Note: Sorry about the wait. I've been ill again. Uh...long chapter is LONG!

White Collar : The Eye of Sita

Chapter Thirty-two

"If you were hiding the Hope Diamond, where would you put it?"

"I'd swallow it." Daniel replied without hesitation.

"Disgusting."

"No, 'smart'. Think about it. It's too large to pass through the stomach into the intestines, the acid wouldn't hurt the diamond, you could just retch it back up later."

"Please, please tell me you didn't do that when you stole it."

"Of course not, I just put it in my pocket."

"Oh thank God." Neal sighed in relief.

"What?"

"The Hope Diamond is a wonder of nature and a National Treasure it doesn't deserved to be humiliated by being ingested, particularly not by they likes of you."

"You do realize you're anthropomorphizing a shiny rock, right?"

"'Anthropomorphizing'?" Neal repeated with a raised eye brow. "That's an awful big word for a simple Texas boy."

"Need I remind you that you were born not twenty miles from me?"

"Just because a cat has her kittens in the oven doesn't mean you call them biscuits." Neal chuckled in his original Texas drawl. "You said it yourself: I was born in the wrong place."

"You're impossible to talk to anymore, Neal."

"We never talked, Daniel, we only schemed."

"True." Daniel smiled. "I wish we'd had a chance to try pulling off some the bigger jobs together."

"Hey, you were the one who went off and stole the Hope without me."

"Jealous?"

"Insanely." Neal admitted. "Although I have to ask, why did you give me the black diamond? Do you really think my sins will always outweigh any good I can do?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Sixteen small white stones for my good deeds, but nothing compared with the large black stone for leaving you to die."

"I don't even know how to respond to this." Daniel said seriously. "Did you crack your head when you hit the floor or something?"

"What? No. Remember? The Tibetan belief that when you die your deeds are weighed out on a scale in stones, the black stones are for evil deeds, the white stones are for your good deeds."

Daniel stopped moving down the seemingly abandoned basement hallway to turn and stare at Neal. He brought his hand up and moved it back and forth in front of Neal's face in a silent request that he prove that he could track with his eyes.

"I don't have a concussion." Neal said as he batted Daniel's hand away.

"Then what is wrong with you? Tibetan rocks?"

"The black diamond wasn't a message?"

"Of course it was a message, but nothing about good and evil. Neal, remember when I turned sixteen and Caffrey sent me alone to New York?"

"Of course."

"Remember why?"

"To steal...I don't remember what you were suppose to steal." Neal admitted. "I just remember him being disappointed when you didn't bring it back."

"It was that diamond, 'The Eye of Shiva'. I spent a week in jail before he sent someone to bail me out."

"I don't remember that part."

"I was embarrassed about being caught, I begged him not to tell you." Daniel replied. "When I stole the Hope the Shiva was in the same safe. I took it on a whim. I used the paintings to draw you into DC to get the Hope back, but by the time you arrived my son was still missing. I knew I was going to need your help, I gave you that diamond so that you could have some time to adjust to the idea that I was alive. I knew you'd know it was me."

"I guess I did, but for all the wrong reasons."

"Caffrey sent me on a lot of missions that involved gem stones, but that job was too big for me back then. I don't know how he got the charges dropped."

"He erased my past forever, he certainly had the power to get some juvenile breaking and entering charges dropped."

"Why didn't you go back to your birth name? Why keep 'Caffrey'?"

"It was gone. Getting a truly bullet proof identity like the 'Caffery' one he gave me isn't easy."

"Sure it is, you just need a birth certificate from a child that died at bir...oh, probably not a line you're willing to cross, eh?"

"I'm not interested in even getting near that line." Neal said seriously.

"For a professional liar you have an odd set of morals."

"So do you. Killing those men with your bare ha..."

"We're wasting time." Daniel interrupted gruffly. "We need to keep moving."

Neal wanted to talk further about the subject, but Daniel had a point. They had a lot of ground to cover and probably not a whole lot of time to cover it. So far it had been easy to avoid being spotted by any of the Embassy workers. Whenever they heard someone coming they just ducked into one of the many storage rooms or slipped down a different hallway. It didn't make sense that everyone at the Embassy was part of the illegal activities, and they didn't appear to be physically hunted by anyone at the moment. So remaining hidden wasn't a problem.

They were looking for the Embassy's vault thinking that it would be the most logical place to keep the Hope. The Embassy was large and the basement took up two full underground levels. Searching for the vault room in a systematic pattern they had almost swept the entire lowest basement level. An hour or so of walking had aggravated Neal's already sore hip. Daniel noticed Neal's progressively noticeable limp and stopped. He reached out and gentle ran his hand down Neal's pant leg and found the black fabric sticky with fresh blood.

"You're still bleeding." Daniel noted needlessly.

"And whose fault is that?"

"I said I was sorry. I can try and use a lock pick to get the tracker out."

"No, you'll just make it worse. I'll be fine."

"If we can just find that damn vault we can get out of here."

"It might be on the main floor." Neal suggested. "Like a hotel it could be behind the front desk area."

"We'll have to wait until late night to sneak around behind the front desk. There will be a lot of people there and we both look lik..."

Daniel stopped midsentance when a door about twenty feet down the hallway suddenly opened. When the leader of the men who had kidnapped Liam and brought them here stepped out Daniel rushed at him blindly. The professional violent criminal did not appear to notice the impending attack until Daniel was almost on him. He cried out in shock when he turned and saw Daniel bearing down on him.

"Daniel, gun!" Neal cried out an alarm as the leader went to draw his weapon.

Still six feet from his target Daniel wasn't quick enough to get to him before he had his weapon drawn. The leader attempted to fire, but nothing happened other than the sound of a jammed chamber. The man didn't have time to change his tactics as Daniel reached him and threw his fist against the bridge of his nose. Dropping the gun he stumbled back a few steps as blood poured from his nose.

"Wait!" The man cried as he held his hands up in surrender. "Please!"

"Daniel, stop!"

Daniel lashed out and grabbed the man's raised hand and effortlessly snapped his wrist. The man gasped sharply to cry out in pain, but before he could scream Daniel brought his knee up into his gut. Doubled over breathlessly the man was helpless when Daniel grabbed his hair and jerked his head back. Using a similar trick that he'd used to knock Neal to the floor Daniel landed the man on his back. Daniel was right there with him, straddling the fallen man he struck him again. Neal could hear the sickening crunch of bone as the power behind Daniel's strike forced the broken nasal bones into his victim's brain. The man arched in a violent convulsion before relaxing in death.

Panting heavily Daniel bowed his head as he sat on his dead victim. Everything had happened so quickly that even at a run Neal had only just reached the gory scene. Trying not to look at the blood Neal grabbed Daniel's shoulder to get his attention. Daniel looked up at Neal with a weary expression.

"Don't even start with me, Neal." Daniel sighed. "I did what I had to."

"What you had to? By what...trying to get yourself killed?" Neal spat. "What the hell were you thinking rushing a man with a gun?"

"I was expecting you to have my back!" Daniel roared angrily. "You have a gun, a little suppressive fire would have been nice!"

"I didn't even have time to react, you just charged off like a junk yard dog and beat an unarmed man to death!"

"Fuck you, Gandhi!"

Neal took a breath to respond, but stopped when Daniel suddenly pitched forward and began dry heaving. His anger instantly turned to concern as Daniel struggled to get his stomach under control. When Neal put his hand on his shoulder Daniel jerked away from him. Daniel forced himself to his feet and took a few steps before he stopped and pressed his hand against his chest. He leaned against the wall for support. Grinding his teeth in obvious pain Daniel's breathing was becoming increasingly shallow.

"Daniel?" Are you alright?"

"Fine." Daniel gasped unconvincingly.

"You look like you're having a heart attack."

"No. No. It will pass."

Whatever was happening to Daniel it didn't look like it was passing, it looked like it was getting worse. Neal stayed close with his hand gently resting on Daniel's lower back in a desperate attempt to provide some sort of comfort. Daniel forced a smile and reached out to brush Neal's cheek affectionately. The contact allowed Neal to feel that Daniel's hand was trembling.

"What's happening?"

"Nothing. I...I just, I don't have my medication."

"What kind of medication?"

"I don't actually know what it is, I just know it takes the edge off."

"Edge off of what?"

"My panic attacks." Daniel admitted.

"This is a panic attack?"

"I don't enjoy killing, Neal, it's just what I'm trained to do."

"So you don't just steal secrets."

"It's a dirty job, Neal, but someone's gotta do it."

"No, I don't believe that."

"Neal, you and Peter spend your time going after bad guys, Michelle and I spend our time going after evil guys. There is a huge difference. The law isn't always enough."

"Peter often talks to me about the difference between justice and revenge, what I just witnessed was revenge."

"Absolutely. That..." Daniel gestured towards the dead man "that was personal and I don' t care what you think of me for doing it. I just want you to understand that I'm not usually a mindless killer."

"What are you usually?"

"A proud defender of this country."

"You really do want to go back, don't you? You told me that the NSA treats you like a slave, but you didn't mean that. You enjoy working for them."

"The same way you enjoy your work for the FBI, they're both 'give and take' relationships." Daniel nodded. "We're not hopeless cases Neal, we were raised to be worthless thieves, but we've both become so much more. I'm proud of you Neal, even if you don't think the same of me."

Neal glanced at the man Daniel had murdered and suddenly felt no pity for the dead kidnapper. Daniel had certainly been wrong in killing the man, but at the same time the man would hadn't hesitated to draw his gun on them. Neal wondered if on some level this was how Peter felt when he was forced to reconcile the fact that despite trying to do the right thing Neal still had strong criminal tendencies. Neal often tried to pretend that he was completely innocent, but a billion dollars worth of hidden Nazi treasure proved other wise. Daniel's panic attack had calmed, but he was still watching Neal somewhat fearfully.

"Of course I'm proud of you Daniel, if nothing else you're a devoted and loving father."

"Okay, no more bickering, no more talks about morals. Let's just go get the Hope and our lives back."

"Agreed."

Daniel smiled brightly, he threw his arm over Neal's shoulders and dragged him into a powerful hug before releasing him. Acting as though the moment of weakness with the panic attack had never happened Daniel turned on the dead man and dragged his body back into the room he'd come out of. The room was a small rec room, a porno was still playing on the flat screen tv on the far wall. Daniel went through the man's pockets and pulled out a key card that held two different magnetic strips on it.

"What do you make of that?" Daniel asked as he tossed the key to Neal.

"Penthouse key." Neal said as he looked at the card. "One side is for the elevator, the other is for the room door."

"Let's go."

"You're just going to leave him here? What if someone finds him?"

"He was watching a porn, I'm fairly certain he gave orders not to be disturbed."

Neal glanced distastefully at the video that was playing in the background. Daniel chuckled and headed for the door. Getting to the elevator was going to be the hardest part. The main floor was busy with the everyday workings of the Embassy and surprisingly crowded. Luckily the front lobby was beautifully decorated with a variety of statues and potted plants. Daniel and Neal pressed against the wall behind a plant as they planned their route to the elevator.

"What does this remind you of?" Daniel chuckled.

"I'm trying my hardest not to think about it."

"Oh come on, it was a fun game."

"What did you call it?"

"Covert streaking." Daniel smiled.

"That's right." Neal shook his head sadly.

"It was good training. If you could move across a public area naked without being spotted it made it so much easier when you actually had clothing and didn't draw instant attention to yourself if spotted. It was fun."

"Except for the times when we got caught."

"You got caught, twice if I recall correctly." Daniel pointed out. "I never did."

"Yes you did, you got spotted six times."

"I got spotted, but not caught." Daniel laughed. "Although I recall both times you got caught you were being chased by attractive lady cops...you came home late both times but you never had any charges pressed. How did you pull that off I wonder?"

"I paid for my crimes." Neal replied with a mischievous smile.

"I bet. Are you ready for this?"

"As long as we don't have to strip down first."

"Maybe next time."

Daniel looked for his opportunity and dashed out of hiding first and found a good place behind a statue. To keep out of each others way Neal allowed Daniel to get half way to the elevator before following after him. Watching Daniel Neal could tell he was having fun. It was a skill to move through a public area and there was a certain thrill to remaining unspotted. It was important to make sure that you were in cover from all angles and the longer you stood still the greater the chance of getting caught. It was game where you had to think on your feet.

Neal had to admit as he slunk into his first hiding spot and pressed his back against the alcove wall his heart rate was elevated with the thrill. When they were both in a good position Daniel gave Neal the signal and he stepped calmly out of cover to open the special penthouse elevator with the key card. The doors slide open and Daniel joined Neal in the elevator just before the doors closed again.

"That was fun." Daniel smiled.

"We are good at what we do."

"We're the best."

The elevator opened on the penthouse level. Rather than there only being one large suite there were four of them, one of them on each corner of the building with a hallway separating each of them so no one had to share a wall. They found the right room on the second try and stepped inside. The suite was beautiful, full of original art from India and rich colors.

"Something tells me the scum bag downstairs wasn't actually staying here." Daniel said. "Whoever is behind all of this must be owner."

"Let's not bother with sticking around long enough to find out. If we can just get the Hope we can ruin their deal."

"You know this whole India Embassy points to Glass."

"Perhaps as a middle man." Neal agreed. "But I think the main man behind the strings knows us better than that."

"We are going to have to figure out who that is before this is done or neither of us will ever be safe."

"Diamond first."

"Right. There must be a safe around here somewhere."

"This way."

Neal went directly to the painting on the wall that shared a wall with the bathroom behind. In wall safes in hotels tended to be against the wall that had the ceramic tile and plumbing behind it. That way if someone tried to cut in through the back they needed to deal with the water as well. Swinging the painting away from the wall revealed a small safe.

"I will be really disappointed if the Hope is in this thing." Daniel said. "A child could open this safe."

"It isn't the safe itself that would keep the diamond secure, it's the fact that it's on the top floor of a foreign Embassy."

"True. Would you like to do the honors or shall I?"

"You got to steal it the first time." Neal said quickly. "It's my turn."

Daniel smiled and gave Neal a shallow bow before giving him some space. Neal reached out and spun the dial on the safe to get a feel for it. Neal decided that the safe was probably older than he was, at least as old as the building. He wouldn't even have to listen to this one, he would be able to just feel it. Closing his eyes Neal held his breath and started slowly spinning the dial with a delicate touch, waiting for the distinctive feel of the tumbler.

It had been a while since Neal had tested his hand out on such a traditional safe. It took him three tries before he was able to get the combination correct. With his heart pounding against his ribs Neal pulled on the lever that opened the small black safe. Peering inside he found a medium velvet black jewelry box sitting alone in the safe. Reaching inside he opened the hinged box.

Neal's breath caught in his throat as he stared at the naked Hope Diamond sitting on a bed of white velvet. The deep blue hue sparkled and twinkled with rest of the colors of the rainbow as the light danced inside the cut facets. Gently reaching out Neal took the diamond in his hand. Unlike other gems the diamond felt cold, with a high capacity to conduct heat the stone was physically robbing his fingers of warmth. Diamonds earned the nickname 'ice' through physics but at the moment it felt more like magic. Transfixed by the crystalized history in his hand Neal was nearly paralyzed.

"Neal?"

"...yeah?" Neal replied vacantly.

"You're drooling, pay up."

Neal chuckled and licked his lips. Before he could inform Daniel that he didn't have a hundred dollars on him at the moment there was the sound of a key card being swiped in the lock on the main door. It was Neal's instinct to look for a hiding place. Daniel however had other plans and drew the gun he'd stolen from the guards out and take aim. As Daniel moved to door Neal closed the safe and put the painting back in place.

Completely focused on the door Daniel managed to get his back against the wall next to the door before it opened. When their guest stepped inside he seemed to instantly sense that there was a gun drawn on him. Neal was surprised to see that it was Glass who had entered. If Daniel was surprised he didn't show it. With the gun aimed at Glass' temple he made a motion with the weapon that instructed him to step into the room. Daniel glanced into the hall before closing the door.

"Damn it, Boys, what are you doing here?" Glass huffed. "I gave you every opportunity to escape."

"Glass." Daniel snarled.

"Daniel." Glass greeted before he turned his attention to Neal. "Neal, I thought you of all people would be able to talk him into just walking away."

"You knew us from the moment we stepped into your house." Neal accused.

"Of course." Glass admitted freely.

"Who are you?" Daniel barked. "How do you know us?"

"I can understand Neal not remembering me, he never saw my face even though I was there that night he first met Caffrey. However, Daniel, I'm a little surprised that you don't remember me. Of course you were fairly upset the last time we were face to face, having been abandoned in a New York jail and all."

Daniel lowered his weapon slightly at hearing the intimate detail about his past. Glass didn't seem to fear the weapon or the dangerous man holding it. He didn't put his hands up the way most people did when threatened with a gun. Glass remained completely relaxed, he even look at Neal and smiled.

"You two really have grown up. It has been fun to watch. But you weren't as good as you thought you were when you were kids."

"How do you know anything about that?" Daniel asked. "No one knew we lived with Caffrey, he made certain that we were neither seen nor heard on the rare occasions that he had guests. Neal and I were ghosts."

"Not true. You didn't really think that Caffrey cleaned up all your messes on his own did you?" Glass chuckled. "Speeding tickets, petty theft charges, public intoxication, evidence left behind, getting caught on security cameras, not to mention all the details that go along with keeping two young orphans out of the system. I had to deal with a lot of your little transgressions to keep you two out of juvenile hall while you honed your skills."

"You were the one who held the gun to my head when I first threatened Caffery that night under the highway." Neal guessed.

"That's right." Glass nodded. "That wasn't part of my usual duties, but I made an exception that night. I had a good thing going until you two little ingrates killed my employer and forced me into a new line of work."

"What exactly was your first line of work?"

"I was your lawyer."