14 - Out of the Box

"Hey" Peter answered.

"I'm headed to the garage" Diana said, "I've got everything on mentor. You're not gonna believe it".

He closed his eyes in relief.

"Is Neal involved?"

"Heavily. There's another file, but it's encrypted".

He quickly headed for the door.

"I'll see you in a moment".

Peter's thoughts were running at a mile per minute. Kate, OPR, the music box; all of it was connected. To what extent, he didn't know, but if Neal had struck a deal with Fowler, nothing good could come of it.

"-encrypted file. I couldn't open it".

He frowned as he walked through the carpark. That was Diana's voice alright, but was she-

"I'd like it back".

Shit.

He burst out into the garage only to find their number one suspect pointing a gun at his agent.

"Burke".

"Fowler. What the hell are you doing?" Peter demanded.

"Of course you're involved in this. Stay where you are".

"Lower your weapon".

"You have no idea what you're getting into".

"Lower your weapon" He ordered once more, glancing over as Diana raised her hands even higher, revealing her holster.

"Hey, just stay where you are!" Fowler snapped.

"Why are you doing this? We're on the same team".

He began to inch forwards.

"Stay where you are. Stay where you are!" He snapped, "You're in way over your head here. You have no idea what

you're getting involved in".

"You don't want to shoot an agent" He shot back, closing in.

With one sudden movement, he drew Diana's gun and levelled it at his chest.

"Now put your gun down".

"Drop the weapon".

"Put your gun down!"

"Drop the weapon!"

"Put the gun down now!"

Diana pointed another gun at him.

"Drop the weapon! Drop it!"

Fowler briefly turned to face her and that was all the chance Peter needed.


*BANG-BANG*


He rushed over, Diana doing the same, yanking open the older man's shirt to reveal both bullets lodged in a safety vest.

"Breathe, breathe" He shoved his head down, "Breathe, Fowler".

"How'd you know he was wearing a vest?"

He couldn't help but smirk, " I didn't".

Hauling Fowler back up, he pushed him back against the car.

"What the hell is mentor?"

"Mentor is legit, Burke. Caffrey works for us now" He gasped, "He and Kate are deep undercover for OPR".

"OPR doesn't have deep-cover agents. You are helping him disappear!"

"He wants to go".

The words hit Peter like a sledgehammer to the chest.

"... You met with him again".

The music box was in Fowler's car.

"Neal is gonna disappear".

Please no.

"I need to know where he is. Tell me where he is!"

"Why do you care?!"

He quickly turned to Diana, "Give me the drive".

"You want me to upload this to D.C.? Or do we have something to talk about?"

Fowler let out a heavy breath, "... Airstrip by the Hudson, hangar four".


Running flat out, Peter couldn't possibly express the relief he felt when he realised that Neal was still there, getting closer and closer to the plane by the second, one hand raised to wave at Kate.

"Neal!"

He expected him to turn around, to smirk or grin or say 'goodbye Peter, we made one hell of a team, right?' but he doesn't. It's almost as if he doesn't hear him, so enraptured he is with the girl he gave up his freedom, his future, his life for. The girl that couldn't care less about Neal himself, only about what he could do for her.

"Neal!" He called again, as the younger man left the hanger.

Nothing.

He was over halfway to the plane.

Panting, Peter paused at the edge of the warehouse.

"NEAL!"

For a split second, he thought that was it, that Neal wouldn't hear him and he'd get on the plane and disappear from Peter's life forever, a life that Peter can't imagine Neal not being in anymore.

But then, then, he paused and turned and his face fell.

"What, are you here to arrest me?"

"I'm still a civilian" He grinned, "And I know about mentor. And I know you can walk away, and it's all legal".

"Then what are you doing here?"

"... I'm here as your friend".

Conflict flashed over the conman's face.

He gestured at the jet only a few meters behind him.

"You understand I'm getting on that plane".

He slowly walked forwards, as if closer proximity could remind Neal of everything he was throwing away.

"I also know you're making the biggest mistake of your life".

"This is what's best for everyone, Peter! You go back to your life… I get to have one of my own".

"You already have one right here" He replied firmly, "You have people who care about you".

Neal glanced back at the plane, clear indecision in his eyes, and Peter realised with a pang that this was the first time he'd seen him without his Caffrey charm mask on, but it was also the last time he'd ever see him full stop.

"You make a difference" He finished, "You do".

Neal stared at him for a moment before reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a familiar worn wallet. He looked down at it for a moment before tossing it across the runway to him.

"... Thank you for this".

Peter caught it in both hands and flipped it open to reveal the criminal consultant ID inside.

"I got to go".

He was mere meters from the plane.

"You said goodbye to everyone but me" Peter called out, "Why?"

Neal sighed and turned back.

"I don't know".

"Yea you do. Tell me".

"I don't know, okay?!"

"Why?"

"You know why".

"Tell me".

Neal stared at him for a painstakingly long moment.

"... Cause you're the only one who could change my mind".

"Did I?"

He glanced back at the plane, at the window where Kate Moreau sat and smiled like she hadn't betrayed him and then started to walk towards it, snow on his face and remorse in his eyes and Peter felt his heart ache.

Then he stopped.

He was so close to the plane he could have reached out and touched its wing.

In front of him, the engines started to whirl.

Neal turned back.

"... Peter-"


*BOOM*


Neal was flung forward from the force of the blast but that was okay because Peter had started running before the earth shattering noise had even ended. The back of his coat was on fire and he desperately tried to pull it off of him, tossing the leather bag to the side and yanking at the too hot sleeves as Neal remained motionless, whether from shock or something worse, Peter didn't know.

Finally pulling off the burning belstaff, he flung it far away from them and watched as the flames started to melt the tarmac runway. Neal's shirt was burned through in places and Peter swore as he saw charred and bleeding skin beneath.

He quickly hauled him up, trying to pull the ex-con as far away from the flames as possible, but it seemed like that just hit the reboot button, and Neal immediately began struggling against him.

"No, no, no, no!"

He gone a sharp elbow to the ribs and it took everything he had to keep hold of him.

"No! NO!" Neal shouted, yelled, screamed, desperately trying to run towards the burning plane.

"No! Stay here" Peter demanded, yanking him back by the wrist and noticing how it didn't quite feel right beneath his hand.

Neal didn't even seem to feel the pain, shoving against Peter's chest as he tried to propel himself away.

"No! No! Stay back!"

The air was scorching, the plane was cindering, and Kate was dead.

In the distance, he heard sirens.


Peter sat silently in a hard plastic chair and tried not to grimace at the dull ache in his chest.

Directly across from him, perched on the edge of a hospital gurney, was Neal.

He was hunched over, elbows on knees, as the doctor behind him applied antibiotic cream to his back. His face was strangely passive, not a single emotion flickering through those dark blue eyes. His left wrist was in a cast and ash still fell from his hair. Peter had once read somewhere that sometimes third degree burns don't actually cause pain, since they can damage nerve endings, but something else told him that there was another reason for Neal's numbness.

"Peter?"

He turned as Elizabeth burst through the door, and forced a tired smile.

"Hey, hon".

She immediately rushed over.

"What happened? Are you okay?! Clinton couldn't give me any details, he just said you were in hospital and I asked the lady at the desk and- is that soot in your hair?!"

He briefly glanced over at Neal, still as emotionless as ever, before standing with a muffled groan.

"Let's talk outside. Neal, I'll just be on the other side of this door if you need me, okay?"

Still nothing.

The doctor finished with the ointment, picked up a roll of non-stick dressing, and gave him a reassuring smile.

Funnily enough, he didn't feel any better.


"What happened?" El repeated as he closed the door behind him, careful to keep the younger man within his sight through the glass panel.

"... I can't tell you much" He apologised, "I'm not meant to know about half of this myself, and I'm already in enough trouble as it is".

"Peter".

He took a deep breath, then winced and raised a hand to his side.

El immediately frowned, "What is it? Are you hurt?"

"Two bruised ribs, nothing major".

"What- How- Were you punched?!"

He found his gaze drifting back to the room next to them. The doctor was asking Neal some questions, sitting in the chair that Peter had just left, but he wasn't giving further answers than nodding or shaking his head.

"... It was Neal".

"Neal punched you?!"

"No! Or, well, yes, technically, but it was…"

He cut himself off and ran a tired hand over his face.

"... Kate's dead".

El froze, eyes wide and skin paling.

"What? Kate? Kate, as in-"

"Neal's Kate. Yea… We saw her die".

She looked like she was going to faint, so he quickly pulled her forwards and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, mindful of his bruised ribs.

"Fowler cut some backhanded deal with her and Neal. They could legally leave the country, with new names and backgrounds, as long as Neal got him something first".

"The music box".

"Exactly. I got to the airstrip just in time to talk to him. I tried to convince him to stay, to not throw away his life like this… He was about to say something, he turned back, and I- I thought I'd gotten through to him and then… boom".

El pulled back and looked up at him, eyes distraught but concerned.

"The plane?"

"There was a bomb onboard. Kate was already on it. If I hadn't stalled Neal, then…"

"Then he would be dead too".

He couldn't help but snort.

"Not for lack of trying. After the plane blew up, he got caught in the flames. I pulled his coat off of him, but… well, the doctors say he'll be scarred for life. He fought against me, desperately, like- like some sort of wild animal, just trying to get to the plane, to Kate, to… That's how I bruised my ribs. But when it finally sank in that she was gone, he just collapsed. Hasn't spoken a word since".

She hugged him once more and he breathed in the calming scent of her shampoo.

"You did everything you could, Peter. If it weren't for you, Neal wouldn't even be alive right now".

"I know. I know that, but I just… There's going to be an enquiry. Neal's going to go back to prison, until I get reinstated, at least. And he's not going to take Kate's death lying down".

"... Do you think Fowler had something to do with it?"

Peter stared over her head as the doctor stood once more, patting Neal on the leg before turning to fiddle with the IV line attached to his right hand. The conman looked lost, scared, somehow detached from the rest of the world. Only a few hours ago, Peter had been glad that his mask had finally fallen, but now, standing here, watching as he remained motionless, strangely childlike and heartbroken... He wasn't sure anymore.

"I don't know" Peter answered, "But I intend to find out".