Peter, Neal, and Bryce went back to Neal's apartment. It was midday, but Neal grabbed a bottle of wine and glasses, and a beer for Peter.

Peter contained himself for about two seconds while the wine was being poured, but as soon as Neal put the bottle down on the table, he couldn't hold it in any longer. "Tell me everything."

Neal took his jacket off, and Bryce loosened his tie. "Give us a minute, Peter," Neal said.

He led Bryce to the back room, where they could have some privacy for a minute. "I didn't realize I missed you so much," Bryce said.

"Yeah," Neal said, agreeing wholeheartedly. When he said goodbye to his brother all those years ago, he did the best he could to erase him from his life, knowing he could never see him again. Now that he was looking at him, he acutely felt the gap that had been missing in his life for so long.

"Peter-"

"Agent Burke," Bryce said, looking knowingly at Neal.

"Yeah," Neal said with a crooked smile. "Agent Burke. He's my friend, I trust him."

Bryce raised his eyebrow skeptically.

"But he doesn't need to know everything," Neal finished.

Bryce smiled. "Just like old times."

Neal laughed. "I guess so. But we don't have to lie this time."

"And then get rid of him, will you? Bryce asked. "I haven't seen you in years."

"I'll give him the broad strokes, and then you'll have to tell him what you know about Tanner. Then I'll get him to leave."

Neal led the way back to the table, where Peter was sitting, sipping his beer. He looked impatient, to say the least. "Okay, spill," he said.

Neal took a sip of his wine, snuck a look at his brother, and began.

"Bryce and I are twins," he started. "We grew up together, took care of each other when no one else did." He ignored the hard look from Bryce and the curious look from Peter, and continued. "When we turned 18, we changed our names and left home together. We spent a couple years traveling, pulling off cons to make enough money for the flight to the next place. Those were some of the best cons of my life. Being identical, we were able to pull some pretty spectacular ones by posing as one person in two places."

Bryce laughed, recalling a memory. "That job at the Smithsonian," he said, looking at Neal. "I laugh every time I picture the security guard's face."

Neal joined in laughing. "Relax, Peter," he said, enjoying the look of exasperation on his face. "Passed the statute of limitations."

"Those were some of the best years of my life," Neal said once they had calmed down. "But all good things must come to an end eventually."

"Why?" Peter asked. "Did you get caught?"

Neal and Bryce laughed, and Peter got chills from how identical they were, even in their mannerisms. "We don't get caught," Bryce said. Neal avoided Peter's eyes.

"Bryce said he was done," Neal said quickly, not allowing Peter time to respond. "He wanted out."

"We were good at what we did," Bryce said. "But I wasn't ready to do it forever."

"We changed our names again," Neal said. "I became Neal Caffrey, he chose Bryce Larkin. I went to Europe, worked with some guys I ended up regretting, before I found a partner in Mozzie. But no one was as good as Bryce."

Bryce nodded. "I've had my fair share of partners since then, too. Some better than others, but no one like Neal. He and I could read each other's thoughts from a mile away if we needed."

"So then you joined the CIA?" Neal asked. This side of the story he didn't know.

"I actually went to college," Bryce said. "Stanford."

Neal laughed. "So that's why you had me forge the high school transcript. Figures. You know, I could have forged a diploma, too. Would have saved you a lot of trouble."

Bryce shook his head. "Going to Stanford was the right decision. I met a friend there- I think you would like him, Neal- and got recruited by the agency straight from there."

Peter was impressed. He'd heard of CIA recruiting- the only way to get into the CIA, since they didn't exactly take applications- but he'd never known someone to be recruited so early. But given Bryce's similarity to Neal, he couldn't say he was exactly surprised. "And from there?" he prompted, as both brothers had stopped speaking.

"That's classified," Bryce said. Peter huffed in frustration, and Neal laughed.

"Fine. But tell me about Tanner. You blew our case today, and I need to say something to my team."

"Mitch Tanner. He's a big international dealer, and he sells whatever he has to the highest bidder. No loyalty."

"We know that," Peter said. "We were planning to take him down for his illegal art sales before you interrupted."

"I've been tracking him for weeks. Illegal art sales are only a small part of his business, it just finances the rest."

"And the rest is what?" Neal asked, interested in what was so much more valuable than the art he was about to sell the man earlier that day.

"Information," Bryce said. "In this case, top secret information from Russia. We'd like to get our hands on it."

"Why not just buy it?" Peter asked.

"We're the CIA," Bryce responded. "The reason they train people like me is so that we don't have to buy it."

Neal finished his wine, and took the empty glasses and Peter's bottle to the counter. "Are you going to go brief Jones and Diana now?" he asked Peter.

"I guess I have to," Peter said. "Bryce, would you allow us to work with you on this? You'll get the intel, we'll put the art dealer behind bars."

Neal watched Bryce's face as he considered the offer. "Okay, but a few conditions," he said. "Your team, and the FBI as a whole, doesn't know about me. And only I handle the intel." Neal could tell there was something Bryce wasn't saying, but he wasn't about to challenge him in front of Peter.

"I think I can work with that," Peter said.

The tension in the room seemed to break, and all three men relaxed a little. "So you went to college and Neal didn't?" Peter asked, smiling slightly.

"You never went back to school?" Bryce accused Neal.

Neal smiled. "I have several PhD's. Does that count?"

Bryce laughed.

"And you carry a gun?" Peter said.

Both Neal's and Bryce's smiles slid from their faces, and they shared a dark look that held hidden secrets.

"Yeah," Bryce said. There was no accompanying explanation. "Which reminds me…" he reached into his pocket and handed Peter back the bullets that he'd taken out of the gun. "These belong to you."

Peter grunted his thanks and Neal laughed. "Would've loved to see how that happened."

"He's really an easy target," Bryce said, and they both laughed harder.

"Well, that's my cue to go," Peter said. "Bryce, good to meet you. I look forward to working with you. And Neal, I'll come by tomorrow morning to pick you up."

"Thanks, Peter."

Both brothers watched as he left the room, before turning to each other. It was time to talk, for real this time.