A/N: Well, this is my first White Collar fanfiction and I'm super pumped to try it :D This is set in mid-season two. Hope you like it!
Peter Burke shut off his television and picked up his case files he had been working on. "Bye, El. See you for lunch?"
"Yep, same place. See you later."
"Love you!" he called as he shut the door behind him. Peter furrowed his brow as he opened his car door. A sapphire bracelet worth 5.6 million went missing yesterday from a shop on Fifth Avenue. The cameras had been blacked out and so far the prints didn't have a match to anyone. IT was checking the system now, because there had to be a technical problem.
"Better get Mozzie on the job," he said to himself.
Meanwhile, Neal Caffrey heard a knock at his door. He was getting ready to meet Peter and head to the office. He flipped his fedora onto his head and answered it.
"Neal Caffrey?" A young teen asked, Neal couldn't put an exact age on her.
"That's me, and who are you?" he gave her half a smile.
"Can I come in, it might take a bit to explain," she said, flashing an almost identical grin to Neal's.
The consultant looked at the clock behind him. 7:45. "How long is a bit?"
"Are you a good listener?" she asked cryptically.
"I'm busy right now, if you're doing a report or something on me, I'm open on weekends..." he was interrupted by the girl's face getting a shade paler and her eyes getting wide.
"No, it's gotta be now, Caffrey." She went past him into his apartment and sat down on one of the beige couches.
"Listen, kid. I have to go," he said annoyed.
"This can't wait. Sit down," she insisted.
"Where are your parents? What's your name?"
"Dead, and technically, I don't have one."
'What do you mean?" he asked confused.
"According to the government, I don't exist. I died two years ago. Will you please sit down now?"
Neal raised his eyebrows and plopped down on the sofa opposite of her, "Talk."
"Two years ago, my parents were killed in a car crash. I got put in foster care, I don't have any relatives. I absolutely hated it, so I faked my death." she said a bit proudly.
"You faked your own death, and the government pronounced you legally dead?"
"Yup!" she said smugly.
"Hey, what's your name?" Neal asked.
"Depends on who you're talking to. Do you want my twelve year old name, my sixteen year old name, or my twenty-one year old name?"
"You have aliases?"
"Duh, how else am I staying out of the system?" she asked.
"What about school?"
"I died, dude. I don't have to do anything the government requires."
"Don't you want to learn?" he asked.
"I read a lot," she shrugged.
Neal glanced at the clock and started to get up ,"I really have to go.."
"Sit back down," she said forcefully, "I need your help."
He was thrown off guard by her authoritativeness and began to sit back down, "Tell me your real name, not an alias, if you want me to help."
"Felicity Caidmen, I'm what psychologists call a 'troubled kid'."
"You're a criminal," he guessed.
Felicity nodded, "I'm way over my head, though. I kind of double crossed a guy..."
"What did you do?"
"I was the pack mule in this con of a forged painting. My job was to conduct the drop off. I was to take the money in a backpack and give it to another man in Central Park. The first rule I was taught when I started was never look in the bag. I,uh, overheard some details of the con and..."
"You looked. How much was in there?" Neal asked.
"Around 3 million..." she looked away, starting to look guilty.
"How much did you take?" he scolded.
"At least one million," Felicity said, and seeing the the unimpressed look Neal was giving her added, "Hey! I gave them two million. They need to go back to kindergarten if they don't know how to share."
"So, why do you need my help? You seem pretty well off."
"They want revenge."
"No surprise there. Who's they?"
"Jason Atlier and his goons."
"Atlier? You worked for, wait. You conned Atlier?"
"Mmhm!" she said proudly.
"How old are you?"
"Me? I'm fifteen, but I can pass for almost any age, depending on what I'm wearing..."
"You actually conned Atlier,impressive."
"Not that impressive. He got my prints from somewhere and put them on this sapphire bracelet. I'm not supposed to be alive. I love New York, I was planning on staying here for a long time," she said glumly.
"You act like you've lost," Caffrey said.
"If you don't help, yeah, I did. Do you have any wine?" Felicity asked.
"Aren't you a little too young?"
"You are now speaking to Cara Draeden, who just celebrated her twenty first birthday this past Saturday." Felicity said, pulling out a fake ID.
Neal got up to get two glasses and a bottle from the kitchenette. His cell phone buzzed, it was a text from Peter. "Where are you?" it read.
"My boss is waiting for me, Felicity," he said pouring the wine into a glass and handing it to her.
"My name's Cara, but I'll continue, and you'll stay put," she said as she took a sip.
Neal gave up trying to escape, "Wait, that bracelet, your prints are on there?"
"That's what I said. I need your help, Caffrey. I can't go to juvie. Or maybe even worse, the foster care system." she shuddered.
"Come to the FBI," he said.
"Are you nuts?" Felicity exclaimed.
"Tell them your story and I guarantee they'll give you immunity. They've wanted to get Altier for years," Neal's blue eyes twinkled as he told her the plan.
Peter walked through the door at that moment.
"Who the heck is this, Caffrey?" Felicity said, getting up quickly.
"I could ask the same thing. Wait, Neal, did you give her wine? She looks way too under age," he observed her warily.
Felicity looked him over and saw a badge and gun, "He's a fed, Neal. Do you always have suits waltz in?"
"Sort of," Peter grinned.
A/N: If you liked review :D