11 - Forging Bonds
Neal sighed as there was a knock on his door, interrupting his completion of one of Monet's lost paintings. Cleaning off the paintbrush, he reluctantly walked over and pulled open the door.
"Peter".
Why was he not surprised?
"Hey".
"It's late" he said rather pointedly, even as the man gently yet firmly shoved past him, a shopping bag in his hands, in order to walk over to the canvas.
"Yeah. That's not supposed to be one of Monet's lost frames?"
"No" Neal lied, "Just trying to clear my head".
"Good. About that". Peter turned back to him and pulled a photograph from his pocket. "Vincent Adler. Seven years ago, he ran a huge Ponzi scheme and disappeared with a billion dollars. You knew him?"
Unfortunately.
"... He's the man who made me who I am today".
"Mhm. He's rained hell down on both our lives. You knew. You knew, and you didn't say anything?"
As if it were that simple.
"I just figured it out myself, okay?" Neal said tightly, "I'm trying to reconcile the Adler I knew with the man responsible for…"
"For Kate?" he pressed, "For Mozzie?"
"... Yeah".
"So let's get him. Come on. Start talking".
Peter put the back of groceries down on the table and pulled out a six-pack of Helser.
"Yeah, I'm not much of a beer drinker, so-"
"I know" he interrupted, holding out a bottle of wine, "That's why I brought you this".
"Oh". Neal took it and grimaced. "I don't recognize the bottle".
"That's because it cost as much as the beer".
"Wow. I don't even need a corkscrew".
"Nope". Peter threw away the empty bag and returned with a wine glass. "Okay, now, how do you know Adler?"
"It's a long story" he replied immediately, really not wanting to get into all of this.
"If we are gonna catch this guy, just like I caught you, I need to know everything".
"There's too much to tell".
And far too much pain that came along with telling…
"You're gonna plead the Fifth?"
"A few secrets are good, Peter, keeps the mystery alive".
"... I get it. This story includes some stuff about crimes I don't know about".
Neal shrugged. It was as good an excuse as any. "Yeah".
Peter smiled. "No. You're not holding back on me. We've got all night. I'll make you a deal".
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his badge, opening it and placing it face-up on the table.
"Full immunity for anything you say from this moment until the sun rises over that balcony".
"Full immunity?"
"Did you kill anybody?"
"No!"
"Then full immunity".
They clinked glasses, Neal reluctantly taking a sip of the cheap wine before walking back towards the kitchen and pulling open a drawer.
"Alright. Let's start with this. Mozzie decoded the music box. It's an equation. This is what it built".
Peter sat down and stared at it in wonder.
"It's a fractal".
"Very good. I've seen one like it before".
"Where?"
"... In Vincent Adler's office, when I worked for him".
"How did you meet him?"
And this is where things started getting difficult…
"If you want to know about Adler, we got to start with Mozzie".
"These forgeries are exquisite".
"Who says it's a forgery?"
"Uh, given your living conditions, I do. How did you match the tricolor seal?"
"Just eyeballed it".
"By eye? Huh. You are very talented, kid. With you as my partner, we could move way beyond the street hustle".
"What did you have in mind?"
"A long con, which, if executed properly, would enable us to purchase and retire on neighboring temperate-zone islands in a mere six months".
"I just got to this city, and I'm too young to retire".
"I'm talking about summiting the Everest of swindles".
"Who's the mark?"
"Vincent Adler" Peter finished, and Neal nodded. "Yeah".
"Now this is getting good".
"It was the first time I heard Adler's name" he explained, and the agent laughed, taking another sip of beer.
Neal gave him a curious look. "What?"
"Those bonds... that's the first time I'd come across you" he explained.
"Really? Tell me".
"You're stalling".
Yes, he was.
"No, I'm not". He forced his signature grin. "Come on. We got a long time until sunrise. We got plenty of beer and... this. So tell me. Did you have to fight to take my case?"
"Yeah. It was a real tug-of-war".
"What was my nickname?"
"What?"
"Come on!" Neal teased, "Every case gets a nickname. Hagen was the Dutchman before you ID'd him. What was my nickname?"
"Oh, don't recall".
"That's too bad. Well, the sooner you remember, the sooner we can move on".
Peter gave him a scolding look but he held his ground, and after a few moments, the older man reluctantly answered.
"James Bonds".
"... Bonds. James Bonds". Neal smirked. "Would you like another beer? Shaken, not stirred?"
"Oh, see, I knew it was a mistake telling you. Believe me, yours was just one file in a giant stack of cases".
"Yeah" Neal replied, handing out the bottle, "But it was on top".
"You weren't that good".
"Nick Halden".
"Hi. I'm Kate Moreau".
"... Hi".
"You like it?"
"What? Oh, yeah. No, it's, uh… It's breathtaking".
"It's my favorite one".
"Raphael was a master of balance. Thick brush strokes for the landscape, but the skin tones are almost… translucent".
"Are you an artist?"
"I dabble".
"I tried, but the romance of being a starving artist wore off very fast".
"Well, you won't find any original Nick Haldens at a gallery downtown".
"What do you do?"
"I'm, uh… looking for new opportunities".
"Kate was there the whole time?"
Neal hummed.
"Is that when you guys got together?"
"No, no… She had a boyfriend".
He quickly looked away, willing his expression to remain blank. He succeeded, of course, he wasn't one of the best conmen in New York without a reason, after all, but Peter still seemed to sense that something was wrong, and thankfully changed the subject.
"So Alex turned you on to the music box".
"Yeah, she'd been chasing it for years. She heard Adler had information on it".
"Did he?"
"He had a rumor that it was at the Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen. Said she'd send me a message if she ever needed my help getting it".
"What kind of message?"
"... A flower" Neal replied, recalling the perfect origami that had been left on his nightstand.
"Did she ever send it?"
"Yeah, but that's another part of the story. Alex disappeared, and Kate…" he trailed off, and glanced away, "Well, things changed".
"You know, I'm sensing your heart isn't totally into this".
"My heart is fine".
"Ah. This is about the girl. I thought she left for Chicago".
"She left today".
"You know, it's probably for the best. Now you can focus-"
"I got to go, okay? Kate? You're supposed to be in Chicago".
"It's a big step… in the wrong direction".
"Why?"
"Because you're here".
"You and Adler developed a connection and you and Kate were finally together" Peter summarized, "You had it all".
"Yeah. I was eating the best food, wearing the best suits, drinking the best wine… the kind that has corks. It was the perfect life".
And then he watched it burn to the ground.
"And it was also the perfect lie" Peter finished, "You and Mozzie were still working the long con".
"Trying to make the lie real" he agreed, "But every con has an expiration date".
"So, Adler disappeared, but what about his account?"
"There was only a dollar left in it" he admitted, "The password was an anagram for 'nice try Neal'".
"Then what happened with Kate?"
"No money, no jobs. It's all gone".
"I know. I know. Hey, we're gonna be okay. It's just you and me now, right? That's all that matters. Come here. We're gonna get it all back, okay?"
"Okay… How?"
"... If we're gonna do this, I need to tell you something about me".
"What?"
"I'm not Nick Halden… My name's Neal Caffrey".
"You and Kate lost everything".
But he never thought he'd lose her.
Neal swallowed thickly and stood up, making his way towards the couch instead, both as a method to hide his face from Peter's far-too-knowing gaze, and also to try and put some metaphorical and literal distance between him and his thoughts.
"Yeah. Adler paid well. We put it right back into the company. And why not? Everything he touched turned to gold... He conned us".
Peter, of course, followed him.
"He conned everybody, and then disappeared… What happened after you told Kate the truth?"
"I thought this was about Adler" he said quickly, but the agent's intense gaze refused to let him look away. "Well, I just got a few beers left, and I'm curious".
And, well, Neal really couldn't protest that reasoning, could he? Not when his entire life was built on the basis of curiosity.
"... I taught her to survive".
"Let's do it. Let's go".
"Now? You want to go to France now?"
"Yeah. Look, that FBI agent… Burke. He's been asking around about the British pounds. Maybe… I don't know. Maybe we should take some time away, outside the FBI's range. We can start in Cap d'Antibes while it's still warm, work our way up to Paris, over to Amsterdam, then Copenhagen".
"I'm not going to Copenhagen".
"... Okay, I should've mentioned Alex".
"This isn't about Alex, Neal. You can't just say, 'Hey, Kate, let's go to Copenhagen for this opportunity Alex told me about'. You just tried to con me".
"I made a mistake, okay? I'm doing this for us. That music box is worth a fortune. It can give us the life we want".
Neal stared down at the kitchen table, lost in thought and feeling oddly numb yet raw at the same time, memories of a previous life flashing before his eyes.
"You went to Copenhagen without her" Peter said quietly, and he nodded. "Yeah. The box was there. But it was a three-person job. Without Kate, it fell apart… Alex ended up in a French hospital, and I barely escaped".
"But someone at the palace pointed the finger at you. Everyone thought you had the box".
"I didn't correct them" he replied, his smile more bitter than amused.
"Sure. It gave you great street cred".
He leaned forwards on the table. "I came back to New York…"
"And Kate was gone".
"... Well, she learned something from me, cause she disappeared" he finished, "I started running big cons… Guess I was trying to get her attention".
"Well, you certainly got ours".
"I received some news. Some… information has surfaced on the street".
"Kate?"
"You have to understand. It comes from a highly unreliable source-"
"Where is she?"
"His name is Jimmy the Snitch-"
"I need a location".
"Neal, this smells like a trap".
"I don't care. I need to see her".
"... It's a storage facility. She'll be there this afternoon".
"Alright, thanks!"
"Neal… Be careful".
"Forging Raphael. You've gotten good".
"I heard the real painting was stolen".
"I hoped it would get your attention".
"It did".
"... I missed you. I lied to you about a lot of things, Kate, but I never lied about loving you".
"I believe you… I love you, too. How did you find me?"
"Well, Moz heard you were fencing Mauritian penny stamps".
"I quit dealing in stamps".
"FBI! Hands on your head!"
"Agent Burke".
"Neal Caffrey. You're under arrest".
"I know… Thank you. I never would have found her without you".
"And you know the rest" Neal finished quietly, eyes damp and heart aching. He'd searched for Kate for so long, had spent so many hours trying to find her, and chosen every single con in the hopes of catching her attention… only to watch her die in front of him four years later.
"Alright, so what do we do next?"
"We find Adler" Peter said, "He's the key to this whole damn thing".
"Well, I've looked. His trail didn't go cold, Peter. There is no trail".
The agent turned to him, thankfully not mentioning his obviously disarrayed appearance.
"I caught you when I found out what you wanted most. We know what he wants most. The fractal".
"Yeah".
Peter pulled the blueprints closer towards them. "What is this? You have any ideas? It must mean something, must point somewhere".
The younger man quickly reached for his wine glass to cover up his guilty expression. Peter, of course, the absolute bastard, saw right through him.
"Are you telling me the truth, Neal?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I only know one of your friends who's into origami" he replied, pulling out the paper crane from underneath a newspaper, "Alex has been here. And this receipt... is from today. What does she think it is?"
"… It's a fractal antenna. They're in everything now. There's one in your cellphone" he started, "And this shape corresponds to a specific frequency for an emergency beacon".
"Emergency beacon?"
Neal hummed in agreement.
"You're telling me that if we build a real one of these and we hook that up to a radio…"
"It's gonna lead us to a boat or a plane or something that disappeared in the 1940s".
"Something worth killing two people over, something worth all of this?"
There was nothing worth Mozzie's life, and there was definitely not anything in the entire universe that was worth Kate's, but it wasn't Neal who made that decision, it was-
"It's worth it to Adler".
Peter's gaze searched his, studying his face intensely, and Neal knew full well that the man could see just how raw this entire conversation had made him. But he could also see his resolve, his determination, his entire life goal in finding what Adler wanted so badly and ripping it away from him just like he had stolen Kate.
"Then I guess we just have to find it first".
