A White Collar Fiction

"Neal Caffrey, a crafty, witty, devious, and charming conman that just can't stay out of trouble, even though his best friend is the FBI . . ."

Consume Or Touch?

Chapter 1: Old Con Friend

Neal Caffrey was just minding his business that day. It was a Sunday afternoon and Peter and him had just solved a case. Burke suggested a beer for their success, but Neal had other things on mind (and also since he wasn't a beer type of guy).

His mind was always preoccupied with something else, which Mozzie even started to notice how distant he became. June didn't notice this because she was out of town for the week, on vacation, which she told Caffrey he could use.

The conman currently sat upon his chair, staring into his work of art on the canvas, the lights were on but the room was empty, only the sound of him breathing was heard. It was about 3 in the morning and Caffrey wasn't sure if he could sleep, he hadn't slept much the last night either and he didn't know what it was, something was just aching on the back of his mind.

Suddenly his phone started to vibrate on the table. He snatched it up and pressed it to his ear.

"Peter?" He spoke into it, waiting patiently for the response.

"Neal, it's urgent, you need to come to the Bureau right away." Burke replied, his voice sounding quite mad but at the same time worried.

"Why-what's going on?" He asked, snatching up his coat and heading out the door.

"An FBI Agent is dead."

Caffrey showed up on the scene a few minutes later. He slowly walked up to Peter, who leaned back in his desk chair. Down below his office was the crime scene.

"Who's she?" Neal asked, coming beside him.

"Agent Linda Birch, she worked here for two weeks."

"What happened?"

"Two days ago she complained about food poisoning and she just came back to the Bureau to fetch a few files." Peter replied, but Neal flinched.

"Fetch a few files this early in the morning? And how did we know about this if she was alone in here?" Caffrey asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Agent Linda was working on a case and needed those files to complete it and she didn't come alone. Agent Gerald was with her when she suddenly dropped dead. We have the whole thing on tape." As Burke spoke, he noticed the nervousness animating off of Neal.

"Can you just stop? I know it's early in the morning, but you're starting to freak me out." Peter said suddenly, staring into Neal's blue eyes that seemed to be faded and dull.

"Sorry . . .?" Neal began, giving Peter one of the strangest looks he had ever seen.

"Never mind, just check this out."

Neal nodded slowly and scooted closer to him to see the replay on his computer screen.

"That's odd . . ." Caffrey began, staring at Birch's face.

"Hmm?" Inquired Burke, gazing at him then back to the screen.

"She looks awful, why in the world would she be working on a case if she looks this terrible. Did you authorize this?" Neal asked, glancing towards his FBI friend.

"I haven't seen her lately and no I didn't authorize this, nor did I give them permission to enter the building." Peter replied, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Look Caffrey, you should get some rest, you look bummed out." Continued Peter, seeing his friend's blue eyes widen in thought. Neal suddenly looked at him.

"What makes you say that?"

Peter sighed, stretching his long arms upwards.

"Neal, I know more about you then you think." Peter stated, staring out the glass wall and towards the lifeless body of the FBI agent.

"It's Mozzie isn't it?" Neal questioned, following his gaze out the glass wall.

"Yeah, it's Mozzie." Burke replied slowly, bringing his gaze back to Caffrey.

"Well, you're right about the sleep, but I'm not going anywhere." Neal answered, stretching a yawn afterwards.

"Fine, let's go. We need to have a chat with Agent Gerald." Burke said, snatching up some files from his disk, along with his coffee mug and went out the door.

Caffrey followed him out the door and into the briefing room. Agent Gerald sat at the empty table, Jones and Diana standing at either side of him. The Agent glanced up as he saw Burke enter the room.

The man looked nothing like Neal expected, the man was bough, with muscles bigger than his head. His hair was buzz cut and his face was clean shaven. Not the typical FBI Agent.

Peter caught the surprised look of Neal, but didn't mention it. The conman had enough on his plate; he didn't need to worry him about his looks.

"Agent Gerald, I am so sorry that you are here under these circumstances." Peter began, taking a seat beside and then yawning loudly, then mumbling his apologies. Neal sat right next to him, his hair a mess and his eyes bloodshot.

"It's okay sir. I'm focused on solving this crime and nothing else." Replied Gerald, tapping his left hand on the table.

"Good, that's just what I want to hear." Burke said and then continued to ask questions about Agent Birch and their case together. Neal after an hour started to slump over slowly, until finally he fell asleep upon the briefing table.

Burke was in mid sentence when he saw his partner fall asleep, but instead of waking him he let him be. Even though he'll probably never admit it, Neal was like a son to him and yes he worried over him. Mozzie and him had recently started meeting again to talk about Neal's condition, which that also he'd never admit.

After the meeting, they let Gerald go under protective custody and sent him home. Burke currently climbed up the stairs and walked into the briefing room. The office had been cleaned up and Birch's body bagged for testing. Caffrey still slept in the chair, his face buried in the crook of his arm.

Peter walked up to him slowly and stood beside him. For a moment Neal Caffrey looked peaceful, almost innocent. Almost. Burke prodded him awake. Neal slowly lifted his drowsy head up and looked at Peter.

"What time is it?" He asked, rubbing his weary eyes.

"Six in the morning. Come on Neal." Peter said with a chuckle and helped Neal up. Burke and him walked out of the room and out through the doors.

The FBI Agent led him to his car and they both got inside. Once inside, Neal slumped over, his stature looking frailer than usual. Peter started the car and drove off. Caffrey remained silent, which was odd for him.

"Anything going on that I should know about?" Peter asked, trying to start a conversation with him, but Neal just shook his head. Burke glanced over at him, then back to the road.

"Are you alright? I know you've had it rough in the past few cases, but you look wiped out. Look Neal, if you need me-"

"I'm fine Peter." Neal snapped and the two of them made eye contact.

"Are you sure?" Insisted Peter, pulling up to the side of the road to drop him off.

"Yes, I'm sure." Neal said grumpily and opened the door. Peter just half smiled as Caffrey slammed the door shut and left. Burke heaved a sigh and continued down the road.

Neal reached his room and shut the door behind himself. Once inside, he heaved a sigh and slumped against the door. His mind was worrying over the dead Agent. Her death was just like another death he had seen in his previous years. A man named Jonas Martinis, he was known for his poisons and the word on the street says he's back in Manhattan.

Caffrey took in a shaky breath and closed his eyes. If it is Jonas, then he was in a lot of trouble. Last time he met him, he tried to kill him. And no, Caffrey didn't con him, it was the other way around, Jonas conned him. But the thing with Martinis' cons is that he kills the man he cons, but Caffrey being smart, figured out he was being conned and fled for his life.

Mozzie had helped him stay low for a few months until Martinis finally gave up in search of him. But apparently he finally caught Neal's scent again and now is searching for him. Neal wondered why he would target an FBI agent, (if it was him, of course).

That morning Peter sat in his office, fiddling with the test results of Birch's body. Neal just now walked through the double glass doors, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It was only three hours ago he had dropped Neal off. Caffrey climbed up the steps to his office and raised his eyebrows at him as he entered the room.

"Get much sleep?" Peter asked, looking back down at the papers in his hand.

"None. Are the results in?" Neal said, his anxiety levels rising.

"Yeah. Here take a look at this." Burke answered and summoned him over to his side. Neal glanced over the results and his face paled.

"I've never seen anything like this before. The poison used isn't cataloged in the Bureau's files." Peter continued, ignoring Neal's deathly expression.

"You recognize it don't you?" Peter said, closing the file and slamming it on his desk. Neal bit his lip and nodded his head.

"Well? Who is it?" Burke demanded, staring straight into his eyes.

"Jonas Martinis." He answered and watched Burke search for him on the Bureau's database.

"Jonas Martinis. Accused of forgery, theft, harassment, drug use, murder. Neal, the list goes on, who is this guy?" Peter said, looking up at his conman friend.

"Jonas Martinis wants to kill me." He stated and Peter squinted at him.

"Let me guess, you conned him a few years ago?"

"No, he conned me."

"So, why does he want to kill you then?" Burke questioned, checking out the cases on his file.

"About ten years ago he conned me, but Jonas is known for murdering the men he cons, but luckily for me, I realized he was conning me and ran. Mozzie helped me hide low for a few months and I got away. But Martinis doesn't give up."

"How do we know it's this guy?" Peter questioned, glancing back at the test results.

"Because Birch was poisoned by something you've never seen before and there's only one person I know who create a poison like this and it's Jonas. Trust me Peter, it's him. I just need to see if Birch was linked to case on him, if she was, then we're all in trouble." Neal said then walked out the door, leaving Peter to stare after him, wondering how Neal Caffrey got conned.

Caffrey sat in his chair, his legs crossed and resting on top of his desk. Diana approached him, files in her arm.

"Here's the case Linda Birch was working on before she was killed." She said, tossing the file onto his desk.

"Thanks." He muttered, pulling his feet down and snatching the file. He opened the file and started to read. His gut started to twist as he realized that Linda Birch was investigating a poisoning of a dead police officer. The police officer had claimed to get food poisoning and a few days later died.

Neal wondered why Linda wouldn't report herself into a hospital if she knew about the food poisoning. Did Linda know that she was going to die? And if she did, why didn't she get herself help?

Caffrey heaved a sigh; Linda Birch must've been threatened in some way to keep her from getting help. Maybe a son or daughter, a loved one maybe. Neal then requested to see Linda's file and he read through it quickly.

Agent Birch had one daughter, no father. Her daughter was adopted two years ago. The girl was found during an investigation after he parents had been murdered. Apparently Agent Birch then took her in as her own after the case was solved.

Peter still sat at his desk, getting info on Jonas Martinis when Neal sprinted up to his door. Burke was quite surprised about his haste to get to his office, but waited patiently for him to catch his breath.

"Peter, it was him. And I know why." Neal gasped between gulps of air.

A briefing was set up immediately afterwards. Diana, Jones and some of the other agents sat at the table, while Peter and Neal stood side by side.

"This is Jonas Martinis." Burke said, bringing up an image on the screen.

"Mr. Martinis is known for conning people, then murdering them with poison. I've had personal experience with this." Neal smirked, giving a sideways glance at Peter, then back to the agents.

"Agent Linda Birch was investigating a poisoning of David Johnson, a police officer that according to Neal was getting to close to the truth on Martinis' case. We believe that Jonas killed Johnson and when Agent Birch started to piece this together, we think that she was murdered by him as well." Burke explained, gesturing with his hands a lot as he spoke.

"And since we all know the Linda Birch knew about the poisons, I believe that she was threatened in some way not to tell anyone about it. Birch had an adopted daughter, Sally. I think Jonas held Sally captive to make sure Birch wouldn't say anything about the truth." Neal said, heaving a tired sigh afterwards.

"But Sally is with her grandmother. I know this because she told me two days ago." Objected Jones, confusion written across his face. Neal stared at him blankly for a moment, his brain trying to rack up an answer.

"Linda's mother died five years ago and there are no women that Sally would call grandmother." Neal answered and then looked at Burke to finish the briefing.

"Okay people, I want all of you to search for a place Martinis might be hiding, all the way to apartments to abandoned warehouses. Neal, I want you to talk to your contacts, see if you can find him."

People left the room immediately to get to work, but Peter caught Neal on the shoulder before he could leave.

"Neal, I want you to tell me something." Burke started, staring into his eyes.

"If you need to talk . . ."

"I know Peter, you're there for me."