Living Legends

Swapping Stories

Neal reclined in his chair as he listened to the gossip while the team was waiting for the bosses to start the morning meeting.

"I heard that he stole some computer the size of a football field and smuggled it right out of the facility while fighting off the guards single handedly!"

He laughed to himself. They had no idea what they were talking about. Sure, he technically stole a computer that big, but he did that by downloading it onto his cell phone. So, really, he just stole the information off of a computer that big as he left the computer itself. As for fighting off the guards single handedly… well, that worked, until Casey got into the mix.

Focusing back onto the room, he listened to the next rumor of his past escapades.

"Well, I heard that he once pulled a heist in the middle of a ball and stole a terrorist diamond before returning to the floor without anyone noticing that he even left."

Shrugging lightly, Neal had to credit Sarah with that one. He wouldn't have been able to be so sneaky if they didn't think that he was around with his girlfriend, as was her role that night.

"There was some kind of rumor that he took on one of our largest enemies in college when he was a first year rookie…"

Frowning, Neal wondered how that had gotten out. No one really knew anything about that situation… did they?

"This girl who moved to my sorority said that she got a hold of some files to back the story, but she never shared them so I don't know how true they were."

Oh, so those papers that he had had to retrieve were the sources of the rumor… good thing he got the evidence away from her before she could really spread the story.

"That's nothing. I heard that he was given a promotion, placed in charge of some big operation, and then sent into work, but was betrayed on the way. According to rumor, he was shot in the back, stumbled to a room to lock the enemy out, and died while his backup took down the perpetrators."

Interrupting the rumors, Peter and Hughes chose that moment to enter the room.

"Not that black ops agent again." Hughes simply gave the team a look while he laid the files out on the table.

Rolling his eyes, Peter was more skeptical. "Seriously people, he doesn't actually exist. Those are just stories that people make up… there is no such person as this 'Agent Larkin' that everyone likes to share legends about."

Snorting a little too loudly, Neal had to come up with an excuse for his reaction when everyone looked at him. "You don't believe in him Peter? Even I have heard legends of his theft abilities when he is on a mission."

"No I don't believe in him Neal. That agent would have to be extraordinary to do half of the things that he is reputed to have done, so it is impossible for someone to achieve all of that."

Smiling quietly, Neal thought to himself. And yet, he masquerades as a con artist, right under your nose.

Ending the conversation, they got down to business and started the meeting.

Encounter

It didn't take long for more than rumors to start spreading through the office. Apparently, the legendary Agent Larkin was not only real and alive, but he was active in New York City.

Jones was the first one in the White Collar office to walk into the office pale and shaken.

"What happened to you?" Peter asked.

"Huh, oh. Nothing. It's what almost happened that's the problem." He rubbed some sweat off of his brow. "A group of gang bangers jumped out of an alley and had me to rights… I would be dead if some dude didn't jump out and rescue me. I mean, this guy came in swinging and took all of the guys down in mere seconds while dodging every bullet they shot at him… it was like witnessing that agent Larkin in person."

Although he hated to hear it, Peter couldn't argue with his agent. "Are you alright?"

"Shaken up a little bit, but not hurt. I mean, it's not like he gave them a chance to do anything." Jones was relieved to have been protected, but his system was still reacting anyway.

"Did you get an eye on this guy? I mean no one seems to have any idea what he looks like. He keeps popping up out of nowhere and saving agent's lives before disappearing without a trace." If Larkin was real and working in his city, he wanted to know what was going on. The man had a rumored tendency to attract trouble so they needed to be ready for whatever he would cause.

"No, if I had to guess, for comparisons sake, I would say that he looked something like Neal. Really, he popped in out of nowhere, saved my life, and disappeared before I could get a good look at him." He wished that he had seen the man better, but he didn't see much more than his back as he fought.

"Don't worry about it Jones. If he is really alive and active, he will probably show up again." He didn't like the sound of what he was hearing, but he couldn't control the situation, so he would try to prepare as best as he could.

With the order for the team to keep an ear out for any other encounters, he settled the situation with Jones that the men had been arrested and the reports would be filed.

Mulling

Peter was mulling over the recent mysteries while he ate lunch with Neal and he kept pointing out inconsistencies in the Larkin legends.

"Seriously, how can a person steal a computer the size of a football field, yet alone carry it out of a facility?"

"Are you asking me?" Neal focused back on his words as he was only half listening.

"Yes, I am asking you, as a legendary thief, how you would pull such a theft off."

Using it as a theoretical answer, Neal answered rather honestly. "Well… it is only a rumor, so it might not be entirely accurate. I mean, he might have simply stolen the data off of a computer that big which would capture the function and purpose making it more of a comparable theft of the computer rather than a literal action."

Frowning, Peter still didn't think that quite worked. "How would he steal that much data? If it needed a computer that big, what could he use to transfer it?"

Holding up his cell phone in answer, Neal just shrugged while he continued to chew his bite.

"His phone? No way, that doesn't have the capacity for something that big." Peter was skeptical.

Swallowing to avoid choking, Neal managed to keep his face fairly neutral so that Peter didn't catch his amusement. "You'd be surprised what a phone can do."

Following the bunny trail, Peter was curious as to what that meant. "And what would you know about a phone's full capacity?"

Smirking mischievously, Neal simply looked at Peter while he took another bite.

"Come on. You don't have technical training so spill. What do you know Neal?" Peter was sure that Neal was playing him, but he wanted to satisfy his curiosity anyway. What line would Neal feed him?

Tilting his head at him playfully, Neal played with him. "So, you think that you know everything about me, huh?"

Snorting, Peter wasn't falling for that one. "I know that you are a mysterious person, but I also remember you're complaints on navigating basic FBI programs. Admit it Neal, you aren't the most technical savvy person out there."

Continuing to play with Peter, Neal teased him some more. "So, you admit that you don't know everything about me, but you don't believe that I could be hiding technical understanding?"

"Not to that extent." Peter gave in a little bit.

"What if I was to tell you that I not only have an advanced degree in computer engineering, but, that I also trained under one of the most advanced computer engineers available?" Neal was curious what Peter would say to the truth.

Giving him a warning glance, Peter reacted seriously. "I would say that you had another series of crimes for me to worry about."

So, Peter didn't see him behind the mask. Sure, he caught onto his loyalty and other such traits, but Neal did a very good job of hiding most of the truth. "What if that was just one of those mysteries that I hide from you?"

Sitting back and observing him for any signs of what he was aiming at, Peter answered carefully. "Then I would have to question why you would hide such advantageous skills."

Shrugging nonchalantly, Neal already had an answer. "Maybe because then you would look into a whole other avenue of crimes, or maybe because it would be revealing too much of who I really am for my own safety? There are several possible reasons why I wouldn't want to share such skills if I had them."

Watching him, Peter didn't see any obvious signs as to what Neal was aiming at, but his gut told him that Neal had just done something important… but what was the question.

Sensing

After their conversation, Peter started watching Neal and researching cyber crimes that occurred during Neal's street days.

His research pulled several different crimes that would be up to Neal's standards, but he had no idea what his MO would be in such an area. Giving up for the time being, he kept them in mind just in case Neal ever started to slip up on what his abilities were.

The observations that he made were more effective.

Based on what he saw, Neal really was hiding things from him. Every time Neal volunteered, he shadowed his knowledge in tales of 'alleged' or kept the extent of his knowledge vague. Now that Peter was thinking about it, he realized that Neal never gave up everything. He always had something more up his sleeve, no matter how much he seemed to trust Peter.

Still, Peter could also sense that Neal did trust him. When his back was turned to Peter he never had any signs of feeling threatened, and when he did feel threatened, he turned his back to Peter for protection.

Peter sensed that although Neal had his secrets, a part of Neal wanted to be honest with him.

Trouble

Peter knew that he was in trouble.

He had been kidnapped and was tied to a chair in some unknown location while he waited for his captors to choose his fate. Watching them meander around the room, he thought this would be a really good time for this none existent Agent Larkin to come to the rescue… but the problem was, that he wasn't actually real, so no rescue was to be expected. The team didn't even know that he was missing…

Hanging his head, Peter tried to keep his calm.

They were going to kill him. The boss had told him that he was going to die, but he was waiting to decide on how he was going to go about doing it. Based on the theories that he and his men were throwing around, it wasn't going to be pleasant.

What would Elizabeth have to go through? Would it be a closed coffin funeral, or would they make it quick so that Elizabeth would at least get that much closure?

Then there was Neal. Would he keep on the straight and narrow, or would he fall back into a life of crime?

Peter was afraid of what his death would do to his friends. He had his family, friends, and team, the people that he was responsible for. Nothing good would come of his death…

Delay

It was exhausting!

Neal was running. Each floor he had to push the button to stop the elevator for even just a few seconds. Then, when he was getting too tired to keep up the game, he used his hacker skills to stall the elevator long enough for him to gain the lead again. Despite his growing fatigue, he had to be successful in his stall tactic… Peter's life depended upon it!

The man in the elevator was hauling a series of tools utilized for various methods of torture. He was a brutal killer.

Although Neal would really like to take him down before he could get anywhere near Peter, he had to let him reach his destination, or the leader would shoot Peter for fear of discovery.

It was the definition of being stuck between a rock and a hard place. He had to buy time for back up to arrive, but he also had to risk things going too far to keep them from certainly going too far.

Taking a deep breath, he took in the energy to push on… he didn't have a choice.

Danger

Peter knew that he was doomed the moment that his assailant walked through the door, even more so when he sent a man to help him retrieve his gear. How much does it take to simply kill a person?

Apparently, this guy needed his favorite tools taken with him, no matter the difficulty of transferring them.

Continuing to watch, he saw the sharp edges, blunt instruments, familiar tools, and things he didn't want to imagine uses for… unfortunately, he would likely be learning their uses all too soon.

Shuddering to himself, he found himself afraid. He didn't regret what brought him to this place, he didn't fear what was about to happen beyond the normal fears, but what scared him most was what would happen after.

What would happen after he died…

There were so many aspects to that question that he couldn't answer that it made him afraid. He had his wife to think about. Would she ever remarry? His team. Who would be their new leader? Neal… he was a tougher one to predict. Then there were the obvious questions as to his destination. So many people claim to know what the hereafter contains, but did he really know? There was obviously a truth, like with all things, but which one was right, and why didn't he take more effort in finding that before? Perhaps, he felt that he was ready to face death? It was funny how he wasn't so sure now that it was staring him in the face. Digging deep, he decided that he could find the basics, but they were intertwined with tradition and polluted by beliefs. Focusing inwards, he couldn't physically escape, so he might as well look into solving other problems.

Failure

Failure wasn't an option for Neal. Peter was too valuable to lose, so he pressed on.

Reaching the top of the building, he hid while the hit man got help to unload his equipment.

How did he load it himself if he needs help unloading it? Based on what he had seen upon entering the building, the man had placed one of his bigger tools in front of the doors to keep them from being able to close while he made trips with the smaller tools until he was ready to transport all of them up.

Sneaking along behind the men, he paused outside of the room to see what was going on inside and what condition Peter was in. Listening, he heard them debating all of the different grotesque ways that they could kill Peter and how to arrange for Elizabeth to be the person to find him.

Clenching his jaw, he leaned against the wall harder in an effort to keep himself in place. It would do no good to storm into the room and cause them to kill Peter. Instead, he continued to listen while he planned.

Surprise

Peter was disrupted from his internal thoughts by the sound of a power tool next to his ear.

Looking up, he took in the cruel glee the man possessed at the prospect of getting to inflict pain. His eyes were excited and he had a slight smile on his face. It was a rather manic sort of an expression.

Glaring, Peter wanted to show defiance. If he was going down, he would go down fighting… even if it was only in a stubborn defiance of not backing down.

"Don't think that your friends will come to the rescue… no one even knows that we have you."

That was part of what was cutting to Peter, and yet, it was a relief. It also meant that no one was there to see what was about to happen.

Steeling for the inevitable, he was bracing himself when he was shocked out of his frame of thought.

"Yeah, this floor is almost cleared. I only have a few more rooms." Neal walked into the room with a clipboard and seemed to be oblivious to the danger around him.

Feeling his heart drop into his stomach, and then jump up into his throat, Peter felt terrified. What is he doing?

Watching in horror, he watched as Neal seemed to be taking inventory of the equipment around the room while ignoring the people moving threateningly towards him.

Is he an idiot, or does he just have a death wish? seemed to be their general opinion.

When it looked like Neal was about to run out of time, he quickly pulled a tranque gun out of his waist band, and then proceeded to render his foes unconscious before they could react or reach Peter.

Having finished his job, he walked over to Peter and began to release his bindings.

"What… what was that?" Peter spluttered.

Shrugging his shoulders at him, Neal seemed to be unfazed, like it happened all the time. "The team was taking too long getting here."

The conversation would have to wait because the team chose that moment to make entry.

Looking around, they also asked. "What happened here?"

Once again Neal answered, "You took too long."

Unable to argue with him, the conversation was dropped as a whole.

Driving

Peter could technically drive himself home, but Neal insisted on taking him.

"Come on Neal, I can drive." He tried once again.

"Yeah, but I am going to drive you home anyway." Neal held his ground.

Trying a different tactic, Peter tried to get him to talk about the situation in the room, about Neal's rescue. "Okay then, I'll let you drive if you tell me about that rescue you pulled off back there."

Snorting, Neal wasn't impressed. "I'm making you accept it so I don't have to answer any of your questions."

"Neal…" Peter got that bossy growl that said Neal was going to answer him, or else.

"Fine." Neal grew uncharacteristically serious. "I was going to ask you a question when I realized that you were being abducted. Since I was too far away to stop it, I followed while coordinating with the team…" That wasn't entirely true. He was actually keeping tabs on the growing danger in the city so he was moving in to protect Peter when he was taken. The question was simply going to be his excuse to interact with him.

"That explains how you knew what was going on and managed to coordinate a rescue. The next question is how you pulled off that rescue. I mean, you don't like guns, but all of the sudden you are wielding a tranque gun?" Those images of Neal shooting the assailants down with cool accuracy chilled him. Where did that come from?

Sighing, Neal had to tell some aspect of the truth. "A consultant is allowed to carry such non lethal defense weaponry as a tranque gun. Combine that with my past marksman training and a friend in danger… it doesn't take much to add up."

"Where did you learn such marksmanship?" Peter was pushing.

"At one point… I was training to be a cop." That was a revealing answer, but it was only the beginning of the truth.

Peter stumbled over that thought. Caffrey the con, had once trained to be a cop? What happened to change that course?

His thoughts were written on his face, and were the obvious questions, so Neal answered him. "Yes, I'm a con man who once trained to be a cop. I even had an application for the academy when everything fell apart…" That was a story he was legally obligated to keep to himself.

"Fell apart?" Peter wanted to know more.

"Unless you have secretly signed the confidentiality papers, that isn't something that I can share." Looking over at Peter, Neal added. "Agencies and government politics have dominated my life… for as long as I can remember. You'd be surprised at how accustomed I am to these circumstances of an agent watching me. How much of my life is secret because of… things out of my control." He stared out the window as he drove.

Thinking about what he had shared, Peter realized a few more things. His friend wasn't unfamiliar with how the law and government functioned, which meant that he often played dumb to hide that knowledge, and led to the circumstances of Peter not really knowing who his friend was. Did he even know his real name?

Arriving at the Burkes, Neal parked the car like Peter usually did. Pausing a moment, he turned to Peter. "I am going to head home. You had better get inside… Elizabeth knows about the close call and she is going to be worried." Another brief pause passed before he finished. "Have a good night Peter. I'll see you in the morning."

Unable to come up with a response, Peter followed the direction. Although he had more to talk to Neal about, and even more to think about, his wife was worriedly pacing inside as denoted by her shadow on the wall. Turning, he watched Neal walking down the street. There was something about the man that didn't make sense…

Names

Remembering his previous thought, Peter decided to try and get Neal to talk about his name.

"So, even though you can't tell me everything… do I even know your real name?"

"I've had three particular friends Peter, and your one of them. Still, none of you have ever called me by my full real name…"

"What is your real name?"

"It doesn't matter. He went into wit-sec, worked for the government, and ended up dead anyway."

"Dead?"

"Yeah. Betrayed, and shot in the back… he died honorably for his country in service to his people."

Staring at him, Peter opened his mouth and closed it again. Getting a puzzled look, he finally decided on what to say. "There is no record of you serving in the military."

"First, it was under my legal name and not any of the aliases that you have. Second, I wasn't in the military. Third, don't bother asking what I did for the government as you aren't cleared to know." With those cryptic little words, he walked away.

Standing behind him, Peter stared after his friend with a concerned and questioning expression. Since when did Neal work for the government like that? And what was this stuff about getting killed in action?

Mysteries

Peter continued to ponder everything. Something was happening in the crime world of the city that had things on the brink of getting out of control. The legends of Agent Larkin weren't looking like legends anymore as a growing number of agents were recounting tales of being rescued by him. And, Neal Caffrey wasn't keeping to his criminal persona as well as before… he had actually told Peter that he had a history in government work before getting killed in action. There had to be a reason for all three of these happening at the same time…

Researching the growing crime in the city, there seemed to be a group, inspired by traitorous agents, that were being associated with the root cause. The running theory was that a group called The Ring had inspired a smaller start up group that were trying their evil hand in one city instead of causing chaos in the entire country. On one side, they were getting a stronger reaction out of the government, but on the other, they were inducing more fear to the citizens because their activities couldn't be covered up as well.

In response, it was rumored that Agent Larkin was tasked with aiding in rooting out these agents of evil. Apparently, he had an entire career of experience in dealing with such groups so it made sense that he would be a good source to turn to in such a situation.

Then there was Neal. How did he tie into all of this? He had said that he had past experience in working for the government, but not in what capacity. Could… could he be? No, he couldn't be… could he?

Team work

The team was excited as they were going to be officially task forced with Agent Larkin. He was real, alive, and going to be consulting with them!

Filing into the conference room, they found Neal relaxing in his usual chair with a coffee while he waited for everyone else to arrive.

"Hey Neal, can you believe that we are actually going to be working with Agent Larkin?"

Smiling, Neal enjoyed their ignorance as to who he really was. "I'm just as surprised as you are." Which was a fact, as the general was changing her mind to actually let him reveal his legal identity.

"I want to ask him about all of the stories that I have heard about him…"

"Why?" Another agent questioned them. "It's not like he is actually going to tell you anything."

"Because, he might tell me some stories from his own perspective… how much better do you think those would be?" They were undeterred.

"Personally, I just can't wait to see what he looks like. I suspect that he will be charming and handsome…" One of the ladies of the office stared off dreamily. "After all, 007 is always characterized as being good looking, smart, and skilled, so why wouldn't Larkin be too?" She sighed to the rolling of several pairs of eyes.

"Get a grip. Even if he is all of that, what makes you think that he would be interested in you, or have time to get into a relationship even if he was?"

"A girl can dream…"

Giving her up as a lost cause, the others focused more on sharing their favorite stories while eagerly watching the office door in anticipation of his arrival.

Eventually, Peter arrived. Taking a seat next to Neal, he seemed to be more sedated as he read over the files and thought about the case.

Unable to resist, Neal nudged him. "Do you believe in Larkin now?" He smirked playfully.

Taking a deep breath, Peter thought about his answer. "I have had to wonder recently… I even have some suspicions as to who he might be." He was cryptic in his words, but he hinted at his thoughts.

"Do you? Care to share what those suspicions might be?" Neal was curious as to how close he was.

"Not right now, but how about you come over for dinner and I'll tell you then." Peter wasn't going to risk Neal's cover. If Neal was going to reveal the truth, then so be it, but Peter wouldn't be the one to draw attention to the situation.

"I take it that you have figured it out then… or very close at least. There is a reason that I trust you with my back Peter and for why I can tolerate working with you." He acknowledged the truth of the matter just as cryptically.

Nodding, Peter signaled that he had gotten the message before returning to his files.

When it came time for the meeting to start, Agent Larkin still hadn't arrived so the team started to come up with theories.

"What if he is busy saving some agent's life again?"

"Maybe he is waiting to make a dramatic entrance… or perhaps he is already here?"

"Where? There isn't anyone new in the room, there is nowhere to hide, and none of us are him."

Neal grinned. They were so sure in that assumption…

As the clock kept ticking, the atmosphere went from a mixture of being amused, curious, and interested to a growing frustration.

"Where is he already?

"I didn't know that you could have legendary rudeness."

Their frustration kept growing until Neal decided that it was time to stop the situation from getting worse.

"Hey, I was here first."

When everyone turned to look at him disbelievingly, he took out his badge and passed it to Peter.

While everyone else spluttered and stuttered on their responses, Peter flipped the cover back slowly and ran his finger over the badge gingerly. Reading through the information, he understood why Neal wouldn't tell him anything… and yet, he suddenly realized that he had. Neal had told him how he stole the computer, a little bit of his real history in that he had been in wit-sec, and had showed him something of his skill in his rescue. Passing the badge along for the other agents to confirm for themselves, he looked at Neal. Silently, he thanked him. The man had taken the leap of faith to trust him, and he appreciated that.

Nodding in return, Neal smiled. Peter finally knew. He finally knew that he trusted him, that he was an agent too, and something of who he really was… more than just his loyalty.

Clearing his throat, Hughes looked at Neal in surprise. "So, Neal… uh, Bryce. What is your plan on proceeding here?"

It was an awkward turn of events, but that was inevitable. These were the people who had caught him, who enjoyed gossiping about the rumors of his legends, the people who worked with him every day without knowing who he really was.

Family

Elizabeth laughed as Neal and Peter recounted the conversation in the office. She was amused by the theories and thoughts the office had about a mysterious legend.

"So, he does exist after all? I thought that you said he was just some story that people like to talk about, like James Bonds, the 007." Peter hadn't shared his suspicion with her as he had still been working through the situation.

"Yes hon, he does exist… we started working with him as a consultant today… for who he really is anyway." He tagged on the last part because Larkin had been his consultant for some time after all.

"What does that mean, has he worked for you before?" Elizabeth caught onto there being something there, but she didn't understand what he was hinting at.

"It turns out that he has been our consultant for some time." Peter said as he looked over at Neal.

"But… I though Neal was your consultant? You don't tend to talk about any others specifically working with the team, is there another consultant?" She questioned.

"No hon, Neal is our only full time consultant and the only one who specifically works with our team."

"Then…" She looked puzzled.

"Therein lies the reason that the office got so mad at him today."

"What… no one ever asked me if I was Larkin." Neal shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't his fault that they disregarded the possibility of him being himself… okay, maybe it was a little, because he played a criminal so well, but still…

Surprised, Elizabeth started putting the pieces together. "So, you were sitting in the office and listening to them spread rumors about you all along… what did that feel like?"

Laughing, Neal could finally express his amusement. "It was interesting. I mean, one person would be gushing about how I must be so charming and handsome, another would be expounding upon rumors of my legends, and others wouldn't even believe that I could exist. That is truly the recipe for an interesting time."

Feeling a little awkward, Peter realized that he had told Neal that he didn't exist to his face. "I wish that I had known that you exist… otherwise I wouldn't have talked about you the way that I did."

Smiling anyway, Neal wasn't hurt. "Yeah, well if everyone knew that I am real and alive, life would probably get a little too interesting…"

Shuddering, Peter had heard enough rumors to get an idea of what he meant by that.

"Why wouldn't people know that you are alive?" Elizabeth caught onto the implications there and was curious, just like Peter.

Coughing for dramatic purposes, Neal tried to avoid telling them too much. "Basically… The first time, I was placed undercover as a traitor in a civil war, ended up having to steal something to keep the enemy from getting it, and got shot. Then the second time, I was promoted, ordered to take my friends place, betrayed, and technically died again."

Feeling sorry for him, Elizabeth wanted him to know if anyone from his past knew that he was alive.

"No… I just have the people here in my life as I am dead to my friends and left my family in wit-sec."

"But, you aren't dead to all of your friends?" Elizabeth questioned. He had her, Peter, Mozzie, and the others… and they were friends, right?

"Just the ones from my past… fortunately, I have been able to make new ones here. Although, I do see some parallels between the two groups…" He smiled as he realized that Peter really was the other Chuck in his life, the other person that he was comfortable with and could rely on.

Enjoying the conversation, Peter and Elizabeth tried to show Neal that he had a family with them and that he would always be welcome in their home, while Neal relished in the chance to be somewhat open with them as they were the closest people he had to family.

Thanks for reading, reviewing, leaving Kudos, and following :D I'm glad to hear that "After the Panthers" was successful at conveying the grief that Peter felt in the last episode, in expressing the loneliness that Neal probably felt, and that I wasn't the only one who cried over it! ;)

Next week we start 'Time Incongruous' with some time traveling fun :D