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

[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."