What's in a Name?

Peter rushed to the edge of the pier and looked over. He and several agents had been running toward Neal when he both heard and saw the shot fired. Well, he saw Neal's reaction to being shot. Neal staggered back a few steps before falling over the edge. Now all Peter could see was rushing water.

Peter had been told there was very little hope of finding a body. There were too many drain pipes, all of which lead to the sea. And once the body reached the sea, well…it was as good as gone.

Peter dreaded breaking the news to his wife. Elizabeth and Neal had had a very special bond. She had cried in Peter's arms, for what seemed like hours, right after he had told her. And now, 6 month later, she still seemed to be in a daze. Peter had retrieved Neal's hat that day. It has been all that they had found of him. It now held a place of honor in his house. He had placed it on one of the book shelves in their living room. El had come home from work and had caught him putting it there. She had looked at it and then looked at Peter and smiled. Peter found her, late many nights, holding the hat and crying, sitting on the living room floor. Peter had been surprised to find a bottle of cologne in their bedroom one night. It was not the kind he used. And it was sitting behind a picture on El's nightstand. Peter picked it up. He hated to admit it, but his mind went there. He actually entertained the idea that El could be cheating on him. He dismissed it quickly, however, when he smelled the cologne. He smiled, recognizing it immediately. It was the same scent that Neal wore. He wiped a tear from his eyes as he put the cologne back in its place.

June had no handled the news any better than El. She had kept Neal's place just as when he had left it. She insisted her maids clean the apartment, just as they had always done. She kept his fridge stocked. And she had all his suits dry cleaned and hung back in his closet. She told them all that she would believe that he was dead when they could show her a body. Until then, he was missing. And she had to have things ready for him when he returned.

June had broken the news to Mozzie about Neal. He, at first, also refused to believe the unbelievable. That is friend was dead, but Mozzie slowly began to accept that reality. Mainly because Mozzie knew Neal would have contacted him. And he knew Neal would not have waited to long to do so. Mozzie continued his friendship with June, visiting with her every chance he got. It helped him to pass the time and to deal with the loss. Plus, he knew she really appreciated his company. They often went out onto Neal's patio and shared a bottle of his favorite wine.

It had fallen to Peter to clean out Neal's desk at work. And Peter had purposefully waited until the end of the day to do it. Neal had been gone almost a month. And Peter knew he had put the task off long enough. He allowed Diana and Jones to stay with him as he went through the items Neal had left. Hughes joined the trio as they looked at and reminisced about some of the things they found, each taking a special memento.

Diana had asked for an Origami rose that Neal had made and a very special blue tie that just matched the color of his eyes. She kept the tie rolled up in a neat ball in the bottom drawer of her desk. And she kept the rose tucked behind her driver's license in her wallet. The corner of the rose stuck out so that she saw it every time she opened her wallet. It made her smile. She found herself taking the rose out oat the oddest times. She would fold and unfold the piece of paper trying to figure out how Neal could take something so ordinary and turn it into something so beautiful. It took her a long time go get it back to just the way Neal had it, each time. But it helped her not to miss him so much. She still, all this time later, could not see how she could have come to like him as much as she did.

Jones had also chosen a tie. He said the suit Neal had worn with it was one that he particularly liked. He had actually gone out to find a suit just like Neal's, or at least very similar, to go with the tie. He had found a very similar color and style, and he found himself wearing the suit and tie often.

Hughes had also picked an item. He chose an Origami animal. At first, Hughes displayed the animal, in this case and elephant, on his desk. But it almost got obliterated, repeatedly, by piles of paperwork. Then it almost got washed away by rivers of coffee from a few spilled cups. He finally removed it from his desk. He bought a glass case and put the elephant in it on a shelf in his office.

And, lastly, Peter kept the ID the Bureau had issued to Neal. It joined the hat on the shelf in his living room. He took the ID down off the shelf and carried it with him, sometimes. It made him feel as if Neal was still there.

TBC