Bedside Vigil

Finally, another nurse came out and gave them directions to Neal's room along with the requirement that only a few of them enter the room at a time.

Going down the hallway together, the group talked about who should see him first and ultimately, it was decided that Peter and Mozzie would since they'd probably be staying with him, then Jones, Diana, and Hughes would cycle through their turns before returning to the office. When the agents had gone, Elizabeth would join Peter and Mozzie at the bedside vigil.

Entering the room with Mozzie, Peter had to tighten his grip on the doorknob as he froze looking at Neal.

The kid looked horrible with the medical gear swallowing most of him up as they layered tubes and wires transporting fluids in or out of his body and the oxygen mask continued to cover his face. Then there were bandages seemingly spread out at random to cover some injury or another while what little skin remained visible was colorful with bruising.

Neal typically looked vital and mischievous. Now, he just looked limp and lifeless.

Mozzie had also paused upon entering the room, but he just stood in the middle of the floor, staring at their mutual friend.

Pulling himself together, Peter reached out and put a hand on the shorter agent's shoulder before gently pushing him forward until they reached the chairs. Then he led the way in picking one up and shifting it closer to Neal where he could sit and still be able to reach his friend's hand.

Seeing that Mozzie had regained enough equilibrium to follow suit, he settled into his seat and reached out to hold Neal's hand. It wasn't a typical gesture for him, and he knew that Neal wouldn't know he was there, but he still needed the reassurance for himself if nothing else.

Waiting while Hughes came in next as the senior agent, they listened as he entered the room, froze by the door just as much as they had, before he managed to walk to the foot of the bed.

"They did a real number on him, didn't they?" He sighed roughly, he was angry but good at hiding his emotions in a gruff exterior. "Do you know what he really is Haversham?"

"Yes, he's CIA, Black Ops with some experience in Special Ops. He's trained for handling things like this and he's been through tough situations before. I've only heard about them after the fact though, this is my first time being able to directly help him through." Mozzie was uncharacteristically vocal on the subject.

"Care to share who you are?" Hughes continued to take advantage of the opportunity.

Curious, Peter listened, but he didn't care to question, he was too busy looking at Neal and reassuring himself with the steady rhythm of the heart monitor.

"NSA, you've probably heard of me as The Ghost?" That wasn't a complete answer, but it was more than they'd have gotten any other time.

Hughes muttered something, possibly expletives, but out loud he just confirmed that he'd heard of him. "Most don't know that they've worked with you or anything beyond what limited reputation is made public. However, now I understand what is meant by you being a deep throat in the criminal world!"

"That's my job. In Neal's case, I helped him establish his cover as a criminal. He's a born natural and his childhood gave him practice, but he still needed to hone and refine those skills. Having him as my face man gave him the reputation as a gentleman thief and it helped me hide my face while accomplishing the odd mission. Although most of his career has dealt with public corruption, it's why he plays Neal after all, neither of us saw these guys coming. This is a new group that just got themselves on the official radar so all agencies are pouring through what was found in my investigation. We've got this group, but we'll make sure there aren't anymore."

Glancing over at Mozzie, Peter could tell that the agent was as upset as the rest of them that Neal had suffered, but he had the benefit of knowing that he'd captured those responsible.

"I'm glad you caught them, but in the future, I'd appreciate being told when I'm pursuing the wrong path, I'm not looking forward to seeing how much my actions hurt Neal." He couldn't help the hint of frustration that came up in his voice. After all, he'd been intentionally left to pursue the wrong path even though Mozzie knew better and could have contacted him.

Returning his look, Mozzie didn't show any animosity. "I understand, and I apologize for leaving you in the dark. However, based on what I was hearing from the underground, it seemed like the best approach. Since they had infiltrated your offices sufficiently to plant cameras and maintain round-the-clock surveillance, I'm glad I didn't cause them to learn too much. If Neal's and my covers had been blown, we might not have caught them, and he'd probably be dead."

Ducking his head into his hands yet again, Peter realized that seemed to be a common move for him as he contended with his emotions. "I know, and I'm grateful that this wasn't worse, but I still regret my part in torturing him."

"It'll be okay, Peter. Neal, he's far more understanding than you would think." Mozzie surprised him by reaching out and patting him on the shoulder.

There was another hand briefly before Hughes left the room to trade places with Jones.

Not looking up, Peter had resumed his position of holding Neal's hand in one of his own and covering his face with the other. It kept him connected while allowing him a retreat to hide for a little bit longer.

Jones was more vocal as he angrily saw the repercussions of what Neal had been through. "Any idea why they felt the need to torture him?"

"My people are working on the interrogations, and one of them said that they were just letting a snitch know the repercussions. Neal isn't welcome in the criminal world or the law enforcement world, he's an outcast, and they wanted to make sure he got what was coming to him for trading sides." Mozzie answered, but his voice was hard as he did so. It wasn't his opinion, but the reasoning of others.

Grunting, Jones wasn't impressed. "Considering that I heard they were rogue law enforcement themselves, that's a lot of accusations from a bunch of traitors. They sound like hypocrites to me."

"Touché, you're not wrong, but 'Hypocrites get offended by the truth.'" At their questioning glances, he added "Jess C. Scott."

It wasn't a quote that he'd heard before, but then Mozzie had an eidetic memory and a tendency to read everything from the classics to obscure works.

Fortunately, he wasn't making it a game, Peter wasn't up to playing 'who said this' or trying to bandy back with his own quotes. Sure, it could be fun when he was in a good mood, but this wasn't the time.

Still upset, Jones didn't hang about much longer. He was more interested in handling the case than pulling a bedside vigil.

Diana was next, but she neither stayed long nor spoke. She was angry as she stood at the foot of the bed with her arms crossed and glared as her eyes took in the damage that had been done to Neal. It was fortunate that other agencies had already caught the perpetrators, or else she'd have been working diligently to catch them as quickly as possible! When her eyes had taken the damage in, she turned and walked back out.

The last visitor to join them was Elizabeth.

As she walked in, she froze in the doorway for so long that Peter got up and put his arm around her to guide her into his seat. Then he grabbed another for himself.

Dabbing at her eyes, Elizabeth didn't hold the tears back but she kept them generally under control.

Sitting so that he could pull his wife into him, Peter relaxed and settled in for the long haul. They couldn't stay with Neal the whole time he was in the hospital, but they'd spend as much time as possible until he was ready to leave with them.

Thank you, everyone, for reading, commenting/reviewing, leaving kudos, choosing to favorite, and following :D

Well, after deliberating, it gets harder every time, my family has decided to get another hamster since we really are hamster people. Kaidance MacFluffers (part short and part long-haired Syrian) came home this afternoon. However, despite having been quarantined at the pet shop, he appears to have an issue that could be rather serious depending on the cause. We'll see what goes, he's acting fine in every way, but a little rectal bleeding is never good.