"Neal go home," The dark head spun to face him… frozen mid pace, shock and betrayal in his eyes.

"You're cutting me out?" Panic flared in his eyes… caused his voice to crack.

"No…" he shook his head "No, I meant it's after midnight… It's been a h*** of a day… you're tired… I'm tired…we've gone over what we know a thousand different ways. And our fourth pot of coffee is gone."

"We can't stop… we have to find him."

"Neal, you aren't going to do Nathen any good if you collapse" he watched his friend resume wearing a path in his living room rug. The rigid posture of his shoulders belied the defeat he tried to hide in his blue eyes… "Come on …I'll get my coat and drive you home." A wordless nod admitted surrender.

"We aren't giving up are we?" the voice was so small.

"Of course not." Peter stared at the younger man "we are talking about a missing child… your child! One of our own…" he hesitated, some people might not agree with that last part but… "We are absolutely not giving up! We are, however, taking you home and starting again in the morning." He patted his friend on the shoulder, subtly shepherding the exhausted man toward the car.

"Early?"

"Early… I'll pick you up at 6:30"

"6:00"

"Ok 6:00" he sighed "Are you sure you are ok working on this?"

"I have to be…" he ran his hand through his hair "I can't sit it out...please."

"I know." Peter pointed to the car door "get in."

He really was tired… more than tired, drained… physically, mentally and emotionally drained. Neal couldn't remember ever feeling so worn down… even the day Kate died hadn't wrung him out quite this much. That was a bit of a shock to him actually… he hadn't thought a more difficult day was possible, but here he was dragging himself up the stairs to his apartment with all the energy of an inebriated sloth… his vision reduced to the narrow tunnel required for his feet to find his next step. The image of the little boy with big blue eyes hovered in his mind forcing him to fight the hot tears that burned his eyes. His hand trembled again as he struggled to turn the key in the lock…

Neal was nearly to the bed before his reeling mind registered he wasn't alone. He blinked, trying to focus on the figure reclined on his couch snoring softly. He sat on the bed and fumbled with his shoe laces… no need to wake the small man, he thought, better to just try to rest …

"You are late"

"Hey Moz…" he sighed deeply

"Do you know what time it is?" Mozzie slid his glasses back onto his nose and peered at his watch. "It is one am…"

"I'm sorry I didn't know I had a curfew."

"I thought this was supposed to be an in and out… buy the painting and the suits rush in and take over… home by five sort of day."

"Something came up"

"Obviously" he regarded his friend a moment "hence you staggering home at one am ready to collapse… are you hurt?'

"No" he ran a shaky hand through his hair… grasping the dark waves and pulling wearily… "Did you know?" He didn't mean to say it out loud but there was no going back now… not with his friend staring at him like he'd lost his mind "did you know she was pregnant?" his voice came out a quivering whisper.

"Who?" Mozzie's head came up

"KATE! Did you know she had a son!" he really didn't mean to yell. Neal flinched… his friend looked like he had been struck. 'sorry…"he mumbled "I'm sorry" silence fell… and Neal turned his attention back to his shoes, but his hands were shaking harder…so violently he simply knotted the laces.

"This son…" Mozzie began hesitantly "that I did not know she was expecting… he's yours I assume." An exhausted nod. "Do you know the location of this child?" tears… Mozzie was definitely not expecting tears. He awkwardly patted his shoulder "How can I help mon frère?"

"Do you have three million dollars?"

He slipped his feet into his shoes… quietly… cautiously... and opened his front door.

Eight am…five hours until the ransom exchange… five hours to get his team ready. He shot one last glance at his couch… at the man curled up sleeping there, briefly considered waking him… No, he'll let him sleep, he knows he didn't collapse there until almost six, that he hadn't slept more than an hour or two at a time the last three days…despite their best efforts there was no trace of the child or his captors. Then last night... this morning at two am Neal got the call… the man knew to call Neal… that worried Peter…

Worried him almost as much as the frantic man pounding on his door at 2:30 in the morning had… in his pajamas… barefoot…no coat… shivering in the early morning chill his hair standing out at odd angles… not as if he had just woke up, but rather as though he had spent the night tossing and turning… pulling his fingers though it. There were tears in his terrified eyes… though he didn't let them fall. Neal burst into his living room a torrent of nervous energy… pacing erratically…sitting down, his knee bouncing frantically before he surged to his feet again…

"This is about me!" he repeated over and over "whoever this is wants to hurt me…! They're going to-!"

"Ok…any ideas who it might be?" Peter tried to calm him by logical thought. He shook his head running both hands over his face and through his dark hair… grasping his hair and tugging as if that might make the name come to mind…

"I know his voice. I know I do, but I can't place it… I can't think of it… I can't think… my son is going to …to…" he dropped onto the couch then wrapping his arms around his waist…. "They aren't after the ransom Peter…"

"What makes you say that?" he shrugged helplessly "They called and demanded it…"

"I just know…The way he said it…the way he growled my name…There was so much hate! I've never heard hate like that! What am I going to do?" he shuttered violently "They are going to …he's going to k-kill Nathen because I can't think!"

"Calm down…" Peter watched him warily… he had never seen the younger man like this

"I lost her… I lost his mother… I can't let them…"He was pacing again "I have to save him…"

"Neal… when's the last time you ate… anything…slept?" His friend shrugged… he shook his head and led the kid into the kitchen and made a sandwich while Neal prowled the room.

"What are you doing? We need to think… we need to…."

"You need to sit down and eat this." he pressed the plate into Neal's hands… and poured a glass of milk…

"Peter!"

"We don't have one decent lead… not one Neal. We do have a time and a place for the exchange…they aren't going to hurt him until they get the money… We will follow them back to Nathen. There is nothing more we can do right now." The younger man nodded, calming a bit…mechanically eating the sandwich…

"I'm just worried… I have to get him home safely…"

"We will… we'll think of something…"

Now he stared at the sleeping man for a long moment…let him sleep… he needed to be as rested and collected as he could be by noon. Peter slipped out the door, his phone out calling his team… he could get everything set up before Neal came in. He just hoped the kid didn't do something stupid…

His phone buzzed startling him awake. He stared at the text a moment, forcing his fuzzy blue eyes to focus on the message… a tiny smile tugged at his exhausted features… finally a real lead. He staggered to his feet, suddenly aware of the condition of his appearance… a few minutes to change and then he would just pop by the address Mozzie sent him… just to check things out… to see if there was anything to the rumor… he glanced at his watch, 9:12. It wouldn't take long and he could still be at the office to get ready for the exchange by noon…

If there was anything there… he could tell Peter and the team could hit the place, and rescue Nathen …while he placed three million dollars under the bridge in the park…