The Return

Neal, Peter, and Sara work together to solve a case, but things get complicated when Neal decides to bring the Raphael into play.

This story takes place in the second half of Season 2, except I'm pretty much ignoring the events at the end of Point Blank (and anything that may happen in the new episodes starting next week). Please review; constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. Disclaimer: I don't own White Collar.

Chapter 1: Monday afternoon at the FBI

Neal sat at his desk, flipping through a stack of case files, hoping to find something more interesting than the mortgage fraud case the team had just wrapped up. When Neal saw Peter come out of his own office and duck into Hughes', Neal abandoned the files without compunction, and strolled over to Diana's desk. He barely had time to ask Diana and Jones if they knew what was going on when Peter came rushing back out of Hughes' office. Three heads tracked Peter as he rounded the corner and came down the stairs.

"We've got a new case, people. I want everyone in the conference room in five. Diana, can you print out a copy of the file that just got e-mailed to me?"

"On it, Boss"

Jones immediately started rounding up the rest of the team, and Peter continued past them toward the exit. Neal watched for a moment, confused, but Peter stopped just shy of the door and spoke briefly to the door guard. By the time Peter turned back towards him, Neal was already bounding up the stairs.

In the conference room, Neal dropped into the first chair inside the door and waited impatiently for everyone else to arrive. As the rest of the team trickled in, he speculated as to what their new case might be, and whose imminent arrival Peter had just cleared with the door guard.

Peter walked into the conference room just as Diana entered from his office carrying a few printed sheets of paper. Peter joined Diana at the far end of the room where the white board was, and she handed off the papers and took a seat.

"There's been an art heist at the Channing Museum." Peter turned and stuck three printed pictures up on the white board. "Several paintings were on loan from the Eastin Museum in London, for the Channing's exhibit on…" Peter looked down at the remaining papers in his hands and read, "Vermeer and his Sphere of Influence. The exhibit ended this weekend, and three of the paintings were being returned to the Eastin today. Armed robbers hit the Channing this afternoon just before the van arrived to take the paintings to the airport. They got away with two of the three paintings." Peter paused for a moment and looked around at his team.

"Our job is to catch the guys who did this, and-"

A familiar voice interrupted Peter from the doorway behind Neal, "And recover the stolen paintings."

Neal swiveled his chair around to face the owner of the voice. "Sara Ellis."

"Neal," Sara replied briefly.

Neal continued swiveling around in a full circle as Sara walked past him and greeted Peter and the rest of the team. As he turned, his mind flashed back to their last meeting, eight months ago, that morning at his apartment. He didn't think Sara had any idea how much it meant to him, to possess a copy of Kate's last words. He owed Sara, for giving him that FAA tape. He wasn't sure yet how he could pay her back for what she'd done. But Neal wasn't going anywhere for the next few years, so he had plenty of time to figure something out.

As Neal swung back around to face the table, he inquired aloud, "So, Sterling Bosch insures the Lacemakers?"

"Just the Vermeer," Sara replied.

"What?" asked Jones.

"All three paintings are entitled, The Lacemaker," explained Neal. "By Johannes Vermeer, Caspar Netscher, and Salvador Dali." Then Neal leaned forward and asked, "Wait, Peter, you said the robbers only got away with two of the three paintings? Which two?"

"The ones painted by Vermeer and…" Peter consulted his papers again. "And Netscher."

"That doesn't make sense. I mean, the Vermeer is worth tens of millions. Sara?"

"It's insured with Sterling Bosch for $70 million," said Sara, a trifle smugly.

"And the Dali is worth about a million," continued Neal. "But the Netscher? It's only worth about 1% of that. Who steals a painting worth ten grand when there's a Dali sitting next to it?"

"Well, that's what we need to figure out, isn't it?" Diana looked ready for the challenge.

"So, uh, which painting is which?" Jones still looked a little confused.

"Vermeer and Netscher were contemporaries." Sara pointed to the first two pictures in turn. "Both painted primarily interior scenes in the 17th century."

"The Golden Age of Dutch painting," Neal mused fondly. "But Vermeer's technique is way better-" Neal brightened as he extolled, "his attention to detail…his depiction of light and shadow…"

"I don't know," said Peter with a shrug, "They look about the same to me. They're both paintings of a young woman making lace, right?" Neal grimaced and shook his head slightly but Peter pointed at the third picture and continued, "But what is that? It's…" Peter struggled to find the right words to describe the Dali painting. "It's just weird."

"Vermeer and the whole Dutch art movement fell out of favor not long after he died," Neal explained, "But they were eventually 'rediscovered', and in the 20th century, Dali became obsessed with Vermeer's The Lacemaker, and eventually created his own version of it."

Peter considered the three paintings in turn. "But that one doesn't look anything like the other two."

"Peter, Dali was a Surrealist…"

While Neal happily expounded on the art, Sara also found herself recalling their last meeting. She doesn't trust a thing Neal says when he's smiling, but he had been uncharacteristically somber, that morning at his apartment. She still wasn't entirely sure why she had given Neal that FAA tape. And she was even less sure that she had done the right thing. And Sara Ellis did not like feeling unsure of herself. Not. At. All.

"I don't have time for the art lesson this week, Professor Caffrey," Sara interrupted Neal. "We need to find these paintings, not write a Master's thesis on them."

Neal recoiled ever-so-slightly, and as every eye in the room swung from Neal to Sara, Sara flushed slightly and looked away.

And into the awkward silence, Peter dropped, "Just a minute, Neal. When did you see the Vermeer exhibit?" His voice grew more serious. "The Channing is outside your radius."

Neal, stung by Sara's criticism, replied without thinking, "Oh, I saw the Lacemakers several years ago when they were on display at the Eastin Museum in London."

At this, Sara almost visibly snapped back into 'work mode', and in one smooth motion, reached into her purse, pulled out her recorder and flipped it on as she extended it towards Neal. "And would that be the same trip on which you stole the Raphael from the London Museum?"

"Allegedly stole," retorted Neal, and flashed her a big grin.

"All right kids," Peter interrupted. "Let's focus on the case at hand for now. Sara, we're going to go check out the crime scene. I'll give you a call if we find anything that you can help us out with."

Sara buried the recorder in her purse, and replied shortly, "I'll be back tomorrow morning," before stalking out of the conference room and out of the Bureau.