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Neal was the sort of man to run where angels feared to tread – it was the truth. There was nothing whatsoever Peter could do about it, so he mostly kept his eyes and ears wide open and tried to show him that there was a life outside of con jobs, and that he ought to be happy since he had gotten off so lightly –
He liked to think he was making progress, but when it came to that other thing, mainly Neal doing exactly what he ought not to be doing at any given time –
Well, he refused to give up. It just would take some time, and then – Neal might not have any plans except going back to his old life, but Peter had other ideas –
But first things first, and that seemed to be teaching him the basics, and in this case, the basics meant not to –
“Neal, stay away” he said very firmly because sometimes, one had to be –
“I am doing my best here” he said and of course he was, but at the same time he wasn’t, since well, someone like Neal would not consider it his best unless he was doing things out of his own volition – “Come on, have you never been curious?”
“Don’t have to be. I’ve seen my fair share of this kind of thing, and well, it almost never ends well. Not that - there are good and bad people there, of course, but by God, some of the things they can so - and there are those who don’t even realize that what they are doing is bad -”
They were the worst. An honest criminal, now that was one thing. Like Neal was, for all his faults - or many of those Peter had met - yes, they broke the law, they got caught, end of story, and if they had hurt someone, they were locked up - but over there - there were some who just didn’t understand, who thought it was all just a game, that humans were funny play things at best, and that was the problem. Nothing that lived and breathed should ever be considered anything else than sacred, even if Peter had admittedly struggled with that himself when it came to folks like Matthew Keller. At least with Neal – he knew where to draw the line.
And still - there were some things -
This time of the year, too. Oh. People could say all they wanted about Halloween and Christmas, and they would be right, but everyone always underestimated what it meant to have springtime coming up - when everything grew once again, went from desolate to blooming, when life came creeping into every crevice it could find - yes, it came with its own dangers, and one of these dangers were fairy rings.
Peter had learned a long time ago to stay away from mushrooms that were growing in a perfect circle, because of course that was not natural. People liked to pretend that it was, but well -
And of course there were those who claimed that in this day and age -
Now here they were, and he got out of the car, because a man claimed his partner had vanished while they were walking down the street, she had just stopped to admire the old oak because it was still holding on, even in Gotham’s hustle and then she had been gone -
And Peter’s blood ran cold.
Mushrooms, those were one Thing. Completely ordinary fairy rings. Bad enough, but all fine and good -
But those were daffodils.
He grabbed Neal’s arm.
“What is it?”
“Daffodils” he said because certainly even he ought to know, ought to have learned -”
“Yes, that would be the explanation -”
“Neal” he said sharply. “Stay back, and I cannot emphasize that enough.” There were many stories, as always when it came to such things, but well, Peter had experience, which counted for much more, and even though none of those clever professors had ever believed him, it was a fact that those who were drawn to the fairy realm had a - well - unless they were kidnapped for a purpose, there was usually some mischievous streak that made them predisposed to come close, and then -
Nobody had ever figured out what the Fae did with them, and nobody ever would unless they came out and told them openly, and now and then, Peter thought he would rather not know -
Anyway, here they were, and a woman was missing, and time was of the essence, because one taste of their food and she would have to stay. No one could ever say how much had passed there already - could be a minute, could be a day -
“Interesting” Neal said. “Did you know that these kinds of stories go back -”
“Yes, and I would rather not” he said. “But it’s what happens in such a city as this.”
“You love it, and you know it.”
Normally he would have agreed, because every time that Neal said something that made him realized he thought of this as home was a good time, but well -
“Just be careful. I have no intentions of having to fight a ton of fairies to play the hero.”
“I know a few people who would say –“
“I said what I said, and that’s it - and I mean it, Neal.”
He only hoped that he had gotten through to him.
He had not, but why would he have.
Really, getting through to Neal was -
But well, the next day, he looked out his office windows and -
At first, he was not too worried. Neal used every chance he got to leave his desk, so really -
And then Diana came to speak to him, he took one look at her face and instantly knew that something was wrong.
His first two calls were to June and Mozzie - the former liked talking to him anyway, so she always picked up, and the later had learned better than not to.
They had not heard of Neal. Both thought he was at work - Mozzie was starting to go on one of his usual spiels how the Man was just trying to keep humble crooks like him down by demanding they sacrifice the best part of their lives for nothing but money - when Peter said “I don’t know where Neal is.”
That stunned him into silence – and he didn’t have an excuse planned.
And how Peter began to worry indeed.
Five minutes later he was standing at Neal’s place, but there was nothing to indicate that he had disappeared voluntarily - Peter went to the bedroom, but -
Oh. He hadn’t known that Neal had put the same picture he kept at home, of them all in his office, at his bedside table, and his badge next to it, in place of pride, which was -
Neal wouldn’t have left it behind, then. Something must have happened.
And Peter thought of the fairy ring and his blood ran cold.
He had told himself not to overreact - fine, so the anklet showed that Neal was still at home, where he very much was not, but really, if anyone could circumvent that kind of thing, it was Neal - only his gut told him something else entirely, and that was that the damn ring had something to do with it, and in that case -
He went to see Reese.
“And you're sure?” he asked, much as Peter would have done in his position, because, well, he could always hope, not to mention that it would be very dangerous if they were right -
“We both know that he doesn’t do that kind of thing anymore -” his boss and friend raised an eyebrow and he continued, “at least not without a good reason, and at the moment, there is nothing that could tempt him except…” he didn’t have to finish, Reese would know.
“But Peter, even if you are right - there is nothing we can do officially, the Bureau would never -”
Yes, they both knew, which was why the word officially had been used as opposed to any other - officially, Peter could not ask for help, could not demand that they take action, could not even do so during office hours, but well, Reese was Reese, and that meant he would allow him to do what he ought to do -
He returned to his own office and called for Diana and Jones. If there were two people he could trust –
Only when Diana came in, she was not alone, she was accompanied by -
“We thought you could use the help, hon” El said, because of course she would and she was as worried about Neal as he was, and Mozzie - he supposed once you had managed to enter their premises once, it wasn’t that difficult to return.
“Yes” he said simply. “As of right now, we have to conclude that they have Neal” no reason to elaborate, “and we have to move quickly before he eats or drinks something, otherwise –“
“What would that even do to him?” Jones asked “I mean, they are supposed to be mischievous and everything, so would he turn into a model citizen?”
Mozzie’s expression suggested that that would be a fate worse than having to stay in the Realm forever.
“Highly doubt it” Peter said drily. “The one thing they don't have, or at least most of them, is creativity, the talent of inventing something, anything new, so that is what they are after, and we all know that Neal is basically the perfect candidate for that kind of -”
“And they try to turn them as soon as possible” El said, “So we have to be quick.”
Yes, especially because they'd always had a – what was he supposed to call it – a way with them. That was how they must have called Neal there in the first place, and how they would make sure everything -
They decided to go this minute, it was their only chance.
They stood around the fairy ring. Peter took deep breath, “I am going in. They say as long as you don’t lose track of why you are there - and of course they wouldn’t be interested in me -”
El once again had a different opinion, but there was little they both could do, so she simply said, “Bring him home, hon.”
He nodded, then handed Diana a charm made of iron he always kept in his wallet just in case - “If anything comes through that isn’t -”
“Of course, boss” she said, and he nodded gratefully.
There was nothing to do but go in.
Everything looked off, just as everyone who had been there had always described it, but Peter had a purpose, and that was and had always been the best weapon against them, so he concentrated on Neal and just walked. And then -
They had actually given him a small house that looked somewhat human. Many had had it worse.
Now, he expected to find him at work, but as soon as he got close - “Let me out let me out let me out -”
And Neal was hammering against the door.
Peter wrenched it open and he fell into his arms - quite literally because he had been about to throw himself at the door once more -
“Peter!”
“Neal! Have you eaten or -”
“No, nothing just - get me out of here, please -”
There were some things one ought not to question, so Peter quickly half-carried him back to the door and then -
They we're lying in front of the fairy ring (he would get rid of the damn thing), gasping, the others learning over them, and Neal breathed, “I’m home.’”
“That you are” Peter said, squeezing his shoulder. “That you are.”