The Game
"I've got tickets for the game!" Peter said happily.
"What game?" Neal questioned with a smile. "I don't know anything about a game."
"The Harvard Crimsons are playing the Stanford Cardinals this weekend. I went to school at Harvard, so my college roommate asked to see me at the game. He sent me a ticket, so I got two for you and Chuck to come along too." Peter seemed to be excited.
Unable to believe the situation, Neal busted up laughing.
Looking at him, Peter wondered what was so funny.
Gaining control, Neal calmed down enough to speak. "You went to Harvard, they're playing Stanford, and you got tickets to bring Chuck and I to meet your old college roommate… and you don't even know." He continued to smirk at his puzzled older brother.
Shrugging at him, Peter said "Your point?"
"Chuck is my college roommate… from Stanford." Neal finally enlightened him.
Seeing the humor, Peter started to laugh with him. "So, it will be you, your college roommate, and your college competing against me, my college roommate, and our college team… This could be a lot of fun."
Calming down again, but still smiling, Neal liked the sound of it. "A little brotherly competition huh… This will be an interesting view into another aspect of what our childhood might have been like. You have met and started getting to know my best friend, but now I get to meet yours." Then he asked in an afterthought. "Do you think we would have fought over friends as kids?"
Sitting on the edge of his brother's desk, Peter thought about the question. "I don't know… As a kid, I remember some of my friend's younger brothers fighting for my attention, but the age and interests always made a difference." Then he smiled. "With Chuck, I don't want to steal your friend, but I can see myself being friends with him."
"Good, I don't want you to steal my other best friend, but I am happy that you can be friends with him." Neal was glad to hear that his brother enjoyed hanging out with Chuck.
"I hope you don't want to steal Derrick, but I look forward to introducing you to my other best friend. But, I do need to warn you. His father was swindled by a con artist… and he first heard of you as the con artist that I was pursuing." He was embarrassed and upset to admit.
"So, he might see me as a threat, and won't exactly be happy that you brought me along." Neal surmised.
Sighing, Peter wished that things could be different, but he knew that there was no way to bring that about. "Yeah, that is what I am afraid of."
"I think I can take that challenge… Did you know that even Chuck has absolutely hated me for several years?" Neal was determined to rise to the challenge.
"He hated you?" Peter was concerned. "I know something of that has been mentioned before, but explain. Why did he hate you?"
"Yeah, I got him expelled for cheating when he hadn't." Then he added like it was normal. "Oh, and I supposedly slept with his girlfriend."
"Why… what?" Peter was puzzled.
It was Neal's turn to shrug. "He was targeted and his life was being threatened, so I took him off of the radars… which included his girlfriend's bosses. She was ordered to get rid of him, and I was the easiest way for her to do that."
"That... that is so..." Peter didn't know what to think about that.
"My life, Peter. This is how my life tends to go." Neal wasn't upset by it, it was just how life went for him.
Determined to change that, Peter wanted to work on his brother's perspective of his self worth.
Walking through the ticket line, Peter guided Neal and Chuck to the rendezvous point.
As they approached, Neal saw Derrick's face fall. The man had clearly been looking forward to some special time with his old friend.
"Hey Derrick" Peter greeted his old friend with a hug.
"Peter!" Derrick greeted in return. Then he turned to the others awkwardly standing behind Peter. "Who are your friends?"
Standing proudly, Peter gestured towards Neal. "It turns out that I have a brother… meet Neal Caffrey and his friend Chuck."
Stumped, Derrick didn't know what to say about that. "You have a brother? Since when?"
"Remember when I told you about the school year that my mom was sick?" At Derrick's nod, he continued. "She was pregnant with him during that time, and dad was out of work… he barely survived because his adopted parents paid for the procedures to save his life." Peter still felt a little odd saying that. It wasn't a normal or expected story.
"You didn't know?" Derrick couldn't believe it.
"Not until we were both poisoned in the field and the doctors did extensive testing that revealed our shared genetics." Peter summarized while the others winced behind him.
"Uh, congratulations? You always did want a brother." Derrick wasn't sure how to react. Sure Peter had a brother after all, but did he really have to be a con?
"Thanks." Peter could sense Derrick's mixed feelings.
Transitioning the awkward moment, Chuck suggested that they go find their seats. Eager to be doing something, the others agreed.
As they walked, Peter noticed that Neal seemed to be looking around more than usual. "Neal?"
Sensing his brother's question, Neal answered carefully as he was aware of Derrick's attention. "I haven't been around my college classmates since we graduated… if we run into anyone, things could get really awkward."
Finding their seats, Peter was between Neal and Derrick. It was an awkward place to be, but he dealt with it as he wanted them to find a means of getting along. Neal didn't have a problem with Derrick, but Derrick had a huge problem with Neal's character.
When Chuck decided to go grab some food, Peter volunteered to go with him in order to give Neal and Derrick a chance to talk without him present.
"Do you want anything Neal?" Peter asked.
Since it was a baseball game, Neal told Peter to get him whatever he felt was appropriate for the occasion.
Mouthing to his brother, Peter reminded him not to hold Derrick's opinion against him too baldly. Then he went with Chuck to get the food.
"You're the lucky one you know." Derrick said. "Peter is a good friend and has always been like a brother to me. I watched out for him in school because he is a little younger than me and I have two younger brothers of my own, so it felt natural." Then he turned to Neal. "He told me about you when he was chasing you… I will be nice to you because you are his brother, but don't expect me to like you or welcome you into my home, because that is never going to happen!"
Neal nodded. "I accept your terms, and I know that I am incredibly lucky. Not only do I get to be friends with Peter, but I get to have him as a brother." He paused for a moment. "And I understood your perspective of him, I really do. You see, Chuck was my college roommate, and I have watched out for him for years." Turning, he extended his hand to seal the deal. When Derrick took it, he shook his hand briefly. "Thank you, Peter hoped that we could at least get along."
"Tolerate is more like it." Derrick huffed.
"I can deal with that." Neal said as he settled in to watch the game.
Returning with the food for him and Neal, Peter could see that they had at least come to an agreement. Sure they weren't smiling and laughing like friends, but he didn't expect that. "Here is your food Neal." He tried to pass it over. When Neal didn't respond, he called his name again. "Neal?"
Startled, Neal looked relieved to see him. Accepting the food, he tried to act like nothing had happened.
"What is going on?" Peter's intuition sensed that something was wrong.
"After you left, someone tried to rob the concession stand." Neal stated the fact.
"How do you know that?" Derrick questioned suspiciously.
Pointing to his ear, Neal signaled the answer.
"Ear pieces? Have you and Chuck been wearing them ever since he has been here?" Peter questioned.
"Yeah, he gave them to me when you weren't looking. It's just a way to keep in touch without the obvious things, like our phones." Sighing, he continued lower so that only their party could hear. "There is a reason that the agencies sent a body guard Peter. Remember, there are a lot of people out to kill me, so it is important that Chuck and I keep in touch… just in case anything happens."
Accepting the explanation, Peter asked. "Is everything okay down there?"
"Peter… Chuck maybe a civilian contractor now, but he can still handle three amateurs." Neal commented. "Besides, the police have shown up and are taking over."
"Then why were you nervous?" Peter asked.
"Because, neither of us knew where you were, or if that was a distraction for something else." Neal answered easily.
"Do you really think that these people would use me to get to you?" Peter questioned.
"They used Chuck's sister to kill his father… so yeah, they would use you to get to me." Neal shuddered.
"I thought he was alive?" Peter asked.
"He is, but he wasn't always." Neal refused to say anything more.
Although they were late to arrive, eventually the people for the seats in front of them showed up. As they figured out who was sitting where and how to arrange their belongings, one of them was moving to lay his jacket on the seat right in front of Neal.
"Bryce?" The man was shocked. "You're supposed to be dead!"
Closing his eyes briefly, and mentally face palming, Neal wasn't surprised by his luck. "Jake." He acknowledged. The man was going to know anyway, as soon as Chuck returned.
"How dare you! After what you did to Chuck, you should be ashamed to show you face around in public." He seethed.
"An old classmate of yours?" Peter questioned smoothly from beside him.
"Yeah, meet Jacob Lawson. Jacob, meet Peter. He's my brother." Neal introduced them.
"Brother?" The man spluttered. "You don't have a brother!"
"Yeah, he does." Chuck answered as he stood at the end of the row waiting for them to notice him. Moving into his seat, he settled in next to Neal.
"Chuck?" Jacob was speechless.
"He saved my life with his actions, and he had nothing to do with Jill. Stop hating him, I have."
"What?" Jacob didn't know how to respond to that. "How is getting you expelled for cheating, when you didn't cheat, saving your life?"
Shrugging, Chuck answered vaguely. "My test scores had attracted attention. By the time Bryce caught on to what was happening, there wasn't anything else that he could do." Then he tagged on. "Oh, and you didn't see him here. Bryce is still dead as far as the world in concerned."
Completely confused, Jacob stood there speechless.
Taking pity on an old friend, Neal told him the least that he could without endangering him. "I work for the government. If certain people find that I am still alive, then I'll be dead again, and my family that I just learned about will be in danger." Looking at him honestly, he continued. "I'm not asking you to understand or forgive me, just that you leave the situation alone for your sake, and my family's."
"Don't worry about him Jake. I know who he actually is, what was going on in college, and the current situation." Chuck added on.
Breathing deeply, their old friend was still trying to catch up. "So, we ostracized you, for nothing?" He questioned Neal.
Shrugging, Neal didn't take offense. "I did get him expelled, so you were half right."
Nudging him in the side, Chuck didn't like how he took it so lightly. "Your actions helped to keep the secret Jake. Now, our families all depend on the secret being kept… our very lives depend on it."
Looking sorrowfully at Neal, Jacob apologized. "I'm so sorry man… the things that we did to you. We thought that we were defending a friend, we had no idea…"
"Don't worry about it. The people that were going after Chuck… some of them would have killed me for doing what I did, so your actions really did help to save my life and protect his." Neal had dealt with it in perspective at the time, so he had no regrets.
As the game heated up, the group paid little attention. Neal, Chuck, and Jacob were making up for lost time as they talked; while Peter and Derrick made up for lost time between getting involved with the other's conversation.
When the game came to an end, Peter was happy to see that the Crimsons had beat the Cardinals… he had won the bet with Neal.
Packing up, Jacob was saying goodbye to the group. "Hey, can I keep in touch?" He nervously asked.
Exchanging glances, Neal and Chuck came to an agreement. "It's not safe to risk exposing Bryce, but I can keep in touch with you, and then pass anything on to him that you would like me too." Chuck offered.
Relieved, Jacob agreed to the arrangement and exchanged contact information before he left.
Continuing to sit with Derrick as the crowds thinned out, the group talked some more.
"So, you aren't such a criminal after all… are you?" Derrick chanced to guess.
"No, he isn't." Peter answered. "I don't even know everything, but I can assure you that he is more than he seems."
Changing his mind, Derrick decided to present an offer. "Then… I guess I owe you an apology as well, Neal. When we met earlier, I was seeing you as the man who swindled my father, as just another con artist looking to take advantage of people. If you don't mind, I would like to get to know you as you… and maybe we can be friends after all?"
Smiling softly, Neal shook his hand again. "Peter warned me that that would be the case. I would love to get to know you too, and maybe we will turn out to be friends after all."
Arriving back at the Burke's, Neal decided to make good on his side of their deal. Walking the familiar path to the attic, he brought his box of academic memorabilia down. "There is a lot in here Peter… I took fencing, gymnastics, and dance in addition to track, and for academics, I studied computer engineering and accounting. I'm an athlete and honor student… we have a lot more in common that you used to think."
Collecting in the living room, the Burks and Bartowskis all settled in to tell about their days and to exchange stories from their academic pasts. Peter even pulled out his box to share with Neal as they all laughed and bonded together as a family.
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