Beacon Theater, Manhattan. Saturday afternoon. July 17, 2004.

Peter had told himself he'd stay away from the theater until Urban Legend's performance that night. No need to hang around like an anxious parent before his son's debut in the school play.

He'd spent much of the morning on the phone with Julia Winslow, absorbing what she'd learned and suspected about Masterson Music. It had been fun, talking to someone who spoke accounting and loved numbers. Her insights had been so exciting that Peter wanted to tell someone. Sending an email to Agent Tricia Wiese didn't cut it. El was at the theater, and Peter thought he could catch her for a late lunch to share his news.

Burke Premiere Events would be hosting a party backstage after the concert late tonight. Many reporters and members of the music industry had asked Mozzie – the group's agent – for an opportunity to meet the band, and El was working some kind of magic to make it happen. When Peter arrived, Graham Winslow was conferring with a man they introduced as Randy Weston. Randy apparently owned a music store that hosted live events with cocktails and had a good relationship with the bar next to his shop. Peter recognized the name of the bar; it had shown up in a report Jones had filed back in February, when they'd been worried about Neal. One evening Neal had gone to that bar and performed. Hearing the name again now was a reminder to Peter that while the Masterson case seemed new and rushed from his perspective, for Neal and Henry this had been the result of months, even years of planning.

Randy Weston was pulling strings with the bar to have drinks and a bartender at the theater tonight. It sounded like the music store and bar would cover some of the costs in return for the publicity they would get. Graham seemed to be footing the rest of the bill. When he noticed Peter, he took him aside to describe the arrangements, including an offer from June to have her chef spend the day preparing finger foods that would be appropriate for the event.

"I half expected you to be home in Baltimore by now," Peter said when Graham finished.

"So did I. I'm probably too old for a rock concert, but… I suppose you could say I'm making up for lost opportunities. This is a big night for my grandson, and it reminds me that I missed another big night. Henry was in a play in high school, you know. I'd planned to be there, but a crisis came up at Win-Win. Looking back, I suppose Robert engineered the crisis. But the fact is, neither of us were there on a big night for the boy, and I decided it was time to make up for that. Show him I support him."

Peter nodded. Knowing that Neal hadn't had a father present for similar events in his youth made Peter even more determined to be here for tonight's concert.

From everything he'd heard, El would be too busy preparing for this event to listen to him describe what he'd learned from Julia. Well, Graham would probably be interested.

"Hell of a thing about Masterson, isn't it?" Graham said. "Julia filled me in first thing this morning."

So much for that idea. It looked like the drive out here had been a wasted trip. There wasn't anything he could do to help set up for the concert, and Neal would certainly be too busy to talk. In fact, he didn't even see the kid anywhere.

"Checking up on us?" came a familiar voice from behind him.

Peter turned around to see Neal grinning at him.

"Checking up on El, actually, but seeing what you're up to is a bonus."

"Let me give you the tour," Neal offered, and it was hard to tell who was prouder: Neal showing off to his father figure, or Peter taking in what Neal was accomplishing here. Sound equipment and instruments were in place. Someone in a control booth was configuring the lights. Henry was leading Angela and other musicians through a set list.

"The drummer looks kinda familiar," Peter said.

"That's Trevor Merchant, from Local Devastation. Ty Merchant, the lead singer who's going solo these days, is his brother. Including Trevor tonight is the first step toward announcing a collaboration with his old band." Neal paused. "It's less impressive than it sounds. Trevor's a publicity hound. In fact, he's more into notoriety than he is into music. It's an even trade. We get a drummer, and he gets a lot of attention tonight when he hints that we'll make an appearance at their reunion concert. He'll probably take credit for the idea, but that's OK."

"Didn't you line up a drummer already? Cassie, right?"

"That's right, but under her contract with Masterson she can't be paid for a performance they don't produce, and union rules are pretty strict about paying musicians. We'll bring her and Samantha Weston into the mix once the company makes us an offer."

That was Peter's cue. "Speaking of Masterson…"

WCWCWCWCWCWCWC

"Piracy?" Neal interrupted in the middle of Peter's explanation. There'd been a fog of accounting lingo but in the midst of it one concept shone out like a beacon.

Thankfully, Peter dropped most of the jargon. "That's right. Most music companies take a loss – especially overseas – because of pirated copies of CDs. You see the same thing with software companies. They write it off on their taxes and occasionally take steps to make piracy a little harder."

"Like making CDs or music files harder to copy."

"Those are the typical measures. The thing is, Masterson writes off the same loss every quarter. It looks like they calculated an industry average percent of revenue lost to piracy, and apply that percentage as a reasonable number no one would question."

"But the percentage should differ, at least a little, from quarter to quarter," Neal guessed.

"That's what tipped Julia off. She kept digging through other reports. It seems the company's international sales team can't help bragging about their revenues even if they have to be hazy about the exact source. That led her to discover partnerships with companies that no one else in the music industry uses. Some of those companies have had run-ins with the FBI. Based on everything she found, we're in agreement. The most likely explanation is that Masterson Music formed a partnership with one of the largest music piracy groups. They're getting a cut of the profits, but of course they aren't reporting it, and aren't paying taxes on it."

"And they aren't sharing those profits with the musicians signed to their label. Instead they claim the international revenues are mostly lost to piracy, and they keep all the money."

Peter nodded. "This is good news. If Julia's right, we're finding evidence of multiple crimes. First the unfair contracts that you made us aware of, then the extortion Theo Guy described, and now piracy and tax fraud. That'll make it easier to get warrants and eventually a conviction when the time comes."

Neal glanced toward the group that was getting ready to rehearse their first song. Henry would want to be updated on the case, while Shawn wouldn't want any distractions. Right now Shawn would win, he decided. This concert was an important step in the sting, anyway. Best to stay focused on that aspect.

"Do you need to join them?" Peter asked.

"Not yet. Most of the songs are just Shawn and Grace Legend. I'll join them at the end." He thought about those songs and asked, "Are you going to be here, for the concert?"

Peter looked surprised. "Of course. I wouldn't miss it. That is… Did you not want me here?"

He looked a little hurt, and Neal shook his head. "No, it's not that. The first song we all perform together, though… I don't want you to worry when you hear it. It's a Linkin Park song, 'Easier to Run' and –"

"You're right, I don't like the sound of that."

"It's in the context of admitting that we've taken the easy way out, running from our troubles rather than sticking around to patch up our differences. That's what we'll explain. It's not that we're advocating running away."

With that, Peter seemed mollified. "How's Henry doing?"

"He's in his element," Neal said. "He's brilliant at this stuff. It's a bit bigger than our usual concerts, but then we've opened for big-name groups so we've performed in much larger arenas. The Beacon only seats around 3000. Honestly at first I worried if we could fill it on our own, but the online campaign and news coverage have been phenomenal. Last night's radio interview has been shared with other stations – I even heard clips this morning when we drove over here. Mozzie tells me we're already sold out and there has been so much demand for tickets that he's negotiating with the theater to see if we could do a repeat performance tomorrow night."

Peter looked around. "I was surprised not to see him here. Is he hiding in the wings or in the control room with the lighting techs?"

"He knew you'd be here, and Graham. It's hard to say whether the FBI or Win-Win make him more nervous. Either way, he isn't comfortable making an appearance."

Peter mulled that over. "On the one hand, it's something of a relief not to have a wild card like him around. On the other hand, he can't be part of this sting and avoid the FBI forever. Like you said, your agent and business manager need to coordinate."

"I'm working on that. Would you be able to go into the office tomorrow? I thought a Sunday, when the Federal Building's mostly empty, would be my best shot at convincing him to go to the Bureau."

"Anytime. Once I fill Hughes in on the piracy element, I expect this case to become my top priority."

That surprised Neal. "More important than the Robert Winslow case?"

"Agent Yoshida in Seattle is taking the lead on that. Now that we know where he is, it's simply a matter of taking him into custody. They'll keep us in the loop, but there's not much for us to do now that Jones has documented all of our findings for the case file." He must have seen Neal was about to protest. "I know you want to be there for the actual arrest."

"Nothing with Robert is simple. The Seattle office doesn't know him, Peter. They haven't seen what he's capable of. We need to be there."

Elizabeth walked over before Peter could respond. "I've been rushing around so much I didn't see you arrive, hon," she told her husband. "The scope of the post-performance party keeps growing. It's going to be great for my new event-planning business, but I'm afraid our plans for this afternoon will have to wait."

Peter accepted that calmly enough. "Graham Winslow filled me in on some of it. I'm not surprised."

The Burkes described how the party was evolving, and Neal was pleased to hear how many members of the press and music industry were expected to attend. He'd promised Angela weeks ago that his version of the plan would move things along faster than Henry's original plan, but even he was surprised at how quickly things were moving. This was good. The sooner they had a contract and gathered the evidence to make an arrest, the more likely that he'd be free to travel to Seattle when the Coast Guard brought Robert back. He'd keep working on convincing Peter that they both needed to be there… He brought his attention back to the present as Elizabeth said she needed to return to the party preparations.

When she left, Peter said, "Getting back to Henry, I wasn't asking about how he was doing for the concert. I meant in general. The kidnapping, the stuff his father's done, you don't just bounce back from that."

"He wants us to think it doesn't bother him, but you're right. This morning I got up earlier than usual and found him in the music room. He was singing a Linkin Park song. Not the one we're performing tonight, but one called 'Numb' – and I definitely had the sense he was directing it toward Robert. He wants to feel numb about it all, but I don't think he can."

"Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah, once he reached the end of the song. He tried to deflect, but I kept pushing. He wasn't ready to discuss Robert yet – not directly, anyway. But he had some things to say about Ford, specifically what Robert wanted to accomplish by using him."

"You think there was more to it than keeping track of Henry?"

"Robert's obsessive, but he's also smart. Sending Jason Ford around the country each time they got a lead on Henry's location was expensive. It would have been easier to call a local PI wherever Henry popped up to look for him and track his movements. The company has established relationships with investigators in cities around the world. Getting Win-Win to cover Ford's travel expenses must have taken a lot of effort and involved the risk that someone would ask questions and find out what Robert was doing."

"A local PI would have the advantage of knowing the area better, but Ford knew Henry better, especially as time went on."

"Exactly. We think it was also a training exercise. By putting a tail on him whenever possible, Robert made sure Henry practiced skills he'd need at Win-Win. Robert always intended to win points with Graham by bringing Henry back into the fold, and wanted to be certain Henry would perform well when that happened."

"Something like our Tuesday Tails," Peter commented, "but less friendly."

"Very like Tuesday Tails, because it served as training for both parties. The more we talked about it this morning, the more we thought Robert intended for Henry and Ford to view each other as adversaries. Some people believe having a nemesis makes you sharper."

Then Peter surprised Neal by saying, "Sometimes I've wondered, if things had gone differently – if we hadn't run into each other in St. Louis and I hadn't recruited you – would you have become my nemesis someday? You doing your thing in New York, me as the head of the new Manhattan White Collar task force… We'd have been butting heads regularly."

Seven months after that encounter in St. Louis, it still sometimes felt like a dream to Neal. He had moments when he worried that his new life and job at the FBI would fade away if he messed up. That's probably why he'd reacted so strongly to the accusation of being a teacher's pet, and had intended to work independently on the Masterson case to prove he could do the job on his own.

But he realized now that one element of his new life felt set in cement. He simply couldn't imagine being Peter's enemy. His friendship, support and approval were all so important to Neal now that being an adversary felt unnatural. Sure, they were both competitive men who would occasionally try to outsmart each other, but that was far from being a nemesis. "Nah," Neal said. "I can't see it."

Peter clapped him on the back. "I'm glad. When I've tried to picture it, it's been the stuff of nightmares." He waited a moment and then added, "And speaking of nightmare scenarios, I want you to promise me that you won't blindly follow Henry right now. I like him, but I don't trust his judgment. You're much more level-headed than he is these days."

Neal grinned. "Wow. A direct order not to do what Henry tells me when he goes all big-brother. I like it."

"I'm not kidding, Neal. He almost got the two of you killed at the airstrip a few months back, and things have just gotten worse for him since then."

"I'll keep him focused on the music, as much as I can," Neal promised.

WCWCWCWCWCWCWC

With the theater filled to capacity, seating had been added in the wings. Stage right was for members of the press and the music industry. Stage left was for family. El darted in and out as she prepared for the press event, but Peter stayed glued to his seat with Neal's grandparents and Graham and Noelle. He'd been introduced to Paige Caffrey, a polite but rather vague woman who was Angela's mother. She'd flown up from D.C. this afternoon – piloting her own plane. June was also seated with the family, and Peter learned she had arranged for some of the musicians and backup singers who were currently on stage.

Theoretically, Peter was there in his undercover role as the band's business manager, Peter Blaine. A few songs into the concert, he needed to move to the other side of the stage and introduce himself to the business people and talent scouts. But right now he was as nervous as any father seeing his kids go to bat in their first Little League game, and it wouldn't be good to let the press see those nerves.

The drummer walked on stage first and addressed the crowd. "Welcome to Urban Legend! And let me tell you, this legend is real! You've seen the stories, heard the interviews, and now you're going to experience the band. We've got a sold out crowd here, and a shout out to those of you listening to the live broadcast – you're going to wish you'd gotten tickets! We'll be here again tomorrow night, so there's still another chance to see us live. Some of you may remember me from Local Devastation. I'm Trevor Merchant…" He waited for the cheers to die down. "That's right. I'm sitting in with Urban Legend tonight, and I'm gonna make sure this isn't the last time. I'm not supposed to make the announcement yet, but let's just say you really want to be at the Local Devastation reunion concert next weekend." More cheers, and someone yelled that they wanted Neal Legend. Trevor chuckled. "Right, the ghostly Neal Legend. I've seen someone who resembles him backstage, and he's in pretty good shape for a guy everyone said was dead. Ghosts are kinda shy, but we'll coax him on stage eventually. After all, they keep telling me the best Urban Legends are ghost stories."

With that all of the performers except Neal ran on stage. Henry took the microphone. "Thanks, Trevor! I'm Shawn Legend, but pay attention. You've probably heard how Neal likes to impersonate me. He could slip in at any moment. But you're here for the music, so let's get started!"

They launched into the first of several songs. In a rare quiet moment a few songs in, Irene squeezed Edmund's hand and said, "They're mesmerizing."

He squeezed back and said, "The voices are all Caffrey, but the electricity, that's you. It's like seeing you in a movie or that USO tour all over again. It takes my breath away."

Graham looked rather distressed as he turned to Noelle. "The whippersnapper's such a good investigator. Am I wrong to pull him into Win-Win when he has this?"

"You'll have to ask him," Noelle said. "But I think solving mysteries is where his heart is. Just think, he arranged all of this to bring down a corrupt executive."

Peter made his move to the opposite side, meeting the people who could help with the Masterson case. In addition to a bevy of entertainment reporters who were enjoying the concert and were eager to meet the Legends, there were scouts from a handful of record labels, including one from Masterson Music.

After a few songs, Peter excused himself, saying he needed to check on the preparations for the press event and hoped to see all of them there after the concert. In a dark hallway he almost bumped into Henry. "Shouldn't you be on stage?" he asked, surprised to see him, even though Angela was the lead in the current song.

"Wish me luck," Henry said.

Peter followed him toward the stage, and watched as one Shawn Legend stepped back into a dark area of the stage and swapped places with another. It hadn't been Henry backstage at all, but Neal preparing to impersonate him. "It almost scares me how easily you switch places," he admitted to the real Henry, who stood waiting with him in the wings.

"It's hard to believe there used to be a time he was nervous about impersonating me. Didn't think he was good enough at guitar, and then later he was kinda intimidated at the idea of going to my classes at DePaul. Now the tables are turning. I'm not good enough to impersonate him."

"You think he's better at guitar?" Peter asked. As astounded and proud as he was watching Neal take his place on the stage, he had to admit that Henry was in a class by himself when it came to playing the guitar and directing the band.

Henry chuckled, although he didn't sound amused. "No, not yet. I mean the important stuff. He's got his shit together, and I'm falling apart at the seams. Hell, I wouldn't even be standing here tonight if he hadn't come to the rescue at Enscombe. I was useless, just like Dad always said."

Shocked, Peter was still struggling for a response when Henry dashed back on stage.

The song had come to an end and Henry yelled, "Hey! I put down my guitar for a second to grab a break and you think you can just sneak in and pretend to be me?" Neal handed the guitar to Henry amidst screams from the audience and picked up his own guitar. Henry turned to the crowd. "I gotta say, the ghost of Neal Legend is looking real to me. Think we can convince him to stick around?"

The crowd's response was loud and positive. Neal walked to the front of the stage. "I haven't had time to learn all of the group's current set list, but there's a song I'd like to dedicate to the amazing Grace Legend. I want to make sure she and everyone else knows I'm not here to take her place. No one could do that, not with the powerhouse talent she has. This is a song Maroon 5 released this year, 'She Will be Loved,' because anyone who hears Grace's voice will love her."

Peter realized he was holding his breath as Neal launched into the song. It seemed like the crowd was, too, curious to hear the mysterious third member of the group. It went perfectly, and Peter couldn't have been more proud as a boisterous round of applause followed the end of the song.

Angela thanked Neal and added, "I hear that song a lot from Shawn, actually. The real Shawn. We've done a lot of gigs at places that could barely pay a band, but Shawn's happy just to get fed. I can't tell you how many times he's told me about a performance he's arranged and then followed up singing that tune with the lyrics, 'There wiiillll be food, there will be foo-ooo-ood.'"

All three of them joined in the song Neal had mentioned earlier, about being easier to run. Peter thanked his lucky stars the kid seemed settled down these days and not on the run anymore. But there was always that flight instinct to worry about.

Then they ended with a song where Angela played piano and Neal and Henry sang about being brothers. As with most of the songs tonight, Peter didn't know it, but that was because they were using new material by Miranda Garza that hadn't been recorded by big stars yet. However, he was glad the concert was being recorded. He wanted to listen to that last song again.

Thinking like an FBI agent, he wanted to replay the concert for Tricia and the others involved in the case. They should appreciate what an amazing job Neal and his cousins were doing. The online campaign to grab attention had worked, but the talent of this trio would provide the final push to make Masterson offer a contract. Neal had mentioned more than once that Henry emphasized not only singing the right notes, but also an entire performance designed to hold your interest and grab your emotions. Seeing it in action, Peter had to agree that at least in this aspect of the case, Henry knew what he was doing.

But more than ever, he was worried about the kid. During that brief exchange offstage, Henry in his Shawn persona had been much more abrupt and forthright than he normally was. Did his family manage to catch him in those moments to hear how much the kidnapping had rattled him?

An important question, but not one he could bring up in the room where the party was being held. For one thing, it was so crowded they had to be pushing the legal limits imposed by the fire code. For another, the Urban Legend parents and grandparents had left. It was getting late, and they weren't supposed to be seen as supporting the musical endeavors of their offspring.

Making the rounds at the party, Trevor Merchant told nearly everyone – in strict confidence – that a small record company based in Austin had approached Miranda Garza, asking her if Urban Legend would be willing to sign a contract. Neal nodded when Peter mentioned it and he explained, "We made sure Trevor heard that rumor, once we realized he can't keep a secret to save his life. We'll deny it, of course, but most people won't believe us. They'll think we aren't supposed to talk about the deal until it's signed. It's one more step toward making Masterson want to act quickly."

Sure enough, the rep from Masterson gave Peter his business card saying, "I hope you encourage the group to think big. They could miss out on a lot of opportunities if they jump at the first offer they receive."

Peter gave the rep one of his own Peter Blaine business cards and answered, "I'm a businessman. I know these kids tend to think with their hearts, but they hired me to look after their interests. I know larger companies are sometimes slower to act, but can be worth waiting for. With their talent and my management, they can reach the top if they make the best possible deal."

The Masterson rep agreed. "I can tell we think alike, Peter. Urban Legend has amazing potential in the right hands. I've been monitoring them for a while, and I'd like to see what Masterson can do for them. Tell you what, what's your schedule like for later this week? Let's meet for drinks someplace a little quieter and talk things over."

They made plans to meet on Wednesday. After a few more conversations in his undercover identity, Peter managed to grab some of the food before it all disappeared. Since he wasn't Peter Burke here, he couldn't hug El and tell her how great the party was, both from her perspective as an event planner and his as an agent. But later at home they talked it over.

Sunday morning, while Peter wondered what to do about Henry, El brought up the more positive aspects of the performance. "What I still can't get over is how convincing Neal was as a rock star. I always think of him as more quiet. I guess I see him as an artist. Last night I actually thought he could be a professional singer if that's what he wanted. And instead he's an FBI consultant, helping you solve crimes. Funny where life takes people, isn't it?"

Peter nodded, distracted. Her words sounded eerily familiar.

"Something wrong, hon?"

"You reminded me of a comment I heard last night. Graham was worried that Henry might prefer to stay with Urban Legend instead of going back to Win-Win, once this is all over."

"And now you're wondering the same thing about Neal," El guessed.

"In a sense. He's said more than once that his soul is in art rather than music. Seeing him sing really brought home how important the art must be if it exceeds that. And now I have the same concern as Graham. Studying art might take him away from the FBI. He has such a gift for what we do, El. I'd hate to lose him."

"You'd miss him," she paraphrased. "But you wouldn't lose him, Peter. Whether or not you work together, he's always going to admire you, and you're going to be close. He already feels like family."

Peter took comfort from her certainty, and then checked the time. He needed to head to the office soon. Neal had left a message confirming that Mozzie agreed to a meeting at the Federal Building today. He debated whether to change out of his usual weekend casual attire. Would jeans confound the guy who always called him a "suit"?

A/N: Disclaimers: I'm not an expert in piracy or music. I rearranged the Beacon Theater for my purposes in this chapter. It was great fun to write a full chapter about Urban Legend performing, and to show much of it through Peter's eyes. I hope you enjoyed it, too. There will be a few more performances before the story ends, but the focus will move back to the case.

See the Disclosure Pinterest board for pins of the song that inspired the "brothers" song Neal and Henry perform, and the other songs. In the next chapter Mozzie returns, with inspiration from the canon episode where he first visited the Federal Building to meet with Peter.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to Silbrith for beta services and acting as location scout to suggest the Beacon. Make sure you check out her next story: The Dreamer. The first chapter was posted a few days ago. It's set in this AU, about 6 months after this story.