A FATEFUL MEETING

MUST read A.N. first, or this story will make ABSOLUTELY no sense!

AN: This is Part 16. And I'm doing something a little different here. I never really had Tony and Neal discuss New York, the C.I. thing, etc. It's also a good thing I'm writing these as independent stories because I am having Peter and Tony be introduced in a different way. I think it will be interesting. I just wonder what would happen if Tony just walks into White Collar with Neal one morning. I am kind of starting over, with the history and all that I created in the first few stories of this series.

Also, there is no chronology on this. I just added the Bored Exhibit because the is the one I remember being talked about most. ENJOY!

Must Read Author's Note First!

"Something's going on, El. I'm telling you. I…Neal declined my invitation to go to the White Bored exhibit. He begged me the first time it was in town…."

El smiled, stopping her husband.

"What?"

"Maybe one White Bored exhibit is all one needs to see in a lifetime." El stated.

"Too boring?" Peter grinned. "Ha, Ha, I married a comedian." He paused. "But seriously, he loved it last time. He talked about it for a week. And even if he didn't want to see it again…he would go. That Italian restaurant he likes so much is just down the street."

El nodded. That, she knew to be true, he took every opportunity he could to eat there when he had an escort outside his radius.

"You may have a point there." El conceded.

Peter nodded.

"What did he say?" El asked.

"That he was busy." Peter replied.

"Busy? What does that mean?" El inquired.

"That's the problem, El. With Neal it could mean anything." Peter stated.

El looked at him, and Peter shook his head. "I'm not going over there."

"Take him a file he 'forgot' at work today." El offered.

"He didn't forget any." Peter said.

El just looked at him.

"He's gonna think I don't trust him. And it's not like it's the weekend. He's got to be at work at 9 a.m. in the morning." Peter replied, more to convince himself that El. Neal could get in trouble in seconds. He didn't need overnight to do that. Peter sighed. "I'll check his anklet. And maybe have a van across the street."

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Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo of the D.C. branch of NCIS was coming to see Neal Caffrey, and Neal was anxious. Though not for the reasons you might think. He wanted the man he considered a big brother…he wanted his approval. This was the first time that they had seen each other in a couple of years. Tony had been to see Neal in prison a couple of times. And he knew how Tony would react to his escaping to find Kate. But he hoped that his deal with Peter would make up for that particular…lapse in judgment.

Neal met Tony at the bottom of the stairs and gave him a huge hug after June had given him the once over.

"Thanks, June." Neal said, letting Tony go.

June smiled. She had asked Tony a few questions. Neal had already told her that Tony was a fed from D.C.

June smiled. She looked at Neal. "I think I like him, even though he is a fed."

Neal smiled as he led Tony up the stairs. Tony looked at June then at Neal, completely confused.

Neal didn't say anything until they got up to his place. "Well, what do you think?" He asked Tony as he walked around Neal's apartment. "Byron Ellington operated a little…below board. This was a speakeasy. The observation room is my walk-in closet."

Tony's grin broadened as a plethora of movie titles and scenes ran through his head. Tony then looked out at the balcony. He opened the doors and stepped out, amazed at the view. The references were forgotten.

"You got this place for $700 a month?" Tony asked, amazed.

Neal nodded. "June was using it as a storage room."

Tony looked at him. "What did you do, Neal?"

Neal shook his head. "I liked her stories. She and Byron played pool with some greats." Neal paused. "And I think she just got tired of living here all by herself. I think she feels a little safer with a man in the house."

"You had 3 months left, Neal." Tony said, shaking his head. "…three months. What were you thinking? Were you thinking?"

Neal had prepared himself for that question. He had known it was coming. He sighed. "Kate told me she couldn't see me anymore. She wasn't coming to see me. I thought…I thought she had the treasure. I thought she there was another guy. I…I didn't know. I didn't know, and I needed to. She…I was so close to getting out. She waits all those years…but she can't wait a few more months?"

"It didn't make sense." Tony replied.

"No, it didn't." Neal shook his head. Kate's death still saddened him.

Tony sipped his wine as he and Neal sat quietly. Tony had heard the story of Neal's recent pain, and he didn't want to open the door unless he knew Neal was willing and wanted to talk about Kate.

Tony decided he would change the subject. "Tell me about Agent Burke."

Neal nodded. He knew what Tony wanted to know. Tony had already looked the man up on the national database and read up on him. What Tony wanted to know was what type of person he was. Namely, how did he treat his C.I.?

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"What is Peter going to think?" Tony asked as they rode up on the elevator to White Collar together.

"He's going to think you've arrested me for something." Neal replied. He knew that Tony had his gun and badge with him.

"This should be interesting." Tony replied, smiling.

Peter looked up after hearing bits of conversation.

Jones and Diana had seen Neal walk in with this strange man. They had noticed he had a gun, and he looked like he was with law enforcement.

Though he didn't recognize the man, Peter left his desk and hurried downstairs.

"You're with who?" Diana asked, taking the ID and looking at it.

"N.C.I.S." Tony replied as he and Neal exchanged a quick smile.

Hughes was on his feet by now, curious about the interaction he was seeing. He got up from behind his desk and started down the stairs. "Naval Criminal Investigative Services…it's military CSI."

Hughes extended his hand to the young man. "Special Agent Reese Hughes."

Tony nodded and shook Hughes' hand as Peter reached the bottom of the stairs. "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo…NCIS out of D.C."

Peter interjected himself into the conversation. He stuck out his hand. His stomach was in knots wondering what Neal had been up to to get into trouble with NCIS.

"I'm Special Agent Peter Burke, and Neal Caffrey is my C.I." Peter stated.

Tony nodded. "I've heard a lot about you." He said to Peter.

Peter had no idea what to think. He just looked at Neal, very confused.

Tony saw the look on his face and smiled. "I'd better explain. Neal isn't under arrest. I'm here to check on a friend."

Peter was still confused. He had no idea what that had to do with Neal. Peter just figured that Neal had met Agent DiNozzo in the elevator and was escorting him up to the White Collar Division.

"Who are you looking for, Agent DiNozzo?" Peter asked. Then he realized it. Tony called Neal by his first name. "Neal?"

Tony nodded. "You can call me Tony."

Many more agents in the office had gathered. They had, at first, wanted to see what kind of trouble Neal was in. Now they just wanted to know what was going on.

"Neal told me all about your arrangement, Agent Burke. I wanted to see how he was doing." Tony stated. "And I wanted to meet you."

Peter still wasn't sure what to think. He motioned for Tony to come up to his office. "We'll talk in my office."

Neal stayed behind as Diana and Jones asked him questions about Tony. Tony waited for Peter to close the door before he spoke.

"You've been chasing him for so long. I'm sure you know all about Neal. But you should know…." Tony started as he sat down in front of Peter's desk

"That Neal's an expert conman. That he lacks impulse control. That he doesn't think things through." Peter replied sitting down behind his desk.

Tony smiled. He was glad Peter knew his friend.

"He is all that, Agent Burke. But he's also probably the best friend I have. He's got a big heart. He's selfless with the people he cares about." Tony replied. "And he's a good guy. Deep, deep down he really is. And I think you see that. Or you wouldn't have given him this chance."

Peter studied Tony for a moment or two. He could tell the man was law enforcement by the way he carried himself, even before they were introduced. He liked Tony already. He could tell Tony cared a lot about Neal. And that he knew him well, which was good. Peter was glad Tony knew and recognized Neal's faults, sometimes friendship, he knew, could blind people to such things.

"You can call me, Peter. I'm sure we'll be in touch, a lot." Peter paused. "I'm just not sure you realize…."

"I know it all, Peter. I knew Neal before Nick Halden, before Neal Caffrey even. He's…." Tony paused. "…he hasn't told you about that, has he? I met Neal when we were kids. We met in military school, Peter, about 20 years ago. I know all about him." He paused again. "And before you ask, I'm not going to tell you about his past."

Peter started to speak.

"It's not my story to tell." Tony replied standing. "He'll tell you when he's ready." He paused and smiled. "It's nothing bad, Peter. He's…he had a rough childhood. He's got to know he can trust you. I mean, really trust you. And he's not there yet."

"He can trust me, Tony." Peter stated.

"I know. And he knows too. He knows how good he's got it." Tony replied. "He knows what you did to make this happen. And he's grateful." Tony sighed. "But he is Neal, with all that that entails."

Peter nodded.

"I'm happy he's got a home, now. June seems like a wonderful woman." Tony replied. "I can tell she cares a great deal about Neal. And I know you really like him, or he wouldn't be here. I just came here to make sure that he was okay. And I believe that he is. I think you have a great deal to do with that." Tony extended his hand. "And I wanted to thank you."

Peter shook his hand and smiled.

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El knew Peter had a lot on his mind. He was playing with his food.

"Hon…."

Peter was still staring off into space.

"Hon, I have to confess…that affair I've been having…." El said, testing him.

Peter didn't respond.

"Hon!" El said with force.

"Yeah, it's good, Hon. It's really good."

"How would you know?" El sighed. "You haven't eaten anything. What did Neal do this time?"

Peter shook his head.

"Nothing, he has a friend…." Peter started.

"Okay, what did his friend do?" El asked.

Peter chuckled. "Nothing, that's just it…Tony is a federal agent. He works in D.C. Neal is a con, and Tony is a former cop." He said shaking his head. Peter had read Tony's file, as soon as he could, after Tony left his office.

"Hon, you've said nothing to clear this up for me." El stated, now as confused as Peter looked. "And who is Tony?"

"Tony and Neal are friends. They met about 20 years ago in military school. Tony…I checked him out after I finished talking to him. He was a former cop, in about 3 different precincts. He rose to the level of detective, very hard to do, under regular circumstances. He did it in just a year. Then he went to D.C. and started to work for NCIS."

"What's…?" El paused. "Neal was in military school?"

"Naval Criminal Investigative Service…it's the military version CSI." Peter sighed. "That's how Hughes described it, and yes."

"So," El asked, not sure if she wanted the answer. "...what did Tony want?"

Peter chuckled again. "…to talk to me."

"Really?"

Peter nodded. "He wanted to make sure that Neal was…okay. That I was taking care of his friend."

"Nothing's wrong with that…right?" El asked.

Peter shook his head again. "No, it's just…they turned out so different. But it was very obvious that they're friends. I got the impression that Tony almost considers Neal to be like his little brother."

"That's good, Peter." El replied.

Peter just looked at her.

"Neal doesn't have any family really. You said you couldn't find anything about when he was a kid. And here you find somebody, somebody who knows it all…." El stated.

"He won't tell me." Peter replied.

"What?" El asked.

"He won't tell me about Neal's past. He says it's not his story to tell. He said Neal would tell me when he was ready." Peter said.

"Give him time, and he will." El replied. "This Tony has a point. Neal has issues with trust. Just give him time."

"Were you a shrink in a past life?" Peter asked kissing his wife's cheek.

"No, I am just the very intuitive wife of a very special FBI agent." El stated.

THE END

More Series 'Episodes' to come!