The Resolution

Reaching the loft, Mozzie knocked in a specific fashion that Peter assumed was to alert Neal of his presence and intent. Then he led the way into the loft while Peter and Chuck followed.

"Hey, Neal," Mozzie introduced their approach which caused Neal to slow in cleaning his brush.

Neal was nervous, waiting for the verdict of who Peter was; the outcome of his future.

At that moment, Peter knew without a shadow of a doubt that Neal would have run if he was Kieran. There wouldn't have been any trust and no friendship to reward such a villain! "I'm sorry, Neal," Peter started with what he needed to say the most.

Jumping, startled by Peter's voice, Neal managed to maintain his grip on his brush, but his fingers showed a slight tremor. When he briefly glanced over his shoulder to assess him, Peter could see that his friend was nervous, and for a reason totally different from a con worried about being caught in illegal activity, this was a friend fearing betrayal from a friend.

"I'm not Kieran Ryker, he was my evil doppelganger, and I'm glad he's gone. Considering that I shot you in the back yesterday," Peter watched as Neal flinched, "I can't blame you for being reluctant to trust me, but I have no intention of hurting you. Apparently, you know something more of what it's like to encounter traitorous agents than I expected, but it's important to know how to act and react when you aren't sure who to trust. There is a reason I didn't want a team, I didn't want anyone to know how to take advantage of the team's individual weaknesses, but I wanted the team to know their weaknesses so that they can work to improve them. You were right when you assumed that my primary concern is the safety of the team, and there is a lot I'm willing to do to ensure that no one else hurts any of you!"

Understandably, Neal would need more convincing than that.

"Do you trust me when I say he's telling the truth?" Chuck asked as he stepped out from where he'd ended up in the back of their approach.

This caused Neal to jerk backward in surprise. Considering that he had previously been dead to Chuck, according to Chuck and confirmed by his reaction, Neal hadn't expected his old friend. "Chuck?!" He exclaimed before shaking his head and asking something in gibberish.

Chuck responded in kind, but Peter had no idea what had been said or what it had been said in.

Standing back, he let the other two friends; those who had not shot Neal in the back recently, clarify the initial details and reassure Neal that he was telling the truth by clearing him of his alleged traitorous history.

While they talked, Neal moved to walk around and absorb the information as he worked through some of his emotional reactions.

Then, when it was his turn, Peter stepped forward and stood by Neal to tell him his side of the story. As he explained, he rehashed how he'd felt getting the assignment, why he made the decisions he had, and his perspective of what it felt like to shoot his best friend in the back. "As I said, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." It had been entirely unintentional!

All of this wasn't enough, Neal still needed to study him and see what his eyes said; he needed to see the genuine emotions, that he was sorry and worried about him. When he accepted that, he sighed as he accepted the truth of the matter.

Relieved, Peter reached out and gave Neal a hug. As Neal reciprocated, he was glad to have alleviated Neal's fears and to have at least repaired the initial damage. It would take time to restore the full trust between them and allow for Neal to resume his relaxed behavior without flinches and twitches caused by his concern, but they had the time to get there. Determined, Peter was going to make sure they got there.

When Peter released Neal, he was glad to see that his friend was more relaxed, closer to his normal attitude when he visited.

Keeping his hand on Neal's shoulder, Peter gave an extra squeeze, "According to Chuck, your history with his family is beyond my clearance, but I want you to reach out to someone if anything comes up. If Ryker is an example of your enemies from the CIA, I don't want you facing anything alone!"

Snorting, Chuck interrupted whatever Neal considered saying. "He's not very good at working with others in some circumstances, but I'll give you my contact information just in case."

"I'll hold you to that," Peter turned towards Chuck before the group moved over to the table and took their seats.

Going about exchanging their information, Mozzie and Chuck wrote their contacts down on a pad of paper while Peter used one of his business cards. Then they swapped the information around so that they could keep in touch if Neal needed them to work together for any reason.

"Now that you've all exchanged information, do I need to be worried about you contacting each other if I sneeze?" Neal didn't seem convinced that they needed to be so concerned.

Reaching out to feel his forehead before Neal could swat his hand off and duck away, Peter smirked. "You don't feel like you have a fever, so I don't think we need to be worried for a while. But, don't test our resolve to keep you safe."

Laughing, Chuck enjoyed Neal's frustrated frown as he glanced at Peter. "That reminds me of someone trying to make sure I took care of myself when we were roommates."

Settling in to enjoy the conversation, Peter looked forward to the insight he could gain by seeing Neal with his old school friend. They were careful as they talked, but he understood enough to know that Neal had been protective, like an older brother to Chuck. That explained why he protected the other man and got himself involved in such dangerous work.

Unfortunately, the conversation quickly changed to Neal's take on their chase and working arrangements. It was a battle of wits to try and get more information out of them, but at least Peter got some insight through what Neal shared and how Chuck reacted.

Chuck was surprised and intrigued at points, amused at others, but yet, he knew something he wasn't sharing. Something of their conversation seemed to evade Peter, he was missing too much of their history to understand.

Getting comfortable in the chair, Peter noticed that Mozzie wasn't in the dark as much as he was, but his reactions also indicated that he was intrigued, like he knew more, but that this was still a new experience for him.

Considering that Neal and Charles had met in school, their friendship likely predated Mozzie, but it also meant that Chuck was a key to a larger part of Neal's past than Peter had encountered or expected to encounter.

Enjoying the conversation for what it was worth, Peter knew that Neal and Chuck would have plenty to talk about after he went home since they hadn't seen each other in a while and there seemed to be a complicated history between them that they didn't wish to discuss in front of him, but they could wait a little longer. He wanted to get his chance to see them talk together. He didn't have a guarantee of how long Chuck would remain around to ensure he would get another opportunity at this.

Soon enough, Peter had to leave for his plans with Elizabeth. Reluctantly, he said his goodbyes and got up to leave.

Reaching out to Neal again, Peter reminded his friend. "Remember, I'm not my doppelganger, you're my friend, and I have no intention of hurting you."

"Thanks, Peter. Say hi to Elizabeth for me?" Neal smiled softly as he remained leaned back in his chair across from the other two.

Agreeing to forward the message to his wife; Peter glanced back before he closed the door behind himself. He noticed that the conversation was still carrying on as before, but there was a different tone to it, as if it was about to change.

Resisting the urge to eavesdrop, Peter wanted to linger on the landing by the closed door, but he needed to honor Neal's privacy and he had plans. His wife wouldn't appreciate him standing her up for another Neal related mystery.

Going down the stairs, Peter felt better about his friendship with Neal, he'd gotten a glimpse into more of Neal's past, and he had hope that if Chuck hung around after learning about Neal's presence or visited again later, that he'd have the chance to learn more another day.

It was Sunday afternoon when Neal heard the patterned knock Mozzie had arranged to confirm when he got back with the results of the investigation. Cleaning his brushes, he waited nervously for Mozzie to let himself in and update him on what he'd found.

"Hey, Neal," Mozzie's voice was expected, but he had not expected Peter's voice to follow it as he apologized!

Jumping, Neal glanced over his shoulder to appraise his handler, but he couldn't discern what to expect beyond knowing that Mozzie wasn't showing any indication of being coerced.

Defending himself, Peter started off by claiming not to be Kieran and continued into a summary of his perspective, but it wasn't enough for Neal. Kieran would be really good at covering his tracks, what did Mozzie have to say?

"Do you trust me when I say he's telling the truth?" A voice that he expected even less that Peter's piped up!

"Chuck?!" He almost fell off of his seat in shock! Chuck didn't know he was alive, how did he learn about the situation, and what was he doing there? Asking the gist of his questions in Klingon, he knew it was a safe way to get the answers since neither Mozzie, Peter, nor Kieran would know what was being said.

As quickly as he could, Chuck responded in Klingon to confirm that Mozzie had contacted him and that he'd used the Intersect to put the information on Peter and Kieran together for himself, confirmed Peter's identity, and then heard his side of the story.

Nodding along, Neal understood that it was the quickest and most efficient way to confirm the truth.

Then Mozzie added his input so he got up and walked around as he listened to the rest of the story. Mozzie explained his part and why he'd brought the other agents back to the loft with him. After all, there was no better way to clear everything up than to get them together to work out the details.

When Chuck and Mozzie finished explaining their parts, Peter stepped forward to tell his story in more detail for himself.

At least the conversation was able to alleviate his concern about Peter being Kieran, and he was able to learn Peter's perspective on the situation. He wasn't glad to learn that Peter been hurt too, but yet, he was, because it meant that Peter wouldn't intentionally do anything like that to him again, and he'd only been able to this time because it was a training exercise without any real physical harm.

Looking at Peter when he finished talking, his expression confirmed his words, Peter really looked sorry and hurt by the situation, but there was also a lot of concern and curiosity too. However, Peter wouldn't be Peter if he didn't have some archeologist curiosity to have an option to see into another aspect of his life.

Sighing, Neal was glad that he didn't have that worry anymore, and when Peter pulled him into a hug, he was able to accept his friend's comfort and return the hug.

Releasing him, Peter kept a hand on his shoulder and warned him. He didn't like knowing he had enemies more dangerous than Keller!

Piping in, Chuck teased that he wasn't good at working with others, playing on his loner reputation. In response, the three of them exchanged contact information to make sure they could work together to keep an eye on him.

Teasing Peter for himself, Neal didn't appreciate Peter checking him for a fever, even though he liked the idea of Peter being concerned for his health.

That caused the conversation to deteriorate too close to his history with Chuck for his comfort, but Neal knew Peter was dying to know about their past, so his friend tried to get information out of them based on their interaction. He was glad that Peter respected his privacy enough not to interrogate either of them, at least not yet. There was no guarantee that he wouldn't find himself too curious later.

Fortunately, Peter had made plans with Elizabeth, so he was forced to leave them after a while, despite his reluctance, so Neal knew that they would be able to move on to discussing their CIA history.

Chuck would want an explanation for his death and return, and that couldn't be discussed with Peter present.

When the door closed behind Peter and the sound of his footsteps left the landing, Neal got comfortable and offered his guest drinks. He knew they were in for a long conversation.

Monday would bring work, the finalization of their reports, their caseloads, and Peter's more public apology for those less affected by his betrayal. But for the weekend, it was just about friendship.

Thank you, everyone, for reading, reviewing/commenting, and leaving kudos :D

Alrighty, everyone. I'm posting early since I'll be setting up a home office tomorrow, so technically working for a while. With so many areas shutting down, my work has sent as many as possible home, so that's where I'll be for the foreseeable future. However, in addition, the change and uncertainty are causing an uncomfortable bout of anxiety. I'll be responding to reviews over the weekend, but it might be Sunday with everything going on. Then next week, we'll start Separation Anxiety... which is fortunately dominated by family fluff.