SGA Fans: The fic is an AU set in the White Collar world. There is no Stargate or aliens or Atlantis. Rodney McKay is the only character from SGA that appears in this fic and I have taken a few liberties with his canon-established background to fit him into this world. Spoilers exist for his first name (S3, McKay and Mrs Miller).

WC fans: The fic is an AU set sometime after the S2 episode 'Countermeasures', with the proviso that the episode 'What Happens in Burma' did not happen. This is because I have taken many liberties with Neal's background! Also, the Haustenburg stolen in this story is not the one from 'The Portrait', but one owned by a museum.

General Notes: I'm ignoring the age of the actors. In 2010, when this fic is set, Neal is 28 and Rodney is 32. Also, due to in depth research having killed my enthusiasm to write in the past, I have not researched all areas of the law that are referred to in this fic, hence inaccuracies will most likely exist. This is probably also the case for other areas too, apologies for this.

Thanks: Thank you to Jayne Perry for encouragement and betaing, plus writing a few sentences/paragraphs here and there and part of a scene that I expanded (she doesn't want credit for this, but credit has been given). Thank you also to Sholio for her advice early on in the fic writing regarding the pros and cons of crossover fics. And thank you to frith_in_thorns for further betaing.

Chapter 1 - Old Friend

Peter sat in the van, his brow creased in worry. A simple case had become complicated, placing Neal into more danger than he was happy with. They were investigating an art forger and his fence who worked together to steal paintings and then sell forgeries to several people. No one was sure what happened to the originals, but Peter suspected they were being passed onto another collector. They had yet to find any evidence for this though, hence sending Neal in as Nick Delaney, a buyer for a recently stolen Haustenburg. He was to pay cash for the forgery and then confront Jake Price, the fence, with the fact that it was a forgery and ask to be cut in on the deal. Nick Delaney's background strongly suggested mob ties, and they were hoping this would be enough to persuade Price to cut Neal in on the deal rather than take him out of the picture altogether.

Of course, there was always the chance that Price wasn't concerned about upsetting the mob, and so Peter had a team ready to move in on the warehouse if the situation went south.

"You have the money, Mr Delaney?" Peter heard Price say over Neal's wire.

"All $500,000 of it. You have the painting?"

"Of course. My associate here will check that the money is all there. Nothing personal, you understand, just business." Price's voice was smooth and controlled.

"Sure."

There was a few tense moments before Price spoke again.

"Thank you, Mr Delaney. Here is the Haustenburg. As you can see, it is one of his more interesting paintings."

"Yeah," Neal said, and Peter could picture him carefully scrutinising the painting.

"There a problem, Mr Delaney?" Price asked, a dark edge entering his tone as, presumably, Neal continued his appraisal.

"Actually yes, there is," Neal replied. "This is a forgery. You trying to scam me, Price?"

"I can assure you that the painting is real."

"I can assure you that it's not. And you know it."

Just then, a new voice entered the discussion, sounding like the person was approaching from the back of the warehouse.

"I told you the forgeries were terrible, Price. Anyone with a decent eye can see that. You really need to find yourself a better forger."

"Stay out of this, McKay," Price snarled.

"Huh, right. By the way, are you seriously about to shoot a guy who runs with the mob? I really am working with an idiot, aren't I? Make a deal instead - unless you want his friends to track you down? I hear cement boots are still all the rage in mobland!"

"You should listen to him," Neal said, tense but calm. "I'm happy to make a deal. You give me my money back and let me in on the scam, and no one needs to get hurt."

"No," Price said adamantly, his voice low and dangerous. "The mob is not getting their hands on my operation!"

Peter had heard enough. If Price wasn't concerned about the mob, then this was about to go badly for Neal. He ordered the team outside the warehouse to go in and ran from the van, with Jones and Diana hot on his heels.

Neal had known there was a strong possibility Price wouldn't go for the deal and that he would need to buy time, but he hadn't expected Rodney McKay to suddenly appear from out of the warehouse shadows. He hadn't seen Rodney for years and had no idea he was back in New York.

"Look, we can come to an agreement," Neal said smoothly, putting on his most charming smile. "Give me my money and I'll leave. No hard feelings."

"No, you'll just come back with your mob friends." Price raised his gun.

"Hey, I didn't sign up for this," Rodney said, putting himself in front of Neal.

"Rodney," Neal hissed, but, as was often the case in the past, Rodney ignored him.

"Violence is never the answer. Only idiots and morons think that it is!"

"Get out of the way, McKay or I'll shoot you too. I'm getting tired of that mouth of yours anyway," Price growled, using the gun to motion him away.

"FBI, drop your weapons!" The shout echoed around the warehouse and Peter's voice had never sounded so sweet. Once again Neal was grateful that he had such good backup, even if it was the FBI.

Fortunately, Price and his goon proved smart enough to realise they were outgunned and soon surrendered. Seeing that everything was in hand, Neal turned to Rodney, who was starting to look pretty shaken.

"Boy, Neal, your Fed friends took their time getting in here," Rodney said sarcastically. "Don't they care if their CI gets shot?"

"It's not like that," Neal protested, as an FBI agent, one Neal didn't know, approached Rodney with handcuffs and in return received a full blown patent-pending Rodney McKay glare, causing the agent to pause for a moment before continuing to approach. Neal was amused - not that he could blame the agent for pausing, he'd been on the wrong end of Rodney's glares enough times to know how intense they could be.

"Peter, please tell your agent not to cuff my friend," Neal called out.

"Your friend, eh?" Peter said as he moved over to them and gestured the agent away. "Sounded to me like he's involved in all of this."

"I freely surrender," Rodney said. "No need for cuffs or any of that unpleasantness. I have a lot of information to trade - about Price and his poor excuse of a forger, Davison." Rodney huffed and looked at Neal. "Really, how Davison gets away with calling himself a forger I can't explain. It's an insult to your profession."

"Alleged profession," Neal calmly corrected, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, right, whatever." Rodney turned his attention back to Peter. "I have paperwork that Price wanted destroyed that didn't quite make it to the shredder. Plus copies of deleted emails and files." Rodney shook his head, continuing in a scathing tone. "They thought that deleting files and emails was enough to make them go away. Can you believe that? Davison didn't even empty his Recycle Bin! At least Price knew to do that - not that it stopped me, of course. Amateurs! Even a kindergartener could have done better!"

"You haven't changed." Neal grinned and patted Rodney on the shoulder. "Still the same old Rodney."

"Yes, well, I have a lot of information to give about these two and their operation, plus the person they're sending the originals to. There must be a deal to be had here - preferably one that doesn't involve jail time."

"I can't guarantee that," Peter said honestly.

"Yes, but I know you do make deals. Only got to look at Anklet Boy here to know that."

"Anklet boy?" Neal said incredulously. "That's the best you can do? You're slipping, Rodney."

"Oh, give me a break! I just wandered into a supposedly straight forward exchange to find a friend in danger of a bullet to the brain! And bringing in lots of Feds with him too!" Rodney rolled his eyes, turning to berate Neal. "You honestly thought a fake mob background was going to protect you, along with that infamous silver tongue of yours? Wait, what am I thinking - of course you did!" Rodney threw his hands up in despair. "Of all the harebrained, moronic schemes... You know, I hate to tell you this, but you are not invincible!"

"Good to know you care," Neal said with a grin, knowing that Rodney's biting words merely showed just how scared he'd been for Neal.

"Yes, well..." Rodney sighed. "I guess we should get this over with."

"Want me to call your lawyer?" Neal asked, suddenly looking thoughtful. "Does he know you're in town?"

"No."

"Oh, he's going to be pissed." And not just because he was back in town and hadn't told him. Mozzie was still pissed at Rodney's disappearance in the first place. Neal wasn't too happy about it either, though he'd understood the reasons. Even better now than at the time.

"Yes, yes, I can handle the little guy," snapped Rodney.

"Mozzie." Peter grimaced. "Of course, who else?"

"He knows Moz?" Rodney asked Neal, surprised.

"Yeah, he knows Moz."

"Hmm. Well, don't call him in yet. I've got a feeling that I'll get the deal I want."

"You seem very sure of yourself," Peter said.

"Well, seeing as I'm about to give you enough dirt on Thomas Newman to put him away for life, I believe I have every right to feel confident. I think that deserves immunity, don't you?" Rodney looked smug and sure of himself.

"That..." Peter paused a moment. "That might be worth immunity. If your evidence is enough to get a conviction."

Thomas Newman was number five on the FBI's most wanted list, Neal knew. Newman was also the reason why Rodney pulled a disappearing act on them a few years back.

"You went after him - on your own?" Neal was pleased to see Rodney flinch and look uncomfortable at his annoyed tone - and, okay, maybe he was more pissed than he had thought.

"You were in prison..."

"And as Mozzie pointed out to me, you already had your disappearance planned weeks before I was caught."

"I didn't want you involved, okay?" Rodney answered defensively. "Newman is dangerous..."

"Which is exactly why Moz and I told you not to do this on your own," Neal pointed out angrily. "You should have trusted us to help."

"Hold on," Peter interrupted them. "You knew your friend here was after Newman?"

"Long story," Neal replied with a sigh, the anger draining out of him suddenly. "I had no idea Price was linked to Newman, and certainly no idea that Rodney was back in New York, let alone here."

"Sounds like an interesting story." Peter was giving Neal that look, which basically meant he was going to do his best to pry it out of them. Not that it bothered Neal too much, telling him about Newman and Rodney was inevitable really. He just hoped Peter didn't dig any further into things. Rodney knew his original name, and that was something he definitely didn't want Peter to find out.

"Newman murdered my family," Rodney said quietly. "So I've spent the last five years trying to get close enough to gather dirt on him. It's taken a long time as Newman is really careful, but Price was my way in at last. He needed a hacker, I made myself available and was able to hack Newman. You're going to love what I have on him. So long as I get the deal that I want."

"Let's take this back to the office," Peter said, and it wasn't a suggestion.

"Fine. But no handcuffs," Rodney demanded.

Neal gave Peter a not-quite-pleading look and thankfully Peter agreed to no handcuffs. Which was just as well - Rodney was quite liable to put those cuff picking skills Neal had taught him to use, and that would not endear him to anyone.