A/N : My excuse ? Life's a bitch. Seriously. A mother fuckin' bitch. Plus, I'm lazy. During this last month, I ended up in the hospital twice, my best friend had a car accident and one of my roles models died. Talking about holidays. Plus my laptop died too, so.. Yeah ! Thanks again for the feedback, it make my days ten times better ! :)
So thanks to Princess Amalee, Kitten has claws, exileena,adookable,neal4grissom, Ugla, Alexia cooper, Bad Wolf's Howl, coffeee, ellky510, and TheSecretGarden101 for following/favouriting this fanfiction : you guys are awesome !
Thanks to Lilywonders, Guest, Tempe4Booth, crazy diva,senselesswords, 21JumpStreetMcQuaids, Only If, Linoria and AlexisFlare for the fantastic reviews !
Lilywonders : Glad you liked it :) ! Of course Mozzie had to be included.. I mean, he's... Well, he's Mozzie, not some dumbass ! Thanks again for the review and I hope you'll like this chapter !
Guest : Thanks, I'm working on it. There'll be some action in chapter 6, I'm still installing the plot but there'll definetely be action soon :) !
Tempe4Booth : Thanks, and I promise to try ! ;)
senselesswords : Yey me, I updated! Seeing your enthousiasm, it means that some people are reading this, so I'm glad I'm not writing for nothing :) Different's good, I like different (I heard that somewhere but I can't remember when. I think it's from Pretty Little Liars- whatever!) Glad you find my story to your liking! Sorry again for the late update :/
21JumpStreetMcQuaids : Thank you ! :)
Only If : Thanks :D ! Here's more ;)
Linoria : Thank you very much ! You'll find out what's Ellie up to in this chapter **suspense**
AlexisFlare: Glad that you loved it ! Here's more :P !
crazy diva: your reviews are the lights of my day :) Seriously, I've been waiting for it ! Thank you and I'm glad you liked Ellie/Bryce's conversation and don't worry, they'll be friends again. But for now, they're just working together, so Chuck is going to be nice with him. He's not going to snap at Bryce at him every time he open his mouth, but they're not friends yet. Updated!
Okay, now back to the story, people !
DISCLAIMER : I don't own the TV show 'Chuck' nor its characters. If I did, it would had never ended. It belongs to NBC and to the duet Fedak/Schwartz. I don't own the TV show 'White Collar' nor its characters. It belongs to Jeff Eastin and to USA NETWORKS.
A FEW DAYS LATER..
FBI HEADQUARTERS, WHITE COLLAR DIVISION, NEW YORK.
2:35 PM.
Almost a week had passed in New York and both of the teams were working hard, trying to found a way of capturing Roark and his team without any difficulty. Bryce/Neal was mostly working with the CIA team, trying to cover his tracks so Roark wouldn't find out Bryce Larkin was still alive. Peter and Sara were becoming more and more suspicious of Neal's secretive behaviour around them and the other members of the white collar unit.
On the bright side, Casey didn't tried to kill him. Yet. And his relationship with Chuck was starting to become more friendly toward Bryce. Well, friendly wasn't the exact word, but the young spy was actually talking to him instead of yelling or spitting at his face
Bryce was lazily sitting at his desk, feet on the table, reading for the billionth time, Roark's file. The young blue eyed man threw the file on the desk, sighing before putting his feet back on the ground and straightening in his chair. He ran his fingers through his short dark hair before grabbing a bottle of pain killers on the table. Bryce took off the cap with his teeth, spat it away and put two pills in his mouth before swallowing them with water. The young raven haired grunted, attracting the attention of the blonde spy sitting next to him. Sarah cocked an eyebrow and asked:
"What's the matter?"
"I'm sick of wearing my arm in a sling. I can't do anything" Bryce whined, showing his armed arm "I'm righthanded, remember?"
Hearing the ex-conman complaining, Diana rolled her eyes and retorted, eyes on her computer:
"Caffrey, your shoulder has been dislocated. Let it heal."
"I didn't went to medical school but my sister did and, based on the few things she told and taught me, I don't think that a dislocated shoulder heal itself" Chuck intervened, walking into the room, a bag on his shoulder.
The nerd fell in the chair next to Sarah and greeted his fiancée with a soft kiss on the cheek. He put the bag on the floor and took a notebook and several files out of it. He looked back at Bryce and said, taking his phone out of his pocket:
"I could send a quick text at Ellie to ask her to come and see if she could help."
"That would be awesome, thanks." Bryce replied, smiling at his ex-best friend.
Chuck smiled back and nodded before typing on his phone. Casey and Peter walked into the conference room, followed by Jones. Casey eyed the files next to his partner and asked, taking one of them:
"What's that?"
"That, my friend, is one of some CIA files on Roark and others that Beckman authorized me to use." Chuck replied.
"What do you mean by 'others'?" Bryce wondered, raising from his chair to observe the several files.
"Roark's smart but he's not a conman, so he surrounded himself with people who knew a thing or two about forger and conning" Chuck explained.
He took a file and handed it to Peter. The FBI agent frowned his eyebrows before opening the folder. As he started examining the report, Chuck continued:
"This is Laurent Dujardin, a french ex-CEO, who after being accused of tax evasion in France and losing everything he owned, decided to escape the european territory and install himself in Washington, under a new identity : Johnathan Duris. That is when he met this guy" he said, handing another file to Diana "Malcolm Gilbert, a very talented conman and forgerer, coming from Scotland. Gilbert and Duris conned more than a thousand persons in three months. They eventually get caught two years ago and sent to prison."
"Wait - why the CIA have those files? They should belong to us." Diana asked.
"Both of them were also accused of making weapons and working for Fulcrum. They were sentenced to ten years of prison each. But a few months after their arrestation, they escaped while they were transfered to a CIA base in New York. After months of searching, the CIA and NSA found nothing and assumed they were dead, like Roark." Chuck stopped when he remembered he needed to breath. He shook his head and played with the Governor's bracelet around his wrist. Chuck took a deep breath before taking two photos out of a brown envelope, put them on the table and continued "Well, we're convinced they were dead weeks ago" Chuck pushed one of the pictures toward Bryce, saying "This has been taken a week ago."
Bryce took the photography and quickly examined it : there were three men on the photo, they were sitting in front of a small restaurant in a mall. The first man who caught his attention was a tall blonde man who seemed in his last thirtie. After a quick glance at one of the folders next to Chuck, Bryce identified the blonde man as Duris. Duris was sitting between two men : one had brown hair and was wearing sunglasses - Bryce assumed that was Parker - and the other was a grey haired man. The man seemed oddly familiar.
The ex-conman frowned his eyebrows, put the picture on the table and asked , pointing to the grey haired man :
"Is that Roark?"
Chuck raised his head, shot a quick glance at it and said, nodding :
"Yes, it's him. And the other men are Duris and Parker" 'Obviously' Bryce thought "Apparently, the three of them have been meeting at the exact same spot and always at the same time" the nerd added.
Chuck kept talking but Bryce has paying attention to him anymore. The ex-conman sat on a chair next to him and let his head fell on his arms. God, those painkillers were litteraly killing him! He was exhausted and his shoulder felt like it was on fire. Bryce could feel Peter's concerned eyes on him but he was too tired to do any movement.
Suddenly, Bryce jerked from his chair, caughting everybody by surprise. The ex-conman ignored the sudden pain in his arm and asked, looking at Chuck :
"Wait - what did you just say?"
"They're currently under surveillance of the NS-"
"Na-uh ! Before that." The blue eyed man interrupted him.
"Caffrey : please, be more specific." Peter ordered, crossing his arms.
"When did you say they usually meet?"
"Um.. each thursday, at 2:05 PM, exactly." Chuck answered hesistantly, looking confused. "Wait, why is that so important?"
"I don't get that either." Peter added.
"What day is it ?" Bryce asked again, ignoring the men's questions.
"Monday - where are you going with this, Neal?" Diana wondered, frowning.
Bryce smirked, chuckled to himself and stuffed his good hand in his pocket. Chuck squinted his eyes and shot a confused look at Peter, who just shrugged. The ex-conman stopped chuckling and looked between the two agents before saying :
"You don't get it, do you ?"
"No, not really."
"Ok, those guys are stupid enough to meet every Thursday at the exact same spot and exact same time. We could proceed to an arrestation" Bryce explained. "They think we're just after Roark, so he doesn't know that his two minions are under the CIA and NSA's watch. We've got the advantage"
The young blue eyed man's partners and ex-partners looked at him, slowly understanding what he meant. Diana turned to Peter and said:
"He had worse ideas, Boss. This one is kinda good."
As Bryce shot him a smile, proud of himself, Peter shook his head, saying:
"No."
"No'?! What do you mean by 'no'? It's the perfect idea!" Bryce protested "All we have to do is asking for permission, form a plan-"
"Caffrey, there is no 'we' on this case, anymore!" Peter interrupted. "You're in a critical position since your little fight with Mr Agent, there : the Board isn't that fond of you in that moment, nodody isn't going to accept that idea, since it's yours. I'm doing everything here in my power to stop them from sending you back to jail. And trust me, they'll find a reason to do it. Real or fake"
As everybody was watching the exchange, Diana felt her cellphone buzzing in her pocket. The young woman took it and brought it to her ear, walking away from the little group. Peter continued:
"They don't trust you, they're starting not to trust me and they definitely don't trust the CIA or NSA."
"The feeling is mutual" Casey grumbled.
Sarah rolled her eyes as Chuck put his hand on his mouth, hiding his smirk and containing his laughter. Peter ignored the governemental agents and glared at Bryce who had opened his mouth and started to say:
"But-"
"This discussion is over, Neal." The older man interrupted him in a cold tone.
The young blue eyed man sighed before sitting back next to the blonde spy as Diana walked back toward them. She frowned her eyebrows at the defeated look on her co-worker's face before turning to Peter and saying:
"There was another burglary. The victime is Alice Ellingston, the Procuror's daughter. We're required there immediatly."
Peter gave her a quick a nod as Jones, Sarah, Casey and Chuck raised from the chair, gathering their stuff and getting ready to go. As Bryce also raised from his chair, Peter shot him a 'don't-even-think-about-it' look. Not protesting, he sat back down, grunting. The older man shot him a last look before exititng the building, followed by Jones, Diana, Casey and Sarah.
Chuck watched them leave before turning to Bryce, hesistant. The ex-CIA agent shot him an interrogatory look as the nerd put back his bag back on his shoulder. Chuck stuffed his hands in his pockets and said:
"I texted Ellie, for your shoulder. She'll be here soon, I think."
"Oh!" Bryce simply said "Thanks."
Chuck shot him a small smile and turned around, ready to leave.
"Chuck!" Bryce called
The spy turned toward the brunette and raised an eyebrow, inviting him to continue.
"I'm sorry" Bryce said, guilt in his eyes.
Chuck's smile grew wider as he said:
"I know."
"Really?" Bryce asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Chuck nodded, walked closer to his ex-best friend and said:
"I think I understand why you did what you did. I probably would've done the same thing.
Bryce smiled as he remembered the discussion he had with Sarah a few days ago. Chuck continued.
"And if we have to work together on this case, I think that we should get along and trust each other. And eventually, become friends again."
"So.. we're cool?"
Chuck smiled and nodded again as he replied:
"Definetely."
Not letting his ex-best friend reply, Chuck turned around and left the building.
ALICE ELLINGSTON'S APARTMENT, MANHATTAN.
3:05 PM.
As both of the teams entered the victim's apartment, Alice Ellingston walked straight toward them. She was a tall and thin woman, had bright green eyes and long blond curls that fell perfectly on her shoulders. If she wasn't a succesful lawyer, she could've been a mannequin.
The first thing Peter noticed was the fact that the place was tidy, everything seemed to be in its right place. You could hardly say there was a burglary in there. He frowned his eyebrows and looked up at the young woman in front of him, who stretched a hand and introduced herself:
"FBI, I presume. I'm Alice Ellington."
Peter nodded before taking her hand and shaking it:
"Ma'am. I'm Peter Burke, head of the White Collar division. These are my collegues, Agents Jones and Barrigan" he said, pointing to the man and woman by his sides, who gave a short nod.
Chuck stretched out a hand and introduced himself and his teammates :
"Hello, ma'am. I'm Special Agent Charles Carmichael and these are my teammates, Sarah Walker and Colonel John Casey?"
"Governmental agents?" Alice asked, frowning her eyebrows. Sarah gave her a short nod "Why?"
Casey, Sarah and Chuck exchanged glances before Peter came to their rescue and answered:
"To help."
"This is just a burglary. Why would you need help from the CIA?"
"That, you don't need to know." Diana retorted, with a fake smile on her lips.
Even though she looked like she wanted to add something, Alice didn't. She returned the smile, crossed her arms and nodded the young woman a nod, before inviting all the agents to sit down on a couch.
As they sat down, the raven haired woman asked politely:
"Do any of you want something to drink?"
"No, I think we're all good, thank you." Chuck replied with a smile "Although, would you mind telling me where the bathroom is?"
"Not at all. Go upstairs , turn to the right and open the first door you'll see."
Chuck thanked her with a nod and a smile before walking toward the stairs and climbing them two by two. Upstairs, he could faintly heard the questions asked by the federal agents. As he started walking toward the bathroom, he noticed that the door on his left was half opened.
He cocked an eyebrow and quietly walked toward the door. Chuck knocked softly but didn't get an answer. He looked behind him, to see if anyone was coming upstairs then slowly pushed the door so he could enter the room.
The room was pretty dark and dusty. Chuck sneezed before coughing and bringing his shirt to the tip of his nose and walked in quietly. There was nothing worth getting stealed. He walked toward the desk : on it were some files and old pictures. Not very interesting. Chuck walked through the room, scanning some files and books, hoping to find something he could flash on. Nothing. Chuck sighed, putting the book back on itshelf.
As he was going to exit the office, a picture caught his attention. He frowned his eyebrows before walking back toward the desk and taking the frame in his hands. On the picture, you could see a young Alice - she seemed like 18 - sitting on the shoulders of an older man. who seemed oddly familiar. The two looked like twins. The man was pretty tall, he had curly blond hair and big bright green eyes. Both of them were laughing when the picture was taken. Chuck examinated it closer and his eyes widened when he recognized the young man on the photography.
He took the photography out of its frame, foiled it, stuffed it in his back and took out his cellphone, quickly dialing a number. After severals rings, someone finally pick up. Chuck said:
"Hey, it's me: could yo- Don't call me that.." he hissed as his interlocutor interrupted him " [...] Wait, what? [...] How in hell am I suppose to know what are Ellie's favourites flowers?! I'm her brother, not her husband. What are they for anyway ? [...] Whatever, could I ask a favor? [...] Ok: I want you to find anything you can about Alice Ellington and her relations with Duris [...] Thanks, see you later."
Chuck hang up and returned to the living room, exchanging a quick look with his fiancée. Sarah frowned her eyebrows and Chuck mouthed 'later'. The little exchange didn't go unnoticed by Diana, who frowned her eyebrows, suspicious.
.
MEANWHILE..
FBI HEADQUARTERS, WHITE COLLAR DIVISION, NEW YORK.
Bryce was bored. Bryce hated being bored. He couldn't stay still for a minute : how could they expect him to stay in a building and do nothing ? Plus it was quiet, all federals were working seriously on their cases. Bryce was loud. Well, at least Neal was loud. The young blue eyed man had tried to call his girlfriend to spend some time with her but, apparently, the young woman was busy. He tried Mozzie but the older man said he had better things to do. He could've called Alex but it would've been : they hadn't talk in months and he didn't even know with the number she had gave him was a real one.
So Bryce went to lay on the couch of Peter's office, his fedora hat on his face. He must've fell asleep because thirty minutes later, he felt someone taping gently his arm. With his uninjured arm, Bryce took off his hat and cracked an eye open. In front of him was standing Ellie, a bag on her shoulder and an amused look on her face. Bryce sat back up, stretching a little and said:
"Hi!"
"Hello. Am I disturbing your naptime?" she joked.
Bryce chuckled, rubbing his eyes with his hand. He shook his head and replied:
"No, it's just painkillers. They're making me sleepy" He hid a yawn "Sorry, that was rude."
"It's fine, don't worry." Ellie said, putting her bag on the floor. "So, Chuck told me that you needed someone to check on your shoulder?"
"Right, yeah. If you don't mind."
Ellie smiled and shook her head. She asked:
"Could you please take off the sling, your tie and shirt?"
Bryce smirked and sent her a flirtatious look which made the older woman roll her eyes. Bryce untied his tie, undoned the buttons of his shirt before taking off the sling and shirt carefully. Ellie couldn't help but winced when she saw his shoulder : there was a few cuts covered with bandage and a huge purple-black bruise that go from his soulder to his elbow and she could see that the bone wasn't in its place. She took a small bottle, a syringe and a needle out of her bag before putting gloves on. Bryce was watching carefully and winced when he saw the brunette grimace. He saw in a joking a tone:
"What's up, doc? Why do you need the needle and syringe?
She sent him a small smile and bit her bottom lip when she took one of the bandages. Bryce stuffed his fist in his mouth, restraining a cry of pain. The bandage seemed to stick on the wound, which was pretty deep. Ellie winced and said:
"Sorry."
Bryce didn't say anything. Fortunately, the others wounds were just small cuts and she could take the bandages without any trouble. She cleaned the fresh wound before sticking the syringe into the small bottle and sucking the liquid. She slowly planted the needle of the syringe on top of his forearm and injected the liquid, trying her best to ignore the look of pain on Bryce's face. The young blue eyed man cleared his throat and asked:
"What's that for?"
"Whoever treated your injuries was either drunk or unskilled, all he did was shitty work. When you fell-"
"When I was tackled to the ground by your brother." He corriged.
"-Not only you dislocated your shoulder but you opened a old wound, apparently some stiches broke and your fall worsened your wound. The doctor just cleaned the wound, he should've stitch you up again. I anesthetized you so you won't feel a thing when I'll stitch you up."
"Ok and what about my shoulder?"
"I need to put the bone back in place, so it might hurt a little bit" she winced as she started sewing his wound. "Seriously the person who treated is a complete imbecile. He should've done all of this in the first place."
Bryce chuckled as she finished bandaging his forearm. Ellie put a hand behind his elbow and the other on his wrist. She looked up at him and asked:
"Ready?"
"Let's get this over with" He said, nodding.
Ellie nodded too, took a deep breath, then quickly and roughly slammed his shoulder back in place. Bryce stuffed his fist in his mouth, restraining a scream, as his eyes widened in pain. Ellie winced and started massaging soflty his arm and shoulder. Bryce let out a moan of pain as Ellie apologized:
"Sorry. How does it feels, now?"
"Better, thanks." Bryce replied, a small smile on his face.
Ellie smiled and let go of his arm before taking a ice pack out and a bottle of pills of her bag and threw it at the blue eyed man guy. Bryce caught the ice pack with his good hand and put it on his shoulder. Ellie raised from her seat, took off her gloves and closed her bag. She put it on her shoulder, handed him a prescriptionand said:
"Keep that ice on your shoulder for the next hour, it will help with the pain. Take those pills every three hours until 3:25 PM tomorrow and tonight, mass your shoulder with that baume before going to bed and sleep on your left side. Then you'll be as good as new, tomorrow.
"You are a miracle worker, Els. Thank you so much." He said, taking the prescription and stuffing in his back pocket.
"You're welcome."
As she was going to leave, Bryce yelled:
"Wait!"
She turned around and cocked an interrogatory eyebrow. Bryce raised from the couch, the ice pack pressed against his shoulder and asked:
"How can I repay you?"
"You don't have to, it was mostly me according my little brother a favor." Ellie said with a smile "But if I think of something, I'll let you."
Bryce smiled back at her and watched her leave the office. The ex-CIA agent sighed, put the ice on the desk and tried to put back his shirt on, without hurting his shoulder, and left the office, his tie hanging around his neck.
As he started walking toward his desk, Bryce felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He sat at his desk, frowning his eyebrows, took the phone out of his pocket and picked up:
"Yep?"
"Hey, it's me: could yo- "
"Yo, Chuckie: what's up?
"Don't call me that.." Chuck hissed.
"Geez, Chuck, take a chill pill : I'm kidding! Eh, what are your sister's favourites flowers?"
"Wait, what?" Bryce could almost 'hear' Chuck frown his eyebrows.
"What are your sister's favourites flowers?" Bryce repeated, as if he was talking to a kintergarden student "You know.. Ellie?"
"How in hell am I suppose to know what are Ellie's favourites flowers?! I'm her brother, not her husband. What are they for anyway ?" Chuck asked, getting annoyed.
"I want to buy her flowers as a 'thank-you-for-putting-my-shoulder-back-in-place-y ou-are-awesome.' I think I'll even send a card with that little message written on it."
"Whatever, could I ask a favor?" the CIA agent asked.
"Sure, shoot!" Bryce said, putting his legs up on his desk and the ice pack back on his shoulder.
"Ok: I want you to find anything you can about Alice Ellington and her relations with Duris"
"Alice... Ellington" he muttered as he entered her name in the data base "Okay, I'm on it."
"Thanks, see you later."
"Later." Bryce said before hanging up. He threw his phone on his desk and began his researches, sending the name to Mozzie. Just in case.
...
A/N : I know : shitty chapter but I wanted to update before leaving for Ireland for two weeks, so... taa-daa !
Review...?
KadiCriss