A/N: Hey guys! Got back into the White Collar groove thanks to the summer season (how about that FINALE? OMG, January cannot come fast enough!) and I just found an old notebook with all my White Collar scribblings in it and realised some of them might actually see the light of day. For those of you, if there are any, waiting on an update on Home For Christmas, you won't have to wait long! (Hopefully.) I'm in college right now and you'd be surprised how much work an art major gets, so updates might be slow, but I'm definitely actively working on the story again, so keep your eyes peeled. For now, have a drabble.
Peter Burke had done his research and by now, he thought he knew Neal Caffrey pretty damn well.
He knew Neal liked the thrill of the con, liked leaving things to chance and letting the chips fall where they may. He liked the risk, the high stakes; liked knowing there was always the possibility that he could get caught, that one day, he would get caught. But he never really believed it. Like all criminals, Neal thought he was invincible, invulnerable to the law. He knew the risks but he was always confident he would make it out in one piece.
Confidence. That was the name of the game and it was a game Neal knew how to play and play well.
But confidence tricks aside, Peter was beginning to see that Neal believed his talent for forgery was selective. He had asked quite a few times over the years - between the games of cat and mouse and the downtime in between - why Neal had chosen to take his talent and passion for art in a criminal direction. And each time, Peter received the same answer: silence, deflection.
He was beginning to understand that it wasn't all about the risks or the thrill of the game; it was for the recognition.
As a forger and a cheat, Neal was a master. He was Da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo rolled into one. He could reproduce paintings from the great masters without breaking a sweat. But as for original, passion-inspired, from-the-soul works of art, of genuine inspiration? Peter was no expert, but to the art world, Neal caffrey was passable, even good. He had talent, but Neal Caffrey thrived on attention, on praise and recognition.
He was famous as a forger. As an artist he was a fifteen-minute flame. And like most, once he'd had a taste of fame, he was hooked. Neal Caffrey was made for the lifestyle of the rich and the famous.
Neal might not be able to make a difference as a legitimate artist - he would never be the next Michelangelo, or Da Vinci but as a criminal, as a forger, he would shine.
fin.
Disclaimer: not mine, I'm just playing with them.