Ghostly Haunting 101, How to be a Guardian Angel

After he got a call from a shaky Elizabeth, Peter rushed home to make sure she was okay.

Walking in, he found that the police had taken the attackers into custody, but his eyes were seeking his wife.

When he saw her, he thought he saw a shimmer of light in front of her, but he ignored it. His mind must be playing tricks on him.

Catching her in his arms, Peter was glad to see that she was only shaken up and scared. She hadn't been harmed despite being attacked by multiple assailants.

His latest case had encountered a rougher type of criminal than he usually dealt with in White Collar. They hadn't taken his efforts to break up their operation easily. Instead, they'd targeted his wife to make him back down. It had backfired on them when their hired men had been captured, but that didn't mean that he was going to let his guard down, he needed to finish this case!

Once Elizabeth had calmed down and they were safely settled with the men in cells and agents guarding the premises, Peter finally got her to talk to him.

"I can't entirely explain it. I mean, I was working on dinner and they came in through the back door. Two came after me and one went further into the house… perhaps he was looking for you? Anyway, the two men were closing in on me when Satchmo ran to stand in front of me. He was shaking but tried to scare them away. His little barks and growls only made them laugh, he's not big enough to be intimidating yet." She stopped talking but seemed to be analyzing her thoughts.

"That's when things got weird. Suddenly, the guys started taking hits and being knocked back like a professional fighter was standing between them and me… but there was no one there. At one point, I thought I saw a glimmer of something caught in the light as one guy took a hard hit that took him down… but there was nothing there."

"What happened to the third guy?" Peter was beginning to question if his mind had been playing tricks on him after all. He'd seen something shimmering in front of her when he'd arrived…

"Once the two men were down, there was a slight shift to their heads like someone or something was checking for a pulse. Then I heard a commotion upstairs and there was even a scream which is probably why the neighbors called the cops. Bryce assured me that all assailants were accounted for and unconscious." She cocked her head as a thought crossed her mind. "Do you think?"

Shaking his head rapidly at first, Peter's pace slowed as doubt sunk in. Could it be possible? "Do you?"

"I… I don't know. It just crossed my mind, but it would make some things make sense. You said there are no wires in the doors or plumbing for him to be turning things on and off, and there are no wireless signals to explain that. What if he's… a ghost?"

It was surreal to have the thought seriously cross their minds, but now that it had, they couldn't shake it.

"Care to answer that, Bryce?" He thought it wouldn't hurt to ask the one in question and see what they got.

There was silence at first, but then a hesitant answer came to them. "I can't answer that."

"Because you aren't or because you don't know?" Peter followed up, but for the first time, there was no response.

Things were different after that.

Although Bryce continued to open doors and be perfectly pleasant with them, there was something different to his tone when he spoke. It wasn't as light and jovial as it had been before. There was no teasing, no jesting, no easy conversation when they engaged him.

That caused a sympathetic lull to fall over the house.

It was as if Bryce was the spirit of the house and his lack of cheer prevented anyone else from having any either.

Spending a day working from home as his case dragged on, Peter was curious what would come of it.

Spreading his paperwork across the dining room table, he felt a chill pass him before noticing that some of the papers shifted on a soft breeze.

"Bryce?"

The disembodied voice didn't respond at first, he only saw additional soft shifting of the papers as if someone were reading them. After a while though, Bryce seemed to have gathered enough of an understanding of what he was facing.

"They're rogue agents. CIA if I'm guessing right. That's why they don't want you to figure out who they are. My guess, is they're associated with an organization called Fulcrum. However, that's just a level of the greater Ring."

"How do you know about them?" This was an interesting piece of insight into their housemate.

He heard chuckling and thought he saw a shimmering image of someone. To his utter shock, they looked like James Bonds! Was it his imagination, or was he being haunted by his case in a literal fashion?

Shifting the papers about some more, there was a sigh before Bryce answered. "They're the reason that I'm here. I was working on a loan assignment, playing an alternate version of myself when I crossed them by accident. The last thing I remember was being stabbed, closing my eyes, and opening them again here as you and Elizabeth were apparently touring the place for the second time after signing the purchase papers. I thought it was a dream and decided to play AI, but now… I'm not so sure."

"Our theory that you're a ghost has you wondering if you were killed by these guys, doesn't it?" It was so utterly surreal to think that he was talking to a deceased agent, but then, he was talking to something, so why not?

"Yeah, but I can't seem to leave your house so there isn't exactly a way for me to research or figure it out for myself." Bryce seemed more melancholy than ever.

Feeling sorry for the guy, Peter didn't know what it would be like to find himself randomly haunting somewhere only to be trapped in a state of uncertainty as to why he was there or what was going to happen to him. If he had to watch Elizabeth mourn for him… Shivering, that was a thought he didn't want to follow. "Do you have any family or friends that might know what's going on with you?"

Snorting softly, Bryce didn't seem to think that was a viable option. "I grew up in Wit-Sec and left my family when I left the system, my only friend from my civilian life hates me because of what I did to save his life, and only my handler or boss would know of my operation to be concerned with my situation."

He saw the glimmering figure of Bonds cast him a sideways glance, but then he shook his head and faded again.

"Why can I see you sometimes, like a ghostly figure, but the rest of the time you're completely invisible?"

"Beats me, I have no idea what's going on. I've only learned how to have a physical effect on my environment and that I can't leave. It's not like there's a manual or anything." He snorted, but there was humor to it this time. "'Ghostly Haunting 101,' now that's a read I could use."

Chuckling himself, Peter decided that he liked this agent. "Does Bryce have a last name?"

"Not that he's going to share. It's dangerous to look into me, Peter. I'm Black Ops CIA when I'm myself, a far cry from White Collar FBI. I was able to keep Elizabeth safe, but I don't know if I'll always be around to protect you, like some weird guardian angel thing, or if there will be an end to this. Your safety is more important than your curiosity." Bryce shimmered before him with a serious frown, and at that moment he could see the agent in him shining through.

Holding his hand up, Peter understood. "I get it, and thanks for saving Elizabeth, I owe you."

"Well, I'll call your favor by asking you to keep my secret if you figure it out. My assignment is to go after public corruption so I don't need word getting around the law enforcement world that I'm actually an agent undercover… You know, if I turn out to not be dead… If I'm dead though, then it won't matter for my work, but it will still matter for your safety."

Agreeing, Peter had his suspicions as to what that undercover assignment was, but he wasn't going to voice it until he had confirmation… if then. Meanwhile, he needed Bryce's assistance to confirm his information and find a way for him to solve the mystery without needing to mention the ghostly agent haunting his house.

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Fortunately, Kai has been given the all-clear good to go from the vet! We're working on figuring out what he can handle as a tripod for entertainment, but at least we're finally on the road to normal :D