It had been and hour and a half since Neal had left the office. It had also been an hour and a half since Peter had actually been able to get any work done. He was about to give up and go to Neal's apartment, when the con strode into the office.

Peter got up from his desk, trying to look casual instead of worried, and walked over the the railing overlooking the bullpen. Neal glanced up at him, and Peter gave him the double finger point, gesturing to the conference room. Neal nodded, flipped his hat onto his desk, and strode up to the room, giving a small smirk to a new probie who blushed and turned away.

Peter watched Neal closely as he entered the glass room. "Where's your suit jacket?"

"Huh?" Neal looked down, and then shrugged. "Must've forgot it at the apartment."

Peter narrowed his eyes, and Neal gave him a weird look. "I can go back and get it if it offends you so much," he said sarcastically.

Peter shook his head. "What did Mozzie say?"

"Mo- oh yeah. He didn't know anything."

"It took an hour and a half to confirm that he didn't know anything?"

Neal sat down at the glass table, lowering the leg he was going to prop up on it at the sight of Peter's glare. "You know Mozzie. Doesn't exactly like helping the Feds."

Peter crossed his arms. "Even if we're looking for a guy who murdered a family?"

Neal's eyes flicked down to the floor, staring at it hard for a few seconds more than was natural. When he looked back up, his eyes were cold. "Listen, I didn't know this was a interrogation."

Peter was taken aback by the sudden change. Neal was tense, and his stare was honestly unnerving. "Who said it was? Unless you have something to hide?"

Neal glared at him. "You always think I have something to hide."

"Only when you act like you have something to hide. Which you are right now."

"Just because you caught me doesn't mean you're an expert."

"Twice. And that's not what I'm saying." Peter sighed. He knew he was going about this all wrong, but wasn't sure how to backtrack. "We'll talk about it later. We have a meeting with Missing Persons in two hours, so we need to get started going over this case."

Neal ran a hand through his hair, letting out a long breath. As he exhaled, his whole demeanor changed from defensive to professional. No matter how many times Peter saw Neal do it, the fluidity of the transition was always slightly disturbing. "Fine. But, do we really have to work with them? I mean, what are the odds we'll find this kid? They should be using resources on cases that aren't 20 years old."

Peter gave Neal a suspicious look. "If there's any chance we can find out what happened, we have to try. It doesn't matter how old the kid is now. He might have been forced to do Jones's dirty work, or we can at least find... some remains... to help the family get some closure."

Neal had been fiddling with a pen, but his hands suddenly froze. "The kid has remaining family?"

Peter rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... no. But that's not the point."

Neal's shoulders slumped slightly. "I just think they could be using their time better."

"Since when were you against trying every angle? Especially where kids are involved."

"It's not that, it's just... whatever. Forget about it."

Peter decided to let the topic drop, not wanting to fight again. Plus, it was rare to find Neal at a loss for words. Peter needed to investigate with more caution if he wanted to find out what was happening. It was obviously major. "Whatever you say. In the meantime, we're going to check out the new evidence that brought this case to light in the first place."

"What was it?" Neal asked quietly, still not looking Peter in the eyes.

"It turns out, the dad had been using painting classes with his son at the museum to case the place. Then, he would patrol the place outside and keep away other cops while Jones robbed the place. Someone sent in the lost security tapes."

Neal remained silent for a few moments, unmoving.

"Neal?" Peter questioned, fearing another episode as he had witnessed that morning.

This time, Neal snapped himself out of it quickly, looking angry but smothering it. "Do we know who sent it?"

"No clue. This case just keeps getting more complicated."

Neal muttered something under his breath.

"What was that?" Peter asked.

Neal shook his head slightly. "Never mind. Was the son seen on these tapes?"

"No, he was oddly blotted out of the frame. But we know he was there from old class registration records."

Neal nodded, his eyes hard and face determined. "Let's go."

The pair walked out of the conference room together, making their way down to the bullpen.

"Jones," Peter called to the agent as they walked by.

Neal jumped, whipping his head around to where Peter had called to, relaxing when he saw it was the agent and not the art thief. "Alright, for this case, Jones is Clinton, got it?"

Peter nodded. "Fair enough. Clinton, can you dig up anything about the Brooks family?"

"On it."

"Alright Neal, ready to catch a killer and find a kid?"

Neal gave him a sarcastic smile and a thumbs up, immediately letting them drop when Peter continued walking towards the office doors.

"You're closer than you think, Agent Burke," Neal muttered, before straightening his back and striding out of the office after Peter.

•*•*•*•*•*•

This chapter's short, because I honestly don't know how many people are still interested after I took so long to update. But thanks for all of the amazing feedback and follows :)