9 - Bad Judgement

"Get home safe" Neal said, closing the door behind Elizabeth.

Once she was gone, he collapsed against it and turned back to Mozzie.

"Do you have any idea how we're gonna do this?"


Half an hour later, and they had amassed two coffee cups, a board game, a model wagon, a pumpkin magnet, and three figurines.

"Okay, Fowler is sending his private courier to pick up the tape at eight-am" Mozzie started, driving the wagon across the board.

"Alright. You got the approach?"

He gave him an affronted look, "Don't I always?"

"The courier truck will pull up to the front entrance and check in" He continued, "When the driver steps out of the truck,I will stall him. This one's me".

"I figured" Neal replied dryly, "How you gonna stall?"

"With my obvious charm, of course".

Right.

"Do we have a backup?"

"Ha. I scouted the building. There's a security camera blind spot over here" He said, pointed at the board, "So, while I stall-"

"I come out of the blind spot dressed as the same courier" He finished.

"Exactly".

"Alright. Any luck getting your hands on a uniform?"

"It's oddly difficult to find a tailor in the dead of night, but I did the best I could" Mozzie replied, handing him a shirt and jacket.

"... Is this a park ranger uniform?"

"Maybe".

He slapped a logo down on the table.

"... With an iron-on?"

"I couldn't find a thimble" He snarked, "Oh, don't- don't forget this".

"Oh! And a BB gun!"

"Would you prefer a real one?"

"... No".

Mozzie turned back to the board.

"Now, you go into the office as the courier, and pick up the tape. Then you use this" He said, holding up the pumpkin.

"What's the refrigerator magnet supposed to be?"

"A refrigerator magnet".

He gave him a look.

"But it's actually a high grade degaussing magnet".

"Which will erase the tape" Neal realised.

"Yes. Thoroughly".

"Then you change clothes, hand over the newly blanked tape to the actual courier".

"No one knows I was there".

"And everybody stays out of jail" He finished, and Neal slowly nodded.

"You think this will work?"

Mozzie wisely chose not to comment.


Neal deftly blended in with the crowd as he waited for Mozzie to distract the courier. The man's 'obvious charm' was probably the most worrisome part of the plan, but he had full faith in the man's abilities, especially when it came to acting.

"You're Ray, right?"

"Yea" the courier replied, "I'm Ray".

"I thought it was you" Mozzie snarked, beginning to walk, "I figured you'd have the face of a mouth breather".

"Do we have a problem here?" the man asked, forced to walk backwards around the van. It led them directly into the blindspot, and Neal began to make his move.

"You're damn right we do, tiny!" He snapped, "You were supposed to deliver a very sensitive package to me at my house. Instead, you gave it to my mother!"

Mozzie really had all the fun sometimes.

He jogged up the steps of the courthouse and made his way to the pretty blonde at the desk.

"Hey. I'm here to pick up a package from, um, judge Clark?"

"Yes" She smiled, "Just a sec".

Neal glanced at the clock and silently urged her to hurry up.

"This is to be handed to Agent Fowler personally" She said, handing him the envelope.

"Understood".

"Nobody but him can sign for it" She said, taking the clipboard to sign her name, "Clear?"

Neal quickly memorised her signature.

"Thanks" He grinned, "I'll take care of it".


Waiting until the door was shut behind him, he took out the magnet and began scrubbing the package, hoping that it was strong enough to bite through the cardboard and erase the tape. Shoving his park ranger uniform into the bin, he fixed his suit and then ruffled himself up.

"Hey!" He called as the real courier came into view, "About time you got here. I almost had to deliver this thing myself!"

He slapped it against the man's chest.

"Make sure Agent Fowler receives this personally".

"I will!" He stammered, "Uh, just sign right here, please".

"Give me that" He snapped, pulling the clipboard from the man's grasp. He recalled the blonde's handwriting and did the best forgery he'd done all week.

"I'm sorry for the delay" the man mumbled, gladly taking the signature and package and half-jogging back down the stairs. Outside the window, he saw Mozzie give a subtle nod towards the door. Following his gaze, he found Judge Clark entering the building.

Neal quickly ducked behind a pillar as she passed, almost jumping as his phone rang.

"Peter".

"I spoke with Herrera" He said, "He thinks the judge keeps the cash evidence in her chambers".

And wasn't that just serendipitous?

"Do you know where, exactly?" He asked, watching as the judge handed the blonde the keys to her office.

"Not yet. Meet me in the office".

"I'll take care of it, judge".

Neal smirked, "On my way".

More or less.


Waiting until Clark left, he silently made his way down the hall to the empty desk in front. There, he found a pen and a hair pin, neither of which were prime lock picking tools, but they'd have to do. The judge was gone for a few minutes, the blonde was at her desk, so now all he had to do was sneak past.

Putting on a front of 'harried assistant', he put one hand in his pocket and strode confidently through the white doors and into the waiting room. As long as she didn't look up, he could walk past. He was in a suit, after all, so it looked like he belonged, so if he could just reach the other side of the room without her asking him anything-

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Fuck.

Neal slowly came to a stop but didn't turn around.

"... Judge Burke sent me" He said, blurting out the first name he could think of, "He forgot his briefcase here when he met Judge Clark this morning and asked me to retrieve it".

"Well, I'm Judge Clark's assistant, and she never had a meeting with this Burke".

Plan two it was then.

Spinning around, he watched as recognition flashed over her face.

"You-"

"Me" He interrupted, "I couldn't stop thinking about you".

"You- what?!"

He didn't blame her really, it wasn't one of his better excuses.

Walking towards her desk, she stood as if worried what he'd do next. Truth be told, Neal was worried about that too.

"When I came in here and first met you, I just knew that it was love at first sight" He continued, knowing full well that it wouldn't work.

"There's no such thing as- Wait, what about the package?"

"My colleague Ray is delivering it".

Which wasn't a lie.

"When I told him of the angel I had just met, he understood".

"You're crazy!"

"The only thing crazy here is my love for you!" Neal replied, leaning forward over her desk.

"What are you doing? Get away from me!"

"Please tell me you feel the same as I do!" He begged, "I just couldn't go on living if I had to leave you here tonight".

"I'm calling security".

Her hand went for the phone, and he quickly stopped her.

"No! Please! I love you! Let me-"

*SMACK*

Neal slowly blinked, head reeling from the force of the blow.

"I'm getting security myself!" She snapped, rushing from the room.

He blinked again.

His cheek was smarting from where she'd slapped him, and there was a ringing in his ears, but she had left her station and that was all he needed.


Running over to the judge's door, he picked the lock and didn't waste any time in trashing the place. He didn't have very long before Clark would return, and he knew that he had even less time before the blonde would find a security guard, so he had to act fast.

Hearing the sound of raised voices, he dashed back to the door, shutting it behind him and throwing himself down on the couch just as she returned with a burly looking man in white.

"You've returned!" He exclaimed, grinning over-excessively, "I knew you would! You feel it too, don't you?"

"Alright, buddy, time to go" the guard said, hauling him to his feet.

"But I love her!"

"And you can love her far away from here, too" He replied calmly, ushering him towards the door.

Neal put up a token struggle, enough to be acknowledged but not enough for them to think they needed to involve the police.

"I'll never forget you!"


Being thrown out of a court house was a first. He'd escaped a court house, and walked freely from a court house, and even burned one down. Accidentally, of course. But he'd never been forced out.

Brushing off his suit, he ignored the strange looks of passerby's, and glared at the security guard one last time before making his way down the steps, across the road, and over to where Mozzie sat.

"Court's adjourned" He announced, taking a seat, "Clark should be back any minute now".

"Did you find anything in her chambers?"

"No, but I made it look like someone tried to" He replied, "You good to go?"

"Yep" He said, pulling up his listening device box, "Why is your face red?"

"Don't worry about it".

"Everything went according to plan, right?"

Neal took a deep breath, "... In a sense".

"In a sense? What happened?"

"Peter called. I had to do a little improvising".

Mozzie scowled, "Foiled by the Suit again. You know, this is exactly what I keep telling you, you can't trust-"

"I know, Moz" He placated, "Can we get to work already?"

He rolled his eyes but did as told, setting up the modified equipment and handing him a pair of binoculars.

"Alright" He said, pointing the speaker towards the judge's window, "... She doesn't seem happy".