Neal stood in the elevator as he watched the numbers clime on the display above him, trying to ignore the butterflies flying around his stomach. Neal had no idea why Ruby made him feel this way, she was just any other girl. Ok so she was a sharp, smart and beautiful girl but so was Kate. Kate whom had loved him unconditionally and cared for him, whom bothered to show up to visiting week after week why he was inside, Kate whom didn't feel the need to play people like Ruby did, to toy with him just for fun. Then again that was what made Ruby so brilliant, the intrigue, the unknown, the constant teasing, the fact that even when you had her it still felt like the chase. That's probably why he was foolish enough to marry her, to try and prove the point that he had finally won her. That's probably why he felt so nervous now because the chase was on once again and the stubborn part of him wanted to catch her once and for all.

*Bing*

The elevator doors slid open and Neal stepped out to the dramatic sight of the New York sky line stretched out before him, millions of tiny lights twinkling before his eyes. He turned to look around and saw a cloud of smoke coming from a corner. That must be her he thought to himself.

"I see you got my postcard" Ruby said stubbing out her smoke with a smile as Neal approached her.

"The top of the Empire State at midnight, a tad dramatic don't you think?." Neal replied with a grin.

"Well you know me, I don't do things buy halves, besides, I'm a tourist and Lady Liberty's out of your radios." Ruby said winking at him "So, long day at the office, must get tiring catching all those bad guys, making the streets of New York safer one white collar criminal at a time" Ruby said doing an impression of a cliché movie voiceover.

"You know for someone who has been state side all these years your attempt at the American accent is terrible." Neal said, receiving a nudge in the side from Ruby's elbow for his trouble. Neal put his hands out in from of him laughing "Ok, ok, I was kidding" he protested.

"So I'm assuming you've had long enough to work out what I need your help with" Ruby said turning to look out at the city before them.

"A forgery" Neal answered bluntly.

"Yes, but not just any forgery" Ruby added.

"Oh yer?" Neal said inquisitively.

"A client of mine has asked for a replica Secret Service identification papers with the Name James Harrison." Ruby said calmly.

"What?!" Neal said dumbstruck he was nearly speechless, no one in their right might went anywhere near the Secret Service, or any federal intelligence agency for that matter. For one thing they essentially had worldwide jurisdiction, they could essentially do what they want with you once the caught you (and there was deliberately no if in that sentence) and if you fucked with them you were going down for life, no negotiation available. "No way! No way am I messing with the Secret Service, you know what those guys can do, you will have to find someone else, I'm not going there" Neal said hurriedly.

"Gees, calm down Neal, you know as well as I do there is no one else, why do you think I came to the best for this? There's too much to lose with shoddy workmanship" Ruby said turning to him.

"That's because those things are made with the sole intention they can't be faked. There not just like any old state ID I could knock up in an afternoon, they have special paper, seals, security holograms the whole deal!" Neal said exasperated.

"Look just breathe for a second, do you really think I'm going to let this play so it can blow back on us. You of all people should know I always cover my tracks. If my client wants to get involved in messing with the service it's his business, why would I stop him? You and I, however are cleverer than that. So even if whatever he does with it means he gets caught with the fake, the name Neal Caffrey isn't going to cross anyone's mind ok" Ruby said weaving her way over to him, straightening his tie before placing a hand on his chest and giving him a reassuring smile.

"And exactly how do you plan to do that" Neal said begrudgingly, but Ruby could tell by the look in his eye he was caving.

"I have my ways" She said flashing that devilish smile at him again.

"Why are you doing this anyway? I thought you avoided jobs like these, you always claim to be deliberately staying off the radar of the government" Neal questioned.

"Well he's a very good client, a repeat customer, plus I owe him a pretty big favour after I got in a bit of a tight spot in Rome a few months back" Ruby responded.

"You were in Rome?" Neal said sounding surprised.

"Yes Neal, some of us do get to travel more than two miles" Ruby teased, "It was a job, one family needed intel on another, so I cosied up to the youngest son, only well the first family found out they had been infiltrated and let's just say they weren't too pleased about it".

"So your client saved you from getting killed by the mafia?" Neal said matter-of-factly.

"Something like that" Ruby said nonchalantly as if having the mob after her was no big deal.

"Well I suppose that does warrant a pretty big favour" Neal said, the tone in his voice letting Ruby know he was on board.

"So you'll do it?" Ruby said monetarily lapsing and showing how relived she was, before returning to her usual cool demeanour, hoping Neal didn't notice, which he of course had.

"I can't go back to prison Ru you have no idea what it's like, two miles is still better than twelve square feet of cell any day" Neal said staring out over the skyline once more.

Ruby smiled to herself, Neal hadn't called her Ru in forever and she'd forgotten how much she loved his pet name for her. "Neal do you trust me?" she said placing a hand on his arm and staring pointedly into his sparkling blue eyes.

That was a question Neal had asked himself time and time again. Did he trust Ruby? He didn't have any reason to, after all she had walked out on him leaving nothing but a note. But then again, the whole time they were together she never once lied to him. Sure she held her cards close to her chest, or had left out certain details, but then so did he, it was the only way to survive the criminal world. Even so they had never directly lied to each other. It was the unspoken agreement between them not to, that had lead him to grant the same guarantee to Peter. More than that though, Ruby had always been there for him, she had saved his arse more than once before and somehow even after she walked away, he knew if he was in hot water again and called her, she'd be there. Maybe this was his time to be there for her, in a fucked up illegal kinda way. So, well yes he thought he did trust her, he couldn't help it and he couldn't fully explain it either but he did. Possibly more than Moz and maybe even as much as Kate, though he felt terrible for admitting it to himself.

"Yes" Neal said almost silently after a long pause.

"Then know I won't let you go back prison… I promise" said Ruby a sense of certainty in her voice, before leaning in and kissing him passionately.

For a beautiful moment Neal and Ruby were lost in one another, for that minuet nothing else mattered it was just the two of them, standing on top of New York as the city moved beneath them.

In that moment all Neal could think of was how much he'd missed Ruby without even noticing, he'd distracted himself with forging bonds and coning Adler, but he had truly missed her. From the day she'd walked out on him, to the day he walked in to see her sat in his apartment.

When Ruby kissed him, it felt like eight years hadn't passed between them. She felt like she had on their first date (ok, so she wasn't casing a public library) but she still had the same feeling of desire, excitement and anticipation running through her that she couldn't explain, that she didn't want to explain, it was just there...perfect.

Ruby pulled away slowly holding onto every last second of their embrace before placing a pre-paid, untraceable cell in Neal's hand.

"Call me with what you need" she whispered to him and with that she was gone. Away down the elevator Neal arrived in.

So, Neal thought to himself, let the fun begin… Mozzie was going to hate this. Still, he had said he loved a challenge, they defiantly had one now.