Run, Rabbit, Run!

Neal Caffrey has gone on the run and once again it's up to Peter Burke and the rest of his White Collar team to find him.

This story isn't set at any particular time but takes place after the currently aired episodes. Some elements from the current season have been used but this story has nothing to do with the Nazi Submarine Art storyline and in my story that doesn't even factor in at all (it's as if it never happened).

This is my first ever fanfiction, please be kind! :)

Disclaimer: White Collar and it's characters belong to Jeff Eastin.


Chapter 1

The office of the FBI White Collar division in New York City was in chaos with agents shouting over one another trying to be heard as they went through five year old case files for any relevant information. The only one remaining detached from the mayhem down in the pit was Peter Burke who was in his office reading and rereading reports he'd written to the Director of the White Collar division regarding CC#071888 and anything he might have missed previously.

The reason the White Collar office was in chaos and Peter now doubted someone he had once trusted was because Criminal Consultant number 071888, otherwise known as Neal Caffrey, had disappeared after being let off his tracking anklet for a case.

With no solid lead on where Neal might have run off to, Peter picked up the phone on his desk and dialled the cell phone number for Sara Ellis. Even though Sara and Neal had broken up some months earlier she still maybe knew something that Peter didn't.

"Sara, it's Peter," he said when the phone was answered.

"Oh hi, Peter," Sara shouted over the din of the city noise around her. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

Never one to beat around the bush, Peter dived right in. "Sara, have you seen Neal today?"

Neal was still a touchy subject for Sara and while they'd worked together since the split every situation was an awkward one. "No… I haven't seen him. What's this about, Peter?" Her investigative side was intrigued by the question, Peter could easily just pull up Neal's GPS location if he wanted to know where the supposedly ex-conman was.

"He's off his anklet."

Peter's brusque words caught her off guard. "You don't think…" She didn't even want to consider what he was suggesting.

"I do," he admitted. Peter didn't want to imagine that his good friend would simply run off but Neal had failed to check back in and the GPS tracker watch they'd given him had been shut off.

"Oh no…" Sara sighed and Peter had to strain to hear what she said over the ambient noise they were both suffering through. "Where would he go?"

It was Peter's turn to sigh. "I was hoping you might answer that question for me."

Sara gave a sad laugh but then stopped abruptly when she recalled something she'd inadvertently found in Neal's apartment in a safe hidden behind a painting. "What about that passport he's got?" she asked.

"What passport?"

She was surprised by the question; Neal had basically assured her that Peter knew about it. "The passport he has in the name of Victor Moreau?" she paused. "You didn't know about it, did you?"

Peter was currently trying not to crush the phone in his hand or shout expletives down the line. "How long has he had that forged passport?" he asked through clenched teeth. He couldn't believe that Sara, of all people, would believe Neal when he said that Peter knew about a forged passport. She was after all the one adamant that Neal had stolen and still possessed the missing Raphael painting.

"A number of months," she replied quietly sounding like a scolded school girl.

Not wanting to curse at Sara, Peter thanked her for the information and hung up. How long had Neal been planning to run off and why had he chosen this time to do it? He had been let off his anklet on numerous cases in the last few months and he'd always returned at the end of the day to begrudgingly have it put back on.

Why now?

Drumming his fingers on his desk, Peter considered his next move but he already knew what he had to do and made his way out to the pit. His presence quietened the office as everyone turned to hear his announcement.

"As you all know, Neal Caffrey went on the run over twelve hours ago," Peter began slowly, measuring his words with caution in an attempt to keep all emotion out of his voice. "I have been informed that Caffrey is in possession of a forged passport under the name Victor Moreau. I want an alert put out on that name at all airports and train stations. He will not get out of the country."

As the chorus of shouting voices rose in the pit Special Agent Diana Berrigan appeared at Peter's side. "Any news?" he asked wearily.

Diana shook her head. "Sorry, boss. It appears he didn't even take a change of clothes from his apartment at June's."

Hands on his hips, Peter groaned. When Neal wanted to disappear he did a damn good job at it.

Diana was hesitant to speak again but her curiosity wasn't enough for her to hold her tongue. "Isn't Moreau the name of Caffrey's former girlfriend?"

Peter gave her a stern look but answered anyway. "Yes, it is but I don't think he would have picked that name for himself after what happened. I think it's a coincidence that that's the name on his forged passport."

Seeing what this was doing to Peter, Diana made an excuse of chasing up a new lead to leave him to return to his office. While Peter appreciated the sentiment he didn't want his team thinking they needed to wrap him in cotton wool because it was Neal they were hunting instead of a mug shot or surveillance camera picture of someone in a file.

Back at his desk Peter rubbed his temples trying to lessen the migraine he felt coming on. The same questions kept moving through his mind with no answers for them. Why would Neal suddenly run and why now? None of made any sense.

He was about to go and see what Diana and Special Agent Clinton Jones had when his cell phone started vibrating its way off the far edge of his desk. He considered letting it go to voicemail until he saw the name lit up on his screen.

NEAL.

Peter snatched the phone off his desk before it hit the floor and pressed it to his ear. "Hello?" he said urgently.

"Peter?" Neal's voice came back at him.


I hope you liked the first chapter of "Run, Rabbit, Run!"

Information pertaining to Neal's criminal consultant number was sourced from .com/series/whitecollar and the interactive FBI Office (in Peter's desk drawer, to be precise).