The Challenge

It all started when the FBI was requested to join a training exercise. Someone had come up with an idea to increase agent flexibility and resourcefulness in the field, but it was to be tested before it would become a part of Quantico training.

Sorting through the teams and deciding which team was best suited for testing this, it was decided to select the New York City White Collar Division.

Pulling the team leaders into separate meetings with Hughes first and then Burke, they explained the agency version of war games that their agents would be participating in. It would be the worst-case scenario of what they might encounter in the field.

What was expected was generally simple; they were to go into a prearranged field of operations and they would endeavor to capture the enemy, despite them being unknown. An area of the warehouse district had been cordoned off for the specific purpose and had been designed to reflect a mixture of past cases to add realistic possibilities. Although they'd be wearing real field gear, they were going to be equipped with gel blaster guns to prevent real injuries while keeping an element of realism.

Pulling the team together, Hughes had a team meeting to announce the coming assignment. The team was required to participate the following Saturday to ensure they also maintained their caseload through the week. It was only expected to take a few hours, but they were to keep their day clear just in case. As the meeting was clearing up, Peter surreptitiously sniffled and blew his nose.

Throughout the week, Neal noticed that Peter continued to subtly sniffle, blow his nose, coughed if he was talking, and he seemed to be taking something from time to time. It looked like he had a cold, but closer observation didn't show the rest of the symptoms. Peter sounded a little sick, but he didn't look sick at all. Speculating, Neal wondered if he had allergies, but that had never been an issue before, and why would it come on suddenly? His conclusion was that Peter was putting on a performance, but he had no clue why.

The rest of the team also noticed the performance and began talking amongst themselves about their observations which built their understanding that Peter was performing for some reason.

When Friday came around, the team was discussing the training the next morning.

"I won't be coming, I'm going to try and sleep off this cold," Peter sniffled and blew his nose before finishing his task of putting a case away in the records area.

Exchanging suspicious glances, the rest of the team knew this was just a continuation of his performance, but they still hadn't discerned why.

Raising an eyebrow, Neal followed it up by rolling his eyes. "Yeah, because we all know that you beg off of work at the slightest illness. When you had the flu, you didn't leave the office until after you were vomiting, and then you were back as soon as Elizabeth would let you come back."

Shrugging as he stepped out of the records area, Peter came up with the excuse that he didn't like these sort of training exercises, "I'm waiting for the bugs to be worked out."

That was practically more suspicious than his fake cold! Peter was usually all about team safety and a stickler for doing whatever they could to ensure everyone came through safely. Why wasn't he interested in a training exercise designed for that purpose?

Again, the team exchanged glances taking note of the addition to their clues, but no one had an answer or pressed the boss for more details. They all trusted that Peter had his reasoning, and they'd probably learn why sooner or later.

Instead, Jones did his own interpretation of a sniffle, "I don't think I can do my reports on Monday, I'm coming down with Peter's cold."

Throwing in a sneeze, Diana had her own contribution. "Uh, can I trade someone my stakeout for Saturday night?"

Joining in on the joke, Neal decided to cough, "Maybe I can stay home on Monday? I'm sure an extended weekend will help me avoid coming down with a full cold. Some home remedies and sleep should do the trick. Besides, if we can simply beg off with a cold, I could perfect my performance any day."

Other agents laughed or threw in their own efforts to play sick to beg off of whatever activity they didn't want to do. Some were more subtle as Peter had been, preparing to build up to get out of later duties, while others were obvious and dramatized their alleged symptoms.

"Ha-ha," Peter commented with a roll of his eyes as he observed his team's performances. Based on the way he then shook his head and put his hands on his hips, the team could tell he wasn't inclined to allow them to follow through with their plan of mimicking him, but he didn't comment and instead allowed the joke and laughter at his expense.

Hughes was up in his office and closed down what he'd been working on before locking up and coming down the stairs at the end of their conversation. Glancing around, he didn't seem to know what was going on either, but he just advised the team to be heading home. "We've got an early start to the day tomorrow with this training exercise. I suggest you go home and get some sleep."

Peter followed up with the directive before bidding the boss goodnight and heading up to his own office. He'd finished his workload, but he needed to close down and lock up as well.

Alone on the floor again, the team analyzed their performances at pretending to have colds and determined that they all needed some work before they'd be able to pull off a convincing act. Slowly, the teasing died down though as they finished their work, locked up, and headed home one by one.

Amongst the last to leave, Neal looked up at Peter's office again. His friend was keeping a secret, but what was anyone's guess.

Leaving with Diana, Neal asked her to give him a lift the next morning.

"Sure, with Peter otherwise occupied with whatever he's using the cold to hide, you'll either need a lift or to use public transportation, and we both know you aren't a fan of public transportation," she teased.

"Laugh it up, but you aren't fond of using public transportation if you don't have to either." Neal wasn't taking her teasing without pointing that out.

Going home, they all prepared for the big day ahead of them.

On Saturday morning, Neal dressed in black. They were all dressing similarly to help make it harder to discern who was who. Then he had his breakfast and waited on the curb for Diana to pick him up.

When she pulled up, he climbed into the passenger seat much like he typically did with Peter. "Good morning," and he reached to change the station to a more suitable one for their morning drive.

Slapping his hand away, Diana readjusted the knob back to her station, "The same rules apply as in Peter's car. No changing the station unless it's your car," she griped before taking a sip of her coffee.

"I normally bring Peter coffee to ease off his morning grumps. It looks like yours hasn't kicked in yet." Neal smirked playfully, which was a risky move with Diana in a grumpy mood.

"Very funny, Caffrey, I assume June supplied you with plenty of Italian roast to start your day?" Diana was a little snarky in her reply, but there was an undertone that indicated she wasn't as grumpy as she sounded.

Playing along, Neal described his sumptuous breakfast on the terrace, courtesy of his landlady.

Groaning, Diana told him to stop, "That sounds really good!"

Naming a restaurant with similar fare, Neal asked why she didn't eat there once in a while. "They aren't much more expensive than any other restaurant, and they have much better fair than most."

"Not much more expensive, what kind of budget do you typically put towards food?" Diana seemed aghast.

Amused, Neal chuckled. "Have you ever been there before, or are you just going based on the rumors of their prices?"

Continuing her driving, Diana shrugged nonchalantly, "Rumors mostly."

"There's your problem, what some people consider expensive for good solid food really isn't all that expensive. It's all about priorities." Then he got an idea, "We should go there for lunch after we beat the challenge they're presenting for us!"

Laughing, Diana's mood was improving so her coffee must be kicking in. "You're confident we'll beat it?"

"Why not, our team is good, we were chosen for this because of that." Neal just smiled, he knew the team's abilities and he was certain that they could overcome whatever challenge was intended for them, even without Peter.

"Alright, you've got a deal, if we beat the challenge, we'll go there for lunch." Diana sounded indulgent, kind of like an older sister letting her brother have his way.

It was a strange feeling, kind of like it had been with Chuck. But, where their friendship had made Neal feel like a protective older brother, Diana had taken on the role of an older sister looking out for him? Intrigued, Neal wondered when that had happened.

"What if, for some reason, we were to lose the competition?" Neal decided to throw out the possibility so that they could have a backup plan as a precaution.

"I guess we'll need a consolation prize then," then she suggested the lunch they were going to have if they won the challenge.

"Someone is stuck on one subject," Neal smirked as it was his turn to tease her.

"Shut up," she laughed. "You made it sound good, and I'm curious." As her laughter quieted down, she tagged on, "I think you should pay if we win, and I will if we lose, how does that sound?"

"Like a deal," Neal agreed. He'd suggested it as the winning prize and she as the consolation prize, so they each paid for their suggestion depending on the outcome of the challenge.

Changing the conversation, Neal got more serious. "Have you ever experienced training exercises like this before?"

"No," Diana answered honestly. "I mean, I've done training exercises before, but not where I didn't know who I was going against; not where I didn't know what the objective was. This is different from any training operation I've been in."

"What are they usually like?" Neal was looking for something to get an idea of what to expect.

"Typically, this kind of training exercise involves two teams competing for a flag. There is a set playing field, two field bases, and the teams compete to get the other team's flag back to their base." She explained the basics of what they typically did, before saying that this was nothing like what they were doing with their day. "Today, we're going into the field to do who knows what against who knows who."

"I guess we'll find out in a few minutes," Neal noted as they approached the parking lot where the training was being held.

Pulling into a space, Diana parked and got out of the car with Neal following close behind her.

As Bryce, he'd been to training games with the CIA, but he didn't feel comfortable with this. He didn't know what to expect, what the objective was, and that could mean any number of things.

Joining Hughes, Jones, and the rest of the team, they moved to another area of the parking lot and listened to the bosses organizing the event as they discussed what was going on.

The training game was not about teamwork, it was about surviving against impossible odds. They were going to be placed in one on an unknown situation where anyone could be the enemy. No one knew who they were fighting. For all they knew, they might end up fighting each other. Yet, they were to retain the rules of engagement by following field protocols as best they could to ensure no one would get hurt for real.

Then they were given their gear. They would be in full body armor so that no one could identify who they were facing for certain if they encountered each other in the game. Their weaponry was the gel blasters and a limited supply of gel packs that were hydrated for use. This limited their function in the field and further complicated the game.

Ready to go, they were put into black SUVs and driven to various points on the field where they were instructed to climb out one at a time before the SUV would drive on to the next drop spot.

Thank you, everyone, for reading :D

Happy Birthday to Quinis, I hope you enjoy this :D

This story will be posted on the weekends until the conclusion.