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“Thank you for your time, Agent Burke. I trust that you and your team will get to the bottom of this.”
Tim Drake, CEO of Wayne Enterprises, shakes Peter’s hand with a firm and practiced grip.
“We will find the leak, I can promise you that,” Peter says. “Sometimes when you’re too close to the problem, you can’t always see the little cracks. I think that our outside perspective will be just the thing you need.”
“I can’t thank you enough,” he says.
“The pleasure is ours, Mr. Drake.”
“Please, call me Tim.”
Peter smiles. “We’ll call you with updates when we hit progress points. I understand that you want to be kept in the loop.”
“I appreciate that,” Tim says.
“Do you need me to show you out?” Peter asks.
“I’ll find my way. Thank you.” Tim smiles softly. “Good luck, Agent Burke. I have the greatest faith in you and your team that you’ll figure it out.” Tim gives him a curt nod and heads out of Peter’s office. He freezes in front of Neal’s desk.
Peter watches with confusion from behind the glass.
Neal’s face darkens in a way he has never seen before. He leans in to Tim and hisses something that Peter can’t hear.
Tim nods his head and Neal disgruntledly gets up and follows him.
Peter, with a hunch that whatever they left to talk about isn’t anything good, quietly trails them and follows them.
Neal takes Tim down the corridors into a secluded corner that Peter knows is a security blindspot.
Peter jolts, startled, when Neal shoves Tim against the wall, arm pressed against his neck.
“How did you find me?” Neal demands.
“I didn’t mean to find you,” Tim says, voice unsettlingly calm considering the circumstances.
“I don’t believe you,” Neal says, voice venomous and cold.
“We knew why you left. We knew that if we tried to find you, he’d find you too. So we haven’t looked. I swear.”
Neal stares at him, eyes narrowed, before he hesitantly pulls away.
Tim rubs at his neck and smiles softly. “It’s really good to see you, kid.”
“I am no longer a child, Drake.”
Peter is taken aback by Neal’s sudden shift in speech. It’s proper in a way that Neal has never been. Stilted and stiff.
“You always will be to me.”
Neal glares at him. “Fine. If it helps you satiate even an infinitesimal amount of your inconsolable inferiority to view me as a subsidiary, even if it is only by age, then I will allow it. I know that you are in desperate need of such reassurances.”
“Thanks,” Tim says dryly.
Peter gapes at him in shocked silence.
Neal darts his eyes around them and leans in. “How is Father? Is he well?”
“He’d be better if he knew you were safe.”
“You know I cannot—”
“I know you can’t,” Tim interjects. “But he misses you. You know how he is. He’s not good with his kids flying the coop. He’s an insufferable empty nester now. We’re worried he’s gonna adopt even more strays.”
“-tt- Even if he does, they cannot possibly exceed that impossibly high standards I have set as his blood son.”
Tim rolls his eyes fondly. “Everyone is safe and healthy. Well, as safe and healthy as we can be considering,” he gestures vaguely.
“Pennyworth. Is he…?”
“Still kickin’,'' Tim says. “But gettin’ older by the day. Hopefully everything smooths out soon so you can see him.”
“I can’t imagine it will. Grandfather has eyes everywhere, on our family. He will have seen you. He will have connected the dots.”
Tim’s faces falls. “So you’re running again.”
“You know I must,” Neal says.
Peter’s heart drops.
“I cannot risk Grandfather finding me and I certainly cannot endanger my…” He trails off.
“You like this life, don’t you?”
“It was… simple. Mundane and yet... I was making a difference. In ways that did not involve what I was made to be.”
“You know you aren’t just that, right?” Tim asks.
Neal scoffs, though it is filled with doubt. “Of course I do. However it is… I have forged this life for myself. I have found a piece of contentment in a world that was never built to allow me to have anything of the sort.”
“I’m sorry,” Tim says quietly.
“I would say it’s your fault, but I… I don’t want those to be my last words. In case…”
“Don’t say that,” Tim says sharply.
“We don’t know,” Neal snaps. “Grandfather is not happy. He does not like not getting what he wants. You know that.”
“If you leave tonight—”
“He can still follow my trail.” Neal’s hand twitches nervously at his side. “I need to leave immediately. He could be on his way now.”
“Damian,” Tim says firmly. “Whatever happens, know that we’ll be there for you. No matter what. We love you, and if you can put aside your pride and ask for help, we’ll be there the second you call.”
“I can’t let him hurt you,” Neal says, voice filled with a raw hurt Peter has never heard before.
“Please stay safe. Keep them safe.”
“I will,” Tim promises.
Neal squats down and murmurs something. The tracker around his ankle breaks off and falls to the floor.
“I hope to see you if this ends," Neal says.
“It will,” Tim says. “You’ll figure it out.”
“Until the next life, Drake.”
Tim raises an eyebrow and Neal sighs.
“I will allow you one hug for approximately fifteen seconds.”
“Generous,” Tim states.
“Do not test me. I will personally remove the rest of your vital internal organs with a rusty pair of tongs."
Tim chuckles and pulls Neal into a hug that he doesn’t reciprocate. He tilts his head down and kisses his hair. “Go on. You gotta get out of here. We’ll handle the rest.”
And with that, Neal Caffrey disappears down the seldom used stairwell and disappears from Peter’s life forever.