ŵy Draig
Author: NYWCgirl
Fandom: White Collar
Pairing: none
Characters: Neal, Peter, Mozzie, Satchmo
Warning/genre: Family, dragon, AU, hurt/comfort, punishment, stabbing
Spoilers: none
Rating: Gen
Author's Notes: This fic fills the ‘Loss of possession’ square on my H/C Bingo card. The prompt came from
kanarek13.
Word Count: ~2180
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine…
Summary: Neal steals Peter and El´s dragon egg and of course Peter would move Heaven and Earth to retrieve it.
This fic can also be found on AO3.
Neal checks his surroundings one last time. There is nothing that draws his attention or seems out of place. He already has his lock picks in his hand and he casually walks up the house. The owners are not home, they are at work since it is the middle of the day. It is always better to make it appear you belong.
The lock is of good quality, but there isn´t a lock Neal Caffrey can´t pic, so within seconds, he hears the door unlock and he casually enters the house. He was told there would be a dog, so he is careful when he opens the door between the hall way and the living room. A golden Labrador is waiting for him with a waving tail. He bumps his head against his hand to be petted. Ha hands the dog a dog biscuit.
‘Some guard dog you are.’ Neal smirks. He walks into the kitchen, looking for dog food and feeds some to the dog, who happily wolves the extra food down and returns back to his cushion.
Neal lets his eyes roam the space, before he quickly ascends the stairs. He checks the first room. Nothing. The second room. Bingo.
The egg is placed in a prominent place in the bedroom. It is even more beautiful than he expected.
He carefully picks it up. A Fabergé egg has nothing on this. It looks out of this world. The texture and coloring is just stunning. Whoever made this is a true artist. He quickly wraps the egg and puts it in the messenger bag that is slung over his shoulder. He understand why the owner wants it back.
He has what he came for so he leaves the house, locking the front door behind him. No need to get the owners robbed by some low life because the front door was open.
* * *
Peter walks up to his house, pulling out his keys when he abruptly stops. Someone was in the house. The minute scratches on the lock are a definite tell-tale sign. He un-holsters his gun and as quiet as possible opens the door, slowly stepping into the hall. Satchmo comes bouncing towards him, obviously happy to see his owner and Peter relaxes. There is clearly no one inside.
‘Hey Satch, I guess there is nobody here, is there?’
The dog happily waves his tail. Peter puts his gun back in its holster and takes of his jacket and holster, hanging them over the back of the chair.
He walks upstairs to change into something more comfortable when he stops dead in his track.
Their egg is gone.
Peter feels his dragon roar and he needs all his will power not to change then and there. He takes a deep breath and calms himself down before he takes a deep sniff. He lets the air whirl over his tongue. It´s a man´s cologne. He memorizes the scent and his inner dragon calms down. He will get this guy.
But first he will have to tell El. She won´t be happy. But since she is out of town, he has some time to find whoever did this.
* * *
Neal hands Mozzie the egg. He carefully packed it, not wanting to damage such a fine piece of art. He is glad he can return it to its owner, the FBI had no right to confiscate it, let alone keep it. Mozzie puts it in a flight case and checks the time.
‘We need to go.’
Neal nods, quickly changing his clothes and putting on a jacket. He takes the case and they leave.
Once they arrive a couple of blocks away from the exchange site, Mozzie drops Neal off and drives away to their meeting point. They will meet there after the exchange. Neal checks his surroundings and when he is certain he isn´t followed he walks towards the exchange.
The other party is already waiting for him.
‘Did you bring it?’
Neal holds up the flight case. He walks closer, handing over the flight case. He is given an envelope and tucks it away. This isn´t about the money, but they need to pull jobs to sustain themselves. This job was about justice, the owner has his property back.
‘Everything seems to be in order. It was nice doing business with you.’
Neal wants to turn away when he sees something shiny in his peripheral vision. He wants to turn when a knife is pushed in his side. There is no pain at first, not until the man pulls the knife out.
His knees give out almost immediately and he barely registers he is on the ground. His breath hitches when the pain really hits him.
‘Thank you for your services!’
Neal hears the words but can´t focus on their meaning. He needs to get out of there but his body isn´t cooperating anymore. He doesn´t feel the hands that pull him into a car.
* * *
Mozzie sees it happening but can´t do a thing. He steps on the gas and the car speeds forward. The man carrying the flight case, turns and wants to pull his gun but the car slams into him before he can. Mozzie hits the breaks, storms out of the car and pulls and pushes Neal inside, thank goodness for wrist curls. He then grabs the flight case and gets back in the car, speeding away to one of his safe houses.
He drives the car inside, that way they will attract the least suspicion. When he is content that they are alone, he turns to Neal.
‘Neal?’
Mozzie gently shakes Neal, mindful for his injury.
‘Wh’t?’
‘Neal, we need to move. I will help you, but we need to get inside and I can´t do it by myself.’
‘K.’
Mozzie pulls Neal towards him and Neal pales visibly once he is up right.
‘Are you staying with me?’
Neal has his eyes closed and swallows. Eventually he nods and does his best to help Mozzie to get out of the car. Blood is still seeping from the wound and Neal is shivering. Not good. Not good at all, it is clear Neal is going into shock.
‘Come on Neal, we are almost there.’
Neal mumbles something unintelligent while he stumbles next to Mozzie. Once they are indoors, Mozzie is grateful that December is a basement apartment. He guides Neal to the fold-out bed. Neal groans and closes his eyes.
Mozzie quickly grabs the extensive first aid kit and cuts away Neal´s shirt. Neal is going to be pissed off, but there is no way he can save the shirt and take care of Neal. The shirt is the least of their concern at the moment.
The wound is much larger and deeper than he expected. After cleaning the wound, he takes a pressure bandage and tightly wraps it around Neal´s torso. Somewhere along the way, Neal goes limp and Mozzie´s heartrate skyrockets until he feels the too fast heartbeat under his fingers.
Mozzie can already see blood seeping through the bandages. This is not good, Neal needs a doctor who can suture the wound. He takes a look at Neal and makes a decision. He covers Neal with a blanket and takes one of his burner phones. He dials a number and waits for the call to be picked up.
‘Burke.’
‘Suit, you don´t know who I am but I have a friend in need. He really can use your help. He is badly injured while recuperating something I believe is yours.’
Mozzie leaves the phone connected on the table next to Neal. No need to antagonize a dragon. He puts the well protected egg next to Neal and then quickly leaves the apartment. It won´t take long for Burke to trace the phone, and he doesn´t need to be here when he arrives.
* * *
Peter slowly descends the stairs to the basement apartment. He lets his dragon senses come to the surface without shifting. There is only one heartbeat and it is faint. He smells blood and lots of it, it is human blood. So whoever called him wasn´t lying about someone being injured. But there is more, but everything fades to the background when he picks up the scent of his first born.
Gun drawn, he storms inside. There is only one large space. A man is lying on his back on a fold out bed, he seems unconscious. He is still alive because he can hear the faint and rapid heartbeat. He can feel heat coming from the man, it is clear that infection already set in. He puts away his gun, the human is no treat to him. He takes the case and carefully opens it. He feels like a weight lifts from his shoulders. His offspring is safe. He takes a deep breath and closes the case again.
He studies the man. He doesn´t appear to be malicious. He has hands of an artist, not someone that uses guns, there is no callous. He takes another sniff and underneath the blood scent there is a base scent. This is the man that was in his house. This is the man who violated his home, who…What if the man who called wasn´t lying and this man was injured because he tried to keep his egg safe? He needs to know. Before he can change his mind; he pulls up his dragon and makes a cut in his hand. Holding his hand over the wound, the blood drips steadily over Neal´s wound. Slowly it knits itself together again. When he is sure the man will live, he heals his own cut and taps the man in the face.
‘Hey, come on, wake up.’
Neal groans and his eyelids flutter.
‘Come on, wake up.’
Neal opens his eyes, widening when he realizes who is hunkering over him.
‘Do you know who I am?’
Neal swallows and nods, ‘you are Special agent Peter Burke.’
‘Right, so what made you think you could get away with kidnapping?’
The surprise is clear on Neal´s face.
‘Kidnapping?’
Neal blinks in confusion, but he follows Peter’s gaze to the flight case.
‘Oh, the egg. It thoroughly is a master crafter who made this.’
Peter can hear the awe in Neal´s voice.
‘You think this is an artwork like a Fabergé egg?’
Neal nods.
Unbelievable, the kid didn´t know what he stole. He can hear in his voice and heartbeat that he is telling the truth.
‘You stole a dragon´s egg. What do you think his parents will do to you?’
Neal pales, it is clear he realizes the ramifications of his action.
‘But I stole the egg from your house, so…’
Peter lets his dragon come a bit more to the surface, enough that he knows his eyes changed. He can see Neal’s eyes widening in realization.
‘I… I´m sorry, if I had known that the egg was a dragon´s, eh…, your egg, I would never…’
‘Let me stop you right there. What you did was foolish and I can´t let it go unpunished.’
Neal´s face drops.
‘I call upon dragon law to get justice. It is within my right to take your life for this theft. But I won´t if you accept my proposition. You will serve me for four years.’
‘Four years?’
Peter nods.
‘You will be at my back and call as well as my wife´s.’
Neal´s breathing picks up. It is clear he only now realizes that there is also a mama dragon to deal with. An involuntary shiver runs down his spine. Good, the kid knows he is in trouble.
‘I will make sure she will not kill you.’ He tries to reassures the young man.
‘And how will you do that?’
‘Do you agree to the deal I propose?’
Neal nods.
‘OK, then, take off your shirt. By the way, what is your name?’
‘Neal, Neal Caffrey.’
‘Well Neal, I will mark you as mine. No harm will come to you as long as you wear it.’
Neal is still puzzled, but takes of his shirt.
‘Turn around.’
Neal once again complies. Peter decides to mark him before he can change his mind and takes a deep breath. When he exhales, his breath burns his mark in Neal´s pale skin. His scream is cut off when he loses consciousness. Peter catches him easily and puts him on the bed. He makes sure he is breathing easily before taking the case and leaving the apartment. However called him is probably watching when he is leaving and will come out of the woodwork as soon as he leaves. And he will know when something is wrong with Neal now that they are bonded. This is going to be interesting, his inner dragon already purring.
But first he needs to get his offspring back home, he will deal with Neal later.