I don't own Leverage or White Collar.

Sara Ellis' POV

I was finishing up my meal when there was a sudden knock on the door. Jimmy motioned for me to crouch down and hide while he checked the door. He must have recognized who knocked as when he opened the door, he signaled to me it was okay to get up. I watched as four people entered the room. I was shocked to recognize one of them.

It was Nathan Ford. I was shocked as he had not been seen since his son died and his boss denied the treatment that saved him. I heard he did a stint in prison but when I looked into it, I could find do records of it. Nate was a friend that I had run some stings with back in the day. He seemed to have a part of me keeping my life and I was happy to see that he looked okay.

"Nathan Ford, you are a sight to see after all these years. How have you been since I last saw you?" I asked him, approaching and giving him a hug in greeting.

"I'm doing much better now than I was the last time you saw me (at Sam's funeral). Do you know my colleagues or do you need introductions?" He replied.

I glanced at his friends and realized that I recognized two of them. One of them was Sophie Deveraux, a high-end grifter and art thief, pretty prolific in Europe. She and I occasionally crossed paths. The other was Parker, a thief who made Sterling and Boosh payout many payments. The work she had been suspected of stealing would earn me quite the commission. I did not recognize the other man present.

"I recognize Sophie Devereaux easily, along with Parker. I am unsure of the other man though," I told him honestly, wanting to get through introductions so we could talk about how I would be able to get my life back after dying so suddenly.

"This is Alec Hardison, hacker," I blinked at the introduction but introduced myself to the others. Who else was he involved with

I could not help but say, "Who else are you involved with, Eliot Spencer?" I said it jokingly but they all shared awkward looks. That lead me to my next conclusion easily, "Based on your looks, I am guessing that 'Jimmy Black' is Eliot Spencer. Do you have any other surprises to drop on me?" I asked, feeling like I reached my limit but knew I would be getting a lot more information before the night was over.

Eliot's POV

I knew Sara was clever but I had no idea that she would accidentally stumble onto my identity. It didn't matter as it would have come out soon anyway. Before we could get off-topic, and discuss other things, Nate decided to ask a question.

"You were working with the FBI White Collar division. Can you tell us about the members? Research can only tell us so much about the people and they do not keep a big internet presence as agents," He asked, probably already having several cons in mind and then would fine-tune it when he knew more about the people that were involved. We needed information not only on the person we were going to take down but also the potential friendlies we would encounter.

Sara seemed conflicted for a minute but then she started to speak, "Hughs is in charge of the whole division. He is tough but fair and will protect all members of his team to the best of his abilities. Peter Burke is the head of the group I was working with. He is a family man, caring for his wife and dog a lot. He is also loyal to all members of the team and is willing to protect them at all costs. He is very smart and is willing to do whatever is necessary to catch the perp. Diana Berrigan is the newest member of the team. She is feisty and smart, willing to play a role in solving the case. Clinton Jones can be a man of few words but he knows what he is talking about. He is willing to do anything for a friend in need but is also smart about it. The last member is their CI, Neal Caffery. He is clearly still a con man at heart but he does good work. His heart is in the right place but his views on how to solve a crime could use some work. What I wouldn't do to get my hands on his Raphael," she trailed off, obviously thinking about the painting and the commission it would give her.

Everyone was silent for a few minutes, thinking over what they had heard, when Nate broke the silence, "I'm thinking Australians. Yes, Australians will work nicely." With that last thought, he opened the door to the connecting room and exited. We all exchanged looks but left him to it.

"Should we follow him?" Sara asked curiously.

"No, best to let him plan in peace," Sophie told her.

Sara thought for a moment and then posed a question to the room, "Did Halbridge really try to kill me?" she asked, probably trying to come to terms with her near death.

Hardison answered this one, "Yeah. I am assuming you were getting too close to his Japanese Bara Bonds for his liking and he figured the easiest thing to do would be to take you out of the picture altogether. I was looking through his financials on the way here and there was very little movement. So either he already had the cash or he is planning to pay with the bara bonds,"

"I wish there was a way to access my notes without tipping someone off to the fact that I am alive. I could look into the last work I did to see where I spooked Halbridge," she said, clearly trying to remember what she had worked on recently, but drawing a blank with all that had gone on over the last day.

"Are they electronic or paper?" Hardison asked, figuring he could find a way to get them if they were online, no matter how well protected they were supposed to be as he was a good hacker.

"Mostly paper. I did not want to risk anyone hacking my records of an active investigation, and knowing where I was in the investigation. I wanted to keep them guessing as much as possible," she told us. I pinched my nose and thought for a second. Things would have been so much easier if the papers were online but they would not be that hard to get. I am guessing the FBI had her folders as they were still working on the case and would look through them in hopes of finding a lead. I would run it by Nate (in order to make sure it did not undermine his master plan in the works), but I think it was time for Parker and Hardison to dust off their FBI aliases.

AN1: Here is the next chapter. I wrote this in an area with no wifi so I have to go back and make a ton of corrections. Let me know if I missed anything. I hope you enjoy the story so far and that my character interactions are up to your expectations but I worry that people are not quite connecting properly. Let me know if you have any suggestions or comments. Thanks for reading. ~jenn008

AN2: Made some minor edits. A new chapter will be up shortly.