HOMESICK

AN: I just marathon watched White Collar. It was hard to rewatch Neal's death, again. But, I was inspired. I had to write another fic. This is post series, almost 10 years have passed.

10 Years Later:

The panthers were in jail or dead. Keller was dead. All thanks to White Collar Special Agent Peter Burke. And the statute of limitations had expired on all the crimes he had committed. He was free to leave Paris and come back to the states. And he wanted to do just that.

He missed New York. He missed the city. He missed June. He missed the Burkes and he wanted, badly, to see what his namesake looked like.

The plan had been for Mozzie to stay in the city for about a year. That would serve two purposes. First, so that everyone would thing Neal was actually dead. It would have aroused major suspicion if Mozzie left right after Neal 'died.' Many would think that Mozzie left to meet up with Neal in some far away land. Secondly, Neal wanted Mozzie to look after June. The conman know June would take it hard. Neal wanted to have someone around to look after her and spend some time with her. Neal also wanted to make sure that Peter and El were okay.

Peter had finally looked in the locker with the key that Neal had left in his belongings. Neal had been surprised it had taken so long. And he had been very surprised that Mozzie could keep up the rouse that long. The conman had thought that Peter would have looked in the locker immediately. But, he supposed, the grief had been too much. So, instead, Peter had boxed Neal's belongings up and put them high on a back shelf in a hall closet. The bottle of wine that had been delivered to the Burke's had caused Peter to drag the box down from the closet and search for the key. After his discovery, he headed straight to the locker. The agent then inventoried the contents. He even got the opportunity to return some long-lost treasures, citing White Collar recovery efforts. He never told anyone, besides El, whose locker the items had been in or even how he had gained access to it.

It had been a mote point anyway, persecution for those fine works of art would not be possible. The statutes had passed, and there was no physical evidence to attach Neal to the locker. Only the word of a federal agent, which would carry a lot of weight, if this certain agent was so inclined to bring such information to light, which, he was not. Special Agent Peter Burke's priorities had shifted since he had become a father. He spent his workdays directing agents out in the field. He spent his evenings and weekends with El and Baby Neal, making memories.

Even Mozzie was missing The Big Apple. He missed his life in New York, his many abodes, and he missed his friends. Both he and Neal wondered how Theo was. They wondered about Peter and El's little one. They wondered how June was. They tried to keep up a little bit. Some of Mozzie's contacts passed information long distances. But the news was sporadic and by the time it got to them, it was months old.

During their time in Paris had built a reputation as a street artist. He did portraits, landscapes, stills. Anything that was asked of him. And he made good money,

But, what surprised him the most was the great amount of joy he got from the job. He loved seeing the reactions of his happy clientele. He loved how the word of his work spread. And the face he always had new clients to work for meaning he was always working.

Neal sighed as he took one another look around the villa he owned in Paris. He had brought it under an assumed name. That was just in case the FBI or the Marshalls figured anything out and decided to try to find him. But they had not tried to his knowledge. He guessed Agent Burke had more pressing matters. He was raising a son.

"…told Pierre to forward all mail to my PO Box in New York. Marie will clean for us twice a month till the money runs out. And Yann will take care of the landscaping…." Mozzie stopped. He could tell that Neal was not listening.

The silence made Neal look at his friend.

Mozzie smiled. "We're going home, Mon Frère."

Neal nodded and smiled back.

"Ten years, Neal." Mozzie stated.

Neal studied Mozzie for a second. "Is this a mistake?"

"The statute of limitations are up on all your crimes. You're clear there. But I don't know…." Mozzie paused. "Peter got the bottle you sent him, right? And he opened the storage container?"

Neal nodded. Peter had done both those things.

"Then, he knows." Mozzie replied.

"Yeah, but who did he tell? Did he tell anybody?" Neal asked. "I just can't help but think that since people think I'm dead and buried, maybe I should stay that way."

"Peter and El would want to see you. You want to see them…and the baby. I do, too. And then, of course, there's June." Mozzie said.

Mozzie was right. Neal had missed them all, a great deal.

The plane landed in New York a few hours later. Neal and Mozzie were back in The Big Apple for the first time in a decade. They went through Customs, both declaring what equaled to 7 bottles of wine and a 5 lbs. of the finest French cheeses. They hailed a cab and were off, already having discussed their first New York stop, on the plane.

"So?" Mozzie asked as he sipped his wine once they reached cruising altitude out of Paris.

"That's a loaded question there, Moz." Neal replied as he, too slipped his wine.

"I know you're given it a lot of thought." Mozzie replied.

"It's all I've been thinking about lately."

Mozzie looked at him for a moment. "Could you be walking into a suit trip?"

Neal shook his head. "Not after all these years. I just. I don't think…."

"It's only been 10 years, Neal. And you're not that old." The little bald man reminded him. "But that is not what that 'so' was about. That one was about where you're going first."

"Well, firstI want to check into a hotel, order room service, shower, eat, and then sleep off my jet lag."

"Neal!"

The ex-con nodded. "I know what you mean, Moz. It's just…I want to see June first but. She's…she's ten years older. Me, just showing up…I don't want to give the poor woman a heart attack."

Mozzie thought for a moment. "I'll go in. It won't be such a big surprise seeing me. I'll just kind of…ease her into seeing you…."

"That could work…."

"It will work. She will be so glad to see you." Mozzie said.

Neal smiled behind his glass. But, he still had his doubts. He wondered if he should return. Would he be disrupting lives to much? He didn't know, for sure, if Peter had gotten his hint, if he had pieced things together. And if he had, how would he feel about being duped? Would the FBI, after all this time, be able to force him to work for them? And, even though they had planned their first visit, how would June take his return? They had all mourned his 'death' and moved on. He could help but think, at times, that he should just stay dead.

TBC

END NOTE: The series did a great job at showing how things were going a year after Neal's death for the main characters. I just wished that they had shown June. I would have loved to see how she was at the one year mark.