Past Haunts: Chapter 8

SOOOOOOOO Sorry! Meant to update yesterday but things happened and... yeah, so... Please don't kill me...(*hides behind door*)

Here you go, your regular update (semi-late)

Warnings: Oh! and don't kill me! Has Neal whumpage, and some mentions of past non con. as stated above, never anything desrciptive. Read these warnings BEFORE you read please!

Disclaimer: I don't own white collar, just this plot line and OC. *sigh*

Junior Agents, Mondays Always Suck, and Shakey Coffee Mugs

The first thing Peter did was call Jones and Diana over. As soon as he mentioned Neal, they said they would be right over. Once they arrived, they explained that they knew something was really wrong; they just didn't know what. Peter knew he loved his team; they were intelligent in more ways than one.

"So, Boss, what do you need us to do?" Peter looked at his junior agents staring up at him expectantly. He refused the urge to sigh at what he was going to have to do next.

"Right now, I just need you two to listen, and know that what I say now does not leave this house, understood?" Diana and Jones nodded. Just then, Mrs. Burke came out of the kitchen carrying three cups of coffee.

"Thank you, Mrs. Burke. Mmmmm. We should meet at your house more often, Peter. The coffee here is a hundred times better than the sludge at work." Peter grinned appreciatively at his wife.

"Jones, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Elizabeth? Honey, I'm going to rest upstairs if you need me. They don't need me at work today, and with everything going on right now, I don't think I'd be able to get anything done anyway." Peter kissed El on the cheek before she left. "The pot's on the counter."

Once El was gone, Diana turned serious. "We're ready, Boss." She braced herself as if preparing to hit a brick wall. Well, Peter thought, it will be the metaphorical equivalent.

"Alright, but, I'll say this now. This isn't easy to hear..." And with that he took the next hour explaining both past and present.

When he was finished the two junior agents just stared. Jones was the first to break the silence.

"Our Neal Caffrey? He... that is never how I pictured his childhood at all. I figured... well I figured it'd be a lot nicer." Jones's eyes kind of glazed over as his imagination took hold of the information he had just been given. Through the whole story, Diana's face had hardened, so when Peter was finished, he was waiting for her coffee mug to shatter and for her to run out of the house with her gun already cocked.

"So his uncle is here? Living with him?" Peter had to think of a way to diffuse Diana and fast. The last thing he needed was a rogue agent (who he would have happily went along with) running around New York, in a rage. He held a hand in the air, palm down, towards her.

"Diana, I know. I've been wanting to do the same thing ever since all of this started, but... think about Neal." Diana's eyes narrowed at Peter, which would have surprised him if he hadn't dealt with her in full on mama bear mode.

"I am thinking about him! I'm thinking about all the horrible things that- man- and I use the term very lightly- did to him! I can't just sit here-" Jones was the one to end her rage induced rant, with a gentle hand over her tattoo.

"We know, Diana. Really. But Peter's got a point. Running after Frank Smithson with nothing would more likely cause a lot more harm than any good. This guys obviously has no qualms over whatever he or anybody else does to Neal. He wouldn't hesitate to dispose of him if he saw him as a liability, instead of an important tool right now." Diana's scowl had disappeared and was replaced by one of pure sadness, the likes of Peter had never seen on the fiery young woman. She sighed and looked blankly at her cooled coffee.

"I know you're right. I just..." She paused for thought, then gave a short, soft laugh. "Since when did any of us start to care about Caffrey? I can't stand the thought of anyone hurting him. It makes me want to personally throttle them." She stopped too glare at the two men staring wide-eyed at her. "Don't either of you dare tell him this. I would never hear the end of it. I'm sure he'd even send me an anniversary card with this date on it to me every year." The laughs were able to cut through some of the tension in the air, and with it finally cleared, they could start to work it. A righteous anger settled over the small team, all of them eager to take down the man who had hurt part of their family. Peter smiled.

"Let's get started. First, we need to call Mozzie..."

While the three FBI agents were planning around her kitchen table, El was busying herself with anything she could think of. Before she knew, it she found herself making Neal's favorite cookies, double chocolate chip. A smile formed on her mouth as she thought of the many times she had to bat his hand away from the still hot pan before he burned himself.

As she was pulling out the second tray of warm deliciousness, there was an unexpected knock on the door. Thinking it better to leave the team be, she answered the door herself. She couldn't contain the surprised gasp when she saw Mozzie on the doorstep. His shirt was uncharacteristically rumpled and his glasses were askew like he had been running and didn't bother setting them straight.

"Mrs. Suit, um..." Mozzie at a loss for words? Something's wrong. El grabbed his hand and dragged him through the doorway.

"Moz! What's wrong? Are you okay? You look like you were forced to walk through five metal detectors and then chased by a police dog the whole way here." The bald man shuddered at the thought.

"No need to bring up dark memories, Mrs. Suit. Actually, I need to talk to Peter." He sighed. "I have been brought low and shackled to the very base of Big Brother's pedestal." El had to fight the urge to roll her eyes, when the very man in question came around the corner a surprised yet relieved look on his face.

"Haversham! I don't know why you're here, but you've got perfect timing. I was just about to call you. I've got Diana and Jones here. We need to come up with a plan to help Neal, and I think since you've known Neal the longest and I have just become privy to some new information; we should swap notes and come up with something." He paused before adding, "Off the record, of course." Mozzie just stared at him with slightly widened eyes that tapered off to a sad look.

"Actually, that's why I'm here. I just ran into Neal, and... Peter, it's not good." Jones and Diana had just walked in to see them all standing there, in time to see Peter pale slightly.

"What do you mean by 'not good'?"

"I mean, we better hurry, or this could be worse than we thought."

Monday came faster than any of them hoped. Mozzie had told the agents of his run in with Neal and how he had even tried to con him.

'He never does that to me. I mean, yeah, he tried when we first met, but since then he knows I can see right through that. It's like he's been thrown right back to where he started. It's like he's not Neal anymore but Matty again.'

That caused the agents to worry even more, and to be extra frustrated and harried when Monday morning arrived and they still had no idea what to do. They did white collar crime, not this. The pain in their chests grew exponentially when they saw Neal walk through the glass doors of the White Collar Division extra carefully. Diana couldn't help but see Neal wince when he sat down in his office chair and just lean forward to grab a pen. She walk up to him and hid her concerned look with a mask of nonchalance.

"Hey, Neal. You catch any sleep this weekend. For once the great Neal Caffrey has bed head." She smirked at him. This was their typical Monday morning banter before any new cases were brought to them. She wanted to see what he would do. Her heart throbbed when he tried to appear relaxed and carefree, leaning back in his chair and shooting her a wide smile.

"Well, you know me. Always the charmer. My, uh, date hates alarm clocks and turned mine off. Had to rush up here and as for my hair,... must have just slipped my mind." Diana didn't miss the slight wrinkle in his suit or the darker circles under his eyes. Instead of forcing Neal to tell her the truth, she just rolled her eyes like she normally would.

"Hmm. Well, Maybe you should just keep your fedora on today. Want some coffee?" Neal jumped up as best he could and raced her to the coffee machine.

"Yes, please." Clinton came up behind them, obviously on to what Diana was doing, and decided to join in.

"Hey, Caffrey. Wow, for once in your life, you look like crap." Neal just brushed him off.

"Everyone in the world has an off day, Jones. It's called being human, and despite popular belief, I am one." He eagerly poured himself a cup of what, on a typical day, he would call government backwash filtered through the sewage plant. Behind his back, Diana and Jones shared a look. Caffrey hated FBI coffee and did his best to avoid it at all costs. Jones looked up towards Peter's office to see him signaling for the team to gather in the conference room, but there was also a silent message in his eyes to them to keep an eye on Neal. Jones nodded to his boss then turned to Neal and gave him a pat on the back.

Neal almost jumped out of his skin.

"Whoa, Neal! Breath, man. Peter's calling us up. We've got a case. You okay?" Neal rolled his shoulders down slowly and brought his eyebrows back down to his face.

"Yeah, man. But you should know better than to sneak attack a guy who got like three hours of sleep over the weekend. Like I said, long nights." Diana just gave him a calm yet tight smile, and they headed up to the conference room. Neither of them mentioned the way Neal clutched his cup with both hands, tight enough to shatter it, or the way he favored his right leg. Jones saw Diana's fists slowly clench and unclench as they walked up the few stairs.

Next time on Past Haunts: They have a new case. Will Neal be able to handle going under cover? WHta will frank do when he finds out? (*Fade to Black*)

Well? R&R:)