White Collar: The Nightingale

Chapter Twenty-three

"Peter, we have to do something."

"Stay behind me."

Neal silently agreed and fell in step behind Peter. For the first time he wished he had a gun so that they could flank Zhang. Unarmed he was more likely to be in the way than any sort of help if a fire fight broke out. Peter flicked the safety off his own weapon and carefully made his way towards the men's voices.

Despite the chilly autumn night Neal noticed that the back of Peter's neck was slick with sweat. He had never known his friend to sweat under pressure. Combined with his clearly labored breathing Neal started to worry that even with the protection of kevlar the gun shot was far more painful than Peter was admitting too.

Neal's attention was brought back to the problem at hand when he heard Hsing whimpering. Peter came to a sudden stop and used a hand signal to let Neal know that he planed to circle around to the right. The center of the warehouse had been cleared to act like a showroom floor. Palettes of fifty pound bags of rice along the right side of the clearing provided the perfect cover as well as a view of the scene.

Hsing was on her knees facing a well dressed Asian man that Neal did not recognize. His long slicked back hair however suggested that he was Yakuza. Zhang was standing behind Hsing with the Nightingale sword against her throat. From their vantage point Zhang had his back to them. Peter tapped on Neal's shoulder and pointed out a table about ten feet from the men that held a small box connected to a car battery, wires attached to the box flowed off the back of the table and across the floor.

"Fire starter." Peter whispered. "That man was at the Nightingale ceremony."

"You have gone too far, Zhang." The Yakuza snarled.

"Me?" Zhang spat. "I am not the one plundering another man's country for whores."

"Who cares? They would starve to death in the slums of China anyway."

"These women are mine now, Riku."

"So you can sell them?" Riku hissed. "You're a hypocrite."

"Guilty. If you want the Nightingale back you'll leave New York tonight and never return. I even hear a rumor that you're in town I'll kill her." Zhang threatened. Hsing started crying as Zhang pressed the blade harder against her throat.

"She isn't who you think she is. Kill her. Keep the sword. I don't care."

"You are a terrible liar, Riku. If this sword doesn't make it back to Japan the Yamaguchi-gumi are going to be looking for revenge. Who was in charge of the security of the Nightingale display? Wasn't that you? Interesting that of all the men killed that night you survived..."

"They know I would never betray them."

"Then they will kill you simply for failing them."

Riku tried to keep his composure, however he clearly knew that Zhang was right. Neal was having a hard time just watching as Hsing trembled in fear. He looked to Peter and could see that he was calculating the best position to be able to cover both men to hold them until Jones and the others could move in.

"Fine." Riku growled. "The warehouse is yours. Give me the sword."

"I will have it sent to you in Japan."

"You know they won't let you keep her."

"You let me worry about that."

With the transaction coming to a close the palpable tension between the men eased slightly. Zhang relaxed the pressure on the sword. It was the moment Peter had been waiting for. He brought his wrist up to his lips to whisper the word to Jones to bring in back up. Peter took a breath to speak when there were shots fired outside. Something had gone wrong outside and a fire fight had broken out. From inside the containers the sounds of fear and cries for help added to the sudden chaos.

Before Neal could even react Peter bolted out from behind their cover. With his gun held at chest level he moved into a position to bring both men into his line of sight. Zhang and Ruki stared at Peter in shock as he bared down on them with all the menace of an angry lion.

"F.B.I!" Peter barked with authority. "Drop the sword! Drop it! Hands where I can see them, both of you! Now!"

Even Neal felt the need to bring his hands up. Zhang clearly saw Peter as a threat and dropped the Nightingale. Since Zhang was closer to the hostage Peter kept his weapon trained on him. The Riku took the opportunity to make a break for the fire starter. Neal went to shout a warning, but Peter was faster. He switched his aim and fired.

A chaotic chain of events broke out faster than the blink of an eye.

Riku crashed to the concrete floor having been shot through the chest. Simultaneously Peter cried out breathlessly and fell backwards. Landing hard he lost his grip on his gun and it clattered across the floor. Arching his back Peter gasped for breath as bright crimson blood erupted from his lips. Neal rushed up to his fallen partner and dropped to his knees next to him.

"Peter!"

Neal didn't understand what had happened, there hadn't been another gun shot and Peter didn't appear to be hit. All he knew was that his friend was drowning in blood. Slipping his hand under Peter's shoulder Neal forced him onto his side. Peter growled in pain as he violently spat a mouthful of blood out. On his side Peter was able to breath easier but he was still struggling for each breath. When Peter started convulsing Neal carded his hand into Peter's sweat drenched hair in a desperate attempt to calm him. In his panic Neal had completely forgotten about Zhang until he heard his deep chuckle.

"A little old to be taking shots to the chest through kevlar aren't we, Agent Burke?" Zhang mocked.

Neal looked up at Zhang and found himself staring at the muzzle of a gun. Neal bared his teeth at Zhang like a junk yard dog as he kept his protective stance over his fast fading friend. In the distance Neal could hear the gun fire still raging, either more of Zhang's or Riku's men must have arrived. Peter tried to push himself up to offer Neal a small amount of cover from Zhang, but he failed and collapsed once again.

"Looks like you're a murderer after all, Mr. Caffrey."

Neal turned his attention to Peter as Zhang cocked his gun. Neal accepted the idea that they had lost and waited for Zhang to fire. When Zhang cried out in pain and dropped his gun Neal jerked his head up. Neal wasn't sure what had happened until he noticed the slim point of the Nightingale sticking out of his chest.

Grabbing at the sword Zhang dropped to the floor. He slid off the sword revealing Hsing standing behind him with the bloody sword in hand. She was still crying and shaking like a leaf. Zhang didn't fight the way Peter was, his eyes simple lost their focus as he released his final breath. Hsing dropped the sword and backed away in horror.

Everything had happened so fast that Neal didn't have time to process all of it. Peter started coughing as his condition quickly deteriorated. Still helping him stay on his side Neal worked Peter's tie loose to try and help him breath. Tearing open his shirt Neal gasped, the red mark he'd seen before over Peter's heart was now an angry deep purple. Peter fought to stay awake as his skin began taking on a blue tint.

"Neal..."

"Peter... Help! Someone help, please! Agent down!"