A new crossover by Yellowstone69 and Arches67.

The events in this story happen immediately after the last episode of season 5 of White Collar, right after Neal's kidnapping. On the Person of Interest time line, the action takes place during the second half of season 3, before the final arc with Samaritan.

This is not a direct sequel to our history "White Interest", yet it is set in the same universe, so probably better to read it first to better understand this fic.

Note: we started thinking about this story before season 5 of White Collar was even over; we started writing right after the final episode (Neal's kidnapping was just the "incident" we needed). 95% of the story was written by July 2014. Then, real life caught up and we couldn't finish the story as soon as we wanted. Season 6 is now over, as well as the show –tears…– although Yellowstone69 hasn't seen it yet. So the first chapter was written WAY before the first episode of season 6 aired. There is a saying about "great minds" right? Not great minds, but real fans of the show, who of course shared common ideas with the creators. So if some scenes look familiar, not our fault, it had it written well before they aired!

So, go back in time. Forget season 6 of White Collar, forget Samaritan's win and season 4 of Person of Interest, and enjoy the ride.

As usual, we are posting by chapters because we are mean like that, but the whole story is written.

Please keep in mind English is not my first language. Anything weird, please let me know, I'll correct. (Not beta's for English, sorry. Still looking for a beta. Anyone?)


New York, Roosevelt Island

The man in boots got into the van and nodded to the driver who started the car immediately.

He glanced at the back. Rick had just tazed the man that kept fighting under the black hood. He took his phone and dialed a number.

"We have the package."

Without another word, he disconnected the call.


New York, Wednesday 10:00 am – FBI offices – Day of Neal's kidnapping

Bent over a new file, Diana and Jones almost missed Peter's arrival, as he went straight to his office without a single glance at anyone. The two agents looked at each other surprised. Their former boss wasn't supposed to be there today, but at home packing for his move to Washington with Elizabeth.

Actually, the farewell party the day before had been filled with quite a few tears. Peter had been an extraordinary boss; things wouldn't be easy for the new agent in charge. Although she kept it for herself for now, Diana thought Peter was one of a kind. She was thinking of her own future: she was going to request a transfer to Washington. She had no particular ties in New York and she had enjoyed her previous stay in the capital. Raising Theo there couldn't hurt him either.

Peter's door banging brought her back from her musings. She had never seen that in the five years she had spent in the service. What could put Peter in such a frenzy?

Jones looked at her and whispered a sole word: "Neal."

Seating in his office, Peter was thinking to the beginning of the day: a real nightmare! Events seemed to snowball and he couldn't do anything about it. First, the phone call telling him that Neal's release had been denied. Telling it to his friend had been awful; it had felt as if he had stabbed the man in the back. He would never be able to forget Neal's wounded eyes. In all their time together, Peter had never seen such despair on his friend's face.

Although he still had doubts about his level of sincerity sometimes, he knew Neal tried hard. As a matter of fact, Peter was hoping that Neal would accept to work with him, not as a prisoner but because he wanted to.

Neal's reaction to the decision had been violent, to say the least. He would never forget the look on his friend's face when he had explained that the FBI wasn't releasing him because he was an asset to the service; if he had been useless, he would have been sent back to prison. Feeling deeply betrayed, Neal had just commented, "the game was rigged from the beginning." Except that it wasn't a game, it was real life.

Right after that he had told Elizabeth he was staying in New York to take care of Neal's case. She had very calmly informed him that she was still going to Washington. The job she had secured at the National Gallery of Art was a one in a lifetime opportunity; she was not giving it up.

Peter had agreed, not very sure of what it meant for them, then had come back to his office.

Was living away from Elizabeth really a good idea? Was choosing Neal, again, the thing to do? For the past five years, that man had upset his whole life, for better and worse. Thanks to his arrest and their work together, he had achieved the best success rate ever seen and was now one of the best agents of the agency. Those same ties had also sent him to prison and he had almost lost his career! Now, unintentionally, he was interfering in his personal life, getting in between himself and Elizabeth. Was he really worth that much dedication? Did their relationship, half professional, half friendship, deserve that his own marriage hung in the balance?

Seeing their boss holding his head with two hands finally convinced Diana and Jones to go meet him.

Peter jumped in surprise at the knock on his door.

"Come in," he said in a harsh tone.

The phone on his desk rang.

"Agent Burke. How may I help you?" he answered a bit drily.

Peter's face turned darker as he listened to the words on the receiver. He rose suddenly and started yelling.

"Is this some kind of sick joke? Caffrey has left his radius thirty minutes ago and you only call me now?" Peter stopped for a second to breathe. "Agents are on their way to intercept him. I certainly hope so, you bunch of–".

Diana had just grabbed the phone from his hand and informed the person that Peter would be calling back in a few minutes.

A bit surprised by Diana's intervention, Peter started to pace only to stop immediately, his office not allowing for such. He turned to the window and hit the glass with his hand flat in an angry gesture. "Quite useful telling him not to do anything stupid, it wasn't over," he whispered.

"Peter, could you please let us know what is going on?" Diana asked in a poised voice.

The agent seemed to remember he wasn't alone. He sighed deeply and apologized for his outburst. The call had come from the Marshals' office. Neal had left his radius and was moving northward quite fast.

Not wanting to ignite Peter's anger again, Jones cautiously asked, "do you have any idea why he would have done that? I didn't understand your last sentence. Why would Neal do something stupid?"

"Neal's release has been denied. I told him the news this morning," Peter explained in a tired voice.

Jones and Diana watched him aghast, dumfounded by the news.

"To summarize, the FBI Director said that Neal had blown any chance of release because of his stunt to Cape Verde. Furthermore the bureau doesn't want to let him go because he is a real asset for our cases," Peter added.

"I really thought this was it, that Neal would get his release. I spoke with the attorney a couple of days ago. He had seemed to think it was a given. I don't understand why they changed their minds."

"Unbelievable," Diana whispered.

Peter picked up the phone and called the Marshals office back. The conversation lasted long minutes. They finally heard Peter tell them that he would personally look for Neal and bring him back, then put him behind bars this time.

He hung up and turned to his best agents.

"The Marshals just found a pick-up with Neal's anklet, but no Neal. It would have been too easy… Apparently, he managed to open the anklet with a key. I don't get it. I thought there were only two keys for that anklet: the Marshals' one and mine."

I'll need to check that, he thought frowning.

"Which means, Neal is on the loose." He sighed. "Diana, gather a team to search for Neal."

Diana suddenly had an idea.

"Peter, before we gather the whole cavalry, can I give a call to Mozzie?" she said. "If he doesn't answer, it will mean they ran away; if he does answer…"

"I'm sure he won't answer," Peter cut her.

Diana dialed Mozzie's number on her mobile phone and put the speaker on.

"Hello. Hi Diana, Theo needs his favorite nanny?" Mozzie asked with a happy voice.

Diana could see the utter surprise on Peter's face. He had been so convinced that Neal had run. They all knew that Neal on the run, meant Mozzie too. He wasn't expecting the man to answer the phone, or sound that cheerful.

"Sorry, Mozzie, that's not why I'm calling. Did you Neal today?" she asked.

"Briefly this morning, after he talked to Peter. He was mad, which is quite understandable. Why?"

"He didn't come to the office," Diana answered.

"Something's up, right?" Mozzie asked suddenly worried. "You wouldn't have called me otherwise. Neal has been late before."

"Mozzie, Peter speaking. Neal is out of his anklet. As such, the Marshals' office is considering he ran away. Did you know about it? Did he tell you anything?" Peter asked, still pretty angry.

"No! Nothing like that. He didn't behave like he was about to run. We had even agreed to meet in a few days."

"Mozzie, don't try to cover your friend. Tell me the truth!"

"Hey! Easy! I didn't do anything. You asked me a question, I answered it. I am positive Neal didn't intend to run away today," Mozzie added, clearly annoyed too now.

"Peter, maybe we should consider other angles," Diana intervened. "Maybe he is in trouble…"

"Any idea?" Peter asked.

"We could start searching Neal's place. At least, find some clues that would help us determine if he has indeed run away. It would change how we organize our forces."

"All right. Let's search his loft. Mozzie, meet us there. Wait outside if you arrive before we do," Peter instructed.

He carried on, "I don't want you to compromise the premises. And you better show us all the hiding spots of that place. I'm sure you know all of Neal's secret hidings."

"Glad to see you trust me," Mozzie answered with sarcasm; clearly annoyed by the renewed proof of distrust from the Suit.


They had been searching the loft for over an hour. Mozzie had pointed to all the hiding places he knew, most of them anyway... The search had uncovered a few bearer bonds, a precious stone of shady provenance and mysterious value, a roll of letters to Kate, some pictures with beautiful ladies in different cities of Europe, contact addresses all over the world. But nothing significant…

Mozzie didn't really want to reveal where Neal hid his passports. If they were there, it proved his theory was the right one; Neal had disappeared unwillingly. If they were missing, then Neal had lied to everybody, himself included. Did he really want to know?

"Mozzie, any other hiding spot you want to show us?" Jones asked.

"A last one," he answered in a dark voice.

He went to the buffet in the main room and applied pressure to a column. "The moment of truth," he whispered to himself.

He put his hand in the opening and took the box he was hoping to find.

Jones grabbed it and opened it immediately.

In the box were all of Neal's passports.

"See! He didn't run! The documents that could have helped him go across borders are all here!" Mozzie viciously spat at Peter, not caring that he was actually confessing to Neal having several hidden identities.

The agent didn't know what to make of this. He had been so convinced Neal had run, that he had trouble coming up with another explanation.

The agents gathered the few documents they had found then left Neal's refuge; Mozzie was allowed to remain for a while. A police officer was assigned to keep watch in front of the building.

Mozzie waited a few minutes then started a new methodical search. He had been compelled to show most of Neal's hiding places, but he had still managed to save a few ones.

Fifteen minutes later, he let himself fall heavily on the couch, disappointed.

This new thorough search had revealed a few interesting secrets, some of which he couldn't wait to tease Neal about, but nothing that would hint at his friend running away. The passports, the cash he had just found, everything had been left behind.

He couldn't believe his friend had run after asking him to help him disappear. He had tried to keep that possibility in mind. But, honestly, it didn't make any sense.

Which only left one possibility… He didn't dare fathom a most tragic option.

He would bet his life on it: Neal had been kidnapped.

And as whom was behind it… their past was way too complicated to start building theories so soon.

Letting his mind drift, his eyes fell on the last box he had removed from the walk-in closet. There were two phones in it. The first one was the phone they used for their communications under certain circumstances. Some calls required extra protection. He couldn't recall where the other one came from.

Then, he remembered.

It was the phone John Reese had given Neal, almost a year ago when Keller had kidnapped Sara to get hold of their treasure.

It was weird that Neal hadn't got rid of it… It was related to far too many bad memories.

Neal's mysterious guardian angel had appeared out of nowhere when his friend had been in danger. Did he sell his services? What would be his price if Mozzie called him for help? Although, when he thought about it, he doubted there would be any financial transaction involved. They had other motives. Finch, his partner, looked like he had an unlimited access to funds. Let's just hope they would be willing to help them. The agent had seemed to like Neal. He might agree to do some research.

Before he even thought clearly about it, his hand had reached for the phone. He just needed to find the right charger.


Mozzie's eyes were glued to the battery indicator. It seemed charging this burner was taking hours.

The light finally indicated that the phone had charged, and Mozzie realized his hands were shaking as he pushed a button praying that John's number was still in use.

The wait seemed to go on forever. He held his breath when he heard the dialing tone, then froze when a familiar voice answered.

"Neal? I thought I told you to stay out of trouble."


TBC