A/N: From what they showed us, Neal met Alex after he was pursuing Kate. But I always thought that Neal and Alex's relationship had to be more than a one night stand and couple of hook ups. Their relationship seemed much deeper than that. So in my mind Neal and Alex go a lot further back.

Summary: A tragedy makes Neal talk about the past he ran from and brings him closer to the one that he could never leave behind.

Like Old Times

Ch 1.

Peter Burke exited the elevator and balanced his coffee against his chest to open the door. He walked into his office and saw a thin envelope on his desk.

"That came for you this morning" Diana said joining him in his office. "It's from the FBI Office in St. Louis"

"St. Louis" Peter repeated and walked over to his desk, sat down and opened it. Inside it was a letter and a photo. He was going to read the letter but was distracted by the picture. It was a black and white photo that was torn, crinkled and slightly singed around the edges. But the smiling face staring at him from the photo was what was giving him pause. It was Neal, a teenage Neal leaning against a wall with a girl standing behind him.

According to his search Neal Caffrey didn't exist until he was eighteen. And now he was looking at picture of a sixteen or maybe seventeen year old Neal.

He handed Diana the photo, picked up the letter and read it. "I was looking for information on Neal and I put a note in the database for anyone that finds anything. They did, the facial recognition pinged so they sent it over." He told her as he read the letter.

Diana studied the photo, it was interesting to see Neal as a teenager and he was just handsome as ever. It wasn't surprising to see a girl on his arm however the girl looked familiar as well. She shook her head and smiled.

"What?" Peter asked noticing her reaction.

Diana flipped the photo around to show him. "That girl, that's Alex"

Peter's eyes narrowed as he looked at the picture. Diana walked over and handed it to him so he could get a closer look. The girl was behind him so all of her face wasn't visible. He put the picture down and typed on his keyboard and pulled up a picture of Alex. It was her mug shot from the one and only time she was arrested. He held the photo next to the screen. The facial structure was the same. He rubbed his hand over his face, it was Alex.

"He's known Alex since they were teenagers?" Diana asked him. "When did he tell you he met her?"

"When he worked with Adler" Peter replied still staring down at the picture of Neal and Alex as teenagers. He didn't hate Alex, she just kept popping up in Neal's life. He should've known that he didn't get the whole story. Neal kept his past a secret and anyone that was a part of that was kept a secret as well.

Neal walked into the office; he smiled and winked at Susan inhaling a whiff of her lavender perfume as he made his way to the conference room. His smiled dropped when he walked in and they all stopped talking and stared at him. "What?" he asked looking down at his suit, thinking that maybe his tie wasn't straight. His suit was perfect as usual.

"Something interesting came across my desk today" Peter told him.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I can't tell with the staring"

Peter slid the facedown photo across the table to him. Neal picked it up, his eyes widened but otherwise his face remained the stoic. He was good at hiding his reactions, even though he wasn't expecting this. "Where did you get this?" he asked looking directly at Peter.

"Is that Alex in the photo?" Peter asked.

Neal was back to staring at the picture, there wasn't supposed to be any left. They made sure they destroyed them all before they left. He closed his eyes then looked back at them.

"You knew Alex when you were a teenager?" Peter asked when Neal didn't respond.

"Yes" Neal answered. "Now where did you get this picture?" the worry was growing in his voice.

Peter noticed Neal's reaction. "The FBI Office in St. Louis sent that to me. There was a fire in a Pawn shop and the apartment above. That's where they found the picture"

"Was anyone hurt?" Neal asked as his heart beat faster, his face no longer hiding his expression. He knew the answer.

"Yes, they suspect it was arson. The man who owned the shop was killed, his name is…"

"George Pallas" Neal interrupted and bowed his head. "I have to go" he told them.

"Go where, St. Louis?" Diana asked. "Did you know him?"

"I have to be with her" He knew she'd go, while George and she weren't that close, he was family and the only family she had left. "Her name wasn't Alex back then, she went by… Nicole…Pallas"

Peter walked over to him. "I'll see what I can do" Which would be difficult, he barely got his job back and Neal was on a much tighter leash since running. He'd have to spin George Pallas as an old friend of Neal's. He looked up George Pallas, he had a couple of larceny charges when he was younger. Then it looked like he cleaned up his act when he took in his niece Nicole. However he was suspected of a couple of robberies around the area but they never found any proof, every time they checked his shop it was clean. However this was his only chance to find out more about Neal.

Neal leaned back against the head rest staring out the window as the plane flew over New York City thinking of the first time he met her.

He walked into his third period class, World History, he noticed her right away. She was beautiful; she had long brown hair that fell down her back, full lips and a dark tan. She was wore an A/C t-shirt that fit tight around her body and faded jeans.

She was new, because he pretty much knew all the girls in school. She barely paid attention to anyone as they filed into the classroom. She kept her head down and was writing in her notebook. She was someone that didn't like to draw attention to herself.

He saw Tom Harris and some of the other football players ask her questions, she'd smile answer them but kept her face straight ahead. They asked her, her name. Nikki, they asked where she was from, she said San Francisco. They asked her to come watch them practice, she told them maybe. They talked to her during most of the class but she never once looked at them while she answered.

He didn't talk to her at all that first day, but he couldn't get her out of his head. She seemed different than the other girls at the school. He wanted to get to know her but he was too shy that day.

Peter drove the rental past the burnt down pawn shop, the yellow crime scene tape stretched across the block. Whoever killed him made sure nothing was left but a burning husk. Neal hoped they had killed him before they burned down the building.

Peter turned to him and asked where Alex might be so he gave him directions. They pulled in front the brick and glass building that looked completely different then when he was younger.

"A Library?" Diana said from the back seat. She felt bad that Alex lost her uncle, but she came along because she didn't trust Alex and she didn't trust them with Alex.

Neal pushed the doors open and walked inside. He smiled he remembered this place well; they spent a lot of time here. He ran up the stairs not even bothering to see if they were following. He had to find her, he had to make sure she was okay.

He walked down the aisles and through the door to the study carols. He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding as he saw her back facing him. She was staring out the window with arms across her chest.

She turned around when she felt a presence behind her. "Neal?" she asked surprised to see him. When he asked her to run away with him he told her he would never step foot in St. Louis again. "What are you doing here?"

He walked over to her. "They found a picture of us in the fire, they sent it to Peter" He told her. "Alex I'm sorry"

She looked up at the ceiling trying to stop the tears that threatened to fall. She barely ever cried but this was her fault. "I told him to wait for me, not to contact them without me" she told Neal staring back out the window. Neal's brows furrowed as she continued. "I told them that they weren't like their father, that they were dangerous and didn't tolerate any kind of failure" Alex Hunter took a deep breath. "He couldn't deliver so they killed him"

"Who killed him?" Neal asked. Her Uncle never progressed past minor cons and tricks. He never had the ambition, so the characters he worked with were never ones that played the game fairly.

"The Mitchell brothers" she replied.

Cameron and Carter Mitchell were the sons of Robert Mitchell. They liked to think of themselves as thieves but they were thugs. Robert gave second chances as long as you normally delivered, his twin sons did not. If George failed then he knew what that meant.

"How long did they give you?" Neal asked without hesitation.

"Twenty four hours"

Tbc…