Making the Call
Why did Neal always have to put him through this?
It all started when the New York City FBI White Collar division had a case that crossed over into NSA territory. An agent was sent over to help collaborate and ensure everything was processed smoothly.
You can imagine the team's surprise when another Neal walked off the elevator wearing a G-man suit, a sidearm with a visible badge, and a serious expression. A mass double-take before verifying Neal was also present was called for.
Rubbing his neck at the memory, Peter still remembered how often he'd glanced back and forth between the twins as he got the story of how Neal had run away so his older brother James Carson, or Junior as he often went by, had ended up in the army and eventually the NSA. The case went smoothly, but when it was over, Peter got a business card and instructions to call if needed. However, there was no qualification as to what required a call versus what didn't.
Standing by as a paramedic gave Neal a check over, Peter wondered if being attacked while undercover and mildly injured qualified for a call or not. He didn't want to rub the NSA the wrong way, but he also knew the man should know in case he wanted to visit.
As it was recommended that Neal see a doctor, Peter was reassured that nothing was too wrong with him, and Peter found his out. Take the kid to the doctor and then have him call his brother on the way home. Easily said and done.
With shaking hands, Peter pulled out his phone and keyed a special speed dial. He always hated doing this, but sometimes it was necessary.
When the line was answered, he gave a short summary. "Someone has Neal. We have a ransom note saying the NSA Agent will be turned over in exchange for someone called, the mole? Any idea what we're up against?"
A terse growl, affirmative yes, and orders to stand down were all he received before the line went dead.
Unable to step back entirely, Peter worked with Hughes and his contacts to keep tabs on the operation. He trusted Junior to take care of his brother, but that didn't mean he didn't care for himself and could walk away... He did, and he couldn't.
It took forty-eight hours before the word came through. Neal was safe in a hospital while the perpetrators were all in custody.
Later, Peter learned that Neal had been rescued within twelve hours, but that wasn't released even in the NSA at large until the rest of the operation had been completed and an additional mole lured out.
Standing above the bed, Peter didn't like the bruises that covered Neal's body or the hoarse way his voice cracked from the treatment he'd endured. However, the peaceful ease that the brothers evoked when they were together and safe was something to look forward to.
"I'm glad you're going to be okay." Peter held Neal's hand for a moment in greeting before giving it a gentle squeeze and letting him lower his arm already fatigued by that small gesture.
Smiling softly, Neal swallowed before glancing over at his brother. "I have you and my brother to thank for it."
Looking over at the man who seemed to be constantly by Neal's side, Peter thought the agent would have more work to handle, but perhaps his agency had other people on that. "Your brother did all the work. I just made the phone call."
"Still, you also hounded the NSA through Hughes protecting me from the FBI side as best you could. Don't sell your actions short." Neal admonished as his eyes grew heavier.
Bidding farewell, Peter briefly chatted with Junior confirming that the paperwork was being handled by another while he was on guard duty to ensure no one else attacked Neal during his recovery. Leaving the hospital room, Peter knew he'd made the right call by bringing Junior in.
When the CIA sent a representative to help handle a case, the team teased Neal about his brother being sent. No one expected it to actually happen though!
Once again, the team watched as another Neal strode into the office wearing a G-man ensemble and all eyes turned to Neal.
Clearing his throat, Neal gestured to the man. "Meet my younger brother, agent Bryce Larkin."
"Seriously, identical triplets? You three aren't hiding another one, are you?" Peter seriously doubted it, what were the odds? But, as they always defied the norm anyway, it didn't hurt to ask.
Snorting, Bryce showed a more humorous side similar to Neal. "Not that we know of. Unless, if you counted aliases, then there's a lot more than one more." His smirk showed a mischievous side that had many putting hands over wallets and other defenses that were commonly taken when Neal had that look.
Frowning at his brother, Neal explained. "With both of my brothers being agents, aliases abound in my family."
"Not to mention your former profession." Jones slipped a fake cough and jab in as an aside but Neal ignored him.
"To warn you, Bryce is also the most mischievous and trouble-prone of us. I blame it on him being the youngest. Working for the CIA hasn't helped though." Neal described his brother while the man appeared to take it in stride as a general introduction like they'd done this before and it was expected.
Hughes broke up the conversation by calling everyone to order so they could proceed with business as there was a case to solve.
Walking up to the conference room with the two triplets, Peter asked Neal why all three used different last names.
"You remember what happened when I was confused for Junior?" Peter's shudder was answering enough. "Multiply the danger by three when you compile all of our enemies with some being worse than others. Now does it make sense that we try not to make ourselves easily associated with the same faces and the same names?" Neal asked.
Paling, Peter clearly understood the reasoning. To distract himself, he asked, "Is there an importance to your first names?"
"They're real." Bryce shrugged as he pulled ahead to meet Hughes.
Pondering that, Peter had another question for Neal before they entered the conference room, "Why did you pick Caffrey?"
"Caffrey was the family name in a different generation." It was all Neal would say on the matter, but it was more than Peter had ever learned before.
Working together, the case went fairly smoothly, but when one of the perpetrators was stupid enough to point a gun at Neal, Bryce shot him through the hand forcing him to drop the gun.
Noticing how easily Neal handled the situation by only complaining about having someone else's blood on him, Peter wondered if the brothers really ran into trouble and got each other out often enough to be so used to it.
Considering how Bryce had handed Peter his business card with the directive to call if needed, Peter figured it was likely the brothers were used to protecting each other often enough to expect the necessity.
He had no idea whose enemy had interrupted their operation, but Peter didn't appreciate psychos locking themselves into a room with his consultant. Obviously, the original case had been a lure so Neal was the target, but was it for himself, or was he being mistaken for one of the other triplets again?
Unable to tell for certain, Peter focused more on getting eyes into the room to gain more information. The challenge was that the room had been prepared for this so they weren't able to gain entry by a person or through their usual means of observation.
Calling the first number that came to mind, Peter asked Mozzie if he had some Russian surplus that could get around this guy's barriers. He was ready for the modern stuff, so maybe something unexpected would do the trick?
It wasn't long before the little guy showed up with a taxi full of supplies.
Going low-tech, Mozzie set Peter up to look like a mole person who just happened upon the situation while exploring the tunnels of the city.
Coming up through the floor, Peter used the escape avenue to trap the man while Mozzie helped the agents breakthrough from the outside. Between them, Peter stopped the torture, the agents apprehended the perpetrator, and Mozzie helped Peter to untie Neal before they lowered him to the floor.
While an ambulance took Neal to the hospital, Peter followed with Mozzie in their separate vehicles. Then upon arrival, they settled in to wait together for the verdict.
Neal was going to be okay, but he needed to remain under observation for a few days.
Resting in his room once Neal was settled, Peter leaned forward to cover his face with his hands. It had been a long day and he was tired.
Waking up later in the night, Peter realized he wasn't alone in his vigil. Two additional sets of feet were on the floor with his in the middle. They were standard government types, just like his. What made them more interesting was that they didn't belong to his team, and they were identical.
"Sorry, I forgot to call in the heat of things." He apologized to the brothers knowing they'd both be aware he'd woken up. "Neal' gonna be alright though, they're just keeping him for a few days to ensure no infection sets in."
"We know." The one to his right said. He had a tired but sterner tone so it was Junior which meant Bryce was on his left.
"Our sources filled us in on the way. It's always easier to let us know what's going on so we don't get as worried as we do when we're left in the dark." Bryce explained in greater detail.
"Head home, we've got him." Junior directed the tired agent to rest.
Leaving Neal in capable hands, Peter bid them goodnight and headed home.
Terrified, Peter realized he had no one to call. All three triplets were missing and no agency had a clue where they were.
The last word they had on any of them, the three were meeting for dinner. But, that was two days ago.
Since then, they never made the restaurant, Neal hadn't returned to the loft, his anklet was neither broadcasting his location nor had the alerts gone off to send the Marshals, and he hadn't shown up for work. None of the brothers were answering their phones or other contact methods, and no alerts had picked up sightings through any agency search.
Pacing the length of his office, Peter wondered yet again what he should or could be doing. He had nothing to work with and could only wait for something to happen...and pray it wasn't three identical bodies being found somewhere.
Hearing a disturbance below, he turned and watched as a short redheaded woman marched across the office floor, up the stairs, and opened his door. "Come, Agent Burke." Then without another word, she turned and moved on to Hughes' office.
Curious, Peter figured it was gathering information if nothing else. Following the directive, he passed the guards who had taken their places to each side of the door before entering Hughes' office and joining the woman with his boss next door.
"Any news?" Peter was curious who this strange person was, but also afraid her presence didn't bode well for his friend and his brothers.
"Peter, this is Director General Diane Beckman. She commands both James and Bryce through their task force operations." Hughes carried the introductions one way as the general obviously knew who Peter was.
Barely acknowledging Peter, the general jumped into the news she'd traveled there to share. "We're receiving signals indicating the triplets are in trouble and some of our agents have intercepted rumors that someone went after them in a bad way."
Trying not to let his nausea show, she was confirming some of Peter's worst fears. "Are they alive?" He needed to know before he could handle anything else.
"Not only are they alive, but they also seem to be fighting back as the rumors indicate problems carrying out some plan their attackers had attempted to accomplish." The general almost smirked, like she expected nothing less from her boys and their brother.
Slightly relieved, Peter could share her sentiment. Leave Neal to get kidnapped and become his abductor's worst nightmare. If he couldn't be trouble, then he'd be annoying and distract them from his brothers' activities.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Hughes barely beat Peter to the question.
"Our agencies need to team up if we're going to get all of our people back safely. I need a representative from your team who knows Caffrey to help us interpret if the signals are coming from him." The general gave the reason for her visit. "We aren't going to trust just anyone to this operation so I came personally to ensure this is handled with the utmost care."
Stepping forwards, Peter glanced at his boss for permission while simultaneously volunteering. "I have about the highest clearance on the team and as Neal's handler and friend I'm the closest to him."
"Peter is my best agent and the only one who's ever been able to keep up with Caffrey." Hughes voiced for him.
Accepting him to the team, Beckman stated that his connection to Neal had already gotten him thoroughly checked out by his brothers. "I trust my agents' judgments."
Completing the arrangements, Peter was soon directed to close his office down for the day and to pack any files he might need before he followed the general out with her guards closely in tow.
Riding in the car, Peter felt a little out of place. He had worked with the bosses in the FBI and other government officials, but there usually wasn't this much attention and security to contend with.
Reaching a government building, the car pulled into a garage and the entourage made their way into a conference room. It was arranged in a form of a war room with a screen up to show when an alert came through indicating the mysterious signals going off again. There was a large table strewn with computers and papers while a team of people buzzed about trying to learn something about the boys.
"This is Agent Burke, he's here representing the team with the FBI. Agent Burke, these are team Carmichael, our CIA and NSA task force." The general gave the barest introduction before commanding them to work together. Then she left to work from another conference room nearby where she could handle her part without being interrupted.
Left in a room of strangers, Peter had no idea what to do and wished he'd been allowed to bring his agents Jones and Berrigan along with him.
"I assume the screen is for the signals the triplets are putting out and you're trying to trace them when they do appear, and either predict or understand them in between?" Peter asked to clarify what was going on around him.
Grunting a sneer, the big guy wasn't impressed and turned to retrieve something from another room.
Standing up from behind his computer, a curly-haired fellow reached his hand out to shake as he introduced himself. "I'm Charles Carmichael, but you can call me Chuck. That's exactly what we're doing. We were brought in to help look for three missing agents and have found the signals but we don't know much else." He then pointed out his wife, agent Sarah Walker Carmichael, their teammate Morgan, and Colonel John Casey who had left the room.
"Three agents?" Did he say what he thought he'd said? Peter wondered if maybe Neal had more explaining to do than just what had happened to take him and his brothers off the grid.
"Yes, three, but we weren't given names. You mentioned triplets. Do you know who we're looking for?" Chuck questioned back as he paused in his work.
"A set of identical triplets. My consultant, Neal Caffrey, who will have some explaining to do if he's an agent, his eldest brother James Carson or Junior as he also goes by, and the youngest Bryce Larkin." Peter explained the basics but was surprised to see every head in the room jerk his way when he mentioned Bryce.
"Bryce, Bryce Larkin? Is he dark-haired, blue-eyed, and good with computers?" Chuck squeaked in uncertain surprise.
"That's him." Peter agreed while flipping a picture of three identical men out of his wallet for the man to see.
Taking the picture, Chuck leaned back as he fingered the image. "Bryce died right in front of me... They drug his corpse away. How?"
Gently taking his picture back after a few moments as Chuck lowered it, Peter knew this needed to be handled delicately. "Probably, his brothers came to the rescue. They frequently seem to be pulling each other out of some scrape or another. The only reasons I know about them are a few joint task force cases where Junior or Bryce was assigned to work with us. Otherwise, they don't tell anyone about each other and they use different names in an effort to avoid multiplying their enemies. Clearly, it doesn't always work."
Slowly, the group seemed to adjust and come to terms with the secret identities revealed and the reminiscence of what it meant to each of them.
Getting them back on target, Peter pointed at the screen. "Is that a signal?" There was a point blipping on the digital map while jibberish streamed across a box before repeating.
"Yep, they're reaching out to us again." Chuck started typing away on his computer as he started pulling details together. "This isn't Klingon, so it isn't likely to be Bryce. Either that, or he doesn't expect me to be on the receiving end." Burying himself into the work, Chuck seemed to forget Peter's presence as he barked the occasional direction to his team.
Stepping up when everyone else was otherwise occupied, Peter played errand runner to Chuck and easily moved to help him with his work.
Glancing up once at the unfamiliar hand passing him papers, Chuck met Peter's glance and knew the man was willing to do anything to bring his friend and his brothers home. Knowing they were equally invested, the two men settled in and worked together seamlessly.
"Eureka!" Chuck crowed as he cracked the code with Peter's help. "We found them!"
"It's Neal contacting us, he's using one of his codes from back when I was chasing him," Peter explained through his eagerness for action. With the code decrypted, they knew something of what was happening.
Following Chuck, as he raced for the general, the team went along to see what was happening.
Barging into the other conference room, Chuck ignored the decorum and formalities of approaching one in the general's position. Happily slapping the information down on the table, he beamed at her.
"Neal is the one sending the messages and Peter was able to break his code. They're contending with a common enemy, someone particularly after Junior and Bryce, but one who was aware of Neal's existence so they used their visit as an opportunity to capture all three. We are uncertain of their condition, but they are here." He pointed to their location before stepping back as the general began to mount a rescue operation.
Whirling through the motions, the team was easily distracted by the work which helped to alleviate their tensions as they worried about the triplets.
Moving into position next to Chuck, Peter was ready to go in for his friend and happily accompanied the other man into the facility.
Taking down the targets, the agents made their way through until they had cleared the building with no sign of the hostages.
"Where are they?!" Peter exclaimed in concern. They were here, they had to be.
"Did you miss us?" Neal stepped out from a hidden place before hauling his unconscious brothers out one by one.
Relieved, Peter moved to give him a firm hug while the others checked the remaining triplets over to ensure they would be alright.
Clapping Peter on the back tiredly, Neal smiled satisfactorily with a vicious gleam in his eyes. "I'm the one they call when my brothers are in trouble."
"I'm sure you are, Agent Brooks." Peter enjoyed the slight flash of surprise he saw cross Neal's eyes, but it was instantly replaced with a knowing expression.
Neal appreciated Peter being in on his secret."I should have known you'd figure it out eventually. You are the archeologist after all."
Keeping his arm across his friend's shoulders, Peter guided him along with the medical staff and team Carmichael as they escorted the injured to the hospital. Clearing the scene was left to the task force at large.
At the hospital, the brothers were placed in a room together with Junior and Bryce being kept for observation while Neal watched over their recovery.
When Bryce cracked his eyes open, he expected to see his brother and perhaps Neal's friends, but he was surprised to see Chuck sitting patiently by his side. A glance around the room showed the team sitting about and Junior in his own bed sleeping across the way. In the remaining chairs, Neal lean with his head lolled against Peter's shoulder in slumber while Peter was leaning against Neal in return as he dozed so the friends were supporting each other in their rest.
Smiling softly, Bryce was glad to see Neal finally resting. His older brother had worked tirelessly to keep them alive and hidden after the initial beatings. It was challenging for him to move both brothers about to evade discovery within the large facility, hinder their foes in their plan, and send encrypted signals for help. Anyone who thought his brother was only the con artist he portrayed was a fool.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Chuck's soft words drew his attention back to the man.
Observing his friend, Bryce hadn't seen his friend in some time, and then he had a similar expression of concern as he watched him die. "Better than last time" he croaked through the dryness.
Grabbing a bottle and giving Bryce the straw, Chuck helped him wet his mouth before resting his hand on his arm. "Anything is better than dying. We have a lot to talk about, but you need your rest. I'll be here when you're feeling better."
"Give them your cards, or I will." Peter lightly threatened from where he'd woken up.
Amused, Bryce knew Peter would make good on his threat. "I'm sure you would." He smiled softly as he drifted off to sleep again.
Remaining in his position knowing Neal needed the rest, Peter was loath to wake him or remove him from his brothers so soon after their captivity. "They both gave me cards to call when Neal gets into trouble. Sometimes it's more trouble determining if I should call or not."
Smiling, the rest of the room could easily understand that based on their knowledge of Bryce and accepted that they would soon face the same dilemma, to call or not to call, was the question.
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