Peter felt like a new man upon returning to work after his week in the sun. If fact he was a new man. New haircut, new tan (although you had to look closely), new clothes and a new bride. Life didn't get much better!
Everything was running smoothly in all departments, most departments. According to Diana, Neal had tried his level best to get himself thrown in the lock-up while the folks were away which is not what the agent wanted to hear on his way through the door, after all, he was a new man. Diana's report had explained why Neal had been ever so compliant over the weekend and on his very best behaviour. Perhaps Peter could milk that to his advantage and buy himself an easy week with the troublesome teenager. If not, he could always revert back to his original plan of action.
After the agent settled in, he found himself impressed with the way his department was running like a well oiled machine. Maybe he should go away more often. The junior agents had even managed to get close to cracking a couple of annoying cases. One in particular was sitting before him when Jones came in with the updated file. "Here's that latest information on the James Bonds case you asked for Boss."
Neal's ears picked up at the mention of a case. Any case, he didn't care, he'd listen in discreetly for a bit of the juice. Peter rarely spoke about cases in front of him so he took anything he could. "Seems they decided to cash some of the bonds. We've got surveillance video." Jones continued to inform Peter of the new Intel.
"Okay. And Jones," he stopped the young agent on his way out the door. "Can you let Atlantic know that we have a strong lead and get them to check if they can place the connection?"
"Sure, Peter."
After Jones left, Neal walked quietly to the door, "Where are you going?" Peter inquired.
"Bathroom?" Neal looked pale and sounded unsure of himself. "That okay with you, master?" The boy strengthened his resolve when he saw inquisitiveness creep into the agent's features.
"Fine. And don't be cheeky." So much for the best behaviour.
"Yes, Peter."
Neal stood in the White Collar Records File Room. It was now on the list of places he was allowed as long as he only retrieved and returned the material for Peter. Files were not to be opened. Opening files could get an offender a rap across the knuckles or a visit to Reece Hughes' office and we wouldn't want that would we? Neal took out his phone and quietly hit a series of numbers.
"Hey…Yeah it's me…You idiot. You told me you weren't going to cash the bonds….I want to talk….Meet me at the Tea Room in thirty." Neal pocketed his phone and turned to find Peter, hands on hips, standing in the doorway.
"Neal?"
"Yeah."
"Whatcha doing?"
"I…I just came in here to take a phone call from Mozzie. He's having a bad day. Making some pretty stupid decisions about taking out his girlfriend to the Tea Room for their first anniversary. I told him he should cash in some bonds his mother gave him for his birthday to take her somewhere nice but he wouldn't listen. Sorry, Peter."
Peter listened to the complete load of BS and followed the young boy back to the office. "Mozzie doesn't have a mother."
"Actually I meant foster mother." Neal quickly busied himself in the paperwork on his desk and Peter returned to his other investigations.
-W-C-
They left the office on time, for a change. El had invited June over for dinner and the boys had strict instructions to be punctual. Neal threw his satchel onto the back seat and was about to climb in the front when he was stopped by a firm hand holding his upper arm. "Peter?"
"Neal." Peter used his free hand to lift Neal's chin so the agent could get a good look at the young boy's face. He removed the hat and tossed it inside the car. "Neal, when the hell did you get this?" Peter pointed at the kid's right eye which was red rimmed and was beginning to show the signs of bruising.
"When did I get what, Peter?" The agent's face turned a darker shade and Neal could swear there was steam emanating off the older man so he took that as a hint to make up a story fast. "Oh, you mean this?" Neal pointed to the area which Peter had moments before.
"Yes, Neal. I'm talking about your black eye!" Peter's normally calm composure had given way to a panicked father who was going to have to explain the injury to one very concerned mother.
"When I went to the bathroom earlier, I dropped the soap and as I reached down to get it, my arm slipped on the soapy surface and my eye ran into the faucet." Neal looked up to see if his bogus story had been at all believable.
"GET. IN!"
Not even close. The ride home was silent while Peter strategized what to do with the young boy when he arrived. It wasn't like he could send him to his room and hide him from El. June would be looking forward to catching up. If only he had noticed earlier, he could have stopped the bruising with ice and whatever else he could find at the pharmacy. Peter finally broke the silence. "We don't have cakes of soap in the office bathrooms. Only soap dispensers. Wouldn't want one of those to drop on your foot. You should be more careful." Peter's reprimand was sarcastic and cutting and Neal slunk further into his seat hoping that the ride home was without any delays.
Of course, as predicted, El and June were all over the young boy and his 'bruised and battered' face. Peter got the official dressing down while cleaning up the kitchen with El after their guest had headed off for the night and he promised his wife that he'd get to the bottom of it.
-W-C-
"Neal. NEAL."
"Huh?" Neal buried his head deeper under the pillow trying to block out the annoying sound.
"Get up Neal. You're supposed to be ready. It's time to leave." Peter was a little surprised that Neal wasn't at breakfast and even more surprised that he was still in bed. Neal was always very punctual. "Neal?"
"Go away. I only just got to sleep."...Oh surely I didn't say that out loud? Neal rolled his head and slowly opened one eye. One look at Peter told him his answer.
The statement had been mumbled into the mattress but Peter heard it anyway. "Neal," Peter spoke in that oh so patient tone that Neal referred to as the calm before the storm. "You have exactly ten minutes to be downstairs, ready for work or I'm coming back up to give you 'a hand.'" And with that, the agent left the young boy's room knowing full well there would be a mad scramble to the shower the minute he stepped out the door.
When Peter got to work, on time, Neal had been downstairs in five, Peter looked up Neal's cell log from the day before and of course the phone call he had made from the file room had gone straight to a burn phone.
-W-C-
"Oh Neal, it's incredible."
"Thanks Kate." Neal's grin spread from cheek to cheek. He was sitting up on a sorting bench and his feet were swinging freely under the bench top. "You think it'll pass?"
"It's perfect." The nineteen year old reached up and kissed the boy on his forehead. She placed the Raphael back into the packaging box that Neal had transported his project in. "How did you get away?"
"Oh, Peter's pretty caught up in a case today. He's in and out of the office and if he does look, he'll just assume I'm at lunch. ... So Kate," the kid jumped down off the bench and followed the young woman into the storage room. It was filled with a large assortment of paintings, jewelry, ornaments and little treasures that had once been in the possession of some very wealthy New Yorkers. "I'm ready for a break. I want to step out of the game for a while."
Kate turned from her sorting and gave Neal her full attention. "Pip." She placed both hands on his shoulders and spoke in a sweet, motherly tone. "We've talked about this already."
"I know but everything is getting so complicated."
"But we kept our promise. You're not in any trouble are you?"
"No trouble excepting of course for the black eye your boyfriend gave me last week!" Neal was having a hard time getting through to Kate.
"Calm down. We had words." Kate picked up an antique porcelain bowl and wiped it with a soft cloth. "What's the real problem here?"
"I don't know. It just seems like a lot of pressure and I'm a little sick of the fact that the creep thinks he owns me forever."
"Now you know that's not true." Kate's voice began to suck Neal into the abyss that the boy always found shaking free from near impossible.
Neal shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know anymore."
"Listen, Pip. You tell me you don't enjoy it and I promise you I'll never involve you again."
Neal remained silent. Kate looked at him with those striking blue eyes of hers and trapped the young kid in a trance. After a long moment, he snapped himself back to reality and was about to answer the young woman when a great commotion came through the back door. "FBI!"
Neal all but jumped out of his skin upon hearing Peter's voice and he quickly scrambled for cover.
Kate casually walked out of the storeroom, hands in the air and was swiftly handcuffed by Diana.
Peter made his way over to the young criminal while at the same time holstering his gun. As he got within a few feet of the women, he stopped and studied her face. Kate? That Kate? This Kate Moreau was the same girl he had seen in the photo inside Neal's book. Peter was speechless for a few more moments before declaring, "Kate Moreau. You're under arrest for bond forgery and organized criminal activities."
Diana whisked the young woman off to the car, passing Jones on the way out, who was in the middle of carrying in loads of cataloging equipment.
Peter checked out the storeroom and shook his head at the impressive collection of stolen property. It would take a while to sort through this booty. He was about to head back out again when his gut sensed another presence in the small room. He placed his hand on his revolver while glancing around, and discovered one possible hiding location – under the shelving against the back wall there was a small gap between the floor and the bottom shelf. Investigating further, he crouched down and sure enough a pair of size eight boots. The gut was never wrong. He holstered his gun and stepped quietly over. Most likely it was one of Kate's kiddy gang members and there was a fair possibility that the child may need to be charged as an accomplice. Peter grabbed the boots and dragged the suspect out from under the bench. His eyebrows shot up high to his hairline at the sight he saw lying on the floor at his feet.
"Agent Burke," the young boy flashed a dazzling smile up at Peter.
"Neal Caffrey…You're un…You're in a hell of lot of trouble young man." Peter growled as he reached down and yanked Neal to his feet.
"Yeah…So what else is new?" Neal grumbled to himself.
-W-C-
Peter paced back and forth within the confines of his office. Young Neal sat across the table from him. The agent kept shaking his head and Neal was beginning to get a little concerned that Peter might just give himself a stroke.
"Peter?" Neal tried but the agent held up a hand to stop any further words escaping the young boy's mouth.
After what seemed like an eternity Peter finally sat in his chair and glared at the young delinquent across the table. "Explain to me please what the hell you were doing in a storeroom full of stolen property?"
"I was visiting my friend Kate."
"Some friend Neal. She is about to be charged with heading an organized crime gang and cashing in forged bonds."
Neal looked down, devastated by the news.
"What's your part in all of this, Neal?" Neal could see the veins pulsing on the side of Peter's temples. The kid had never seen the agent so angry. Neal felt angry too although he didn't quite know why.
"I don't know what you want me to say Peter. Why don't you ask, Kate since she's the 'leader' and all?"
"We already have."
"And what did she tell you?"
"That you were just a young kid that she's met once or twice and you swung by to see if she'd like to go to the movies sometime."
Neal smiled. He knew he could count on Kate.
Peter saw the smile and continued his reprimand. "But you and I both know Neal that's a load of crap!" Luckily the room was reasonably sound proof and not too many agents below turned to see what the yelling was all about.
Peter forced himself to calm down. He got up and resumed his pacing. "If I were to take an educated guess, I'd say there's a very good possibility that you could help Jones catalogue the stolen property and tell him exactly where every piece has come from."
"Not every piece." Neal whispered but Peter heard him anyway. The agent slammed his hand down hard on the desk sending Neal almost tumbling out of his seat.
The pacing continued. "If I were to play another hunch, I'm guessing that you could draw a perfect copy of the forged Atlantic Bonds for the evidence team to analyze and I bet they wouldn't even be able to tell the difference between yours and the ones that were cashed."
"I should hope not." Neal smirked at the amusing thought. Peter didn't find it at all amusing and he displayed his displeasure by pulling the kid up out of his chair and landing three particularly hard swats to his backside. Neal was more than a little horrified that Peter didn't seem to care that the swats were in full view of the white collar bull pen.
"And if I were a betting man, I'd place good money on the chance that if we analyzed the forged Raphael found in the storeroom this afternoon, it would match the paint remnants on the easel in your bedroom." Peter waited for a smart retort, but the boy was way too concerned with rubbing the sting out of his butt.
"Now both you and I know that all of these accusations are going to be very difficult to prove, especially since your girlfriend is protecting your butt."
"I disagree with that."
"Which part? The part where I said she was your girlfriend or the part where she is protecting your butt?"
"Both?" Neal really didn't know what he thought.
"Without additional evidence, this department won't continue to pursue the investigation into your involvement any further. We have bigger fish to fry so it looks like you're off the hook Neal." Peter pointed his finger directly at Neal as he spoke and the young kid couldn't tell if the agent was disappointed or not that there wasn't more evidence.
Neal thought that may be the cue to discreetly move out of Peter's way for a little while so he took a cautious step towards the door. The agent however was far from finished and continued with his rant. "Rest assured Neal that while Agent Burke is moving his focus to the masterminds of this little operation, your discussion with 'père' is far from over!"