Questions and Answers


This is a compilation of reader questions and the answers that go with them (no one has specified any particular request so I simply used the questions that came my way). Also, this is where I have paid more attention to how the characters may have reacted to certain aspects of the story.


Standing as a collective group the Caffrey Five stood together and bowed to the stunned audience. " If you wouldn't mind we would like to have Peter, Will, and Ben join us on stage so that we can have our two honorary Caffreys who played the role in one-time events and our little Caffrey point five just because he would make the Caffrey Collection complete." Being pushed up to the stage I joined the others as a group of stools were brought out and we were requested to sit in a line with Nate holding little Ben for a question and answer session.


At first the entire assembly simply stood there and stared at the oddly collected group of Caffreys spread out a crossed the improvised stage. It was hard to believe that so many people had played the role, and even harder to believe that so many FBI agents had missed it!

Although the initial reaction of the room was silence, it exploded with noise after a few moments. Suddenly it was like being in school again as everyone was putting their hands up in an effort to ensure that their question was voiced and answered.

With amused and expectant expressions, the Caffrey Five began selecting people from the crowd.

Diana was the first one chosen as she had an expression that said someone was going to pay for tricking her. "So you mean to say that Nick was one of the people who played Neal Caffrey, and he simply stood by as Shield while we wondered and worried about Caffrey?"

Since the question was directed at him, Nick was automatically nominated to answer. With an expression that looked like something he might use to explain to a troop of soldiers the purpose of the dangerous mission that they had just barely survived, "Yes Dianna, I did that. And although you may now feel obligated to break both of my arms for my actions, there are valid reasons for what I did. If I had come out too soon and shown my real identity, Peter, Elizabeth, and Will would have faced the very real threat of getting graphically killed. When that threat had passed, I still had my cover to keep in the event of any potential residual dangers. Finally, when there were no impeding threats to force me to keep my secret, there were still a few reasons. One reason is that I didn't want to simply jump out and say that I had been there all along, instead I chose to show who I was and gradually introduced those involved in my life the roles that I had been playing. Then secondly, I wanted to play some of the old games that we had played as children. Is that a little childish? Perhaps, but sue me if it is wrong to want to relive some of my better memories of childhood. Had Charlie not been killed when you were a child and you were given the chance to do something special with him, be it a hand jive or simply share in a private joke, wouldn't you want to indulge in that chance to reconnect to the special moments in your life with the person who was integral to those experiences, regardless of how childish you might appear doing a juvenile hand jive with an old friend?"

By the time he had finished his response, the fire of anger had gone out of Diana's eyes. She nodded in understanding, but there was still a glance exchanged with Nick that said he had used his free-be, and he had better not cross her again or she just might break his arms after all.

As several hands had dropped, it appeared that others had been concerned with his actions as well. Still, there were a few more remarks to be made about the convenience, annoyance, or amusement of Neal turning out to be several agents. The statements included the anonymously shouted "Good, that means we don't have to worry about chasing you down for your 'alleged' crimes!" And the muttered remark of an agent, whose neighbor felt the need to repeat it for the whole room, "No wonder he was always borrowing my stapler, with so many people playing the role, they must not have been able to keep track of their own!"

Then Peter laughed from his location and got a sheepish expression as he shifted his position awkwardly. "That reminds me… I still have the box of you guys' stuff at my place."

His statement was met with a resounding laugh from the crowd as that brought to mind the pranks that had been played. That started a new direction as several wanted to resolve some unanswered questions about how he had managed to handle the pranks the way that he had.

"How did you know who had done what on the crime scene of your desk?"

Nick laughed. "First, there is a camera pointed directly at my desk, so… Then there were the supplies used, you seriously forgot that you have to sign for those? Finally, you also seemed to have forgotten that I have worked with you for years. I know who the practical jokers are."

There were some sheepishly mutter comments about how those involved hadn't thought of that, then there were some other questions raised. "Well I guess that explains how you got through the retinal and finger print scans, but that doesn't tell us how you managed to play the computer jokes back on us."

"I'll let my brother Bryce explain that one." And Nick directed the question on with a glance.

"Ha, well, that would mean to say that he grew up with me playing computer pranks so he learned how to retaliate young." With that simple explanation, he directed a mischievous glance back towards Nick who responded with a look that said he wondered what his poor computer would have to endure next.

Shaking his head, Nick directed the next person to ask their question.

An apprehensive hand was raised by an agent who wasn't so into the fun as some of the others had been. "Now that you have been unleashed… are we to expect more of these games and practical jokes?"

All five of the original Caffreys beamed in assurance that yes, there would be much more than ever before now that it was expected. Will simply chuckled at the horrified expression the agent had in response, while Peter simply shook his head with a soft, pitying smile. Little Ben had his own enthusiastic answer. "I like games and jokes!"

Several "I'm sure you do" responses greeted him and he was pleased to have been involved.

Then a curious voice piped up from someone in the back. "How many people with the name 'Neal' are involved in this?"

Since he was the only one with the actual first name fitting this description, Neal took this question. "Well, of the Caffrey Five I am the only one specifically named Neal. Nick has the middle name of Neal and Nate spent the first few years of his life going by the name. As for the rest of our family, the Ryders have their grandfather and great-grandfather Neal. It is an annoying family tradition to name our kids after family members and Neal has been a family name for several generations."

Blake posed the next question. "What dictated who played Caffrey when?" There was a mix of smiles and interested expressions from the rest of the crowd as they look expectantly towards the stage.

Unexpectedly, the main group on the stage turned somber instead of being amused.

Nate responded first. "We brought two people in to play the role after I was nearly killed. So multi-player roles wasn't initially intended, but after discovering that there were two of us, it just kind of happened."

Zach decided to fill in how the rest of the team came into playing the role. "As they got the role going, then Nick took it international. Eventually Nick brought protecting the Lost Ones into the operation."

Running off of what his younger brother had said, Bryce had the next stage of the progression. "Since there was a lot to do, the rest of us came into the operations in order to help ensure their safety. It made a means of ensuring that someone was always available."

Rolling his eyes, Nick decided to answer the original question. "We decided who was to play Caffrey based on two points. The first was availability, if someone was between undercover roles or cases that needed immediate attention, then they were candidates to play the role. Secondly, the candidates were selected based on the skills that were perceived might be necessary."

This prompted Jones to ask another question, "Who played Caffrey, playing Nick, on the day that the cover was blown in the raid against the Antagonist?"

On the stage, all fingers pointed to Nick. "Yes, it was me who was in the closet. I am Nick so the correct order was Nick, playing Caffrey, playing Nick. Also, since I am a doctor and I anticipated the trouble, I made sure that it was me who was going to be there to better ensure that Peter would be as protected as possible."

Jones raised his hand and hurried to get his next question out while the current subject was related. "How did all those men get tranqued while you were locked in the closet taking care of Peter?"

The group all looked at each other with some confusion, then Nick decided to make an attempt to answer the question. "Well… I don't really know. Based on what I have heard, I would say that the lights sound like Uncle Steven, but he is supposedly dead. Then again, there are those of us who have died before only to be standing here today… so who knows. Maybe he isn't dead and he just hasn't notified the rest of us yet."

Everyone went silent so Nick decided to explain in more detail.

"Our Uncle Steven has the code name of Orion. He designed some particularly special computer systems and that brought on a lot of unwanted attention that caused him to have to run from said attention. In the process of running, he often utilized faking his death… and since I am a member of the family who has been killed and revived a few times, we know that it is possible that if he actually died, that he may have been revived and he just hasn't told the rest of us… for some reason."

No one knew how to respond to this statement, so the conversation came to a screeching halt while everyone simply stood trying to decide what to do next. Then a movement started in the back and slowly the person walking through the crowd got close enough to become visible… Mozzie was about to have his say.

Having been one of the closest people to Neal Caffrey and a conspiracy theorist (who had to have a lot more to rant on now) he was given the floor as everyone was curious as to what he had to say. In complete silence, the entire room stepped back and left an open space around him providing him with the center of attention while he confronted those on the stage.

He looked like he was addressing a court about an injustice that had been served. "First, I would like to know if any of it was true, or if the entire Neal Caffrey persona was a lie." (In translation, a part of him wanted to know if he was really friends with the agents, or if they had merely used him to keep their cover).

Nate started the answer. "Yes Mozzie, there were real aspects to the role. First, we all consider you a friend, although I'll admit that some are probably closer to you than others as we have varying interests and personalities. Second, yes, the story of growing up in St. Louis and the relationship to Ellen… all of that was real with two exceptions. I was not really Neal Bennett, and I went a different direction when I turned eighteen."

Mozzie's shoulders eased back a little bit and he nodded his head. Then he fired off his next question. "So you really weren't using me to practice your skills at conning, it was simply the fact of two or more people playing the same role and the differences that I noticed were when you had switched places on me?"

"Yes" Neal said, while nodding. "You were the only person who noticed our quarky inconsistencies. There were times when I have to admit that you had us worried you might figure us out and our cover would be blown."

Smirking, Mozzie looked down to hide his expression for a moment. It appeared he was still working through his angry or annoyed reactions and he wasn't ready to express amusement. When he was ready, he stepped forwards and handed the Caffrey Five a stack of pictures. Then he simply stood back and watched the looks of surprise on their faces.

Nate seemed to be the most surprised as he apparently had no idea that Mozz had caught him breaking cover on camera. "When… when did you get these?"

With another smirk of amused superiority, Mozzie replied. "It was after I had met you in the prison. When I left, I decided to stake out the place and get a feel for how things worked in order to come up with a good escape plan… I never figured that I would catch you in the ultimate escape. Were you two married at that time?"

Still displaying his surprised expression, Nate absently nodded. "Yes, yes we were married at the time. Why didn't you say or do anything with these photos until now?"

Deciding to simply shrug, Mozzie was rather noncommittal in his response. "I had questions, but they were put aside as it wasn't the time to storm back into the prison and demand answers. By the time you were out, there was the concern of the FBI's involvement and the pictures remained set aside with their corresponding questions for another day."

This time, it was a Caffrey who had the question. Nate asked Mozzie what all of the Caffreys seemed to be wondering. "Are you mad? After all, we are quit the government conspiracy and we lied to you about who we were as a whole the entire time."

Here, Mozzie surprised many. He simply bowed with a dramatic flair and announced, "I have been well and truly had! I must say, since I am a con mentor for you, I feel rather like a master who is now able to show off his protégé. Not only did you do a good job conning the world, but you even managed to fool me into actually believing that there was only one of you. I feel rather honored to be amongst your early victims. By the way, if your bosses were ever to give you the go ahead, I believe that we could pull of the Mount Everest of swindles with the simplicity of eye witness accounts verifying your presence elsewhere." With his finish, he sported a mischievous smirk and a flash of humor at the Caffreys.

For a moment there was surprised quiet, then the Caffreys all busted up laughing. Peter particularly wagged a finger at him and said, "No, no 'Mount Everest of swindles' Mozzie. Remember, you're God-family and the son of agents too. You aren't supposed to be committing crimes anymore… I hope."

With a look of disappointment, Mozzie simply muttered, "There is a reason that Nate is my favorite Caffrey and not you suit."

Peter looked surprised while the rest of the audience erupted into laughter. Then there was a series of people calling out who their favorite Caffreys were. Once the choices had been made, it was demanded that they specify why the preferred one Caffrey over another.

Diana specified that she like Neal best "… for the irony that he is an FBI Fraud agent…" and that she liked his art work.

Jones got along best with Zach for their shared relations to the Navy and generally easy going nature.

Peter didn't say a word, instead he simply shared a look with Nick that said exactly who was his favorite Caffrey.

Chuck didn't say anything either. He simply pulled a toy gun from behind his back and shot Bryce square between the eyes with a Nerf dart.

Eventually giving in to the pressure, Mozzie conceded that he liked Nate the best "Because he was the most real of the lot. He had actually lived the life portrayed to be Neal's background." And despite his lack of belief in the existence of it, Mozzie still appreciated the honesty in that about Nate.

As the question and answer session came to an end, the conversations began to drift to the results of it and the interest was more directed to reflecting on the topic rather than indulging in the conversation.