Disclaimer: I don't own White Collar, I just dream in there world.

This is a sequel to 'Proven' but should stand alone.

Peter was staring with some sense of dread at the evidence. Kramer was sitting across from him studying him, rather than the painting. Neal strode into the room, responding to Hughes double finger point.

"How are you doing Caffrey?" Kramer asked.

Neal still held his arm stiffly due to the mild pain from his gunshot wound. He'd been hit defending Peter during a take down. Kramer had been there and witnessed it. He'd apologized to Neal in the hospital for thinking he was conning Peter. Nonetheless, Neal still cringed inwardly at the sight of him. The fact that the man looked smug right now was disturbing.

"Better. I thought you went home." He still wasn't cleared for more than desk duty. But he'd been going stir crazy at home. So Peter was letting him in to do some light paperwork for at least a few hours. Neal had never thought he'd take such delight in doing mortgage fraud.

"I came back. New evidence on this forgery case."

He looked at Peter, who was not looking at him, but at the Rubens forgery. They'd recovered the original in a recent sting. Neal had suggested the name of who could have done the forgery while he was in the hospital. But he hadn't had a chance to look at it.

Neal sat, not really up to standing for long. "What's up?" He ignored Kramer now and tried to catch Peter's eye. Peter looked at him with genuine concern wrinkling his brow. Not a good sign. Peter nudged the forgery over to him and handed him a magnifying glass. Neal stared at Peter rather than the painting. Peter tapped a certain point, still not speaking. Neal leaned over and studied it through the magnifier. His breath went out in a startled gasp, partly from pain as he bent over too far and partly surprise. He drew back, ignoring the pain and then looked again. Stepped back in confusion and stared at the painting.

Peter's face relaxed a bit on his reaction. If there was one person who could read his genuine surprise it was Peter.

"Hmmm." Neal sat back down and stared hard at the painting, as if willing it to speak. "Could you prop it up?"

Peter propped it up on an easel. Neal stared at it, studying it carefully.

"Any explanation?" Kramer studied him. "That is your signature."

"I would not be stupid enough to sign a forgery."

"You signed the bonds."

"Even then it was only initials!"

"So they forged your signature?" Peter asked. Neal spotted the look of disagreement between him and Kramer.

Kramer commented, "I'm sure there are a lot of undiscovered Neal Caffrey's forgeries out there."

"This is not among those alleged forgeries. I did not forge that!" Neal cocked his head, momentarily too busy analyzing the painting to focus on Kramer.

"You said it was probably a Rayve from Italy."

"I did. He specializes in Rubens."

"Why would he sign your name?"

Neal's eyes slid half shut, considering the question seriously. He knew Peter was looking for the answer even if Kramer was ready to judge him guilty. He didn't personally know Rayve. Nor was this Rubens one he'd ever targeted. So what did they have in common? What did he have in common with Rayve besides forgery in general?

It had been a long time since he'd been in Europe. Who did he know, that knew Rayve..., "Oh." Neal blinked as a memory hit. He was not especially keen to share it with Kramer or even Peter. In point of fact, looking back, it was rather stupid. He was proud of how he'd pulled it off, but he'd never envisioned this particular scenario coming from it.

"Any ideas? It's only Peter's determination and your being injured saving him that have kept me from calling in the marshals." Kramer pointed out.

Hughes, Neal noticed, was following the conversation but letting it play out.

Neal considered. "Well now, are you planning to arrest me? Because if I'm under arrest, I'm calling a lawyer first."

Peter rolled his eyes, knowing it would be Mozzie. It was hard to picture Mozzie dealing with Kramer though.

"If not, yeah, I probably do know..." He winced a little.

"You know who did this?"

"It wasn't recent."

Peter looked alarmed.

"And no, it wasn't me! I mean, it's not a forgery...or not meant to be..."

"Caffrey, just spit it out." Hughes finally sounded impatient.

"It was Brian Rayvner."

"Rayv."

"No. Just a relative. Good up and coming artist, not really a forger."

"And he signed your name, why?"

Neal sank down a little in the chair.

Peter winced inwardly. Neal hadn't forged the piece. But he apparently had done something that wasn't something he wanted to share.

"We had a dare."

"Dare?"

Neal flushed uncertainly. "That wasn't really meant to be a forgery. It was a copy made in art school. He was an art student and I was...touring."

"What's that got to do with the dare?"

"He dared me to...do something at the school and if I pulled it off he'd sign it and I'd sign his. It was an art school practice painting. Not. A. Forgery." Neal said firmly. "I can prove it."

"Show me."

Neal rose reluctantly and flipped the painting around. Eyes darting around, he found the spot he was looking for and lightly scraped at it. Underneath was the signature, Brian Rayvner and a date.

"I don't know why it was passed off as a forgery. Brian didn't mean to be a forger. But he was really good."

"Neal?" Peter asked slowly.

"Yeah?"

"If you signed this as a dare, what did he sign of yours?"

Neal shifted uncomfortably. "Does it matter?"

"Maybe it has something to do with why this is a forgery. Maybe he wants to get even. Did you tank his career at the school?"

"Of course not!" Neal sputtered. Then he amended. "Well, they might've been a little upset..."

Peter gave him a pointed look.

"I replaced the statue in the main hall with one of mine. It was, again, not a forgery. It looked different. On purpose. They thought it had been...um...altered."

"Neal!" Peter growled.

"What! I was a kid! It was a prank!" Neal was defensive. But a hint of a smirk was there in his face. Peter could see it.

"What happened to the original statue?" Peter demanded.

Hughes was rolling his eyes and shaking his head. Kramer looked back and forth with interest.

"Oh. Nothing. I just moved it to a classroom and hung coats on it. The dean was livid..."

"And this Brian took the blame?"

"Credit. He took credit. It was a heavy statue. No-one could figure out how I...he...moved it unnoticed." Neal smiled. "They never did either, as far as I know."

Peter had his palm over his face. "You...must've been one big handful as a kid."

Neal blinked at this.

"And he didn't get kicked out?" Kramer finally put in.

"No. His parents had a lot of pull at the place. Last I heard, he was doing a small art show of his own."

"What about those parents? Just because they had pull doesn't mean they were thrilled to use it."

Neal's eyes widened. His eyes darted to the painting, out the window. He stayed silent.

"And...one of these parents was the forger?" Peter pressed.

"Uncle.." he muttered. "Oh." Neal shook his head. "I didn't think..."

"No, you didn't. Suppose they decided it was payback time? You didn't get in any trouble for it at all did you?"

Neal gave a helpless shrug. "Well, I wasn't there for much longer..."

"What were you doing there in the first place?" Peter asked.

Neal just gave him a wide eyed look, glancing between Hughes and Kramer and keeping his mouth firmly shut.

"Oh...go home." Peter sighed. "Just...go home and stay there, Peter Pan and let me straighten this out." He shook his head after him.

Neal hurried out the door.

To be continued.