Alex walked into the apartment, closing the door quietly behind her. She didn't want to wake anybody up as she didn't want to answer questions. She just wanted to go to bed and wake up tomorrow feeling a lot better. Most of all, she didn't want to deal with Kate right now. She wasn't sure if Kate was listening in or not and she would rather not deal with the crazy. She took off her coat and put it away before slipping off her shoes so she could silently go through the apartment. She was half way through the living room before a light came on and Gray looked at her. "Hello," she said quietly to Gray. "I didn't realize you were up."
"You took longer getting back than was necessary," Gray replied. "Where were you, Alex?"
"There was traffic," Alex replied, falling back on a lie. She didn't want to admit that she waited to see Neal and Peter go. Or that she called Neal after making sure that the wire was off.
"She's lying," Kate said as she came into the room.
"I am not," Alex replied as she didn't turn her head to look at Kate. She kept her eyes on Gray and what he was doing. "I am not lying. It took longer to get back due to traffic. I have no reason to lie."
"Yes, you do," Gray said as he got up out of the chair. "For the same reason that Kate first started to lie when she first met Neal. I thought I told you that you were not to follow the same pattern, Alex."
"I am not," Alex replied. "I am playing off of his emotions, nothing more. I know how to do that, even if some others think they have cornered the market." She regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. She had directed them towards Kate, but she soon realized that it would cover Gray as well. She looked down for a moment before looking back up. "I didn't mean to say that."
"Yes, you did," Gray replied. "It's alright, really. We all have our slips now and then. I'll forgive yours. I'll also want your cell phone."
"Of course," Alex said as she went into her purse for it. She raised an eyebrow and went over the counter. She dumped out the contents of her purse, knowing that Gray was following her as she did so. "Fucking Caffrey."
"A good excuse about your cell phone not being here," Gray said. "Where is it, Alex?"
"If it's anywhere, it's with him," Alex said. "You know how good a lift he is."
"True, I do," Gray said quietly as he touched Alex's shoulder. "But you're too tense for it just to be a simple lift."
"I'm tense about everything," Alex said as she moved away from him. She put everything back into her purse. "I just want to go to bed," she said quietly. "It's been a long day of being on cue."
"Of course," Gray said and moved to go into a different part of the apartment, leaving Kate and Alex alone.
Kate came up behind Alex. "So, how is he?"
"He's fine," Alex replied. "Alive, breathing, still a FBI rat."
"Still got the hat and good suits?" Kate asked as she looked at Alex to watch her responses.
"Of course," Alex said with a chuckle. "He wouldn't be Neal if he wasn't wearing them." She grinned as she thought of the memory of Neal naked in the pool. She looked up at Kate. "What?"
"He's mine, remember?" Kate asked. Her tone was a bit sharp, but it was true. She still considered Neal to be hers.
"You're dead to him, remember?" Alex asked. "Plus, he knows you're back now. I don't see him busting down doors to find you like last time."
"Only because he's on a leash at the moment," Kate said.
"He was on a leash the last time and he managed to find you," Alex pointed out. "Just let him go, Kate. He's done with you and you need to be done with him. There's no reason why to keep hanging on when he's not hanging on back. So, why not just let him go?"
"Because he's mine," Kate said and pushed Alex away from her. "Why do you need to have him?"
"I don't!" Alex yelled back. "But it's happening Kate and you cannot stop it like you did last time. Like you do every time I start to like something or am interested in! I got into being a thief, so you had to. The only thing you haven't been able to steal from me is mom's name!"
Kate grabbed the closest thing to her and hit Alex with it as hard as she could. She watched Alex go down to her knees and glared at her. "Dad was more proud of me than he could ever be of you. That's why he let you go with mom. I'm the better criminal! I'm the one who was able to disappear and then reappear! You are nothing!"
Alex chuckled at that. "Yes, the great Damien Moreau was so happy about you. It's why he made you leave home at fifteen and try to make something of yourself. Why, in all this time, he's never reached out a hand to help you. Never made sure that you were safe. You learned everything you could from dad, including how not to get attached to anyone. So why, sister dear, do you care so much?"
"Because I stole him and made him," Kate said. "And I used him to get even better than I was without him and his ideas of going straight again. So, if you want to stay alive, sister dear, I do recommend that you stay away from him. Or the next time, this is going to be a knife," she said as she put down the ball she had used to give Alex a black eye. She turned and walked away, going to her room and slamming the door shut.
Alex shivered and stayed on the floor for a moment before getting back up. She grabbed her wallet and looked to where Kate went. She made up her mind quickly on what she wanted to do. She went to her room and got her backpack. She packed quickly, looking around the room as she did. She made sure she had everything she wanted before opening the window and slowly scaling down the building to the ground. When she got down, she walked up a block before hailing a cab and going to Neal.