In A Moment
Written, spellchecked, etc. by JanieMarple.
Standard disclaimer: I do not own White Collar, nor any of the characters therein, all non-recognizable characters are not up for grabs. Yes this goes AU and yes there is a pairing in it that is AU. Don't like it? Don't read it. Originally written as a gift for my best friend.
Neal wasn't sure what was going on. One minute he'd been combing through documents, and the next minute Peter saw fit to deposit him in Rae's empty office. No windows, only one door.
"Alright Neal, I know you never do, but be honest with me. What do you have? What are you hiding? I know you haven't got that music box," Peter said quietly, trying not to be heard beyond the door.
"They think I have a stash. They want to know where it is," Neal said softly, sitting in Rae's chair as if that would protect him.
"Of course you have a stash. Where the hell is it?" Peter hissed.
"I told Kate it was in San Diego. I told Mozz it was in Portland," Neal said, looking Peter in the eye. "If I didn't tell my friends the truth, what makes you think that I will tell you?"
"Is it worth your life, Neal? Tell me. Is it?" Peter asked, not sure what to do with Neal.
"It's all I've got, Peter, it's the only leverage I have," Neal admitted. "If you haven't got any leverage, it's hard not to just get thrown away."
Peter sighed, staring at the ceiling. "Ok. If you want to go back to the documents, we can do that. But dear God, Neal. Just because you don't have a bargaining chip, doesn't mean Rae or myself or Elizabeth would just write you off," Peter said.
Neal paused a moment to consider that. "I still can't tell you, Peter," he said, shaking his head. Peter took him back to the fish bowl and they got back to work, until Peter wrapped it up for the day and took Neal with him.
"You want to come see El and Satchmo?" Peter asked as they got in the car. "I don't think Rae would mind not cooking for you once."
"Somehow I think I'd feel a lot better about that if it was Rae you were inviting, not me," Neal said, looking at Peter in surprise.
"What, just because you have a lady friend now you don't want to be around us old people?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow.
Neal rewarded that with an unbridled smile. "No, Peter, I just kind of feel bad for Rae. I know I'm a pain in the ass and she still takes good care of me," Neal said.
"Sounds like the one pouring on the effortless charm isn't you, for once," Peter snickered.
"Kate's more my speed, Peter. She's just as messed up as I am. Rae is too good for someone like me. She definitely deserves someone who could be useful," Neal chuckled.
"I don't see it in Rae's heart to turn on someone she loves," Peter said, and let the statement hang.
"You trying to get me to date an agent to give you more of a handle on me?" Neal asked.
Peter laughed. "If I wanted that, I can think of five I would have set you up with before I'd have picked Rae. Rae marches to her own drumbeat. But she's the best at what she does and there's not much we'd do to change that," Peter admitted.
"I like her, a lot. It's just sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night because I need my meds, and I see her standing there in the doorway, there's something very creepy about it," Neal said.
"Rae watches you sleep?" Peter asked curiously. "I think so," Neal replied. "She's usually there. Either in the doorway, or sitting on her bed across the hall with her computer in her lap."
Peter shuddered. "Geeze. I'd call her a stalker if I didn't know her better than that," Peter grumbled. "I think I know what she's trying to do."
"What is she trying to do? I can't be that interesting when I'm sleeping!" Neal laughed.
"You might talk in your sleep," Peter guessed. "Rae has been very good at getting inside your head in the past. She might be trying to be ahead of the game."
Neal blinked. "Holy crap. You're all nuts. She can't possibly think like me, she had to have been making that up when she said that before," he said, incredulous.
"No, she's not making that up at all. She can work herself into that frame of mind and she can be damn near a dead ringer for you as far as your thoughts go. She's impressive," Peter shrugged. "Rae's taken a hell of a lot of psych courses."
"That's how she does it? She psychs herself out?" Neal asked.
"No, she just lets it go where it needs to, or so I've seen. She pretty much pegged you just from your notes," Peter admitted. "I won't lie to you, Neal, I had begun to worry if there was still a Rae Gilmore or not. She dropped it as soon as the cuffs were on you."
"Wow. So if there's anyone I need to look out for in the department, it's her," Neal guessed.
"Seems pretty reasonable," Peter admitted. "But like I said, I doubt she'd really turn on you."
The silence was deafening for a couple seconds. "So. Coming to visit or going back to Rae's?" Peter asked.
"I think I'll take you up on the visit," Neal said.
I need answers. Watching Neal sleep is not going to do it. He's not going to tell me what I need to know, awake or out like a light. I don't want to be him again. Once was enough. Whose shoes do I need to be in? Fowler's? Kate's? Mozz's? Who are they and what do they want?
Rae sighed and rubbed her eyes, trying to stave off a headache. She looked at the papers laid across her bed, trying again to organize this in her mind.
They want his stash. There's nothing worth killing him for in his stash. Hell there's nothing worth beating him for in his stash. It really doesn't matter if they know where it is or not.
She looked at her list. Some miscellaneous paintings, jewelry, artifacts, a car or two, they could all potentially be in Neal's stash. She knew what caught Neal's fancy. She knew basically what was unaccounted for. Or did she?
She looked across the hallway. He was sleeping. Did she dare? She set down the laptop and slipped across the hallway, looking down at him.
"Neal, do you have the Millenium Star?" she whispered.
"Pretty big rock," Neal murmured in his sleep.
"Did you take it?" Rae asked, her tone wheedling.
"I put it back," Neal said, and rolled over.
Oh God. If Neal had taken the Millenium Star... If Neal had it and they could prove it... Neal would be up shit's creek without a paddle. Rae was conflicted. Should she tell Peter? This was far from a reliable source of intell. And Neal might not have taken the stone at all. He might not have even considered it. Oh the hell with it. She shook him awake.
"The Millenium Star," she said flatly. "Where is it?"
"The hell should I know?" he slurred sleepilly. "F-ing ugly rock."
"What's the most valuable thing in your stash?" Rae asked quickly, banking on his half-awake state.
"Fabergé egg," Neal sighed. "Alexander."
Well that you could blame on the USSR. Ok. Convenient. Yeah, unless he was lying. Again.
"Go back to sleep," Rae said, smoothing his hair back from his face.
"No, you go back to sleep. You're a nut," Neal groaned, pulling a pillow over his head.
I am a nut. How much have I slept in the past week?
The number she came up with was not substantial. All Neal did was sleep. All she did was try to understand things. Maybe, if she slept, she wouldn't have to try so hard. Maybe, if she'd stop fixating on that nightmare, she would sleep. It wasn't even her nightmare to fixate on. But maybe there was something there that she needed. Maybe on some level, he did know what they wanted and just couldn't consciously think of it.
Yeah, and maybe pigs fly.
The first thing to register in poor Rae's overworked brain was that she was quite warm and comfortable. The second thing to register was that she didn't remember falling asleep. The third thing to register was that Neal smelled way better than Jade. Neal's willowy body was snuggled right up against her on one side, and Jade was on the other. And they both seemed pretty happy with where they were.
Rae looked over at the clock and nearly flipped out. She should have been up four hours ago, and she should have been at work two hours ago, and hell, she should have had Neal up and ready for PT by now. She groaned and started to get up.
"That's not where I thought you were watching him sleep from," Peter's voice teased.
Rae looked over at him in shock. "Hello Rae. Late night?" Peter asked, waving to her mess of papers strewn across her bed.
"You have no idea," Rae said quietly.
"You know there's an office full of people who can help you with this analysis, right?" Peter asked.
Rae quirked a small smile. "Last time you said that to me, we were hunting Caffrey," she said. "And I refused then, and I refuse now."
"Rae, we're not asking you to be him again," Peter said. "You don't need to lose yourself again to solve this case."
She shook her head. "Peter, how else am I to find the answers I'm looking for?" she asked.
Peter picked up a couple of papers. "You're trying to itemize his stash?" Peter asked.
"Sort of. I'm making a list of what could be in it, based on what typically catches his eye. Maybe then we can figure out what they want and how to get it," Rae said.
"You know if we find his stash he's done, right? There'll be so many thefts we can prove that I don't know how many years he'll be locked up?" Peter asked.
Rae nodded sadly, wrapping her arms around herself. "So let's worry about the bad guys and leave the stash to sit," Peter suggested.
"Off the record," Rae started.
"Off the record," Peter agreed.
"Are we saying the stash doesn't exist?" Rae asked.
"As far as I'm concerned, the stash is imaginary, Neal did his time," Peter said. "Everything after that is what counts."
"Then we agree on something," Rae said, and leaned down to wake Neal up.
"Come on, you skinny bag of bones, it's time for you to get up. You want breakfast before lunch, right?" Rae coaxed, as Neal started his complaining.
"But Rae, can't we just curl up together and call it a day?" Neal muttered, trying to avoid getting up.
Peter stifled a laugh. Some things never change. Neal would try to charm anybody.
"Nope, life goes on, Neal, so greet the day." Rae said, grabbing him by his good arm and pulling him to sitting up.
Peter just smirked. "You gonna get dressed Neal, or do you want to meet the therapist in your pajamas?" he asked.
"Good morning to you too, Peter. Ignore grumpy-pants, if you can," Neal said, dragging himself out of his nice warm bed.
"Good news, Neal, we can look at your pretty embroidery and see how it's doing," Rae said, looking at the calendar.
"I'd rather pretend it's not there, thanks," Neal grumbled. "Well you're doing a bang-up job of that," Peter chuckled.
It did look fairly good, which was definitely positive news. But even though Neal's skin was looking pretty well healed, Peter wondered a bit about Neal's shoulder blade and how that would heal and how the muscle would handle the trauma. He really had no earthly idea. It was a curiousity more than anything at this point. Neal might not appreciate Rae's bedside manner, but he could have had it a whole lot worse. Rae covered the stitches and argued with Neal a little as she got him to put a shirt on that wasn't a color he liked. If Peter hadn't known better, he'd have taken them for an old married couple, not an FBI agent and her charge.
Rae muttered something to the effect that Neal could dress like a fop after his shower, and he wasn't going to be taking a shower until after PT. He could deal with the cream colored shirt until then. Neal argued some more.
Peter couldn't help but think it'd be poetic justice if these two ended up a couple. He couldn't think of a better man for Rae the Fix-Everything Lady than the World's Greatest Con Artist, Neal Freakin Caffrey.
"Hey Peter, remember when you said you'd let me out of prison if I kept my word and helped the FBI?" Neal asked, and didn't wait for a response. "That didn't last very long, buddy."
Peter tried to hide a smirk. "This isn't prison, Neal, it has all the things you love. Cars, paintings, frauds, and girls," Peter said, moderating his voice.
"Girls? Peter, the dog doesn't count," Neal protested. "And I'd hardly call Rae a girl so much as a sexy bitch."
Rae slapped Neal in the back of the head. Peter smirked. Neal looked at Rae like he didn't know why he'd been slapped.
"Is this what every morning is like?" Peter guessed.
"Pretty much, yes. Neal and pain pills are not always pretty. They say the damnedest things," Rae growled. "And the best part is this is about as undressed as I've ever been since he got here. I think he's enjoying dreaming maybe too much."
"Oh come on, Rae, you know you want me," Neal said with a cheeky grin.
It clicked for Peter, all of a sudden. Neal was not out of it, at all. He had found Rae's buttons and enjoyed pushing them. He liked Rae when she was angry.
"You're a dead man, Caffrey," Peter chuckled. "You don't know what a slippery slope you're headed down."
Apparantly Neal had decided if he couldn't charm Rae, he'd just irritate the hell out of her. "Oh come on, like Rae would kill me," Neal scoffed.
"Keep pushing and you might find out," Peter chuckled. "You could just man up and tell her you like her."
Neal looked at Peter in shock, seeing Rae turn around quickly. "Peter, I..." Neal started to protest.
"Go on, Neal. Man up," Peter said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Peter, this really isn't nessecary..." Rae said, not really sure she wanted to hear this.
"No, just listen," Peter said. "Go on Neal." Actually, Peter had never seen Neal speechless before. This was semi-pleasant in the grand scheme of things.
"I like Rae. A lot. Are you done humiliating me?" Neal said quickly.
"Yeah, I think I'm done. I'm gonna go get a cup of coffee," Peter said, grinning like someone had handed him a birthday present. It wasn't every day he got to give Neal his comeuppance, and he treasured each one. After three years of chasing his crafty self, and all the annoyances dealt, Peter liked to put Neal in his place on occaision. It was only fair.
"There should be a fresh pot set up in the kitchen, just hit the button," Rae called after him. Peter was really kind of thrilled with that idea. He did just that, waiting for the coffee to brew as Rae and Neal came down the stairs.
Rae really did put up with Neal very well. More than could be fairly expected of her. And she really did make an effort to protect him. Peter thought about that as he watched Neal slog through PT, waiting for Neal because he needed Neal's help on a case he was working. When Neal finished PT, and thus finished his bitching, he headed upstairs to take a shower, still annoyed. Peter knew he'd come back impeccably dressed, as usual. Jade was bouncing around in the livingroom as Rae absently tossed a tennis ball for her.
"Rae. You should drink some coffee or go back to bed," Peter said, concerned.
"I'm fine, Peter," Rae sighed, somewhat annoyed by the attention.
Peter shook his head. "You're worse than El," he sighed. "Don't run yourself ragged for Neal. It's not worth it. You're not going to help him if you can't help yourself."
"Peter, Kate was standing at my mailbox. I need to nip this in the bud before she actually has a shot at him," Rae said, looking at Peter, still holding Jade's tennis ball.
Peter gaped, shocked at this revelation. "She was standing right there?" he asked.
Rae nodded wearilly. "Why didn't you tell me that at the time?" Peter asked, baffled.
"I didn't want Neal to know," Rae said quietly. "I don't know how to explain to him that his ex seems to be a bloodthirsty wolf."
Peter wondered for a moment if Rae thought she had to take all of the world's problems on her shoulders.
Neal came back down the stairs, ready to go. Peter escorted him out to the car, wondering what he could do to help Rae, at this point. She was taking this project personally now.