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“You’re saying that you don’t remember anything about the case? At all?” Peter asked, frowning at Neal. Neal resisted the urge to grin widely. This was too perfect! Why had he never thought to try this out before? He just nodded, hiding back the grin that was threatening to split his face open at how hilarious this all was.
“Well, damn.” Peter said with a heavy sigh. “Neal, I think maybe you should just stay with me and El. If it’ll make you feel better, Mozzie can stay over too. El’s making her great lasagna as well.” Peter offered.
“Thanks, Peter,” Neal said, sincerely. Inwardly he felt guilty that he was lying to Peter so, but this was pretty damn amusing…
Peter began talking to someone else, distracted from Neal, and Neal turned to look out the window-admiring the view of the city with a wide grin on his face. It seemed as though he’d found his latest source of entertainment. And it wasn’t a major case, it was mostly just paperwork and frauds…
“Neal? Did you hear me?” Peter asked, and Neal jerked around to face them. “I was asking if you were ready to head out.” Peter looked worried, and Neal frowned.
“Where?”
“To my home,” Peter answered. “You’re done for today,” He added, and Neal almost jumped for joy! No more riding in that horrific van-at least for a few hours-and no more endless hours of boredom.
“Sure,” He said casually.
“Great. Let’s get going, we’re taking the van.” Peter added, and Neal frowned, startled. For a few moments, he was about to ask what the hell, when Diana played a video up on the television.
“Whoops, sorry, boss…oh, hey, isn’t that Neal?” Diana asked, a smirk on her face. It was Neal talking to Mozzie on the sidewalk, and Neal began to get a sinking feeling…
“Neal, if you’re that sick of riding in the van, why don’t you pretend to be ill? Have a kidney removed? Fake amnesia or something, I don’t care.” Mozzie informed him on the television.
“Moz, I really gotta come up with something good. And how the hell would I ‘fake’ amnesia anyway?”
Diana was smirking so much it reminded him of a cat that was laughing at some poor creature or something. Neal didn’t know, but he just sighed as Jones sang with amusement,
“You are so BUSTED, Caffrey.”
“Really, Neal, what were you thinking? You can’t be that bored of the van that you’d resort to faking amnesia,” Peter said, scowling at him, though his lips were twitching which meant that he wasn’t really all that upset-more irritated. Neal just shrugged.
“I hate being cooped up in small spaces for hours at a time with nothing to do,” He paused, and added honestly, “It reminds me of prison,”
Peter fell quiet at that, as did Diana and Jones. Clearly none of them had thought of it that way.
“Well, I can’t let you go for hours at a time without supervision,” Peter said, frowning. Neal blinked at him, as that was not what he thought he was going to say. “How about…” He seemed to ponder for a few moments, as Neal stared. Why wasn’t he punishing him for faking amnesia during a case?
“How about-Diana, you needed some new clothes, right?” Peter asked, and Diana nodded. “Then Neal can ‘consult’ for you on your new clothes. He’s good at fashion stuff anyway. Jones and I can stick it out in the van while you shop for a while, and when you get done, you can come back.”
“Why?” Neal blurted out, and they glanced at him. When Peter raised an eyebrow, Neal clarified, “Why aren’t you punishing me for faking amnesia?”
“Because,” Peter hesitated. “Because I should’ve realized why you don’t like the van so,” Peter admitted. “You brought up a viable point, one that should’ve occurred to me and my team. I *know* you have some issues with claustrophobia, to a point, and sometimes that van can be pretty damn suffocating. However, next time you feel that strongly about something, TELL me, don’t try tricking me just to see if you can,” Peter ordered. “Otherwise, I will punish you,” He added.
Neal nodded.
“I will,” He said, sincerely. Then he turned to Diana. “Why do you need new clothes?”
“Mostly I need a dress for my date,” Diana answered, and they started talking about their outing for the case tomorrow, as Peter smiled, glad that things worked out. He also inwardly hoped that he’d always be able to make a solution in the future should things like this happen. With a smile, he prepared to get his team together for their next stakeout, already thinking about getting his favorite sandwich too.
==
End