I am so sorry for taking forever to update! and I sadly have no excuse whatsoever for not updating sooner so…thank randomchick51 for being so persistent

Mozzie tapped his finger impatiently on the diner table as he checked his watch again. 12:30. Neal was late. Which was unusual—Moz could count the times Neal was late for anything on two hands and a foot—but Neal had a late start today and the Suit might deem it appropriate for Neal to work through his lunch break. Moz shook his head. Why Neal worked for the Feds he had no idea. Well, actually he did, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Mozzie glanced up as the bell on the restaurant's door chimed and hid his surprise as a familiar figure sauntered through.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Mozzie said, taking a sip of cold coffee to hide his surprise as Alex slid in the chair in front of him.

"Hey, Mozzie, nice to see you too," Alex said sarcastically.

"What do you want?" Mozzie asked suspiciously. Alex never just came by for social visits. His point proven by the fact that Mozzie hadn't even been aware that Alex was in New York or North America for that matter.

"What? No social niceties?" Alex asked with a wounded expression. "No 'how have you been' or 'what brings you here'? I'm hurt, Moz."

"Sorry," Mozzie said, not quite keeping the mocking out of his voice, "Why are you here?"

"Business," Alex said vaguely.

"In New York?"

"It is America's playground."

"Pretty sure that's Las Vegas," Mozzie corrected, "and I'm sure you being in New York has nothing to do with Neal being out of prison."

Alex shrugged nonchalantly. "I heard rumors about his recent work release, but I wasn't prepared to believe them."

"Curiosity killed the cat, Alex."

"Wow, Moz, even I know that quote. You must be slipping."

"Then say the second part of it."

"There's a second part?"

"Yes, now who did you say was slipping?"

Alex flicked a stray piece of hair out of her face. "Do you not want to hear about the tidy little profit I'll be making in about"—she glanced down at her watch—"six hours?"

"Does that 'tidy little profit' involve selling stolen artifacts from a museum?" Moz asked partly to be polite, but mostly because it was in his nature.

"Mozzie, you know me so well, but no actually. Clean records"

Mozzie looked at Alex in surprise. "How clean?"

"From the source."

Mozzie snorted. "The FBI? What idiot would try and break into the FBI? All the while not getting caught."

"Badeni."

Moz coughed in his drink. "What? Badeni is here? Here here? As in New York?"

"Yeah," Alex said slowly, looking slightly puzzled by Moz's outburst, but she hid it under her usual layer of sardonic indifference. Mozzie swore.

Growing alarm cracked through her mask. "What?"

"Badeni and Neal left on very bad terms and if Badeni broke into the FBI…" Mozzie trailed off, not liking his train of thought. He quickly stood up and gave Alex, who was now the most panicked Mozzie had ever seen her, a forced smile. "Great seeing you again, Alex," Moz said as he beat a quick retreat. If Neal bumped into Badeni, there was no telling what would happen. Badeni could easily welcome Neal like a long lost brother as he could to beating Neal within an inch of his life. Mozzie suspected the latter. Badeni wasn't the type to forgive and forget. Mozzie swore again as he hailed a taxi.

~O~

Badeni watched Steve run his fingers worriedly through his hair. So far, the computer hacking was anything, but successful and Badeni hated it when they failed. Or, more specifically, he failed. He had a reputation to uphold and he couldn't let some young upstart think that he was getting sloppy. Of course, he'd have to find a young upstart to succeed him, but that was a different matter. Many of his 'friends,' as they called themselves, insisted that he didn't have to have a successor, but he wanted—needed—his legacy to live on. He used to have the perfect successor in mind and, besides the fact that his successor was squeamish when it came to violence,he was perfect. Until he betrayed him…Badeni refocused on the computer hacker in front of him. Alright, time to speed this process along.

Badeni leaned over so his mouth was right next to Steve's ear. "Problems?" he hissed, getting a slight thrill at seeing Steve jump. If he was feared, then he'd be obeyed.

"No-o," Steve stuttered. "Well, actually, yes, but nothing I can't handle."

Badeni arched one eyebrow. "Really."

Steve tried vainly not to gulp as he nodded.

Badeni stared down at him until he was sure Steve was getting ready to go on a nervous breakdown. Some people were so easy to intimidate. "Vell, you better keep going, shouldn't you?"

Steve nodded hastily as he spun back around in his chair and started typing on the computer with new ferocity. Badeni smiled in satisfaction. There, now the computer hacking will go by faster. His smile turned to a frown as he saw his "protégé" searching the room and putting certain items in a box.

"Vhat are you doing?" Badeni asked in mild exasperation as he walked up behind Don.

"Oh, hey, Ba-er Boss," Don said. Badeni regarded him coldly. Don should really learn to refer to people by code names. He was a liability if he didn't. Of course, the Feds already knew his name, courtesy of Neal, so it didn't really matter for him, but Don should still know better. "I'm just getting Caffrey's forging supplies."

"And how is that going?" Badeni hid a frown when he saw a spork amid the pile of 'forging' supplies. What Caffrey needed a spork for he had no idea.

"Well, I'm having trouble finding the gold, but—"

"He sent you to find gold," Badeni said, hiding his disbelief. Not at the fact that Neal asked Don to find such an unlikely object, but that Don was willing to do it. God Caffery was right. His recruits were getting stupider.

Don nodded. "Yep. Ten through sixteen century."

"That's very generous of him to give you such a diverse selection," Badeni said dryly.

Don nodded uncertainly.

"And vhy are you finding every single petty thing Caffery asks you to?"

"Well…I thought—"

"I don't pay you to think. I pay you to do your job and that does not include taking orders from Caffrey."

"But how will he be able to finish the forgery before we leave?"

Badeni snorted. Don was so thick at times. "He's not suppose to finish it today, we're going to take him vith us vhen ve leave."

Don looked up in shock. "But the Feds…"

"Already think he's on our side," Badeni finished with force patience. He sighed to himself as he was once again forced to spell the plan out for Don. Neal had always been bright enough to work the subtle details out for himself during the brief time he worked with Badeni. "Now go back and watch your pet convict." Don nodded as he hurriedly exited the room. Badeni watched Don's retreating figure with slight despair. If Don's dad hadn't bribed him…well, Don would never have begun to work for him in the first place. Don never thought outside the box and was a mediocre forger at best. Not the best combination for a criminal mastermind's protégé which Don's father expected him to turn his dim witted son into. Maybe if Don had some sort of fatal accident…Badeni mused. But he'd have to have a fallback guy to take the responsibility for Don's accident in case Don's father grew suspicious. Perhaps Tommy…he was growing more and more defiant the longer Neal was their prisoner. Hank to, but he was being far more subtle about it. Badeni glanced up at the clock with a slight frown. Hank's group that went to the bathroom should already be back here by now. He doubted that the agents would be able to take Hank down, but he wasn't entirely sure about Hank's loyalties. Badeni gave one last lingering glance around the room, before waltzing toward the bathrooms…just in case something happened.

~O~

The Federal Agent gave one final glance to the computer hacker before their group left to go to the bathroom. The Agent were pretty sure that the hacker wasn't having any luck hacking into the computer and was likely to continue not making any progress on the it while they were gone to the bathroom. The Federal Agent almost felt sorry for the hacker. With his boss breathing down his neck and no doubt delivering some sort of threaten, the hacker was more prone to make more mistakes than before, but that was a plus for the agent's plan.

The henchman leading their group stopped outside the bathroom. "Alright you have five minutes. Make the most of it." The Federal Agent smiled grimly. There was absolutely no chance that the hacker would make any notable progress while they were gone. The Federal Agent was sure of it.

~O~

Jones watched as Peter paced in the bathroom. He honestly didn't know what Peter was trying to accomplish. They were only in here for about five minutes and all the possible escapes—window, vents, door—didn't seem like very plausible options. Even Neal would have trouble planning a quick getaway. Jones sighed as he thought of Neal's supposed betrayal. He knew that the evidence that Neal betrayed them was overwhelming, but Jones couldn't help, but feel that Neal was just as surprised as they were when Badeni burst into the FBI Headquarters.

"What?" Peter asked sharply as Jones sighed, still on edge after Neal. His boss was taking it hard, but no more than Jones expected him to. After all, Neal and Peter had been on the unlikely track of becoming friends. You just had to look past their constant bickering and the fact that Neal "allegedly" stole more than half of the criminals that the White Collar Unit went after. Oh, and that Peter sent him to prison…kind of a biggie.

"Nothing, Peter," Jones said lightly before adding a little uncertainly, "just thinking about Neal."

Peter's face turned hard while Agent Clark and Phillips shared a look. "What about him?" Peter finally asked.

Jones tried not to gulp at Peter's expression. "I'm just not convinced that Neal actually…betrayed us."

Agent Clark snorted. "You're kidding me right? It's pretty obvious that Neal knew that Badeni was coming."

"Obvious how?" Jones asked, slightly annoyed at the rookie agent for butting into the conversation. "All we really know is that Neal and Badeni used to work with each other."

"Hmm…let's see," Agent Clark began sarcastically, "it can't be because he knows Badeni. Or the minor, yet important fact that he's a criminal and that he has been an enemy of the FBI longer than he's been our friend. Or—" Jones' heart sank as he saw Peter nodding to Clark's rant.

"Neal has always had problems with authority, especially if they keep him from Kate," Peter added softly. Agent Clark looked delighted that he had the one of the senior agents present on his side of the argument. Jones gave Peter an incredulous look. Nodding along was one thing, but adding on to Clark's absurd rant was quite another.

"So I take it that you're done with your bathroom break," a British voice from the door said icily. Jones looked up to meet the hard eyes of Boomer. "Follow me." Jones tried to catch Peter's eye as they dutifully followed Boomer, but the federal agent deliberately looked away.

~O~

Hank had originally listened at the door of the bathroom for any possible escape attempts, not that that was likely, but you never know with these federal agents. But then the federal agents started to talk about Neal's "betrayal" and Hank was delighted to discover that not all of the agents believed that Neal actually betrayed them or at least doubted he did. This would be the one time that he was actually glad that Badeni's plan wasn't working.

Hank's small smile quickly vanished as one of the other agents started to laugh scornfully and go on a self-righteous rant about the unlikelihood of Neal's innocence. Hank opened the door, but none of the agents turned. They were too engrossed in the scene in front of them. His eyes narrowed as he saw Neal's handler of all people actually nod with the self-righteous agent's rant and then add a reason to why Neal might betray them. The fact that Peter would use Kate as a reason sickened him.

Hank interrupted the agents with a cold voice. "So I take it that you're done with your bathroom break. Follow me." He turned and led the agents back to the lobby. He only paused to catch Agent Peter Burke by his elbow. One of the agents glanced back worriedly, but continued walking. "You do know that Neal is very loyal—even to people who use his weakness against him," Hank hissed in his ear. The federal agent looked at him in shock as Hank shoved Neal's keeper forward with disgust and continued to escort the agents to the bullpen.

~O~

Peter replayed Boomer's voice over in his head, trying to ignore the guilt that had been gnawing at him ever since he opened his big, fat mouth and mentioned Kate. Kate was a…delicate…issue and he should've never brought her into the discussion. Even if Neal betrayed them. What do I mean 'if'? Of course Neal betrayed us, Peter thought to himself and no. He was not trying to convince himself. He needed no convincing.

"Even to people who use his weakness against him" Peter shook his head. Where Boomer came off sounding like an angry father in all of this? Of course, Neal always did have a way of wrapping everyone around his little finger, the federal agent reasoned as he nodded absently to Lauren as they passed a group of female agents being led to the bathroom by Holdings. But Boomer had sounded so…protective of Neal and Peter wasn't entirely sure that Neal could gain that type of loyalty in a matter of hours. If he could though…then this could all be a semi-elaborate ruse set up by the ex-convict to convince the FBI agents that he was still on their side. When, in reality, he was conning them into dropping their guard so he could accomplish…something.

Peter shook his head again. That ruse didn't seem like Neal's usual style. He disliked unnecessary risks while he was pulling a con—which was understandable—and putting faith that the betrayed-feeling FBI agents who would more likely shoot him the first moment they laid their eyes on him than listen to the silver-tongued conman would be a very unnecessary risk.

Unless…Peter barely allowed himself to hope, unless this isn't a ruse at all. That would mean that Boomer was just angry that the "Feds" didn't trust that Neal was just as surprised as we were when Badeni took us hostage, Peter remembered Neal's shocked face when the conman turned the corner just to see the FBI agents surrounded by masked gunmen. Not even Neal could act that well. At least, Peter hoped he couldn't.

Then Badeni hugged Neal like a long lost brother and that's when things got downright odd now that Peter thought about it. If Neal had in fact worked with Badeni on this particular heist/ hostage situation then Badeni shouldn't have drawn attention to the fact that he knew Caffrey. He should've made sure Neal wouldn't be suspected by treating him like any other hostage. That way, Neal could still be somewhat trusted by the FBI and he could keep the agents off the trail of Badeni and his crew after they escaped, but Badeni hugged Neal…what did he gain from that? Absolutely nothing. What he lost was a double agent…or triple agent depending on how you looked at it.

So why would Badeni hug Neal unless…unless, Peter thought excitedly, Neal never knew that Badeni was coming and when Badeni saw Neal, the Crazy Austrian did the first thing that he could think of to get Neal out of the FBI's—albeit fragile—trust. He acted friendly towards him. Peter felt like he just discovered a door where he was positive a wall had been just a moment ago. His grin of Neal's innocence slowly faded as a horror struck him. Oh no…all this time I didn't trust that Neal was nearly just as innocent as the rest of the FBI. Peter thought back to Neal's hastily asked question before Badeni hugged him. "Do you trust me?" and Peter nodded. Nodded! A flood of guilt slowly filled him. How could he have done this to Neal? Obviously, the other agents would be doubtful, but Peter knew Neal. After all those years chasing him and then being with him nearly every day since Neal's prison release…Peter failed him the one time Neal asked to be trusted.

Peter closed his eyes. He was the biggest hypocrite. He jerked them open as he heard a noise down the hall that lead to the break room. Peter glanced toward the rest of the group to notice that he was trailing behind. He slowed down even more as voices came toward him or—to be more accurate—laughter.

"I can't believe that they fell for it!" a slightly familiar voice laughed. Was that Holdings? Peter frowned. He passed by only a few minutes ago…and who fell for what? I really, really hope this has nothing to do with Neal.

"Yeah," a frighteningly familiar voice answered. Peter stopped in his tracks. Neal? "You would think," Neal continued with what Peter was certain was a smile. Peter grinned as he heard his friend's voice, "that with all that they get paid, they'd be smarter." Peter's grin froze as blood slowly drained from his face. His eyes narrowed as he glared the direction of Neal's voice, but of course the conman was nowhere in sight, as an angry wave washed over him, drenching any hope, guilt, relief or any positive emotion he was currently feeling toward Caffrey right out of his system. Why do I keep coming up with excuses for that criminal? Peter thought bitterly. I should learn that some people just can't be taught…no matter what his potential. I can't believe I kept making excuses for him when he's openly mocking the FBI to the rest of his criminal friends. Peter felt disgusted.

"Trying to take the scenic route?" Boomer asked contemptuously, interrupting Peter's soon-to-be murderous thoughts. Peter shook his head wordlessly as he hurried towards the other agents. Mentally berating himself for ever believing in the conman. Obviously, Neal treated the FBI agents as a joke and wrapped Peter around his little finger so tightly that he would always believe Neal's innocence. Peter had a sudden urge to lash out at something. How could he be so stupid?

~O~

Neal stared at the block of wood curiously. Well, more of the block of fake wood. Neal didn't know how Don could've gotten a block of real wood—it wasn't like there was a convenient tree hanging around in the middle of the FBI Headquarters. Neal had actually been surprised when Don returned. Not by the fact that he didn't have any gold. No, that had been expected. What surprised him was the fact that it had taken Don that long to finally realize that finding ten to sixteen century gold in an FBI building was nearly impossible. Of course, the FBI didn't trust Neal with more than they possibly had to, but he felt that it was safe to assume that they didn't have antique gold lying around. The only slightly worrying thing during Don's visit was that Don had hinted, accidentally and with obvious bitterness, that Neal was leaving with them. A not-so-happy thought.

Neal glanced at his "bodyguards" with slight interest. They looked exactly like the classic bad guy henchmen—dark, big, and holding a gun. Probably just as stupid as the classic henchmen too. I wonder if…hmm…Neal hid a slight smile as he thought of the new possibilities opening up before him and, without warning, a plan sprung to mind. Yes, it was poorly thought out and stupid, but Neal really didn't have anything else to do. It was worth a shot. Who knows? He might actually succeed.

Neal walked purposefully toward the door.

"Um…what do you think you're doing?" Henchmen One asked, blocking Neal's path.

Neal stared down at him disdainfully, a hard feat when the person was a head taller, but Neal managed. "Someone has to tell Badeni about the forgery and you incompetent buffoons wouldn't understand the…technicalities of it."

Henchmen Two stirred angrily. "We have orders to keep you here."

Neal sighed heavily while he pinched his brow. "Orders given to you in front of FBI hostages, who need to think that I'm betraying them for this plan to succeed." Neal stumbled slightly over what the agents were supposed to think, but he didn't think that Henchmen One and Two noticed. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Henchmen Two glance uncertainly at Henchmen One.

"But we're really not supposed to let you leave…and Boss didn't say anything about letting you go…" Henchmen One trailed off uncertainly.

Neal gave them a scornful look. "Badeni was under the mistaken impression that you two would actually have the brains to figure out this minor part of the plan. How wrong he was."

Henchmen Two glared at Neal. "How long are you going to be gone?"

Neal hid his relief at his success as he rolled his eyes. "Obviously, you don't know the first thing about forgeries or you wouldn't have to ask, but since I know what your intelligence level is…"

Henchmen Two interrupted Neal angrily. "You don't have to mock us!"

Neal paused in mock-shock, secretly pleased that one of the henchmen had obvious anger issues. "You know what 'mock' means?" he asked in utter astonishment, hiding a grin as Henchmen Two's face turn to an ugly shade of purple. "I was expecting a more—how to put this politely—simple word like 'bug' or 'tease' maybe even 'annoy', but 'mock' " Neal shook his head in wonder. " 'Mock' is almost at the verge of sounding clever."

"Why, you!" Henchmen Two snarled as he attempted to lunge at Neal. The conman yawned as Henchmen One restrained Henchmen Two.

"Calm down," Henchmen One unsubtly hissed in Henchmen Two's ear. "Sorry, sir. Uh…continue on your way."

"Now that I have your permission," Neal sneered as he sauntered out of the break room and strutted down the hall. It was only when he was out of the henchmen's eyesight that he finally allowed himself to grin. Finally, he was out of the break room. Now all he had to do was escape a building from the 21st floor without using the elevators and dodging the Crazy Austrian and his team of henchmen. All without any tools or outside help to speak of…fun.

Alright, this chapter is actually not finished. Well it IS but like I was going to put more in it. It's just that it was already a decent length and I needed to update so…tada! At least I pretty much already know what I'm going to put in the next chapter so (hopefully) the wait won't be as long. SO…

What will Neal do know that he's out of the break room?

Will Peter ever trust Neal again?

What made Neal say THAT? (hopefully u know what I mean. No? think about what Peter heard Neal say. YEAH. Get it now?)

Will Mozzie save the day?

So many questions… that will be answered…at some point in time

Hope it was worth the wait!

REVIEW!