White Collar - as an unofficial novel - part 6

Aftermath

Peter's focus was to get Neal inside the hangar, away from the blazing fire.

"Neal! There's nothing you can do! Listen to me!"

He never thought he would have to fight Neal. The kid had never, ever made resistance. Until now. As flames went from explosion to burning fuel and material they also became less chaotic and more real. Diana had joined them and she got the picture fast enough.

Sirens were heard and Peter managed at last to guide a stunned and chocked Neal back inside the hangar. Firetrucks arrived in plenty, together with an ambulance. Diana took charge as the communication center. A police car came last.

"Can you just stand still and stay here?" Peter asked Neal. "Just stand still, okay?"

Neal stared at the burning plane, leaning against one of the airplanes in the hangar.

"You know when the last time I touched her was?" the kid asked, tears running down his cheeks.

"No." It was not true. He did. Or at least he thought so. But he did not want to think about it.

"When you arrested me. Four years and six months ago. I just wanted to pick it up where we left off then. Like those years never happened."

Peter noted that Neal did not blame him. There was no hate or bitterness in his voice. Just sorrow. Like when he told about the wine bottle, just a hundred times worse.

"Just stand there, will you? I'll be here. I just need to call Hughes, okay?"

Neal nodded. Peter got eye-contact with Diana and she nodded. She would keep an eye on the kid. Peter walked away a bit. He called his boss and told him what happened.

"Is Caffrey unharmed?" Hughes asked.

"Physically, yes."

"And he's without anklet because he cut it?"

Peter sighed.

"Yes."

"You know what that means, Peter," he heard Hughes' voice of reason in the other end.

It made sense. And yet not. Because he knew Neal and knew about the deal with Fowler.

"Hughes, he wasn't running. It was legal."

"Perhaps. And he may not have anything to do with the bomb on that plane either. But until we know..."

"We have to see him as a fleeing felon and a murder suspect," Peter filled in. He glanced back at Neal. "As soon as he's ready for it, I'll take him back to prison."

"I'm sorry, Peter, but you're still under suspension, and Caffrey is an inmate of a maximum-security prison. I'll call the marshals. Let them handle it. They're no animals."

"Reese..." Peter began, "I..." He was about to tell he gave the kid a promise. But it would not help. He searched for words for a protest he knew would be in vain. He would not even need to put ordinary handcuffs on Neal. No one would need more than that as long as they treated him fair. Diana? No, for her Neal was just another villain. And she would never agree to transport him in just cuffs, and Peter could not blame her.

"I'll keep an eye on him until they arrive." He ended the call.

He watched Neal where he stood, like a wreck. Peter felt helpless. The kid was going through the worst moment of his life right then, and would soon be taken away in chains as if he was the cause of the disaster.

He returned to Neal's side, wondering how he would be able to tell him.

The kid watched him.

"What aren't you telling me, Peter?" Observant as always.