A/N : Thanks you again for the amazing reviews, guys! :) And thanks to Katynka,Seal86, Alek34 and pizzadude124 for following and adding this fanfic in her favourites !
Thanks to Kejae,Kaya, AlexisFlare, Lilly, Alek34, 21JumpStreet, anonymous, kilian07, crazy diva and Jlynng96 for the marvelous reviews ! I replied to a few of them :
kilian07 :"Très bon chapitre, Neal va avoir du boulot pour se sortir de ce pétrin! Petite question : verra-t-on Sara (Ellis, pas Walker) dans cette histoire? Ca pourrait faire encore plus de complications pour lui, une rencontre entre les 2 Sara(h)..." Translation: "Great chapter, Neal's going to have all the help he can get to get out of this mess! Question: will we see Sara (Ellis, not Walker) in this fanfic? It would bring Neal even more complications. Maybe an encounter between the two Sara(h)?"
Alors, oui ! Sara Ellis sera un des personnages importants de cette histoire, étant la petite amie de Neal/Bryce; et fera sa première apparition dans ce chapitre. Et encore oui, les deux Sara(h) se rencontreront :) Satisfait ? (Translation : Well, yes ! Sara Ellis is one of the most important characters of this fanfic, since she's dating Neal/Bryce and she'll made her first apparition in this chapter. And again, yes, the two Sara(h) will meet :D Satisfied?)
anonymous : "Please let this be Bryce!Neal because I'm thoroughly sick of the Bryce-Neal wins/lookalike/clones stories no matter how lovely they all are"
SO AM I ! Don't worry, this is definitely a Bryce!Neal fanfiction :) and glad you enjoyed it !
crazy diva : "ooh god i loooooved this chapter soo much! please update soon! you wrote neal also so well..."
Thank you so much ! I was afraid I wasn't portraying him good enough, 'cause.. Well, because he's Neal freaking Caffrey, I love him so much and I just hope that he's portrayed at your expectations :) Thanks again : your comment made me grin like a crazy woman, which made my mother looking at me with a confused look on her face! XD
Thanks to Lilly for pointing out my small mistakes and the fact that I had confonded season 3 with season 4! You're right, they do get married in the fourth season!
So this story is taking place in the fourth season of Chuck.
Enough with the thanks : back to the story !
Disclaimer : I don't own the TV show 'Chuck' nor its characters.. It belongs toNBC and to the duet Fedak/Schwartz. I don't own the TV show 'White Collar' nor its characters. It belongs to Jeff Eastin and tot USA NETWORKS.
FBI HEADQUARTERS, WHITE COLLAR DIVISION, NEW YORK.
2.35 PM
Casey and Sarah were sitting in front of the conference where Neal/Bryce and Chuck were locked up, alone, both handcuffed. Sarah was on the phone with Ellie, trying to calm the older woman as Casey was just observing the two ex-best friends who were oddly calm. Beside them were Jones, Diana and Peter. The older man was speaking with his superior who as clueless about the situation as the White Collar team.
Sarah sighed and hung up. Casey turned to his partener and asked:
"Is she okay?"
"She's worried" the blonde replied, passing her fingers through her long hair. "And confused. A lot."
"Huh, so am I!" Casey muttered "If I had a gun, I'd have shot him a third time and make sure he was really dead this time. Ugh, why didn't we take weapons, again?"
"Because we were supposed to be on holidays" Sarah rolled her eyes "No missions means no guns, Casey"
He groaned, bored and annoyed, then turned back to face the larged glassed window of the conference room, where the two men were stil silent.
Suddenly, the door opened and a small redhead woman and two cops entered the room, making both of the men stand up.
IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM.
Neal and Chuck were sitting at both ends of the table, so they could faced eachother. Neal had tried to break free of his handcuffs more than once but his harmed shoulder prevented him to move his arm without wanting to throw up at the pain and he really didn't want to break his thumb. A dislocated shoulder and broken nose were enough.
Chuck's eyes were on the floor, not wanting to meet the blue gaze of Bryce.. Or Neal, as they called him here.. Whatever, Neal and Bryce were one and the same!
They stayed in a weird silent during several minutes, until Chuck said:
"I'm sorry."
"For breaking my nose, dislocating my shoulder or just for attacking me without a valuable reason?" he asked in a sarcastic tone
As Chuck was going to retort something, the door opened and the General Diane Beckman entered the room, followed by two cops. Her apparition caused both of the men to stand up. One of the cops walked toward Chuck and removed his handcuffs as the other did the same with Neal and gave him an ice pack. The policemen exited the room, as the two men sat back down, Chuck rubbing his sore wrists, Neal carefully putting the ice on his broken nose.
The General cocked an eyebrow at the ex-conman/CIA agent (Whatever.) and said:
"You should go see a doctor, it looks broken."
"Geez! Thanks Diane : what would I do without?" Neal retorted, sarcasm in his voice.
Even though he couldn't see the nerd's face, Neal could swear he had heard him chuckle. Chuck raised his head, looking at Neal, and said:
"I could ask Ellie to come and take a look at your shoulder."
"That would be cool" Neal replied, surprised by his ex-best friend's proposal "Thanks."
Chuck gave him a short nod, muttering 'Sure.'
The General ignored the interaction between the two men and turned to Chuck, asking:
"Now, agent Bartowski : what the hell was that? Attacking a civil in New York's crowded streets; are you out of your mind?!"
Chuck's wide opened eyes were filled of surprise, taken back by his superior's words. Then surprise left his eyes to be replace with anger. He repeated:
"Am I out of my mind? Are you serious, right now?! You're the one out of your mind!
"Watch it, Bartowski.." Beckman warned.
"Chuck, buddy : calm down-" Neal intervened.
"You don't get the right to call me 'buddy'." He interrupted him, glaring at him, rage dancing in his eyes "You don't even get the right to talk, right now, Bryce!"
"Actually, now, it's Nea-"
"I DON'T FUCKING CARE!" he interrupted again, shouting. He turned back to Beckman, pointing an accusing finger at her "Don't you dare to tell me that I'm out of my mind : you are. You're the one who made me believe that my best friend was dead for the two last years- he fucking died before my eyes, for God's sake! And then as I walked down the streets of New York City with my friends and family, I saw him, standing in front of me. Talking. Laughing. Walking. Breathing. How the hell do you expect me to react at this?!"
A long silent fell in the conference's room after Chuck's outburst. Chuck was breathing heavily as Neal was looking at him, concerned. The ex-conman straightned on his chair, restraining a cry of pain when he moved his arm, and started, looking right into Chuck's eyes:
"Please, Chuck, lis-"
"How are you alive, anyway?" he spatted.
Neal sighed, ran a hand over his face and muttered, looking at the floor:
"Long story."
**FLASH-BACK**
NEW YORK, 2009.
Bryce's blue eyes snapped up and the young man stared breathing heavily. When he had calm down a little, he tried to sit up but a massive headache prevented him from doing so. He lay back, eyes closed and put his head between his hands, muttering:
" 'The hell happened..?!"
Then he remembered : Sarah.. Chuck.. Roark(1).. The Ring.. The Intersect... The gunfight.. He'd been shot.. He died.
He immediatly sat up, ignoring the pain that movement was causing him and brought his hand on his stomach, where the bulletwound was supposed to be. The deadly bulletwound. He slowly rose his t-shirt to find a bandage wrapped around his hips.
"The hell?!" he repeated.
"I've seen you awake. It was about freaking time, Larkin." A voice suddenly sighed.
He jumped, taken aback by the sudden apparition of the petite redhead woman next to him. He regained his composure, frowned his eyebrows and asked:
"General?"
She gave him a small nod and a sad smil in reply, which surprised him even more. He didn't think he had ever seen smile before. He shook his head and sighed:
"How long was I asleep?"
"Over a month" she replied, raising up from her chair "People stopped hoping that, one day, you'll wake up but I didn't. And I'm glad to see I was right."
Bryce gave him a small smirk, which he quickly lost before asking again:
"Wait-How am I not dead? Are Chuck and Sarah okay? Where are we? I've been unconscious for a month ?
"One question at a time, Bryce. The answer to question is classified and you don't need to know anything about that except that you're alive. Second, they more than fine, don't worry. They mourn your death. Third, you'll find out soon enough and finally, yes. Yes, you have. After the Bartowski team was taken out of the Intersect room, agents and doctors rushed in the room to take care of you. Your heart stopped a few times but as you can see, you're still alive."
"Why?" he asked "You never got in that much trouble just for an agent."
Beckman didn't reply immediatly. She walked toward a table and took a file out of her purse, before throwing it at the agent. She sighed, crossed her arms and replied:
"You're not just a agent, Larkin. You're one of the bests agents CIA ever trained, you couldn't afford to lose you."
He let out a small snort before taking the file and scanned it. He closed it back, looked at his superior, his eyes filled with confusion and asked:
"Who's Neal Caffrey?"
**BACK TO THE PRESENT DAY**
"It's a long story, and? Bryce, snap it out!" Chuck said, waving a handd in front of him.
Neal blinked a few times before looking back at the nerd and shaking his hand. He sighed, put the bag of ice on his harmed shoulder and replied:
"It's classified."
"What? Seriously?!" he spatted.
Neal just shrugged. Chuck scoffed before walking toward him, making Neal unconsciously stiffing up in his chair. The young man gritted between his teeth:
"I thought you were dead for the two last years, you've been my best friend for over 10 years, even though you got me kick out of Standford, I still considered you as my best friend. I think that you owe me. Big time. Tell me the thruth.
"I-I can't, I'm sorry."
"Why? Because then, you'll have to kill me?" he joked.
"Exactly, Bartowski" Beckman intervened "Now, I suggested you calm down before I lose my temper. Agent Larkin was been following orders for the last two years and the most important one was not to tell you he was still in the world of the livings."
"Not for long" Chuck muttered, thinking about Casey who probably was as pissed, if not more, as him.
"What you heard is going to stay in this room" Beckman ordered, ignoring the young man's comment "You're not going to tell anyone : not Grimes, not Ellie, not Casey and mostly not Walker."
"Wait, Ellie and Morgan know about you?" Neal asked, confused.
"I won't let you mess up one of our greatest missions just because you're mad at your best friend. Am I clear?"
"But-" Chuck tried to protest.
"Am I clear?" she repeated, between gritted teeth.
Chuck groaned, sighed and muttered:
"Crystal, General."
"Good. " she announced before leaving the room.
As Chuck was going to follow her, Neal abruptly rose from his chair, holding his harmed arm and shouted:
"Chuck, wait up!"
The nerd sighed before turning around. Neal put a hand on Chuck's shoulder before saying:
"Please, trust me, I-"
"Trust you?" He interrupted Neal. He scoffed "Never again."
.
MEANWHILE..
While Sarah, Casey, Diana and Jones were observing the intense exchange that was occuring in the conference's room, Peter was conversing with his superior, getting more and more nervous. Matt Lawrence(2) was a tall grey haired man and was quite impressive and scary at the same time. You would thought that he's a tyrant, but he wasn't : he was one of the kindest guys Peter had worked with. And that was saying a lot for a federal agent; usually they all were jerks.
The only problem with Peter's boss were that he also had to obey to the orders of people in top of him if he wouldn't want to risk his job.
"Listen, Burke" he sighed, crossing his arms "Things aren't good for Neal. At all. He's been escaping from your surveillance, he got out of his 1-mile radius and got in a freaking fight with another federal agent. I can't defend his case in front of the board, they'll think I'm stupid."
"I know everything seems agaisnt-"
"Is, Burke." Lawrence interrupted
"But he isn't the one who started the fight, this 'Chuck' guy did! And I'm sure, he also is the reason Neal ran away." Peter protested.
"Peter, you know that and I know that, I'm just pointing that Neal's case is going to be, if not impossible, very hard to defend.."
"I know" Peter sighed, running a hand over his hair.
The older man, gave him a small smile and patted his shoulder:
"Take care, Peter." he said, before leaving.
Once Lawrence had left, Peter let his hands fall in his hands, restraining himself from screaming in frustation. Not many people were fond of Neal : because of his past, because of his attitude, because of everything that made Neal .. Neal.
"Peter?" A feminine voice interrupted his thoughts.
He raised back his thoughts and saw a auburn haired woman walking toward him, followed by a small guy wearing glasses. He let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her. The woman smiled before hugging him. Peter hugged her back and when he let go of her, the young woman said, a teasing smile on her face :
"You look terrible, Burke."
He let out a small laugh before retorting:
"I have your boyfriend to thanks for it, Sara." he stufed his hands in his pocket then looked over the girl's shoulder, seeing the small bald man. He pursed his lips then gave a small nod "Hey, Mozzie!"
"Suit."
"By the way, what are you two doing here?" He asked, frowning his eyebrows.
"Elizabeth called me" Sara explained, showing the phone in her hand as a proof "She told me that Neal got arrested because he had tried to run away. Then I called Moz' who told me that he wasn't aware of any escape plans. And we're finally here, so..Care to explain what the hell happened out there?"
"I couldn't even if I wanted to : I've no idea what happened." Peter retorted, shaking his head. "Since you're here, I was hoping you could get something out of him."
"Why would you ask her to do that?" Mozzie intervened, causing the two agents to turn their heads to him. "I think I'd be more qualified to make him talk since I'm his best friend."
"I'm his best friend" Peter corrected.
"I mean I'm the best friend who he doesn't have to lie to." Mozzie retorted in a teasing voice.
Peter ignored the conman's comment and continued:
"Plus, Sara is his girlfriend and-"
"Oh, right!" he interrupted him, again "She's the one sleeping with him."
Sara's face immediatly flushed red as Peter rolled his eyes at the small man. He was going to retort something when he heard Diana's voice said:
"Boss, they're getting out of the conference's room!"
At those words, all heads, including Sarah's and Casey's turned to see Chuck exiting the room, quickly followed by Neal.
Sarah ran toward her fiancé and wrapped her arms around his neck. For the first time in the last 2 hours, Chuck smiled and hugged her back, burying his nose in her long blonde hair. He let go of her, keeping his hands on her waist as she cupped his face between her hands. Sarah smiled at him and asked:
"You're okay?"
He nodded and replied:
"Now, I am."
Her smile turned into a grin as she raised on her toes and kissed him, causing Casey to grunt and mutter:
"Get a room."
Chuck smiled into the kiss and pulled back. He raised his head to see that Neal/Bryce was talking with a FBI agent and some auburn haired girl. Neal and her seemed kinda close. Then he noticed the way he was looking at her and the way she was looking at him : it was the same way Sarah and him were looking at eachother 'Must be his girlfriend' he thought.
Chuck looked around him : except for Casey and Sarah, all of the persons in the room were around Neal/Bryce, genuinely caring for him. The young blue eyed man was asking so differently with them than he ever acted around him and his family. He thought to what happened earlier in the conference room:
'I won't let you mess up one of our greatest missions'
Then it hit him : he wasn't Bryce Larkin here, he was Neal Caffrey. A guy with a different attitude, differents friends, a different past, even a different wardrobe! He was a completely different person. He wasn't the young man he met at Standford ten years ago anymore, he didn't know who he was anymore. Well, it looked like he didn't know who he was anymore.
He broke out of his reverie when he felt a soft hand caressing his arm. He turned his head back and his brown eyes met Sarah's blue ones, filled with worry. She asked:
"Are you sure you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine, I was, hum.. just thinking." He shot a quick glance at Neal and looked back at his partners "Eh, if I ask you to follow my lead right now without asking questions, would you do it?"'
"What? Why, what-"
"Just answer the question; would you?"
"Hum, I g-guess" Sarah hesitated, crossing her arms "Yes, I would."
"What about you, Casey?"
"Nope, not a chance, Bartowski." he replied immediatly.
"Come on, Casey. I know I messed up several times but please, you just gotta trust me on this, okay?"
The colonel crossed his arms, looked at Sarah then looked back at Chuck before grunting and muttering:
"Fine."
Chuck shot him a small smile before walking toward Neal, Sarah and Casey's glances following him. Casey slowly bent to whisper in the blonde's ear:
"What the hell is he doing?"
"No idea." she replied.
.
MEANWHILE..
As Neal was going to say to Sarah for the billionth time, he saw Chuck walking toward them from the corner of his eyes. 'What the hell is he doing?' he thought. He abruptly turned around. Too abruptly. He let a small cry of pain, putting his hand on his harmed shoulder. Chuck winced and apologised:
"Sorry for that, it looks like it hurt like hell." he turned to Peter and gave him a hesitant smile, stretching a hand out "Hi, I'm Chuck Bartowski."
Peter hesitated before taking the young man's hand and shaking it:
"Agent Peter Burke."
When Peter let go of his hand, Chuck turned to Sara and asked:
"Are you working for the FBI too?"
"Oh, god no!" she exclaimed, getting dark glances from Neal and Peter and a chuckle from Chuck. She took his hand and shook it, introducing herself "Sara Ellis, I'm an insurance investigator."
Her hand still in his, Chuck shot a look at Neal, clearly saying 'Sara? Really?' Neal looked back at him and shrugged. Chuck let go of the woman's small hand and said:
"Nice to meet you, Agent Peter Burke and Insurance Investigator Sara Ellis." Chuck turned to Neal "And we've met before."
Neal gulped and nodded, before replying:
"Yeah. Yes, we did."
"Again, I'm so sorry for your broken nose and dislocated shoulder,Mr Caffrey. I guess I'm stronger than I thought."
'What on Earth is- Mr Caffrey? 'The hell?!' Neal thought, surprised by Chuck's new attitude. The spy shot him a look saying 'Follow my lead first, questions later.' The ex-conman regained his composure and shot him his charming grin.
"It's alright, Agent Bartowski. Mistakes happen."
"Wait" Peter interrupted, confused " 'Mistakes'?"
"Yes" Chuck said "I've just mistaken him with someone who really looks like him."
"If I may, who was this person?" Sara wondered
"An ex-CIA agent" he replied in a casual tone, stuffing his hands in his pockets "He died two years ago, that's why I was so shocked and afraid to meet him in New York."
"And that couldn't be me since I was in jail until last year." Neal completed.
'That lovely story doesn't explain why Neal ran away.' Peter thought, suspiciously eyeing the two men. He looked at Sara 'She doesn't believe them either' he noticed. Sara turned around and her eyes met Peter's for a few seconds before she looked back at the two men, smiled and said:
"Well, that explains a lot of things" 'Not everything, though' she thought.
Chuck smiled back and nodded. He turned to leave but then hit his forehead as if he was remembering something that he forgot earlier. He turned back and said:
"I almost forget! God, I have no manners : have you met my partners-in-crime?" He pointed to Sarah and Casey behind him, gesturing for them to come. 'What now?' Neal thought as he saw his ex-girlfriend/partner and the man who had an obsession with shooting people, especially him. He gulped.
Chuck wrapped his arm around Sarah's shoulder and she put a left hand on his chest, looking up at him, eyes filled with love 'Wait, when did 'this' happened?' Neal thought, smiling unconsciously. The last time he saw the blonde spy and Chuck, their relationship was a cover but now, it seemed so real. Plus, since all of the persons in the room knew they were spies, there were no need for a cover.
When he broke out of his reverie, he heard Sarah introducing herself as Peter and Casey were talking:
"I'm Sarah Walker."
Neal took her delicate left hand in his and shook it:
"Caffrey. Neal Caffrey."
Chuck chuckled and thought that maybe, he hadn't changed that much. Neal let go of Sarah's hand and Sara introduced herself:
"Sara Ellis, nice to meet you."
Neal could swear he heard Casey snorting and that Sarah, like Chuck, was restraining a laugh. Sarah took the auburn haired girl in hers and shook it:
"Sarah Walker, likewise."
As she was going to pull her hand back, Sara didn't let go and asked:
"Is that an engagement ring, I see?"
Sarah smiled and nodded. Neal cocked an eyebrow, and asked (even though he was pretty sure of the answer):
"Who's the lucky one?"
"That would be me." Chuck replied.
"Really?" He insisted, grinning.
"Really." he retorted, taking Sarah's hand in his.
He was still smiling like a madman, but he didn't care : they were finally getting married. Don't get this wrong, he loved Sarah, but when the first time he saw the two together, he knew that they would end up together, no matter what.
"Congratulations" he said, stretching a hand.
Chuck took it and shook it. When he let go of his hand, Diana walked toward Peter saying:
"Boss, we have some news on the houses' robberies. Here" she said, handing him a file, we just received this."
Peter thanked with a nod and opened the file. On the first page was a photo that caught Chuck's attention 'Oh, god, no..' he thought before his eyes slightly closed and his pupils started moving fast as he saw names and images flashing in front of him :
Banks robberies.. Deutsche Bank..Federal Reserve Bank Of New York.. Roark Instruments.. Stephen Bartowski..Intersect.. Fulcrum..
The flashes stopped and Chuck felt like he was going to faint. But he didn't. As Neal and Peter fought about the fact that Neal should be in a hospital instead of helping investating, Sarah was talking with Casey. Chuck, out of breath, fell on the chair behind him and was breathing heavilly. Why did he saw the name of Theodore Roark? Wasn't he suppose to be dead? Why would he start robbing banks? The guy was rich! Chuck ran a hand over his hair and muttered:
"Oh, no.."
Sarah turned to him, tilted her hand to the side and asked:
"Chuck?"
No reply. Just silence, a confused Chuck and a worried Sarah.
"You okay, Agent Bartowski?" Neal asked, also getting worried.
Chuck didn't answered and kept looking in front of him, massaging his temples and still breathing heavily. He buried his head in his hands, tired of seeing the room spinning around him.
"Chuck?" Casey's voice seemed so far away. Everything seemed so far away. He suddenly felt his body going numb. He also felt his body hit the floor when he fell off of his chair "Chuck!"
And finally, he felt blackness falling over him.
A/N 2 : Sooo, what did you think? I'm not really proud of this ending but I couldn't wait to update :)
Review, people!
See next Sunday, I hope :D
KadiCriss