[Fanfiction] At Gun Point

[aragarna]

Title: At Gun Point
Author: Aragarna
Characters: Peter Burke, Neal Burke, Elizabeth Burke, Clinton Jones
Genre, rating: a lot of angst, a hint of hurt with a lot of comfort and fluff, gen, G.
Word count: 4147
Spoilers: set post-series
Summary: Peter and Neal's day takes a frightening turn when they're both abducted on their way to school.
Author's Note: Originally written for nywcgirl for the Fandom Stockings, and now largely extended. Filling the square Protectiveness of my second Gen Bingo card. Many thanks to the awesome reve_silencieux for the beta!

At Gun Point

“Come on, Neal, we’re gonna be late!”

Neal rushed out of the bathroom and ran to his room. “Coming, Dad!” he shouted from upstairs.

He finally came down the stairs, dragging his schoolbag behind and quite disheveled. Peter quickly fixed his hair, then knelt down to tuck his t-shirt in his pants. Then he helped him put his shoes on.

“I can do it myself,” Neal said.

Peter took a deep breath, keeping his frustration in check. They were already late enough as it is. He was going to be late for the team meeting, and he hated it.

“Did you brush your teeth?”

Neal nodded but didn’t take his eyes off of his shoes, focused as he was trying to tie the laces all by himself. Finally he stood up.

Peter helped him put his coat on, put on his own and grabbed his attaché.

“Schoolbag?” he asked.

Neal nodded.

“Lunch box!” Peter just remembered. He rushed to the kitchen to grabbed Neal’s lunch box.

“Let’s go!”

Neal put his bag on his back, and hand in hand, they finally left the house. The car was parked around the block, it was a simple couple minute walk. The school wasn’t far. Peter would just drop Neal – 15 minutes – then he’ll hurry to Manhattan – 30 minutes, well, okay make it 40 – he won’t be more than about 20 minutes late. Damn, that was bad. Peter couldn’t wait for Elizabeth to come back from San Francisco. He couldn’t fathom how single dads could manage.

They turned the corner and instantly, Peter spotted an ominous black van parked next to his car. He tightened his grip on Neal’s hand, and pulled him back, instinctively placing himself between his son and the van.

“Dad?” Neal asked, surprised. “What’s wrong?”

Peter dropped the lunch box he was holding in his other hand, and reached for his gun. Two men immediately jumped out of the van, both pointing their assault guns at Peter. They were wearing ski masks and military gears.

“Drop it! Drop your weapon!” They yelled at once.

Neal screamed. Peter froze.

“Drop your weapon,” the taller masked man said again.

“Dad, what’s going on?” Neal said, voice rigged with panic.

Obviously overpowered and afraid for Neal’s safety, Peter slowly lowered his gun and put it on the floor.

“Look,” he said, locking his gaze on the man’s eyes. “I’ll do whatever you want, but leave my son out of this.”

“Fine, get in the van.”

“No, no, Dad,” Neal screamed, throwing himself at Peter. “Don’t leave me, Dad!”

“We don’t have all day, get in the van,” the man repeated, menacingly pointing his gun closer to Peter’s face.

Peter quickly looked around. There was no one in sight. Maybe he could leave Neal to a neighbor. He looked over at the Camerons’ house. He caught sight of Mrs. Cameron looking through the window. He hoped she’d be smart enough to call the police.

 Peter tried to let go of Neal, but he was clenched to him, terrified. “Dad, don’t leave me.”

“It’s okay, buddy, Mrs. Cameron will take care of you,” he said reassuringly. But to no avail, Neal was petrified and holding on to him with all the force he had. Seeing his son so distressed was breaking Peter’s heart.

The man who seemed in charged suddenly grabbed Neal by the arm, stripped him from his bag and forced him into the van.

Peter jumped on him. “Don’t you dare put your hand on my kid!”

But the man hit him in the temple with the butt of his gun, and Peter fell to the ground, stars blurring his vision. Neal cried.

“In the van,” the man yelled, pressing the barrel of his gun on Peter’s chest.

Peter crawled into the van and reached for his son, who was huddled against the opposite wall of the van. He sensed someone patting him down and taking his phone and wallet. His mind slowly clearing, he sat up and pulled Neal close, protectively wrapping his arms around him. Neal nestled against him.

The tall guy had taken the driver’s seat and they were pulling into traffic. The second man had taken seat at the back of the van with their two prisoners, keeping watch. The two men seemed to be arguing. They were keeping their voices low but Peter overheard part of the conversation.

“I’m not comfortable with this, Terry,” the shorter one was saying. “The kid was never part of the job. I’m not a child abductor.”

Peter pressed Neal a little more against his chest. Neal was sobbing, his breath harsh and fast and tears were flowing down his cheeks. He was pale as a sheet, and his eyes were shut tight, his head buried in his father’s chest.

Peter gently took Neal’s head between his hands. “Neal,” he said softly. “Look at me.”

Neal opened his big brown eyes filled with tears and looked up at his dad. It was taking all of his willpower for Peter not to break down himself. But he had to be strong for the both of them. It was not just him this time, he had to think of Neal. If anything were to happen to him, he wouldn’t forgive himself.

“Good, just keep your eyes on me. And breathe. In, out, like this, in, out. That’s good. I’m here, Neal. Nothing is going to happen to you. I’ll protect you. Do you understand?”

Neal nodded weakly.

“Good. Keep breathing. It’s gonna be okay, kiddo. I’ll get us out of here.”

He kissed him on his forehead and Neal nestled back against his chest. Peter gently patted him on the back of the head.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Peter repeated.

The truth was, he wasn’t sure how he could get them safely out of this situation. If it was just him, he might have tried to break out of the van. They hadn’t tied him up after all. But he couldn’t take that chance with his kid. Not against two men with assault weapons. As an agent, he was trained to deal with those precarious situations, but his instincts as an agent were in conflict with his paternal feelings that were telling him not to do anything remotely risky.

The van stopped at a red light and as the roaring of the engine decreased, Peter caught more of the whispered argument between their two captives.

“… I don’t know why! He never takes his kid to school!” the driver, Terry, was saying.

“We should call it off,” the other one protested.

“You’re kidding? He’s a fed! No, we can’t. Plus, he’s gonna kill us if we tell him we let Burke go.”

Peter quickly assessed the situation. First, it seemed clear that none of them were the mastermind behind this kidnapping. Secondly, the second one was the softer of the two. With some convincing, he might let them go.

“Hey,” Peter called him. “You haven’t done anything irreparable yet. If you cooperate, we can work something out.”

“Shut up!” the driver barked. “Don’t listen to him, Bill.”

But Peter kept his gaze locked on Bill. They had mentioned his name, they knew who he was. Heck, they even seemed to know he usually didn’t take Neal to school. He couldn’t pretend not to be a federal agent. He could lie, pretend he would forget it all and not go after them. He might actually be ready to do so, if it meant getting Neal out of this situation safely. But he doubted they’d buy it.

“I can testify to the DA that you didn’t want to kidnap a child.”

The man briefly met his gaze but quickly looked away. He snorted and shook his head. It was obvious that he didn’t like the situation, but making a deal with the FBI didn’t seem particularly appealing. And from that short look he shot Peter, he looked afraid, and not of a federal agent.

“I can protect you from your boss,” Peter pressed. It was the only thing he had to offer.

The van came to an abrupt stop, and Peter and Neal hit the back doors of the van. Terry, obviously the man in charge, got off his seat, grabbed his rifle and pointed it at Peter. With a nod of the head, he gestured Bill to take the wheel.

“Shut the hell up, Burke, or I swear, I’m gonna shoot you.”

Peter tensed, and he felt Neal shudder in his arms. Forcing his son to let go of him, Peter stood up to face his captor.

“Look, we can talk this out. If you surrender now, we can make a deal. Cooperate and –“

“You think I’m stupid?” Terry snapped, stepping closer to Peter. “We’re making no deal. Now sit down and shut up.”

Peter did his best to apparently keep his cool, but inside, he was worried stiff. There was no way he could talk any sense into this one. Frustrated, he clenched his jaw and fists. A cold rage was rising inside his chest, as he felt more and more helpless to save Neal.

“If anything happens to my son,” he said through his teeth, “I swear, I’ll make sure you end up in lock-up for the rest of your life.”

Even though he could only see the man’s eyes, Peter could feel him smile under his mask, which only added to his frustration and rage.

The van abruptly slowed down, throwing Peter and Terry off balance. By reflex, Terry looked over his shoulder to see what had caused this disruption and the reason for the series of angry honks ahead.

Peter didn’t give it much thought. He acted by reflex of a well-trained agent. Taking advantage of Terry’s moment of distraction, he jumped on his weapon and in a quick and firm movement, snatched it from the man’s hands.

Terry looked back at him, eyes wide opened in shock. Pulling himself together in a second, he quickly searched around for Bill’s rifle.

“Don’t even think about it,” Peter roared, pointing his own gun directly at Terry.

The man stopped and raised his hands. The traffic had cleared out and the van was now going again.

“Stop the van, now!” Peter ordered.

Bill pulled over.

Not taking his eyes off of Terry, Peter nodded toward the door. “Open the door.”

Terry didn’t move. “You won’t shoot,” he said.

“You kidnapped my son,” Peter fumed, pointing the gun under Terry’s noise. “Don’t try me, cause I swear I’ll forget I’m a federal agent.” Now that he finally had the upper hand, all his previously contained anger was coming out. “Now open the damn door!”

Terry slowly opened the door.

“Neal, get out,” Peter said.

Neal slowly stood up but stayed where he was, looking hesitantly at his father. Peter didn’t want to take his eyes off of his opponent, so he couldn’t look at him.

“Come on,” he said encouragingly, “jump out, I’ll be right behind you.”

Neal finally complied and got off the van. Peter maneuvered cautiously to the door, and quickly jumped off. As soon as he was out, the van took off. Peter let go a big sigh of relief that Bill had done the right thing. He mentally took note of the model of the van, and the plate number and watched until the van disappeared in the distance. Then, suddenly exhausted, he fell to the ground.

“Dad?”

Peter put down the rifle and sat on the curb. He grabbed Neal and pulled him into a strong embrace. They remained there for a long time, simply sitting on the curb in silence, Peter holding Neal tight in his arms, in their own little bubble.

Now that they were out of harm’s way, Peter had the time to think back to what had just happened. He couldn’t shake off the anger that his son had been put in danger. He shivered at the thought that it could have gone a lot worse.

Neal gradually relaxed. He loosened his grip on his dad, his breathing was evening out. He ruffled his son’s hair.

“You okay, Pumpkin?” he asked.

Neal nodded.

“We’re safe, now. They’re gone.”

Neal looked in the direction the van disappeared. “What if they come back?”

“We’re going to catch them and arrest them, so that they can’t harm anyone anymore.”

He tried to figure what was now the best move. He looked around. He had no idea where he was. Too concerned for Neal’s safety, he hadn’t been paying attention to the direction the van had followed. They seem to be in a quiet neighborhood of Brooklyn, not unlike theirs, though Peter couldn’t exactly pinpoint where they were.

He got up and held out his hand to help Neal up. “Let’s go home.”

He grabbed the rifle – he couldn’t just leave it there – and took Neal’s hand. He had no phone, no badge and no money. Just a large gun, that would likely not help them gain anyone’s trust. He tried hailing a car, but nobody would stop.

Suddenly a police car stopped with a screech of tires and a policeman got off, gun in hand. “Freeze! Put the gun down!” he yelled. “Your hands were I can see them!”

Peter startled and Neal screamed. Peter slowly put the gun to the ground and then raised his hands to show he wasn’t a threat. He couldn’t help rolling his eyes. Could people just stop pointing their guns at his son today?

If there had been no one in sight, obviously people had been watching them. Now all he had to do was convince the cop to give them a ride.

“Officer,” he said, as friendly as he could. “I’m Special Agent Peter Burke, and this is my son, Neal. We were kidnapped earlier, but we managed to escape. And could you please stop pointing your gun at my son? He had his dose of fright for the day.”

The policeman was obviously not expecting this. “Show me your ID.”

Peter did his best to hide his frustration. “We were kidnapped. They took everything. Phone, wallet, badge and gun. I don’t have anything on me.  Come on, call Central and ask them, I’m sure our disappearance has been reported. My neighbor saw what happened.”

The officer stepped back keeping his eyes on them, and grabbed his radio through the car door. From where they were, they couldn’t hear the exchange, and the wait seemed never-ending.

“Dad, are we in trouble?” Neal asked, his voice betraying his fatigue.

“No, Neal. He just needs to make sure we are who we say we are. Then, hopefully he’ll give us a ride home.”

The policeman finally came back to them. “My apologizes, Agent Burke, and Neal,” he added with a smile to the boy. “Should I take you to the FBI?”

Peter shook his head. “Could you give us a ride home, instead?”

“Sure, get in.”

After a short ride, the car stopped a couple blocks from the Burkes’ house. “They’re blocking the street, I can’t go further,” the officer said.

Ahead of them, the street was closed and there were several police cars and what Peter recognized to be an FBI van. He thanked the officer, grabbed the gun and took Neal in his arms.

“What’s going on?” Neal asked.

“They’re investigating what happened this morning. They’re looking for clues so that they can find the bad guys who kidnapped us. See over there, it’s Mrs. Cameron. She’s giving her testimony. She’s telling the Police what she saw.”

“Will they find my school bag?”

Peter smiled. “Yes, I’m sure they found your school bag.”

As they approached the scene, policemen and agents spotted them and soon they were surrounded.

“Peter!” Jones hurried toward them. “Thank God, you’re both okay.”

Peter nodded. “Yes, we are.” He handed him the rifle. “Here, that’s evidence.”

“Should we call an ambulance?” Jones asked, pointing at the dry blood on the side of his boss’ face.

Peter shrugged. “Nah, it’s nothing. I’d rather go home. We got our share of emotions for today.”

“Dad, ask about my bag,” Neal whispered.

“Ah, that’s right.” Peter turned around. “Jones, could you find his school bag?”

“Sure thing, buddy,” Jones said with a smile to Neal.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

They first went to the bathroom, to clean themselves up a bit. Peter’s temple and scalp was maculated with blood, but the graze was superficial. Injuries to the head were always impressively bloody and Neal couldn’t take his eyes off of it. At least, he was unscathed.  Peter simply had to clean up the tear traces off his cheeks. Then, they both put on clean clothes, which made them feel a little better.

“How do you feel, Pumpkin?”

Neal shrugged. “I don’t know. Fine, I guess.”

There was a knot in Peter’s stomach. Neal had to be shaken up by today’s events. He hadn’t said much since they came home and Peter wasn’t sure how to reach out to him and let him open up.

“When is Mom coming home?” Neal asked with a small voice, as they went back downstairs.

Peter’s anxiety increased all at once. He, too, needed El. Badly, actually. But he was fearing the moment he’d have to break the news to her.

He cleared his throat. “Okay, hum, let me call her first see if we can arrange to Skype together. Go set up the computer.”

He was afraid El might break down at the news that they had been kidnapped and he wanted to give her the chance to process it before talking to Neal.

He took the landline phone and dialed El’s cellphone number. It was a good thing he had memorized it. His heart was beating fast in his chest as he listened to the tone ringing. Finally, Elizabeth picked up.

“Hey, Hon!”

“Hey, Hon,” Peter echoed.

Of course, Elizabeth felt his hesitation. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re fine, we’re both fine. Just a little shaken up.”

“Peter, what’s going on?”

“We, hum… We were kidnapped.” Peter held his breath.

“What?”

“But we’re fine, Hon, we’re fine.” Peter wished he could hold her in his arms. “We’re okay, I promise. It’s over. We’re both home.”

“Let me talk to Neal.”

“He’s setting up the computer, can you Skype now?”

He heard some muffled sounds. “Yes, yes. Let me switch on my laptop.”

The computer rang, so Peter hung up the phone and came to sit at the dinner table, sitting Neal on his lap. Soon, Elizabeth’s face appeared on the computer’s screen.

“Boys!” Her distress was visible.

“Hi, Mom,” Neal said.

“Everything’s fine, now, Hon. We escaped.”

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

“We’re fine,” Peter said again. “Two goons forced us into their van, but we managed to escape.”

“Dad took the gun from the bad guy’s hands!” Neal said.

“Are you alright, Sweetie?”

“Yes, Mom, I’m okay. When are you coming home?”

“I need to check the flights. I’ll try to be home by tonight.”

Neal nodded.

Peter thought about talking her out of it, but Elizabeth wouldn’t stop worrying until she could see them by herself. They all needed to be reunited as soon as possible.

“Alright, Hon, keep us posted. I lost my phone, so call me either on the landline or on the computer.”

Elizabeth nodded and smiled bravely. “Will do. Take care, my boys. I love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

“Love you, Hon.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The doorbell rang. It was Jones, bringing Neal his school bag back.

“And we also found your badge and all, Peter,” he said, handing Peter his belongings. “I’m afraid your phone didn’t survive the fall, unfortunately.”

“Thanks, Jones.”

“You think you two could give us your statement on what happened?”

“I guess so. Neal, you think you could help me tell Clinton what happened?

They all sat at the dinner table and Jones took their statements. Neal didn’t say much – which really wasn’t very necessary as he and Peter had been together the whole time, and he had been too scared to notice anything of interest. But the whole investigation process seemed to interest him and reassure him a little.

Before leaving, Jones promised to keep Peter updated on any development.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Come on, how about I make us both a cup of hot chocolate?” Peter asked Neal, after his agent was gone.

A smile appeared on Neal’s face. The first one of the day. He sat at the kitchen island while Peter prepared the hot chocolates: milk with two spoons of chocolate powder and a swirl of whipped cream on top.

Peter took a seat in front of Neal.

“Where you scared today?”

Neal shrugged. “A little.”

“It’s okay to be scared, you know. It was very scary. And you’re only a kid.”

“Yes, I was very scared,” Neal admitted, his eyes on his chocolate.

Peter reached out and put his hand on Neal’s. “It’s okay, kiddo. It’s perfectly normal. And I know you’re still a little scared right now. And you might be scared for some time, but it’s okay, because it was a very scary experience. I want you to understand this. Do you understand?”

Neal nodded.

“Neal, look at me.”

Neal looked up from his cup.

“If anything scares you – anything, a car honking, someone screaming – if you have any nightmares, I want you to tell me, okay?”

“ ’Kay.”

“But you’re safe, now. We’re both safe. It won’t happen again.”

“How do you know?”

“I won’t let it happen. That’s why I am an FBI agent. So that bad guys don’t do bad things like this. I promise, Neal, it won’t happen again.”

That was a little bit of a stretch, but what was the likeliness of it happening again? Most of all, he absolutely needed Neal to trust him and feel safe.

“Why did they attack us?” the young boy asked again.

“I don’t know. We need to find them and their boss and they’ll tell us. Clinton, and all the other people outside, they’re looking for them.”

“What if they attack other people?”

“We’ll make sure to catch them before they get a chance.”

Neal remained silent for a while. Apparently he was out of questions – at least for now. They finished their chocolates in a companionable silence.

“Were you scared?” Neal asked finally, his big brown eyes staring at his father.

“Oh, yes,” Peter admitted. “I was very scared too. I was scared they would hurt you.”

He hadn’t been this scared since Elizabeth had been kidnapped by Matthew Keller, all those years ago. The crazy years of shenanigans with Neal Caffrey were long over, and ever since his son was born, he had been good enough at staying away from any dangerous operation. But apparently danger would find him, no matter what.

“Dad?”

“Yes, Neal?”

“Shouldn’t I go to school, now?”

Peter chuckled. “Do you want to?”

“Not really…”

“Well, given what happened today, I’d say we both deserve a day off. How about we spend it all watching movies? And having pizza for lunch?”

Neal grinned. “Can we watch Toy Story?”

“Again?”

Neal, like all kids, had phases. Right now, he was in a Toy Story phase. The idea that toys went to life as soon as he was leaving his room fascinated him. And when he was asking for “Toy Story”, it wasn’t just the first one, no, no. It was the whole saga. They settled on the sofa and launched the first movie. Around noon, Peter ordered a pizza, with ham and pineapple – Neal’s favorite.

After lunch, they launched Toy Story 2. Neal, tired, cuddled against his dad, resting his head on Peter’s lap. It wasn’t long before he fell asleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

It was almost night time when Elizabeth finally arrived. By then, Peter had left Neal with Woody and Buzz and had relocated to the dinner table to work on his laptop in coordination with Jones.

“Boys?” Elizabeth called as she pushed open the entrance door.

Neal jumped from the sofa and threw himself at her. “Mom!”

“Neal, sweetheart,” she said as she knelt down to pull him in a strong and long hug. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, Mom.”

She gave him a meticulous look over, scanning him from head to toe to convince herself he was alright.

Peter had approached and when she finally stood up, he pulled her in his arms. He hadn’t realized how tense he still was until he allowed himself to relax in her embrace. It was over. He had brought his son back to his mother, and in one piece. His family was reunited again. Everything was going to be alright.

Elizabeth looked at him in the eyes. She read the exhaustion, the fear, the anxiety. Her fingers brushed the cuts on his temple. “Thank you for protecting him,” she whispered.


FIN.