A/N: Just something I conjured up. White Collar/One Tree Hill crossover. Things you need to know: Everything up until 5x12 happened, except the wedding between Lucas and Lindsay went off without a hithch. Peyton runs off to New York and runs into the married couple 5 years later. (9 years after high school) Characters are probably OOC.

Spring in New York was a beautiful sight. The leaves on the trees had already grown back and the lush color illuminated the scenery. The streets in downtown New York had always been particularly busy, but on Sundays the traffic would usually light up for an hour or so around brunch time. It seemed as if everyone in New York had the day off except for her. She was off to search for the rings that would be her next paycheck.

It had been five years since she took off from her childhood home, five years since she said goodbye to the people who were her friends, five years since she said goodbye to the reflection in the mirror, and within those five years she never looked back. She was twenty-two than. Today, she was a twenty-seven year old who hadn't made a life as a wealthy music producer as she had dreamed of, but instead she had made a name for herself as an insurance investigator; secretly she called herself a white collar repo woman because she liked the way it rolled off her tongue. She was able to earn a five figure salary in less than an hour.

She didn't necessarily wear trendy clothes from the hip designers on the runway, but wore the "grownup", upgraded, fancier version of clothes with real jewelry, not accessories. She had traded in her dark blonde curls for a red sleek do, her beloved comet for a 2012 Nissan she hardly ever used, and concentrated more on her love for art than her love for music. She was a whole new person, hell her name wasn't even Peyton Sawyer anymore.

Sara Ellis is what her card from Sterling Bosch read. It wasn't just a name she had picked up from thin air, on the contrary in fact, it had resulted in her first year in New York when she had met with her biological father Mick, he had told her the story that when Ellie first found out she was pregnant they had decided to name their baby Sara Ellis Wolfe, but not too long after Mick walked out and Ellie gave the child up for adoption. It wasn't that Sara didn't love the name her parents gave her. Anna and Larry had named her Peyton and it was a name she loved dearly, but it was also a name that brought painful memories about an absentee father, two dead mothers, the love of her life marrying his editor, one of her married high school friends refusing to speak to her, and so many other things. If she was to let that life go, well then, she needed to let her name go.

She had been Sara Ellis of New York City for the past five years and had gotten very used to answering when she heard that name. So when she was walking out from a restaurant where she had just recovered a large and very rare sapphire perched on top of a silver band along with an equally expensive plain white gold band she hadn't noticed the name that was hers so long ago.

"Peyton?"

It had been an unsure wondering question that filled the air. She had noticed him the moment she laid eyes on the two of them and quickly turned to make an escape, but it was too late.

"Peyton."

She turned slowly on her nude colored heels; her bright teal dress didn't sway in the light spring breeze, but stayed fitted as if it were a second skin on her body. She held her clutch very tightly in her hand and froze.

"Wow! We thought it was you, but we weren't too sure" Lindsay replied. "You look so different. Your hair is so much darker and your style has changed."

"All for the better." Peyton smiled. "I figured when I left Tree Hill and came here than it was time not only to change my location, but change how others should see me. How I should see me."

"Have you been in New York this whole time?" Lucas' voice had come out accusingly and she didn't know what to say. So she stood their silently. "I'm sorry." He spoke again his voice much softer this time. "It's just we haven't heard from you since you left Tree Hill." That was a lie. "No wait. Brooke's heard from you and by that I mean she just knows you're alive. All you send her is yearly birthday cards, but hey that's more than what the rest of us get, which is nothing." His voice had trembled back to accusingly.

"I sent her best wishes on her wedding day." Sure just because no one in Tree Hill knew where Peyton Sawyer had escaped to didn't mean she wasn't keeping tabs on the only good thing that had remained in her life while she was back in Tree Hill, her best friend.

"In a card!" Lucas again accused.

Peyton stood there for a moment pondering his accusation, he had been right. She had wished her best friend well in a card. Not bothering to call or even show up, but she couldn't. She had formed a new life and was very happy with the way it was. If she were to have gone back she didn't know what might have happened. She was selfish, but she deserved to be selfish after all of the sacrificing she had done years before. With this train of thought she chose to ignore it, or to ignore him.

"Lindsay." She averted her gaze from Lucas and turned her attention to the woman next to him. They, of course, were still married, but she smiled genuinely nonetheless. The time in New York had allowed her to grow to become a better person than who she was when she had first met the brunette, now who was more of a blonde. "It's nice to see you again."

"You too, Pey-" Lindsay had smiled, but was cut off by the sound of clinking heels.

"Mrs. Caffrey…" The young hostess from the restaurant that Peyton was just previously in came rushing toward her. "Mrs. Caffrey."

Mrs. Caffrey? Peyton-no Sara had thought. She kept the confusion on the inside and didn't let the features cross her face as she turned to look toward the young woman in front of her who had tapped her shoulder. For a second she glanced up toward the window and standing behind it had been none other than Neal who sent a wink her way. She hadn't known it at the time, but Neal had been keeping an eye on her, even with her back towards him he noticed her tensing up as she clutched onto her bag and so he slipped the hostess, who was a part time actress, a fifty dollar bill and sent her out to do an acting job that invovled his hat to be given to "Mrs. Caffrey" indicating that they had found her husbands fedora and that she'll be seeing the couple again at their usual time the following week.

"Yes." Sara answered. It looked like she would be playing the role of Mrs. for the next couple of hours.

"We found Mr. Caffrey's hat underneath one of the tables next to yours. I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience it has caused."

"There's no reason to worry. It's not like he doesn't have a dozen or so of these, but thank you for finding it. You know how he loves his fedoras."

The hostess smiled kindly and before heading off she added that she'd see the couple again next Sunday.

"Not as much as I love you." A dashing man in a classical old fashion suit, that he pulled off very well, came walking toward Sara and her two acquaintances. He slipped his arm around her waist and unknowingly to everyone around him dipped his fingers into her clutch retrieving two items before slipping one onto his left hand and holding onto the other. "Dear, how many times have I insisted that we go get this ring properly sized?"

He pulled out the rare sapphire ring she had recently confiscated and slipped it onto her finger adding how he had found it on the floor while he was looking for his hat.

"About a dozen times. " Sara, as Neal had known her to be, replied playing along with his antics happily. "I was about to head back into the restaurant when I noticed it was missing, but then I ran into a high school friend and his wife."

"Neal Caffrey." Neal extended his hand out toward the couple in front of him.

"Neal this is Lucas." Sara had told him as the two men shook hands, "and this is his wife Lindsay."

"So, how long are the two of you in New York?"

"About a week." Lindsay offered when it didn't look like Lucas would. "We're actually here for a get together with friends and family."

"That's wonderful." Neal said while Sara smiled not thinking too much of it.

"You're married?" Lucas changed the subject without realizing there was a previous conversation going on.

"Newlyweds." Neal replied. "Actually going on four months."

"Congratulations." Lindsay offered the couple. "I'm surprised the news wasn't buzzing around Tree Hill about this. Surely Brooke would have mentioned it."

Her face fell shamefully. This wasn't the Sara that Neal knew. In fact it wasn't a person he had ever met because it wasn't a look Sara would give, but Peyton. Peyton was slowly coming out; her guilt of not telling the person who she, till this day, considered her best friend even if Brooke may no longer consider Peyton hers that she was married, even if technically it was a lie.

"That's because we didn't have anyone there other than the locals." Neal interjected. "We got married down in Argentina."

"The both of you eloped?" The questions just kept on coming.

"Not exactly." Sara had replied knowing where Neal was going with this. "I was down in Argentina looking for certain artifacts when Neal surprised me about a week into my investigation-"

"Peter, my boss, had asked if I could assist Sara down in South America and I jumped at the chance-"

"And when we were down there Neal asked me to marry him I said yes!"

"Without hesitation I might add."

"Well when someone asks you to marry you and you know they're the right person for you than you say yes without hesitation. I've learned that from life." She slowly looked at Lucas.

"Wait-" Lucas registered. "You called her Sara." At Neal's nod Lucas continued. "Her name is Peyton."

"Was-When I was back in Tree Hill" Peyton answered quickly. She had yet to divulge any of this information to anyone let alone Neal. "Now it's Sara."

"Right." Neal agreed. He'd have to ask her about that later. "But she needed a change when she came to New York. I know all of this." He lied, but looked toward Sara for reassurance and got it when she smiled gratefully. "Sara Caffrey, that's her name and I would appreciate it greatly if you'd participate in my wife's wishes." Neal stood tall and squared his shoulders.

"Of course." Lucas couldn't help but laugh, but not out of true joy. She had a husband now who would protect her and he had a wife. "It all makes sense now. Why we could never find you. Not on the internet or social media websites. You weren't Peyton Sawyer anymore, but Sara." He had said just above a hushed whisper that sounded more like mumbling to the three others.

"So…" Lindsay dragged out the 'o' looking toward her husband curiously. "What do the two of you do for a living."

"Well, Sara's actually a white collar repo woman." Neal smiled earning him a laugh from Sara.

Sara might be her new name, but her laugh was still the same and it belonged to Peyton.

"And Neal-" Sara spoke. "works for the FBI."

"You don't look like an FBI agent." Lucas argued

"I get that a lot." Neal flashed them his badge and million dollar smile. "Actually I'm a consultant for the FBI. When they can't solve a case they come to me for my expertise."

"Your expertise in what exactly?" Lindsay asked fascinated with the man in front of her. He was defiantly a charmer.

"Mostly in high tailed forgeries, fraud, and anything worth a very pretty penny."

"How'd the two of you meet?"

Lindsay and Lucas were quickly spitting out twenty-one questions.

"Through our love for art." Peyton nudged Neal in the back reminding him of the Rafael she still suspected he had stolen and one that she was trying to get back. Her paycheck, if returned would be 2% and that alone was a very pretty penny.

"And white collar crime." Neal added squeezing her waist after she nudged him. "Enough about us. What about the two of you? Sara hasn't mentioned any of her high school friends other than Brooke who she speaks highly of." If it was one thing Neal was good at other than being a con man it was being a good listener. He had heard this Lindsay speak of her before.

"Lucas is a writer, dear." Sara had mentioned. She too wondered if he had been up to anything recently. She had kept her distance quite well and very far when it came to Lucas. She hadn't kept any of his books, didn't even bothered to buy the last one when The Comet was released. In fact, the last book she owned was An Unkindness of Ravens that had been burned in the fireplace at Brooke's years ago and that was when she vowed never again to buy anything relating to a certain man by the name of Scott.

"Really." Neal was intrigued the smile never ceasing to fall from his face. "What have you written? Maybe I've read it."

"You wouldn't know." Sara offered. She had known Neal very well and he otherwise read books from centuries ago, autobiographies on royalty or ancient rulers, poetry, and anything that gave information on something highly valuable.

"He's made it to the bestselling author lists for his two books." Lindsay smiled proudly of her husband. Although he hadn't written since his last book was published it was still a great accomplishment.

"Ah." Neal concluded. "Well, if that's the case I haven't read it. No offense, I'm sure it's great, but I just don't read anything on the-"he used quotation marks when he said '"best-selling author list" it's just that I don't believe in best-sellers. Today's society doesn't know a thing about the true art of reading wonderful books. It's a damn shame."

Lucas looked at him with squinty eyes, while Lindsay's eyes popped out of her head.

"I mean it when I said no offense." Neal offered and Sara patted his back biting back a laugh. This was just who he was.

Silence. When the quite got to be too much Sara looked down at her watch. Fifteen minutes. It had only been fifteen minutes, but it felt like a lifetime.

"Neal, we should probably get going."

"Right! We have plans with Peter and Elizabeth." He did the little trick he did with his fedora and flipped it onto his head. "It was nice meeting the two of you." He replied before taking a few steps back to let his "wife" say her goodbyes.

"The two of you take care." She gave an awkward hug to Lindsay than to Lucas. It hadn't been the same as when she used to hug him even when she had said goodbye. It was just different.

"You too Peyt." Lucas replied lowly into her ear causing her to freeze momentarily.

"Mrs. Caffrey." She corrected him before turning away and meeting her husband.

Lucas and Lindsay watched as the girl who they knew as Peyton and the woman they now seen as Sara embraced the man who was her husband. Their bodies touched as Neal slightly spun them around so he was facing Lucas and Lindsay and smiled before Sara spun them around again, but was solely looking at Neal instead. Their lips were moving, but Lucas and Lindsay weren't able to hear.

"So, Sara or should I say Peyton? You have a lot of secrets."

"Everyone has a past Neal." She smiled leaning into his ear. "Mine just happened to show up."

"For a whole entire week. You know what that means?" He smiled. They would have to keep up this charade for seven full days just in case they ran into them again.

"If you lose these rings I'm going to hunt you down?"

He just laughed holding out his hand as a gentlemen to help her up a step on the street.

2% was a lot of money to be gained when she returned the two pricey heirlooms and there was no way in hell she was going to let Neal Caffrey get away with one of her paychecks again!

-Fin-

A/N: I was thinking of adding more like 2-3 more chapters, but in each chapter with different characters as Lindsay mentioned they are there on vacation with friends and family aka Naley and Brulian. And so one chapter will be o Peyton or should I say Sara meeting up with Naley and the one after with Brulian and lastly all three couples. But I'm not too sure. If I get enough votes than I'll go ahead and do that :) My muse for Sara/Neal is very much in. I've said this before (not on this site) but I have the hots or those two.

Also I don't know when I'll update STO again. Maybe when school is finished. This semester has been so packed I haven't had time to finish anything in fact I'm surprise I did this. Although this only took me about an hour and a half. *sigh*

Name of Title by Maroon 5 (Great song I might add)