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Surprisingly, it was not one of the boring days up at the FBI building for Neal Caffrey. There were things going on, a case to be solved, and just enough work that Neal could keep his mind off other, less legal activities. As much as he ever stopped thinking along that train of thought, anyway. But for right now, Peter was up with a witness that Neal's presence kept agitating (how was he supposed to know George Langely's old poker connections would end up flipping on this guy?) and Neal was left dithering around at his desk. Waiting for a new lead to present itself. Currently, their witness was the only chance they had at catching up with their real suspect, but until they could get him to say something or otherwise frighten him into going underground to be followed...

Well, it left a lot of entertainment to be desired.

With not much else to do, Neal made his way to the coffee machine and eyed the rest of the room in speculation. Everyone had something going on today, but there were a few agents who were easy to distract in the office today. They were hard workers, capable of catching up on any work he'd make them lose, and Peter rarely ever called him on it since the fear of getting in trouble for stopping to chat tended to make them work more efficiently anyway. He was just about to make his way over, extra mug of coffee in hand, when he spotted the stairwell door opening. Black hair popped out on top of an attractive face, glanced around in abject confusion, and then shut itself back in.

"One of these things is not like the other," Neal muttered to himself, making a quick drop of the mugs at a random agent's desk as he made for the office doors. He waved behind himself when Jones spoke up ("Grabbing some real coffee today!"), and hurried his way into the elevator to let himself off at another floor and slip into the stairwell behind the stranger.

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Jumping was not an exact science and the location where Eli would land was a bit unpredictable. Case in point, his current jump had landed him inside of a bathroom. Thankfully, there was no one else in the bathroom when he had jumped in, so it gave him some time to collect himself. Once he did, he left the bathroom to figure out where exactly he'd been dropped out at.

It looked to be an office building of some sort, but he needed windows or just somebody to ask, hopefully pulling off getting lost and turned around at some point. Slipping into the stairwell and heading down, he picked a random floor and opened the door slightly, poking his head out to see if this floor was more helpful.

Then he spotted the emblem on the glass doors and pulled his head back into the stairway and closed the door behind him. He pulled his sleeve down to active the bracelet on his arm and typed something out on it.

"Point of entry: a fucking FBI building," he muttered in an annoyed tone as he typed. "I really need to get some sort of satellite link up or GPS installed into you, Trigger. That would really help things."

It didn't take very long to find the stranger in the stairwell. Neal had gone up on the off-chance the man was going to the top, but his confusion seemed to indicate he was looking for the way out, and out generally meant down. Luckily, the man had stopped himself along the stairs to poke at what appeared to be his phone from Neal's angle, mumbling to himself as if in a call.

Except when Neal got closer, it didn't look like he was actually in a call at all.

"Smart phones aren't actually smart enough to talk back, you know," Neal said from his very intentional position on the flight above, arms crossed over the railing and leaning casually to regard the other man. He looked young, early twenties, but worried and out of his depth. Dressed well enough, just not well enough to be working in the building. What exactly was he doing there?

So absorbed into recording his notes thus far, Eli didn't notice Neal until he spoke, which probably gave him enough time to notice that Eli had been typing on a bracelet on his left wrist instead of any sort of phone. He jumped in surprise and nearly teleported in surprise, but he was able to keep himself from doing so and instead deactivated Trigger with a swipe of his thumb as he pulled his sleeve back over it.

"You know you could give somebody a heart attack by sneaking up on them, right?" He looked up at Neal and there's something like recognition on Eli's face before he's able to hide it under a slightly annoyed expression. "Now if you'll excuse me, I should be going. There's somewhere I need to be."

Not really, but Eli doesn't want to be around an alternate version of his best friend for too long or he might not be able to control his emotions around him.

"Such as?" asked Neal. That device had him all sorts of paranoid; it wasn't your standard iPhone, and the man was poking at it while hiding in the FBI building stairs. Better to keep him talking, hanging around, maybe draw him back to a floor where he could have someone call Peter behind this guy's back. This was not the behavior of the innocent, and Neal would certainly know.

He hopped down the steps, getting closer to Eli to hold his hand out for a shake. "We haven't even introduced each other yet. Neal Caffrey. What brings you here, anyway? I know this place pretty well, maybe I can get you where you want to go."

"Not here," he replied bluntly. The more time he spent here, the more impatient he was sure Thomas was going to be when they finally met up wherever he was lurking. Plus the last time he had jumped into a government building, he had been locked up and interrogated until Thomas could get him out.

He took the offered hand and shook it, brows furrowing slightly at Neal's name as if he thought that wasn't his real name. All of the other versions were Shannon Vaughn. Oh well, if this one wasn't going to give his real name, then Eli was going to do the same. Even playing field and all. "Elijah Cross. I'm in the area looking for a friend of mine."

"In that case, let me show you to the exit," Neal said, never taking no for an answer. His temperature was normal today, his energy being expended in more useful ways like the case. Ever since those flashbacks had started, his control over the oddities he usually displayed had increased immensely. Some of them apparently couldn't be turned off, only redirected, but it was enough for Neal.

Gesturing for Elijah to follow him, Neal made his way out into the hallway and glanced around for anyone whose attention he might catch. At the same time, he was keeping an eye on his new guest to make sure he didn't make a run for it somewhere. The guy was irritatingly familiar, the recognition scratching on the part of his brain he didn't truly own. Curious and curiouser. "This way, Mr. Cross. If you don't mind."

The lack of extra warmth from Neal was confusing and throwing Eli off slightly. Does this mean he's not an Aspect? He doesn't know for sure, so all he can do is keep an eye on him for any signs as to whether or not he was one.

"Well aren't you helpful, Mr. Caffrey," Eli drawled as he followed Neal out into the hallway. He was still wary and if all else failed, he could still rely on being able to teleport away if something happened. Until then, it was all Eli could do to not watch Neal walk ahead of him and check out his ass. To be perfectly fair to Eli, Neal does look good in those suits of his. "Making up for nearly giving me a heart attack?"

Edited 2014-01-15 05:09 (UTC)

Neal certainly didn't mind the banter as he failed to pull enough attention to signal to anyone. It certainly would not do to spook the mysterious Mister Cross for no reason. If nothing else, Neal was certainly making sure to take him past security cameras to get a face for later.

"You hurt me with those accusations," Neal said, eyebrows raised in utmost innocence, "since I was only trying to check on your well-being. You looked lost. Now what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't try to get you sorted out and on your way?" He turned around to regard Elijah after he smacked the button for the elevator and took note of where the other man's eyes had been hovering before his own sudden movement.

Security cameras weren't an issue if Eli didn't have to really worry about being caught. Even if he was, having his face on video wasn't exactly the most useful information to have. After all, in this universe, Eli Delacroix did not exist in any form, so they wouldn't be able to find any information on him because there wasn't any. It was both a blessing and a curse to not exist.

"Doesn't seem like I hurt you too much with that. And shouldn't you be off being a gentleman to some beautiful young woman instead of little old me? I'm a bit too old to need a chaperone to lead me out of a building." He immediately snaps his eyes away from Neal to look around warily. This isn't his Shannon and he shouldn't trust him until he can make contact with Thomas and even then, keep his distance.

It was really too bad Neal had no idea his own brand of subterfuge was going to go to waste. He felt pretty good about working Eli into every camera angle they passed by on their way to the elevator. He figured Peter would be pleased with it regardless of the outcome of a facial recognition search.

With a pointed ding, the elevator opened its doors wide, waiting for someone to enter and be ushered through the awaiting floors. "We're in a bit of a shortage for beautiful women to gentleman at here," Neal said. It was completely honest; most, if not all, of the women there knew to at least be wary of the Caffrey charm. That always made it more fun to bust right through their reticence, but the fact remained that it was almost actual work to do so.

"So, who are you looking for? If you stumbled into the Bureau looking for them, you're either here for another visitor or your agent friend wasn't in today," he offered, watching for a reaction. Best way to get information was to let someone stagger it out on their own, make the conversation sound like something it wasn't until they were too twisted to know which question they were answering. "Personally I wouldn't have gone through all the trouble before knowing they were even here first."

"Isn't that a shame." The way that he responds is like he's distracted by something. It's made obvious when the elevator doors opened. He glared at the elevator with distaste, but didn't make the choice to not enter.

"As I said before, a friend. I thought he might be here, but I guess I was wrong," he answered with a shrug. "We just have bad luck meeting up is all. Even if I checked ahead of time, we'd still miss each other, even if only by a minute or so."

Neal eyed Elijah and the elevator for a moment, moving his arm to hold the door open until he knew they could both be on before the doors closed. All right, add slight elevator phobia to the growing profile Neal was making on the stranger. There was actually not a whole lot to go on, not enough to make a picture out of the pieces yet anyway.

"That's too bad," Neal agreed as he hit the button for the first floor. "Also pretty weak of an excuse to be wandering around a government building like a lost puppy."

The only reason he was afraid of elevators was thanks to his electrical abilities. Most heavy machinery could become fatal if Eli lost control for even a second. Elevators especially were pretty bad in his opinion, just because there really was no good way to stop it before it fell to their deaths. But Eli got on and stood near the back, making sure not to touch the wall. Less contact he had, the better he would feel.

"Wandering around lost in a government building seems to be something I've been doing a lot of lately," he said with an amused tone. "My friend is quite terrible about leaving me clues to his location and expecting me to find him."

"You like playing games with the government?" asked Neal. He watched the other man closely, assessing and deciding. While they were in the elevator, he took the time to retrieve his phone and shoot out a quick text: Escorting trespasser to lobby. Totally legal.

Something about this man rang far too familiar for Neal's comfort. It was nothing overt, no indication in his stance or features, but the personality and hints of something on the air made it impossible for Neal to ignore. They would have a few minutes as the elevator made its way down, occasionally stopped by those passing in the same direction. When anyone else came on, Neal placed himself out of their way but as a subtle blockage to Elijah.

Finally, they were getting close to their destination. He needed to stall. There was certainly something he could ask, and it was always better to go with the simple rather than overcomplicate when it came to working on the fly. "Have we met somewhere before? Could have sworn..." Then it hit him, a full force realization of who, exactly, this Elijah felt like to him. And felt like was the best way to put it, an awareness past the regular bounds of memory and existence. "You just look familiar."

"Not at all. My friend is a troublemaker who likes to send me to government buildings and see if I get arrested so he can come in and laugh at me." There's a bitter tone in his voice that hints that this has happened a few times.

Elsewhere in the building, Peter Burke is making his damnit, Neal face and wondering if he should go down and get his wayward CI and the trespasser before he decides no, he'll send someone else down since he's busy.

Neal's comments catch Eli off guard for a moment before he can pull himself together. He definitely didn't expect that from him. "No, I'm sure I haven't met you before. I must have one of those faces, I guess."

Actually, that sounded like the sort of thing Neal would have done had he not been so high on the government's list of people to pay attention to. Not as high as violent criminals, but probably one of if not the highest for white collar crimes. Still, that sounded like a fun thing to do for a weekend and he could almost applaud the tenacity of the idea.

"Really?" Neal insisted, making sure to keep his tone as far away from accusatory as possible. Part of him was truly disappointed at the denial, hoping to make the connection to something he had only his own sanity to confirm. What he had been remembering and experiencing was real. Sometimes he just wished he had others to experience it with him. "Are you sure, Alexis?" After an intentional beat of the least threatening silence he could manage, he added, "I mean, Elijah."

There's a quick look of fear then panic before Eli can cover it. In all his time jumping across universes, he's never had a Shannon recognize him before, let alone know about Alexis. This was bad.

"How do you know that name?" It was worrying, especially once it connected in his head. Neal was in the early stages of awakening. He really needed to find Thomas fast and tell him about this development. "You shouldn't know that."

Neal couldn't help the way his expression lit up at Elijah's lack of denial. Oh, he was definitely worried and Neal could understand why, but he was all but confirming it. While Neal and Peter had come to the conclusion that his flashbacks and powers were something to be left under the rug in the corner, only truly to be dealt with when Nate made them deal with it, there was nothing to be done for his joy at no longer being alone.

"It just happens sometimes," Neal said. It was the best way to properly explain it. Although most of his memories were benign due to the general influences of his life, some of them were quite... worrying. Neal could understand the wariness. "I didn't think... I mean, I thought it just might be me. What about Tara? Is she...?"

And then the fear and panic bled away into pure confusion. He was awakening and nobody seemed to be around to help him. Sure, Eli knew that non-awakened fire Aspects were usually kept out of the loop, but never this much. There had to be at least one Aspect around to keep an eye on him.

"Tara? No, it's just me this time around, no little sister tagging along to blast things if the going gets tough." He shouldn't be telling him this, but it's a Shannon and Eli always had trouble saying no to him. "Wait, are you saying you've never met any of the others?"

Neal shook his head, glancing toward the elevator indicator as they got closer and closer to the first floor. He was strongly considering doing something about that to make the ride last longer, give himself more time to get answers. It felt safer to speak in the currently-empty elevator than in the wide open room full of federal agents.

"No," he answered. It was encouraging that the Alexis inside Elijah didn't seem too scared of him. Neal was lacking some context on the order in which some of his memories should go. "How many like us are there?"

Then again, there was very good reason he probably hadn't met up with anyone else. He was, after all, stuck on a two-mile tether after being in jail for nearly four years and was constantly under watch of the FBI and the US Marshals. Did anyone even know where to look?

No matter what the circumstance, the Aspects always found one another, even without prompting, as Eli had known from experience. So to hear from Neal that he wasn't aware of the others felt very wrong to him.

"Not including us? Ten, though a couple of us are special cases like me." Eli was aware that he was on his quest to find Jasper, but he could take a break to help Neal out before gathering clues and jumping onto the next world. "We're called Aspects, by the way."

"Aspects," Neal murmured, already committed and filed to his memory. It was the first step to making his own inquiries on where these mysterious others were and if they would take kindly to being approached. It seemed like the sort of thing anyone sane would want to keep secret.

Ten more like them. Ten more people to connect him to the life he used to live, the questions that endlessly bounced against his skull. "What makes you a special case?"

"I'm part Alexis and part not." As if to explain, he reaches out to touch Neal's arm, giving him a little jolt like he would get from static electricity. "The rest don't have the extra bit I do. There's more, but I'm not going to throw everything at you all at once. I still need to meet up with somebody though."

That didn't honestly make a whole lot of sense. Neal twitched at the jolt, staring at where Elijah's hand rested on his arm, then looked back up to the other man with deeper scrutiny. "Who's the somebody?" he asked. There was a much higher chance of getting an answer out of Elijah now, or at least more cooperation. "Seriously, I work here. I could help you find him."

"You don't look like you'd work for the FBI, but the person I'm meeting with is named Thomas." Eli's looking at Neal as if to study his reaction to that. He didn't want to say it, but it would be easier if he had some help finding either him or the missing Jasper. "He's helping me look for a missing person."

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