Neal sat outside Dr Murphy's office waiting to be called in. His dad sat in the chair opposite and his mom chatted with the receptionist. It wasn't the first time his mom had brought him but it was the first time he was escorted by both parents. Was he really that much of a flight risk?

"You can go in now," the receptionist announced from behind the counter.

Neal hopped up, keen once again for it all to be over, but was pulled up short as he realised his parents were also making a move to enter the office. They strolled on past and took a seat on the couch. Neal stood in the doorway, quite bewildered with the turn of events. "What's going on, Janice?"

Janice reached behind Neal and shut the door. "Have a seat, Neal. I asked your mom and dad to join us for this one session."

"Why?" The young boy stood with his back against the door, secretly hoping it might come off its hinges and allow for an easy escape.

"Because there are some issues that require input from all parties and it would be good to talk about them together."

"Good for whom?"

"Come and sit down please, Neal." Janice indicated the additional chair that had been placed side on to the couch and her seat, especially for the occasion.

"Whatever." Neal sat on the floor in front of the chair, flatly refusing to play by the rules.

"Elizabeth," Janice ignored the protest from below and flipped through her notes. "Can you tell me about the day Neal broke his wrist?"

Neal moaned and collapsed on the floor in a heap of theatrics. "Always with the wrist!"

El also paid no attention to the teenager stretched out at her feet. In her head she had already begun to recall the day from hell.

-W-C-

"Coming!" El ran up from the basement upon hearing the doorbell and jogged over to the front door. She was surprised to see Diana as Peter wasn't home from work yet.

"Hi Diana, come on in. Everything okay?" El added the last part after observing the concerned look on the agent's face.

"Elizabeth, no one is badly hurt but there has been an accident. I'm here to take you to the hospital." Diana reached out to catch Elizabeth as her legs buckled under her feet.

"Peter or Neal?" El asked once she finally found some strength.

"Both."

-W-C-

"Peter, you can't be carrying him with your injuries." El admonished quietly. It was 2am and she didn't want to wake the neighbours.

"Honey, if you can wake him, then fine. But they gave him something pretty strong at the hospital and I'm not leaving him in the car overnight!"

El realising that the boy was totally out to it and not responding at all to the noise or movement, finally conceded. "Fine. But don't rip your stitches. I do not want to have to pay another visit to the hospital tonight."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful." Peter hoisted the young boy into his arms and followed El through the door and upstairs to the spare bedroom. He placed him down carefully on top of the covers and removed his shoes. El returned shortly with a clean set of pyjamas and the two set about changing the boy from his dishevelled attire into more suitable sleeping apparel.

Knowing that there was no chance that Peter would be sleeping tonight, El offered, "I'll go put us on a cuppa."

"Thanks hon." Peter sat on the edge of his son's bed running his hand over the freshly cast wrist that was sticking out from under the blanket. Peter felt a tear escape from the corner of his eye and splatter directly onto the snow white surface of the plaster. He brushed away the liquid only to have it replaced by another splatter. Eventually, Peter gave up on trying to stem the tears and simply moved the cast out of the line of teardrops. When El returned five minutes later, the agent was all but sobbing into his hands.

"Hey, hon. Careful. The doctor said you can't get the bandage wet." El obtained a towel from somewhere close and helped Peter dry his face and bandaged hand. She sat on the edge of the bed beside her husband and pulled him in for a warm embrace. "It's going to be okay sweetie. We'll get help and plus… we'll build a dungeon in the basement and never let him out again." Peter smiled at that thought and considered it to be a very good suggestion.

"Come on. He's not going anywhere for a while." El indicated the sleeping child who was oblivious to all the activity in the room. Whatever they had given him at the hospital, El could sure use some herself.

Peter began to follow El but stopped to pick something up off the writing desk. "Hold on." He walked back to the bed and knelt by the side. Peter scribbled something on the new cast then joined his wife in the hallway while at the same time considering if dungeons were legal.

-W-C-

Neal had sat back up while listening to his mom talk and was now leaning against the spare arm chair.

"So, Neal, your dad was the first to sign the cast?"

"Yes."

"Have you signed it Elizabeth?"

"Yes. Mine's the one with the message inside the baby seal."

"And we know that Ms Belding signed it. Who else Neal?"

"Mozzie, Clinton and Diana, Agent Hughes. Dr Bryant signed it when I went for a check up."

"Who wrote JEE?"

"That was Jerry, Eleana and Emmy."

"So all you friends and family have signed your cast Neal?"

"Yes."

"What about Kate?"

"Not sure."

"Did Kate sign your cast?"

Neal simply shrugged.

Janice persisted. "If you're not sure, why don't you have a look."

Neal sighed deeply. "This is such a waste of time!"

"Then let's move it along Neal. Did Kate sign your cast?"

"No!" The word was all but spat out of the teenager's mouth.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Maybe she didn't have a chance." Neal stood up and started pacing as predicted.

"Why not Neal?"

"She's pretty busy these days."

"But you went to the movies with her and she was at the park with you when you crashed your bike and well you spent a whole day looking around the MET at the Late European Post Impressionists Exhibit. Are you trying to tell me in all that time she never once had an opportunity to pick up a pen and scribble her name on your cast?"

"NO! She didn't! Why can't you understand?" Neal kicked at the spare chair with uncontrolled fury and the seat went flying across the room, tumbling side over side till it finally rested against the far wall.

Janice gave a signal for Peter and El to hold their positions and continued in her efforts to break through to the troubled teen. "No, I can't understand why Agent Hughes has signed your cast and not one of your best friends. Why didn't she sign it?"

"I don't know Janice!" Neal's face was an angry shade of red as he yelled at the top of his voice.

"Yes you do Neal. Why didn't Kate sign your cast?"

"Because she can't!" A lone tear escaped down the side of the young boy's cheek.

"Why can't she Neal?"

"Because," He threw an arm in his dad's direction… "Agent Burke killed her!"

-W-C-

Peter pulled up at a set of lights and glanced at the bundle of trouble taking up the passenger seat. Couldn't the boy be just a little easier? He didn't need him to be perfect but was there ever any hope of having the child stick to the usual teenage shenanigans of lighting firecrackers when the parents weren't looking or having a fist fight with a best friend? That he could handle. But all this business with Kate and Fowler and guns and stolen property, he wasn't sure how much he could take. Was one small boy really capable of breaking the resolve of a highly skilled FBI Agent? Peter was snapped out of his short slide towards self-pity when he heard a message come through on Neal's phone. He'd meant to confiscate that back at the bureau.

Neal flipped open the cell and read the text.

"Give me that." Peter reached across to grab the phone but Neal pulled it out of reach. "Neal! Give me the phone right now!" The agent was down to zero tolerance and Peter reasoned that Neal was going to be one sorry little boy when they got home. Peter had another snatch at the phone, this time with more success.

Neal though, no longer needed the cell. He had all the information he needed filed away in his head. While Peter was momentarily distracted with the message, Neal reached for the handle, opened the door and sprung out into the peak hour traffic.

Peter couldn't tell if he was more shocked by Neal actions or from the text message he held in his hand.

'Help Pip. Fowler going 2 kill me less u come. 20mins. Hanger 5 by Hudson. Kate'

-W-C-

The Taurus lurched in and out of lanes, siren blaring, making slow progress in the peak hour traffic. Peter considered at what point it would be faster to just abandon the car and chase after his son on foot. Fortunately, he'd been able to grab the phone to find out his destination, otherwise he'd be relying on the tracking anklet, and that would take time he couldn't afford.

Peter screeched to a halt at the old vacant hangers beside the river. He had no idea if Neal had already arrived. The boy had been travelling on foot but had probably been able to move as fast as the agent who'd been caught up in a grid-lock. Peter removed his gun from the holster and began scouting the area on foot but there were no signs of Kate, Garry or his wayward son.

The agent stood, running his hands through his air working out which way to head when from out of nowhere, Neal came barrelling out of the empty building behind him looking exhausted and frantic. The boy was startled to see his dad but didn't have time to stop for pleasantries. He began to make a move to race off to the next hanger but was partly collared by Agent Burke. "Neal! Stop!"

The boy lost his footing as he felt a tight tug on the back of his shirt and went rolling to the ground. Peter lost his grip and made another attempt to restrain the youngster. But Neal was on a mission and his survival instincts had kicked in, Kate's survival. The kid dodged Peter's hand and sprung back to his feet and before Peter had so much as taken one step, the kid was well out of arms reach. Neal raced across the bitumen surface well aware that one frantic father was bearing down fast.

The teenager could hear a motor of a car running in the distance and made a bee line for the first sign of life in the area. He rounded a corner and spotted a black sedan at the end of a very long corridor which was split in two by a ten foot wire fence. Neal picked up his pace. He could all but hear Peter breathing down his neck. He reached the fence and flung himself up and over like it was a small garden hedge. Peter knew he'd need a lot more time to complete the same task, time he couldn't afford so he barrelled into the gate on the side with his shoulder, busting the rusted chain lock with one blow, along with possibly every bone in his left arm. The strategic move having positioned him within an arms length of the boy. If only he could make a fraction more gain, he'd be able to snag his prize. But at the same time, they were closing in on the car at the end of the alley. Peter could see a figure sitting in the front seat tapping on the window. It was Kate and for sure it was a set up. This wasn't going to end well. Peter had to close this operation down right now. Giving it everything he had, he took a final leap forward, landing on the back of Neal's shoulders and brought them both crashing to the ground. Peter never heard the sound of several bones cracking somewhere along Neal's arm, nor his cries for Kate. The boy's screams of pain were consumed entirely by the horrific sounds of the car at the end of the alley exploding into a ball of fire and smoke. Peter wrapped his body as much as he could to protect his son from the flying pieces of burning metal as they hurled through the air in all directions. The agent didn't bother noting the number of places he was hit with debris, everything he cared about was safely tucked underneath his own body.

-W-C-

Peter ran his hand through his son's hair. The young boy had made his way over to the couch as Peter recounted how close he came to losing his son and was now lying stretched out with his back against his dad and his legs dangling over the arm of the couch.

"Neal, did your dad kill Kate?" It was blunt but Janice was needing the boy to face up to his demons.

"No Janice." His voice was so despondent, the doctor could barely hear him.

"Then why would you say that Neal?"

The teenager lifted his feet off the couch and went to stand up but his dad still held him around the chest. "I don't know." Neal put a hand up to his eyes and rubbed, possibly hoping to erase a memory. "I…I have this thing in my head. I keep dreaming about it."

"What's it about Neal?" Janice leaned forward and gestured with her hands for him to continue.

"It's confusing, Janice because it's all fuzzy in my head."

"Okay, then why don't you just tell us the little snippets you remember."

"I remember running, and I remember Dad coming after me. He was trying to rescue me and then he shot someone… Kate I think."

"Neal…How did you break your wrist."

Neal began to cry, "I don't remember, Janice."

"Yes you do. You were running, Dad was chasing you and…"

"Kate was close and then Dad tackled me to the ground and … I reached out with my hand to stop from smashing into the bitumen as he landed on top of me and I felt the bones in my wrist snap."

"And did your dad shoot Kate?"

"Er…I'm not sure. I think so…But I remember being held down…Ah…I remember an explosion but no, I don't remember Dad shooting. There was too much fire, it was hot and loud and the smoke made it hard to breath."

"How did Kate die, Neal?"

"She's not dead Janice." Tears were flowing freely from the teenager's eyes.

"How did she die, Neal?"

Neal shook his head hoping to somehow make his own statement real. Eventually he looked at his mom, across to Janice and then twisted his head to look up at his dad. Peter nodded. "Come on, son. What happened to Kate?"

The boy curled back up against his dad. "She died in the explosion." The cries turned to sobs and Neal lay for a long time next to his parents weeping .

-W-C-

"You still having the dream, Peter?"

"Kind of. It's not as bad and it's not as frequent."

"Tell me, in the dream you're having now, do you catch him?"

Peter nodded. "But it's still a very frightening thought to consider how I almost didn't."

"I think you'll find over time, you'll accept that although it was a terrifying experience, everything turned out okay in the end. Give it a little while and we'll see if you're still having trouble sleeping a few weeks from now." Janice closed up her book and removed the glasses from her face. "Any news on Garry Fowler?"

"Nope. He's pretty much gone off the grid. I've got a team working on it round the clock though so hopefully we'll get a lead soon. There's evidently more to the story and others involved but I won't rest till I get to the bottom of it."

"Well maybe just a little rest... Here's a novel idea, why don't you try some of those relaxation pills I prescribed for you? You'll be no good to the family suffering from chronic sleep deprivation."

Peter gave Janice a small smile but did not commit. "What about Neal? What's next?"

"Obviously, we have a little way to go but after this week, he's finally going to start getting better. I expect the nightmares will gradually decrease in intensity and life should return to...normal in the Burke house over the next couple of weeks."

Peter gave the doctor a knowing look.

"I'll need to see him for a few more visits. We need to sort out his acceptance of you shooting Matthew Keller." Peter shifted in his chair. "Seems he remembers some, but not enough to work out what's going on in his head. He's blocked out a lot of the memories as a way of coping with a very traumatic event and the wires got crossed and pretty much fried when his mind also had to handle watching Kate die in the explosion. The issue of Keller however will be a lot easier to come to terms with than accepting and dealing with Kate's death."

"So what do El and I need to do?"

"What you always do, Peter. Love him, support him, and start construction of that dungeon in the basement as soon as humanly possible."