A/N - Ah chapter 10 already.. how exciting. :D Hope this lives up to it.

WCWCWCWC

"Hey, hun. How's the event going? I was gonna check in-"

"Peter, wait. Listen to me." El's voice was frantic, her breathes as quick as her fast-paced steps. "You- you need to get down here now. Call Bancroft, call your team-"

"What? El, hold a second. What on earth is going on? Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes. I'm fine. It's a- a painting. A painting is gone."

"What? What do you mean, it's gone?" Peter's voice was anxious now as he stood up from the couch, ear pressed tight against his phone.

"It was just here. I mean, I was just looking at it. And now it's gone. Oh my god, we've been robbed. I was in charge and oh, Peter! That piece costs thousands. The whole gallery is on lock down and the guests are due to arrive any minute and we've been robbed-"

"Jesus - okay, okay. I'm on my way, hun. Just calm down, please. It'll be fine. I promise-"

"Wait, Peter." El cut her husband's platitudes off short. "Bring Neal with you."

"What?" Peter heard himself ask, his mind suddenly racing wildly and his heart sinking quite unexpectedly.

Neal.

Neal wasn't here.

"Um, why- why would I need to bring Neal?" Peter's voice was frenzied, his train of thought taking a turn for the worse.

"Hun, you can't just leave him there alone in the house. There is a thief running around this city - who could be armed, Peter." The agent tried to ignore his wife's elevated voice as he grabbed his car keys, almost sprinting out of the house.

"Um, about that.. Well, Neal isn't exactly here."

"What?" El's frantic words were low and dangerous now and Peter cringed inwardly. "What do you mean he isn't there?"

"I - he went for a run earlier and he isn't back yet. I could call him.."

El was silent for a long moment and Peter wondered if it was due to anger or if she too was lost in the same chilling thought he had been struck by. Possibly both.

"No, no." She said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Um- don't worry about it. You just get over here. I'll call him." El voice was unreadable now and Peter nodded futilely as he climbed into the car.

"Alright. I'll call for backup and meet you over there. Stay around other people at all times, El. Don't go wandering off."

"Yes, hun. I know." El's voice had a slight quaver to it and Peter closed his eyes briefly. He hated to hear his wife so upset.

"Okay. I'll see you in a bit." Peter hung up the phone quickly and pulled into traffic, praying that El would talk to Neal soon. And that the pair wouldn't be in the same room when they did so.

WCWCWCWC

"Peter, what the hell is going on?" His superior's voice boomed and Peter felt a chill run up his spine. He certainly didn't think he'd be dealing with an irate Bancroft when he woke up this morning.

"Um," The agent began hesitantly. "I don't exactly know, sir. El didn't have a whole lot of details." Peter explained as he pushed in the door to the gallery's entrance way, his superior walking directly behind him. "I already told you, apparently a painting's gone missing that she says was there only moments earlier."

"So, there's just one piece missing?"

"Um - yes. I think so. But El sounded certain that this was a robbery, sir. And I believe her." Peter's voice was confident now and Bancroft nodded.

"Alright, Burke. But that does seem highly unusual. Come on, let's investigate the showcase room and see what's what. We'll leave backup to ward off the guests for right now."

Peter only nodded, following his boss into the next room.

"I guess this was where the painting was." Peter neared the back wall, pointing out a blatant patch of white before moving in to inspect it further.

"Oh my god-" Peter ran a hand down his face as he inspected the, now non-existent painting's, title placard.

"Burke, what is it?"

Peter swallowed painfully against the lump that had almost instantly lodged in his throat.

It was the Gorky.

The piece El and Neal had been talking about just hours earlier.

"Oh - um, nothing. It's nothing." Peter added quickly, tearing his gaze from the empty section of wall. "Just- that's El's favorite painting."

"Hm." Bancroft said, inspecting the silver title plate for himself. "Well, this work is certainly the favorite of many."

"What do you mean?"

"Peter, we've been getting leads about an alleged heist on this painting for weeks now. We already have some potential buyers lined up to bring in for questioning."

"What? Really?"

"Yes. This definitely wasn't any accident. Someone's been planning on stealing this painting." Bancroft turned instantly, meeting Peter's gaze. "For a while now."

Peter felt his mouth go dry as his superior's face took on a grave, almost ominous look.

"Peter, where's the kid?"

The agent could swear his heart stopped then.

"What? Why?"

"Peter, you don't understand." Bancroft rubbed a frustrated hand down his face. "One of the leads led us to Caffrey.. He was a potential suspect."

"Y-you're kidding me."

"I am not. And where in the hell is the kid?"

"I - I don't exactly know, sir." Peter answered sheepishly. "He went for a run earlier and then-"

"Peter." His boss' voice was dangerous as it echoed loudly throughout the glass-lined room.

"I swear- I had no idea about this."

"Burke, this is serious." Bancroft was looking directly at him now, his eyes shooting daggers. "I trusted you."

"Sir, listen." Peter said quickly, grasping at straws. "In my defense, why was I not told about this? I would have kept a closer eye on him.."

"Burke come on, you know why. After what happened with his father, we all just let it go. We figured with the true mastermind locked up, the kid wouldn't pose a threat anymore. He'd have no reason to."

Peter nodded, suddenly feeling ill. "Alright. Well, there might not even be anything to worry about. Neal, he - he wouldn't do this. El is calling him right now. I'm sure everything is fine."

Bancroft paused momentarily before responding. "Fine, who the suspect is isn't our main priority right now. Right now, we need to worry about stopping whoever has that work and getting it into our custody." Bancroft paused and the agent nodded his understanding.

"First, we need to make sure we secure the perimeter and fast. The thief could be anywhere by now. Go round up the backup and line the outskirts of the property. We need all hands on deck for this."

"You got it." Peter turned away quickly, heading towards the exit.

"Oh and Peter." The agent turned around once again to met his boss's ominous glare. "You better get Caffrey on the damn phone. Now."

Peter only nodded before making his way to the exit once again, already pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. He intended to do exactly that and if he didn't succeed, well, someone was going to be very sorry.

WCWCWCWC

"Yeah, I got one of my agents rounding up backup as we speak. There are hundreds of guests waiting outside. We need to secure the area first and foremost." Bancroft paced the deserted showcase room, sighing heavily into the receiving end of his cell phone.

"No, we in no way need NYPD's assistance. We've got everything under control. I got word that one of your guys had a sighting of a potential suspect. Could you please just enlighten me about this lead so we could both just carry on with our jobs?" The agent nodded fruitlessly at the prying officer's reluctant information. "Alright, thank you." Within moments he had pulled his phone from his ear and hung it up.

He had a thief to catch.

Bancroft dashed from the showcase room, removing his gun from his holster. If his source was accurate, the suspect should be looming somewhere around the corner of East Washington Square. He hurriedly pressed his phone to his ear once again, still making his way to the location. He needed to update his team.

"Peter, listen." Bancroft began hurriedly. "I just spoke with NYPD about a possible sighting of the thief. I just rounded the corner of the location. I'm in the East side of Washington Square. I'm standing by a dumpster and I think that's a diner down there, I don't know - just get backup and meet me here immediat-"

Suddenly, Bancroft was cut off by an unusual rustling sound coming from withing the dumpster. He immediately whirled around to face the source of the noise. It was the thief. It just had to be. He had heard Bancroft's voice and was attempting to get away. Not on his watch.

"Peter, get here now." Bancroft immediately pocketed his phone, choosing to aim his gun instead. Directly at the dumpster.

"You are surrounded, genius." Bancroft lied confidently. "Show yourself and I won't shoot."

There was still no noise to be heard and Bancroft inched closer.

"I said to show yourself." When he was rewarded with more silence, the agent made a quick decision, firing a shot at the ground in front of the dumpster.

This time the distinct rustling was heard again and Bancroft smirked. "You heard me the first time. Now, show yourself. I'm not here to play games."

Bancroft paused for a very long moment before slowly, but surely, a face did emerge from the dumpster and it was certainly not a face he wanted to see.

"Caffrey." Bancroft bellowed, his gun now pointed directly at the thief.

"Drop the painting and put your goddamn hands in the air. You are under arrest."

A/N - Welp. I wanted to apologize for not responding to the last chapter's reviews. But everyone's had very differing ideas about what exactly is going on and I didn't know how to word my responses without possibly giving it away. But I love responding as much as I appreciate the reviews themselves so please don't think I'm just slighting you. :/ Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and what's to come. :D

Ps. Everything isn't always as it seems..