A/N: Hello, hello! It's been a while since I've posted anything on here! This is my first White Collar fic, so please be kind when reading/reviewing. It took me a bit to get into character, and I don't feel that it really came out until the end. Hopefully, though, I've done justice. Chapter 2 coming soon! R&R welcome as always! -Tayma xx
Chapter 1: Crims in Suits
A pristine black heel stepped out of the elevator onto the 21st floor of the high rise building. The other heel came to meet it, standing sassily before the elevator momentarily, allowing the two doors to close before proceeding on their mission. One foot in front of the other, delicate clicks followed in the wake of each step, long legs carrying the red-head through the glass doors reading FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, and past the cubicle of one Neal Caffrey.
"Caffrey," Sara spoke cooly, giving him a twitch of a smile before continuing on her way, extending her hand towards the man she was meeting. She could still feel Neal's eyes on her as she stopped at the foot of some stairs, looking two men in the face. "Peter. It's nice to see you."
"And you," Peter said, offering her a smile before gesturing at the man next to him. "Sara, this is Richard Penn, he's here on behalf of the city of Philadelphia. Richard, this is Sara Ellis of Sterling Bosch." Richard grasped Sara's hand tightly, gripping it surely before releasing it. "If you wouldn't mind stepping into my office, Sara…"
Sara nodded surely, flashing another of her smiles and following Peter and Richard into Peter's office, the glass doors closing behind them.
"Take a seat," Peter said, moving around to his side of the desk, taking a seat in his own swivel chair. Loosening his tie ever so slightly, Peter reclined in the seat, watching as Sara and Richard each took a seat across from him.
"So what exactly is this about?" Sara asked, looking from one man to the other. "I was told that this is a matter of national security."
"Not exactly," Richard began, clearing his throat. "More like national liberty."
Sara let this sink in. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."
"It would appear that sometime within the last forty-eight hours, the Liberty Bell was stolen," Peter piped in, pushing a file across to Sara and flipping it open.
Sara laughed. "The Liberty Bell?" An eyebrow lifted, and when neither man laughed with her, she sobered immediately. "The Liberty Bell went missing? Within forty-eight hours?"
"Well, it would appear less," Richard said, shaking his head. "Seemingly overnight, but who could believe that the Liberty Bell would be stolen over night without anyone seeing?"
"That's why Richard has requested our help."
"To help him find the Liberty Bell," Sarah said, asking for clarification.
"To find the Liberty Bell," Peter nodded and he and Sara shared a momentary look before she took a deep breath and nodded.
"Of course. The Liberty Bell is, well, priceless."
"Making your cut eternal gratitude and I'm sure a large sum of reward money on behalf of the city of Philadelphia," Neal piped in, stepping through the glass doors, charming smirk on his lips.
"Who's this?" Richard asked, gesturing to Neal.
"Neal Caffrey. History buff and consultant for Agent Peter Burke," he shook Richard's hand. "How's it going? So, the Liberty Bell is missing. Interesting. When…did you say this happened?"
"Sometime within the last forty-eight hours. Our security cameras seem to have been disabled at the time, though who would ever attempt to steal the Liberty Bell?" Richard laughed a little at how ridiculous it all sounded.
"We're going to need a list of visitors to Independence Hall within the past six months, see if there were any frequented individuals, people casing the area, possibly taking note of vantage points, blind spots…any security footage that you may have, employee background information, especially those working closest with the Bell," Neal rambled off, lifting the file in front of Sara and inspecting an image of the bell.
Richard looked between Neal and Peter, questioning whether or not to take the tall, blue-eyed man seriously. Peter gave a small nod before giving Neal a look. He should have been used to Neal's forward ways and preference for taking control in all situations, but sometimes it astounded him still at the man's behavior.
"Of course," Richard said, moving to stand. "We'll get it all sent to you as soon as possible." He extended a hand all around before nodding and placing his hat back on his head and exiting the office.
The trio stood silently, watching the man leave, one-by-one turning back towards Peter's desk, leaning in and hovering over the opened file.
"So what do we have?" Sara asked, her lower lip pulling back between her teeth.
"A couple of leads, possibly a few witnesses who could say they saw something, but people always come out of the woodwork saying they saw things that never happened when something major like this happens," Neal said, with a sigh.
"No doubt they'll have the media on this soon."
"Soon? Already. They've issued reports to all major news sources; stories are going up all over the place. FoxNews, CNN, MSNBC…all of them know that the Liberty Bell is missing, and there's a manhunt for whoever managed to pull it off," Peter stood, hands on his hips, turning to look out of his window. "People are going to go crazy to find out who took the Bell, and it's going to be our job to find out who took it first."
He was silent for a moment before turning around with a smirk on his lips, the smirk growing as he caught Sara and Neal sharing a conspiring look. Sara shrugged a shoulder and glanced to Peter, smile on her face.
"Have you spoken to El?"
"Sure have. She and Mozzie are camped out at the temporary base."
"When does the shipment come in?"
"Tomorrow."
"Which means?"
"The shipment goes out tomorrow as well," Peter confirmed.
"And where do we go from there?" Sara asked, completely out of the most recent loop.
"From there," Neal butted in, moving to lean against Peter's desk, "Mozzie accompanies the shipment, keeping surveillance. He's far enough under the radar that he can disappear and reappear and nobody would know any better. He has a few connections to help keep himself hidden long enough to keep watch. El, on the other hand, will stay here. Keep up her usual appearances."
"And the rest of us?"
"Stay put. Peter and I lead the manhunt for the man who stole the Liberty Bell, making sure to keep Mister Penn happy and the spotlight away from us, while you –"
"Keep up appearances at Sterling Bosch, clock in, clock out, keep them out of the loop while keeping myself in the loop and assisting Superman and Boy Wonder whenever they need." Sara finished, nodding a little bit.
"Boy Wonder? Really? You couldn't come up with anything better?"
"Mmm, Sticky Fingers crossed my mind, but I'd already used that one, so." Sara shrugged.
"Way to go, Repo."
Peter cleared his throat and moved to sit. "Play nice, children."
"Okay," Sara said, taking a deep breath. "How exactly are you going to lead Mister Penn – and the rest of America, might I add – to this elusive man who stole the Liberty Bell?"
"Easy. Leading them to a different suspect."
"Won't that be difficult?"
"Oh, no. Big ticket item like this? There's going to be someone who claims to have stolen the Bell. The only question is who and how long will it take them?"
Sara nodded. "And that is why we have Mozzie keeping connections. He'll hear it first…"
"And we ring their bell. So to speak."
"Right. Well, I'm going to get back to keeping up appearances, then." Sara said, giving the two men a smile. "Peter. Quasimodo."
She turned on one of her heels and left, leaving Neal staring after her with a look of distaste.
"I am not the Hunchback of Notre Dame." He said, looking to Peter.
"Sure you're not, Quasi."
DISCLAIMER: I do not own White Collar or any of the characters besides Mr. Penn. All else is property of USA/Jeff Eastin.