Disclaimer: I don't own White Collar. No profit for me. I just got shanghaied by plot bunnies and couldn't escape until I wrote this...

Neal stared in distress at the young FBI agent.

The man looked appalled, hand over his mouth. "Oh, er, you really shouldn't eavesdrop."

"He found a map in Peter's house?"

"I really shouldn't have said anything."

"Too late. Talk."

"Collins had a warrant."

"Oh...no wonder he...oh."

The agent hustled off, retreating from the stunned Neal Caffrey.

"Mozzie would have a fit." He calmed down slowly. Peter would not have given him away to Collins intentionally. It did make sense though, his sudden arrival on the island, his definite guilt. It wasn't just that he'd brought Kramer in and he'd crossed a line, although that was part of it. Collins had used him to find Neal.

"Neal! C'mon, we've got to get to the stake out!" His partner yelled. His partner who hadn't told him. Probably out of guilt and embarrassment. Neal hurried down the hall to find his friend, debating just how, exactly he should handle this.

Peter stared at the building where the suspect was hiding out. But his mind was on the consultant sitting quietly next to him. Too quietly. Neal was never this quiet.

"What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You are not trying to change the radio station, making origami animals or fidgeting. That's not like you."

"Did you really leave a map with my location just lying around?"

Peter turned sharply to stare at him. "What?"

"Someone let it slip. You had a map leading Collins straight to Cape Verde."

"Neal..." Peter looked pained. "I never thought he'd be so brazen as to get a warrant for my house. I'm sorry."

"I'm not blaming you for your intentions. But...where did you leave it?"

Peter mumbled an answer.

"What?"

"Closet."

"You left it in the closet?!" Neal spun in his seat to stare at him. "The map pointing right at me you left carelessly in the plain sight in the closet? Remind me to teach you better hiding techniques..."

Peter sighed. "I did not think it was careless. Our suspect is coming out." He put the car in gear and followed at a distance. "Did you tell Mozzie?"

"He'd be...irate."

"I'm not used to hiding things from my own side." Peter shook his head.

"He's turning. And even your own side has neanderthals working for it." Neal noted the suspect was gaining ground.

"I see it."

The day was not spectacularly successful, neither was it a flop. It was one of those days where they kept an eye on the suspect, flipped through paperwork and made plans. A day of waiting. Neal could not get his mind off the realization that Collins had not, in fact, tracked him. Peter had, and Collins had taken advantage. Of course, there were worse things he could've thought about, but this one was somewhat better as it involved a puzzle. He felt like he could do something about it.

"He led him right to us!" Mozzie waved his arms, one holding a chess pawn.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you. It was an accident."

"How can you defend him?"

"He risked his career to save me more than once. He made a mistake. How can I blame him after all the ones I've made that put him on the spot." Neal was staring at the chess board thoughtfully. "Maybe..." He moved a knight. "Maybe I should make sure he has somewhere to hide stuff. Probably not big enough for a map, but still..."

"Besides the safe you aren't supposed to know about?"

"Which is the first thing anyone would look for? No, I had something else in mind. Old standbys maybe...that would look right in their home..."

"I got it...here's what we need." Neal wrote down a list, leaving Mozzie to peer at it. His friend's eyes widened and he poured more wine into a glass, downing it in a gulp.

"Moz, that is not how the wine should be enjoyed."
"I know. But this is an odd list."

"It has to fit appropriately in his house."

"The purpose being what? An unbirthday present?"

"Let's call it emergency supplies."

"Nancy Drew? Emergency supplies? If your going for an unbirthday present, it should be Alice in Wonderland..."

"Trust me."

The books were the easiest. Neal got some first editions, two in good shape and two really ratty although the outside looked pretty good. The books were Nancy Drew Mysteries and otherwise unnoticeable.

Mozzie sat down, doing research for part two of Neal's unusual request. He kept glancing up at Neal as the younger man glued the two ratty books together and proceeded to hollow them out.

"Standard fake book hiding place. Why did it have to be Nancy Drew?"

"El likes Nancy Drew. She has some already so these won't stand out."

"Oh." Mozzie was researching sculptures of famous baseball players, preferably busts. "You want to actually steal, buy one of these or forge it?"

"Whatever works...No, strike that. I'll only buy it if it's banged up already. No point in ruining a good one to hollow it out."

In the end, Neal made the statue. He picked one of the statues of one of Peter's New York ball player heroes, replicated it and hollowed out the base. Mozzie watched Neal carefully work on the base to conceal an easily accessed but invisible compartment.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Why not?" Neal frowned, intent on his work. "If we ever need to dip below the radar...and we might, if Ellen's killers are corrupt law enforcement...this might be handy."

"It's also giving away some of our best tricks to a fed. I know you trust him, but he's still a fed!"

"Peter already knows some of our best tricks." Neal shook his head. "And the book trick is hardly new."

"Then what good is it?"

"It's better than the closet."

The final ensemble included a couple of spare 'Mozzie encrypted' flash drive types, along with a small burner phone and prepaid card and even a prepaid refillable credit card with the minimum amount of cash. Neal was not ignoring Mozzie's warnings. Spend too much money on this elaborate present and Peter would be forced to ask where it came from.

By the time he was done, Neal was feeling rather pleased with himself. He called June in to vet his work, and she couldn't find the secret of the baseball bust until he told her.

"So, what's the occasion?"
"There is no occasion, just a precaution." Neal frowned. "Of course, that's the problem. I need to think of a pretext of some kind."

"I think he'll love it." June was amused.

"Maybe it could just be a thank you for all you've done gift." Neal cocked his head.

"Or all you may do in the future?"

Neal grinned and shrugged. "Well, I don't want him to think that. It's not a bribe." Peter, he knew, would not take one.

"I think he'll understand." She shook her head smiling. "He might not be sure how he should take it, but he will understand."