Chuck/White Collar - 5

[samecgh]

 

Neal stopped at the door when he saw both of them asleep. His intention had been to question Chuck. He didn't need the Intersect to make him think about identical twins. His mother had once told him that he was a gift, and it wasn't until he found papers after her death that he found out about the adoption. There was no birth certificate, but it wouldn't have surprised him that his father may have destroyed it in his cleaning of suspicious documents before he was 'killed' and placed in protection. He figured Chuck may have found it out and had it checked then found conclusive proof.

 

He hadn't moved and didn't know where anywhere else he could go when Bryce started moving and waking up. He watched him realize that he had been on Chuck, staring for a moment before weakly staggering over to the bathroom, where the angle was that he couldn't see what was happening, thankfully. He came out and walked over toward him, dragging the IV pole with him. Neal saw he was wobbling while he was walking and tried to sit him in the chair. He glared, but sat down. “I'm not fragile,” he grumbled.

 

“You are at the moment,” he quipped, stepping back when Bryce tried to swipe at him. “You were kept weak and in a drug-induced coma. Nobody comes back from that within a few hours.”

 

“They do if they've experienced it before,” he mumbled. He hissed and dropped his head in his hands. “Damn, that's one thing I didn't mind being in that thing for hours on end.”

 

“How bad's your head?” Neal asked.

 

“Pounding.”

 

Chuck sat up after hearing Bryce in pain. “Hey,” he called, getting his attention, “The watch on the little table, put it on.” Confused, but trusting Chuck, he took the newest governor and latched it on his left arm. He let out a moan that should have been heard during sex. Not that either of them have had sex with Bryce. “That has to be the most interesting reaction to a governor,” Chuck mentioned.

 

He queried, “Governor?”

 

“Dad designed it to cope with the stresses of the Intersect,” he explained.

 

Neal raised an eye at the revelation. “Your Dad?”

 

“He worked on the Intersect,” he partially revealed.

 

He decided to segue into what he found out about their parents. “Chuck, what did you find out about us?” he inquired, “Our parents.”

 

Bryce looked at Chuck. “Chuck?”

 

“There was only a mother listed on the birth certificate,” he replied, “Twin boys born twenty minutes apart on October eleventh and twelfth to Afona Cân. After giving birth, she ran.” Chuck watched Bryce slump as much as his body would allow. Neal left before he saw Chuck moving off the bed. Maybe Sarah needs some help.

 

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

 

Sarah's first act was to pull all the pictures out and start going through them. Going by seasonal markers and store fronts, she was able to establish a reasonable timeline. The earliest picture was just after Neal got out of prison, longer hair and dressed in a black turtleneck and gray slacks. There were several with Burke, a few with other members of the FBI team. A couple with a woman that owned the house he was living in. Another woman in a few more. With the pictures done, she moved onto paperwork.

 

Shaw initially started out thinking Neal was Bryce, using time in jail to establish a new cover and heal from the gunshot. He contacted Quinn with help on possible extraction and abduction when he needed it. A few notes later, Shaw must have been introduced to a scientist that was working on the Ring Intersect, because he started noting Bryce and Neal separately. They were theorizing over the possibility that the two were twins. Then they were wondering if Neal had the same ability to take in the Intersect like Bryce.

 

Sarah turned when she heard the door open. Neal walked in. Wordlessly, she passed along the notes she had already gone through so he could go through and possibly flash on anything. They worked silently, Neal not flashing on anything. The ideas he read went from ludicrous to frightening, especially when he got into their ideas about kidnapping him.

 

It was a few more minutes before Chuck and Bryce decided to show up. Bryce was still dragging the IV along, but now he was also joined by a mug of something. Chuck had two mugs, both with coffee. He placed one near Sarah before finding a box he could dive in. Bryce ended up looking at the items they had already looked at, finding the need to catch up.

 

“Who's Shaw?” Bryce questioned.

 

Chuck looked over to Sarah, who was carefully closed off before she answered, “He was a mole inside the Ring for the CIA before he went rogue and joined them.”

 

“Not now,” Bryce argued, “Whatever you're holding back, stop.”

 

“Shaw was on the team,” Chuck added, voice low.

 

“Eve Shaw was my test,” she ended.

 

Bryce frowned, but didn't say anything as he finished his mug. Chuck noticed. “More?”

 

“No, I'm good,” he replied. He got up to move when the power died.

 

“Shit.”

 

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

 

Daniel Shaw got wind of the take down of Hanover's laundering and extracurriculars the day before Peter officially got the warrant for his properties. About time. Burke was one of the cleanest agents in the FBI, and taking down Hanover had been done closely to the book. Which meant that it took a while for them to get to the actually arresting. At least they were getting closer to Caffrey.

 

It was normal for him to be watching the FBI building, catching routines that would make it easier for Shaw and Quinn to grab him. That's when he noticed the three of them. “Damn it,” he growled, speed-dialing Quinn.

 
 

“What now?” the man on the other side complained.

 
 

“They're here.”

 

 

“What?”

 

 

“The Ring angle. Beckman couldn't ignore it.”

 

 

“So she sent them out,” Quinn grumbled, letting out a string of half-English, half something else that he heard through the phone. “How close are they to taking down Hanover?”

 

 

“They need evidence.”

 

 

“Well, lets just push them ahead.” Shaw nodded at the next words and got off to call Saxon. After the woman's death, and Hanover's attempt to stop the investigation, he knew that Burke would start to speed things up as carefully as possible to get Hanover behind bars.

 

He wasn't far off when the warrant came in and he heard Burke going off to the restaurant while other agents covered the warehouses. It would just be a matter of faking a rookie agent to make sure no one discovered his room or the special area inside warehouse two. Burke didn't go off to the restaurant like he was planning, assigning Jones and driving off somewhere else.

 

He grew angry when he saw Team Bartowski instead of FBI agents. And Caffrey was among them. Dialing Quinn while looking them over, he spotted the watch on his left wrist and pieced it together carefully. “Caffrey has an Intersect.”

 

 

“Do you think....”

 

 

“Unless they managed to glue together the remnants of the last one that Chuck destroyed, I'm fairly sure he has our pieced together version that Justin had on his computer.”

 

 

“And he's not comatose or dead. He is like his brother. Where are they?”

 

 

“At the warehouse.”

 

There was a pause before he threatened, “Don't allow them....”

 

 

“I could kill them all, but I doubt I would get two shots off before someone decided to fire back.” And gets a hit. Even Chuck would kill me now, if Casey and Sarah didn't accomplish it first. Burke would even fire back.

 

 

“Do you know where they are?”

 

 

“I can place a tracker.”

 

 

“Then I will meet you with a few necessary items.” The call ended. He hurried down to the cars to plant a tracker on Burke's car, since it was least likely to be searched, and he thought that they would be dragging him back to the substation they were stationed at. Then he sat back to wait. It didn't take long for them to enter, and he opened his remote access to the security system to monitor their progress. He muttered a few things watching them. Neal was a little more interesting than the others. He figured out obstacles and found the medical room and pulled Chuck in. He even figured out the secret room when several Ring agents passed it up going in every time. “You will be an interesting addition.”

 

They struggled with Bryce back to the cars and smirked when Sarah took Burke's keys before they followed the other car. He brought up the map with the tracker flashing up at him. He then planned on joining the FBI team that Burke would most likely call up to get identifying items from the room before going to the substation. There was a flak jacket in his trunk and a standard FBI weapon for him to pass off.

 

 

Instead, another van just rolled up outside of the warehouse. Instead of FBI agents, he watched several trained operatives jump out. Casey called in a team. He was going to be found out soon. He packed up quickly and hurried to the location that the tracker had stopped at.

 

 

Quinn was waiting. The man was next to a van, specially outfitted to transport prisoners. Along side chains, he saw a cell phone jammer. Perfect. They decided to wait for a time to enter the building with less problems. It was an hour before Casey and Burke walked out, Burke calling someone on his phone. Immediately, both headed down to the entrance they had cased. The other car safely out of the zone, the jammer was activated.

 

Shaw had the door disabled while the machine worked. He quickly ran down to the room most likely to be housing the controls for power, and found it. He disabled the backup connection and looked for alarms in the housing. He opened the panel then took it off to get to the wires. He gathered the main one that would removed all power and held them, ready to yank out.Quinn offered him night vision goggles and he placed them on his head. He double-checked his gun and watched Quinn get ready to take off. He pulled the wires out, seeing sparks while the lights all cut out. He slid his goggles down and turned them on just in time to see the very barest of lights go on. Even in CIA substations, they had exit signs powered by batteries.

 

 

“I'll take Larkin,” Quinn grunted.

 

 

“Good, because I wasn't about to hand Walker over to anyone else,” he countered, moving the opposite way from Quinn. “Ready or not, Sarah, here I come.”

 

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

 

Chuck had his cell out and used its limited light to gather Sarah, Neal and Bryce. Sarah managed to get her phone out and checked it. “No signal,” she muttered. Neal checked his phone and shook his head. “Damn it.”

 

 

“This Shaw?” Bryce suggested.

 

 

“Quinn?” Neal added.

 

 

“We should see if the Internet's still up,” Chuck mentioned, “We can send something to Casey or Peter.”

 

Sarah replaced her phone with a gun. “Closest computers are in the offices, other end of the floor,” she informed. Bryce started getting up to join them. She pushed him back down and ordered, “Neal, stay here, keep him here and lock up after we leave.”

 

 

Before he could protest, Chuck said, “Bryce, you are physically weak at the moment. You don't have a weapon and the Intersect might knock you unconscious with a flash. Stay down.” We just got you back and none of us want there to be a third chance for someone to shoot at you. Sarah went first, and looking down the hall, went out with Chuck following.

 

Neal got ready to lock and started searching for something to place against the door when Bryce got up and started moving toward the door. “What are you doing?” he hissed.

 

 

“There is no way I'm just going to sit back,” he complained.

 

 

“So you're going to wear yourself out, get yourself recaptured and become prisoner again. Great plan,” he mocked. Bryce growled, then plucked the needle out of his skin. He quickly walked over, gaining strength, or adrenaline, when he hit the door. “They're going to kill me.” Neal waved caution and safety to follow him. An odd movement told him he still had the tranquilizer gun that Chuck had given him. “Here,” he passed.

 

Bryce scowled at him, stating “A dart gun? What the hell?”

 

 

“Better than nothing. You're the one that shouldn't fight,” he retorted. Bryce just added a glare before walking off. “What exactly are you thinking?”

 

 

“Getting down to the armory to get a gun,” he started.

 

 

“You have a gun,” Neal pointed out.

 

 

“An actual gun.”

 

 

“That is...”

 

 

“One that shoots bullets. Then we're finding the electrical room. Back up should have came on. It didn't, so we need to find the utility room to get the power back on.”

 

 

“Except for the gun, reasonable plan,” he said. “Wait, how are Chuck and Sarah able to get on the Internet then?”

 

 

“Landlines and laptop battery,” he answered, “But just in case the entire place went wireless, we should get down there faster.”

 

Navigating the halls was dangerous without light. Barely able to see the floor, both kept tripping over carpet edges and hidden wires. Then, they came to the stairwell. “Slow and steady,” Neal muttered, following Bryce down. The exit signs only illuminated the doorways, leaving the stairs in complete darkness. Each step was carefully and slowly taken. They reached the first floor landing with minimal bruising.

 

 

“Armory's this way,” Bryce muttered, heading down the hall. Neal followed behind, watching for movement along the corridors. The stopped outside a door and tried the knob to find it locked. Neal took out his picks and selected two by touch to unlock the door. After two minutes, he tried the knob again and opened the door.

 

Bryce walked in and started looking for another gun. Neal stood at the entrance. The arm that wrapped around his neck choked off any warning and the attached body forced him in the room. The door closed behind them, what little light being shut out. Bryce reacted, closest gun at hand pointed at them. “Put the gun down, Larkin, you don't have the advantage,” a slightly accented voice mocked.

 

 

“I think I'll take my chances,” he said.

 

 

“Typical.” Neal felt a muzzle being pushed into his ribs. The arm was choking off his air supply and he tried to straighten his neck to allow more in. The back of his head connected with something before the head behind him moved. He's wearing something. Around eye level. It took him a minute to connect it. Night vision. Being careful and slow with his actions, he pulled out his cell phone and moved it up toward his neck. The screen was pressed against his body to keep his intention secret. “Put the gun down or your brother is going to get a very serious wound. One that you have some experience with,” he threatened.

 

Neal breathed before holding the phone in front of what he thought was the mans eyes. Pushing a button, the screen lit up, temporarily blinding the man as he let out a short yell. He pulled as much as he could to one side, letting a small patch of the mans body open and lit. Bryce targeted the area and shot three times in his direction.


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