Prologue

"He took my wife!" Peter had Neal pinned up against the siding of his house. The agent's hot breathe came in quick pants while his face was screwed up in fury. "We're done! Do you hear me? We are DONE!"

Dragging his consultant into the house, he pushed the man off on the first two agents he came across. Barely looking to see who took him, he barked commands. "Transport him straight to prison, and accompany him yourselves. I don't want him to escape due to anyone underestimating his skills."

Continuing further into his house, Peter found Jones and Diana. Running a hand down his face in reaction to the stress, he explained how Keller had abducted his wife to get the treasure from Neal, so he was done with the backstabbing consultant.

Turning as Neal was transported past them, all three agents saw the stoic expression on his face. The con man had all but shut down based on his expression, but whether he was hiding hurt, guilt or something else was anyone's guess.

Intentionally turning his back, Peter didn't allow Neal any kind of a chance to change his mind. He had already invested everything into the criminal and had lost too much.

Caught in the middle, Jones and Diana chose to glare accusingly until the younger man was out of sight.

Redirecting their focus back to their boss, the two younger agents began the process of working to get his wife back.

Early the next morning, Peter was faced by two younger agents from his team. The same two he had passed Neal Caffrey to the night before.

"He escaped, sir." Dak said trying to hide the tremble in his voice. He was a young blond haired agent with a promising future, and it didn't bode well for him to fail his first prisoner transport.

"What? How?" Peter exclaimed in angered surprise while rising from his seat. Apparently, Caffrey couldn't even go to prison without causing trouble.

"We were at a stoplight when there was an accident. Caffrey used the opportunity to escape while we were distracted." The second agent, Brad, stated. Like Dak, the red-headed young man also had a promising future, if he didn't tarnish it too badly through the learning process.

Rearing back to read them the riot act, Peter deflated suddenly. If he, the senior agent, couldn't hold Caffrey, who could? "Fill out your reports and make sure the alerts are spread. We don't want him getting too far."

Surprised, the two agents exchanged glances before escaping. They didn't linger in case he changed his mind.

Watching from above, Peter could see the team divided. Most of them were working to find his wife, but a few were tasked with the work to find their former consultant.

Unable to stir up enough emotions on the matter, Peter simply put the Neal file to the side of his desk and waited for the time when the crime spree would begin, because he had no doubt Neal would return to his former life.

A few days past; Elizabeth was found, Keller was arrested, and life seemed to return to a pattern of normal.

Elizabeth went to work and waited for her husband to arrive home from late nights at the office.

Peter was just as much of a workaholic as ever. He was still angry with Neal and threw himself into closing cases as quickly as possible. Maybe he was trying to prove he was better off without the con? Whether or not that was true, he had returned to work, his wife, and baseball. The man he once called a friend was no longer there to debate him, wasn't keeping him on the course and was an elusive reminder to their destroyed friendship.

The team worked to close cases in the office. There wasn't the same level of laughter and lightheartedness, but there was progress all the same. If Peter seemed to be having a particularly bad day, only three would consider dealing with him. As the boss, Hughes was able to work with him, and the only two subordinates willing to risk his wrath were Jones and Diana.

In many ways, the pattern of their lives had returned to the normal prior to Neal's involvement as their consultant, but there were noticeable changes in the people. Mostly, Peter, Jones, and Diana had been altered, but they were the agents closest to the con.

Three months passed with no news of their former consultant. No crimes fitting his MO, no sightings, and no traceable contact with his known associates.

Working a new case, the White Collar team was searching for a missing painting. It had been stolen from the Met by a man dressed in black with his face covered. The crime appeared to be unsolvable, so they struggled to find any lead.

Then they got an anonymous call. According to the tip, the painting was in a warehouse towards the outskirts of the city in a relatively abandoned area.

Understanding that it could be a trap, the team geared up and went to investigate the scene.

Thank you, everyone, for reading, leaving kudos, reviewing/commenting, and following me :D