Warning: language, but well deserved in my opinion
Alex watched Mozzie's retreating figure in a definite not-panicky way. Why would she be panicking? Moz only completely freaked out when she mentioned Badeni being in the same city as Neal. That definitely didn't cause warning bells to go off in her head.
She always knew that Mozzie had a bad case of paranoia, but the reaction she got when she mentioned Badeni…that bordered on protectiveness, even fear for Neal's safety. If what Mozzie said was true, which she had no reason to believe that it wasn't, then Badeni bumping into Neal probably wouldn't lead to a friendly get together over coffee. Badeni was without doubt one of the most hostile thieves she ever had the pleasure of working with, a stark contrast of Neal's nonviolent mannerisms, actually. And with Neal's new position as an FBI consultant…she had pretty much handed Neal over on a platter. Why hadn't she seen this before? She'd known for months now that Badeni was planning to swipe records clean for the highest bidder. She'd known to thoroughly clean the highest bidder's record he would have to go to the FBI to eliminate the hard copy and a stroke of luck had it that the computer to eliminate the copy from the FBI's database would just so happen to be at the same place as the hard copy for a few days. The Bureau was so stupid sometimes.
Of course, at the time she hadn't known that Neal and Badeni weren't getting along, but still. That was no excuse. She should've figured out years ago that Neal and Badeni would never truly mesh as partners, but she left anyway to seek a greater fortune in Spain. She'd actually believed in the whole 'opposites attract' thing and left Austria without a hint of good-bye.
Alex stood abruptly from her chair as she saw that Mozzie's desperate hailing for a cab finally paid off. She sprinted towards the street, narrowly missing a dog pulling a roller skater and yanked open the cab's door.
"I'm coming with you," Alex said slightly out of breathe.
Moz glanced at her in annoyed disbelief. "Um. No. You're not."
"Why not?" Alex countered, glaring at Moz.
"Because you can't that's why," Mozzie snapped as he glanced worriedly at the cab's clock. 12:48.
"Oh 'because I can't'," Alex mocked. "Why didn't you say so before? Who am I to contradict such fabulous reasoning?"
"Why do you even want to help him?" Moz asked angrily. "You haven't seen him in years."
"Mostly due to the fact he was in prison and besides, I honestly doubt that you ever visited Neal in prison anyway. Oh no. Not the Great Mozzie. Can't let 'The Man' get you now."
"I meant before the Suit arrested him," Moz hissed.
Alex glared down at Moz furiously, mostly at the truth in his words. "And…?"
Mozzie's glared locked onto hers.
A nervous cough interrupted their stare-down. "Um…," the cab driver began nervously. "You ready to go?"
Alex turned to Moz, one eyebrow raised, daring him to try and kick her out.
Moz gave Alex one final, haunting look. "Fine," he muttered before raising his voice to the cab driver. "5026 Riverside Drive and make it snappy." The driver nodded hurriedly as he turned into traffic.
"That's not the FBI Headquarters," Alex stated.
"No, it's not," Mozzie agreed. Alex gave him an exasperated sigh. "What? You want to go to the FBI Headquarters without a plan, guns blazing?"
Alex's eyes sparkled in amusement as she saw the cab driver touch his cross necklace nervously, probably wondering what he had inadvertently gotten himself into. "No, I guess not," She frowned thoughtfully, "but where are we going?"
"Someplace where we can decide what to do," Moz answered cryptically. He recognized her irritated glare and added with slight exasperation. "Neal's landlady, June's house."
~O~
Neal mentally went over the FBI's layout in his head. Most vents were on the top of the wall, so he'd have to climb on something to get in them, but Neal wasn't familiar enough with the vents to know where exactly he'd have to go because, for some reason that he couldn't quite fathom, the FBI weren't entirely forthcoming with giving an ex-felon the blueprints to the building.
The problem was that Neal had a perfect escape in mind that involved a cat that the janitor wasn't supposed to have, electrical breakers, a bell, some string, duct tape and a metal ruler. Neal sighed. Of course, to do all that he'd have to be in the lobby that was currently occupied by gunmen and ticked off federal agents. If only he didn't try and figure out different possible escape routes while he was at his desk. He blamed mortgage fraud cases. It wasn't his fault that his mind wandered while reading them.
Sadly, he couldn't apply that plan here for lack of a cat, electrical breakers, a bell, and string. Back to square one.
He could stay low in one of the offices, but they were mostly glass walls and the thought of Badeni finding him cowering under a desk somewhere was not very appealing. Also, the fact that the phone lines were cut made it a moot point anyway.
Neal idly wondered how Badeni and his henchmen snuck into the Headquarters. Badeni was the 'Art Director', the real one was probably gagged unconscious somewhere; a few of his henchmen were probably disguised as FBI agents; several probably snuck in from the roof vent, another reason he shouldn't use the vents for fear of getting caught when he was close to freedom; perhaps some even hid in closets, waiting for their cue. Neal shook his head. These thoughts were useless. He should stop speculating on how Badeni got in and start speculating on how he should get out.
Neal stopped short when he heard voices around the corner. The conman pressed himself against the wall as he inched closer to the voices. Please be FBI, please be FBI, Neal chanted in his head. Huh. Never thought I'd be thinking that.
"So, why are we here?" one of the voices asked.
"Boss said we need to guard this window, so that's what we're doing. Guarding the window," another voice answered. Neal hid a sigh. More of those stupid henchmen. Neal quickly weighed his options. He could either 1) Go back the way he came and risk running into Don or a possible smart henchman. There's bound to be one of those somewhere 2) Find Hank or Tommy and ask for help and make them to risk the wrath of Badeni or 3) Hope the henchmen guarding the window were just as stupid as the ones guarding him and send them off on an errand. Neal glanced at his watch. 12:45. He left the break room about ten minutes ago and Don would probably be back to "supervise" any second now and that would raise the alarm to look for him. Neal recoiled at the thought of involving either Hank or Tommy in this. He didn't want to add to the body count through his own incompetence of not being able to find a simple escape route in a gunmen filled FBI Headquarters. So, that left option three. Neal sighed. If he kept sending henchmen on errands someone was bound to notice something.
The conman swept a hand through his hair and loosened his shirt a bit to make it look like he'd been running. Trying not to think about the likelihood of this pathetic excuse for a plan failing, the ex-felon ran around the corner.
"Oh thank God I found you!" Neal exclaimed as he skidded to a halt in front of the henchmen. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the window cleaning platform behind the two henchmen. So that's how some of Badeni's crew came up here. It also served as an added bonus for a very simple escape route for a certain soon-to-be wanted conman. The two henchmen pointed their guns at him. More out instinct then the fact that they were seriously considering shooting him…Neal hoped anyway. "Whoa! We're on the same side here!"
"Aren't you that Neal Caffrey fellow?" one of the henchmen asked, showing no sign of putting his weapon down.
"Yeah," Neal said with a bright smile, silently cursing at the fact that they recognized him, "listen one of those Feds attacked Burger. He's bleeding…a lot. He needs help, so I went to get someone. Found you guys."
Neal cut himself off abruptly. That was, without a doubt, one of the worst cover-up stories he had every told. What was wrong with him? He couldn't let all the pressure catch up to him now. It's not like the FBI trusts you anyway, an evil voice in Neal's head sneered. You were always just an 'asset' to them. Nothing more. No, Peter trusts me! Another voice argued. And Jones, Cruz, and even Hughes were coming around. Neal tried to clear his head. The henchmen were saying something, but he missed it because he was arguing with himself which was alarming because he was usually more alert than that. He was always more alert than that. On the bright side, the henchmen lowered their weapons. On the not-so-bright side, Neal didn't know if they believed him or not, but the guns not facing him was a huge plus.
"…So where is he?" The taller henchmen asked, his talking apparently coming to an end.
"In an office in the hallway right by the bathroom," Neal lied smoothly, not knowing if the 'he' was his Burger or someone else entirely, but Burger seemed like a more logical choice.
The tall henchman nodded. "Okay, I'll stay here and you go help the Burger guy."
"Why me?" the other henchman almost-whined. "You're the one who wants to get on Badeni's good side."
"Well, someone has to watch the window—"
"You'll get distracted—"
"I'll watch the window," Neal volunteered, crossing his fingers that his luck would continue.
The taller one snorted. "Um. No. No offense, but we don't trust you."
Damn it. Neal shrugged. "Okay."
"Besides," the other henchmen pitched in, "you have to show us where Burger is. Who is Burger anyway?"
"Jimmy," Neal answered absentmindedly, not entirely sure why he was using the name from the story Peter told him. Probably on the off chance Peter would get the message that he wasn't on Badeni's side. Problem was that since there was no Jimmy Burger, he couldn't exactly lead them to him. "I can't."
That made them pause in their silent argument of who was going to help the bleeding person. Geez, you'd think they'd get moving to help an injured colleague. He could be bleeding to death. Then Neal remembered all the violence he had been exposed to during the brief time he worked with Badeni, during which the Crazy Austrian had apparently been "holding back" for the sake of Neal's "squeamishness."
"Can't what?" the tall henchman asked with a daintily raised eyebrow.
"Can't show you the way to Jimmy Burger."
"And why not?"
Neal grimaced. "I didn't really tell you that the Fed got me too." The conman raised his shirt to show he bruise ridden chest.
"Holy crap," one henchman murmured as he openly stared at Neal's obviously fresh bruises and the dried blood that soaked through his chest bandage. He looked at his bandage with slight despair. He'd forgotten it was on there. Damn it. Neal waited in silence with a pain-filled expression, something not so hard to accomplish under the circumstances. His ribs felt like they were on fire. Apparently running around and attempting to escape aren't good for cracked ribs. Who knew?
"Is that a boot print?" the small one whispered. The tall one not-so-subtly shoved him before turning to Neal.
The tall one cleared his throat. "What happened?"
Neal gave a half-hearted grin. "Hell hath no fury like a Fed scorned."
The henchmen stared on sympathetically.
The tall one gave a sharp gasp. "Wait, so you were the one better off?"
Finally. Neal resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead nodded.
The tall one cursed. "Jamie, you stay with Neal and I'll go help Burger."
The other henchman, Jamie, nodded his consent to the tall one's disappearing back.
Jamie turned to Neal. "So are you—" He did a double take. Neal had disappeared. "Neal—!" A sharp pain hit the back of his head as the room tumbled into darkness.
Neal looked down at Jaime's slumped unconscious frame with a slight queasy feeling. He hated violence. He really did. Neal dropped the stapler and turned to examine the window. He wasn't sure how long he had. The tall henchman might come back any moment once he realized he had been duped and Neal was not an expert on how long a person stayed unconscious so Jaime could wake up at any moment.
The window was easy enough to open, hardly the most challenging lock Neal ever faced. The conman quickly stepped onto the window cleaning platform and was greeted by the sun warming his face and a cool breeze ruffling his hair. Ah, freedom. Neal grinned as he turned to press the 'go down' button on the platform. Neal's finger paused an inch from the button that would lead him away from Badeni and possible servitude for life. What about Peter? the thought rose unbidden in his head, and Jones, Cruz, Jerry and the rest of the FBI. Neal paused. They needed him. But they don't even trust me! Peter's face rose in his mind's eye. Neal slowly turned away from the button to his salvation and toward the FBI Headquarters. He couldn't leave Peter and the rest of the FBI at the mercy of Badeni. Could he? Neal was still debating his predicament when he heard the sound of running feet, probably, Neal imagined, what the tall guy would sound like when he found out there was no Jimmy Burger. Neal hesitated for a brief moment. The running feet came closer. Almost on instinct, he spun around and hit the 'go down' button and quickly jumped off the now moving platform and into the FBI Headquarters.
Neal did a quick sweep of the room and found a janitors closet that would serve his purpose nicely. He just managed to pick the lock and close the closet door behind him when the tall henchman rounded the corner, huffing and puffing.
Loud cursing could be heard, so Neal assumed that he saw the still unconscious Jamie and the rapidly disappearing window platform. The tall henchman then tried to revive Jamie through a process of gentle questions, yelled questions, smacks, and threats. Nothing appeared to work. There was heavy breathing for a while and Neal could just picture the tall henchman's murderous eyes scanning the room, crying for blood. After what felt like an eternity, Neal heard the tall henchman sprinting out of the room. Neal counted to ten in his head before he cautiously opened the door. Not seeing any threat, the conman slid out of the door and closed it softly behind him. Now was the time for stealth. His brief luck had run out with the tall henchman. Every member of Badeni's crew would be looking for him now. Guess it was time to try out the vents after all. See what he could do for the federal agents.
A giant hand came crashing down from behind him and covering his mouth was easily one of the most terrifying moments of his life. Neal didn't bother to try and scream, but instead aimed a kick at his attacker's leg. His attacker 'oof'-ed in pain as he spun Neal around.
"Geez, Neal," Tommy complained as he released him to rub his shin. "Can't take a joke?"
Neal felt faint with relief. It was just Tommy. Not a henchman that would turn him into Badeni. The ex-conman forced a grin as he saw Tommy's worried expression. "Sorry. I'm just a bit…on edge."
"I'll say," Tommy agreed. He glanced at Jaime's unconscious form. "You do that?"
Neal nodded.
"You're not supposed to be out are you?"
"Tommy," Neal said in exasperation. "Why would Badeni let me be out?"
"A simple 'yes' would do," Tommy said mildly as he started to walk down the hall. Neal hesitated before following him slightly behind so Tommy's big bulk would hide him. Neal was 82% sure Tommy would help boost him into a vent. "So, how'd you escape?"
"Oh, I convinced the henc-ah-gunmen who were guarding me that I was on their side," Neal said nonchalantly, trying to find a vent. He could've sworn there'd been one by here.
"Sounds like there's a story in that," Tommy prompted.
Neal bit back a retort as he looked at his friend's face. The ex-conman sighed in defeat as he related his conning of the henchmen who were 'guarding' him, his arrogant comments and all.
Tommy howled with laughter as Neal came to a close on his story. "I can't believe they fell for it!"
"Yeah," Neal grinned. Tommy's laughter had always been infectious. "You would think that with all they get paid, they'd be smarter."
Tommy continued to chuckle as they turned a corner. "I never understood why you always thought the gunmen get paid more."
"Hey, you've never seen what amount of money gets paid to who," Neal said with a shadow of a grin. Neal's eyes brightened as he finally saw what he'd been looking for. "Tommy," his friend looked back at him curiously, "boost me up here would you?"
"The vent?" Tommy asked. "Are you sure?"
"No, Tommy," Neal answered sarcastically, "I would rather we just stood here and talked about it."
Tommy rolled his eyes. "No need to be sarcastic." However, Tommy crouched down and held his hands together.
"Thanks, buddy." Neal placed one of his feet in Tommy's hands and started to open the vent.
"Vell, isn't that just touching?" a familiar voice cut in.
Neal felt the buzz of victory slowly die in his chest. "Hey, Badeni. Long time no see." Neal slowly removed his foot from Tommy's hands and turned around to see Badeni staring at him with a very pleased expression.
"Yes, Neal, I hear you've been on the loose for about-" Badeni checked his watch "- 35 minutes now. Have to say, I expected more." Neal felt his eyes narrow. The Austrian turned his attention to Tommy, who was doing a remarkable job of keeping his face blank. "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy," Badeni shook his head sadly, "I expected so much more from you…" Badeni calmly brought his gun up.
Neal's heart began to pound. He would not allow Badeni to shoot either one of them, especially not Tommy. So, Neal forced a snort which, thankfully, turned out more scornful than frightened. "A gun, Badeni? Really? How cliché. Just when I when I was beginning to think you were cleverer than the rest. You pull something like this. I suppose that just makes you…average. Or uncreative. Whichever makes you feel better." Neal smirked as he saw Badeni's left eye twitch.
"Oh, Neal," Badeni said almost sweetly as he aimed the gun at Neal, "you're going to regret that." The ex-conman jumped as he heard the shot being fired, waiting any second to feel the piece of hot metal pierce his skin. A cry from behind caused Neal to spin around and gasp in horror as he saw Tommy lying on the floor clutching his injured shoulder in pain. A pool of blood was rapidly forming around Tommy's injury. A soft laughter interrupted Neal's reeling thoughts.
"Oh Neal," Badeni's voice patronized, "you didn't honestly expect me to shoot you did you? I need you and, besides, Tommy is no more use to me now that you've tainted him."
"You shot Tommy, you bastard!" Neal shouted from his position by Tommy's side. He frantically pressed his jacket against Tommy's wound, blinking back tears as Tommy's eyes rolled back. "Tommy! You have to stay awake! How else will you hear the rest of my story?" Neal started to smile as Tommy's hazel eyes rolled weakly forward and connected with his. Then all Neal saw was white. "Tommy!" A sob raked through his body as Tommy's eyes remained closed. Neal felt the blood from Tommy's bullet wound soak through his jacket and onto his hands. It still felt warm. "Tommy! I swear if you don't get up right now I'm going to tell Mary Ella that you killed her cat!"
A laugh behind him made a rage and hatred brew together.
"Really? That vas Tommy? Vho vould've thought?" How could Badeni sound so – so normal? So casual? He just shot Tommy and he's acting like they were discussing a wonderfully orchestrated heist. With a cry of rage Neal flung himself at Badeni. Badeni only had time to blink when Neal full body tackled him.
"How is that funny?" Neal shouted as he continuously pummeled Badeni with his bloody fists. Badeni blocked most of them. Neal jabbed his elbow into Badeni's stomach. Badeni groaned, but didn't relax his guard. "You killed him! You killed him, you no good, arrogant, son of a bitch! How can you fuc-" A swift blow to the jaw cut Neal off and pairs of hands yanked him off Badeni. That Bastard Austrian's henchmen had broken up the fight. Figures. Since when did Badeni ever fight fair?
Badeni delicately wiped some blood off his face before turning with an icy gaze to look at Neal. He calmly walked up to him and hit Neal in the kidney. Neal refused to make a noise. Badeni leveled a glare at him. "You know, Neal," he began pleasantly. "I didn't kill Tommy. Sure I aimed the gun, but you pulled the trigger. If you hadn't forced him into helping you then I vouldn't have been forced to kill him. See vhat a domino effect you have on people you love? Someone better varn Kate. I vould hate for something to happen to her as well." Badeni raised his fist and swung it down on the side of Neal's face.
The last thing Neal saw as he fell to the ground was Tommy's still figure surrounded by blood. Then everything turned black.
Is it weird that I'm starting to hate my fictional character?
Yeah, so… hope u liked it.
REVIEW!