Operation – Ransom

He'd signed his name on the form when Sara had served him divorce papers.

Their marriage had been rocky from the start, but a crime of such magnitude, one that had been committed during their marriage, was unforgivable.

Any day Neal expected to receive the finalization, the confirmation that their marriage was over and he was officially and legally divorced.

However, that day hadn't come yet, and it had been just over three months.

Not dwelling on his failed relationship, Neal focused on his work.

The FBI was investigating him and he was investigating his mark.

Such was the way of things when you were an undercover agent who'd stolen goods while working an assignment as the consultant of the nation's best FBI agent.

Feeling like his life was in a shambles; Neal tried not to let it get the better of him, but his relationship with Sara wasn't the only one on the rocks.

Since Peter was busy investigating him for the theft, that meant that he, the entire team, and Elizabeth were all upset with him for pulling the crime not to mention ruining a good relationship. June had lectured him about the lesson Byron had learned, and although she ultimately understood that he'd have to learn it for himself, she just regretted the costs he was paying. Mozzie was jealous that he'd not been involved in the heist and upset that he was not being repaid some of his losses from the proceeds.

It was a lot to take in, so it wasn't exactly a surprise for Neal when things got even worse.

Going to work one day, he received a message through his computer. It stated that Sara had been kidnapped and that he was to provide the Intersect if he wanted her to be returned safely… if he didn't comply, standard operating procedures would apply. They would be in touch with further details in two days.

Knowing that she'd be killed, but not having enough to go on about who was responsible or how to get his… wife back, Neal immediately dialed the person who'd be able to help him handle it.

Of course, his first choice would be to contact Chuck, but in his absence, Beckman was the next best option.

Walking out of the office to the back hallway while the phone rang, Neal tried to gain some privacy for the conversation that was to follow.

"Agent Larkin?" The general knew who he was, just not why he was calling.

"Someone has figured out that I'm not dead again and they've abducted Sara. They're demanding the Intersect in exchange for her life." He quickly ran through what he'd seen on his computer, but the lack of additional data meant that his opponent was skilled and wouldn't be easy to overcome.

"We will not be handing the Intersect over," was the obvious response.

But when no additional aid came forth, only a directive for him to allow her to look into it, they both knew that he'd be researching regardless of her orders.

Much like his counterpart, Neal wasn't one to let his loved ones remain in the line of fire!

Going back to his seat, he landed into any research he could think of that might help him figure the mystery out.

But, he gained no advancement.

There just really wasn't enough there for him to work with!

Frustrated, he took off but ignored the curious eyes of the team that followed him.

They knew something was up, but the consensus seemed to be that they were getting close to proving him guilty or that their efforts to find the evidence were hampering his activities.

All of these theories were wrong, but he wasn't going to correct them.

Heading to a specific coffee house, he knew they'd have good brew, be far enough from the office to avoid running into anyone, and it created a better atmosphere for following up with Beckman.

This time he got a frustrated response when he called, but as he was also persistent, she sighed and gave in.

"I will notify team Carmichael to be there within a few hours, be ready to update them on what's transpiring."

She moved to end the communication figuring this would satisfy him.

"Wait, what if Peter and the team figure things out?" Despite everything that had been happening, they were still his friends and he didn't want to endanger them or their families.

"We'll deal with that if it should happen. I'll begin drawing up confidentiality forms just in case. Anything else?" She'd softened as he expected more resistance, but that was probably a result of working with Chuck for so many years.

He didn't feel like he could breathe yet, but at least he knew that help was coming, the best agent he could think of for handling this was on his way!

Returning to the office, Neal went back to his caseload, but he made slow progress, he was too distracted by watching the time, checking his phone, and waiting for something to happen.

Finally, the day was coming to an end and the team was still watching him when the elevator dinged and all eyes turned to watch the procession.

Getting up, Neal faced them knowing he'd lied to them, he'd died in front of them, and had left them believing that he was dead again.

"Hey, I'm sorry. We're here to help." Chuck led the way and to his surprise, moved to hug him.

Hugging his old friend, they'd certainly garnered the attention of the entire office! "Thanks, Chuck. I appreciate it."

Snorting, Morgan wasn't impressed, "So you copied Chuck and went and married your own Sara?"

"It's a long story, Morgan, but the short of it is that we got married through a case that took a left turn as the cons decided we'd make a cute couple and arranged it for us. Come on, Chuck, see what magic you can work. I couldn't backtrace anything of the signal to figure out who found me, why they're targeting Sara or the ransom." Neal directed his old friend to his seat and set him to work.

"Excuse me, Neal, who are these people and why are you granting them access to government equipment?" Peter questioned from above.

Flashing his badge, Casey handled that. "We're a task force team sent by Washington. Neal has been targeted for past association with us and Mrs. Caffrey is being held for ransom. What for is beyond your clearance or need to know. We'll let you know if we need your help."

"You can be more diplomatic than that Casey. They might be FBI which you have no respect for, but they are the best the FBI has. Besides, Hughes has an extensive history with the NSA and is a legend across multiple fields. At least give them the courtesy of pretending that you respect them." Neal directed from where he was watching Chuck work.

"Hughes? I worked with him once, he's not half bad." Casey perked up.

Shaking his head, Neal waived him off. "There you go, go coordinate with him."

Coming up beside him, Sarah threw a small smirk at him, "You just don't want him to shoot you again."

"That would be preferable, but coordinating between the agencies is also helpful so two for one is good enough for me." Neal was able to carry on the conversation despite his distraction since Chuck was handling the majority of the work.

Morgan seemed content to wander around the main space and take a look since it was his first time in the FBI. "Castle is better. I prefer working with the NSA and CIA, but the FBI is cool in its way."

Frowning over at him, Neal was surprised that the guy wasn't more dramatic, either excited to be in the FBI or derogatory that he was in the FBI.

Nudging him, Sarah got his attention again. "Morgan has matured since you were last around. Although he can still get excited, he's less likely to express it until later."

Understanding, Neal wasn't surprised to think that Morgan would reflect on the trip later, but that for now, he wanted to put on a show for the FBI audience.

With the team present and the FBI being filled in as far as the CIA and NSA were comfortable, it wasn't surprising for Neal to find himself standing in the conference room facing the team as he argued for his plan.

"Come on, I've worked as the decoy for you and your father while having experience in the field in general longer than you have. I can handle this!" Neal argued in favor of his plan as it was the best way he could think of to handle the situation.

"No, you are not going to hand yourself over to the enemy and allow them to whisk you away to places unknown to do with you as they please." Chuck faced him toe to toe arguing just as vehemently against the plan.

"Well we aren't going to hand over the real deal now are we? They know I have some access to it, it was rumored before that I had it, and I last died in the room while you were operating it. I'm a great decoy and this is my job!" Neal was wound up and he knew it, but this was his own Sara at stake, Chuck should understand that.

The door adjoining Peter's office opened and the agent walked in uninvited. "Neal, you do know that my desk is just the other side of this door and I can hear what your plan is. I agree with Chuck, you shouldn't sacrifice yourself for the sake of the case. Although it's understandable that you'd want to protect your wife, Sara wouldn't want you to either." He stood with his hands on his hips as he faced Neal.

Facing two of his dearest friends, Neal was glad that they were there to talk some sense into him, but he couldn't see another way. "Then what are your plans, huh? No one else has presented a way to ensure that we pull this off. I know three of you have significant others and understand what it's like to see them in danger."

"What if we focus on revamping your plan? I haven't come up with another way either, but we aren't going to let you put yourself in danger. They'll test you to make sure you are what you say you are this time, so you can't just fake it, they'd kill you." Chuck had stepped back to pace while Peter landed into his turn at lecturing.

"And? You've got something cooking in that brain of yours, what is it?" Neal turned his focus onto his friend.

He knew that he could trust Chuck to figure something out, but he was determined to do something if he hadn't, even something stupid.

"I've been tinkering with an idea, a possible way to make things work without the side effects and risks. A contact lens that contains everything that we need so that you can have the information accessible, kind of like one version an asset of mine once built. However, he used glasses and tried to sell them to the highest bidder which got him into a whole lot of trouble!" Chuck shivered so whatever story had been behind that wasn't a pleasant one.

Sarah reached and touched his arm in a comforting gesture and Chuck seemed to cheer up in response.

"Okay, so what do we need to do to set up this contact lens?" Neal knew that time was limited; they had less than a day before he'd be sent instructions.

Thank you, everyone, for reading, leaving kudos, and commenting/reviewing :D

Next week finishes this story so please vote and let me know which of my completed stories you'd like to see next :D

Well, Kai is providing us with an adventure we don't like and are looking forward to being resolved. He broke his leg twice, presumably by falling off of his house, and was put into a cast which he has since chewed off. That was replaced last night at additional trauma and expense to what has already occurred. He's been keeping me occupied each night to keep him entertained and now we've got the extra challenge of trying to prevent his chewing as he's figured out how to remove the device. If we can keep him in it, this will hopefully be resolved within around 4 weeks. If not... well, it could be longer or the vet might be forced to consider amputation which could be a whole other problem. Stress and anxiety are running high while sleep is running low. I spent all of last night keeping him out of trouble and we hope that today's anti-biting solution will aid in the issues tonight. My posting and response time may be a bit screwy for the coming weeks until this is resolved, but we hope and pray that he'll behave himself enough!