A/N: Okay, so it look me a little longer than one day to get this chapter up, but I'm just glad it didn't take me another four months! Oh, and sorry about the cliffhanger on the last chapter, but I couldn't resist =P.

The first shot that rang out was from one of Robert Moreau's guns. It was followed by several more fired by the other agents, with the exception of Ernie Kane, who took the first bullet in the side. Robert was unable to finish him off, forced to find cover from the spray of bullets as well as not wanting to risk hitting Kate in the crossfire.

When the gunfire started, Neal dropped to the ground, pulling Kate with him and sheltering her with his body. The Ring agents were focused on Robert, and that gave them enough time to slip around the corner of the hallway behind them. Every part of Neal told him to run, but he stayed on the ground, protecting Kate. He could not tell if Nicholas was with them or not. Everything was a blur; the shooting having only lasted for a matter of seconds.

When it stopped, Neal cautiously peered around the corner, not sure he would like what he might see. At first, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. Maybe whatever poison that Mulligan pumped into him was messing with his head. With an arm around Kate, Neal took in the scene before him. The first thing he noticed was that all of the Ring agents were on the ground, most because of injuries and some having just given up.

There was a very beautiful woman with blonde hair who captured his attention, but not for long, for there were others there as well. A young man who looked more like he would work in an electronics store than hold a gun, a man who looked like he could kill with his bare hands yet still used a gun, another man who had his back turned as he helped cuff the bad guys yet seemed strangely familiar, and - wait. That couldn't be right. What were Peter and Jones doing here? Had they really come to rescue him after all?

"Neal!"

Peter looked like he had aged five years, yet it was evident a load had been lifted off his shoulders when he laid eyes on the young man.

"Thank God." He heard Jones breath a sigh of relief as well.

Peter walked over and clapped him on the shoulder, grinning ear to ear.

"Oh, what the hell." Peter shrugged and pulled Neal into a hug.

"Wow, Peter, you really do care." Neal said, slightly taken aback.

"Hello, Agent Burke." Kate smiled shyly.

"What a surprise seeing you here." Peter said, not surprised at all.

Neal looked around, but didn't see Robert or Nicholas anywhere. He guessed they split as soon as Peter and the others showed up. But he did see yet another person he hadn't expected to.

"Mozzie? What are you doing here?"

"He insisted." Peter sounded exasperated.

"I'm offended you would even consider that I would stay behind and trust someone else to rescue my friend."

Neal was pulled into another hug, this time by his quirky friend, and patted Mozzie's back awkwardly.

"I hope it isn't like this when we get back to New York," He said jokingly, "Um, where are we, anyway?"

"California. In the middle of nowhere if you want to get more specific."

The voice that answered caused chills to run up Neal's spine and the hair on the back of his neck to stand up. He looked past Peter and Mozzie to see a young man walking toward them who, for possibly the first time ever, left Neal completely speechless.

"You must be Neal Caffrey," the mirror image of himself held out a hand, "Bryce Larkin."

Neal found himself shaking hands with his mirror image. He felt like he was in the Twilight Zone. Once he got over the initial shock of meeting the man the Ring had mistaken him for, Neal wished he could have seen Peter, Mozzie, and Jones' reaction when they met Bryce. It must have been something.

"Wow, you guys really do look exactly alike," Chuck had introduced himself to Neal and Kate, and was now looking from Bryce to Neal, "Actually, you're shorter."

It was true, Bryce was just an inch or two shorter than Neal*. Funny that out of all their similarities, their height was the only thing that didn't quite match. Well, that and the strong difference in opinion about guns.

"I should probably go call General Beckman now." Chuck said, about to excuse himself.

"Already took care of it," Casey approached the group, sending a nod and grunt combination in Neal's direction, "A team is already on there way here. You snooze, you lose, pal." He said the last part to Chuck before leaving to keep an eye on the agents.

"Interesting guy." Neal said.

"I bet you're ready to come home." Peter said.

Neal savored the thought of being back in June's apartment - a place he thought he would never see again - but now, he wouldn't be alone.

"Yeah, we're ready," Neal replied as he and Kate looked lovingly at each other.

00000

Neal and Kate didn't say anything about Robert or Nicholas, but had a feeling the men would find a way to contact them to make sure Kate was alright. True to Colonel Casey's word, the team sent in by Beckman arrived promptly to cart off the Ring agents to a secure facility, having already picked up the ones at the Orange Orange. They didn't know if Ernie Kane would make it or not, but they all secretly hoped he wouldn't. Neal could say he was okay all he wanted, but that still didn't keep Kate from hoping against hope that Mulligan would get a taste of his own medicine wherever they were taking him. She was only slightly ashamed to admit that she wanted badly to attack the man as he was being taken away. If not for Neal by her side, she would have.

They all rode back to Castle together in the epitome of a government issued van, but fortunately this one had comfy seats. The conversation was certainly interesting, each person telling their side of the story from their point of view. Peter had a newfound respect for Bryce. He hadn't known that the agent had been deep undercover in France when they had called for his help. Jones thought the White Collar Unit could use a badass like John Casey, but also thought it would be funny to see the reactions of everyone if they saw Neal and Bryce in the same room together. Utter confusion, he was sure.

Mozzie realized he had a small crush on Sarah, but was just as soon turned off by the fact that she was a Fed. Sarah thought Neal and Kate made a cute couple, and the way they looked at each other made her reach for Chuck's hand. Casey noticed this, sighed when he thought of the life he gave up to serve his country, and then changed his train of thought by deciding he didn't trust Haversham. Far to sneaky, and a conspiracy theorist.

Bryce was glad Neal had been found alive. And he wondered if he would ever find someone the way Neal found Kate and Chuck found Sarah. Bryce was hopeful. He could be very charming.

Everyone formed their opinions about each other on the ride back. They shared a few stories - mostly about the White Collar Division, because there were many things the CIA considered classified.

Neal was glad they made it to Burbank relatively soon, he desperately needed a steamy shower and change of clothes, and so did Kate. More importantly, they needed their wounds cleaned and treated - the graze on Neal's leg would need stitches, but he wanted to make sure Kate was taken care of first.

As soon as everyone cleaned up, Peter called Hughes about the good news as well as Elizabeth and June. Both times he put Neal on the phone, who held it slightly away from his ear because of the women's ecstatic exclamations. Then, Peter booked tickets for everyone going back to New York. The flight was for Wednesday at 11:45, so they would all have a few days to recuperate.

"Everyone in the office can't wait to have you back." Peter said to Neal once he was off the phone.

"Can't wait to see them. I hope they didn't have too much trouble on the cases without my help."

"Oh, I'm sure they did well enough. Even if they are amateurs." Peter replied sarcastically.

About that time, the screen flicked on, and General Beckman was starring down at everyone in Castle.

"Well, I'm glad to see everyone back in one piece. Congratulations; you all had a part in successfully shutting down one of the Ring's bases, as well as the capture of prominent Ring operatives."

"It really helped that we were a team; working together with the FBI got the job done faster."

"I wasn't finished, Carmichael," Beckman frowned at Chuck, still using his cover name, "But yes, you're right, the FBI handled this very well... with the help of... others," She glanced at Mozzie, "So thank you. Also, Agent Larkin, we appreciate your coming out of undercover work to lend a hand, your help is always welcome."

The general furrowed her brow when her agents and the FBI team coughed awkwardly.

"I think you mean to be addressing him." Neal said, looking in Bryce's direction with a slight smile.

"Oh. My apologies. If that is all, I need to go now; I have a lunch date."

The screen went black as Beckman signed off, and Peter frowned slightly.

"Is that how all of your conversations with her go?"

"More or less," Chuck said, "By the way, Casey and I should probably be getting back to our cover jobs now."

"It's never easy for Big Mike when the only two sane and functioning employees are gone at the same time." Casey added. They couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

00000

The next couple days Neal spent recovering from the ordeal were possibly the best of his life, simply because he had a better appreciation for the freedom he had. It wasn't much at the moment, though. They couldn't leave Castle, of course, and Bryce stuck around too since he could find nothing better to do. He put off his flight back to France until the same time as the one to New York so he could make sure they got to the airport safely.

The time until then was interesting, seeing as Neal had to borrow some of Bryce's clothes. It wasn't like they went out of their way to differentiate themselves, either, finding humor in the agents' uncertainty when they went to talk to one of them. They couldn't trick Mozzie or Kate, but it was no surprise there. Everyone found a way to tell them apart when they noticed that Neal could never seem to take his eyes off of Kate. It was as if he felt that looking away might cause her to disappear.

Although he still had some nightmares, Kate would always be there by his side, and this time, she wasn't going anywhere. He felt whole.

It was soon Wednesday, late in the morning. They had just reached the terminal with thirty minutes to spare, and were about to part ways with Bryce. Jones had disappeared into a gift shop to buy something, and shortly re-joined them. He was holding a disposable camera.

"What do you say? I know this isn't exactly the trip to remember, but what will the office think when they see two Caffrey's?"

Mozzie was the one who took the picture, seeing as he was the only one not wanting to be in it. With the large window of the airport behind them, Peter stood next to Neal, Kate was next to him with Bryce on her other side, and Jones beside him. There was no doubt that the intriguing picture would hang on the wall of the White Collar Unit, as well as a wall in Neal's apartment, for a very long time.

A couple pictures were taken, and for good measure Neal reached around Kate and held up two fingers behind Peter's head for one of them. They had to know who was who, right?

"Neal, did you-"

"Of course not, Peter! Would never even think of it."

"Hmph."

Everyone said their goodbye's to Bryce as he left to catch his flight, and Peter and Jones went to find something to eat. Peter was reluctant to let Neal out of his sight, but Mozzie and Kate were with him, and Peter's growling stomach ultimately made the decision for him.

"You know, we could take any plane we wanted and never look back." Kate thought out loud.

"I know."

"I bet Italy's nice this time of year."

"Kate, I know what you're thinking, but trust me, New York is the only place I want to go right now."

"You still have almost three years tethered to the FBI. Are you sure you want to go back?"

"It's not nearly as bad as you might think. You heard Peter, they missed me, and it's not just the agents. I couldn't do that to June and Elizabeth."

Kate leaned her head against his shoulder.

"As long as that's what you want, I'll go with you. I promise I'll never leave again."

"I hate to interrupt this," Mozzie gestured to Neal and Kate, "But if we don't find the suits and start boarding, we're going to miss our plane, and I really don't want to be stuck here much longer. The sooner we get back to June and her wine, the better. I would really like to forget this ever happened."

"You're not the only one, trust me. But Mozz, I'm proud of you. Swallowing your fears and spending days with a room full of government operatives all for me? Must have been quite a time."

"You don't even know the half of it." Mozzie replied.

A/N: I don't know why, but for some reason it just seemed like Bryce would be shorter than Neal. Of course in the real world, that's crazy talk, but that's why I love fanfiction! Epilogue up next!