Lockstep 2/5
Title: Lockstep - chapter 2
Author: nywcgirl
Artist: citrinesunset
Characters/Pairings: Neal, Peter, Elizabeth, other White collar characters.
Rating: hurt/comfort
Word Count: ~ 9300
Spoilers: Spoilers on pilot
Warnings: None
Summary: This story is a historic AU for the WC pilot. Neal is convicted to a chain gang and escapes; Peter is the agent on the case.
Author's Note: I want to thank citrinesunset, who was generous with her precious time to beta this story and to make the wonderful art for this story. I do not own any of the WC characters and all mistakes and typos are mine.
It is Saturday morning and Peter and El are visiting Peter´s parents, who live near Auburn. Peter had to visit the Auburn prison for a case he was working on in New York, and yesterday he had a meeting with one of the prisoners who wanted to testify. And since his parents live nearby, he decided to take El and Billie (their bloodhound) with him and to stay over the weekend in the cottage he still keeps near his parents. His birthday is in a few days and the trip to New York is too long for his parents, so it was easier and nice, he has to admit, to spend the weekend here and being pampered by his mother.
At the moment, he is enjoying a delicious breakfast with El and his parents. His mom made French toast and some special coffee. As he is enjoying a second cup with his dad, El and his mom are doing the dishes in the kitchen. He will tend to the horses his dad keeps in a few minutes, but for now he is soaking in the peace and quiet of the small town he grew up in. New York is always busy and noisy.
Around twelve o´clock, Peter and his dad return to the house for lunch. He gets treated to buttered nut bread and grapefruit juice.
After lunch, he returns to the horses with his dad. They are busy with a young stallion when suddenly a car comes at high speed towards the paddocks. It stops in front of Peter and the guy that gets out identifies himself as US Marshal Thompson.
´Which one of you is special agent Peter Burke?´ the Marshal asks.
´What is it to you?´ Peter is curious.
´Neal Caffrey escaped.´
Neal Caffrey… Peter had been responsible for catching this young con-man more than three years ago. He was a rookie FBI-agent then and Caffrey was a case nobody wanted, so Peter was up for the challenge and pursued Caffrey. He had finally caught Caffrey after spending three years of his life chasing him down across different States, but the arrest had boosted his carrier. It almost immediately made him a senior agent and he now gets his own probies to train. He forgot that Caffrey was sentenced to Auburn prison.
´Are they sure?´ he asked the US Marshal.
´That he escaped? Yeah. He just walked out of his chains and vanished into the forest.´
The US Marshal holds a paper, which he hands to Peter.
´What is this?´ Peter asks.
´Temporary reassignment order.´
Peter calls for Billie and the bloodhound comes running towards him. Peter and Billie get into the car and Peter tells Thompson to stop at his parents house so he can warn his wife he is leaving and to get a gun.
When they arrive at the road where the chain gang is working, Peter squints his eyes. The men standing in the chain gang look frightened; Caffrey escaping will have repercussions on all of them. Peter also notices that they are all black; Caffrey must have been the only Causation in the gang.
´Thanks for the ride,´ Peter says when he gets out of the car and walks up to the other US Marshal, who introduces himself as David Parnis.
´You´ll agree we have an unusual situation here,´ US Marshal Parnis says.
Peter looks at him. ´Why would a guy with four months left on a four-year sentence run?´
Thompson leads Peter down to the row of prisoners. Peter sees the empty shackles that are still connected to the other inmates. He pauses for only one introduction…
´Warden Haskley, this is Agent Burke, FBI.´
´So, you´re the guy that dropped the ball,´ Peter states.
´You of all people should know what Neal Caffrey is capable off.´
´I know I spent three years of my life chasing him and you let him walk out of a chain gang.' Peter points at the empty shackles.
Thompson cuts in. ´Gentlemen, might I remind you that Caffrey has a four-hour head start.´
´It shouldn´t be a problem. With his prisoner clothes and shaved head, he will stand out in a crowd,´ Peter says to Thompson.
´About that…´ Warden Haskley starts. ´We haven´t cropped his hair in some time.'
Peter only looks at the warden. Unbelievable, only Caffrey…
* * *
´Do you have a scent article? Peter asks, looking around. When the guards just stare at him, he specifies ´Something with Caffrey´s scent on it,´
Norman holds up a dirty, faded woolen black and white shirt. Peter grabs the item and holds it in front of Billie and just says ´Zoeken´ (search). Billie, who has been standing next to Peter until then, becomes a dog obsessed. Peter grabs her leash. It is a thirty-foot long leather leash that connects to an iron ring on her harness. Peter never believed in a neck collar. Peter realizes that he treats his dog better than the prison system their prisoners.
Billie starts sniffing in the wider area of the chain gang and starts trailing. Peter follows Billie at the end of the leash, giving her space to maneuver. While he follows her, he checks his FBI issued Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum. Caffrey has never used violence in his past crimes, but he was just a kid, who knows what he picked up in prison, especially Auburn. But for some reason he is comfortable with doing this manhunt alone.
The rest of the men stay with the prisoners to escort them back to prison.
Billie seems to be trailing and they walk for hours. It is already getting dark when Peter decides to go home and get some rest and diner and to come back first thing in the morning. It is no use to hunt someone down in the dark and they are still not too far from his cottage. He prefers sleeping in his own bed than here in the wilderness.
When they arrive home, Peter´s parents have already gone to sleep. The lights in their house are off, so he walks up to his own cabin and enters the kitchen to see if El has left out some meat for Billie. He feeds and waters her and then goes inside to get dinner himself.
El is waiting for him with corn soup. She also made some fricasseed chicken and brown rice with broiled tomatoes. Peter is so hungry he even eats the blueberry pudding El made as dessert.
When he is finished, Peter joins El on the porch.
´What was he thinking, El? If I catch him, he is going back, and it will be far worse.´ Peter sighed.
El just holds his hand and tries to get Peter to relax.
* * *
Neal has a feeling that he is slowing down. His injuries are catching up with him. He is abnormally hot and sweaty but blames it on running through the forest on this hot August day.
He looks down and sees that he's finally stopped bleeding. When he started running away from the guards, he had felt a knick in his side. Running for dear life, he hadn´t thought about it until he had stopped for the first time at a creek to drink. It turned out that a bullet had grazed him. It had bled a lot but luckily it had stopped.
He stops again at a small pond to wash up and drink. While he is resting, he spots a hunting cabin. He walks up to the cabin, finds a piece of metal on the ground and quickly picks the lock.
Inside he finds some candles, but he doesn´t dare to light them. He looks in the cupboards and finds some clothing that sort of fit. But he can´t find any food. Too bad, but he has water, so it will be OK. He lies down on the small cot and almost immediately falls asleep.
Sometime during the night, he wakes up too hot, too sweaty and too thirsty. He gets up and drags himself back to the river. He shivers in the cold night air. He stumbles on the rocks on the riverbank and hits the ground with his knees. He drinks eagerly of the water and notices that the night is transforming into dawn already. It will be light soon and he needs to move again. He can´t believe he wasn´t caught while he was sleeping. His chasers must have called it a night as well.
He starts walking again, and if he is correct, he is walking to the south, to New York City, to Kate. He has to find her. The last letter that he received from her was a goodbye letter. He hasn´t seen Kate in over three years as only family is allowed to visit prisoners once a year. And they never got to marry, because he was arrested before he could propose to her. Damn that special agent Burke. He had used Kate to get to Neal, and Neal had been arrogant enough to walk into the trap.
But she faithfully wrote him once a month. The last letter, however, basically told him it was over. Maybe not in so many words, but Neal knows how to interpret Kate´s words. He is worried about her. He can´t believe she would have written this letter voluntarily. He has to talk to her. He has to make sure she is alright.
Author: nywcgirl
Artist: citrinesunset
Characters/Pairings: Neal, Peter, Elizabeth, other White collar characters.
Rating: hurt/comfort
Word Count: ~ 9300
Spoilers: Spoilers on pilot
Warnings: None
Summary: This story is a historic AU for the WC pilot. Neal is convicted to a chain gang and escapes; Peter is the agent on the case.
Author's Note: I want to thank citrinesunset, who was generous with her precious time to beta this story and to make the wonderful art for this story. I do not own any of the WC characters and all mistakes and typos are mine.
It is Saturday morning and Peter and El are visiting Peter´s parents, who live near Auburn. Peter had to visit the Auburn prison for a case he was working on in New York, and yesterday he had a meeting with one of the prisoners who wanted to testify. And since his parents live nearby, he decided to take El and Billie (their bloodhound) with him and to stay over the weekend in the cottage he still keeps near his parents. His birthday is in a few days and the trip to New York is too long for his parents, so it was easier and nice, he has to admit, to spend the weekend here and being pampered by his mother.
At the moment, he is enjoying a delicious breakfast with El and his parents. His mom made French toast and some special coffee. As he is enjoying a second cup with his dad, El and his mom are doing the dishes in the kitchen. He will tend to the horses his dad keeps in a few minutes, but for now he is soaking in the peace and quiet of the small town he grew up in. New York is always busy and noisy.
Around twelve o´clock, Peter and his dad return to the house for lunch. He gets treated to buttered nut bread and grapefruit juice.
After lunch, he returns to the horses with his dad. They are busy with a young stallion when suddenly a car comes at high speed towards the paddocks. It stops in front of Peter and the guy that gets out identifies himself as US Marshal Thompson.
´Which one of you is special agent Peter Burke?´ the Marshal asks.
´What is it to you?´ Peter is curious.
´Neal Caffrey escaped.´
Neal Caffrey… Peter had been responsible for catching this young con-man more than three years ago. He was a rookie FBI-agent then and Caffrey was a case nobody wanted, so Peter was up for the challenge and pursued Caffrey. He had finally caught Caffrey after spending three years of his life chasing him down across different States, but the arrest had boosted his carrier. It almost immediately made him a senior agent and he now gets his own probies to train. He forgot that Caffrey was sentenced to Auburn prison.
´Are they sure?´ he asked the US Marshal.
´That he escaped? Yeah. He just walked out of his chains and vanished into the forest.´
The US Marshal holds a paper, which he hands to Peter.
´What is this?´ Peter asks.
´Temporary reassignment order.´
Peter calls for Billie and the bloodhound comes running towards him. Peter and Billie get into the car and Peter tells Thompson to stop at his parents house so he can warn his wife he is leaving and to get a gun.
When they arrive at the road where the chain gang is working, Peter squints his eyes. The men standing in the chain gang look frightened; Caffrey escaping will have repercussions on all of them. Peter also notices that they are all black; Caffrey must have been the only Causation in the gang.
´Thanks for the ride,´ Peter says when he gets out of the car and walks up to the other US Marshal, who introduces himself as David Parnis.
´You´ll agree we have an unusual situation here,´ US Marshal Parnis says.
Peter looks at him. ´Why would a guy with four months left on a four-year sentence run?´
Thompson leads Peter down to the row of prisoners. Peter sees the empty shackles that are still connected to the other inmates. He pauses for only one introduction…
´Warden Haskley, this is Agent Burke, FBI.´
´So, you´re the guy that dropped the ball,´ Peter states.
´You of all people should know what Neal Caffrey is capable off.´
´I know I spent three years of my life chasing him and you let him walk out of a chain gang.' Peter points at the empty shackles.
Thompson cuts in. ´Gentlemen, might I remind you that Caffrey has a four-hour head start.´
´It shouldn´t be a problem. With his prisoner clothes and shaved head, he will stand out in a crowd,´ Peter says to Thompson.
´About that…´ Warden Haskley starts. ´We haven´t cropped his hair in some time.'
Peter only looks at the warden. Unbelievable, only Caffrey…
* * *
´Do you have a scent article? Peter asks, looking around. When the guards just stare at him, he specifies ´Something with Caffrey´s scent on it,´
Norman holds up a dirty, faded woolen black and white shirt. Peter grabs the item and holds it in front of Billie and just says ´Zoeken´ (search). Billie, who has been standing next to Peter until then, becomes a dog obsessed. Peter grabs her leash. It is a thirty-foot long leather leash that connects to an iron ring on her harness. Peter never believed in a neck collar. Peter realizes that he treats his dog better than the prison system their prisoners.
Billie starts sniffing in the wider area of the chain gang and starts trailing. Peter follows Billie at the end of the leash, giving her space to maneuver. While he follows her, he checks his FBI issued Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum. Caffrey has never used violence in his past crimes, but he was just a kid, who knows what he picked up in prison, especially Auburn. But for some reason he is comfortable with doing this manhunt alone.
The rest of the men stay with the prisoners to escort them back to prison.
Billie seems to be trailing and they walk for hours. It is already getting dark when Peter decides to go home and get some rest and diner and to come back first thing in the morning. It is no use to hunt someone down in the dark and they are still not too far from his cottage. He prefers sleeping in his own bed than here in the wilderness.
When they arrive home, Peter´s parents have already gone to sleep. The lights in their house are off, so he walks up to his own cabin and enters the kitchen to see if El has left out some meat for Billie. He feeds and waters her and then goes inside to get dinner himself.
El is waiting for him with corn soup. She also made some fricasseed chicken and brown rice with broiled tomatoes. Peter is so hungry he even eats the blueberry pudding El made as dessert.
When he is finished, Peter joins El on the porch.
´What was he thinking, El? If I catch him, he is going back, and it will be far worse.´ Peter sighed.
El just holds his hand and tries to get Peter to relax.
* * *
Neal has a feeling that he is slowing down. His injuries are catching up with him. He is abnormally hot and sweaty but blames it on running through the forest on this hot August day.
He looks down and sees that he's finally stopped bleeding. When he started running away from the guards, he had felt a knick in his side. Running for dear life, he hadn´t thought about it until he had stopped for the first time at a creek to drink. It turned out that a bullet had grazed him. It had bled a lot but luckily it had stopped.
He stops again at a small pond to wash up and drink. While he is resting, he spots a hunting cabin. He walks up to the cabin, finds a piece of metal on the ground and quickly picks the lock.
Inside he finds some candles, but he doesn´t dare to light them. He looks in the cupboards and finds some clothing that sort of fit. But he can´t find any food. Too bad, but he has water, so it will be OK. He lies down on the small cot and almost immediately falls asleep.
Sometime during the night, he wakes up too hot, too sweaty and too thirsty. He gets up and drags himself back to the river. He shivers in the cold night air. He stumbles on the rocks on the riverbank and hits the ground with his knees. He drinks eagerly of the water and notices that the night is transforming into dawn already. It will be light soon and he needs to move again. He can´t believe he wasn´t caught while he was sleeping. His chasers must have called it a night as well.
He starts walking again, and if he is correct, he is walking to the south, to New York City, to Kate. He has to find her. The last letter that he received from her was a goodbye letter. He hasn´t seen Kate in over three years as only family is allowed to visit prisoners once a year. And they never got to marry, because he was arrested before he could propose to her. Damn that special agent Burke. He had used Kate to get to Neal, and Neal had been arrogant enough to walk into the trap.
But she faithfully wrote him once a month. The last letter, however, basically told him it was over. Maybe not in so many words, but Neal knows how to interpret Kate´s words. He is worried about her. He can´t believe she would have written this letter voluntarily. He has to talk to her. He has to make sure she is alright.