Disclaimer: White Collar belongs to USA Network and Jeff Eastin. : Criminal Minds is the property of CBS, the actors, producers, and writers of the show

Claimer: Damon is mine

AN: A special thanks to peppe1951 for beta'ing all my DAMON II & III chapters, and her encouragement and input to help keep my story going.

DAMON III (4)

Damon was not stupid, he was not dumb, he knew the possibility that Neal might have caught on to his actions. By figuring a probability equation based on his practice heists with Neal he was able to anticipate where they would look for him to hit next; if they were looking for him. Based on those projections, he improvised a non-probability equation to decide the point of his next 'high'. He thought Agent Burke would be proud of his ability to use mathematical equations in such an unorthodox manner.

He had several non-probability prospects; one was the Museum of Science. He read in the paper that they were to have a showing of Albert Einstein's original 46 page manuscript of his Theory of Relativity. Although the manuscript would be displayed in individual sheets, it would be shipped as one manuscript. He made his plans….

While he was perfecting his plans for the manuscript, he started an oil painting. He had an insatiable desire to see if he could hold up to his blood lines. He had to go to the library to find a book with the picture he wanted, most of the poorer libraries had books with inferior prints, but he finally found a library with one that had the detail he needed. He found the tell-tale scanner device inside and very carefully cut it out….

***WC***

White Collar was active again with Peter in full charge. Hughes was relieved that Burke had regained his senses and put his heart back into the job and not on that worthless Caffrey delinquent that had almost ruined his career.

'The Shadow' was at the top of the White Collar's hit list. All of Damon's practice heists were under surveillance; Peter thought it was just a matter of time before they caught him. Then the Museum of Science was hit and Einstein's manuscripts for the Theory of Relativity were stolen with the tell-tale shadow. Peter gave Neal the two-finger point to get to his office, now.

Peter growled at Neal, "Why didn't you tell me about the Museum of Science?"

Neal was on the defensive, "We didn't plan a heist there."

"Are you lying to me?"

"No Peter! I want to catch him just as bad as you do! He never submitted plans for that!"

Peter considered Neal, for a change he thought he could tell Neal was not lying, he exhaled, "He figured we'd catch on, and he changed tactics, didn't he?"

Neal smiled proudly, and then killed the smile immediately when Peter glared at him, "That's what I would have done."

"Neal, we have to get ahead of him! Where would you go next?"

"Peter, I've been thinking…"

"Sounds dangerous…" Peter paused and gave in, "About what?"

"When I started…." He paused, "When I allegedly…"

Peter was getting impatient, "Damn it, Neal!"

"When I theoretically did my first big job, Moz was there." He hesitated; he did not want to go on.

"Neal…." Peter tried to remain calm….

"Okay, Moz kept me in line, kept me on track. And I…"

"Go on…."

Neal was starting to fidget, "I was older, more in control of myself…."

Peter thought that was a matter of opinion, "Continue…"

"And I was not a …" he coughed, "a virgin."

Peter was not impressed, what was Neal trying to say?

"Peter, Damon has no control. No one to guide him, no one to control him, and he's fourteen, his hormones are well, you know…"

"What Neal?"

"Starting! He's a virgin! This is a high like nothing he's experienced! No control, hormones wacked and no sexual experience to side track him! He cannot stop!" There he said it, he sat back waiting for Peter to figure it out.

Peter evaluated Neal's explanation; it made sense, too much sense. "Are you relating the high to sex?" Peter found that hard to believe.

"When you've never had any, YES! Peter when you caught me, you felt a high."

Peter smiled, "Yes I did."

"Multiply that, say by ten. That's what Damon's experiencing."

Peter did think. "Neal, you're saying he's only going to get worse unless he finds another source of relief or a source of control."

"Yes."

"What about you Neal? Have you found another source?"

Neal flashed his covering smile, "Of course Peter! I have many sources of relief!" But then, in a rare moment of honesty, he lifted his pant leg uncovering his anklet. "And a source of control."

Peter earnestly considered him, "What happens when that comes off Neal?"

Neal stared him straight in the eye, "I honestly don't know, Peter."

***WC***

When Damon finished his Monet and started aging it, he started painting a Van Gogh. Meanwhile, he was in serious need of a fix.

He read in the paper that Todd McFarlane was visiting New York with his $3 million dollar Mark McGwire's 70th homerun baseball. He didn't really want to steal from an individual, which made things too personal. But a baseball.… Agent Burke loved baseball…. He evaluated the surveillance at the hotel McGwire was staying at, contemplated the risk, and moved to collect his reward for a job well done.

He took the baseball to his storage space and reveled in the thrill of the accomplishment. He even imagined Agent Burke and him tossing the ball back and forth….

***WC***

Between heists, Damon still had a 'job' to do. When he wanted a break from the pickpocket market, he put on his 'Adler' suit and went to the theater, the opera, the ballet or Avery Fisher Hall where the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra played. Since he still looked no more than twelve, he easily snuck in by pretending he was with non-suspecting adults. Not only did he enjoy the performances, but he could usually score a few hundred dollars if he was careful. Many remembered the beautiful smiling blondish haired boy, but again, never when they found out their money was gone.

Sometimes during his nighttime wanderings he would find himself in the Burke's neighborhood, sometimes he was actually in front of the townhouse before he realized where he was. He would move back into the shadows and look at the house, remembering the good times he had there, but when the tears started, he would chide himself for his childishness and move on. A couple times he imagined seeing Satch's nose moving the curtain….

***WC***

There were times Satchmo would whine softly and scratch at the door, he was sure he sensed his boy out there, but his mistress and master were always sound asleep and Satchmo was too well behaved to wake them up with a bark….

***WC***

Peter slammed his fist on his desk, "A baseball!"

Cringing slightly, Diana responded, "Yes boss."

"Isn't that a little out of character for the Shadow?" Peter was hoping…

Diana was one of the few privy to the knowledge that Damon was prime suspect for The Shadow, "Maybe we have a copycat, Boss."

When Neal got Peter alone he spoke from the heart, "Peter, it's not a copycat."

"Why not Neal? Why can't it be?" Peter wanted it to be a copycat; he did not want it to be Damon.

"Because he's a kid. He has no control. He steals what strikes his fancy."

"Did you?"

"Peter, at his age, I had no time for frivolity. I have no idea what he is thinking."

Peter turned to Neal, "Then maybe I don't need you. Maybe I should send you back to prison." He was still furious with Neal for teaching Damon in the first place.

Neal looked him square in the eye, "Do what you have to when we're done. Let's find Damon first."

That really stunned Peter; he had never seen Neal so self-sacrificial before.

***WC***

Damon finished aging his Monet 'Water Lilies'. He took it to the Met where the original was on temporary loan. Something happened while he was in the Met, something he could not explain. His brain, which often took off on its own tangent, became…. became….

He placed artificial pressure on the frame alarm to remove it from the wall. Then he took the original out of the frame and replaced it with his forged Monet. He replaced the picture on the gallery wall, removed his device and stepped back, he couldn't tell the difference from before and after. Perfect. He did not do his token shadow. If they knew he traded paintings, it would not be a successful heist. He carefully rolled up the original Monet and slid it into the protective tube.

He took it to his shed and enjoyed his rush.

***WC***

Peter had to go to Hughes to talk about his plans for Damon once he was found. Hughes exploded when he found out Damon was The Shadow, he re-iterated that he knew the kid was no good. He did not like Peter's plans for probation; he wanted the kid locked up. Peter had to do some of his best persuading to remind Hughes of the kid's age, and explained how he would not go to a federal prison, but a juvenile facility and the way the boy walked in and out of high security areas, what chance was there of a juvenile facility holding him? And once lose, what more havoc could he bring down on them?

At least that backed Hughes down from wanting to just throw him in jail and lock the doors. Peter continued explaining his plans. Hughes finally agreed but with a few stipulations of his own. He would be Damon's supervisory agent, Peter would be custodial agent. Any changes in Damon's probationary conditions would have to go through Hughes. Damon would still belong to White Collar, he would live with and answer to Peter while at home, but at the office, he would answer to Hughes. Hughes felt Peter was too emotionally involved, so he decided he would make all decisions.

Peter fought hard for and was able to get the condition that if Damon completed his probation, his record would be kept clean, as long as all items were recovered.

***WC***

Damon read that the Met had lent Degas' 'Rehearsal on Stage' to The New York Academy of Art on Franklin St. It was so much easier than stealing from the Met. Of course, he had to leave his fist bump shadow. He stored it in his storage shed.

***WC***

Almost three weeks went by before the Shadow struck again. Peter had hoped against hope that the kid had gotten bored with his game. When the Degas was reported as one of the Shadow's, he knew the kid would not stop until they caught him.

White Collar had no choice. The boy had stolen two pieces of expensive jewelry, Einstein's manuscript, two paintings, and a baseball. Peter refused to put out a wanted poster on him so they started a missing child poster campaign across the city.

Their first good lead came from a waitress who saw the poster. She remembered Damon because he had looked like a bum, but had given her a $5 tip. She positively identified Damon, and sat with a sketch artist to draw a sketch of the old wino who had accompanied him.

They questioned the local winos and they identified the old man as Jake, last name unknown, but hadn't seen him around since winter started. One of them remembered seeing a boy guide Jake away.

Once they realized the possibility he was living with and adult, their search parameters changed again. They added the description of Jake, they did not believe he was capable of being involved in the robberies but he was still searched for as a potential suspect.

A librarian also called in a sighting, but she said the boy she saw had dirty blond somewhat frizzy hair. When questioned one on one, Peter was positive the boy she saw was Damon.

A hotel resident called in to repot seeing Jake, but reported he was with his light brown haired grandson. They had him sit down with a sketch artist, and the resulting boy was Damon with badly bleached hair.

They changed their search to look for a dirty blond somewhat frizzy haired boy living with his older alcoholic grandfather.

Reports of sightings slowly starting flowing in…..

Moz also put out the new information to his underground network.

***WC***

Damon finished and aged his Van Gogh 'Starry Night' and took it to the Met to exchange for the original. He repeated the same procedure as he had with the Monet. Since the first swap was undiscovered, security precautions had not been increased. The original he stored in another protective tube in his treasure shed.

***WC***

Another stretch of almost three weeks went by with no hits by the Shadow. Peter was hoping the boy hadn't seen the posters and skipped town. He pushed his teams harder to find him.

***WC***

Damon had seen the posters, but they were for a missing dark haired boy who looked well-off. He thought he was safe in his rundown neighborhood. No one cared about missing kids there, that was one of the reasons he selected the neighborhood.

And he needed another 'fix'. He went to a museum….

***WC***

Hughes was livid when the Museum of Natural History reported missing a gold ancient Inca llama statue on loan from the Koricancha Museum in Cusco, Peru. Security tapes confirmed it was the work of the Shadow.

Damon had stolen seven pieces in three months with no signs of slowing down, and he was barely fourteen years old. Hughes informed Peter that if he didn't catch Damon soon their deal was off and he would find a way to send the juvenile delinquent to a federal maximum security prison.

Peter stepped up his search; teams were almost working around the clock. Neal kept the pressure on Moz, who was equally determined to find Damon so Neal would leave with him and the treasure.

***WC***