A Common Language
THE COP AND THE CON
Part 24
AN: With this particular part you are going to have to get a mental picture of what's going on. If you just 'read' it, you're missing a large part of the impact. Enjoy! JL
"This is turning very bad very quickly." Neal said as he looked at the scene unfolding around him. Suddenly the previously agreed upon price was too high. The meet was going south. Tony and Neal needed to think of something to save it. Maybe if they could stall it would give Peter and the other agents time enough to swoop in and make the needed arrests.
Tony suddenly had an idea; he started speaking in Italian, knowing Neal was fluent in the language also. "Just follow my lead."
Meanwhile, back in the van, Peter was panicking. "What's going on? What's Agent DiNozzo doing?" He said looking at the monitor as he adjusted his head piece. He had not heard wrong, Tony and Neal were not speaking English. "That's Italian, right?"
One of the newbie agents spoke up. He nodded vigorously. He was fluent in the language also.
"Good." Peter said. "I want to know everything that they are saying. I want to know why Tony suddenly switched to Italian."
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"What are you doing?" Neal asked, speaking in Italian.
"Does it look like they understand?" Tony asked, playing his role.
Neal looked at the men. They could not understand Italian.
"Follow my lead." Tony said raising his voice. "Pretend you're arguing with me."
"What?"
"Throw your arms up in the air." Tony suggested.
Neal got it. He did as he was told. "We argue over the price of the painting. Giving Peter and agents time to come in and arrest everybody." He replied as he continued with the charade. "…pretty clever…for a Navy cop."
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The newbie agent who was translating Neal's and Tony's conversation chuckled after the remark.
"What are they saying?" Peter asked as he scanned the computer monitor in front of him.
"Agent DiNozzo and Neal are creating a distraction for us. DiNozzo assumed that these guys would not understand Italian, so he used that to throw these guys off. He and Neal are just biding time for us to get in there and make the arrest."
The lead agent smiled and nodded. "Way to go Agent DiNozzo!"
The newbie nodded.
"Oh." Peter remembered. "Why were you laughing?"
"Neal told Tony he had done pretty well…for a Navy cop."
Peter got out of his chair. He was grinning as he left the van.
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"Hey!" Tony replied.
Neal just smiled.
"Do you see Peter…the other agents...anybody?" Tony asked, looking around. He had thought that they would be there by now. He was getting concerned that he and Neal could not keep this up much longer.
Neal shook his head. "How long are we supposed to stand here and haggle, Tony?" He asked in Italian.
"Not this long." Tony said, looking worried.
"Malfunction?" Neal questioned, trying to be discrete as he looked around.
"I hope not."
"I see Peter, Neal. Amp it up a little bit, I'm going to pretend I'm accusing you of setting me up."
Neal nodded. They needed to protect their cover.
Tony and Neal were taken into custody and put into the back of a transport van. They continued to verbally spare, to keep up appearances, as the van wound its way through the city to its destination.
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Peter shook his head as he, Tony and Neal sat in Peter's office late that evening, drinking coffee.
"That was brilliant, Tony." Peter replied. "You two really looked like you were arguing."
"You don't know Italian." Neal replied, knowing he was right.
"No." Peter agreed. "But our newbie, Agent Carlton, does. He translated for me."
"Thanks Peter. I was just hoping to buy you guys a little time." Tony stated. "I'm glad it worked.
"Ouch." Neal turned and looked at Tony. He rubbed the back of his head.
"That was for the Navy cop remark." Tony explained.
Peter looked from Tony to Neal and back shocked and speechless for just a moment. He then shook his head, grinning. "I think El is expecting us all for supper tonight, Tony."
"Sounds good." Tony replied as he and Peter got up to leave the office.
"What?" Neal said, finally standing. "You can't ignore what he just did."
"What who did?" Peter smirked as he glanced at Tony, using his height to his advantage over his slightly shorter C.I. to make eye contact with the fellow agent.
"He hit me." Neal retorted. "I'm valuable to the White Collar team, and I'm being abused."
Peter bit his tongue to keep from laughing. "Did you abuse my valuable resource?"
Tony chuckled. "Nope, nary a bruise nor a scratch will you find on him." He then looked at Neal. "Sorry Kid, lack of evidence."
Neal looked at both Tony and Peter and then huffed out an irritated breath. "You Suits are all alike." He said as he grabbed his coat off the back of the chair in Peter's office and left the room.
Both Peter and Tony laughed as the followed Neal out of the building.
THE END
More Adventures to Come With Neal and Tony!
END NOTE: I just really loved the idea of Tony popping Neal on the back of the head. Like a big brother might do a little brother if the little brother said or did something the big brother didn't like. Also, if anyone knows please let me know if NCIS agents consider being called 'Navy cops' an insult or not. It seemed when it was used on NCIS, it was always in a derogatory manner. I just want to make sure I have an understanding before I use it too much. And if I have to change the story, I will. Thanks. JL