Caffrey Flashback

Chapter 17: Best Laid Plans

Neal's apartment. Wednesday morning. February 25, 2004.

Normally a light sleeper, Neal knew something was wrong when he realized someone was in his apartment and he still struggled to wake up. Since that someone was Henry, he was more annoyed than worried. "Go 'way," he mumbled, and tried to drag a pillow over his head to drown out his cousin's voice.

"C'mon," Henry cajoled as he snatched the pillow away. "Pops is already on his way to the Federal Building. You don't want to leave him and Peter unsupervised, do you?" When Neal ignored him, Henry sat down on the bed. "I saw the sketchpad. You had another nightmare, didn't you?"

Neal sat up and yawned as he recalled the reason he was so tired. "About 4am. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I gave up and drew the scene." He shoved his cousin out of his way and walked over to the kitchen. Henry had made coffee, and therefore Neal couldn't be too mad at him. He drank a cup as he looked at the drawing once more. "Tear it up," Neal said and then left to take a shower.

When Neal returned to the kitchen in a suit and tie, Henry was stuffing pieces of a charcoal sketch into a trash bin. "This one was more detailed than the other versions I've seen," Henry said. "You're remembering more. How long have the dreams been back?"

Neal shrugged. "Last few nights. It starts with a weirdly realistic dream of talking to Byron, where we both know he's supposed to be dead, but somehow he's been granted a little more time. And then it moves into the old nightmare about Vance."

"I should have seen it coming," Henry said. "Losing a role model and mentor like Byron was a blow to your defenses. That's something else you need to talk about in therapy."

Neal led the way downstairs rather than answer. He grabbed a fedora and a coat, and then rode to work in silence in Henry's rental, grateful for the opportunity to get a little more rest on the drive. There was a moment when he opened his eyes and thought Henry looked stressed, but when he asked what was wrong, Henry said a cabbie had cut him off. Tired, Neal closed his eyes again and let his cousin get away with the deflection.

At the office, Neal was assigned the task of watching Henry and Graham, who weren't trusted to roam the Bureau offices unattended. Since they were not invited to the morning briefing, Neal skipped it. Instead he took them into the conference room dedicated to the Highbury case and filled them in on more of the details. Standing at the front of the room and talking through the case, he realized he sounded like Peter. Maybe he really was going to fit in at the FBI.

Even Graham nodded in approval. "I'm starting to see why the boy here wants to recruit you."

Soon Peter arrived with the rest of the team, including George Knightley. They went over the plan for Thursday in excruciating detail. Lunch was ordered in, and everyone scattered after the order was placed to grab drinks and take a quick break. Alone with Henry, Neal said, "Your mom told me you were researching a drug called Flashback. Was it for a Win-Win case?"

"For Win-Win, but not for a case." Henry leaned forward in his chair, clearly excited about this topic. "Since we make a point of hiring psychologists, we take an interest in the latest developments in psychology. One of my first assignments was looking into this hot new drug we'd been hearing about, and I recommended that we invest in some of the studies. It's been authorized for use in severe cases, and in a few years... Hold on. You're not saying you want to take that path, are you? You really need to give traditional therapy a try, first."

Neal wished he could ease Henry into this, but knew they didn't have much time before the rest of the team returned. "Try to keep an open mind about what I'm going to tell you, and don't freak out."

"Neal, what have you done?"

"Suspicious much? I haven't done anything. But we've learned that Flashback is the drug Highbury is using on their clients. Which means they'll use it on me tomorrow. And that means less therapy, right? I'll remember everything. No need to unlock any repressed memories. I get through everything faster and will be less of a drain on Noelle's time."