Disclaimer: White Collar is not mine.
"What do you have to tell me about Kate?" Neal asked excitedly, coming towards Mozzie.
The odd little man with glasses regarded him with a knowing look of disappointment and disgust that Neal didn't notice.
"Nothing new," Mozzie said.
Disappointment pulled Neal's charming smile off his face in a frown, making him bow his head as he combed his articulate hands through his silky dark brown hair. Someone else would have compared Neal to any random man after a long day of work, but Mozzie had a set image of exactly what man Neal resembled.
"Monkey see, monkey do." he remarked.
Neal was puzzled by is cliché choice of phrases, "Is that supposed to mean something?"
"Not if you don't want it to." he said, with underlying meaning he meant for Neal to pick up.
"What does it mean?" Neal asked, demandingly.
Mozzie thought a moment, then decided to tell him, "Nothing. I was just trying to get your mind off Kate."
"Thanks, Mozzie," he said, leaning back in his chair, "but no one can do that."
"Uh huh," Mozzie agreed out loud, but with his own inward doubts to Neal's last comment.
Mozzie sighed, "He's late."
"That's because he ran into Peter Burke," Kate said like it was a fact.
He turned to look at her, from where she sat with one leg over another in a chair at the other. She was looking out the window.
"He likes him a lot, doesn't he?" he asked.
She turned to him, with a half smile, "You noticed that too."
He walked over to her, "It was hard not to figure out. I mean he follows the guy as much as he follows him." He added, "He even found out all about the guy's family."
Kate told him, "I think he'd try to be his friend if he could."
Mozzie plopped himself down in the other chair, "What makes you think they aren't already?"
She confessed, "I've thought about that, something has to keep Neil liking him. All I know is that Neal would take the chance if he could to be his friend."
"Yeah?" Mozzie agreed.
She nodded, "You've heard the way he talks about him. He gets more excited about that guy than the most notorious art forgers."
"He even calls him by his first name." Mozzie added as Kate went over to the window. "But Neal will never stop being a thief for him. He wouldn't even do that for you."
"Maybe not for me," she said, "but he would for Peter Burke."
Mozzie turned to her, her back to him, "You're wrong."
"We'll see." she said.
"Do you like working with the FBI?" Mozzie asked.
"It's the only way I kind find Kate." Neal said.
"Besides me," Mozzie reminded him.
Mozzie heard Neal's voice become lifted with happiness that seemed to pour off his tongue, even with the absence of a smile, "And Peter's great to work with." He knew Neal hadn't heard what he said about him being another way to find Kate.
"It's what you always wanted." Mozzie remarked.
Neal finally looked up at him, becoming angry, "What did I always want?"
"A way to find Kate," he lied.
"Oh," Neal ran his hands through his hair again, "sorry, Mozz."
"It's ok." He walked over to the window, "I'm going to see if I can find anything about Kate."
"Thanks, Mozz." Neal told him as a farewell, not even bothering to look over at him escaping through the window.
Mozzie flipped himself onto the roof, deciding to look down. He could make out a man in a long coat being let into the house.
He didn't have to wait long before he heard Neal let out in that voice that sounded like happiness pouring off his tongue, "Peter! What brings you here?"
"I have a new lead on that case." he heard Peter Burke say.
Mozzie decided he'd had enough and walked away, jumping from roof top to roof top to get back to where he'd come from. He didn't need to stay and listen to figure out what he'd always known.
"But Neal will never stop being a thief for him. He wouldn't even do that for you."
"Maybe not for me," she said, "but he would for Peter Burke."
Neal would change for Peter.