Hello dear readers! Here is the second installment of the story. Winged and I thank you for the reviews, alerts, and faves. Hope you enjoy this next bit!

Disclaimer-We, unfortunately, don't own White Collar or Chuck. *sighs sadly*

"FBI and CIA—this should be fun," the blue-eyed man muttered under his breath, just loud enough for the rest to hear.

Peter lowered his badge and gestured towards him. "This is my consultant, Neal Caffrey."

"Caffrey," Chuck repeated, "Not Halden?"

Neal shifted uneasily. "Never, uh, never heard of him. Just plain old Neal Caffrey, here." Politely, he held out a hand. "Very pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Quit it, Caffrey," Peter muttered, but the CIA agents were barely paying attention.

They had glanced at each other as though suddenly struck by the same thought, Chuck's mouth working although no sound came forth. Sarah cleared her throat. "You...you don't happen to have a twin brother, or a look-a-like cousin, do you?"

Neal narrowed his eyes, clearly confused and shook his head. "No, I don't. May I ask why?"

"It's nothing!" Chuck quickly interjected. "You just remind us of someone...from our past."

"I see," Neal said doubtfully.

Peter coughed. "I really don't see what this has to do with, uh - you were interested in the painting, right?"

"Yes, yes, we are interested in the Zemliia," Chuck answered. "I, uh..." he trailed off, unable to explain the Intersect to them.

"He dabbles," Sarah said shortly. "What about you? Why is the FBI so interested in this painting?"

Neal glanced over his shoulder and noticed that they weren't alone anymore - another couple had turned down the aisle. He looked back to the agents. "Maybe we should go somewhere more private," the ex-con suggested, gesturing with his head to the people behind them.

Chuck turned his head, silently conferring with his partner. When he looked back to the others, it was clear a decision had been made between the two of them. "Where do you suggest we go?"

-x-

The office was eerily dead when the four exited the elevator. Chuck and Sarah were silent, taking in their surroundings with an awareness that screamed of years of experience. Peter was quiet, too, frowning in that way he had whenever something was on his mind. Neal tapped his chin in thought, bounded ahead of the group, and opened the glass door with a half bow.

"How chivalrous," Sarah said with a half smirk. Chuck snorted and then tried to cover it up with a half-hearted cough. Peter rolled his eyes at his partner's antics.

"Would the two of you like some coffee?" Burke asked the CIA agents, motioning uneasily towards the break area.

Chuck picked up immediately on Peter's discomfort with the coffee maker. "I can make it. I'm pretty good with most technology."

The FBI agent nodded thankfully. "You may want to put on more than one pot. We'll talk in the conference room at the top of the stairs. I'll meet you there in a few minutes-I need to call my wife."

"Of course, Agent Burke," Sarah replied. She turned to Neal. "Would you like some?"

The con man smiled appreciatively. "A hot cup of caffeine to begin a full night of work. Why not?"

-x-

Neal was perched on the edge of the break-area table, watching Peter on the phone in his office, when Chuck stepped away from the machine with a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

He took his first sip and failed at hiding a grimace. "Is this really what you survive on?"

"Only when the coffee shop across the road is closed," Neal replied. Sarah had finished pouring the last cup and he accepted it with a smile before leaning in close. "So - you said before I reminded you of someone..."

The conman noticed Sarah visibly stiffen, and he saw a flash of memory cross her features, as if the man that he looked like had done something similar during her past. "It's nothing," she responded, and brushed past him.

Neal huffed at the unexpected response and watched as she made her way over to Chuck, placing a hand on his before the two of them started up the stairs. After a moment, he pushed away from the table and followed the CIA agents into the conference room with an additional mug of coffee for Peter. The others were just taking their seats at the large table, where a picture of the Caelum constellation and The Zemliia were displayedon the screen in front of them.

"So," Neal began after he sat comfortably in his chair. "Who goes first?"

Peter took the floor. "The FBI has virtually nothing on Caelum, unless we can uncover an alias or two."

Chuck and Sarah shared a look as they tried to decide how much and what information was best to tell. The former inclined his head a bit to his partner, and she nodded her consent.
Chuck swiveled to face the conman and the FBI agent. "First, I'm sort of an... in-field analyst," Chuck said awkwardly, "with a... really, really good memory."

Peter nodded slowly, recognizing an agent's need for secrecy, and Neal raised an eyebrow. Chuck went on, "And the painting there, The Zemliia, is associated not only with the man code-named Caelum, but also with the weapons-dealer Volkoff. And a Nicolas Halden."

"Weapons dealer?" Neal repeated.

"Nick Halden?" Peter asked in a growl.

Neal coughed into the back of his hand. "It's a common enough name," he began, only to stop as Peter fixed him with a glare. "That is - well, one that I may have shared at some point."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "And which point was this?"

"Before my consultant work at the FBI," Neal answered smoothly. "Moving on - who's this weapons dealer?"

Chuck and Sarah exchanged a glance. "That's classified, I'm afraid," the latter said.

Peter frowned. "If we're going to try and catch this guy together, we need to share all information pertinent to the case."

Sarah still hesitated, although Chuck nodded in comprehension. "The weapons dealer is Alexei Volkoff," the nerd provided.

"One of the most prominent in the world," Sarah continued. "He's currently in custody but his illegal empire still spans the globe. With Volkoff Industries involved, this could get very dangerous."

"More dangerous than Caelum?" Neal asked under his breath.

He hadn't really meant for the others to hear, but three sets of eyes swung on him. "And what exactly does your... alias... have to do with the painting?" Sarah asked at last.

The con looked up at each one of them before resting his gaze on the table in front of him. "I may have allegedly pulled a 'Dipsy-Doodle' on a one Andrew Coleman back in my early days."

Chuck quirked an eyebrow. "You named that after Hogan's Heroes' Klink dipsy-doodle?" he asked in fascination.

Neal looked up with new-found appreciation for the young man. "You watched the show?"

"Of course!"

Simultaneously, Sarah and Peter leveled glares at their partners to get them back on task.

Neal returned to explaining the con. "It's not too difficult. Moz acts as the distraction, I make off with the prize. Short, sweet, and very simple." He flashed a grin at his audience, who all appeared to be varying levels of unimpressed.

"So you stole the painting?" Peter asked.

"I stole a collection of paintings," Neal corrected, "And the Zemliia may have been one of them."

Chuck leaned forward. "But do you still have it?"

Neal rolled his eyes. "Unless it was taken from my secret storage location - yes."

"And where would that be?" Sarah asked in a steely tone that told Neal if he tried fooling around, he wouldn't like the results.

"Burbank, California," the con confessed.

Peter sighed in frustration while Sarah and Chuck held back snorts. "We don't have time to go out to California, and I doubt Hughes would approve of letting Caffrey go in the first place."

"Actually," the nerd started. "The other half of our team is at our base in Burbank. We could call them up and have them get the painting-"

"And then they could fly it out here," Sarah finished.

"So long as you've got the key," Neal threw in.

Sarah and Chuck exchanged a glance. "If you've got the key, we can send a scan," Chuck suggested. At the blank looks he received, he added, "I added a three dimensional scanning application to my phone!"

Neal leaned back in his chair and flipped his fedora up from the table to rest on his head. "Not that I don't enjoy this conversation," he said, "but the sooner we get that painting, the better. It shouldn't take me more than an hour to get the key."

Sarah nudged her partner. "I'll join you," Chuck said quickly. "Just in case."

"I'll call Casey and get him up to speed," Sarah added.

Peter let out a breath as he rose from his chair. "Then I guess I'll start running the name Neal gave us."

And now they split up to cover more ground! Yes, we took some liberty in making up a cool gaget, and we went with a constellation name because we loved the idea of Orion having given a lot of bad guys names based on the constellations. Caelum means The Chisel or Engraving Tool (depends on the site you look up).

What did you think? Please tell us!

Blessings,

~Fierce Queen and WingedFlight