Hey y'all! I'm back-finally- with the next installment of our lovely story. Just what kind of mischief did our thieving trio get up to at the FBI office? Well, one thing's for certain: Neal and Peter are about to find out.

Chapter 10: Homecoming

A silent stillness seemed to haunt the building. Pressing the elevator button, Neal suppressed a shiver and continued to consider the possibilities of what they might find. He hadn't been surprised that Mozzie wasn't there waiting to greet them; he wouldn't stay a second longer in any government office than absolutely necessary, especially not after what he pulled. Shaking his head, Neal forced himself to focus on the problem at hand instead. First thing first: where were the people?

There were a few left at the office, and there should have been at least a little bustle, a little movement, a few signs of life. Neal didn't want to think of what the lack of those signs could mean.

Walking together, Neal and Peter made their way through the shadowy parking deck followed closely by Diana and Jones, all scanning the shadows for the faintest signs of movement, the tiniest signs of life. Suddenly, the sound of a car horn from below made them all jump.

Shaking his head, Neal pressed the elevator button. They were all on edge, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. They had been at this all day and hadn't had a minute to stop and think since they started the case. It was hard to believe that it had been less than twenty-four hours since the case had begun; it felt like it had been weeks.

The elevator dinged open, jarring Neal out of his reverie. He made to get in, but Peter stopped him and pointed. The security camera was a smoldering heap.

A shot, smoldering heap.

Neal got the message: They're armed. As the agents all drew their guns, Neal started to wish he had one of his own. The situation was escalating by the minute, and Neal wasn't at all sure where it was headed. He was sure, however, that they were about to find out.

The four of them entered the elevator and hit the button for their floor. They'd start in the office, and see if they could catch the thieves. Neal seriously doubted they were still here, but if they were, then what?

Who was their mysterious Gentleman? What would he do if he was caught? Just how dangerous was this guy?

These questions kept spinning through his head as the elevator moved smoothly, yet to Neal agonizingly slowly, toward their destination.

Where they had no idea what they'd find

The elevator dinged as it reached their floor. The agents raised their weapons and pointed them at the elevator doors. No one was sure what they were about to see, but they planned on being prepared.

The doors slid open revealing a silent office. Nothing stirred, and the eerie stillness seemed to smother them. Shaking himself, Neal walked on, and the others follower, weapons at the ready. The sight reassured him; he breathed easier as they walked up the stairs to the office door. It was too dark to see inside, so they would have to enter and find out.

He had no idea what they would find when they did.

Approaching the door, Peter gave a signal to Jones and Diana. They took up their positions, Diana to one side and Jones to another, ready to knock open the door.

Peter hung back with Neal, ready to charge in. He held up three fingers. Neal watched as he counted down.

3…2…1…

Peter gave the signal. Jones kicked open the door, and Peter and Diana rushed in to cover the room, handguns swinging left and right.

They were ready for anything.

Completely ready to take on the frantic-looking horde of bound and gagged employees gathered about the desk, staring at Peter and Diana through wide eyes.

Cursing quietly, Peter set about to cutting them loose while Jones and Diana cleared the room.

The first freed-one of the interns- took a deep breath, and then started talking in a rush.

"They just came up, totally unfairly, and took me from behind! Then, when I woke up, there were a bunch of other people in here with me. None of us knew anything and-"

Peter managed to halt the unsettled youth with an upraised hand. "So, where are they now?"

Another employee, having been cut loose, answered the question as he rubbed his wrists. "Long gone. We saw them leave a little while ago, down the elevator. You missed them by about ten, fifteen minutes."

"I tried calling for help," another piped up, "but my phone wouldn't work for some reason."

"Same with the alarm." Said another. "Or, at least, I guess so, since the cops never showed up."

With that, they both proceeded to burst into tears. The other ex-captives all went to comfort them.

"Jones," Peter called over the hysterics to where Jones was just freeing the last bound employee, "I want you to go and check the alarm for tampering. Diana, start taking statements. Neal, you're with me."

"What are we doing?" asked Neal as he caught up to Peter.

"We'll go over the place and see if we can find out why the thief was here." Peter replied.

"Thieves," corrected Neal, "our witnesses saw three thieves."

"What else did they see?" Peter asked as they crossed towards the elevators once more.

"I didn't hear much more than that, other than that the majority of them were tased-but a few were taken out hand to hand, apparently."

Peter shook his head. "We need to sit down and get our facts together. We've been at this for hours straight with no time to catch our breath."

Neal let out a long sigh. "The Gentleman has been keeping us busy, that's for sure."

Peter nodded as they got to the file room's door. "I can't help but wonder-" he cut off as the door opened, revealing a mess of astronomic proportions.

The two of them stared at the room. The floor was carpeted in papers and folders, and one of the file cabinets had been knocked over.

"Well," said Neal with a gesture to the fallen cabinet, "at least we know where they've been."

Peter studied the room, then looked up and smiled triumphantly. "We've got 'em!"

Neal looked up, and smiled with Peter. Sitting there, perched like a squatting crow with its little light blinking, was a security camera.

They had finally caught a break.

At their latest place of residence, three thieves sat around a table pouring over the contents of a folder stamped with the seal of the FBI. Alice was reading the follow up reports from the various agencies of the United States that happened to be looking for the trio.

Riley was reading the foreign reports the FBI had compiled-she spoke more languages than the other two- but even she had to sit some to the side for Alice to translate later with her fancy computer.

The thief known oh-so-ironically as The Gentleman was reading the CSU reports of the sites of their various crimes. She was pleased to see that the FBI was still in the dark, but she knew that wouldn't last for long. After tonight, the clock was ticking; they had to spring the boss and get out of town before the FBI caught up.

"So," said Alice after they had finished. "We have three days."

The others nodded; they had all they needed to do what had to be done; the real challenge would be to wait until they had the opportunity to do so.

Oh, and not let the FBI catch them before they could do it.

One thing was for sure: the race was on.

Finally updated! What do y'all think? Review and let me know!