A/N : TWO WORDS. Senior. Year. Philosophy. Torture. But Important. REALLY. Oh that's more than two? Sorry! I don't know how to count I'm a lit. student: I don't know how to count (according to my scientific friends : LOVE YOU! ) Anyway, I love you guys for reading this story. That is one year old already. Seriously, I say it everytime I update but your comments and support mean the word to me. I didn't expected that kind of response but I've got it ! You guys are awesome and patient and I love you for taking the time to read something that came out of my crazy imagination. I love you x infinity.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.

All of the agents that worked on the Roark case – FBI and CIA – were waiting for their respective superiors in the conference room of the White Collar unit, in an agonizing silent. Alex and Mozzie had been freed a few minutes earlier but were ordered to stay in the FBI building for further possible questions. Therefore, they had been locked in Peter's office, along with Sara - who, every once in while, shot the conwoman a dirty look – and Elizabeth.

In the conference room, Bryce and Chuck sat at the end of the table, glaring at the glass table, trying to avoid the glances that their teammates shot them. The White Collar team were sitting beside Bryce while Sarah and Casey on each sides of Chuck. The fake conman was playing with his handcuffs, the noise unconsciously annoying the other persons in the room. He couldn't restrain a dry chuckle. In a matter of days, he had been threatened by several persons, had gone to the hospital, had fought with ghosts twice and had been arrested by his own team the same amount of time. This was bound to happen, thought the human Intersecret as he tried to get out of his own cuffs, you don't play with death and get away with it. As the tall brunette looked up at his former best friend, he was overwhelmed with a sense of déjà vu. A few weeks ago, they both had been handcuffed in this room, facing each other, no one daring to talk. Only this time, Bryce's shoulder wasn't dislocated nor his nose bloody and the tall brunette's wrist wasn't bruised. Plus, they weren't alone in the room.

His eyes shot up as the conference room's door open and General Beckman enter. And she didn't look like to be a pleasant mood. All agents presented got up as the small redhead made her entrance. The petite woman glared at both handcuffed men before saying through gritted teeth:

"Sit down."

As if they were one, they all sat back, the former Stanford roommates not looking up at the General. However, the latter couldn't seem to tear her eyes off of the pair. Sitting at the end of the table beside H, Beckman asked in a - terrifying - calm tone:

"Could somebody, please, tell me what did go wrong?"

Polite, Bryce thought as he swallowed the lump in the his throat, an eyebrow cocked. This is getting scarier. As he went to open his mouth and explain, he was cut off by several other voices:

"The FBI got involved and-"

"Excuse me?! If anything, you got involved-"

"This was our case before your petty little White Collar division took it over. We're dealing with a terrorist, here-"

"And art theft. With all due respect, your team wasn't competent enough to put him behind bars, so-"

"He was supposed to be fuckin' dead-"

"Enough." Beckman stressed out through gritted teeth.

She ignored both governmental and federal team, turning toward the quiet pair. Unsurprisingly, Bryce and Chuck hadn't intervene during the interaction, both of them staring at their handcuffed hands. Both of their heads snapped up as the redhead cleared her throat, catching the attention. Her hard glare first settled on Bryce as she said:

"Would you mind telling me why you felt the need to engage fire into a mall full of civilians?"

Bryce had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from retorting a sarcastic 'I don't know, maybe because some crazy lunatic had his gun pointed at me?' As if he wasn't in enough trouble. Beside, it was more a Bryce thing to say and he'd like to keep of what was last of his cover, thank you very much. As he looked back at the General, the latter staring at him and expecting a - valuable - answer, Bryce sighed and said, shrugging a shoulder:

"I was threatened."

"Then why didn't you shot Duris instead? I mean, he was the one with a gun at your chest, wasn't he?"

Shaw. Not Duris. "I knew he could have shot me before I'd have the time to put my finger on the trigger, so I thought I could provide a distraction." He deadpanned, ignoring the shocked looks sent by the FBI agents.

"By shooting that security guy?"

Obviously. "Yes."

"So you shot him, just to cause a distraction? You didn't care whether he was armed or not."

What was this, his trial? "He was armed, and he wasn't just a security guy. He wor-"

"How would you know that? Struck of luck? Are you psychic? Did he introduced himself to you? Did you warn him before shooting? Did he threatened you with a gun?"

"No, but-"

Diane raised a hand to stop his useless answer before turning toward the A Team. More precisely, toward Sarah.

"What about you, Walker? Your report?"

The deadly blonde crossed legs and arms as she turned toward her superior, her face emotionless and her tone professional as she answered:

"Caffrey was indeed threatened by Duris and his quick thinking saved his life. Whether he had shot or not, there still wouldn't have any time to secure any civilians in the mall."

And that was why he loved Sarah, Bryce reminded himself with a snort and slight smirk on his lips. His cover was pretty much blown but the blonde still bothered to lie for him.

"Although you seem to have believable explanations to justify Mr Caffrey's actions, could you explain your partner's?"

"General, we weren't aware of Lar-Caffrey's plan nor how did Bartowski help to its execution." Casey intervened, flying to Sarah's aid.

"And that, Colonel" Beckman said, pointing to the A-Team "is exactly my problem. You're supposed to be a team, you should have been aware.

Silence again. The redhead glared at both teams before sighing and nodding to the two guards standing behind her. On cue, both men walked toward Chuck and Bryce and handcuffed them. The Human Intersecret winced as the cold steel left his wrists while Bryce rolled his. After taking a deep breath, the petite General announced:

"Both of you are off the case and temporarily suspended. Please-"

"Wait, what?!" Bryce interrupted, eyes wide opened in shock.

"With all due respect, General, they won't be able to resolve this case without my help. " Chuck intervened, after staying quiet during all the debriefing.

He shut his mouth as Beckman's cold stare fell upon himself, slouching into his chair. When he, finally,dared to look up, the spy swore that he saw a satisfied smirk playing at the corners of her lips.

"Both of you have to hand badges, guns or weapons of any kind over to your respective superiors." Beckman continued. "If one of you is sighted near the federal building, you'll be arrested. I-"

"You can't take us off the case." Bryce interrupted again, through gritted teeth.

"Pardon?"

"Chuck's right, you can't solve it without us." The blue-eyed man retorted, scoffing in disbelief.

As he heard his name, the tall brunette widened his eyes and shook his head, his look saying 'don't drag me into your mess, dude' as Peter, Diana and Jones looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. Which he probably did. Sarah glared at him while Casey groaned and rolled his eyes, leaning into his chair. Beckman still looked unimpressed by her former agent, but if you looked closer, you could see one of her eyes or the corner of her mouth twitching in annoyance.

"Caffrey, I can and have taken this case away from you and-"

"Just to be clear, which case are we talking about?" Bryce spat, his blue gaze cold as ice as his eyes settled on the petite woman. At her cocked eyebrow, he smirked and added "Just so I make sure not to screw up next time and don't develop a identity disorder, General."

He gritted his teeth in pain as he felt a foot collide against his knee. Hard. Bryce glared at the tall man in front of him - or the only person with legs long enough to reach him from under the table -, Chuck seemed unfazed by the glare of his former partner and sent him a look of his own. Both of them were oblivious to the other persons around them until Beckman cleared her throat and got up from her chair, quickly imitated by federal agents and spies.

"We'll keep you updated about the Roark case." She told Peter. "Team."

Without waiting for a reply, the older woman got out of the conference room. Sarah was quick to follow, her face emotionless as she got out of the room. But Chuck was no fool and neither was Bryce, both watching as the blonde left. Casey grunted in a way that only Casey could before getting up and following his partner. Groaning, Chuck shot a Look at Bryce, the latter returning it, as he got up and left the conference room.

The nerd winced when he saw his fiancée pacing in front of the room, obviously angry, as she ran her fingers through her hair. The general was nowhere to be seen, as if she had vanished in thin air, and Casey was - hopelessly - trying to calm her down while drumming his fingers against the butt of his gun. Taking a deep breath, Chuck stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked toward the pair. Sarah's head turned around as she heard him approaching and he almost ran away when her glare settled on him. If looks could kill, he'd already be six feet under. Her heels clicked against the floor as she strolled toward him, ignoring Casey behind her.

"Sa-"

"What the hell were you thinking, Chuck?"

To say he was taken back by the blonde outburst was an understatement. He knew that she was angry but Sarah wasn't one to show her feelings in public. Clearing his throat, he said:

"I wanted to help Bryce-"

"By agreeing to his, as usual, stupid and dangerous plan? Great idea!" Sarah interrupted again, sarcasm dripping from her words.

"Hate to say it, but ours aren't better, Walker." Casey intervened.

Her glare settled on his person, making him roll his eyes and raising his hands in the international sign of surrender. The younger woman sighed, closing her eyes as she ran her fingers through her hair once more.

"I knew this would happen." She said in a voice that seemed calmer. "I knew it."

"Well, don't leave me out of the loop and tell me, Sarah" Chuck retorted, frustrated that his partners were treating him like a child "What did you think would happen?"

"This, Chuck!" she snapped "And excuse me for saying this but you are an absolute idiot for not seeing it. No matter what he did, no matter what he was, you're always ready to follow him, whatever the situation, and you dive head first into problems."

During her rant, the tall brunette had unconsciously took a few steps back. Thing that didn't go unnoticed by his fiancée. Sighing again, Sarah walked toward him and gently took his large hands in her smaller one, finger brushing against his ring as she tried to lock her gaze with his.

"Can't you see that Bryce is your kryptonite?"

As he finally looked down at her, Sarah involuntarily shuddered. His eyes were hard and his tone was cold when he retorted:

"As if you could talk."

Her jaw clenched, Sarah let her hands slid off of his and turned around, walking toward the elevators. Chuck closed his eyes, letting out a breath as Casey huffed beside him before saying:

"That could have been worse."

The human Intersecret scoffed, shaking his head as he followed his fiancée out the building. That could have been worse. Famous last words.

Bryce restrained himself from letting out a whoop of joy when they were finally let out of the room. Walking toward his desk, he shot a quick glance at his watch. 5:03 PM. The former spy frowned his eyebrows as he stretched his arms; had they been in there for that long? No wonder his harmed shoulder was throbbing. He threw his fedora on his head as he fell into his chair, puffing his cheeks. As he looked up, he could see that Peter had decided to let out the couple of cons, along with Elizabeth and his girlfriend. As if he could feel someone observing him, Peter turned around. The brunette quickly bent his head, distracting himself with the elastic ball on his desk. He hadn't talked nor looked at his superior since they had came back. He hadn't talked to Diana or Jones either, but the former kept shoting suspicious looks at him and fortunately, he had avoided Sara since he had been arrested. Well, until now.

As he saw Jones and Diana walking toward him, Bryce turned in his chair and pretended to occupy himself with some file that was lingering on his desk for weeks now. A clear of throat made him look up. Jones was leaning against the table, his arms crossed while his female partner was playing with his ball and, now, up on his desk. Swallowing the bile that had suddenly came up his throat, Bryce shook his head and asked:

"What is it?"

"What are you still doing here, Caffrey?" The taller man asked, cocking an eyebrow. "You're supposed to be suspended."

"Uh... I thought I was supposed to wait for Hughes to come." Bryce replied, shrugging a shoulder. "Beside, I wanted to finished this be-"

"Why did he call you Larkin?" Diana interrupted, her eyes fixed on the ball rolling in her hands.

Taken aback by the question, Bryce's blue eyes widened as he turned toward the dark-haired woman

"Sorry?"

"Roark." Her eyebrows frowned, she set the ball on the table as she looked up at him "And Duris, too. Why did they call you Larkin?"

"Good question, Berrigan." Peter intervened, appearing in thin air behind his two agents?

"I thought so too, boss." Diana retorted as she turned around, smiling at him like a proud student.

"Yet, I have a better one." Bryce gulped when Peter's hard dark eyes settled on him. "Why do you have a gun?"

Jones and Diana hummed, agreeing that it was a great question and turned back toward him, expecting an answer to both questions. Looking above Peter's head, he could see Mozzie and Alex observing him, tense and nervous. That wasn't what disturb Bryce, though. He could see Elizabeth, Mozzie and Alex. The only person that had, somehow, vanished, was-

"And I wondered why did your loft look like a spy lair. With conmans in it."

Sara.

The woman was standing next to Peter, her arms crossed against her chest. Bryce felt trapped as his eyes went from Sara to Diana, and then Peter. Clearing his throat, he shook his head when he saw Mozzie and Alex walking toward him. Closing the file he was - pretending to - working on, he got up from his chair, saying:

"That's-" 'classified'. "Complicated."

"Try us." Diana said, an innocent, unnerving smile still plastered on her lips.

"The spy stuff belongs to Bartowski, I asked Moz and Alex to help install it, they offered to monitor the exchange, to be my back-up" The not-completely-a lie quickly rolled off Bryce's tongue, the latter not even thinking about it. He stopped, breathing between sentences as he turned to Peter "And, come on, this is America, 8 people on 10 own a gun. I happen to be a one of those eight."

As he spoke, Bryce was walking backward toward the elevators, ready to make a run for it. He smiled tightly at his team, ignoring his girlfriend's narrowed eyes, and turned around, ready-

"What about Larkin?" Peter asked.

So close.

Bryce closed his eyes, his fists balled at his side. The older man walked closer to him, his footsteps breaking the silence, as he continued:

"I mean, what is it? A code for something, a nickname? An alias I may not have heard yet? That would be weird since-"

"It's not an alias." Bryce interrupted, cursing himself internally.

And just like that, the few people that weren't paying attention to him found he was the most interesting thing ever. Alex exchanged a look with the bald man next to her, the latter having his eyebrows frowned in confusion. Bryce opened his eyes, took off his hat and sighed, running fingers through his tangled short hair. Peter seemed surprised by the interruption, apparently thinking that the former conman wouldn't defend himself like he did earlier in the conference room.

"Come again?" was his intelligent retort.

His jaw clenched, Bryce turned around to face him. Mozzie was slowly walking toward him, Alex on his heels. Letting out a breath, the blue-eyed man repeated:

"It's not an alias."

"Care to explain what you are doing?" The brunette con asked, her voice trembling from anxiety.

"If anything, Neal Caffrey is an alias." He said, completely ignoring Alex as he threw his hat on a desk nearby.

"What does that mean?" Elizabeth wondered, speaking for the first time.

"Caffrey" Mozzie spat. Bryce's blue eyes met his. The older man shook his head "Don't do this."

"It means, Elizabeth, that this" he explained, pointing to himself "is nothing but a lie. A cover. The biggest con anyone was ever pulled."

For once, Bryce wished that people wouldn't pay attention to his theatrics. But he had started talking, he had started killing Neal Caffrey all over again. As he looked up to his audience, most of them seemed confused, suspicious - as always. Mozzie looked torn between throwing him the chair he was standing next to, or bolt out of the building. Alex looked like she wanted to tackle him to the floor and gag him, so he could stop talking. Sara was trembling, her green eyes wide-opened as she listened to him. Elizabeth was shaken by what she had experienced earlier and this sudden revelation wasn't comforting her. Only Peter was standing there, expressionless, stoic.

"Neal George Bennett died in 2009 when he tried to escape prison, he was killed by Adler, suspected to be working from Fulcrum."

"Fulcrum? Isn't that the terrorist agency Roark's working for?" Jones asked. "What does have to do with you or whoever Larkin is?"

"Everything. We don't know if Adler killed him because of whatever con Nick Halden pulled on him or because he was sent by Fulcrum to kill me."

"You?" Diana asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Larkin." Bryce replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Bryce Larkin. I was working as an agent of the CIA from 2002 to 2009. I worked with Bartowski's team on Roark's case and anything that involved Fulcrum. Until I 'died'. "

As he looked up, he almost laughed. Peter. Elizabeth. Jones. Diana. Sara. They were all watching him, their eyes wide opened and their jaws on the floor. Mozzie was glaring at him, trying to burn a hole in his skull while Alex was shaking her head, her eyes squeezed shut. Peter was the fist to recover. He closed his mouth, shook his head then turned toward the pair of theives.

"You knew." He whispered in realization.

"How do you think he became like... that?" Alex muttered, visibly annoyed as she kicked the floor with the tip of her boot.

"I have Beckman on speed dial if you don't believe."

No one seemed to doubt his words. Well no one except a certain blonde. Sara scoffed, attracting all pair of eyes on her.

"Do you really expect me to believe that? Actually, do you expect to believe anything that you say?"

"Sara-" Peter started.

"No!" The woman spat, her voice quivering and her eyes shining with unleashed tears "You know what? No. I don't care. I'm done listening to you, Neal or Bryce. Or whoever you say who are. And if anything you say is true, then you are actually the worst person I've ever met."

Then she was gone. Pushing him as she passed past him. Elizabeth glared at him before following the younger woman. Peter shot him a quick glance before shaking his head and tiredly running a hand on his face as he walked toward his office. The duo Berrigan-Jones were quick to follow their boss, not before glaring at Bryce. The only people left were Alex, Mozzie and himself. The brunette woman shot him a humorless smirk and said, sarcastic as ever:

"Great job, Larkin."

He shot her a murderous glare before snatching his hat and storming out of the federal building, his card on his desk. Neal Caffrey was no more.

MANHATTAN AT TIMES SQUARE HOTEL, NEW YORK

ROOM 211.

11:45 PM.

Chuck got out of the bathroom, toothpaste dripping from his mouth, to find out that his bed was still empty. Apparently, Sarah preferred Casey's compagny to his, tonight. The colonel's words, not his. Still, he wished she would have changed her mind. Alas, they were both extremely stubborn and didn't give up that easily, especially not the blonde spy. He spat the remaining paste in the sink and quickly washed his mouth before jumping into his bed.

His cell rang as soon as his head touched the pillow. Groaning, Chuck sat up and took the device off of its plug. 'Cpt. Awesome'Frowning his eyebrows in confusion, he quickly picked up:

"Devon?"

'Hey, man. Tell me I'm not waking you up.' His brother-in-law's nervous tone was what alerted him. He could hear Clara's cries in the background and Devon's soothing sounds.

"No, I was working late, don't worry. What's going on?"

'I was wondering... did Ellie tell you about any unexpectable trip?'

"No, why?"

"... Because she isn't here."

"What?" By now, Chuck was already on his feet, searching for shoes and the keys of his room. "What do you mean 'she isn't here'? Her flight was scheduled at 3 PM.

She should be there al-"

As he looked up, Chuck could see a red light flashing from underneath the table. Benting down, he saw a small round object stuck to the wood.

"Sonofabitch." The spy muttered under his breath;*

'-uck? Chuck, you still here, dude?' Devon's voice brought him back to reality.

"Wa-yea, man, I'm still here. Listen, Devon, I'll see what I can do here and I'll call if I got something, don't worry."

Hanging before the man could answer, the human Intersecret stuffed his keys in his back pocket and his feet in his already laced white Converse. He groaned when he heard his phone started ringing again. Without looking up the ID, he answered:

"Now's not a good time."

'You tell me, Chucky' Bryce scoffed. 'We've got a problem.'

"That's an understatement" he muttered before clearing his throat and saying louder "What is it, now?"

'Elizabeth and Sara are missing.'

A/N: Already started on working on the next chapter, don't worry about it. Just review. Follow. Favorite. Cuz you're my favourite kind of people : nice people.

Au revoir. **cuefrenchnationalanthemplaying** (you can't understand that if you're not french. National joke.)