Neal Caffrey, Suspect at Large

Chapter 3

"Peter," said Neal, "please tell me you have anything for me to do! I'm desperate enough for mortgage fraud!"

It was a slow day at the FBI office and Peter was enjoying it. Neal, however, did not do well in such conditions.

Peter sighed. "What happened to the huge stack of case files I had sent to your desk?"

"I finished them."

Peter stared at Neal gobsmaked.

"That was at least at least fifteen cases!" Peter said in disbelief.

"Actually eighteen, but who's counting?" said Neal as he sat down in the chair in front of Peter's desk and kicked his legs up.

"I'm not here to stave off boredom." said Peter as he nudged Neal's Italian-leather clad feet off of his desk.

"There is a ton of stuff to do. I can tell you all about it as soon as you wake up." said Neal as he tossed his fedora up into the air.

"Okay, I'll bite. What do you mean 'wake up'?" asked Peter, prepared for a completely ludicrous answer.

Neal's entire demeanor changed. He stood up and braced himself with his hands on the desk as he leaned closer.

"It means that you need to wake up."

WC*WC*WC*WC*WC*

"Peter wake up!"

smack

Peter's eyes shoot open. His cheek was stinging from where Neal's hand had slapped him.

"Sorry about that."

Peter fixed his eyes on Neal's blue ones. He was right there. Just three feet away.

It finally registered that Peter was sitting down in a kitchen chair. With his arms and legs restrained.

"Neal what are you doing!" shouted Peter. Suddenly everything that Neal's disappearing act had caused came back at once. The betrayal, the panic, and most of all, the anger. Peter Burke was angry, no he was absolutely livid.

The woman that he had seen earlier with Neal entered the room and Peter's attention was focussed on her.

"It was a through and through. It missed all the organs and arteries. He'll be back on his feet in no time." she said.

She peeled of a pair of bloody latex gloves and threw them in the sink. She picked up some wallets, picked what looked like IDs out of them, and threw them in the sink as well. To finish it off, she drizzled some lighter fluid on top and lit it on fire.

Peter's blood ran cold.

"You." he said, glaring at the woman. "You shot a federal agent! You'll be serving twenty-five years to life for that!"

"Peter enough!"

Peter turned his head around and fixed his glare on Neal.

"She didn't shoot him. Thats was me." Neal said, speaking calmly.

Peter was sure that his eyes had widened farther then they ever had before. Neal? Neal shot someone?!?! That was like Ghandi committing murder.

The woman seemed to take his silence as her cue to speak.

"He didn't really have a choice. Agent Reeves was aiming to kill." she said determinedly.

Peter's head was spinning. This was all just so messed up. It was just supposed to be a peaceful arrest. Neal was supposed to be alone, he was supposed to go peacefully, he wasn't supposed to have a partner and shoot one off the arresting agents and kidnap the other!

"Peter?"

"Why?" Peter's voice was strained as he asked Neal why he left. Why he destroyed everything he and Peter had worked so hard for.

Neal was frowning. He looked like he had aged ten years in two seconds.

"Because Peter the System is wrong."

Peter couldn't believe it. Neal really was just another screwed up criminal. They all said more or less the same thing. That the government was wrong. That the justice system was a joke. Peter was just about to tell Caffery just what he was thinking when he interrupted him.

"Peter the System only works if the people working it weren't using it as a weapon."