Title : Copycat Caffrey Redux

Author's Notes : Friend of mine issued an AU future fic challenge. I had to comply. Not a lot of Alex Hunter in this story, but there is a little bit of everything to amuse/annoy readers. (FYI : For those who are not familiar with my previous stories, Neal and Alex have a son named Nicholas. This story is related to, but not necessarily a continuation of my previous fics.) Set twenty years into the future [yes, keep reading]...hence, the older versions of characters. New characters are introduced as well. Also, did I mention that this is partly a romance story between a Burke and a Caffrey? Happy reading!

Disclaimer : I don't own any of the recognizable characters. That honor belongs to Jeff Eastin, White Collar writers and USA Network.

Summary : For who is Nicholas if not his father's son? A glimpse twenty years into the future. (strictly AU/mostly OOC)

WARNING : Some language and adult content in the succeeding chapters. May not be suitable for young/sensitive readers.


CHAPTER ONE

Lower Manhattan, New York City, Summer of 2032...

Neal Caffrey stood in the balcony of his Tribeca apartment, the same place he had been living in since June died over a decade ago. He sipped his Italian roast coffee as he reminisced about the past. A lot of things have happened since he first set foot in New York City thirty years ago. He had taught and learned, loved and lost, fought and won. He made a lot of enemies, but found a few loyal friends along the way.

Neal remembered his past cons with Mozzie and his heists with Alex. "The good old days!" he thought. Mozzie got his happy ending and was now living in California with his wife and kids. As for Alex, Neal hadn't heard much from her since she got married and moved to Europe. Neal frowned at the thought. He did very few things in his life that he regretted, and hurting Alex was on top of that list. He sighed. If he had a chance to change something from his past, he would definitely set things right between him and her.

Speaking of regrets, Neal also looked back on his failed marriage to Sara. It wasn't the relationship he had hoped it would be. Their marriage only lasted less than 18 months. They both tried hard to make it work. Neal tried to be the man Sara wanted him to be, but that ended up putting cracks on their relationship. It didn't help their situation when they later found out that Sara couldn't have any children. In the end, they drifted apart and eventually divorced. Last news he had heard was that Sara was now happily married to a junior senator in Connecticut. Neal couldn't be happier for her. She deserved a happy ending.

It seemed that everyone else had a happy ending except for him. But then again, not everyone have the same definition of happiness. Sure, he ended up alone, but he was never lonely. He remained close friends with the Burkes. After he finished serving the remainder of his sentence, he decided to stay on as an FBI consultant, sans the tracking anklet. He lived his life vicariously through Peter. He served not only as his partner and best friend, but also as godfather/cool uncle to his lovely daughter, Catherine. Neal enjoyed being a part of Peter's family. That was something he never regretted. It made him feel like his life wasn't such a waste after all.

Neal finished his coffee and went back inside. He looked at himself in the mirror. He had aged gracefully. He still had the chiseled features that made a lot of women swoon. His eyes were still the beautiful shade of blue, with a few wrinkles around it which came with age. He combed his hair, still full although slightly grayish. He fixed his tie, put on his coat and his hat and got ready to go to work.


FBI Headquarters, New York City Field Office...

Special Agent Peter Burke sat inside the conference room as he reviewed the files in front of him. This had been one of the biggest case he had handled since he became the head agent in charge of the FBI's White Collar Crime Unit in Manhattan after Special Agent Reese Hughes had finally retired ten years ago. It was an ongoing case the FBI had been working on alongside with Interpol regarding a mysterious, unidentified master criminal whom Peter nicknamed as "The Baron". The FBI had only been after the criminal for three years, Interpol had been after him for the past seven years. Something about the criminal and the crimes he had committed bothered Peter. He hadn't been this fixated to catch someone since he had handled the "James Bonds" case back during his early days at the White Collar Unit.

As if on cue, his partner and best friend, White Collar Crime Unit's lead consultant Neal Caffrey walks in.

"You're late, Caffrey! Senior staff meeting was over half an hour ago!" Peter said with feigned irritation.

"Geez, Peter! Why do you always have to be so grumpy whenever Elizabeth and Catherine are away?" Neal said jokingly.

Elizabeth Burke had taken Catherine, their shy, sweet and kind-hearted daughter to Paris, France to register her for classes at Paris-Sorbonne University. Catherine, now 21 years old, starts her post graduate studies in a couple of months, to earn her Master's Degree in Intercultural Diversity Studies and Organizational Communication. Elizabeth was also there to help look for an apartment for their daughter to live in while in Paris. This had been a sore subject for Peter, since he doesn't really want his "baby girl" to live abroad.

"Stop changing the topic and sit down!" Peter said as motioned Neal to his usual seat. "You've missed a lot on today's meeting." he barked.

"If those are 'The Baron' files, then I haven't really missed anything at all." Neal answered. "Peter, we've gone through all of his files dozens of times and it had gotten us nowhere!" he said, exasperated.

"We are missing something, Neal! Something huge. Somehow, this guy has dedicated the past seven years of his life to recreating your past works and taking it to the next level." Peter said, while still looking at the files.

"So, you still believe in your theory that for some odd reason, this kid had zeroed in on copycatting me?" Neal asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Don't you? Alright, let's review this guy's file again and see the similarities, shall we?" Peter said as he spread the files on the table.

"Case number one : You forged bonds from Atlantic Partners. He forged Royal Court documents proving that he was the illegitimate son of Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein." Peter said as he handed Neal the case folder.

That was true. Neal said to himself as he took the folder from his partner. 'The Baron', who had the alias 'Sebastian Constantin' at the time, had presented the Royal Court of Liechtenstein official documents proving that he was the illegitimate son of Prince Wenzeslaus. The forgeries had been so good that even after multiple tests, it had been proven to be real. He even passed the DNA tests with flying colors, although that too was later proven to be forged. Even more shocking was the fact that The Baron was only 21 years old when he successfully pulled off this scheme.

In exchange for his silence, The Royal Family had given 'Sebastian' the title, Baron of Reitberg. That title came with shareholdings at Liechtenstein Global Trust, the largest family-owned private wealth and asset manager in Europe, owned entirely by the the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation. As a Royal, 'Sebastian' also gained access to $21.6M worth of inheritance money from the late Prince Philipp Erasmus, the standard amount the late prince left individually to all of his grandchildren.

That con lasted for over a year. 'Sebastian' lived the Royal lifestyle, as if it was really his birthright. Amazingly enough, he did this without leaving any photographic traces of himself, and had managed to stay away from the tabloids' radar. By the time the Royal Court had discovered the truth, 'Sebastian' was long gone, along with his $21.6M inheritance. He had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a distinct 'signature' in the middle of his empty Royal apartment. Interpol had been after him ever since.

"Case number two." Peter said, interrupting Neal's thoughts. "You stole Edgar Allan Poe's 'Tamerlane'. He steals William Shakespeare's First Folio." Peter stated as he handed Neal another folder.

Again, another truth. Nine months after the 'Liechtenstein Job', The Baron struck again, this time in the United Kingdom. 'Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies.' is the collection of 36 of William Shakespeare's plays published in 1623. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio. It was stolen from it's display case at Durham University in England. The only thing left inside the case was the same distinct 'signature' that The Baron left behind back in Liechtenstein.

"Case number three." Peter continued. "You stole George Washington's Love Letters. He steals Ludwig van Beethoven's Immortal Beloved Letters." Peter handed Neal another case folder.

Another ten months passed after 'stealing Shakespeare', The Baron continued his criminal activities, this time in Germany. Beethoven's Letters to his Immortal Beloved were three famous love letters included in the Heiligenstadt Testament, written by the composer to his famous yet anonymous mystery lover. The letters were reported stolen from the Beethoven-Haus Bonn Museum. Again no traces nor fingerprints were left, except for The Baron's usual 'signature', which had become his calling card.

"Case number four." Peter continued. "You were accused of stealing the 42 carat Steinmetz Pink Diamond from Le Joyau Precieux. He steals the 76 carat Archduke Joseph Diamond from the New York Museum of Natural History." Peter stated, tossing Neal another folder.

The Baron had lied-low for a while after the Bonn Museum theft. His little high-end criminal activities had stopped for quite some time, that the authorities actually thought that he had gone into early retirement. They were wrong. Three years ago, he had orchestrated one of the most brazen diamond heists ever pulled on American soil.

Neal looked a the photo stills inside the folder. Photos of a masked man dressed in black, being lowered down by cables attached to a winch from the ceiling, expertly avoiding the laser sensors. He remembered that day well. It was the day when Special Agent Peter Burke first became aware of the master criminal he later dubbed as The Baron.

Neal looked at more photo stills, all of them he had seen before, but still he couldn't help but smile every time he sees it. Neal stared at one particular photo, the one where the thief, who was hanging upside down, looked directly at the camera, as if taunting them. With the mask on, the only thing you could see were The Baron's deep blue eyes. Peter took a mental note of the expression on Neal's face. A look of pride. Peter thought.

It had been three years since The Baron had stolen The Archduke Joseph Diamond from right underneath their noses. The internally flawless diamond, worth over $25M, was ranked as the world's 12th largest perfect white diamond. It was loaned by the owners, The Molina Group, to be on display on a week long exhibit at the New York Museum of Natural History.

Even with the museums enhanced security detail on high alert, the bandit still managed to sneak by and steal the precious diamond, leaving no trace except his usual calling card inside the display case. A testament to The Baron's well-honed stealth skills as a master thief.

Peter found the lack of trail leading to the master criminal very frustrating. What irked him even more was the fact that the crime happened on his watch. When he found out about The Baron's criminal history, he became more intrigued. Elizabeth even mentioned that the last time she had seen Peter this preoccupied with catching a criminal was when he was in pursuit of Neal Caffrey.

"Which brings us to case number five!" Peter said exasperatedly as he threw him the last folder. "You stole the Antioch manuscripts. He steals the Codex Gigas." he continued with a tone of extreme frustration in his voice. This case was the latest one, less than seven months old.

It was a known fact that Neal had stolen the Antioch manuscripts, a collection of handwritten texts of the New Testament believed to be the point of origin in which the King James Bible was based upon. It wasn't an easy task, but he had managed to liberate the manuscript from the Institute for New Testament Textual Research at the University of Münster in Westphalia, Germany.

The Baron decided to outdo him once again, this time by stealing the Codex Gigas. Also known as The Devil's Bible, Codex Gigas is the largest extant medieval manuscript in the world. It was secured and hidden from the public by the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm. And yet, The Baron had stolen it with great ease. Even more impressive was that he did it without the aid of carrier pigeons. Neal chuckled at the thought.

"Are you laughing, Neal? Is this amusing to you? Because I'm not amused!" Peter said, a bit more infuriated now than he was earlier. "Whoever this guy is, he has a connection to you! Every crime he commits is tied to your past! Now, add all of that to the calling card he keeps leaving, I can't help but think that you're keeping some thing from me, Neal!" Peter pressed, slightly yelling.

Neal remained silent and avoided looking at Peter in the eyes. Although he never admitted it, Neal never denied it either. Peter was right, there was a connection between him and The Baron. There was a reason why The Baron kept committing all these brazen crimes. Neal remembered doing the same kind of high-end crime spree when he was younger and a lot more immature. Back then, Neal did it to catch Kate's attention.

The Baron was doing the same thing now. He was trying to catch Neal's attention. And Neal knows why. More than that, he knows the real identity of The Baron. He was that beautiful little boy that Alex Hunter reluctantly introduced to him over 20 years ago. The boy with same dark hair and deep blue eyes that mirrored Neal's. Nicholas Leopold Hunter, that was his name. Obviously, that boy was all grown up by now. Neal picked up the evidence bag that held inside the calling card that The Baron kept leaving in all of the crime scenes. It was an origami lily.

You have my attention, son! Neal thought. What now? he wondered.


~END OF CHAPTER ONE~


Footnotes :

*This chapter serves more as a prologue to the succeeding chapters.

*Story is set twenty years into the future...in MY head, Neal would be in his mid to late forties. Peter would be in his mid to late fifties. And sorry for the lack of flying cars and hover boards! =D

*I gave Mozzie the happy ending since he was the most unlikely to fall in love and settle down. Imagine Moz with a wife (perhaps Gina, who knows?) and kids and living in sunny California!

*Alex's story will be revealed gradually as the story progresses. It's a bit heart-breaking but necessary to understand why Nicholas turned out to be the kind of man he had become.

*To explain, after June died, Neal moved out of the mansion on his own. Maybe he thought it didn't seem right to continue living there since June was gone.

*In MY head, Neal married Sara out of impulse, and the hopes of getting a happy ending of his own. Boy, was he wrong! (Obviously, not a huge fan of Sara Ellis!)

*I imagine Neal would be happy being Peter's best friend and partner and even happier being Catherine's uncle. It would keep Peter on his toes trying to figure out what Uncle Neal had been teaching his little girl!

*I imagine Catherine Burke as the type of young woman who is kind, gentle, annoyingly sweet and at the same time, refreshingly innocent, to the point of being naïve. You'll find out more about her in the next chapters.

*Yes, there really is a Royal Family of Liechtenstein and they do own LGT.

*There really is a 900-page Shakespeare's First Folio. It was stolen from Durham Unversity, England in 1998 and was reportedly later recovered in Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. in 2008.

*Beethoven really did write 3 love letters to an anonymous lover known only as his Immortal Beloved. There had been much speculations but no conclusions as to who she really was.

*The 76 carat Archduke Joseph Diamond really does exist. It went up for auction at Christies' in Geneva on November 1993 and was sold for $6,487,945 and is now worth $25M.

*Did a bit of research...yes, the Antioch manuscript is real and so is the Codex Gigas. So (fiction-wise) Neal stole the manuscript from which the King James Bible originated from...what would be more fitting than for his own son to steal The Devil's Bible?