Big Brother—Part 3

AN: I am using the history I created for Tony and Neal in "Strong Ties."

Peter nodded and headed to the stairs. Neal, Tony and Diana followed. "We'll use the conference room instead." He said as he led the way. Peter opened the door and let them all in. He then closed the door behind them.

Tony as having trouble reading Peter and he was excellent at reading people. So, he thought the best thing he could do was to start apologizing. He didn't want Diana to be in trouble for anything.

Peter shook his head. He had found the whole scene highly entertaining. And he had seen a side of his agent that he had not known existed. He had never seen her sense of humor before. He was glad to get a glimpse.

"It's okay, Agent DiNozzo. I actually got to see a side of Diana I didn't know existed." Peter admitted.

"Tony. And yeah, she has her moments." The NCIS agent said, smiling at Diana.

Diana glared at Tony. "I will shoot you."

Tony chuckled.

"So Caffrey, in military school. That had to have been…interesting." Peter stated.

"Well, he was not an international art thief, forger, and all the rest, YET. But, yeah, he was an interesting kid." Tony replied.

Peter was a bit surprised Tony knew all that Neal had done, and yet he still considered the conman his friend.

Tony could guess what Peter was thinking. "Neal was just a skinny kid with big, blue eyes when I met him. He was at a rough time in his life. So, was I. We sort of bonded over how much our lives sucked at the moment. Then we grew up. He went his way. He would visit me in college when he was around. And, I would get post cards from all around the world, whenever he could send one."

"I studied Caffrey, carefully. There was never any mention of you. I would have remembered the name." Peter stated.

Tony nodded. "We agreed, since I was in law enforcement, and he seemed to spend his time skirting it, we would keep no physical traces. But, I couldn't keep my word. I have all the post cards Neal sent me."

"I kept a scrapbook." Neal admitted. He looked at Peter. "I kept it a safety deposit box, here in New York, until I moved in at June's."

"I kept an eye on the Ohio State newsletter, and I subscribed to a couple of the other local papers, using an alias, of course. Then when you were in Philly and Peoria, and then Baltimore and now D.C. You were in the papers, it seemed, every week." Neal admitted.

"Oh, really?" Tony had no idea Neal had kept up with him that what he did.

Neal looked at Peter. "That newspaper clipping you have on your wall…."

Peter stared at Neal for a second. He nodded. "What about it? I found that chasing you." The White Collar agent said. "It wasn't related to your case. Or any other case, actually. I just saw the picture. And I guess, what really hit me was how humble the guy was, not to…. What?"

Neal had already been grinning. But, his smile was getting bigger with every word Peter spoke.

Peter had had the article framed, and he had hung it on his wall. And, yes, he did find himself staring at it from time to time. He supposed…for inspiration. He always wanted to be the one in service of others. He wanted to always be reminded that there still people out there who care and who care enough to risk their lives for others. And, what had most impressed him was that the young man would not give his name or allow his face to be photographed. He had told the reporter, as the article stated, it was not about him. It was about the victims of the fire. They all looked into his office and saw the framed picture and article.

Tony grinned after looking and confirming his picture was on Peter's wall. "Wow! I'm on your wall?" He was flattered.

"That's you! Really!" Peter stood still, for a moment, astounded. The agent then went into his office and returned, seconds later, with the framed article.

"Nice." Tony said, admiring the nice frame and high-quality matting job.

Peter laid the picture on the table, and then they all sat down.

"That was a pretty important night for me. For two reasons, the first was Ohio was way ahead in points in the Final Four. And the second was…that was the night I decided I wanted to go into law enforcement." Tony paused. "I was only in college because I was an athlete. I played football and basketball. I had no idea, up until that night what I was going to do. I was in my counselor's office the next day changing my major. It showed me I was able to do something more than be a jock." Tony shook his head. "My dad wanted me to go into business. I got my degree in physical education. Just to tick him off. But, I double majored in criminology. Senior was beside himself. I was going to be a civil servant. He withdrew all the money he had given me for college. I would have to fund I myself, if I wanted to continue. So, up until my junior year, I played basketball and football. Then, I got my leg broken."

"By Brad Pitt." Neal interjected. He loved this part of the story. He loved the looks on people's faces when Tony told it to people.

Tony grinned and shook his head. "Not that Brad Pitt. He's the doctor I had when…." Tony stopped himself. He just realized. He had not told Neal about the whole plague incident. He just didn't know how to start that conversation. He looked at Neal. "I didn't tell you…and I should have. I…I opened a letter in the office, and…."

Neal nodded. He and Tony knew what was going on. Peter and Diana didn't have a clue. They were just watching and waiting, at this point.

Neal put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "I know."

Tony looked at him, shocked. "How?"

"I went to the Naval Base. None of the team was in the bullpen. I went to see Abby and Ducky. I couldn't find anybody. I don't even recall seeing Gerald, or was Jimmy there by then? I can't remember." Neal continued. "But, anyway. I heard somebody say something about you and the hospital. I figured you would go to Bethesda. So, I went there first. This as a couple of days after you had been infected. And things hadn't gotten that bad. But, nobody could get into that airlock. They were seriously restricting movement in and out."

"Wait! What?" Diana had no clue either. "Infected?"

Tony nodded and swallowed. "That letter I was telling your about. I tore off the end and blew into it to open it up. And white powder came out, all over the place." He paused. "Well, we evacuated the whole fourth floor and all of my team members had to go to the showers. Turns out it was Y. Pestis."

"The plague." Neal replied. He looked at Tony. "I educated myself when I found out what it was. When I found out about the genetic mutation that witch made to it…." He shook his head.

Diana and Peter looked at both the men, completely confused.

"The woman who had sent the letter to the Navy Yard had intended on inflecting only one person. The man who had 'supposedly' raped her daughter. But, the daughter had not told her mother the man's name, only that he was local and a sailor." Tony explained. Anyway, the women owned/managed a bio-med company and she had the resources to biogenetically engineer the virus to make it extra-super deadly, which she did.

"So then, how are you still…here?" Peter asked. "Wait, you mean she just randomly sent it out to anybody in the Navy Yard?" The ramifications of such an action were just astounding.

Tony nodded. "Turns out she could not be tried for her actions. She had advanced brain cancer. She had not told her family of her condition. But, it had advanced to where it affected her judgement and her reasoning abilities, obviously. Her daughter knew something was wrong. But, she had not idea of the severity her mother's condition."

Diana spoke up. "You still haven't told us how you survived."

"Gibbs managed to get the antidote, and they got it to me in time. But…." Tony stated.

"But, it was rough." Neal finished the sentence. "I was there for part of it. And once you got moved to a regular room…. Do you remember Dr. Singer, Robert Singer?"

"You impersonated a doctor?" Peter was incredulous.

Neal turned to Peter. "I wore scrubs and a lab coat and had a stethoscope around my neck…I didn't operate on anybody."

Tony grinned. "What was you?"

Neal turned nodded. "Emma, Tony's nurse, she would let me in if nobody else was around on the night shift. She didn't know I wasn't a doctor. I just told her that we were friends from school. She assumed med school, I didn't correct her. But anyway, she had a thing for you. And, she said my visits seemed to make you feel better."

"I know." Tony said. "She…we spent so much time together. She even followed me when I left the isolation room. And she would come and sit with me after her shift was over."

"Wow." Diana said. "So, you're…okay then? I mean…."

"My lungs are scarred. I have to be careful around people with colds and with the flu. And I can't stay in areas with high air pollution for a prolonged period of time." Tony explained. "But, other than that…."

Neal didn't like to talk about when Tony was in the hospital, but for other reasons. The conman could not have prepared himself for the horror he would see when he walked into Tony's room. He had never, in his life, seen someone so close to death. And then, to top things off, one night, he had had the misfortune of experiencing one of Tony's bad coughing spells. It had scared him, greatly. And, as a matter of fact, the conman had had nightmares for months afterwards.

"What was it you were saying…about Price?" The conman asked, wanting to redirect the conversation.

Tony looked at Neal for a moment. He could tell Neal needed to talk about something else. The agent got back to why he had asked to use Peter's office in the first place. He sighed. "Just to clarify, I was not involved. My partner, my e-partner had been…involved for at least a year. And, as if it wasn't' bad enough that he was involved, he said higher ups were too. He didn't give me any names. Well, I just walked away. I gave a false reason and didn't work out my notice. I was just…gone. I couldn't stand being around Price anymore. I just…I left that and walked, quite literally into NCIS. Gibbs, my current boss, had come to the Baltimore PD for help with a case. Well, not really help, he wanted information and he expected us to just hand it over. And we don't just do that, federal agent or whatever. Gibbs tried to strong-arm me and everything, that's his thing. But, it didn't work on me. I stood up to him, I impressed him, also hard to do. Gibbs and I actually met up again, by accident or design, I'm not sure. It was the very night I confronted Price, and he confessed. That was the night I officially left the PD. The rest, for me, was just the paperwork. I had already moved in in my head. Then next day, in the morning I was giving my resignation at the BPD. That evening, I was filling out the necessary paperwork in the HR at NCIS. I haven't seen or spoken to Price since."

TBC

END NOTES: I used the article about the Baltimore fire previously in another of these crossover stories. But, I just have to say, I think it is just the coolest thing that Peter would 'coincidentally' have Tony's pic on his wall. I love it. JL