Brother Love

Part 4

Jones and Diana couldn't help but smile when they saw Tony and Gibbs at the scene. The police already had Stevens in custody. And both Jones and Diana had got to, at least, see Neal before he left for the hospital. Jones set about getting a report from the officers and the scene and then he talked to the EMTs, briefly.

"How much trouble are we in?" Tony asked Diana.

Diana grinned. "None, as far as we are concerned, but you know the higher-ups, they are going to want to thump their chests and throw their weight around."

Gibbs and Tony both nodded.

"Well, we were out of our jurisdiction." Tony admitted.

"But you saved a valuable resource to the FBI. Neal means a lot…to all of us." Diana admitted.

Tony laughed. "You like him."

"Why are you so surprised?" Diana asked. "You like him."

"You just seem so…." Tony started.

"What…straight-laced, up tight…?" Diana asked, messing with him.

"Well, yeah." Tony replied.

"There is a lot more to Neal than his criminal side." Diana admitted.

"Why doesn't Peter see that?" Tony asked.

"He does. He did." Diana replied.

"DiNozzo, we should go." Gibbs stated.

"Gibbs is right. I wanted to ride with Neal. But they wouldn't let me." Tony replied. "I don't want him by himself. I need to call June." Tony said, thinking out loud, patting his pockets to find his phone.

"Don't worry about June, Jones has already called her, I'm sure." Diana replied.

Tony nodded before then started to get into the car. "Where is Peter?" He just realized that he had not come with Jones and Diana.

"He's in D.C." Jones replied, catching Tony's question and answering it. "Stevens is going to be held in the lock-up until we're ready for him. Neal's got some pretty bad bruising. His ribs are broken. He's unconscious, the EMTs couldn't wake him. That has them a little worried."

Tony and Gibbs nodded. They had saved him. They just hoped that they had gotten to him in time.

"What is Peter doing in D.C. with his C.I. missing?" Tony demanded. "…you going to call him?"

Jones nodded.

"On second thought, Jones, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it." Tony replied, his anger starting to show.

"Tony..." Gibbs said, looking at his SFA. "…maybe…."

"No, Gibbs." Tony replied. "Neal didn't run. He was kidnapped, and he was beaten, severely." He said, getting angrier with every word. "But he didn't run. And somebody needs to explain that to Agent Burke in a way that he can understand."

Gibbs couldn't help but smile.

"I'd give you 50 bucks to listen in on that conversation." Diana replied. She was a little conflicted here. She liked Peter, and she had respected him as a leader. But she found his latest action regarding Neal reprehensible.

Jones took out his wallet and handed Tony $50.

"I don't care if everybody in the White Collar Division hears it. I'll make my call from your offices, if you want me to." Tony replied. "But I will talk to Burke about this."

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Tony called Peter at his D.C. townhouse from the conference room at White Collar. The room was packed, everybody waiting to see what Tony would say to Peter.

Peter picked up the phone after the second ring.

"Diana, to what do I…?"

"It's Agent DiNozzo." Tony said chopping it off short.

"Tony, what are you doing in New York?" Peter asked. He got the tension, even over the phone.

Tony didn't speak for a moment, a little dumbfounded Peter would ask, what it seemed to him to be such a stupid question. He had to keep his anger in check to keep from yelling at the man.

Tony took a deep breath. "Well. Peter. In D.C. I don't have friends go missing every day." He said in as even and as gentle a tone as he could. "I needed to come and see if I could help. See what I could do."

"How did you…? Is he okay?" Peter asked.

"June called me." Tony said, carefully. He took another breath to calm himself before he spoke. He hated Neal being called just 'he.' "Yeah, Peter, we found him, Gibbs and I. And, just so you know, 'he' didn't run, Peter. 'He' was kidnapped, and 'he' was beaten. But 'he' didn't run." Tony blew out another breath trying to calm himself. "And 'he' has a name, Agent Burke. Just in case you didn't now. His name is Neal Caffrey."

"Tony, I…."

"You left him, Peter! You left Neal. You thought that he had run, and you ran. You ran away to Washington, D.C." Tony said. "Did you really think that rest of the division was going to give a damn about Neal if you didn't, Agent Burke? Do you understand that?" Tony asked, his anger flaring. "You were his handler…his handler, Agent Burke! And if you didn't give a damn…. What did you think was going to happen? Did you even care if Neal was found? Or had you already moved on with your life and said to hell with it?"

"Tony, it's not that simple." Peter started. "Neal had… You don't know. There are some things…."

"I know much more than you would be comfortable with, Agent Burke!" Tony replied. "Like I said, it was Gibbs and I who found and rescued Neal, with the help of a friend. We will most likely get suspended for a few days without pay. But it was worth it, Agent Burke, because that is what you do for a friend. You take risks. You do things you might not be comfortable with to get the job done." Tony added this. "And we're gonna have a very long talk about James."

There was a long moment of silence. Peter couldn't answer. Tony had just proven that he knew more than he should. "Is Neal…? How is he?" Peter asked. "What you and Agent Gibbs did…."

Tony shook his head. He looked at Diana. "I'm done here." He said speaking to both Peter and Diana. "You can ask Diana what you need to know." Tony turned to leave the room. He then turned back. "Just so you know, Agent Burke. Everybody in the White Collar Division just heard this conversation. I'm guessing that they are just as confused by your actions as I am."

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"Mozzie told you?" Tony asked.

Neal nodded. "Everything." He said, making himself comfortable in his bed. He had suffered broken ribs, dehydration, a concussion, and various bumps and bruises from his time as a captive. "He was bragging, one of his better cons, 'masterful in its simplicity' were his exact words."

Tony grinned. "Mozzie's the reason the reason we got you back, that and my ready-made alias."

"I haven't thanked you for that." Neal replied. "I'm so glad you and Gibbs decided to come to New York."

"Well, we're gonna be here for a few more days." Tony said. "We got two weeks suspended without pay. I told Gibbs we'd go to some ballgames, and I'd show him the sights. Anyway, they wanted to make it a month, but Jones and Diana both wrote to Director Vance and the director here and told them how much they appreciated what we did." Tony paused. "So, in reality, we got slapped on the wrist for being out of our jurisdiction, and then patted on the back for returning you to White Collar."

"Diana told me about what you said to Peter." Neal said, broaching the subject. "But I heard it…before. Everybody from White Collar who was in my room…." Neal looked at Tony for just a minute. "I should have heard it from you."

Tony sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I was reliving the mental picture of you when we found you, and I was angry, very angry. I just…I opened my mouth and said too much, and I was, well, a little ashamed. Not because of what I told Burke, he needed to hear it." Tony paused. "I just…Gibbs and I didn't do what we did, risk what we did just for you to go back to jail. And I just, I don't know what will happen now. I don't know if our actions can be held against you. I just…I don't know."

Neal nodded. He understood now the reasons Tony did what he did. He had no problem forgiving Tony.

"I won't apologize, Neal." Tony replied.

"I don't expect you to." Neal stated. "I really don't. I feel like, if I was in your place, I would have done the same thing."

"I just…I don't want Peter to punish you for something I did, Neal." Tony replied. "I know he's back in town. And he's came to see you, here and in the hospital." He paused. "And I don't think that it's a coincidence that I haven't run into him."

"He gets how angry you are." Neal affirmed. "He…."

"Good!" Tony replied.

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A week earlier:

"Neal, I…." Peter started.

"Mozzie told me what happened. I've talked to Tony, and I've talked to Diana. The person I haven't talked to is you." Neal began. "It was two NCIS agents who rescued me." He said, irritated, angry, and in pain. "Do I have to tell you what is wrong with that picture?"

Peter shook his head. He understood Neal's anger and disappointment. Peter was disappointed in himself for his lack of action and for running to D.C.

"So, you thought I ran. And instead of checking to make sure of your…theory, you just, you go to D.C." Neal stated.

"I didn't want to work for two or three more years finding you, for you to just turn around and run again." Peter stated, that had been his thought process, at the time.

"But I didn't run, Peter." Neal replied. "I didn't run, and look how very easy it would have been for you to have found that out. All you would have had to do was just dangle the right carrot in front of the right criminal, just like Tony and Gibbs did."

"I…I don't know what to say, Neal. I don't know what you want to hear from me." Peter replied.

"I want my friend back. I want the guy who wouldn't have just left town when he found out I was in trouble. I want the guy who still believes in me, Peter. Does he even exist anymore?"

THE END

More Adventures With Tony and Neal to Come!

END NOTES: I'm ending this here because this is kind of how the end of WC left me feeling last season, a little raw and exposed. I think that there is much work to be done with both Peter and Neal. And I echo Neal's question. Does that person even exist anymore? Thanks for reading, alerting and reviewing. JL