Notes: Sorry about the lateness of this chapter, it was intended to be uploaded last night but, (as followers of 'CIs vs Agents' might know) I was without internet. We (my family and I) only managed to get it back late this morning - a little before lunch. So, we were internet-less for over 24 hours. Since the problem is in the wiring, there's a chance that this might happen again. They're sending out a tech to look at it in the second week of April. Until then, there may be other instances of this.

We're still with Peter, Neal and Chuck as they try and figure out what's going on. Peter and Neal are trying to wrap their heads around their partner also being CIA.

Chapter 8

"Bryce Larkin from Connecticut. Was my roommate in college, joined the CIA in 2002 and stole a computer filled with government secrets before sending it to me. He has a Level Six Clearance and was Agent-In-Charge of the Intersect 2.0 project until his second untimely and prematurely confirmed demise.

"Kieran Ryker. Deep cover agent and former handler of Sarah Walker. In 2006, his files were buried in order to protect his cover identity from exposure and he extracted himself from handler duties. Also expressed fears of an internal struggle in the CIA, how did you know that the CIA was experiencing an internal struggle?"

"Gut feeling," Peter raised an eyebrow as he responded, a silent question on whether he could speak. Chuck had enforced a 'no speaking' policy while they tried to sort out what was going on here.

"Never bet against the gut," Neal added.

Peter gave Neal an incredulous glance. The ex-conman; secret agent?, seemed to be taking this with appeared acceptance and a mask that didn't let him see how he really felt about it.

He wondered just how much of what he knew about Neal was real. Trying to separate the cover and mission from the man gave him a headache. And it was... discerning that this man had been able to get so close to him and he never noticed.

And then he had a moment of panic as he realised that Bryce Larkin, the guy who stole the Intersect, dated Sarah Walker and was an accomplished spy with a higher ranking than himself, was sitting across from him. Bryce Larkin had been working with his people and had his own desk near the entrance.

"Peter?" Neal questioned, tilting his head slightly and Peter realised that his panic had shown on his face. "Look, we're on the same side."

"That doesn't mean anything," Peter responded and was surprised to see hurt flash on Neal's face. "I've let you into my house, introduced you to my wife and it turns out you're a spy? It just shows how I can't afford to let my guard down." Except that he already had. But, that was for Neal Caffrey, not Bryce Larkin. He didn't know Bryce.

"That's not fair," Bryce responded, tossing Neal's hat onto Peter's desk. The small smile vanished from his face and he glared at Peter. "I've worked for you and risked my life for you. I trusted you," Peter flinched at the calm venom in that as did Chuck. "Don't sit there and scold me, when you've done the exact same thing!"

"Bryce," Chuck said in a reminding tone, holding out his hands and motioning for the agitated man to sit.

Bryce sat and took a moment to school his features into a neutral expression. The only sign of his agitation were his arms, crossed over his chest.

This was the reason for Chuck's 'no speaking' policy. To moderate their emotions and stop them from possibly killing each other. Not that Bryce could imagine that.

His face flushed slightly with embarrassment as he realised that he probably couldn't kill Peter; or Kieran, or even shoot him. He was too emotionally compromised to even think about hurting him.

All he could do was have faith that Peter's noble traits, the reasons he had trusted the man, were also a part of Kieran Ryker. If not, he could always request an immediate transfer and Neal Caffrey could run.

And it hurt. He had trusted Peter and now he finds out that Peter wasn't even real, but a cover identity for another spy.

"What?" he asked Chuck who was looking at him expectantly.

"Well, when Morgan found out-"

"Seriously?" Bryce interrupted in a flat tone and a smirk. "You let Morgan find out?"

"He found Castle!" Chuck responded, "and it was a good thing anyway. I got my best friend back."

Bryce raised an eyebrow, a motion Peter also made.

"That's all it took?" Peter asked.

Chuck shrugged and nodded. There had been some fighting and taking down the bad guys who had infiltrated Castle, the reason Morgan had found it, but it was mostly not keeping any secrets from Morgan which had allowed them to become best friends again.

They sat in silence for a few moments until Chuck spotted Sarah entering the office. With Elizabeth right behind her.

"What's she doing here?" Bryce questioned.

"I called her," Peter responded, not even looking up from the report he had begun working on.

Bryce and Chuck shared a look.

This wasn't going to end well.

"Chuck," Sarah greeted, opening the door to Peter's office.

"Hi, hon," El greeted. Peter quickly put his work away to respond to her. "Neal."

"El," Bryce responded with a wave, slipping his Neal persona back on with a smile.

"What the? Bryce?" Sarah said, her voice rising and holding a hint of annoyance when she said his name.

"Sarah," Bryce greeted, just managing to hide a flinch. She glared at him and then at Chuck.

"Sorry!" Chuck said, "I didn't get a chance to tell you." She raised an eyebrow. Surely, he could have found time to mention this? A 'hey, you know Bryce is still alive?' would have only taken a moment. Chuck buckled under the glare and slumped his shoulders. "You were keeping secrets," he mumbled.

"And so you decided to keep this from me?" she questioned. Chuck nodded and she sighed at Neal. "I suspect you have something to do with that?"

"I may have asked him to keep it a secret," Bryce responded with a light shrug. "But, I didn't ask him to lie to you."

"So, Neal's a spy?" Elizabeth guessed.

Sarah, Chuck and Peter all stared at him; it looked like he would have to introduce himself. He stood up and walked over to El.

"Bryce Larkin, CIA," he said. El's eyes slid over to her husband and he decided to add, "Peter didn't know and I didn't know about Peter."

"How do two CIA agents get assigned to the same FBI office?" El asked.

"Now, that is a very good question," Bryce said.

"It probably has to do with how I was already stationed here, giving Bryce a way in as Neal," Peter pointed out, "the rest is just a result of the limited information spies are given when on a mission."

"What?" Chuck questioned.

"Our positions are 'need to know' and we didn't need to know," Bryce translated.

"Oh."

"Well, that's stupid," El commented, attracting bewildered stares from all the agents. "If we had known that Neal was an agent then Peter wouldn't have to worry about him cutting his anklet or stealing a painting or anything else."

"Actually, if anything, you should be worrying about him getting shot," Chuck pointed out.

"Not cool, Chuck," Bryce said with a glare.

"What did he do, jump in front of a gun?" Peter quipped and, embarrassed, Bryce shot him a glare. The first time, with John Casey, had sort of been like that. But, he had been injured, tired and was trying to send the Intersect while escaping a heavily guarded facility.

Peter looked surprised at his response.

"You didn't, did you? I mean, I've seen you pull some stupid stunts-"

"I didn't!" he responded. He had jumped off a roof, into Casey's sight, but hadn't been shot until he started moving. So it didn't count.

"Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else," El said, coming to Bryce's rescue. He gave her a grateful glance.