HOW FAR

Summary: "He did have that plane ready awfully fast…" When faced with life's greatest trials, what would you do for a friend? Peter, Neal, Mozzie, Diana and Hughes must find their own answers to this question as the knowledge of the U-Boat treasure surviving the fire comes to light. AU to On Guard, earlier posted on collarkink as a response to a prompt.

The story has been beta'ed by November Leaving.

For everyone who's reading, I'm sorry, guys – I know I promised frequent updates, but Real Life has exploded on me horribly.

And now on to the chapter!


CHAPTER 3

'Give him a chance to explain, or you'll always wonder if you've missed something.'

o – o – o

For a long time, Peter ponders El's words.

He realizes she was right. He was so upset the first time along that he didn't really listen to Neal. And while he sincerely doubts there's something Neal could say that could exonerate him or even somewhat justify his part in this whole fiasco, he knows that he owes it to their friendship and to himself to hear Neal out.

Though he really isn't ready for another heartbreak.

But El's mention about Neal being set up reminds Peter of the pink diamond heist months ago, when Neal insisted on being innocent as well. He thinks about all Neal's "missteps" during their partnership – and damn, he can recall about dozen times when Neal evaded or tried to mislead him about the trust – but not once when Neal told him a direct lie after Peter called him on it.

Well, except this week, when Neal lied to him after Peter asked him why he slipped Jones. And then there was the whole suspicious polygraph test…

Most likely, Neal is just messing with his head… but. What if. What if all this, what if –

Peter can't even bear to finish the thought, because if he did, then he might get his hopes up – and he can't do that, no, not now, not today.

But El was right – Peter needs answers, and he needs them now.

Though he's so not looking forward to that talk…

Shaking his head, Peter straightens himself and looks downstairs, where Neal's sitting at his table…

… except, he's not.

Peter sighs. It won't be a problem to find Neal – he couldn't have left the building, since in a mixture of anger, precaution and paranoia, Peter had secretly tied Neal's radius to the bureau before he confronted him. He steels himself for the upcoming discussion.

"Diana, do you know where Neal is?" he asks in a subdued tone when he approaches her desk.

"Caffrey's upstairs," replies Diana in a similarly low voice. "He decided to accept the option you've given him. He's talking to Hughes now."

"What?"

In disbelief, Peter looks to Hughes's office.

Neal and Reese are there, sitting at the opposite sides of Hughes's desk. From what he can see from this position, Neal seems to be doing most of the talking, with Reese asking a question every few moments.

And Peter feels… numb.

This isn't what he expected, and he doesn't know what to make out of it.

As he stares at the office upstairs, he wonders what the future will bring – for Neal, for him, for El, Diana, Jones and his whole department…

Suddenly, he feels a hand on his shoulder. It's Diana, standing next to him with a sympathetic expression in her face - and Peter realizes that whatever happens, at least his team and Elizabeth will have his back.

He sighs.

"Excuse me! I need to talk to him, now!"

The known voice takes him completely by surprise.

"Mozzie?" he says in disbelief as he turns around.

"You know him, Peter?" asks one of the agents.

Mozzie gives Peter a narrow look. "Where's Neal, Suit?"

"Yeah, I know him," says Peter absentmindedly. "Mozzie, what are you doing here?"

"If Neal's giving any statements, then I should be there as his lawyer."

"So now you're his lawyer again?" asks Peter incredulously. "You don't even look your part today," he says, pointing out Mozzie's casual pants, shirt and the lack of a jacket and tie.

"Appearances are overrated," says Mozzie curtly. "Now where is Neal?"

"And how did you even know he is making a statement?" asks Peter, ignoring Mozzie's question. "I took his phone."

"Neal 'borrowed' mine," interjects Diana, though her darker tone leaves no doubts that there is more to the story.

"Where is my client, Suit," asks Mozzie icily.

"Upstairs, with Director Hughes." Diana exhales and shakes her head. "I'll show you the way."

"You better do that," says Mozzie resolutely.

Peter watches in consternation as Diana leads Mozzie to Hughes's office.

"Hey, what's going on here?" asks Jones in a low tone as he appears at Peter's side a moment later.

Peter shakes his head. "I wish I knew."

I wish I knew.

o – o – o

Neal has once told Peter that he had never lied to him – and that was almost the truth. He has always made a conscious effort to be truthful with Peter. He might have slipped once or twice, but he has truly tried to never tell Peter a direct lie.

That, however, still left him with a lot of space for careful evasions and misdirection.

It was this realization that spurred Neal's desperate, hasty plan how to do at least some damage control when things fell apart so badly.

He could confess – he just needed to take a page from old Kenobi's book and tell the truth from a certain point of view.

Four days ago, he talked his way through Peter's interrogation with a polygraph. He might be able to do the same thing again with a confession.

When Neal gets his fraying emotions under control, he's standing in front of Reese Hughes's office. He feels Diana's eyes on him, so he gives here a short nod, knocks on the door and enters.

"Caffrey," says Hughes with a hint of surprise and looks up from a file. "Why are you here?"

"I, ah," Neal hesitates for a second. He crosses his arms and looks at the ground before he sighs and stares right into Hughes's eyes. "Sir, I need to make a confession."

Hughes's eyebrows shot up. "A confession. About what?"

"I need to tell you about the art from the German U-boat," answers Neal.

Highes stares at him for a long while before he gives him a slow nod. "Take a seat, then," he says and motions to the chair opposite him.

"Now, what is this confession thing about?" asks Hughes calmly, with a hint of a frown.

"The art didn't burn," says Neal directly. "The real treasure was removed with other paintings left behind. The explosion in the warehouse was created to make the whole thing look real. … And I know where the treasure's now."

"What?"

Hughes practically jumps on his feet and stares down at Neal. Neal remains sitting in his chair and merely stares back.

There is shocked silence.

"I think you should start in the beginning," says Hughes at last and sits down again.

That might be a bit of a problem…

"First of all, here is the warehouse where the treasure's hidden," says Neal after picking up a pen and scribbling the address on a piece of paper. He gives it to Hughes, who gives the paper an incredulous look before his eyes narrows as he stares at Neal.

"And you know this because… ?"

"I have seen it," says Neal simply.

It takes Neal maybe four minutes to realize that this is not going to work. Although he still proceeds on, a separate part of his mind is already analyzing the situation and trying to find a way out.

He has been giving Hughes small bits of information and trying to keep him from looking into the bigger picture. He has recapped his and Peter's capture by Adler, in an attempt to delay and distract, but also because he's looking for an opening. He has told Hughes about Peter's suspicions without attempting to hide that it was those that caused him to confess. He has told him about his paintings being used in the switch, and now he's about to give him the tale of replacing the painting scrap. But he can tell that it won't be enough.

The idea had been simple – give them just enough to draw their own conclusions, and depending on where those leave him, either silently support them, or redirect again to more favorable options. The biggest advantage of this approach is that the victims pick the option that seems most likely to them, and then usually stick by it. It's a simple con, really, and Neal has successfully employed it many times before.

"I discovered that a scrap of my painting was found on the crime scene," he tells Hughes. "I decided to replace it…"

Of course, if Neal had been less desperate and had given it enough thought before, he would have realized that said con is hard to imply with an FBI agent – and basically impossible when he has so many things to hide and so very few ways to reach the favorable outcome.

He can tell that Hughes is just an inch from asking the question: did Neal steal the art?

"The labs test the age of a canvas and the type of paint used…"

Damned if he tells him, damned if he doesn't.

Neal saw several possibilities before. But with Hughes withdrawn and unreadable, he might be forced to decide on his own.

"I was off the anklet and there was plenty of material to make a perfect fake."

All right. Options:

One – tell the whole truth without any names – specifically, without Mozzie's name. It's an option that would probably work, if he can make sure that the trail wouldn't lead straight to Mozzie. It's also the option Neal is most inclined to take; though he knows that withholding Mozzie's name will cost him. There's also a possibility that he won't be believed and will still be blamed for the treasure theft. Okay.

"I slipped Jones…"

Two – he could lie and try to pin the theft on someone else – Adler, or maybe one of his associates. Ironically, their reasoning would be the same as Mozzie's – if the FBI thought the treasure burned, they wouldn't try to search for it; only now it wasn't Mozzie who realized that, but Adler and/or his goons. Neal could tell that Adler offered him half of the treasure and gave him the address before Neal refused to work with him because of Kate. Adler then became angry and decided to shoot him. There are holes in the story, but nothing that couldn't be overcome.

"… went to the gallery…"

Three – deny knowledge of anything that precedes him finding the note. That's nice and easy, except the most probable result would be to blame Neal for the theft – because what kind of evidence is a flimsy card that has only his prints on it? No, that's not good.

"… I found the evidence."

Four – take full blame for the whole thing. That might make Peter happy – Neal feels a wave of nausea and his heart constricts. No, he can't think about Peter now. He needs a clear, analytical mind.

So, he could take the fall for the whole thing – evade for a little longer, then fake a breakdown and give a guilt-ridden "full confession". With the way Neal feels right now, he could make the breakdown look real. With a confession, hopefully the FBI wouldn't need to look into this mess. Mozzie would be safe, and Neal might skirt a reasonable sentence because he turned himself (and the treasure) in.

At least that's the theory.

"I repainted the Chrysler and then burned the edges to make it look authentic."

Five

"Then I went home. I barely got there before Jones returned. The day before, I've repainted the original work, so I knew I was covered in case Peter asked about it."

What could be option five?

"So you abused your work-release conditions and messed with evidence. That's very interesting," says Hughes conversationally, but his glare is icily cold. "But it still doesn't answer the one question. Did you steal the art?"

Neal feels the whole weight of Hugnes's stare on him, and he realizes that the time for stalling is over.

He has to make a choice.

"I…"

Suddenly, the door flies open.

"Excuse me, gentlemen! I'd like to speak with my client."

Both Neal and Hughes look toward the newcomer.

"Mozzie?" asks Neal in disbelief.

"Who the hell are you?" asks Hughes.

"Dante Haversham – I'm Neal Caffrey's attorney. Now please, would you leave us alone so that I could have a word with him?"

"Caffrey…?" raises his eyebrows Hughes.

Neal quickly collects himself. "Yes, he's my lawyer. Pe- , um, Jones and Diana know him."

"Do you want to talk to him?" asks Hughes cautiously.

Neal hesitates for a second. "Yes," he says at last. "Yes, I want to talk to my lawyer." He makes a pause. "Am I under arrest?"

"After confessing to obstructing justice and possibly implicating yourself in a billion dollar theft?" asks Hughes, his tone leaving no doubt just how upset he is. "Yes, Caffrey. You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent…"

Neal half-dozes off when Hughes explains his Miranda rights to him – he has already heard them several times before. He confirms that he understands them and tries to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach. So this is it, then.

Hughes nods. "Let's find you a room where you can speak with your attorney."


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