Title : How You Like Me Now?
Author's Notes : Women from Neal and Peter's pasts return to complicate their case. An idea born out of listening to the song way too much. A character that I created from a previous fic has a surprising connection to Peter Burke. Not used to writing Peter Burke stories, so apologies if it's too out of character. Follows "Father and Son" & "Starry Night".
Disclaimer : I don't own any of the recognizable characters. That honor belongs to Jeff Eastin, White Collar writers and USA Network.
Summary : Peter and Neal investigates a series of thefts...sounds simple enough; until women from their pasts comes back and complicates matters. [AU/OOC]
CHAPTER ONE
FBI HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK CITY FIELD OFFICE...
Neal Caffrey stood behind Peter Burke as they waited in line to go through the metal detectors for inspection. Lunch hour was over, and numerous FBI employees are on their way to get back to their respective offices. In front of him, Peter was having a conversation with a fellow FBI agent from another department.
"Peter, I know that you're a skeptic when it comes to these things! Hell, I was too! But facts are facts! We have a 97% recovery rate since we brought her on board!" said Special Agent Martin Brewer from Missing Persons Unit.
"Martin, I would still chalk that up to coincidence. There's a reason why they call it a 'lucky guess'!" Peter replied.
"I heard that!" said a female voice in front of them. It was Simone Cassadega, the 'Independent Consultant' hired by the FBI to help the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team.
"Miss Cassadega, no offense, but I actually do prefer real honest to goodness field work rather than relying on a psychic for information." Peter answered.
"Call me, Simone. And no offense taken. I'm used to close-minded people like you taking jab at what I do!" she told Peter. "Tell me something...are you any close at all to finding a suspect on your recent case? If not, let me know if and when you need my help!" Simone said sarcastically.
Simone was talking about the recent string of thefts that the White Collar unit is trying to get to the bottom of. A thief, or thieves, have been stealing shipments of expensive golden statues that belong to a rich art collector named Erwan Solenn. Mr. Solenn had been on a trip around the world recently, purchasing golden statues from all over the world, and mailing it to his office in New York City. But before the statues even get delivered to his office, someone steals it from the shipping dock or the warehouse stock. There are four statues that have been stolen so far, and there are still five more that they are waiting on to get to the country. Something that did not sit well at all with a very frustrated Peter.
Peter turned to his CI. "Hey, Neal! I think Simone just made a crack at your skills. She seems to think that she'll do a better job than you in recovering those stolen statues!" Peter said.
"Don't drag me into his!" Neal answered. He turned to Simone. "If it were up to me, I'd be more than willing to accept any assistance from you!" he told her as he smiled.
As a recovering con artist, he's had his fair share of dealing with so-called 'psychics', but he didn't have anything against them. We all gotta make a living! he thought to himself. Besides, cons need to stick together.
"Please! You don't think I know when I'm being patronized, Caffrey?" she scoffed.
Neal had to do a double take. For a moment there, Simone sounded a lot like Alex when she spoke. Alex. She had been on Neal's mind a lot lately, especially since the recent revelation about Nicholas' paternity. Neal was about to say something, but the line moved. Soon, they passed through the metal detector inspection and were headed towards the elevators, which was also crowded. They ran into Jones, who was also waiting to get to their floor.
"Hey there, Jones! What's with the hold up?" Peter asked him.
"Well, apparently, there are some visiting UN big shot diplomats due to arrive soon. They're reserving a couple of elevators for the delegation." Agent Jones answered.
"Ugh! This is going to be a long wait!" said Simone.
"Is that based on your expert psychic opinion?" Peter asked sarcastically.
"Okay, you know what? I get that you don't approve of my presence here at the bureau! I must remind you though...I helped reunite two children with their parents last night! You, on the other hand, still have nine missing statues, not to mention a suspect that keeps slipping off your fingers!" she reminded him.
"Alright then! Let's keep this friendly!" Agent Brewer told them, trying to keep the argument from escalating. "Tell you what...I bet you lunch tomorrow that Cassadega here can tell you something about yourself that no one else knows!" he said.
Neal saw that Peter hesitated, so in the spirit of keeping the peace between the two departments, he volunteered himself to be the first victim. "Sounds interesting! I'll go first!" he said, stepping forward.
"Give me your hands." Simone demanded.
Neal obeyed. He gave her his hands, and she held them both in hers, palms down. She closed her eyes and was silent for a moment. With her eyes still shut, she finally spoke.
"You met someone recently." she began. "And yet, you love him more than you love yourself." she said. Then she opened her eyes. "Oh! He is beautiful! Just like you!" she added.
"Him? He? You been holding out on us, Caffrey?" Jones said, chuckling.
Neal just looked a Simone and remained quiet. In return, she flashed him a warm and understanding smile. Neal nodded and then turned his attention to Peter. "I believe it's your turn now!" he told his friend.
"What? I never agreed to any of this!" Peter protested.
"Come on, Peter! What are you so afraid of?" Neal asked.
Peter looked at Simone, who was motioning for him to give her his hands. He sighed. "Oh, alright!" he grumbled before obeying.
Simone took his hands and closed her eyes. She concentrated, before finally speaking. "You will meet your first love before I even get back to my floor." she stated.
Peter took his hands away. "Well, I can tell you now that you're wrong! My wife, who is my one and only love...is away on a trip to San Francisco, which is where she'll be be for at least two more weeks. Therefore, I can't possibly see her in here within seconds from now, can I?" he told Simone.
Simone opened her eyes and looked at him "You will meet your first love before I even get back to my floor." she repeated.
Just then, the elevator doors finally opened. Agent Brewer and Simone stepped inside, joined by other FBI employees. Peter, Neal and Jones tried to get inside as well, but Simone stopped them.
"You'd want to take the next one, trust me!" she said, before the elevators closed.
Peter was frustrated that they needed to wait for the next elevator. Moments after, there was a commotion of a crowd near them. A group of well-dressed people headed towards the elevator a few yards away from them. At first glance, none of them looked familiar.
Then, Peter saw her. A strikingly beautiful woman, about Peter's age. She was tall, almost the same height as Peter. She had long, straight, black hair, stunning golden brown, round shaped eyes and lovely full lips. She looked like she belonged in a billboard endorsing a beauty product.
Peter froze in his tracks, as memories came flooding back. He was stunned speechless, as he watched the woman and her group get inside the elevator. It can't be! he thought to himself. He thought his eyes were just deceiving him. He turned to Agent Jones.
"Jones! Did you see that woman who just rode the elevator? I want you to find out everything you can about her! ASAP!" he ordered him.
"Yes, boss!" Jones replied.
Neal looked curiously at his friend. Something about the woman definitely frazzled Peter. The three then stepped inside the elevator that just opened. Neal turned to Peter, who was still silent and perplexed.
"Peter? Why do I get the feeling that you owe Agent Brewer lunch tomorrow?" he asked, before pressing the button for the 21st floor.
Peter remained in his office for the most part of the day. He told everyone that he doesn't wish to be disturbed, unless it was absolutely important. He sat there, with his chair leaning backwards, and stared at the ceiling. As silence surrounded him, he let himself be taken by the memories he kept hidden in his head and in his heart.
WILLOW FALLS, PENNSYLVANIA, FIFTEEN YEARS AGO...
Peter, his hands behind his back, bound by his own handcuffs, struggled with Hugo Aragon. But the criminal hit him with the butt of the gun he was holding, which had the young FBI agent seeing stars. Peter, shook his head, as he struggled to stay awake. They were in a secluded area, at the edge of a cliff near an old mill, and right on top of a river. The rope bridge that they were on at the time started to wobble. The two men hang on to the bridge handles so that they wouldn't fall into the water below. Peter tried to lunge at Hugo, but the man pointed the gun back at him.
"Give it up, Hugo! She'll never show up! She spent a lifetime trying to get away from you!" Peter yelled at him.
"Oh, she will come! Trust me! She'll do it...just to save you!" Hugo said in a thick Spanish accent.
Peter went for the criminal again, but his injuries prevented him from being successful. Once again, Hugo overpowered him, grabbing him from behind and pointing the gun to Peter's temple.
"Don't be in such a hurry to die, Agent Burke! I will kill you, I promise you that! But not until Carolina gets here! I want her to watch her lover die by my hands!" Hugo said.
"Let Peter go, Hugo!" a voice said in a Spanish accent. Then, a female figure appeared out of nowhere, joining them on the bridge.
"No, Carol! Run! He'll just kill us both!" Peter said, as he struggled weakly. Carol ignored him.
"You heard me, Hugo! Let my fiancé go!" Carol ordered again.
"Ay, mi cariño! [Oh, my sweetheart!] What makes you think that I'll let you go? Just like that?" Hugo asked Carol. "I told you, you would pay! You lying, cheating puta!" he screamed.
Hugo turned to whisper into Peter's ear. "You will never have my wife! One of us needs to die before that happens! And I'm not planning to die anytime soon!" he told him as he laughed maniacally.
"Please, Hugo, I beg you! No one has to die! Please! Just let us go!" Carol pleaded.
"You call that BEGGING, esposa? Come on, Carolina! You can do better!" he told her.
Carol looked at her ex-husband. "I'm not your wife anymore, Hugo!" she told him. "And you WILL let us go! Or else!" she warned him.
"Or else what?" Hugo asked her. "You are not in any position to make threats!" he said.
"Oh...but I am!" she answered. She then took something out of her jacket pocket. "You remember this, Hugo?" she asked him, as she held out a black velvet pouch. She opened the pouch and took a diamond and held it out with two fingers. The diamond was clear, about the size of a walnut, shaped like a teardrop.
"The Devil's Teardrops!" Hugo declared. "You had them all along!" he said.
"Yes, but you can have them!" Carol replied. "I will give them all to you, in exchange for Peter's life!" she said. "The diamonds will be yours, just as long as you let us go!" she told him.
"And if I don't?" Hugo asked his ex-wife.
"Well then...you can kiss these babies adios!" Carol told him. As she dropped one of the diamonds into the water. She saw Hugo panicked, and she continued to drop another one of the gems into the water.
"Noooo! Stop that!" Hugo yelled.
"How about it, Hugo? Let Peter go, and you can have the rest!" Carol said. She saw that Hugo still didn't make a move, so she took another diamond and dropped it down the river.
Hugo screamed with rage. He pushed Peter away and immediately lunged for Carol. But the bridge was unstable. It wobbled and threw Hugo and Carol off-balance. Both of them fell off the bridge.
"Noooooooo! CAROL!" Peter screamed on top of his lungs, as he watched the two plunge into the raging river.
PETER'S OFFICE, FBI FIELD OFFICE NYC, PRESENT DAY...
A knock on his door broke into Peter's thoughts, snapping him out of his reminiscing. He wiped the tears from his eyes and tried to composed himself, before answering.
"Who is it?" Peter asked.
"It's me, Peter. I got something for you." Agent Jones answered.
"Come in!" Peter told him.
Jones entered Peter's office. He remained standing. "I have that information you asked for earlier." Jones told Peter, looking very worried.
Peter noticed this. "What's wrong?" he asked the agent.
"Agent Hughes wants to see us both in his office." Jones informed him.
"Agent Hughes? Why?" Peter asked again.
"I got flagged when I tried to pull up that woman's file during my research." Jones replied.
What Jones said next made Peter's jaw drop.
"As it turns out, that woman's name is Valerie Vega. The same Valerie Vega that is the current Chief of Field Operations of the Logistics Directorate for the United Nations Security Council!" Jones told him.
~END OF CHAPTER ONE~
Footnotes :
*This is my first attempt in writing a fic that has a lot of Peter Burke in it. Apologies if it's out of character.
*Working under the assumption that Peter has worked for the FBI for years. The flashback happened during his days as a probie...years before he even et Elizabeth.
*Agent Martin Brewer and his consultant Simone Cassadega, as well as Erwan Solenn, Hugo and Carolina Aragon and Valerie Vega are characters that I created.
*Willow Falls is purely fictional.
*You may remember Valerie Vega as Alex's friend and Aretha's mentor. She was an accomplished thief, before she worked for the UNSC.
*Thanks for taking the time to read this story. If you liked it, please feel free to leave a comment.