4A: Prison Pals
Peter was depressed. Here he was lying on a bunk in prison for a crime he didn't commit. All he'd wanted was justice and a chance for his friend to get some answers about his father, something Neal obviously needed. But, even those simple wishes weren't happening. He was the one in prison and James was on the run. Neal wasn't talking to his father and he wasn't getting justice.
Struggling, Peter tried to tell himself that justice would yet prevail, but it was hard to believe that the longer he remained in prison.
Hearing the approach of the guard and jeering, he knew a new prisoner was coming in. Ignoring it, he knew they wouldn't be his cellmate; he was to be alone due to his history as an agent.
The reminder that he wasn't an agent right now and would lose all chance of being one again if this wasn't corrected in time was just another reminder of things he didn't want to think about. Rolling to his side, he tried to think of something, anything else.
When the commotion reached its peak, Peter was surprised to roll back over and see the guard opening his cell with his hand on someone in orange. This wasn't right, but before Peter could question the door was open and a familiar face was coming in.
"Neal?" Peter was part curious and part upset. What had Neal done?!
"Hey, Peter. I thought you could use some company." Neal just beamed at him cheerfully as he followed the guard's directions.
Staying in place, Peter couldn't believe he was being instructed to keep Neal out of trouble. Even in prison, he was responsible for the man!
Once the guard had left, Peter was off his bunk and across the cell turning Neal around with a fistful of his clothes. In a whispered growl, Peter landed into Neal. "What did you do? You should be searching for your father, not in here!"
Neal seemed a little surprised at first, but then his eyes softened and he just looked sorry. "As I said, I thought you could use some company."
Venting, Peter continued his whispered rant to tell Neal how he didn't need company; he needed his name cleared so that he could be released!
"That's a work in progress, my fath… James isn't going to be easy to catch." Neal's eyes hardened with his tone.
"Then why aren't you out there helping?!" Peter ground out again.
"Because, I've done what I can and I have had to pass the rest to other agents. Trust me, James is being hounded, this is going to be resolved in time!" Neal was determined.
Something about his words helped Peter relax his hold to release Neal, but he still wasn't happy. Unable to talk, he went back to his bunk and feigned sleep. He knew Neal wouldn't be fooled by such a generic con, but that wasn't the point. His cellmate seemed to understand and left him alone while he settled in.
For the rest of the day, Peter had to get used to what felt like an awkward invasion of privacy. He didn't know if it was better or worse to be friends with his cellmate. In ways, he'd liked it better when he was alone and could be miserable in private.
It was sometime during the night when Peter found himself waking up. He could feel the tears running down his face and had vague imagery of his wife running through his head.
Obviously, he'd been dreaming of where he'd rather be until a feeling of homesickness overwhelmed him.
"Hey," he heard Neal whisper and felt a hand on his shoulder.
Shaking him off, Peter still couldn't stop being angry with Neal. He knew Neal was upset by his father's actions and had been hurt as well, but it was still his father that put him in this position. Biting back what he actually wanted to say, Peter just growled, "Go back to sleep."
Stepping back into the shadows, Neal didn't descend to his bunk for a few moments despite Peter's continued glare. Then he dropped back into his own bunk and Peter was relieved to feel the shift of the bunks as he got comfortable.
Turning over himself, Peter preferred facing the wall. It was hard to get back to sleep. Between the recent dreams and remaining emotions, he couldn't settle for quite a while. Then even when he was ready to sleep, the cries of other inmates could be heard at random, but there was usually a loud one close by just when he was about to drift off.
Eventually, he was too tired to stay awake and he drifted off despite the challenges.
The next morning resumed the awkward cycle. Being cellmates, he and Neal had a shared toilet, close quarters, and no privacy. Peter also found himself right next to Neal at meals and even sharing time in the yard. He couldn't seem to get away from him!
Breathing deeply, Peter sat on his bunk and tried to ignore his friend's efforts to cheer him up.
"Oh, come on, Peter. Don't try and tell me that this isn't good research on how I am in prison." Neal called from the bunk below.
Rolling his eyes, Peter had been goaded into response, "Yeah, because I wasn't able to watch the tapes and spend five minutes in your cell to figure it out last time."
"That's harsh," Neal commented from below, "It wasn't that easy."
Smirking despite himself, Peter knew Neal wouldn't want the hit on his pride. He'd rather it had taken him hours to figure it out. Giving in a bit, Peter compromised. "You were smart about it, but it's not like you didn't leave me all of the pieces to solve it."
"Even if I had disposed of them, it's not like I wasn't recorded anyway. This is a prison, not a vacation getaway." Neal snorted from below.
Relieved, Peter realized he felt a little better for their banter, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Neal followed and easily responded. Then he transitioned into hypothetical stories about their fellow inmates. Who might have done what crimes, and other speculations.
Falling into the game, Peter tried to get some hints about Neal's alleged crimes, but Neal was as evasive as ever.
Slowly, Peter started to feel a little better for Neal's efforts to make their interactions normal. They had their usual conversations, but with a prison twist. Neal helped with that too though; he turned it into a game like they were undercover agents doing an assignment in prison.
"Agents don't do assignments in prison." Peter had corrected, "Besides, you aren't an agent, couldn't be with your criminal history."
"Speak for yourself," Neal had laughed. "Besides, this isn't a real scenario, just a game, so my criminal history and past time are benefits, I have an advantage over you."
Rising to the challenge, Peter proved himself just as good as Neal at reading people. He even pointed out the same person as a potential threat to their cover.
What made him nervous was when Neal reacted to the person as if they were really undercover and the person was a threat. It was just a game, wasn't it? Being wary, Peter decided that maybe the man was a genuine threat. He preferred following instincts over getting hurt. Elizabeth was waiting for him on the outside.
The situation escalated one day at lunch.
Peter and Neal were eating as usual, but Neal seemed to be distracted, he was watching the suspect from their game as he talked to a guard. Picking up his own observation, Peter noticed that something felt off about the interaction to him too.
Biding their time, Peter was grateful for Neal's presence since he knew his friend was watching his back when it came time to move past the other man.
Just when Peter walked past; the man turned and shoved his arm forward to go for his side.
The thud as whatever he was holding hit Neal's tray indicated a shiv and attempted murder.
Shifting his tray, Peter prepared to defend himself. He was able to block a blow despite his arm getting cut open. Before he could move further, Neal was beside him taking the attention as he talked.
"My father isn't one to trust. You should tell your bosses that. After all, we suspect him of being involved with the murder of his former partner, the woman who raised me. Then my only adult interaction with the man was him using me to hide his guilt and leave my friend here as his fall guy. If he's willing to send you despite the risk to me, in combination with everything else, how far can you trust him?" They were good points about the damage James would even do to his own family.
The problem was the last lunge the man made while Neal spoke.
Seeing it coming, Peter reached out and yanked Neal by a fistful of his clothes at the shoulder. The move was intended to put Neal safely behind him, but it wasn't fast enough. It wasn't lethal as intended, but Neal still took a shiv to his shoulder.
Fortunately, guards intervened before another attack could be managed. The man was taken one way to solitary while Neal and Peter were taken another to the infirmary.
Peter didn't pay much attention to his own injury being managed, even though he knew it was stitched and bandaged, but he keenly watched Neal.
The staff carefully pulled the shiv out, stitched the injury, and patched it. Then they made Neal wear a sling to keep it still while it healed.
When the staff finished, both were left to rest while the attack was investigated.
Lying back on his bunk, Peter asked Neal how he was.
Smiling, Neal obviously had some strong pain meds in his system. "I've had worse, and you're mostly okay, so that's good. Maybe now they can get to him? James has been holed up in a criminal organization he befriended somewhere along the way. We feared that he'd do something like this… which is really why I came. I mean, being company is to make you feel better while we work to get him, but keeping you safe is more important. Can't have you getting killed before we clear your name," Neal rambled as he drifted before he fell asleep aided by the meds.
Calling him, Peter gave up after a few attempts. Leaning back, he pondered what Neal had said. He'd come into the prison to protect him? It first struck Peter to question how since Neal couldn't bounce in and out of prison on a whim, it wasn't like he was an undercover agent. Even if he was like he played, it still wouldn't work that way. Then the more touching part crossed his mind. Neal got himself put into prison, which likely risked being there long-term, to protect him and keep him company. His mind drifted to the thought.
Waking up, Peter realized it had only been a nightmare, but the image of Neal's death was still so real in his mind. If he hadn't pulled Neal out of the way, he might be facing his best friend's funeral. All to protect him and keep him company! The tears ran faster and Peter realized that he was crying. He tried to keep quiet, to avoid disturbing Neal's rest.
"Hey, shh, it's alright, Peter." Neal was sitting on the edge of his bunk. He had one hand holding Peter's despite the sling and his other hand he moved to hug Peter to provide comfort while he learned over him whispering.
Grabbing a fist full of Neal's clothes, Peter leaned into the comfort as he cried. It was a relief to pent up emotions while indulging in the comfort of someone who cared.
Once he was in better control of himself, Peter sat up shifting Neal's grip before he carefully pulled his friend into a hug. Neal had started to move away, but when he understood Peter's intent he had shifted to return the hug. "Thank you. Sometimes I take you for granted, and then you do something like this. I wish you weren't here, that you were safely at June's, but I appreciate your company and help through this."
Neal carefully leaned into the hug on his good side. "You're welcome. It's what friends are for and I can't leave my best friend hanging. My father deserves this, you don't." Neal's voice was lowering like he was drifting off to sleep.
Helping Neal back to his bunk, Peter then sat by his side until he'd fallen asleep. Returning the comfort of having his best friend by his side was the least he could do.
Then as his own eyes grew heavy again, Peter knew he was still under the effect of the meds so he went back to his bunk to fall asleep.
It was different the next morning when Peter and Neal were taken to the showers to clean up. Although he still didn't appreciate the lack of privacy, Peter was glad to help his friend by at least passing him things if he needed assistance. For the most part though, Neal managed on his own, but he did ask Peter to turn off his water after he accidentally strained his injury.
In looking at his injury, Peter was surprised to see scars from other past injuries. Some of them looked pretty nasty like they were cruelly done on purpose. Frowning as he turned off the water, Peter then looked into Neal's eyes. "What happened? You've got a lot of scars around this one." Remembering Neal's comment, he remembered that this wasn't the first time. "There weren't any reports of you being shived before?"
Unable to answer at first, Neal just deflected, "Ask me later."
Not pushing, Peter went about drying off and dressing while Neal slowly did the same. Then he helped him pick up before they were taken back to the infirmary to have their injuries checked and bandaged.
When they were finished, they were sent back to their cell but kept away from the general population. They weren't injured badly enough to remain in the infirmary, but they weren't risking further attacks.
Neal laid down to rest so Peter climbed up to his bunk and stretched out to relax without disturbing Neal while he thought.
After a few days, Neal was feeling better so Peter was sitting on his bunk to talk while Neal sat below. "How do you know James is holed up in the criminal organization?"
"He messed up, James, he forgot to ask about the others so we knew he was up to something. Bryce put a device on his jacket that recorded the murder and had a GPS tracker. The others just followed it. Now their agencies are trying to figure out how to infiltrate. They want James, but also to take the organization down." Neal answered calmly from below.
"The others? Who are they and this Bryce and why is it important that James forgot to ask about them?" Peter liked the sound of a recording to clear his name, but he was concerned with who was behind it.
"I'm not an only child, James didn't ask about my siblings. He would have if he actually cared," Neal answered.
"What?" Peter climbed off of his bunk and then leaned over to look at Neal while ignoring the pain in his arm. "You have a brother, siblings?" This was a whole piece of Neal's life that he hadn't shared.
Patting his bunk, Neal invited him to sit.
Taking up the offer, Peter grabbed his pillow and sat down on Neal's good side to avoid jostling his injury. "Siblings?" He opened the new conversation topic.
"I'm a triplet. Junior is named for James, I'm named for grandpa Caffrey, and mom just liked Bryce's name. The story I told you about growing up as Danny was true, but I had two accomplices who helped me figure out how to handle things while mom wasn't paying attention. Then after I left, Junior went into the military and Bryce left for university. At least some of the university stuff you thought I did was actually Bryce at Stanford. By the way, don't ask me how he pulled off the prank to get the car on top of the building." Neal relaxed as he talked about his brothers.
Smiling, Peter was glad to hear he had a family to connect to. "Does Mozzie know there are three of you?"
Laughing, Neal probably had a lot of stories to tell behind his amusement. "He's Junior's best friend, I make a close second though."
Cocking his head, Peter remembered that Neal had called him his best friend. This added meaning that he wasn't his best law-abiding friend, but his best friend. Continuing to talk, Peter asked about Junior with a tease about him being a conspiracy theorist.
Sharing stories, Neal let Peter into another aspect of his personal life.
The day of his arraignment came and the others didn't seem to have been able to get James. So, Peter got ready and went with the hope that something would come up.
Asking to speak for himself, Peter was surprised when the doors burst open to have a short-statured military woman with rusty hair tightly pulled back. "My agents are bringing additional evidence that will clear agent Burke's name."
Then to Peter's utter amazement, two Neals came in pulling a furious James in between them. Finally, a third Neal with his arm in a sling tossed a jacket onto the table.
Watching, Peter realized who they were and what they were doing for him. First, they were identical triplets named James, Daniel, and Bryce. Second, this matched the famous identical triplet agents and the military woman had called them agents. Third, that meant it hadn't been a game, Neal really was an agent undercover to protect him. Fourthly, they were also arresting their own father to life in prison in exchange for his freedom. Finally, Neal had also been injured in this process to keep him safe and comforted. He really wanted to meet and thank these men!
It didn't take long before Peter was outside and free. Hugging and kissing his wife, Peter was glad to see her and know he'd be leaving with her.
"Am I seeing things or are there three Neals over there?" Elizabeth asked bewildered.
Beaming, Peter waved before signaling for Neal to call him. After Neal indicated that he should pay attention to his wife and that he'd catch up later, Peter was able to begin telling her about Neal and his brothers.
"You should have them over sometime." She was curious, but not enough to sacrifice their time to reconnect.
Kissing her again, Peter put his arm around her for the walk to the car. He was going home!
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