AN: new chapter time! I wrote this chapter soooo many times before a spark of midnight inspiration led to this version. Not that it did any good for my 7:30 class this morning. But hey, you get a new chapter out of it, so who cares, right? :P Hope you like it, and enjoy.
When Peter entered the White Collar Unit, he saw that Jones and Diana were already there waiting for him.
"Where's Neal and his girlfriend?" Jones asked amusedly.
"They took the stairs, she's claustrophobic or something. Diana, let me take a look at that file I asked for earlier." The Junior Agent grabbed the folder from her briefcase and handed it to him. He skimmed over it, his eyes getting wider as he flipped through the pages. Closing the file, he addressed his agents.
"Diana, you've read through this, right?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. I want you to call the Vegas Division and get this confirmed. I don't care what time it is there, I want a full explanation tonight. Jones, when Neal and Ms. Jones get up here, I want you to keep an eye on her. Neal and I need to have a little chat." With that he went up to his office to review the file again, before Neal and Haley showed up.
Ten minutes later, the persons in question entered the unit, winded and giggling.
"I win!" Haley sang, as she skipped through the glass doors.
"Only because I let you. You know, the whole 'ladies first' thing." Neal panted as he leaned against his desk.
"Such a gentleman." She teased, pinching his cheek.
"Hey Neal, Peter wanted to talk to you about something in his office." Jones said, walking over. Neal looked up at his partner's office and saw him sitting behind his desk, looking at something intently. He turned to Haley and put a finger on the tip of her nose,
"I'll be right back, play nice."
She snapped at his finger as he pulled it away, a wicked grin on her face, "I'll try, but no promises."
Smiling, he turned and made his way up to Peter's office. He knocked on the door frame. Peter glanced up at him before looking back at the papers on his desk.
"Shut the door and take a seat."
"That doesn't sound good." Neal mumbled as he did what he was told. The two men were silent for a minute before Peter looked at Neal.
"You've got a thing for bad girls, don't you?" Peter asked irritably.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Neal countered with a hurt look.
"Do you have any idea who she is?" Peter pointed to Haley through the glass. Neal turned in the chair to look. She was laughing at something Jones had said.
"I already told you what I thought she does." Neal said defensively as he turned back to Peter, "What are you trying to get at Peter? It's after 11:30 p.m., and I learned tonight that someone wants to kill me; I'm not really in the mood for guessing games right now."
Instead of saying anything, Peter tossed Haley's file to Neal. The younger man flashed a look of annoyance at him before starting to read. To Peter's disbelief, a look of shock passed over Neal's face, his jaw dropping slightly. He looked up at Peter from the file.
"No way." He said in disbelief.
"Are you saying you had no idea about that? Now you know how I feel when you pull that crap on me." Peter lectured, but before he could continue, Neal interrupted him.
"No, I mean, there's no way Haley is the Zee Mann; world-class art thief and con artist." Pure awe was evident in his voice.
"And why not?"
"She told me, just last month, that she was a fan of my… alleged work. And I mean let's face it, I'm good, but Zee Mann is a living legend, a God amongst thieves. Able to get access to impossible places and leave nothing behind except a calling card. There's no way she'd be a fan of a lesser thief's work."
"Well, the fact of the matter is," Peter pointed at something in the file, "She was investigated by that agent for two years, under the reasonable suspicion that she is Zee Mann. But that investigation was locked down and buried after she made a deal with the FBI to become a CI. All the evidence and surveillance gathered against her just disappeared overnight, telling me she's got something to hide and has some pretty powerful friends."
"Or it could just be the fact that she told them if they left her alone, she'd help them get David Fletcher and his gang." Neal said as he flipped through the pages of the file. Peter gave him a blank look, so Neal continued, "You know, those guys who'd take hostages when they'd rob a place and send them out the front dressed in their clothes and weapons while they snuck out a different way."
"I know who David Fletcher is. He pulled that gig in New York once." Peter grumbled, "But she's the CI that helped bring him down?"
"Yeah, says so right here." Neal flipped to a page and showed it to Peter. He was about to say something when there was a harsh knock at the door, which swung open to reveal Hughes.
"Burke, a team from Vegas is flying in. They'll be here in the morning around seven. I want you to pick them up, so go home and get some rest. Caffrey's protection detail is at June's already. Where's Ms. Jones?"
"She's down in the bullpen, talking with Jones. Sir, she's already got something set up with a private contractor."
"Yeah, her handler said she probably would. I'm having a detail assigned to her anyways."
"Uh, sir?" Neal hazard, raising his hand slightly.
"What is it Caffrey?" Hughes snapped, he looked down at Neal for the first time, "What the hell happened to you?"
"Long story. But Haley's actually going to stay at June's with me tonight, so we probably only need one detail, right?"
"Good idea having her stay with you. We'll just have one detail monitoring outside and one inside if it's all right with June. Now both of you, get out of here." With that, Hughes went into his own office to get his things.
Diana walked into Peter's office after Hughes left, "Sir, everything checks out. There's even-"
"A team coming in. They'll be here in the morning, yeah, I know. Hughes wants me to pick them up." Peter sighed, running his hand over his face. He glanced at the clock, which told him it was now five after twelve. Oh man, I hope El didn't stay up waiting for me, he thought to himself. "Well, I guess we should get going then. Diana, can you be in around eight tomorrow morning?"
"No problem boss."
Peter led the way down the stairs into the bullpen, with Neal and Diana following. Jones and Haley turned when they got close.
"Jones, I'm going to need you to pick up Neal and Haley in the morning and bring them here around nine. I've got an errand to run for Hughes first thing."
"Uh, sure. Not a problem boss." He said with a nod.
"You two ready to go?" Peter asked Neal and Haley.
"Oh yes." Haley yawned, covering her mouth with a hand. Then she froze, "Hey, wait a tick! Tomorrow, or today actually, is Saturday. Since when is Saturday a work day? Even for the FBI."
"I'm going to have to agree with her Peter." Neal piped in.
"You don't have a choice." Peter pointed at Neal, then Haley, "And I would hope you'd want to figure out who put a hit out on you and take them out as soon as possible."
"Oh yeah, forgot about that…" She trailed off into another yawn. Peter was about to explode at the comment when Neal gave him a look saying it's not worth it. Peter heeded his consultant. Instead, he stalked off towards the elevators.
"You've got fifteen minutes to be in the car; otherwise you're taking a cab home." The agent called back to them as the elevator doors opened and he got in.