Chapter Fourteen

"I should have taken that Vicodin prescription…or at very least taken the day off."

Sitting at his desk Neal rubbed at his temples against the unrelenting headache. Determined to ignore the pain and the desire for opioids Neal closed his eyes for a moment only to be assaulted by a flash of adrenaline. He still didn't have any clear memories of why he felt so uneasy, but something kept jolting his fight or flight instinct. Trying to remember anything about being in the woods Neal jolted violently as an unfamiliar cell phone rang out. His phone had been ruined by the pool, but a new one had been waiting for him at home. Taking his new phone out of his jacket Neal glanced at the caller and furrowed his brow at the ID: 'Partner in Extrajudicial Activities'.

"Frost?"

"Oh good," Frost said brightly "you found the phone I left you."

"It was on my kitchen counter." Neal grumbled. "Stop breaking into my apartment."

"Sorry, the phone was expensive, didn't want a construction worker finding it since they are doing some finishing work on your floor today. And I was too afraid to face Peter again this morning to deliver it to you at his house."

"You are not his favorite person right now." Neal agreed.

"How about you?"

"He's more concerned about me than angry."

"No, I meant are you and I still good?" Frost asked.

"For now."

"I'll take that." Frost chuckled.

"Did you call just to see if you were in the dog house?"

"Yes, although I also wanted to let you know I'm pulling some strings to look into the Gardner case for you."

"Why?"

"You help on my cases, I help you on yours." Frost replied simply.

"You want to help on a FBI case? You didn't seem very interested before."

"I thought it might help with inter Agency relations." Frost explained.

"I haven't really had time to look into the Gardner, I've got a more recent case I'm working."

"Perfect, you solve that one, I'll get this one going for us." Frost said sounding excited. "Good luck with your first official FBI case…I'm sure it will go better than your first unofficial CIA mission."

"It would almost have to."

"Good point, but to be fair last night was a success even if was a little rough around the edges." Frost pointed out. "I'll let you know when I have something on the Gardner."

"Frost…"

It was too late to protest, Frost hung up before Neal got the chance. Neal was still very interested in the Gardner case but he wasn't sure if Frost's help was the kind of help he needed. Peter would be less thrilled to crack into the cold case if Frost was involved as well. Knowing there was no stopping Frost once he got his sights set on something Neal didn't bother calling him back. He was fairly certain that no amount of him asking Frost not to interfere was going to help.

"I wonder if this is what it's like to work with me." Neal mused.

Pushing thoughts of Frost aside Neal gathered up the folder he'd created for the Nazca Skull case and tucked it away in his drawer. Pulling out his shoulder holster he slipped it on in preparation to go meet the Bone Baron. The leather harness fit better now that Peter had sized it for him, but it still didn't feel very natural. Before he could retrieve his weapon from the lock box in his drawer there was a knock at his door.

"Come in."

Neal had been expecting Peter to open the door but it was Agent Aubrey who was now standing in his doorway looking like he couldn't make up his mind if he actually wanted to talk to him or not. Peter had told him he was going to give the Bashiri case to Aubrey but he hadn't even imagined that the seasoned Agent would come to ask for help. Neal doubted that he and Aubrey would ever really have a good working relationship. He knew that Aubrey suspected him in a laundry list of past crimes and it didn't help that he was right on most of them even if the hard evidence had never been there.

"Hello." Neal greeted.

"Agent Caffrey…"

"Please, just 'Neal'." Neal corrected. "Come on in."

"Thank you." Aubrey stepped inside and closed the door.

"How can I help you?"

"Agent Burke just gave me a new case, did he tell you anything about it?"

"No, I came into the office a little late this morning."

"Rough night?" Aubrey asked sympathetically.

"Something like that."

"What were you up to last night?" Aubrey asked trying to sound casual. "You're looking a little worse for wear today."

"I have certainly felt better." Neal chuckled.

"You didn't answer my question." Aubrey said sounding more official.

"I was trying to politely suggest that it isn't any of your business." Neal replied with a tight smile.

"Something tells me that it is."

"How so?"

"Agent Dammers says he saw you outside the Old Post Office Building yesterday around seven getting into an SUV dressed like a member of SEAL Team Six."

"Did he now?"

"This isn't a big city like New York, Neal, this is DC. Congressmen can't keep their affairs secret because there are eyes everywhere. So…what were you doing?"

"You caught me, Aubrey." Neal confessed raising his hands up.

"I did?"

"Yes. I was teaming up with my CIA buddies for some clandestine paintball in the woods."

"…clandestine paintball?" Aubrey repeated confused.

"It's not exactly legal. We hunt each other down using military paint rounds that are not available to civilians. They pack one hell of a wallop. You should join us some night." Neal offered before wincing in exaggerated pain and leaning to right as though he was uncomfortable sitting. "I do have to warn you though that my friends are ex-military and they *very* good shots. Kicked my butt last night…or rather shot it. You should see the bruise on my as…"

"That's okay, Agent Caffrey," Aubrey interrupted quickly taking a step back "I believe you."

"It's all in good fun, and my hope is that it will make me a better shot or at the very least better at avoiding getting shot."

"Does Agent Burke know about all this?" Aubrey asked doubtfully.

"The CIA friends: yes. The paintball: not so much." Neal smiled sheepishly. "I would rather he not find out."

"Not a problem, I would prefer if he didn't hear about any of this conversation either."

"Deal."

"Thank you, Agent Caffrey."

"'Neal'."

"Thank you, Neal." Aubrey corrected.

Neal waited to see if Aubrey was going to say anything more. Aubrey looked like he was debating on if he wanted to add an apology for being suspicious of him or not. Neal was a little surprised how quickly Aubrey had been to try and connect him to the Bashiri case which told him just how far he was from gaining the trust of the other Agents. At the same time he had to admire Aubrey not only for being right but believing in his own convictions enough to go against his Section Chief and question his partner. The way Aubrey didn't want Peter knowing about this gave Neal the distinct impression that Peter had already had a conversation with him about it. In the end Aubrey simply turned to leave. He got to the point where he had his hand on the door handle before he thought better of leaving and turned back around.

"Neal..."

"Yes?"

"…I meant what I said about DC," Aubrey continued after a brief hesitation "there really are eyes everywhere here and the actions of one Agent can end up reflecting poorly on us all. What you do with your personal time really is your own business, but you need to be more careful in the future to ensure that it stays private."

"I will be. Thank you for the warning."

"It's not a warning, it's just advice."