12B: Confusing The Enemy

Exiting the vehicle in the parking garage, Peter followed Neal as his friend clearly knew where to go based on his confident lead.

Getting onto an elevator, they rode down to a floor before exiting into a bland hallway.

"You're a lot more accustomed to government work than you would have ever allowed me to believe if this hadn't happened, aren't you?" Peter couldn't help but ask.

Smirking a little bit again despite himself, Neal was enjoying surprising him. "Yes, and who knows what else you might learn about me and my family through this."

"Would you have ever shared any of this otherwise?" Peter wondered if his friend trusted him enough to open up.

Shrugging, Neal didn't seem to have an answer. "Who knows? There is no telling what might or might not have happened to ultimately reveal my information."

He walked a little further before turning to look at Peter, "It's not that I don't trust you, Peter. I'm just not allowed to talk about a lot of things with you… some for your safety, but mostly due to clearance and/or need-to-know reasons."

Relieved, Peter didn't initially understand why it bothered him, but then he realized that it meant that Neal returned his friendship.

Finally reaching a conference room, Neal continued to lead as he opened the door and ushered Peter in with him.

Entering the room, Peter found himself facing a group of Black Ops agents seated around a large table with the general he'd met earlier standing at the head.

"Bryce?" the name evoked a variety of responses from those present.

A large man growled and glared, a small man next to him glared as well, but the remaining two, a curly-haired man and the blonde woman, looked a mixture of surprised and hurt.

"I'm Bryce's older brother. Danny is my Larkin name, but I'm Neal." Neal's response was subdued as he stood in the doorway before them.

Getting up, the curly-haired guy approached Neal searching his face. "Bryce never mentioned having a twin brother so this is surreal since he was dying again the last time I saw him." Then after a moment, he gave his condolences on the loss of his brother.

"He isn't dead, or at least, he better not be. We're identical triplets and the other two are both missing in action. We're here for me to take their places in the field and hopefully find them alive." Neal used a formal front as he faced these strangers.

Another round of shock and surprise flew around the room before the general cleared her throat and directed the team to resume their seats. Then she directed for Peter and Neal to take the seats in the front where they'd be close to hand.

Getting started, the general showed them the case information and how it was a dangerous operation with a lot of public corruption.

Peter didn't like knowing that Neal could have a bullet coming at him from any direction. It wouldn't be easy to help provide cover to keep his friend safe.

He was out of his element; this wasn't White Collar or the FBI. How should he approach this?

Coming to a conclusion, Peter decided to remain by Neal's side where he could see ahead and try to guard his back while helping him where he could.

Absorbing as much information as possible, Peter continued to work on his approach and how he'd help his friend through the trying case he had ahead of him. Neal would have a lot of trouble keeping his head in the game since this was personal so Peter had a lot of potential gaps to cover.

When the meeting broke up, Peter stayed close to Neal as they went through the halls again to where they picked up their gear.

Watching, Peter saw as Neal was given protective gear, weapons, and spy toys. That surprised Peter since Neal was a non-violent convicted felon. He shouldn't be armed, and he'd always been averse to being armed by personal choice, or at least, that was what Peter thought.

"My past is more complicated than you imagine and my connection to government and law enforcement goes deeper than you know." Neal vaguely explained while sending a small smile his way. He was appreciating the chance to mess with him.

"I'm learning that, but it opens more questions than it provides answers." Peter continued to frown at his friend.

"Which I'm enjoying since I like sharing more with you, but it's fun to do so in a way that messes with you," Neal smirked with a playful sparkle reaching his eyes.

Appreciating the spark, Peter didn't mind that it was at his own expense. "Of course, you don't like to make things easy. That wouldn't be any fun." He put a sarcastic undertone to help overdramatize his reaction to entertain his friend.

"You got it," Neal patted his shoulder as they finished gearing up.

Next, they were led to a vehicle where they met the other team again for the drive to the airport where they transitioned to a small government plane.

Settling in for the flight, Peter found himself picking up a conversation with the curly-haired agent, Chuck, and his wife, Sarah.

"Bryce never talked much about his family. I thought it was because mine was so messed up, but now I think there is more to it." Chuck said as his eyes continued to drift to Neal despite his best efforts.

"Neal hasn't either, but he's hinted that it has to do with their safety. They don't talk to anyone about their personal lives unless someone or something makes it necessary." Peter contributed based on his recent conversations with Neal.

Although the agents didn't say much, Peter gathered enough to understand that Bryce was different from Neal, that he was rather nerdy and Black Ops, things Peter just couldn't picture with Neal, the artsy classical gentleman. Then he remembered that Neal had hidden identical triplet brothers. What else could he be hiding?

"You don't secretly have nerdy interests or government training, do you?" Peter couldn't help but test the waters by asking Neal.

"I'm not a nerd. I don't see the appeal in comic books, Klingon, and such that Bryce is so enthusiastic about." Neal only partially answered the question.

Noting that he omitted to comment on the government training, Peter decided that Neal was trained. That was at least part of what he'd meant by his connection to government and law enforcement going deeper than he would expect.

It reoccurred to Peter that Neal might be an agent undercover concerning something big. It would explain why the government would call him in to take the place of two agents, why he was given weapons and gear, and why he was able to handle the work for both White Collar and Black Ops easily.

Turning to look at his friend, Peter wondered what kind of agent his friend really was, who he was, and why everything had been performed the way it had been.

"Has everything been for the protection of your family?" Peter asked as he realized that that would be the best motivation for his friend to perform his role so thoroughly. "I mean, what you do as Caffrey and everything?" He clarified as Neal turned to him in question.

"You're an agent too, aren't you?" Chuck contributed as he came to the same conclusion. "Bryce never told me and I didn't notice when we were roommates, but he was recruited in our junior year."

Watching Neal watching him, Peter knew Neal was gauging how much to share.

Making his decision, Neal bounced his head as he admitted, "FBI, Washington. Bryce is CIA and Junior is NSA."

"But you and your brothers have taught each other since you're comfortable with Black Ops," Peter noted his own observation.

"Something like that," Neal didn't elaborate, but at least he was sharing more information now that things were coming out.

Nodding with a subtle roll of his eyes, Peter wasn't surprised. Neal never divulged information easily.

"The game goes on," Neal reached out to pat his shoulder as he often did to his friend.

"Doesn't it always?" Peter sighed. He enjoyed the game, but sometimes he wished he felt like he knew his friend.

"Those are my biggest secrets, Peter. You know me better than anyone outside of my family and Mozzie." Neal kept his hand on his shoulder to help him adjust to the reveals while distracting himself.

"Mozzie knows?" Peter checked with Neal. He both was and wasn't surprised. Mozzie was close to Neal, but Neal said he didn't tell others.

"He's Junior's friend, and my brother asked him to watch out for me when we were assigned to work together." Neal squeezed his shoulder again. "Mozzie is to Junior what Chuck is to Bryce and you are to me."

Reaching out and squeezing Neal's shoulder, it was as close as Peter could come to hugging him to show his appreciation.

After exchanging small smiles with Neal, Peter noticed the fallen expressions on Chuck and Sarah. They clearly missed Bryce and were having a hard time seeing Neal and him.

"I'm sure we'll find Bryce and Junior alive," Peter tried to provide some comfort to his audience. Being family and friends, they needed to keep their focus.

The conversation dwindled after that so the group transitioned to directing their mental focus to be ready when they reached their destination.

Going to work in the field, Peter was impressed by the skills of their eclectic team.

The little bearded man named Morgan manned the van. He juggled watching their cameras and connecting them to the greater support of the agencies if needed.

Casey, the larger man short on words had just grunted and taken his gear up to an oversight position. He had a sniper rifle and his scope to watch over them and provide cover should they be attacked.

Standing to either side, Chuck and Sarah provided immediate protection and covered their backs. They had such quiet confidence in their skills that Peter wondered why they were so special.

Guarding Neal, Peter stood beside his friend as he took the lead and performed as the face of the operation.

Their opponents seemed confused to see Neal's face. To them, he was back yet again despite their efforts to get rid of him.

Initially, Neal was hiding his nerves with a flashy smile, but then there was a subtle shift and his smile changed into something that was almost creepy.

As Peter watched, Neal's whole persona shifted to follow. He ran a hand through his hair which left it falling to the side, his stance shifted to be ready to launch in any direction, his eyes shifted to calculating, and his voice dropped to include a cold edge. "I'm not easy to get rid of, am I?"

Peter couldn't help the shiver that went up and then down his spine.

Sharing his reaction, the henchmen were spreading out and away.

Continuing his endeavor to undermine their opponents, Neal started talking about their efforts to murder his brothers using their perspectives. He even changed his persona for each story imitating either a spy or a soldier, likely acting like his brothers.

Pale and stuttering, the leader remained frozen in front of Neal. He was muttering how impossible it was. They'd murdered this man twice and he kept coming back. Then he started to pace going through his part in the attacks on the agents who'd tried to infiltrate his operations and the details of the operations that they'd infiltrated.

Grateful for the wire that they were wearing, Peter knew this was more than enough to close the cases against the group since the leader was laying it all out neatly for them.

Listening, Morgan reported what was happening to the bosses who began organizing the response. Their numbers weren't sufficient for arresting everyone without additional support.

While backup scrambled to their location, they continued to listen to the leader's rambling with Neal's occasional performance as his brothers to help keep their opponents focused on him and not on getting away.

When the support arrived on the scene, they were able to quickly round up their opponents and begin working on the scene to process the evidence.

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