"Boss?" Diana's voice startled him, pulling his eyes away from the mountain of paper work on his desk. The look on her face spoke volumes.
"You found something?"
"Caffrey's birth certificate… check this out." She pointed to the line that listed type of birth, plurality duel birth. Neal Bennett was listed as infant B.
"He does have a twin…? He told me …"he trailed off considering what exactly Neal actually said.
"Look, Boss maybe…maybe the twin is a girl… or a green-eyed red head and he thought it was irrelevant" she shrugged.
"True." Peter looked at her intently "Was the second twin a girl?"
"I have no idea. I haven't found the second birth certificate" she shook her head "I had a hard time finding that one."
"What do you mean?"
"That's where things get strange." The quirk of her lips added, as usual. "The Virginia state registrar does not have a copy of this certificate in their computer records."
"They don't?"
"They had to dig it out of their paper records… apparently an amended version was filed two and a half years after Neal was born…"
"An amended version?"
"Listing him as a single birth,"
"Really?" Peter frowned "he didn't go into WitSec until after he was three… why would his twin be erased from the records nearly a year before that?"
"I don't know boss…" she hesitated "you want me to keep digging? This is getting pretty…personal but if you want…"
"Yeah." He met her gaze for a moment "I'll let you know."
"Ok" she nodded before turning to the door… the young agent paused just inside, glancing back over her shoulder "Do you think Caffrey knows…?"
Peter sighed. Did he think Neal knew about a twin whose existence had apparently been expunged completely before he was three…? There was only one way to find out.
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Ten thirty… William was sleeping peacefully for now. Neal was exhausted but his mind was still reeling from Miranda's news, and he admitted, from Mozzie's reaction to the memory card as well. Unable to even contemplate sleep, he lost himself in a painting… not even really focused on what took shape under his quickly moving brush… he simply let his mind wander through all of his distressing thoughts and worries and his hand take care of the painting…
The knock on his door made him jump involuntarily. Peter's voice filtered through the wood.
"Coming" he called softly as he wiped his smudged hands on a worn towel. "To what do I owe the pleasure of a late night visit? I've been here all evening." He questioned as he stepped aside to let his friend enter the room.
"I know." Peter smiled a bit stiffly "I checked before I came."
"Of course you did." Neal chuckled "What would you have done if I had a date when you got here."
"Well…I thought given your guest" he glanced at the sleeping boy "A date was unlikely." Peter hesitated for a moment then straightening his shoulders he raised the paper in his hand "Why didn't you tell me you really do have a twin?"
"I don't." The younger man met his eye, there was something there… a glint of almost defiance before he relented "At least not anymore."
"What happened to him?"
"I have no idea." Neal hunched his shoulders, a look of peculiar sadness creeping into his blue eyes. "I'm not even really sure he was real."
"I have proof." The older man held up the papers again
"Proof I had a twin?" Neal cocked his head questioningly "I always wondered but…" He gently extradited the copy of his birth certificate from Peter's hand reading it quickly.
"You aren't sure he was real… what does that mean, exactly?" Peter watched him closely as Neal tried to contain the emotions that rushed through him.
"I have this vague memory…" Neal gestured weakly "of playing with another little boy…it's more like a dream really… like a memory of having a memory." He sighed "that doesn't even make sense, does it?"
"I understand what you are trying to say."
"Then Ellen had this baby picture I saw once … when I was about 7…8. She told me it was just me looking in a mirror but something was off… the position of the hands I think. Her explanation never quite seemed right to me. I never saw the picture again."
"You never asked?"
"Peter, no one ever mentioned me having a brother… not once."
"Your mother never…"
"My mother barely remembered I was there most days… she probably forgot he ever existed at all." The bitterness that escaped with those words made Neal flinch…he hadn't meant to admit so much about his childhood. He loved his mom, had tried to make her proud … to make her smile at him but…no matter what he did, she remained locked in the prison of her own pain. Lost in the memory of a perfect family that never existed. He sighed sadly, pushing the thought away.
"I see." Peter frowned and Neal knew he was reading too much between the lines, but he couldn't stop the next words before they slipped out.
"The only time she seemed to focus on me when I was small was when…" he stopped abruptly, a chill snaking up his spine. The memory of his mom's response to the name floating vividly into his mind.
"When?" the tone demanded an answer
"When I played with Nick…"
"Who is Nick?"
Neal dropped his head and a faint blush crept up his cheeks "my imaginary friend." It was hardly more than a whisper. He waited for the older man to laugh, but instead silence fell over the room.
"Your brother's name was Nick." It wasn't exactly a question, more of a declaration, but Neal looked up and shrugged helplessly, he had just reached the same conclusion.
"I don't know. Maybe my mom didn't forget him after all… she always got… angry, when she heard me mention Nick." he tried to push the image of his usually languid and mentally absent mother suddenly focused intensely on him, her face red and livid as she screamed "Didn't I Tell You NICK IS NOT REAL!" her eyes, dilated with whatever pills she took every day, filled with blind fury, her cold hand moving to slap his small cheek, once, twice, three times.
"Do you mind if I tell Diana to try to pull a birth certificate for Nick Bennett?" the younger man shrugged again studying the floor, his face pulled painfully tight as he pulled himself back to the present.
"Peter, he can't be William's father."
"Someone is Neal, if it's not you then…"
"But if… if he was real… I think he died." Neal looked up then, pain coloring his eyes even brighter than usual "it's the only explanation that makes sense."
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"Hon?" her voice was gentle "you coming to bed soon… it's after midnight."
"I'm sorry I just…"
"This about Neal isn't it." she sighed, as he nodded "What is it? Something to do with that missing woman and her sweet little boy, right?"
"Child services' DNA report came in this morning." Peter frowned "it said William is Neal's"
"But I thought you said that wasn't possible."
"It isn't." he sighed "so I had Diana do some digging."
"And…?"
"And Neal is a twin or at least he was."
"That is a worrisome thought… two of Neal Caffrey in this world" she smiled briefly but it faded under Peter's grim expression. "What happened?"
"I confronted him about it… demanded to know why he didn't tell me days ago…"
"It didn't go well?"
"He tried to hide it but I think it brought up some painful memories… I should have realized he didn't…that it would be difficult for him. The birth certificate was altered when he was two, his brother was completely erased from his life just months before his dad disappeared too."
"Completely erased? So you don't know where the brother is now? Neal doesn't know?"
"Neal thinks he must have died."
"You don't agree…"
"Someone fathered that little boy, and Neal was… otherwise occupied at the time."
"Are you going to try to find him?" she couldn't help sounding worried…the memory of what happened after they found the young man's father still fresh in her mind. Peter shrugged
'I don't even know where to start… I'm sure we can pull a birth certificate but beyond that… there aren't many records on a two year old."
"Maybe it's for the best, hon." She lay her hand on his shoulder gently "Neal's family tends to be…"
"Trouble?" he smiled grimly.
"I know it's not his fault, but maybe it's best if we just leave his past in the past."
"Except it keeps finding its way into our present even when we aren't looking." Peter looked at her wearily "fore warned is fore armed, right?" She frowned but sighed
"If he's genetically the same as Neal that means he's just as smart, right?" She looked at her husband eyes filled with concern "What will you do if this brother turns out to be… dangerous?"
"I don't know…"the sigh rattled in his throat "Take him down I guess."
"Just be careful, please" Elle warned
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Peter had been silent on the drive to the docks, had been disturbingly quiet since his phone rang forty five minutes ago, actually, Neal thought. He had simply stood up and motioned for Neal to follow. Now the younger man watched his friend's face tighten as he seemed to brace himself to speak.
"Neal…" the agent drew a slow breath before he continued. Neal found himself holding his breath. This wasn't going to be good. "Neal, NYPD found a woman matching your description of William's mother."
"Tell me she's alive." He pleaded. Neal wanted to feel relieved but he felt dread tighten around his heart. Peter's grave face told him too much, his silence… their location, the young man knew what was coming but he didn't want to hear it. Peter shook his head slowly.
"They pulled her body out of the Hudson about an hour ago." the older man confirmed Neal's fear. What was he going to tell the little boy at his apartment playing with June? The toddler who cried for her every night. William who had trusted him when he said his mother would come back. Neal promised him and now… he gulped down the sick feeling that rose in his throat.
"What are we doing here, Peter?" he knew the answer but, he really didn't think he could do it.
"We need you to identify her as the woman kidnapped outside your apartment on Tuesday." Peter met his gaze, brown eyes apologetic. "I know you don't like bodies, Neal but…" he nodded wordlessly. As they stepped out of the car the icy wind whipped through his coat, the cold dry snow stung his skin as he turned to face the falling ice. Even colder was the slim snake of dread that worked its way around his heart as he moved toward the frozen dock.
She lay at the end of the pier, uncovered, exposed in just a wet torn dress, no shoes. Tiny icy flakes clung to her eyelashes and collected in the corners of her eyelids. No coat. "She looks so cold," Neal thought, knowing it was ridiculous. A thin layer of ice was already forming on her skin...her ashy, blue- grey skin, her lips so full and red just a few days ago were now a pale blue line, split and bruised… her auburn hair lay around her lifeless face like a sodden halo. His stomach lurched as he took in the signs of the brutality she had endured…his eyes resting on the thin cut on her right cheek, the livid bruise under her eye, the burns on her sleeveless arms and bare legs, the way the twisted boneless limbs bent at impossible angles, the way her chest was caved in as if struck by a battering ram… and finally the bullet wound in the center of her breast… the projectile would have shredded through her heart, killing her quickly. He swallowed once, before looking up into Peter and the police detective's expectant eyes.
"That's her… that's William's mom." He turned away then… striding hurriedly away from the shattered body on the frozen wood.