Mistake
It took a week to lead up to the event, but only a day to change everything.
On Monday, Peter finished up the meeting and returned to his office. Settling in, he checked his phone to find a missed call so he opened his voicemail and listened to the message.
Leaning back in his chair, Peter had no idea what they might have found. The adoption agency had run a test of his DNA against other records in their database, as they regularly did to see if anyone matched, and with notable results this time. They wanted to make an appointment to discuss something discovered in relation to him.
Since he wasn't going to learn anything by speculating, he made the call and set an appointment for Saturday to work around his schedule and their openings. Then he had nothing to do but wait.
Sitting in the van on Tuesday, Peter couldn't settle down and found himself uncharacteristically jittery. He watched the monitor and listened to the headset, but he kept losing his focus so he tried to find a way of managing the extra energy.
Having Neal fetch him a book of crossword puzzles on his coffee run, Peter started working through the book trying to settle his mind with the challenge of finding the word and channeling his energy into the pen rather than mindless fidgeting.
"Is something bothering you?" Neal asked as he watched the monitor from his seat. He'd picked up a sketchbook and pencils when he'd gotten Peter's puzzles so he was also trying to manage something of his own.
"No, nothing is bothering me," Peter answered honestly. He wasn't bothered by the appointment, but he was curious about what it would entail which could change his personal life completely. "You? I'm not the only one using a distraction to keep my focus."
Smirking, Neal didn't seem surprised that he'd been caught. "No, I'm not bothered either."
"Uh-huh, so what has you trying to keep your mind off of it?" Peter poked. Neal's concerns were his concerns as they often entailed something criminal.
"It's nothing criminal, how about you?" Neal deflected by giving a slight answer and bouncing the question back.
"Mine's personal so you've got to give me more before I'll share." Peter attempted to bribe him by arousing his curiosity.
"So is mine so it's not easy to open up." Neal gave another hint while explaining why he wasn't forthcoming with alleged tales of past activities or regaling him with plans June had asked him to participate in. This was something different.
"I have an appointment on Saturday, my family, it could change everything." Peter found himself fidgeting more as he realized that maybe he was bothered, not in fear over the appointment, but the results it might bring up. What if he wasn't alone as someone else was looking? How would it feel to face a biological relation for the first time?
"Me too," Neal turned towards him with a curious expression. "That's strange though, that we'd both have appointments on the same day that could change our personal lives."
Cocking his head, Peter was more focused on Neal as the radio became background noise he only partially listened to. Nothing was happening, but he had a little attention spared towards it just in case. "It is strange." He got a little suspicious. Was Neal fishing for information from him while leading him to his own conclusions?
"Hey," Neal frowned. "Not everything is a con for your information. Yes, I'm curious about what your situation is and it would be a distraction from my own, but that doesn't mean I'm not telling the truth."
Relaxing a little, Peter tried to appease his consultant so they could progress the conversation. "Maybe not everything is a con, but you've pulled a lot of them over the years so I know you aren't above them. It wouldn't be the first time you tried to get me to talk about myself without sharing anything in return."
"Yeah, well, I ultimately have to share with someone. Their office is outside of my radius so I can't just up and go by myself." Neal huffed in annoyance. He clearly didn't want to share, but he had to if he wanted to go through with whatever his appointment was about.
"You're using my situation as an opening?" Peter realized that Neal was curious, but did have an additional motivation for asking. By finding out what Peter had going, he was hoping to integrate his situation into the conversation for an easier transition.
Shrugging, Neal turned his focus onto the monitor as an excuse to avoid looking at him.
Sighing, Peter knew he was going to have to approach this more carefully. As much as he didn't want to talk, he knew it was even harder for Neal to be forced.
"When is your appointment?" He'd start with a smaller and more basic detail hoping to get an answer.
"Saturday," Neal named the hour just after his.
If he took Neal to his appointment, it would mean taking Neal along on his own. That felt like an invasion of privacy and he wasn't sure how he'd feel after learning whatever was to be shared, and he certainly didn't want to share that with Neal while he waited for his consultant to go through his appointment. "Have you checked with Jones or Diana? That's right after mine so I don't think it would work." He tried to get out of it.
"Jones has family in town this weekend and Diana is working. Forget it; I can reschedule it with the agency." Neal waived the conversation off and tried to redirect their focus back to the case.
Knowing the conversation might not be finished, Peter hoped it was. He didn't want to talk about his mysterious past and he didn't want to take Neal along to what could be an emotional meeting. His blank history had always been a sore spot so he only let in those he had too and no one else.
Wednesday didn't get any better. Peter was back in the van with Neal so they'd spent the time sketching and puzzling while trying to avoid the conversation that hung on the air in between them.
Obviously, Thursday was downright challenging as they were once again detailed van duty.
"This is ridiculous," Peter huffed as he put the pen into the puzzle book and sat back. "Did you get your appointment rescheduled?"
Twitching, Neal hadn't expected the sudden burst of action and noise. "No, they don't have any other openings in the near future so I figure I'll try to see if anyone else is available. Being in the van though, I haven't crossed paths with most of the team to find out."
"What agency is your appointment at? Clearly, it's not the FBI and I doubt you have reason to visit any other Federal Office so that narrows it down some." Peter tried to open the conversation by showing he remembered Neal's vague description.
"What would a criminal have to do with any of those, huh? As I said, it's not criminal." Neal frowned at him.
"But you never said anything about it beyond 'agency' and those are the first things that come to mind with you. Having chased you, I'm more familiar with your criminal career than anything else so you've got to give me something if you want me to know where you need to be." Peter pointed out the obvious surprised that Neal hadn't thought of it that way.
Sighing, Neal put his drawing materials away and resigned to telling him. "I was eighteen when I learned that everything I knew about myself was a lie and it destroyed my whole foundation."
Leaning forwards, Peter was curious to hear this, he didn't know anything about Neal pre-eighteen.
"I'm adopted, and my records were sealed so I don't know anything about who I really am. The agency has something and they want a meeting." Neal held his hands with one fist into the other and his voice was flat to hide the emotions.
"Really? What agency is processing your records?" Peter's curiosity was fully aroused now. Neal was possibly in the same situation that he was.
Naming it, Neal turned towards him with questioning eyes.
"Me too, only my parents were open about me being adopted as far back as I can remember. My appointment is the one right before yours for the same reason." Peter admitted the barest minimum.
Opening his eyes wider, Neal seemed to be taking that in. "Your files were sealed?"
Wondering why Neal felt the need to know that, Peter answered the affirmative. "What?"
His face falling into a question, Neal didn't answer at first. "I've always wondered why my parents didn't want anything to do with me, but if your parents wouldn't want to be connected to someone like you, then it isn't just me."
Snorting, Peter didn't follow. "I don't think it had anything to do with us personally, we were too young to know who we'd become."
"Maybe," Neal was noncommittal on that one.
"I guess it would work since we're going to the same place." Peter no longer had an excuse to avoid having Neal along for his following appointment. At least the kid would understand what he was going through to a point.
Looking up, Neal seemed to be in another world, "I guess."
They were able to support each other on Friday.
Relegated to van duty yet again, they had the boring task of listening to their suspect go about his daily routines without mentioning anything related to the crime they were investigating him for. Either he was really good or they had something wrong, but with no other lead, they remained focused on him.
"What is your biggest fear about tomorrow?" Neal asked as he nervously sketched random things that he could see through the monitor to force his mind to focus on the details.
Using word association, Peter kept his ears generally tuned to the conversations to see if he could pick up on anything that would hint to why they weren't getting anything. "I think the idea of being confronted with a biological connection. What would that be like?"
Snorting, Neal didn't have an answer. "I don't think you have anything to worry about though, I mean, you've gone through the general process that everyone expects. A loving family that took care of you growing up, an education, sports background, an honorable job, and a beautiful wife with a dog waiting for you at home. You aren't missing anything except a biological history. Who wouldn't be glad to find themselves connected to you?"
"Ha, you make it sound like I have a charmed life. There is nothing to say they have a definite family connection and even if they did, no one can please everyone." Peter knew people didn't always like FBI agents, some people didn't understand a passion for sports or puzzles, and even if they had something in common with him, it didn't mean he would connect with them. He'd heard stories of people who didn't get along with biological family even when they grew up amongst them.
"No, you can't please everyone, but we both know you would be yourself with anyone who turned out to be family and they wouldn't have a legitimate complaint. Who cares if you played baseball instead of football, your family would still be able to talk sports with you so I don't see you having a problem unless there was something wrong with them." Neal defended him with a staunch opinion.
"What about you, what has you the most nervous?" Peter turned the conversation onto his consultant.
"The same, I've never met any biological family." Neal wouldn't answer anything more on the subject so Peter didn't push as he could understand how uncomfortable the topic was.
Offering to take Neal to his place for dinner, Peter wasn't surprised when Neal accepted the offer of distraction.
The big day was a depressing kind of day for both of them.
Saturday morning they had gotten ready for the appointments by joking about what might be found in their results. Maybe they came from huge families and their parents couldn't afford them or perhaps they were illegitimate and their parents couldn't afford them for a different reason, and anything that randomly crossed their minds even if it was some ridiculous movie plot they'd heard about.
Driving through the morning traffic, Peter bantered with Neal as the conversation digressed to differences about them in appearance and interests. "At least they aren't likely to tell us we're related," Peter had joked making a light reference to the remote possibilities that they had anything in common.
Neal played along pointing out their differences in general as well, but he'd fallen silent with a hum of agreement to Peter's comment.
Peter didn't think twice about it as they arrived at the agency and found a place to park before walking to the office. Checking in and taking their seats, they then sat and waited until it was Peter's turn to go in for his appointment.
Glancing at the clock periodically, Peter noticed that his scheduled meeting was going to be late as they were running through his time and drawing nearer to when Neal was supposed to be going in.
Finally, Peter was asked to come back for his appointment but as it was time for Neal's he knew the situation wasn't going to plan. Nodding for Neal to follow him, he made the excuse that it would save him having to be updated later for his files if they just got it over with for both of them.
"Are you sure?" Neal had questioned.
"It'll be fine," Peter had assured. As he'd said, they weren't going to be related or anything, so they might as well find out what was to be said together, and then they could each get on with their days instead of sitting around the office for who knows how much longer.
"If you're sure," Neal had hesitated to comply before following along as directed.
Introducing themselves as they took their seats, Peter explained why he was bringing his consultant in with him. "This is technically his appointment so it seemed easier to just combine our meetings rather than continue to complicate the day."
Questioning the approach, the man had indicated that it might be better to at least let them open the files in private. He could work with them to merge some of their appointments, but he felt it would be best to retain some separation.
Generally understanding why it would be a policy, Peter was still unsure what the problem was. "Is it bad news?"
"No, but most find this surprising and prefer to have a bit of time alone to come to terms with it." The man had explained that it was more a general desire of their clients, but it was ultimately his choice so he couldn't separate them if they were alright with opening their results together. Complying with their decision, the man passed them each a file of papers and let them open them on their own time.
Peter ignored Neal as he was focused on his records. This contained answers he'd been looking for most of his life. Picking it up, he started poking through the documents and skimming the general information until he got to the end page with the ultimate results. He had a brother, and this man was no other than the Neal Caffrey sitting next to him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he sort of saw a smiling expression on Neal's face like he was amused about a joke.
Zoning out and rereading the information, Peter couldn't get past the thought that it couldn't be. Neal and he weren't brothers, they were nothing alike. They looked totally different and their interests didn't intersect at all, except where Neal committed crimes and he solved them. That's how it had always been; they were the cop and the con, not brothers. Was there a mistake? "Are you sure?" He found himself asking out loud.
"We can run the test again with direct DNA samples to be certain. It just requires a hair with follicle from each of you." The man had stated.
From his seat, Neal easily pulled a hair from his head and checked to make sure he'd accomplished the requested collection of data before laying it in a tissue in his file for safekeeping and identification.
Following suit, Peter did the same as it wouldn't hurt to be certain and Neal seemed determined for a double check as well.
Although Neal lingered behind for a moment after they'd finished discussing details, Peter excused himself and began walking back out into the hallways. Pausing in the privacy of the space, he took a moment to try and regain some focus for the drive home. He'd be dropping Neal off at Junes and then he needed to see his wife. Possibly being related to Neal wasn't something he had expected and he didn't know how to handle it.
When Neal caught up to him, he led the way walking back to the car and they left as originally planned, but the drive was the quietest Peter had ever experience with Neal.
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