozzie dropped the subject at Neal's lack of response, for which he was thankful.

A moment later, they reached the end of the block, nearing the stop sign at the end of the corner. Neal cleared his throat and said, "Turn here," as he cut to the right, heading down a different block. "He's halfway down, a couple cars past the hydrant up there." This time he gave into the temptation and glanced back behind them towards the intersection they'd just turned from – he couldn't help it. But he saw nothing. He wasn't sure what he'd actually been expecting to see.

Focus on the car, Neal told himself as he turned back around.

"So are you driving, or I?" Mozzie asked.

"Driving?" Neal responded, slightly surprised by the question. He frowned and stopped in his tracks, turning to face Mozzie. "What do you mean, driving?"

"I mean exactly what the word implies… Key in the ignition, et cetera…" At Neal's expression, he paused, eyeing him quizzically. "I assumed you knew we weren't going to do it here, Neal," he persisted, keeping his voice low. He gestured around emphatically. "Here, in broad day— I mean, nightlight…" He frowned. "You know what I mean."

"To be honest, I guess I didn't really think about it," Neal admitted with a sigh.

"Well, then think about it. We can't do it here. For obvious reasons."

"So where?" Neal asked carefully. He was starting to feel uneasy with this plan that he'd already convinced his handler to go along with.

"I've got a guy," came the typical response from Mozzie.

"A guy," Neal echoed skeptically. "Great. So, Moz, where is this guy?"

"Not far..." Mozzie answered slowly. He reached up to adjust his glasses. "Gowanus."

Neal groaned and for a moment turned away, rubbing his hands over his face. "Moz…"

"What? That isn't far from here, Neal," Mozzie hissed at him, confused by his reaction.

Neal turned back to face his friend, dropping his hands to his sides. "Yeah, well, it's not in my current radius, Moz," he hissed.

"Radius," Mozzie slowly repeated. "Ah… Right…"

"No roaming, remember?" Neal answered, emphasizing the words. "Like I said." With another sigh, he rubbed his hands together, frustrated as he debated what their next step should be. "Just let me think for a minute."

"I have an idea," Mozzie began, not filtering his sarcasm. "Why don't you call up the agent you just stole from and ask for a favor? Maybe offer him the Gold card back, Neal." The glare he received back didn't surprise him, but he didn't apologize. While he didn't mean to have such an unsympathetic tone with Neal, he also hadn't expected this to be so complicated. Still, he was frustrated with himself for not thinking about Neal's radius. He should have realized...

Neal shot his friend an exasperated look and grunted, looking indecisive for a minute as he paced a few feet away, towards the curb. He stepped off the sidewalk onto the street for a moment, between two parked cars, and then stepped back onto the pavement. He turned and looked behind him, as though to look back at the Burke's house, though it was now out of view, around the corner on the other block. "Dammit," he cursed.

"Don't like my idea?"

Neal worked his jaw, silent.

"Listen, I'd rather not just stand here like a target, Neal," Mozzie said, tone a sharp whisper, as his friend continued to look hesitant. "You want me to go on my own?"

"No…" Neal answered slowly as his brow furrowed. "No, if I do that, I think he might actually kill me."

"Really? Your friend Peter?" came the sarcastic question.

"Stop," Neal objected. "Moz, I can't just give you his car." He muttered something under his breath and then reached to pull out his phone.

"That's worse than stealing his credit card?"

"Somehow yes."

Mozzie watched him with raised eyebrows. Tethered Neal was certainly a different experience.

Phone to his ear, Neal only had to wait two rings before his handler picked up.

"Neal…" came the voice over the phone.

"Peter..." Neal began, matching his tone. He paced again a couple feet ahead, debating on the right approach.

"What's the matter?" Peter asked. The question held a hint of concern, but mostly suspicion.

"Nothing's wrong. I just had a quick question." Neal paused, waiting for a reaction.

"You need something," Peter stated. His tone was unamused. Any concern had vanished. "What is it, Neal?"

Neal sighed. "To do this, we've actually got to go somewhere." He briefly turned to view his surroundings as he spoke. He could see no one around in the street. Just Mozzie, looking uneasy on the sidewalk a few feet away.

"With my car," Peter said. It was a statement, not a question. "Why?"

"To… uh, to do what we talked about…" Neal wanted to keep his discussion cryptic if he could. They had no idea if Dean was listening in some way or another. He was speaking as low as possible, but it still felt conspicuous. He hoped Peter would get his gist.

"You didn't mention that before."

"I didn't realize," Neal admitted. "I'm sorry," he added for good measure.

Peter's sigh was audible over the line. Neal could tell he was thinking it over. Then he simply asked, "Where?"

"Well… Not far, but… You know. My radius."

"Neal…" came the tone of disapproval.

"Well, that's why I'm calling," Neal replied, unable to remove the hint of a whine from his voice. "I thought maybe you could just tell them that I'm with you, or maybe just disable it until I'm back?" Neal urged his handler.

Peter paused again before responding. "You're assuming you're allowed to go."

"Peter, we have to do this," Neal persisted, hissing the message. He resisted the urge to raise his voice, glancing down the street. "You know we do."

"Are we sure it's a good idea?" Peter sounded uncertain.

"Yes," Neal answered.

"And what if you—"

"You know, I'd really rather not debate this over the phone, Peter."

There was yet again a pause over the line as Peter was undoubtedly mulling it over. Doing his usual of weighing the pros and cons. Neal could almost envision the man pacing in his living room with a hand on his hip and an exasperated look on his face. Neal was ready for Peter to simply tell him to come back, but then came another sigh before he said. "Give me ten minutes. I'll let you know when you can go."

Neal felt the tension leave his shoulders. That had been somewhat easier than he'd been expecting. "Thank you."

"Just remember this is a one-time thing," Peter answered gruffly. "You don't get to choose when it's on or off."

"I know, Peter, I know," Neal assured him.

With that the line went dead. Neal lowered the phone from his ear and took a quick look at the time before lowering it to his side, though still keeping the device gripped in his hand. He looked towards Mozzie and slowly walked back towards him.

"So what's the buzz?" Mozzie asked, expression anxious.

"He's making it work," Neal said, turning to view his friend. He glanced sideways towards the street briefly. "It'll just take a few minutes."

"A few minutes…" Mozzie repeated with a slightly skeptical tone. "Fine. Let's wait in the car." He began to walk further down the sideway.

"We can't talk in the car, Moz," Neal reminded. He slowly began to follow his friend.

"Well, I feel like a mark just standing here, Neal," Mozzie answered, keeping his head down. "Pick your lesser of two evils."

Neal sighed and was about to remind Mozzie that Peter lived in a very safe neighborhood when he quickly realized that the neighborhood crime statistics were not what Mozzie was referring to.

"Fine," he told him.

When they reached the car, Mozzie took a look at the passenger door and then back towards Neal. Neal then cleared his throat and offered the keys to Mozzie.

"Me?" Mozzie asked incredulously. He glanced down at the dangling keys in Neal's hand, then towards the car, and then once again up to Neal.

"I realized that if we can't talk, then you can't navigate," Neal told him in hushed tone, "and I don't know where we're going."

At first Mozzie sighed, looking queasy. "Fine," he finally answered. "Give me a sec." He then reached into his pockets and swiftly pulled out a pair of latex gloves.

Neal couldn't help but roll his eyes. He watched his friend start to pull the gloves on. "Really, Moz?"

"Really, Neal," Mozzie answered curtly as he quickly pulled on the gloves. "Leave no trace. Especially in a federal vehicle."

"No trace," Neal repeated.

Peter paced by his dining room table, gripping his phone in his hand. He had just reluctantly completed the call to temporarily suspend Neal's tracking device. It was done. No going back.

Still he hesitated.

Then, he finally raised the device, staring at it for a moment, before he sent a simple text.

'Go.'

That was the message Peter sent to Neal. A simple text, though he knew the message was sufficient for Neal.

He hesitated for another moment, and then sent one more follow-up message.

'Be careful.'

With that, he sighed and walked back to the living room, pocketing his phone. He didn't know if Neal would respond, but was certain that his message had jumpstarted he and his friend to begin heading to wherever it was they were going. His wife watched him from the couch, a sympathetic look on her face.

"You're doing the right thing," she told him, unprompted.

"I just hope I won't regret this," he told her.

She sighed as he reclaimed his seat beside her on the couch. "Hon…"

"I mean, it would look pretty bad if he disappeared right now," Peter continued wryly. "Think about it – I just gave him a perfect getaway: I turned off his tracker, and I just gave him and his accomplice my car. Handed over the keys and a full tank of gas..."

"He's not about to run off, Peter…" she replied with a slightly admonishing tone. "You know that."

"Do I? Maybe he wasn't planning on it," Peter persisted, "but if the thought has ever crossed his mind, I just handed him the opportunity on a golden platter."

"Come on. You trust him more than that. Don't you?"

He scoffed, shaking his head and feeling more frustrated with his lack of confidence on his decision. "I guess this will be a test." He then simply took a deep breath and exhaled. "El, I didn't even ask him where he was going. Not that it matters if he has no intention to actually go there, but…"

"Peter," she chided. "Come on. Give him a little more credit than that. Will you?"

"And Mozzie—"

"Is helping," she interjected. "I know you're not thrilled about that, Peter, but he is helping. They both are."

"I know Moz capable of helping," Peter acknowledged. "That's not my issue. The issue is whether or not anyone knows he's helping. Every time we bring in someone else..."

"Well, I'm with Neal on this one," she replied firmly, reaching for her glass of wine again. "I understand your concern, but… Peter, come on. I don't know anyone more discrete than Mozzie."

Peter sighed. "I know. It's probably true."

"You know it's true."

They were silent for a moment. After a moment, Elizabeth once again offered her glass of wine to her husband.

Peter didn't object. He took the glass and slowly swirled the deep red liquid with a gentle wrist movement. "So..." he said thoughtfully. He paused to take a sip of the wine. "At what point do I worry?"

She smiled and gave him a look. "I think you're already worried…" she replied slowly, a knowing look. "But I would say to give it a couple hours before you act on it."

"A couple hours…" Peter looked at his watch. "Right."

"Yes," she said.

"You know where he could be in a couple hours?"

"Peter…"

"I know, I know…"