A Friend In Need

A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing! It means a lot to me!

Chapter 2

Late afternoon sunlight came through the window as Elizabeth Burke duly sat, ankle elevated and frantically working the phone trying again to reach Yvonne and get the caterer straight about what was expected, no, demanded of her. She sighed; no word from Yvonne (now she was worried there, hoping nothing bad had occurred) and elevating her ankle had done nothing more than give her a nice view of it swelling more by the moment. It was still incredibly painful and Satchmo had spent the afternoon outside simply because she just hurt too much to jump up and down to cater to the dog's whims.

The phone rang, interrupting her dark thoughts. She smiled when she saw the caller ID. "Hi, hon."

"Hey, hon," Peter's voice never seemed so welcome, even if he were across the country. "I'm sitting here in a pretty swank hotel, just wishing I could see my lovely wife sitting here with me."

El smiled even wider. "Oh really? You mean you haven't been hit on yet by those beautiful coed agents the Bureau recruits these days?"

She could just picture Peter's boyish grin. "Ah, no. But I've been told to hang out in the bar. So, maybe then."

"You'd better watch it, Agent Burke. I'll come and get you if I have to." She paused. "Provided I don't have to walk."

Peter's voice took on a worried tone. "Walk? What happened?"

"Oh, it is just so stupid. I took Satch out for a walk after you left and he saw a squirrel and then my ankle got twisted and-"

"What?" Her husband was on full alert now. "How bad is it? Do you need to see the doctor?"

El sighed. "It has swelled up and it hurts but I don't think it is doctor worthy. It's not as bad as yours was after that basketball game."

"Yeah, but I didn't have some fat cat event to take care of the next day. El, what are you going to do about that?"

"I'll be all right," Elizabeth said firmly, fingers crossed hopefully.

"I don't like this," Peter worried. "Look, there are any number of people I could call and take you to the doctor-"

"Now, hold on, mister," Elizabeth cut in. "I can handle this and it will be okay. I probably shouldn't have told you but-"

"But how would you feel if I did that and I didn't tell you," Peter shot back.

She smiled. "Point taken. And I did tell you, babe. Look, I don't want you worrying about this. There is nothing you can do about it and I can handle the event. I'm just waiting a call back from Yvonne. It will be fine. Now, tell me what you're doing tonight."

There was a pause, which told Elizabeth that Peter was still fretting. Finally, he said, "Not much tonight. Going to dinner with Larry Carlson from Philly, along with some others. Probably just sit around, drink and exchange war stories. The seminar doesn't start until tomorrow morning. Then, we'll all be hung over."

Elizabeth laughed and they chatted over some other things, until said Larry Carlson knocked on Peter's door, wanting to know if he could 'come out and play.' Very reluctantly, Peter, given a verbal push by El, hung up, promising to call back later. El clicked off the phone, feeling better for having told Peter but also a bit guilty, for he would be sure and worry about it tonight when he should be having fun.

She sighed; she had to stop panicking and grow up. And damn it, where was Yvonne?

…

Eight hours, a lot of coffee and a ton of files later, Neal sighed and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't been able to get a hold of Agent Blake so he needed plan B. Unfortunately there was no plan B so far. But even more so he needed a break. Yawning he stood up and stretched his legs while looking for Diana. He found her talking with Hughes and frowned. Those two were up to something and it annoyed him not knowing about it, although he suspected Peter behind all of this. It was Peter's way to show him that he had screwed up. And the problem was, Neal was well aware of his mistake but hadn't been able to say his apology to Peter. His partner had been fuming all the way back to the bureau and he had been sulking so both of them weren't talking to each other. And now Peter was on the other side of the country which meant he had to behave for at least another 2 days unless he didn't want to find himself into more trouble. Convinced that he had finished a relevant amount but still useless paperwork, he made his way to Diana who had spotted him as well and came towards him. "Do you like a coffee?" he asked her with the sweetest grin he could offer. It was worth a try at least.

"Why do you ask?"

"Just out of curiosity?"

"Oh c'mon Caffrey, you just want to go home," Diana told him bluntly. "And therefore you try to please me."

This woman scared the hell out of him sometimes. No wonder Peter was glad to have her back at the team. Both of them had the same attitude. "Uhm, yeah, well…that thought crossed my mind actually. I mean, that I could go home," he quickly added. "There's no way I would try to please you," he said and shook his head. "Above all, I'm almost done." Proudly he pointed to the stack of files that sat on his desk. "I'll even take the rest of it home and finish it this evening. Promise." He held up his hand like a boy scout. Maybe he could get some help from Mozzie with the files. His friend would love to take a look at those. At first he thought she would condemn him to more paperwork, so he tinkled with the eyelashes. "Pretty please?"

Diana let out a frustrated sigh. "I'll pick you up tomorrow morning seven o'clock sharp."

"I'll be waiting," Neal smiled and was to reply more as his cell phone rang. "Excuse me," he said and grabbed it. After a quick glance at the ID he accepted the call. "Hi Elizabeth. What's up?"

…

Instead of going home Neal found himself in front of the Burke house in Brooklyn. After he had knocked on the front door, he waited patiently but still clueless. Elizabeth's phone call earlier this evening had been a bit cryptic. If she wanted to talk about Peter then he wasn't in the mood for it. Hughes had already made a point about behaving so he didn't need another reminder. To be honest, all he wanted was to get home real soon so that he could finish the files because he had a special date planned for tomorrow evening. His plan was simple - the more files he would finish tonight, the less he had to do tomorrow evening. For months he had longed to visit the art exhibition taking place at the Guggenheim Museum. And the best thing about that was that the Museum was exactly within his 2 miles radius! He smiled when he heard noises and reached for his bag with the files as the door was opened. But his smile vanished as soon as he realized that El was standing on one foot only. "Elizabeth?!" Immediately he let go of the bag and grabbed El's arm instead. "What happened?" he asked concerned.

"A lot," El replied and sighed. She took a deep breath and leaned against Neal. "Everything's a mess and Yvonne called in sick and I am out of options at this point," she said. Her body language was clear; she was hurting and frustrated and above all desperate obviously because she had no help.

"Shh," Neal tried to calm her down. It was obvious that El was very upset. "Why don't we sit down and you explain to me what has happened to you?" Gently he guided her to the couch while at the same time he tried to avoid Satchmo who was constantly running around them. "Easy, pal. Easy," he approached the dog hoping that none of them would trip over him. As soon as they reached the couch, Neal helped her to sit down. "Do you want a glass of water?" he asked but didn't wait for an answer and went straight to the kitchen. A few moments later he returned and placed the glass on the table.

El nodded thankfully but didn't reach for the water. Instead she chuckled. "You know, I feel slightly embarrassed over the fuss. But to be honest, I really have nowhere to turn to."

Neal sat down next to her and embraced her with one arm. "Well," he said calmly, "why don't you telling me what's embarrassing you?" Although he sounded composed he was agitated inside because of the strange behavior of El. He could feel that El relaxed a bit and he continued to gently rub his hand up and down her upper arm. "How did you hurt your ankle?" he asked in order to start a conversation.

"It…it was my fault, not Satchmo's." She shook her head. "Sorry, I don't make any sense, do I?"

Neal smiled slightly. "Not quite. What did Satchmo do?"

"We were at the park this morning and then…I was lost in thoughts and I didn't pay attention. Satch saw a squirrel and wanted to go after it and I…my foot got caught and I twisted it."

"Ouch," Neal said and made a face. "Did you get checked out?"

"God, no! It's just a twisted ankle, Neal. I just need to put some ice on it. It'll be fine."

Being a good observer he said, "You seem quite upset, though."

Frustrated she ran a hand through her hair. "Tomorrow there will be a party and I'm supposed to host it. First I thought that I could handle things from home and that Yvonne would step in. But she called me two hours ago and said that she has come down with the flu and now I'm back at square one. Even worse, I just called the caterer to check things over again, " she stopped and shook her head in disbelieve, "and have to learn that they messed up with the schedules. Which means there will be no food at the party. And I can't find another one in this short amount of time." Despite the serious situation, she appeared calm when she added, " I have a mess on my hand and I don't know quite what to do."

Neal pulled his cell phone out of his inside pocket. "There will always be hope," he replied softly while he was already looking for solutions. "So…tell me about the party."

El blinked, obviously surprised by his confidence.

Shrugging with his shoulders, Neal started to grin. "If I am going to help you, I need as much information as possible."

"I really hate to ask you this, Neal, but-"

"No buts," Neal shook his head. "I'm already in, Elizabeth."

…

She had just made her painful way up to bed when the phone rang. There was no need to look at the number. "Hi, hon."

"El, how are you doing?" Peter's worry was evident in his voice.

She sighed; knowing he was probably ruining his time away with fretting about her. "I'm all right. Made it up the stairs," she added with a nervous laugh. She had assured Neal there would be no problem before he left but it had been a slow process.

"El, I can tell them I have a situation at home and I need to leave tomorrow. There's a flight going out at 8am; I could be on it."

"Peter, if I were in the hospital I would tell you to take that flight right now. But I'm not and I don't think the Bureau would approve of you coming home just to help me with an event."

"What happened to Yvonne?" Peter asked flatly, like he had already guessed there was trouble.

El frowned; it really was so tiresome being married to a smart man sometimes. "She, uh, is sick."

Her short answers had ratcheted up her husband's worry. "Okay, what is going on? How are you handling this?"

Elizabeth visibly composed herself. "Okay, Agent Burke. Here is the situation. Yvonne is ill and she can't help me for the event. My ankle hurts – big time. But I have help; really good help." She paused. "I called Neal."

There was a long silence on the line, so much so that El began to worry that Peter's cell had dropped the call. "Peter, say something! Are you upset?"

After an audible sigh, her husband finally spoke. "El, I am so sorry I'm not there."

"Peter, it is not the end of the world. Although earlier today I thought it might be. I really kind of freaked out over the whole thing. But Neal came right over when I called and he is going to help me tomorrow." A light dawned. "But this will make it awkward for you at work, won't it?"

"Well, it is pretty tough to discipline somebody who is helping your wife out, on his own time. But that isn't my primary concern, El. I should be there."

"And I wish you were here. But I am not going to have you in trouble at work because I took a fall. Neal will be here and he will help me. You don't doubt that, do you?"

"No," Peter answered promptly, to her great relief. "You can count on him, El."

"Then we'll deal with everything else after you get back," Elizabeth replied firmly. After that the talk drifted to trivial things and ended with her commanding her husband to go back downstairs to the bar and have some fun. After they hung up, she sat on the edge of the bed, looking thoughtful. Neal had done some very questionable things to her husband and some downright sneaky ones. But she truly believed he would not use this situation to his advantage. If nothing else, there was no Kate to find, nor treasure to hang onto. But she hoped she hadn't put Peter in a difficult situation nonetheless.

To be continued…