(Chapter 11)

Elizabeth had been surprised to hear about Mozzie returning to June's. She hoped he would be able to help when the weather cleared. She had missed visiting with him, his paranoia and stories about conspiracy amusing although he was quite the conversationalist once you got him started. He knew quite a bit on practically everything. She didn't doubt him for an instant when he said he had perfect recall. El sighed as she rolled over in bed and looked at the spot Peter usually occupied. She hugged his pillow to her and wished he was there. They were keeping her in the dark for now but she suspected they knew something more than what she had been told. Neal wasn't just missing because of the weather. She had heard a small spark of activity downstairs, people sounding quite excited about something when she finally got up around 9 AM to see what was going on.

"Diana? When did you get here? I guess the storm eased up a bit."

She smiled sleepily at the young woman who nodded as she shrugged out of her coat by the door. The coat was still slightly damp with bits of rain and sleet but it was melting quickly in the warmth of her home.

"I have good news. They found Peter and Neal. It will take a little while to get from where they are to here but they should be in town by this afternoon."

Elizabeth was relieved, hugging the young agent and smiling as she led her towards the kitchen.

"Thank goodness! I was worrying about Neal finding Peter and then this storm and his disappearance. Did you want coffee?"

She had almost forgotten to be the hostess she usually was but under the circumstances she had every right to be distracted. Diana nodded with a smile.

"They're both ok from what Jones and his crew found. You'll be reunited soon enough with your husband. I'm here to make sure of that."

Elizabeth smiled back as she poured some coffee from the machine into two cups and handed one to the agent. It was nearly empty as she started up another batch for the agents still on guard duty although she saw them starting to pack up their equipment and gear. That would mean whatever danger there may have been must be over. She really hadn't understood what had happened other than Peter had been kidnapped. By whom, nobody had told her.

"Diana... tell me honestly. Who was it took Peter? It wasn't just the storm that made Neal go missing."

She was being direct as she knew how to be and still be tactful. Diana looked a bit uncomfortable but finally turned an ear and eye back to the others before leaning forward to speak low.

"You didn't hear it from me till it's officially out but the man who had Neal the past year was responsible."

Elizabeth's eyes widened as she gave a little gasp, a couple of agents turning to see what was wrong when Diana waved them away. It took a few minutes for her to get her composure back as she stared at the young agent again.

"I thought... he was dead. How?"

Diana was about to say something else when her cell rang and she stood up to take it.

"Yes sir... She's right here. I will. Thank you."

She hung up the cell as Elizabeth waited for her answers.

"They airlifted Neal and Peter to the hospital and we're to meet them there. Hughes wants to give you a brief. Just keep what I said between us."

Elizabeth nodded uncertain if she could but if she had to in order to get all the facts she would as she stood and went to get dressed.

()()()

Peter was more than relieved when he saw the face of one of his agents come around the corner of the cavern. Jones walked towards him carefully along the slippery shoreline of rock and sand several agents behind him and what looked like a medic. He turned to see how Neal was, the con unconscious and leaning against his shoulder. Peter could see the wound on his friend's shoulder wasn't serious but it was bleeding still and needed care as did he, his head still swimming from being nearly drowned and from what remained of the drug Jankov had given him. He leaned back heavily against the rock wall and closed his eyes a moment.

"Peter? We need that medic over here stat!"

Jones was right next to him now as Peter opened his eyes and looked up. The agent was smiling down at him, crouching down with a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey boss, can you move?"

Peter nodded his head then turned his eyes to Neal who was leaning against him still.

"Neal's hurt. Jankov got him in the shoulder. Get him first."

Jones nodded as the medic came over with their kit and gently lifted Neal with the help of another agent and lay him on the ground a few feet away. Peter watched the medic working on him when he sensed Jones squeeze his shoulder and turned back.

"What happened here, Peter?"

They had just found Jankov over where he'd fallen and hit his head. The agent announced the man was dead as they closed his eyes and waited for more paramedics and crews to come in. Peter shrugged.

"Later. I need to make sure Neal's ok. He saved my life, Jones. Conners..."

He had a coughing fit suddenly, the chill in the air finally getting to him as his body shuddered with coughs as Jones hit him gently on the back till he stopped.

"What about Conners boss? He's in prison and he's not getting out any time soon after what happened."

Peter nodded as his eyes remained on his partner in the corner, the medic finishing up with the bandaging of the wound and throwing a small utility blanket over him. Jones offered Peter his jacket as the agent rose to his feet and someone brought a small stretcher for Neal.

"Conners set this up. Jankov / Lynkos was working for him and kept Neal away from us."

Jones blinked at him as they followed the stretcher out along the slippery path to the cool windy shoreline outside. Peter covered his eyes against the foggy yet still very bright sky. He'd been in the cavern long enough to get used to the dim light with Jankov keeping him in the dark. Jones helped Peter to the medical helicopter parked a few yards away as they lifted Neal in and strapped him onto a gurney. A warm blanket was wrapped around Peter as he entered the craft and was belted in a seat.

"We're calling to Hughes, Diana and your wife. They'll meet you at the hospital when you get there."

The agent was yelling now as Peter nodded and the copter took off. He watched Jones and the rest of the agents swarming the coast shrink to specks as the copter lifted up and he shivered despite the warm interior. Peter looked over at his friend just a few inches away on a gurney, Neal's face somewhat pale and ashen from their ordeal. He reached out a hand to grasp at Neal's as he felt the cool fingers in his own chilly hand and tried to warm it up. After a moment he felt a slight twitch from the younger man's hand as fingers slowly entwined in his. He watched Neal's face twitch as if he were trying to wake up. Peter reached over as much as he could and gently brushed at his friend's hair and saw the young man relax again, eyes remaining shut.

"It's ok, Neal. We're going home."

He felt an answering squeeze as he slumped back in the seat and fell into a tired sleep of his own.

()()()

Mozzie was awakened by the sound of a voice downstairs. He sat up, rubbing at his face as he looked around to find himself in Neal's old room. He knew where he was but it still gave him an odd feeling to wake up here after a year of missing his supposedly dead friend. There was a knock on the door before it opened quietly and June peeked in.

"Mozz?"

He looked up over the sofa back in the dimly lit room. The curtains for the French doors to the terrace were drawn closed and it was still overcast outside even for so late in the morning.

"I'm up. Has the weather cleared? I need to let the Suits know about Neal."

He pointed at his messenger bag he had slept with to be sure of it's safety. He trusted June but not any one else who might come in. She nodded, smiling at him as he approached her with a yawn.

"I have coffee and some croissants in the kitchen. We can eat something and then head over to see Neal and Peter."

Mozzie paused mid-step, looking up at her.

"So he's really here?"

He felt a relief fall over him having dreamed about the con being alive despite knowing his friend couldn't have survived the icy waters and possible shot that Peter had told him about. Mozzie had not wanted to believe, disappearing to dig in to the incident himself when the FBI stopped the man hunt officially after only a few weeks. He knew Peter had done his own investigation but found nothing after 6 months or more before he finally seemed to have given up hope. Mozzie continued to look into the incident despite knowing his efforts at worse might only find the culprit behind his friend's disappearance. They had Conners and his hired thieves in prison for the crime, Hughes having made sure they got the longest sentence and worst penalty possible. Only one of the men involved was looking at the death penalty while Conners and the rest would have life imprisonment without chance of parole. It was justice but to know the truth would further that cause.

June nodded back at him when he left his thoughts to pay her heed again. They left the stairs and walked to the dining room where there were already a couple of plates set out.

"Eat something, Mozz and then we can go see Neal and Peter. Elizabeth called me only a few minutes ago to tell me the good news. They found them both."

She sounded relieved aswell, June's body language expression her happiness at knowing Neal was back and the Suit was safe. Everyone had been worried about Peter since Neal's disappearance. He'd changed, part of the reason Mozzie had left. Everyone was so much more melancholy than he liked and he wanted to come back with enough proof to atleast improve the situation a bit. He looked up when June came back into the room with a plate of warm croissants fresh from the oven, butter, jam and that amazing Italian roast the Suit always liked. He wouldn't mind sharing with the Suit and his wife if they were here along with Neal. It would be like old times he thought as they both sat and ate a quiet breakfast in preparation for their visit.

()()()

Neal remembered staring the man down, his vision tunneling some towards unconsciousness but he had to continue before he left again. He'd died twice now and this time he was going to make his time count. He would have his revenge on the man who'd stolen the past year and a half of his life and hurt his friends. Jankov was obviously afraid of him, Neal unable to see what the man saw but could only imagine it had to be rather frightening to see a man come back to life from the other side. He had been trapped in darkness and then somehow against all odds returned only to feel this anger and darkness fill him with the strength to stand against the man. That's why he thought he must not be alive but only resurrected by revenge to save Peter and then leave to rest in peace. He felt so empty and cold, the gun shot to his shoulder barely fazing him as he looked down at the red stain that appeared but kept on going as if nothing happened. That seemed to frighten Jankov even more as the man turned to run, gun dropping as he did so. The huge man was not very agile on the slippery surface of the cavern's shoreline. He slipped and fell and there was a loud crack as his head hit a rock. Neal watched the man stare up at him with fear in his eyes that changed to a blank expression as his monster finally died, ending his nightmare.

He gazed down at the discarded gun as he limped towards it, crouching down to pick it up, the metal cool in his already cold empty shell of a body. Neal wasn't sure he was the man he used to be and this new feeling of emptiness only amplified that to his fevered mind. He wanted to shoot holes in the man's body and desecrate it as the crewmen had done to the fake Lynkos. That man had been cruel but he had not been the true monster. Jankov had used the other man as a dummy captain to scare everyone into submission while the real captain played the gentle giant and pretended to help. He started to lift the gun when he heard a familiar voice.

"Neal..."

His hand tightened on the handle of the gun as he continued to lift it up.

"Neal... he's dead. He can't hurt you any more."

Neal stared at the dead man, the monster who'd played both friend and tormentor at one time and then dropped the gun to the sandy ground. The emptiness had caught up with him as he listened to Peter's voice and collapsed beside the weapon, cheek laying against the cold wet sand. It was rough against his skin but it felt so real as his eyes started to close. He winced ever so slightly at the shoulder wound wondering if that meant he wasn't dead. The dead didn't feel pain did they? He played with the thought in his head as he had a coughing fit, chest tight from the cool air, his lack of shirt beyond the wet tee he still wore. His body shuddered as the cold seemed to seep through him to his very bones, a comforting pair of arms holding him suddenly. Someone patted him on the back to help him clear his lungs as he started to calm down, their voice soothing him as he started to feel less cold and leaned against their shoulder. He wanted to turn back time and start things over again, lose the past year and start again. He would make himself NOT go after those thieves and just stay behind with his friends.

"It's ok, Neal. Just breath slowly. Take it easy. Relax."

He nodded sleepily as his body gave into exhaustion and he passed out. Neal could still sense sound and motion around him but it seemed so far off as his mind took him back a year or so and he started to imagine how life would have been.

Neal didn't trip the man up, the masked thief jumping onto the speedboat and disappearing into the darkness with his crew and the loot. He felt like he'd failed his friend as he heard footsteps approach, the sound of a gun being clicked back to safety and a comforting hand on his shoulder. He wanted to shrug it off but the hand remained as he felt himself turned around. Peter stood there, a relieved look on his face.

"I could have stopped them, Peter. I could have..."

He saw the agent shake his head and look at him with a warning glance of a father or older brother.

"You'd have gotten yourself killed and put me in line for a heck of a lot of paperwork. You think I like paperwork? Better to have your butt here in person than on paper as a statistic. Understand?"

Neal nodded, smiling slightly at the skewed manner Peter had of telling him he was glad he was safe. The agent mussed his hair to his dismay as he pulled back slightly and sighed.

"Conners was behind this. You heard what they said? I was going to be his body double and then he was going to vanish."

Peter nodded both men turning as they heard the agents swarm the yacht and heard the sound of sirens out on the water. Peter listened in on his small ear piece a moment then smiled.

"Looks like they caught Conners trying to leave the country. And the Coast Guard just caught those thieves a few miles up the channel. I think we have it all covered, Neal. Good work!"

He smiled at his friend feeling secure finally that he had done good so close to the end of his sentence. He was almost free of the anklet and his obligation to Peter and the FBI...

A frown touched his lips as he thought about it. Mozzie would be so ecstatic to know he wasn't under the thumb of the man anymore but what would he do? He'd have to leave June's. Neal couldn't think to impose on her kindness any more than he already had no matter what she said. He wouldn't feel right staying there without paying.

"Neal?"

He turned to see his friend staring at him worriedly.

"Peter, what's wrong?"

The scene started to fade, voices growing dim as the memory started to fade.

Memory... he was dreaming wasn't he? Remembering something that hadn't happened.

"Neal, wake up..."

oOoOoOo

Author's Note: Thanks for all the kind comments on my story. Still trying to figure out how to end this one. I've got at least another chapter to post after this that's nearly done. Thanks again for reading! :D