CHAPTER 26

They were followed by a black car, doubtlessly ordered by Keller to make sure that they weren't going to drive after the van.
Eventually Keller's guys seemed satisfied and as soon as the car stopped tailing them, they wasted no time following the GPS that showed them where Mozzie was.
The signal led them to an old abandoned warehouse located in an equally abandoned industrial area.
Peter was struck by déjà vu as the location reminded him of the last time he went looking for Keller, except this time there was more at stake than finding some stolen art.
This time he knew about the kid being held captive inside and this time he was emotional involved.
They parked the cars on the neighbouring lot and walked the last couple of meters, in order to prevent eventual guards to alert Keller.
This turned out to be a smart move since as soon as they rounded the corner they spotted two guards.
One of them grabbed his phone, presumable calling Keller, but Peter let members of the tac team take the guards down as he gestured towards the door.
They managed to break down the door in the matter of seconds and as soon as they were inside they yelled

"Freeze FBI!"

The armed guards immediately dropped their weapons, realizing that they were outnumbered, and two people, the woman most likely Kate, put up their hands in defeat.
Keller was standing in the middle of the room, with Mozzie sitting in a chair in front of him.
The man was frozen in place, his hand by his pocket where his phone had been ringing just seconds before.
Keller suddenly unfroze and in a swift movement he managed to grab his gun, that had been tucked in the hem of his pants, and aimed it right at Mozzie's head.
After that it all happened so fast, Mozzie jumped out of the way at the same time that Keller pressed the trigger before someone managed to shoot Keller.
Mozzie fell to the ground just seconds before Keller, and when Peter reached them he found that Mozzie was alive but he was barely conscious.

"Somebody call an ambulance!"

He called out before trying to establish eye contact with Mozzie.

"Where's Neal?"

He asked but Mozzie showed no sign that he even heard him.
Jones showed up by his side and started to apply pressure to the wound on Mozzie's chest.
Peter tried to ask Mozzie again but the man was still unresponsive and he felt the desperation grow.
He stood up, confident that Jones would do his best to keep Mozzie alive until the ambulance arrived, and looked around him.

"He's in there!"

Kate suddenly said, receiving a dirty look from the man next to her, and pointed at a door.
Of course, Keller had kept Neal in a room the last time as well and he berated himself from not thinking about that detail.
He rushed over to the door and managed to kick it down in just a few tries.

Peter immediately spotted the child that sat in the corner, curled up into a ball with his eyes closed and his small hands pressed firmly over his ears.
Peter felt an incredible rage at Keller and his people as he spotted the blood smeared over the boy's face.
He hurried over to Neal, eager to hold the kid in his arms again but as he grabbed him the boy immediately started to weakly struggle, like a wounded animal using its last strength to fight.
Peter tried his best to calm the kid down but Neal just continued to struggle until Peter pressed him against his chest, pinning his arms down to make sure he wouldn't get hit.

"Calm down buddy, it's just me"

He said in a soothing voice and suddenly he felt the child relax in his arms before slowly lifting his bloody face and looking up at him.
Neal's blue eyes met his and the confused fear turned into recognition as the kid realized who was holding him.
He let out a heartwrenching sob before he threw his arms around the agent's neck.
Peter rubbed Neal's back as the kid cried and he waited until the boy had calmed down before he carried him out of the room, just like he had the last time except this time it was Peter who wouldn't let go.
To be perfectly honest he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to let Neal go, he just wanted to hold the kid in his arms and protect him from all the evil in the world.
Suddenly Neal tensed in his arms and when Peter looked at him he saw that Neal was staring at the strange man who had been sitting with Kate.

"You okay, bud?"

Neal turned back to him and Peter was taken aback by the look in the boy's eyes. It wasn't just fear, it was pure terror as if the kid suddenly feared for his life.

"Don't wanna go"
"What?"
"Don't wanna go with him, Peter"

The boy pleaded with a terrified voice and Peter looked at the man in confusion, unsure of why Neal had such a violent reaction to the man.
Judging by the blood stain on the man's shirt he had been the one to hurt Neal but that didn't explain why Neal thought he was going to go with the man.
He looked at Neal again and noticed the wound on his forehead. If he had hit his head, he could have suffered a concussion and he could simply just be confused.

"Please Peter, I don't wanna go back to daddy"

Neal pleaded and Peter froze when it was revealed who the man was.
He felt a murderous rage inside of him and the child in his arms were literally the only thing stopping him from marching over there and kill the man himself.
Not only had the man abused his own son but now he was involved in kidnapping him as well, how could a man be that twisted?
He called Diana over and pointed at Neal's dad.

"That man is Neal's father"

Her eyes darkened and he could see the anger in her face as she walked over to the monster to make sure that his arrest would be a highly unpleasant experience.

"Wanna go home with you"

Neal suddenly mumbled in a drowsy voice as he pressed his head against the agent's shoulder, close to sleep.

"Don't worry you're going home with me, but I think we should get you checked out in a hospital first, alright kiddo?"
"No"

The boy whined but Peter ignored his protest as he walked out of the building, making sure that Neal's head was pressed against his shoulder so that he wouldn't see the paramedics trying to bring Mozzie back to life.

On the way to the hospital he called Elizabeth, knowing she would kill him if he didn't, and she promised to meet them there.
Sure enough, the first thing he saw when he walked through the entrance was Elizabeth waiting for them.
She was fiddling with something in her hands and he could clearly see tears in her eyes.
Elizabeth spotted them and she chocked back a sob as she saw that Neal was really there and that he was finally safe.
She carefully threw her arms around her boys before turning her attention to Neal who was still fighting sleep in Peters arms.
His wife was clearly worried by all the blood on the kid's face but she tried to ignored it as she carefully caressed his cheek.

"I've been so worried about you, sweetie"

She said, her voice filled with emotion, before she handed him the cuddly toy that looked like Satchmo.
Neal accepted the toy but he looked at Elizabeth with confusion written all over his face.

"Mommy?"

It was the second time the boy had accidently called her mommy but this time she looked less moved by his words and more concerned.
Just like Peter, she now suspected that the kid had suffered a concussion.

"I've already filled out all the paperwork, a doctor should be out shortly"

She said, trying to sound as if she wasn't worried to death.
They sat down in the waiting area and Elizabeth grabbed some wet wipes and carefully started to clean up the blood from Neal's face.

The doctor established that Neal had indeed suffered a concussion but allowed them to go home, under the condition that they'd come back in case he got worse.
At first the doctor had given Peter dirty looks when he saw the multiple fresh bruises on Neal's body and it wasn't until Peter showed him his badge that the doctor believed that Neal had actually been kidnapped and not that Peter had been hurting him.
He had to appreciate that the doctor had seemed ready to alert the authorities when he suspected abuse, but at the same time he was disgusted by the fact that he was even for a second suspected to be the same monster Neal's dad was.
The man had really done a number on Neal and in the car home the boy was still pleading to go home with them and not his daddy, and it wasn't until they walked in to the house that Neal finally believed them.
Elizabeth went upstairs to get some new, clean clothes for Neal as Peter placed Neal on the couch.
The child needed to get some sleep but the adults didn't want to leave him upstairs alone in case he needed them.

"Peter?"

The agent turned to the child who was absently patting Satchmo while he waited.

"You're my hero"

Peter would've lied if he said that the kid's words didn't completely melt his heart.