Brother's Keeper

Chapter 22

AN: As I have mentioned before, these stories are in no particular order. And this one happens after Bury Your Dead (NCIS), with references to SWAK, Twilight, and Hiatus (All also NCIS). Any mention of White Collar spoilers are unintentional and unplanned.

A very special 'Thank You' to ncismom for her beta skills, all mistakes are mine.

Tony needed to just leave. Gibbs was back at the helm, his Kate was gone, and Tony just needed to go. So, he packed a bag. He had considered telling the team leader where he was going, but this Gibbs was not the same Gibbs he had known. And no matter how much Tony tried to pretend that nothing had changed, there was no denying that it had.

Both men had changed. Tony had, for reasons that he was not sure of, taken on a dangerous undercover mission while trying to also lead the MCRT. He had fallen in love with his target, and it had all literally blown up in his face. His car was a smoldering heap, much like his relationship with Jeanne. He cared about his car, for sure. It had been a classic, and he was very much a car guy. But Jeanne was truly one of a kind and that relationship, as it turned out, was far more important to him.

Tony finally felt like he could rest and relax. He closed his eyes just as his plane took off from D.C. Hours later he stepped out of his cab in front of June Wellington's mansion. He took a moment and just stared. He could not believe his friend, Neal, lived in the place.

June greeted Tony soon after her housekeeper, Rosie, opened the door for him.

"It is so good to see you again, Tony." June said, hugging the handsome young man.

Tony smiled. "Neal gave me the impression you had an…aversion to Feds."

June grinned at him. "Not all of them." Her gaze seemed to touch his soul. "Whatever it is, Sweetheart, it's gonna be okay."

"You're scaring me." Tony admitted.

June shook her head. "…just good at reading people, like you." She paused. "Rosie will get your room ready. But, for now, sit, let's talk. I'll have Carlotta bring another plate. Neal will likely be at the office a few more hours.

Tony nodded. They ate and talked for a long while until finally, the tiredness hit. Tony scrubbed his hand over his face. Standing up he stretched and headed to the stairs to pick up his bag. "…so tired." Tony muttered.

June nodded. "I'm sure your room is ready by now, Tony. Go on up."

Tony nodded as he started up the stairs. He smiled as he walked down the hall on the second floor, amused that he actually had a room. June had assigned him a room; he got it every time he visited, and he loved it. He had his own bathroom and an incredible view of the city.

NCIS/WC NCIS/WC NCIS/WC NCIS/WC NCIS/WC

"Acquiring a taste for expensive chardonnay?" Neal asked as he spotted his visitor out on the balcony. He poured himself a glass and joined him.

Tony stood up, smiled and hugged his friend.

"No, but I am really enjoying pilfering my friend's stash. He has deep pockets and very good taste." Tony replied.

Neal was about to ask Tony about his knowledge of wine. But then Neal remembered. "Senior had an extensive wine collection didn't he?"

Tony nodded. "Yes, he did. But he never drank the stuff. He didn't want to open the bottles, so I did."

"Really?"

"I used to sneak into where he had them. I would dump the good stuff into a cheap wine bottle and fill the bottle back up with whatever I could find. I got really good at resealing a wine bottle." Tony laughed. "By the time I left home, Senior had very fine collection of assorted bourdons, white wines, and a transplanted bottle of Jack or two."

"Did he find out?" Neal asked, sipping his wine.

"Not yet."

Neal looked at Tony and laughed. Then he got serious. "What's going on, Tony?"

Tony lowered his head. He seemed to be staring into the depths of his wine.

"You told me a lot." Neal implored. "…about Kate…Gibbs' amnesia…the last you told me was about the op with the…The Frog, I think you said."

Tony nodded. "La Grenouille…the fiasco that was Director Shepard's baby."

"Fiasco? What…?"

"The Director made it out to me that this…man was someone who had been on the NCIS, federal radar for a while. She told me that the agency needed him caught. She told me all kinds of things about him. What the man had 'supposedly' done. It…it doesn't matter what it was. The point was, I believed her. Well, at first I did. By the time I realized what she was doing, I was in too deep."

"How could she send you on an op that wasn't authorized by anybody?"

"Oh, it was easy." Tony replied. "She was my backup."

Neal stared for just a moment. "How was…how was that supposed to work?"

Tony sighed. "It wasn't. It wouldn't have. And, luckily, I never had to find that out. I was able to get out of whatever I got myself into."

"Yeah," Neal agreed. "It's not like she could just run out of her office at a moment's notice, or just get up and leave a meeting… or anything like that." This information disturbed Neal. He knew Tony was a lot, a whole lot, smarter than that.

"And I just…I guess…." Tony got up and began to pace. "I don't know why I did it. Gibbs was gone. Kate was…I was still getting over her death. Ziva had just joined the team." Tony sighed. "There was a lot going on, a lot of change. The rock, the man I always leaned on, was gone. I had just seen the strongest person I knew break. I was left in charge of a team whose members were confused and hurting. I was confused and hurting. It…."

"How long were you under?" Neal asked.

"Months," Tony said, still pacing. He was now running his fingers through his hair. "It felt like a year. But it was months." Tony sat down again. "The bad part about this whole thing, the part that really, truly, utterly sucks is that I had to deceive the man's daughter. Jeanne was a doctor at one of the hospitals in D.C. She…she was a wonderful woman."

Neal knew what Tony was going to say. He could see it on Tony's face. "You fell for her."

"You are not supposed to fall for your mark. You are never, ever supposed to fall for your mark." Tony said and then repeated, as if chastising himself for it.

"It happens." Neal replied.

"It's not supposed to."

"Do you know how you sound?"

"I know. I know I sound miserable and pathetic. But she…oh, Neal you didn't see her face when I had to tell her the truth. You didn't see the betrayal. You didn't see the hurt in her eyes. I never want to see that look again." Tony sighed.

They fell into a silence for a few moments, each with his own thoughts.

"But I haven't even told you the best part, what lead up to me telling Jeanne the truth. First, and completely unrelated, there were these two junkies in the hospital with their friend. They had brought their friend in because he was showing signs of a drug overdose. And that was because he had swallowed several bags of cocaine and one or two of them had busted in his stomach. He ended up dying. The two junkies still wanted the drugs, and they were going to go to the morgue, where their friend's body was, and get them."

"Wow…that's…."

"Yeah, it got pretty hairy. I got bashed on the head. After that, I left the hospital with Jeanne. Then, barely out of the hospital doors, I was told I was going to breakfast with her father." Tony continued. "He pulled me to the side and spoke to me. And I got to tell you, Neal. I was so sure my cover was blown. I was done for. I tried to get out of the breakfast. I told the man I would meet him at the restaurant, that my car was close. I tried to get away, but he insisted that I ride with him and Jeanne in his limo. It's a good thing he did. I wouldn't be alive right now. A rogue CIA agent planted a bomb under my car. One of The Frog's associates ended up driving it…the car exploded behind us as we went down the street. It got caught on the traffic cam." Tony paused. "…the same cam that NCIS was watching."

Neal stood up. He had no idea Tony had almost died. He didn't know what to think. He was both hurt and angry that Tony hadn't told him. Neal went over to railing and looked up at the sky.

Tony knew Neal was upset, possibly angry that he had had to find out this way. "Neal," Tony said to get his attention. "What was I supposed to tell you?" Tony continued in a subdued sarcastic tone. "Oh, by the way, I almost died today."

Tony knew Neal was listening, even though he didn't' turn and look at him. "I couldn't do that to you. Not when you weren't even able to come see me, to see if I was okay." Tony paused. "I wasn't hurt, and I…I just wanted to kind of…forget it. I now that really sounds weird. But I…I just…it was too much…too much to process. That is why I'm here now. I had to leave all that craziness. That all too real craziness and come to New York City to visit my little brother who lives in the multi-million dollar mansion with the amazing view."

Neal spoke after a moment. "You tell me you almost died. That's…."

Tony nodded. "I know, Kiddo. I know." He put his hand on Neal's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Neal. I just…I needed for you to know, and there was no good way to tell you." Tony paused. "There is more…it's better, if you want to hear it, but it can wait."

Neal sighed and shook his head. He wanted Tony to continue.

"Gibbs…they investigated the scene. They didn't know it wasn't me in the car until hours later."

"That had to be…. Ducky didn't do an autopsy?" Neal just could not see that happening.

Tony nodded. "He did. That guy didn't have scarred lungs. Then they knew, for sure it wasn't me. But they didn't know where I was. They didn't know what had happened to me. They were so sure I had been in the car. They found my ID's under the seat."

Neal shook his head. His big brother had been through so much. "…unbelieveable."

Tony sighed. "Yeah, I know…try being there." He paused. "Anyway, Jeanne was really shaken up by the scene. She wondered why a professor of production media, that was my cover, would have his car blown up. She also wondered how I got to know how to handle a gun so well."

Neal just looked at him.

"Jeanne got to see me use that particular skill in the hospital autopsy. Oh, I forgot to tell you that part. The man had a gun on him. I got it and shot him in the shoulder with it.

Neal nodded. "That explains it. I just felt…I thought you weren't telling me everything. Not that you were lying, just that the stuff was on a need-to-know type basis. It makes sense now, with you being undercover and all…."

Tony nodded. He didn't have to continue. He had already told Neal Jeanne's reaction.

They sat quietly for a while, until Neal started to chuckle.

"What?" Tony asked.

"Do you realize…I don't get in near as much trouble as you do?" Neal smirked.

"That's good. Or I would have to have a word or two with Agent Burke." Tony replied.

"The irony is just…magnificent." Neal stated.

"Okay, enough already." Tony said, grinning.

Neal turned serious again. "I'm glad…. It couldn't have been easy for you…to tell me some of that stuff. I just…I'm glad you did." Neal said. "I hope it helped, Tony."

"It did."

More Tony and Neal Adventures to Come!

END NOTES: I can't remember how Tony got the gun in the episode (Bury Your Dead). I thought the male junkie had it, and Tony got it from him. But I'm not sure.