Blood is thicker than water, but guilt overrides everything

[loadedparadox]

Who: Neal Caffrey/defineguilty
Verse: Apple doesn't fall far
What: A call for help
Warnings: None


Arthur wasn't sure why he had dropped everything to come see Neal. Maybe because the man hadn't asked for help in over ten years. Maybe because Arthur knew it was the right thing to do. Maybe... In the end he knew the answer.

It was what their father would have wanted.

Getting his bags from the claim area, he headed for the lounge, knowing he would need a drink before he met with his brother. Ordering a double scotch, he sent out another text.

I'm here. How far does that leash let you go?

Comments

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

Neal pauses when his phone buzzes in his pocket, fishing it out and ignoring the curious look Peter gives him. Arthur's not stored under anything defining in his phone, so he doesn't have to hide it from prying eyes, not that they'd look into it anyway.

He holds his breath for a moment before texting back.



He scrubs a hand over his jaw before firing another off.

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Arthur read the messages and sighed, ordering another drink. It was all coming together.

Does that thing chafe your ankle?

It was a cruel barb but he couldn't help himself.

I'll make my own way. Not up for the FBI coming for me.

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

Neal sighs when he gets the first message, he had hoped to have hidden it for a little bit longer. It's not like he can't hide it with the cut of his pants, but Arthur's clever just like he is and sometimes that's a downside.



As to the jibe about his anklet he wasn't rising, only half paying attention to the breif Peter's giving.

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Arthur downed the first drink, staring at the other. He considered his options, knowing he shouldn't show up drunk.

Fine. Send them. I'll be in the airport lounge.

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

Neal smiles a little triumphant smile and quickly sends a text to Mozzie telling him to go and find Arthur. When he's been assured he'll turn up, Neal fires one back to his brother.

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Mozzie. The man he was sending for him was named Mozzie. Just great. Picking up his drink and his bag, Arthur made his way to a table. At least he could work while he was waiting.

We have passwords now? Is there a secret handshake?

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Arthur sighed, leaning against the wall as if suddenly tired. He wasn't, just worn.

Oh. Goodie.

June?

If this was about a woman, he was going to kill him.

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

Neal texts him back pretty much straight away.

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Arthur sighed and downed the second drink. He was going to end up regretting this and he knew he would do it again should Neal ever contact him. They might not be close, but he was his brother.


And the Y was full, I'm sure. Got. Mozzie. Robin Hood. June's.

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

He stiffles a grin before Peter sees it, sending another text message back:

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Why do you assume I'm drinking?

Which was the end of drinking because he wouldn't prove Neal right.

Decrepit? Really?

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Arthur sighed, pulling out a file and working. Screw the desire to get wasted, or call this all off. He was text silent before saying what had been on his mind since the first text.

I can't believe you got caught.

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

Years ago, Neal would have been upset about that, annoyed that he'd failed in some way. Stealing a glance in Peter's direction as he talks though, he can't quite drum up the emotion.

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Bite your tongue.

Arthur never lived by that belief, never wanted to accept that one day they would find him and catch him.

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

Neal almost laughs, but it's then that Peter asks him a question, chucks his jacket at him and tells him to get a move on. He only has a second to fire off another message before he leaves.

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Peter. Great. Some kind of super agent that dragged Neal in and, God forbid, seems to have made him like it. Just great. Arthur fairly bounced his head off the wall.

For a brief moment he had the panic that Neal cared enough for this agent's approval that this was a set up. His hand went to his bag, making himself stop. Neal wouldn't turn him in. He couldn't imagine it, even if they had never been close.

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

It's hard to lose Peter at the end of the day, but the FBI agent usually leaves Neal to himself when he doesn't want to know what the ex-con is up to. It takes him a while to get to home, feeling nervous and hoping Mozzie hasn't scared Arthur away too much.

Letting himself in, Arthur throws his hat at the end of the stairs and takes the steps up to his suit, knowing that's where he'll find anyone. Shoving his key in the lock, Neal enters his apartment.

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Arthur hasn't been scared away, though he is increasingly agitated as the day goes on. Not that he lets it show, sitting to one end of the couch. He had a folder open on his lap, looking over the file as if he was at home doing his work.

Except his gaze rises as he sees his brother, slowly closing the folder.

"So..." He rose, facing his brother. His gaze raked over him, avoiding his ankle. "You know, for a moment I wondered if this was a set up."

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

"Just because I'm working with the bureau now doesn't mean I lost all of my standards, Arthur."

He smiles at him briefly though, shrugging out of his jacket and hanging it up on the coatrack, "Drink?"

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

"You're... You're actually working with them," he asked, shaking his head. "You find that acceptable." He was obviously stunned, confused and uncertain about this entire thing. "And what? Need him incepted?"

Okay, so he was still proud of that and couldn't resist the small comment.

"And yes. They'll go with the ones I've already had."

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

"I'm a Consultant," Neal replies, moving over to the wine cabinet to get two glasses, "It was the only way I'd get out of prison. And they've been good to me, actually it's not so bad."

He selects one of the finest wines he's got, looking back over at Arthur, "No, no. I couldn't do that. Peter's - well he's a friend. And I couldn't look his wife in the face knowing I'd betrayed him that way. But well done on that."

He pauses, long and thoughtful for a moment, "I need you to help me get someone else's secret. An old mentor of mine. He's hiding something from me and I want to find it out."

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

"Your their pet con," he asked, arching a brow as he shook his head. "Really, Neal? This is the life you want?" He seemed so... happy. It shocked Arthur, unable to believe he'd be happy being on that kind of electronic leash.

And then it gets even more bizarre. "A friend? He's a..." Arthur slid out of his suit jacket, carefully laying it over the back of a chair. "How many times did they hit you over the head during your arrest," he asked, curious and nearly deadly serious.

"What about this secret that brought me in? You have to have an idea what he's hiding, or a reason to believe he is, so what is it?"

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

"Nobody's pet, Arthur. I do what they want me to do, I help people, and in return I got out of my cell. Peter's not as bad as you'd think, he actually respects me, and after a guy's been chasing you around America for three years you should of just understand him better."

Peter wanders over, hands Arthur a glass and pulls up a chair, "I need you to find the location of something for me, a U-Boat lost during the second world war. I'm trying to get to it before somebody else."

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Arthur wasn't sure what to think. The very thought of prison left him cold, but then so did working against the others out there in the business for his own freedom. "Had Eames around for twice that long and still don't understand him," Arthur pointed out, accepting the glass and settling into a chair facing Neal.

"A U-boat? Really? I could get you a new submarine easier than finding a lost... what's on it?" He thought of the treasures thought to have been lost. The art work.

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

"He has faith in me," Neal admits, quiet but not like he's ashamed, more like it's simple fact, "It's not all that unwelcome, having someone want you to strive for the better."

Taking a sip of his wine, "I'm not sure. I'd have to get in, and they rigged those things to high heaven back in the day. This job, Arthur, is dangerous. The person looking for it has already someone to get to it. Probably plenty more that I don't know about."

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Arthur watched his brother, taking a drink - not a sip - of the wine. He stared at Neal for a long time, thinking about his life. Dom had proven he didn't have faith in him because of the Fischer case. "I wouldn't know what that's like," he said flatly, taking another drink.

"So this person wants it, so you want it first because there has to be a reason. I'm not worried about dangerous. Beyond the dream, I'm not without resources."

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

"I want to know what was so important it cost the life he took, Arthur."

Neal curls his hand around the stem of the wine glass, pulling a few files out from a taped box under the table. "His name is Vincent Addler. He's been running in and out of the art business for awhile."

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Setting down his glass, Arthur got his notebook and came back to the table. He made note of the name, giving a pointed look at the files.

"So a friend or enemy in your past," he asked, blunt and to the point.

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

"He was something of a mentor, at a time, not anymore. Far from it."

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

"Understandable or you wouldn't need me to do this. Who did he kill?"

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

Neal picks up his wine glass again, "Her name was Kate. She worked for him too, once upon a time."

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Quiet, thinking about what Neal was saying. "And who is this once upon a time meant once and why are you looking for him now if this was once upon a time," he asked, not willing to play games.

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

"I want to know why he had to kill her, Arthur. I'm only going to get that information if I get to the U-Boat before him."

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Nodding, making notes. "What information do you have on the boat and how far ahead of us is he? Is there anyone he would have confided what he knows in? Easier to take down a confidant than the man with the secrets."

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

"Everything I know is in the file, I'm going out tonight to try and find someone. She'll have more information that we need, then I should know where we stand."

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Arthur was quiet, sitting back and considering this. His fingers drummed on the file, watching Neal as he considered things. "You assume this will go to dream share then? Is that why you called me in or..."

Arthur swallowed. "Or are you looking at this in my other realm of expertise." One that Neal would know about when others didn't.

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

"No," Neal is very quick to shake his head, a definitive answer, "I don't agree with violence. I just - I needed someone I actually knew who would be able to help me, who could think outside the box."

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

Arthur nearly smiled at that. " We don't always have to agree with what has to be done," he pointed out. It was the truth of his life. "Okay. I'll start looking into this guy, and the boat. I have some contacts back in Germany and ... I can get started on this."

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

"You know I appreciate it, Arthur. I just needed someone who knew what they were doing, wouldn't be tied down by certain things. I'll meet with my associate tonight and see what else we can dig up."

[loadedparadox.livejournal.com]

"What happens if this guy finds out you're looking into this," he asked, already looking to cover bases.

[defineguilty.livejournal.com]

"Then he'll come after me, but he won't. Mozzie can be incognito when he has to be."