AN: Hello once more. : ) Just a short chapter this round. I had it brought to my attention that I didn't really explain who Gary is, but I promise I'll get to that in the next chapter. Hope you all like it so far, reviews are defiantly appreciated and make me happy.
The drive to the bureau was an… interesting one. Starting with an old beaten up messenger bag sitting on the top on the Taurus as Peter, Neal, and Haley approached it. Haley had run up and grabbed it, pulling out a phone and turning it on. Slinging the strap across her chest, she slid into the backseat while going over the messages. A minute after Peter turned onto the main streets, chaos began.
The phone seemed to go off every few seconds, a different musical ringtone each time, followed by a quick text or conversation, and not all of those were in english. Peter was starting to understand why Neal thought she was in the information business for criminals. He was also starting to get really annoyed with all the noise. Neal had decided to sit next to Haley, leaving Peter up front by himself with no on to talk too, just listening to Haley's damn phone.
Suddenly there was an exasperated sigh of frustration from the back. He looked up at the rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of Haley glaring evilly at her phone, as if daring it to ring again. He chuckled softly as he stopped the car at a red light. Neal leaned forward in his seat.
"What's so funny?" He asked. Peter pointed over to Haley who was still glaring at the phone. Neal smiled and laughed once himself, "If I'd realized she'd be on the phone this much, I would have sat up by you."
"What are you going to do, she is a woman…" Peter said jokingly.
"Heard that." Haley grumbled. The phone started singing again and she gave one of those half-hearted screams, "That is it!" She bolted from the car (pulling the phone apart as she went), chucked it into a trash can and ran back to the car, shutting the door and clicking her seatbelt back on as the light turned green.
"Nice timing." Neal commented, putting an arm around her shoulder.
"I'm just that awesome." She said with a smile, leaning into him, "Sorry about the phone thing. Word spreads fast."
"About what?" Peter asked, glancing in the rearview mirror at her.
"About Robbi being dead in Gary's apartment and my being there. I swear, New York's underside is worse about gossip than a suburban housewife."
"What were Agent Ruiz and you doing there anyways? I'm going to assume he's your handler." Peter continued his line of questioning.
"First of all, you shouldn't assume. It makes an ass out of you and me." She said humorously, "And Jackass only wishes he was my handler. No, my assigned handler is in Vegas."
"I'll be sure that I don't assume anything around you again then. But that doesn't answer the question of what you two were doing there."
"Well, I kinda have a… lookout, I suppose, in the building. Gary's kinda like an uncle to me, and I like to know if anything suspicious is going on in his building, cause he's not always the most observant person. Anywho, said lookout informed me that someone, or a couple someones as the situation indicates, broke into Gary's apt and then there were gun shots. So I called Ruiz for one of the favors he owes me to get in. Then I played him a little more to get you guys there. He still owes me that favor now too, cause it turned out to be linked to organized crime after all."
"Why'd you want us there?" Neal asked before Peter could.
"I'm more comfortable around White Collar guys. I like the way you people think. You seem to be the only guys in the FBI who at least know how to look for outside angles and such on a regular basis." She said with a shrug.
The rest of the car ride was filled with idle chit-chat, with Peter trying to get Haley to talk about what she actually did for a living and her expertly avoiding or redirecting the questions, to Neal's amusement. They finally arrived at the bureau and walked into the lobby.
"Hey, uh, where are the stairs?" Haley asked, eyeing the elevators nervously. Peter gave her an odd look, glancing at Neal to see if he understood what was wrong, but the younger man was looking at Haley.
"You do realize the White Collar Unit is on the 21st floor, right?" He asked. She nodded. Neal smiled suddenly and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the stairs.
"See you in ten or so minutes Peter." Neal called over his shoulder as he pulled Haley into the stairwell. After running up two floors, still holding onto Haley's hand, Neal stopped and spun her around to embrace her. He bent his head down and kissed her lightly on the lips. She kissed him back, then pulled away a few inches, smiling.
"Well played, sir. I doubt your suit even suspects that you knew about the heist situation before tonight." She pecked him on the lips.
"You know I used to be one of the best cons in the world, right?" He teased as he nibbled on her earlobe, making her giggle, "We're going to finally tell the FBI about this though, right?" He asked.
"Most defiantly, we've done all we can on our own. Time to bring in the heavy hand of the law."
He started to nuzzle her neck, her body shuddering in response before she pushed him back.
"Easy there studly, as kinky as this could turn out to be, we both know that ten minutes isn't quite long enough to make it worthwhile." She put her finger on his lips and winked, "Now, I'll race you the rest of the way and the winner gets to dictate out next outing."
"Including wardrobe?" Neal asked slyly, moving his eyebrows up and down.
"Including wardrobe." She confirmed with a sly grin.
"Alright then, you're on."