((warning, you know what I'm going to say, I don't own property of USA network, more slash, slashy jokes and some amusing antics in this chapter))
Chapter 2: Shut Down
Peter woke the next morning to a silent city, as he started to roll over he felt something behind him. "Neal I told you to stay on your side of the bed…" Peter said as he turned and found Neal hugging Satchmo who had taken to sleeping between him and Neal. With a small smirk Peter rubbed Satchmo's head "Good boy," he whispered as he got out of bed and made his way over to the large French doors and sighed at the snow before pulling out his cell phone out and called Jones.
"Hey boss, the city is shut down today I managed to get into the office this morning along with a few of us did. Did Neal call you yet? I heard his end of the city lost power last night," Jones said while typing up some information on his computer. "I'm at Neal's now; I had to spend the night," Peter said as he walked over to the small kitchen area and began to make coffee. "Look we're snowed in for the day at least; I want you and Diana to take point on the gallery case and keep us updated," Peter added as he began to make coffee.
Neal slowly woke up to the smell of opened coffee grounds he slipped out of bed and moved across the room until he was behind Peter. "Morning, did you sleep well?" Neal asked as he gave Peter a quick hug. "I'm on the phone Neal, get off," Peter hissed as he tried to push his partner off of him. Wanting to have some fun Neal smirked "Come back to bed its cold," Neal said as he quickly moved out of range of Peter's arm as he took a playful swing at him.
Jones bit his lip as he listened to the conversation on the other line. "I'll get to work on that gallery job right away." He said before hanging up and giving a small chuckle. He knew his boss would want to have some privacy in punishing Neal. Jones knew his boss was happily married; although he wondered why Peter was at Neal's all night. Must have been something important, Jones thought as he pulled up the case file on his computer.
Diana walked over "Did you get a hold of him?" she asked with a smile. Clinton debated whether or not to say anything in the end he gave into his amusement "I just got off the phone with him apparently he spent the night at Neal's and it sounds like they shared a bed," He said holding out his hand "Two months on the dot pay up," he said chuckling. Diana leaned over the desk "Until I see them making out on a desk in this office you're not getting a penny out of me," she said with smirk before she grabbed the folder off Jones' desk. "I still have two more months, then you will be paying me" Diana added as she sat at her desk and went back to work.
Peter looked at Neal "What are you trying do… make everyone think I'm having an affair with you?" he asked as he stalked towards Neal. "You know what this means right, you better assume the position on that foot board," Peter said sternly as he pointed to the bed. Neal smirked as he backed up away from the approaching agent. "What are you going to do to me if I don't bend over?" Neal asked with a smirk.
As he backed up Neal he forgot where the rug was and ended up slipping on it. Peter moved quickly and caught the other man from falling. "I don't need you cracking you head on the floor when we're snowed in," Peter said as he kept his arm around Neal's lower back.
"If you keep your hand there any longer Peter I might get mixed signals," Neal whispered as he felt his pulse rise a bit. "You are really strong to hold me up like this," he added as he felt himself being helped to stand up. Peter grabbed Neal by the arm and dragged him to the bed. Neal stood there and smiled "Come on Peter I was just playing around; do you have to keep spanking me… if someone else hears about it they might get the wrong idea," Neal said as he was forcibly bent over.
Peter held his hand out and began to spank Neal, and when he took a break he helped Neal stand up for a moment. "Do I need to continue or have you learned your lesson?" Peter asked. Taking a moment to think Neal smirked "In all the years I've known you I never knew you were into such a kinky action. I think I'll keep this to myself," Neal said chuckling softly. Peter looked at the other man. "So you think this is kinky, do you?" Peter said as he began to take off his belt.
Neal smirked "So are you going to bind my hands together, I'm not usually into bondage but I'm open to anything," he remarked as he held out his wrists. "I know you love putting hand cuffs on me so this should be a little more thrilling," Neal suggested as he took another step closer. Peter sighed in annoyance. "Fine you want to do that," Peter said as he roughly began to wrap the belt around Neal's wrists so his hands were facing each other he belted the belt and looked at the conman. "Happy now?" Peter asked as he pushed Neal onto the bed so he was sitting there.
"It was more for you than me; you always seem to smile when you handcuff me. So I thought maybe you would find this really amusing, unless I have to be committing a crime first," Neal remarked as he held up his bound hands. Before Peter could respond both men looked up when the doorbell rang downstairs. Neal wiggled his hands till he was free from the belt and tossed it back at Peter "Not much of a challenge but still fun," he said as he gave Peter a peck on the lips before running off to answer the still ringing doorbell.
Peter put his hand to his lips to rub to kiss off but he stopped and chuckled when he realized his wallet was missing from his back pocket. He really moves quickly, I didn't even feel him take it, Peter thought as he walked after Neal to get his wallet back.
Neal pocketed the wallet as he opened the front door "Alex? What are you doing here?" Neal asked as he backed up to let her in. Alex smiled "Well I lost my power and I was hoping that you still had power so I just trudged through nearly knee deep snow to get here, and I don't plan on leaving so I'm going to crash here for a while until the snow melts," Alex said as she removed her coat and tossed it at Neal.
Alex made her way up the stairs and came face to face with Peter "Oh you're here… did you spend the night?" she asked with a smirk. Peter pushed the blush back with his will power, "We shared the same bed but so did my dog so nothing happened that ever needs to be repeated to anyone," Peter warned. Alex smiled "Oh no deal, I'm holding onto this information to be used sometime in the future," she joked as she walked past Peter and into Neal's apartment.
Peter grabbed Neal's arm as he tried to walk past him "Give me my wallet back right this minute," he hissed as he held his hand out. Neal pulled the wallet out "I needed a little practice and you are a pretty easy target," Neal said as he handed the wallet over and went into his apartment. "So you came to visit, Alex do you know how close I almost got…you're not making this any easier for me," Neal whispered which made Alex smile. "Don't worry I won't be here too long, the plow trucks are starting to make their rounds so I'll leave as soon as the streets are done," she said as she took a seat at the table.
Neal took a seat at the table "You're not here just to visit I know you too well, you want my help on a job and the answer is no…" Neal said as he jerked his head to the door. "If he catches wind of any jobs it won't be pleasant, just tell me is it dangerous?" Neal asked. "Not too dangerous, the items in question are very worth it. I have to ask what do you know about daggers and swords." Alex asked with a smile. "I have a buyer who wants some museum quality pieces and there just so happens to be a large collection at the Met of Japanese swords and armor." Alex said with a smirk.
Before Neal could say anything Peter walked back into the apartment. "I'm going to try and dig my car out of the snow so stay out of trouble," Pete ordered as he grabbed his coat and left the apartment. Neal looked at Alex "You've always said you wouldn't want my help while I'm part of the FBI," Neal said leaning back in his chair.
Alex looked down at Neal's ankle "Um Neal your tracker is offline it has been since last night I'm guessing. All we have to do is get to the museum and get the swords before the city's power is restored," Alex said trying to get Neal to join her.
Thinking the offer over carefully Neal got up and grabbed a bottle of wine "Alex if you even try to rob the museum I'll be forced to tell Peter and you'll go to jail so I'm giving you the chance to back away now," Neal said as he uncorked the bottle and poured two glasses for himself and Alex before sitting back down, he held out a glass to her.
"Neal you have to help, if you don't then I might let it accidentally slip that a certain FBI agent is having an affair with a co-worker that happen to be male, even if it's not true it will ruin him forever," she said taking the glass from Neal. Neal felt his hand begin to shake in anger; he downed the wine in one gulp. "Fine, I'll do the job but know this I am doing this under protest," he said angrily as he put the glass down hard.
Peter watched Alex and Neal talking quietly on the couch. "I'm turning in early, all that shoveling took a lot out of me," Peter said not realizing that Neal had slipped a couple sleeping pills in his dinner. After changing into his sweat pants Peter crawled into bed with Satchmo who had fallen asleep already. Neal watched his partner slowly drift off, and when he was sure that Peter was sound asleep he got up and walked over to his dresser and began to look for a change of clothes.
"Just remember if anything goes wrong we have to get out of there right away," Neal said as he pulled a black turtle neck on. Alex rolled her eyes "Yes Mom," Alex said in an annoyed tone as she pulled her gloves on. "We have a long way to travel, I made a couple calls and the roads are open near the museum but none near here. We have to walk fifteen blocks and before we can get a car," she said as she tied her hair up.
Neal grabbed his own gloves and put them on "Let's just get this over with," he said as he grabbed his house keys and shoved them into his pocket before leaving June's house. As they made their way down the streets Neal looked at Alex "I almost forgot how manipulative you can be sometimes using anything to get your way," Neal said as he put his hands in his pockets as they walked through the empty city.
Alex moved over to Neal and hooked her arm around his "Okay we have to watch out for security. I know that they have at least two guards at night. But with the storm I doubt anyone's there," she added laughing a bit as they walked down the street.
Sighing loudly Neal felt the cold air on his face. "Alex instead of adding grand theft auto to this night of crime we're only four blocks away we should just walk the whole way," Neal said as he turned the corner. Alex laughed softly "I like the way you think, we are only going after only a few of the weapons since we won't be able to carry them all," Alex remarked as they finally came up to the steps of the museum.
Neal pulled Alex down the small alley to the service doors. "It shouldn't take too long for me pick this lock," Neal said as he pulled his lock picking set out of his coat pocket and began to work on the locks. After a couple seconds Neal stood up "There now let's get this over with," he remarked as he held the door open for Alex.
Grabbing Neal by the arm Alex led him through him through the doorway; where she pulled a flashlight out of her pocket. After turning the light on she pulled Neal down the hall to the main staircase. Neal looked around with the small beam of light from his own flashlight, the thrill of being in a museum at night when he knew it was illegal made his adrenaline rush. As they headed down the second floor hallway Neal felt his sense working in overdrive to make sure there was no one else around other than Alex.
When they got to the door leading into the exhibit Neal once again pulled out his lock picking set again and began to work on the door before pocketing the kit again and walking inside to look around. "Which ones are we stealing?" Neal asked as he scanned the room with his flashlight.
Alex walked away from Neal until she came up to a display case where she looked the weapons over before she raised her flashlight and smashed the case open. "Hurry and grab a couple swords" Alex whispered as she grabbed a few swords. Neal bit his lip and quickly debated whether or not to just run, when he thought of Peter losing his job Neal threw all rational thought aside as he grabbed two short swords and shoved them into his belt.
"That's the spirit Neal, you've been too brainwashed too long by the FBI" Alex said as she grabbed another sword. As they were grabbing the swords they both were unaware of the roaming security guard until he entered the room. Neal looked up when he heard a door on the far side of the exhibit hall open. Both were shocked when they were suddenly bathed in the light of another flashlight. Looking up with 'the deer in the head lights' look Neal nearly dropped his flashlight. "Run," he yelled as he turned around Alex dropped the last sword and took off keeping speed with Neal as they made a break for the door.
"Freeze!" the guard yelled as he pumped the shot gun he was carrying filled with bean bag rounds. When neither thief froze he took aim and fired. Neal cried out in pain, he felt his shoulder on fire where he had been struck. Keeping his mind on saving Peter's job Neal sucked up the pain and kept moving throughout the darkness following Alex's flashlight beam.
The guard pumped the gun again and took another shot hoping to take the intruders down before they got away. Alex barely looked over her shoulder as she ran down the main stairs she saw the emergency lights that led to the service hall. "We're almost there, hurry up" she said as a beanbag round grazed her leg. Neal turned around to look behind him for a moment as he ran the guard shot off another round catching Neal in the chest and throwing Neal back a few steps. Neal caught himself before he fell to the ground; he put his uninjured arm over his chest as he ran down the hall and out the door into the dark city.
Alex laughed as she grabbed Neal by the arm and pulled him into an alley "What a rush, I mean I haven't done anything like that in years," Alex said as she laughed as she turned to Neal. "I only did this to save Peter's job," Neal said as he moves his arm from his chest and pulled the swords from his belt and shoved them into Alex's arms. "Take them, I'm already risking more jail time by being out of my radius," Neal said as he walked out of the alley slowly. "I'm going home," he added as he put his arm back over his chest and slowly began to walk away in pain.
Neal groaned as he made his way through the dark streets of New York until he reached June's mansion. Peter is going to kill me when he finds out where I've been, Neal thought as he slipped in the front door and up the stairs to his apartment and on his way up the stairs he removed his gloves and coat. Once he was inside the apartment he threw his coat and gloves on the floor, after finding Peter and Satchmo still asleep on the bed he sighed lightly. Being thankful for small favors Neal made his way over to the couch and collapsed onto his uninjured side to get some sleep. As soon as his head hit the back of the couch he groaned in pain before falling into a restless sleep.
As Peter woke the next morning he sat up and saw Neal sleeping upright on the couch, the FBI agent climbed out of bed and looked at the other man. Right away he could tell something was off about the ex con. Attributing the feeling to a dreamless sleep Peter walked into the bathroom and got ready for the day, when he got out of the bathroom he heard his phone vibrating on the dining room table. He snatched the phone up and opened it. "Burke… oh morning Diana, Neal and I will be in soon I just have to wake him up; he fell asleep on the couch so it should be easy to wake him," Peter said as he tied his tie and looked around for his shoes.
"The streets are pretty much clear now boss, oh we have a new case I'm sure it will pique Neal's interest. It seems that someone took advantage of the power loss in the city and decided to break into the Metropolitan Museum of Art and stole four Japanese swords on display, the guard said there were at least two of them. The guard is here if you want to talk to him," Diana said.
Peter looked back over at Neal who had begun to stir "We'll be in as soon as we can; when we get in I want to talk to him. Have him tell you everything in as much detail as he can remember about the intruders. I see you when I get to the office," Peter said before hanging up and turning to Neal who was walking over to him rubbing his neck a bit. "What's with the all black look?" Peter asked as Neal walked over to the dresser and pulled out his clothes for the day.
Neal looked down at himself and realized that he was still wearing his clothes from the night before. "Alex spilled her wine on my shirt so I changed and I didn't even realize it was black," he said with a fake smile as he walked into the bathroom to change. "I'll be out in ten minutes," Neal called as he bit his lip keep himself from screaming in pain as he raised his shirt over his head.
When he was sure he wasn't going to black out from the pain he looked at the sickeningly black and purple bruise on his ribs, turning so his back was to the mirror he looked over his shoulder at the matching bruise that had spread from his collar bone to the middle of his back.
It won't take long before the FBI finds out about the missing swords, Neal thought as he struggled to get his shirt on. After a painful dressing Neal made his way out of the bathroom and found himself face to face with a portable cup of coffee for the ride to work. "You made coffee?" Neal asked quizzically as he took the cup with his left hand and sipped the coffee.
"June came home earlier this morning and she had coffee made for us before she went to bed, it seems that she was stuck at the airport last night and she only able to get back about hour ago," Peter said sipping his own Italian roast. "Before we head if I thought I would fill you in, we have a new case. It seems that someone broke into the Met last night and stole a few swords from an exhibit," he casually said relaying the information he got from Diana although he held back some information.
Neal nodded "It doesn't surprise me that someone took advantage of the power and stole those Japanese swords," Neal said as he walked past Peter sipping his coffee. Peter looked at the other man "I never said what country they were from," Peter said looking at the other man "Do you care to explain how knew which ones were stolen," he added waiting for an explanation. With a forced smile Neal turned around and looked at Peter "Well it's pretty obvious the swords are from Japan since that's the only weapon exhibit at the museum right now; it may be out of my radius but I still follow what exhibits are there," Neal remarked as Peter let out a huff and opened the door and walked down to his car with Neal.
As they drove to work Peter watched Neal fidget out of the corner of his eye. Right away he had noticed Neal favoring the right side of his chest and right shoulder. "What happened, I noticed that you're favoring your right side," he said as he pulled into an open parking spot.
"I slept the wrong way so I'm just a bit sore, nothing a long day sitting in a comfortable desk chair won't fix," Neal said with a slightly sarcastic smile as he got out of the car trying not to yell out in pain as he moved his right arm. He walked into the building and said his usual hellos to the people at the front desk before riding up to the upper floors of the building. When they walked into the office and after Neal put his coat at his desk, he looked up at the conference room and saw Diana talking to a man dressed as a security guard. Right away Neal felt his stomach drop since he knew that the man had to be the guard from the museum sitting there talking to the agents.
Diana was taking notes as the guard talked "Can you remember any details that would help with this case?" she asked looking up at the man. He sat back in the chair he was sitting in "I caught them in the hall so I used the shot gun with the bean bag rounds and I think I hit the woman, I'm not quite sure but I know for sure I got the man in the should on the right side I think and I think I hit him a second time." The guard said letting his eyes wander for a moment as Neal and Peter walked into the room, he noticed Neal favoring his right side as he sat down.
"What are you playing at, that's the guy… if you don't believe me check him for bruises I shot him close enough to leave a bruise as big as a watermelon," he said as he watched Neal try to keep his composure.