I don't own White Collar, but I enjoy the show.

This is completely AU starting with his encounter with E Parker. He was not in WITSEC in this story. He has a history with Ellen Parker, but it will be different from canon. Also, his father is not a dirty cop in this story like Neal claimed in season 2. He did spend time with her before she was killed, and she was still murdered in this story. It starts a few days after her death.

Chapter 1

It was just another day in the White Collar Unit for Peter when he was called to the conference room by Hughes. Stepping outside his office, he glanced out into the bullpen and noticed his CI watching him closely. Peter laughed a little at the look on Neal's face, which resembled a child being told he couldn't sit at the grown up table. Neal caught Peter's eye and gave him a questioning look. Peter shrugged because he had no idea why Hughes called him into the conference room and not Neal. As his CI they usually sit through these meetings together for Neal's perspective on whatever the crime involved and to develop a plan of action.

He also knew that both he and Neal were treading very thin ice since the return from Cape Verde. While he was just reinstated to White Collar division, he knew he had to walk a very thin tightrope to make sure the higher ups were not given any more reason to question his ability to solve cases. Peter thought maybe this was one of those changes. CI's generally were not privy to all case information, so maybe they were expecting Caffrey to be treated like any other CI and not the friend/partner he has come to respect over the years. Peter thought this was a bad idea because he needed to get Neal on a case that could get his mind off of his recent loss. The day before he stood by Neal as he mourned the loss of Ellen, who seemed important to Neal and played a key role in his childhood. Peter still was not fully aware of the details but hoped that Neal would trust him enough to open up instead of shutting him out while hunting down her killer by himself. Shaking these thoughts from his mind, he took his eyes off Neal and entered the conference room.

He entered the conference room and was surprised and slightly annoyed to see Agent Kimberly Rice sitting on the far side of the table discussing something quietly with Hughes. Peter stills gets angry when he remembers how Rice was willing to sacrifice Neal in order to solve a kidnapping case. He knew he looked as annoyed as he felt as he said, "What is missing persons doing here?"

His words silenced everyone in the room. Jones and Diana sat on one side of the table, their confusion evident as they wondered the same thing. Rice had the decency to look ashamed seeing Peter for the first time since their last collaboration. The 2 agents with Rice remained stoic and serious while Hughes sighed and in an uncharacteristically quiet voice said, "You're going to want to sit down for this one, Peter."

Peter's mind flew into overdrive at the possibilities and the seriousness in Hughes's voice and demeanor. Was something wrong with El? Why isn't Neal here? Does it have to do with him? A dozen scenarios jumped into his mind as he took a seat near Diana and waited for Rice to start her report.

Kimberly Rice surveyed the room, dreading the news she had to share. She glanced out of the glass doorway and could see Neal Caffrey trying his best to peek in without being obvious. She knew he would be brought in sooner than he will want, but this meeting needed to take place first. Taking a deep breath, she began.

"3 days ago NYPD reported a missing child. While this doesn't usually trigger an FBI response, it coincided with a murder that took place of someone you may be familiar with."

She pulled up the picture on her laptop and displayed it on the big screen. She saw and heard Peter's intake of breath as he recognized the woman on the screen.

"Her current name is Ellen Parker, and she had been living here for the last 10 years. When we tried to find next of kin, we found nothing. Ellen Parker did not exist prior to 2002. So we started digging a little more and found this."

Rice pulled open another screen showing a significantly younger looking Ellen Parker.

"This is Marilyn Taggert. She was last reported to be in Cleveland, OH but resided mostly in St. Louis, MO. She red flagged in our system after we discovered an alleged connection to this man, Damon Taggert."

Another picture on the screen got everyone's attention in the room. Damon Taggert's picture has been a fixture on the walls of the FBI for over 25 years as the leader of a child prostitution ring in the U.S who has never been caught or even seen since 1982, although his crimes have held a high (and young) body count. The case was mandatory study at Quantico, and even Peter remembers looking at this case. It was the reason he chose white collar crime over violent crime. The pictures of his discovered victims were burned in his brain, even over 15 years later.

"Okay, so this woman is found dead in New York and had connections to Taggert. What does this have to do with White Collar?" Peter pressed on. He didn't want to spend any more time thinking about the images that were stepping into the forefront of his memories.

Rice hesitated, knowing the next part of the story would not be pleasant. "Your CI also has connections to Ellen Parker/Marilyn Taggert."

The realization was a slap in the face for Peter. Of course Neal was involved somehow. He temporarily forgot the connection between Neal and Ellen after seeing Taggert's mug pop up on the screen, but now a sense of dread started to fill him as he realized the possible implications.

Peter looked around the room. Diana and Jones sat with expressions of dread, not wanting to know the connection. Hughes had the same expression on his face that he had when Peter entered the room, having already been briefed on the primary points of this meeting. This was not a surprise for him, but based on his expression Peter knew it was going to get worse. Rice looked almost regretful of having to share the information, like it was difficult for her as well. Perhaps Neal did gain her respect on the Wilkes case, Peter mused.

"So you want to talk to Neal about any possible connection to Taggert?" Peter asked, trying to get to the point before his imagination took off and he ran out to drag Neal back to prison for aiding a rapist/murder.

"That is why I wanted to meet with you first, Agent Burke" Rice continued. "We now suspect that Taggert was the kidnapper of our child in midtown 3 days ago, and witnesses described a man matching Taggert's description fleeing the scene after Parker's murder. We think that Caffrey has information about Taggert and his past crimes. Ellen Parker's death was an execution, and since she and Caffrey have a history together we started to wonder just how far back that history went."

Peter snorted, "Good luck with that. I hunted Neal for 3 years and could never find a thing about him prior to his 18th birthday when he came to New York City."

"And that was what, about 10 years ago? Correct Agent Burke? The same year Ellen Parker arrived in New York."

Rice's words hit Peter like a slap in the face. Dreading the answer, he asked, "and did you find anything, Agent Rice?"

Again, Rice hesitated. Her actions were starting to annoy Peter. Just get on with it, thought Peter. If Neal was helping Taggert, even if it was years ago, then this changes everything he knows about the man. Neal has always been nonviolent, preferring brains over muscle. How he could possibly have been a part of Taggert's crimes did not make sense to Peter.

Rice seemed to read Peter's mind. "It is not what you are thinking. Caffrey is NOT a suspect in this." Peter let go of the breath he realized he was holding and felt his body relax. He noticed Jones and Diana also slump down a little, showing their relief as well.

"We were never able to track Taggert's movements until after he left a body and by that time he was long gone. There have been a few cases where bodies have never been recovered. So we started tracking Ellen Parker aka Marilyn Taggert's movements over the years and cross referenced them with unsolved missing children's reports that we suspected were linked to Taggert and we found this one coming from the early 1990's."

The picture of a young boy, no older than 5 or 6 in what looked like his a school photo appeared on the screen. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and a bright smile showing a missing front tooth. The innocent smile on the boys' face made Peter smile for a moment until he remembered this child was most likely a victim of Taggert's; then he felt a sense of sadness over the child's fate and was once again reminded why he chose white collar crimes.

"We did an age progression of this boy to see what he would look like today, and guess what we found?"

The slide moved and suddenly the boy's picture moved to the left with computer rendered image of what the boy would look like today, 20 years later.

All movement in the room stopped as the agents stared at the screen. Peter felt his mouth go dry and his blood drop to his feet as he stared at an image of his CI on the screen next to a little boy thought dead 20 years ago.