FDS - From Dinners to Stings

From kateydidnt on AO3:

Another thought just hit me-what if Elli (and Chuck) Bartowski were cousins of Elizabeth Burke nee Mitchell?

Chuck didn't want to do this.

"Come on, Chuck," Ellie insisted, "they weren't able to make it to either of our weddings. We should introduce our spouses to them since we're holidaying in New York."

Chuck sighed and tried not to look at Sarah's earnest but confused face. His wife didn't really understand why he didn't like visiting his cousin Elizabeth. It had little to do with Elizabeth herself but her straight-laced husband, who hadn't been happy to hear that he had been kicked out of Stanford for cheating and that he started working in a Buy More. Chuck claimed he was innocent and while Peter had looked into it, he hadn't been able to find evidence of the truth.

While Chuck had forgiven Bryce for the deception which got him kicked out years ago, he wasn't pleased that events like this brought up the bitter memories.

"I'll do it," Sarah said, ringing to doorbell when Chuck didn't move.

"Neal!" came a bellow from inside.

"Ha! Too slow!" was the response as the door opened to reveal a clean-shaven, dark haired man in a suit with familiar features and bright blue eyes.

"Bryce?" Sarah questioned, her jaw dropping. The man gave her a confused look before a thin-haired brunette with a scowl moved him out of the way.

"Ellie, Chuck, good to see you," he said, shaking their hands. "And Devon and Sarah, I assume?" He didn't wait for a response before adding, "please, ignore Neal. He's just trying to embarrass me."

"Don't need my help for that," Neal quipped. Peter turned to glare at him but it had little effect, except to make him smile wider. "I'll see if El needs any help in the kitchen."

The two couples shared a look.

"Wasn't that-?" Ellie asked her brother.

"I don't know," Chuck responded. "He looks like him but doesn't really look like him..."

"What do you mean?" Sarah questioned. She thought he looked just like Bryce. More childish, but that would make sense if he was playing a role for a mission.

"Just, he doesn't seem like Bryce," Chuck mused as if he couldn't understand it himself.

"You didn't, you know," Devon questioned, his face twitching in a little in distaste as he mentioned Chuck's Intersect flashes.

"No," Chuck responded.

"But that doesn't mean anything," Ellie pointed out.

"Is there a problem?" Peter questioned in a tone that said he had a feeling he knew what they were talking about. Really, he knew they were talking about Neal. He just didn't understand why. He hoped that Neal hadn't somehow conned his relatives-in-law.

"No! No problem," Chuck said, plastering a huge smile on his face. "Just, never seen someone dressed that fancy for lunch."

"That's Neal for you," Peter chucked awkwardly as he moved to let them in. He and Chuck stared at each other, both trying to get the other to break and admit whatever conspiracy was going on with the FBI CI, Neal Caffrey.

Neal felt awkward. El had assured him that he was welcome but, he certainly didn't feel that way. Not with the way the Burke's guests were staring and glaring at him.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked Ellie after the fourth icy glare.

"You tell me," she responded icily. Neal looked to Peter for help. Peter looked to El for help. El gave them both looks of complete disbelief; Peter she could understand but even Neal couldn't hold the conversation?

"So, Chuck, how's work?" she asked.

"Uh, good," Chuck responded awkwardly. He couldn't tell them that he was the secret owner of the Buy More because, one, it was a secret and, two, he wouldn't be able to explain where he got the money. Unless, maybe El knew about the family business? "Hey, El. Did you hear that mum came back?"

"Aunt Mary? No," El responded, frowning a little. Her voice took one a slight tone of anger as she recalled how upset her cousins had been when their mother, her aunt, had vanished. They had started seeing each other less after that incident.

"She was there for Clara's birth," Devon pointed out like a proud papa. "She's watching her so we can visit."

El frowned. She didn't know whether she liked the sound of that. Neal was also frowning.

"Mary?" he questioned.

"I don't think I've heard about your aunt," Peter pointed out to El.

"Of course not," El grumbled.

"Mum left when we were younger," Chuck said, "because of work. She had a dangerous job and didn't want to put us in danger because of it."

Peter wondered what kind of job could be dangerous enough for a mother to leave her children. Neal however understood. He knew that there was trouble even innocent people could find themselves in which required them to leave or hurt love ones.

"She a cop or something?" he asked.

"Something like that," Chuck responded, "she wasn't a cop but she worked law enforcement."

Neal nodded and wondered if law enforcement was riddled with children who were left behind by their parents. As he took another bite of El's pasta, he noticed that Chuck's group shared a look. He didn't know what it meant but he knew it was about him.

He sighed and put his fork down.

"If you're not okay with me being here, I can leave?" he suggested. He could feel El's and Peter's shock but he knew that it was better to be straight with some people.

"Uh, that's not it," Ellie was quick to say. He shot her a look that said he didn't believe her. She had been shooting him icy looks the whole time.

"You just look like a friend of ours," Sarah pointed out.

"Exactly like a friend of ours," Chuck commented, "and it's a little creepy."

Neal felt his hunger leave him at those words. Yeah, he had heard them before. In shopping centres, at home and wherever else he went up until the age of eighteen.

"Bryce Larkin?" he questioned, his eyes narrowing in distaste. "We're nothing alike thank you. We're different people and we have different ways of doing things."

"Like how you're a criminal?" Sarah questioned. Neal twitched. "You wear a GPS tracking anklet."

"It's a shame Mozzie doesn't call you guys Suits," he muttered. Because there was only one job she had in order to be that observant, he had seen the way she cased the joint, and know Bryce Larkin. He stood up. "Thanks for the lovely dinner, El but I should be going."

"Never thought I'd hear you call someone a 'Suit'," Peter murmured with a smirk. He sort of trusted Chuck's wife now.

Neal moved to leave but paused at the back door. Then he smirked. And gave a cackle.

"Okay, I kind of owe him," he said, "Bryce, that is. And I owe him for ratting me out to the polizie a while back." He scribbled a name and address onto a piece of paper. "Here's the name Bryce Larkin is currently using and the address of his safe house. He's living right off the radar, so you should be able to catch him."

The four visitors were staring at him.

"Uh, what if we meant him harm?" Devon questioned.

"I don't think you do," Neal responded with a shrug. "Not if you're related to Peter and El." Peter raised his eyebrow at him because that wasn't logical at all. "Okay, you haven't tried to make off with me, not even when I was leaving so, I don't think you mean him harm. Besides, you're probably the ones he felt sorry about faking his death for. Enjoy gossiping about me!" And with that said, Neal vanished.

After a night talking with Chuck, Sarah, Ellie and Devon, Peter was not surprised when someone who looked just like Neal stormed into the conference room during a briefing to scold Neal for 'selling him out'.

"Bryce, sit down!" Peter barked, to the shock of his agents. "You can argue with Neal about it later, we're working!" Bryce stared at him before slipping into the seat next to Neal.

"So-" he hummed, pointing at the picture on the screen.

"We believe he's stealing his own collections and selling counterfeits on the black market, profiting numerous times over," Neal informed him.

"As I was saying, Neal will be going undercover as..." Peter continued the briefing, ignoring Bryce's presence. He at least seemed to keep Neal focused, or annoyed, by taking his rubber band ball from him.

"Want some help?" Bryce asked at the end, ignoring the stares from the shocked White Collar agents.

Not if half the things Chuck told me are true, Peter thought. For all Bryce worked for the 'good guys', he sounded a lot like Neal in the ways which made his job harder. In the ways which meant if Peter said 'no', he was likely to find a Neal doppelgänger blowing their op.

"You'll stay in the van," he said, "and be Jones' problem. If you do mess up our sting, I will report you to Chuck." He felt a little silly but, the threat of telling Chuck and involving the 'Suits' they both worked for, seemed to work.

Peter took a moment to appreciate that he did use 'Suits' to refer to them; Mozzie would be proud and it was the best word anyway. The paperwork he would have to do if he admitted he knew who Bryce worked for was enough incentive to keep the secret.

Poor Jones looked a little shocked and horrified though.