The Decision


The weeks had drawn into months and Peter still hadn't made any progress with Neal. His only consolation was that his plea not to take his act of stupidity out on the team seemed to have worked.

Neal was back to allowing the team to interact with him in the office, but he was still avoiding anything beyond professional parameters. Only a few agents were affected by this, but Jones and Diana had both made comments about missing the times they'd hung out with Neal to grab a bite after a long day before going home or asking him for his insight into things regarding their personal lives.

Elizabeth was still forced to conspire with June to even see Neal and then he only remained politely distant while June herself lamented the lack of laughter around the place as Neal no longer seemed to lighten up and relax even in his downtime.


Working on another case, Peter was assigned to take the lead role in an undercover operation. The group wasn't known for getting caught so they were going in nearly blind and the FBI wanted an agent present just in case something happened that could take them down.

Doing the work, Peter performed as muscle and simply had to observe what was going on while making sure no one interrupted it. However, when a problem arose and they needed a specialist, Neal just happened to be available and have an alias capable of doing the job.

As Neal moved into the operation and began to get chummy with the suspects, Peter couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Only a few months ago he could talk and laugh with Neal like that. He only had himself to blame so he couldn't complain, but that didn't mean he couldn't regret his actions or miss the comradery with his friend and brother.

Once they had the feel for how the organization worked and knew what their plan was, Peter and Neal gathered the team back at the office with the intent of coming up with a sting to take make the arrest. Bouncing ideas, Peter felt another absence of Neal's former personality. He didn't tell alleged stories to help make the conversation easier or more interesting, there weren't any jokes to alleviate the tensions in the room, or any effort taken to make the team calm and relaxed for the complicated job ahead of them.

Catching Neal's arm before they went into the field on the day of the bust, Peter was serious when Neal turned towards him with a frown. "Take care of yourself in there; we don't know what their plan is for you as you aren't in the final stage. We haven't been able to find any witnesses to indicate how they've accomplished your specialty in the past but we have heard of other specialists disappearing after jobs like this being pulled in their areas."

"Don't worry about me; I can take care of myself." Neal tried to pull his arm away as he turned towards leaving.

Holding tighter and pulling harder, Peter forced him to remain while looking at him again. "I can't do that, and you know it. This operation can't be called off or escalated as we don't have enough evidence to take them all down so they'd only scatter and there are lives at stake if that were to happen. However, I get a strong sense that I might lose you in there so I'm telling you, be careful!" Although Neal stiffened and didn't reciprocate, Peter hugged the man needing to feel that comfort of knowing his brother was safe.

Unable to do anymore, Peter let Neal go even as everything in him screamed that it might be the last time he saw the kid alive. Still, there was nothing more that he could do as they had extensive backup and a plan in place.

Moving to go his own way, Peter went to work for the operation.

Fortunately, his counterparts took his behavior as signs that he was focused and cautious about their big plans for the day. Peter got clapped on the back and encouraged to keep his eyes open just in case.

Everyone had a job to do so some were gathering up supplies into vehicles while others were herding people to their ride for the final portion of the operation to ensure everyone and everything went where they were supposed to go.

Peter was assigned with another guard to watch over the area where Neal was loading a vehicle with supplies. He wouldn't be accompanying them further so he'd been assigned as additional hands towards getting the final phase underway.

When Neal completed his task and the vehicle had taken off, the other guard and Peter were assigned to accompany Neal into another portion of the building.

Walking along, they focused on where they were going and what might be waiting for them but neither could get anything out of the guard. Therefore, they weren't entirely surprised when he cocked his gun at Neal's back while a third guard stepped forwards to bind Neal to a pipe with plastic zip ties.

Standing to the side where he was as close to Neal as possible without being obvious, Peter wondered what was transpiring.

"He isn't a part of the organization," the boss stepped into the room to give the final verdict of whether Neal would be allowed to live or not.

Neal started talking and tried to give them a reason to include him in the organization for future operations, but the boss didn't seem interested.

By making a comment about his death leaving a larger score for the rest of them, Peter gave the distress signal but he feared it would be too late. Some had already left for the final sting where another team would catch them, and those who remained were all over the place. He had a whole team on the premises ready to move into action, but they weren't likely to arrive in time to prevent what was already transpiring.

"He's seen too much," the boss waved his hand with the order for Neal to be eliminated.

Watching Neal while the third guard lined up his shot, Peter would have given nearly anything for Neal to be inspired at that moment, for the situation to change and his silver tongue to work as it always had before. Neal's hands were bound behind him while his feet were bound to the pipe to keep him from squirming as the guard had commented when he'd bound him. The kid was completely helpless to get out of this. But, what terrified him the most was when he saw Neal's expression fell into acceptance. He stopped fighting; he didn't even try to come up with another way to get himself out of the mess he was in.

As the guard was taking his shot, Peter automatically stepped into the path of the bullet and took it in Neal's place. He saw the surprise on the faces of the men before him, heard the sharp intake of breathing from behind him as Neal hadn't expected this. After a delayed reaction he felt the bullet punch into his chest just next to center mass pushing him backward off of his feet and sending him crashing to the floor. Hitting his head on the hard concrete, Peter saw only blackness and barely heard the panic in Neal's breathing before another blow to his head knocked him into oblivion.


Bound to the pipe, Neal knew this was likely to be his end. He'd survived being shot to death twice before, but who could guarantee his survival a third time? It wasn't like black ops CIA agents were around with the top of the line medical equipment to revive him again. Peter would have paperwork, the team would feel like they failed, June would have to deal with the loft being empty again, Agent Winters as Mozzie would have to find another protégé, and the agencies would all need to find new approaches to the operations he was involved in. However, as he'd learned from experience with his previous deaths, they would all move on with their lives as they didn't need him. Waiting for it to come, Neal resigned himself to his fate.

A movement and a bang happened, but he didn't feel anything so it took a few moments for him to realize why. With a gasp, he understood that Peter had stepped in front of him and had taken the bullet.

Shocked, he realized that he hadn't counted on the white knight aspect of Peter, the behavior that refused to leave any of his team to take a bullet while being fully bound. Just like he couldn't let a lie pass, Peter would take responsibility to protect his team even if he meant his life.

Watching in horror, Neal saw Peter lying on the ground in front of him as the guard stepped forward to finish him off by raising his gun to aim at Peter's head.

Pulling at his binds with all of his might, Neal knew he couldn't do anything to prevent what was transpiring right in front of him.

One bang was quickly followed by another as Peter's head jerked from a glancing blow to his temple and the guard fell across him.

"Freeze, FBI," the team came into the room with their guns raised to catch what appeared to be the boss of the organization personally overseeing a murder with two of his guards.

Most of the agents went to work on taking the bad guys down but Jones crouched over Peter checking him for a pulse. His radioing for an ambulance was a good sign that Peter was still alive, but his condition alone didn't bode well.

Still straining against his binds, Neal couldn't take his eyes off of Peter as he asked Jones how he was doing.

No one commented that it was the first time in months that he'd shown anything beyond professional attention to Peter because this wasn't a normal situation. It had only been Diana's shot that had saved their boss's life so they were all shaken.

"Not good, his pulse is slowing down and his breathing is shaky. He's alive, but if help doesn't arrive soon I don't know how long that'll last." Although Jones was applying initial first aid in an effort to increase Peter's chances of survival, his voice was serious as he said what he didn't want to admit.

"No, no, no, no!" Neal panted, "He's got to be alright!" This was Peter he was talking about, a man who had loving parents, an adoring wife, and a team who relied on him. Peter was needed; he couldn't die and leave them all behind.

Falling to his knees, Neal was trapped in a very uncomfortable position as his hands caught on the pipe to be stuck behind him at a higher angle than they should have been forcing his shoulders into awkward positions while his ankles were bent to their limit against the binds. Not caring, he didn't even try to straighten himself out no matter how much he felt the blood flowing down his arms and into his socks.

The medics arrived and quickly took Jones' place in handling Peter's life. In the transition, they commented when Peter stopped breathing so they went into action to bring him back as his heart stopped moments after.

As Jones moved to Neal's side, he worked to release the catch of his hands so that they weren't caught at such an angle, but his work was slow as his eyes were also on Peter waiting for a sign of continued life.

Hearing the medics announce that Peter was with them again, a collective breath was let out as the room started breathing while they shifted Peter onto the gurney.

Able to focus again as Peter was wheeled out of the room; Jones put more attention into cutting Neal out of his binds starting with his feet so that he could resume circulation to them. Once he'd cut that bind, he moved to his hands and then helped him move to a seated position. Working together, they rubbed feeling into Neal and Jones shifted to giving Neal a check over despite his protests.

"When Peter is back on his feet, he'll have my hide if I don't check you over. You may not have been shot, but you've cut your wrists and ankles up pretty thoroughly tearing through the skin in several places so you need to get checked out." Helping him up, Jones got Neal to his feet before escorting him out to a vehicle. He didn't put the anklet on him as he wanted those injuries checked out first, but he told him to wait there for him and he'd take him to the same hospital as Peter as soon as he could.

Pulling out a first aid kit, Neal knew how to handle his injuries fine enough, it was just the awkwardness of applying such care to himself that he struggled with. At least the efforts to staunch the bleeding and prevent further damage kept him occupied while he focused on the medical process and the physical challenge.

After a while, Jones returned and was soon driving them to the hospital. He made light conversation apologizing for taking so long and commenting on how Neal appeared to have handled his injuries quite well.

"You can't go to the hospital when you're on the run. Knowing basic first aid can be the difference between life and death in the field no matter which side of the law you're on." Neal gave the basic explanation knowing Jones would lean towards the criminal hint not realizing that Neal had actually learned medical procedures in his field training for the CIA.

With a general comment of an agreement, Jones didn't have much to say. He fell quiet and focused on traffic.

Also watching the vehicles move and stop, pass or turn, Neal let the traffic become background music as he tried to numb his mind. However, despite his best efforts, he couldn't shake the images of Peter's worry that morning before they went to work as he asked him to be careful, the look on Peter's face as he landed in front of him seeming so accepting of his choice, and the voices of the paramedics as they stated that Peter had crashed when both his heart and breathing stopped while his brother had become completely still. Breathing in with a shaking breath, Neal ran his hand through his hair nervously before he clasped his hands together in an effort to stop the vibrations going through his body.

Felling a hand on his shoulder, Neal looked over to see Jones glancing at him while he waited for the light to change. "I know something has been going between you and Peter, and I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, but feel free to talk if you need to."

Opening his mouth to speak, Neal's voice cracked and squeaked so he cleared his throat before trying again. "He took my place." The sting of tears filled his eyes and he turned to look out the window like it would hide his pain.

Squeezing his shoulder, Jones didn't say anything the team didn't already know. "He's always been protective of you, Neal. It doesn't matter what crimes you've committed, he sees your potential and he's always been willing to take the risk to help you become that. As I said, I don't know what he did to hurt you and cause the distance you've been so diligent in keeping, but whatever it was, it isn't something he'll allow to stop him from looking out for you." With another squeeze to his shoulder, Jones dropped his hand back to driving as he navigated traffic when the light changed.

The reminder of what Peter had said caused a few of the tears to overflow and run down his cheek. Neal wasn't ashamed of it; Jones wouldn't laugh or insult him as the agent's voice was wavering too so he was also affected in his own way. However, it wasn't something Neal typically allowed to be seen by others so it felt strange to cry in the company of someone else.

Arriving at the hospital, Jones escorted Neal in to see a doctor for a double-check of his injuries.

Going through the process, Neal answered the doctor's questions and quietly allowed him to do whatever he needed whether it was to administer shots or re-bandage the injuries.

With the process completed, he was released to join Jones, Diana, and Elizabeth in the hallway taking a seat to wait for news about Peter.


Thank you, everyone, for reading, reviewing/commenting, leaving kudos, following, and choosing to favorite :D

Thank you, I appreciate everyone's well wishes on our transition :D Coincidently, my family is making a decision this weekend, we're going to see a house tomorrow and might be signing paperwork. Fingers crossed!