Disclaimer: White Collar belongs to USA Network and Jeff Eastin.


Chapter 8

Peter arrived back at the White Collar Crime Unit with a heavy heart. However, he didn't go straight down to the holding cells to get Neal out. Instead he opted to speak with his boss, Assistant Director Reese Hughes. Despite his earlier conduct Peter was professional enough to know that he was too invested in Neal, to see the wood for the trees. He needed to step back and listen to Hughes' far more experienced opinion about what was going on.

As he walked through the agents' bullpen Diana greeted him quietly and then dropped her gaze to the files on her desk. She was very fond of her boss and while she and her fellow agents had wanted to smack Neal on countless occasions themselves she would never have expected Peter to be the one to do so.

"Is Jones still with Caffrey?" Peter asked her.

"Yes, I took them coffee a while back and gave Jones his files to be reading through while he waited for you to get back."

"Thanks Diana. I'll go down after I speak with Hughes."

Of course, Hughes had already got wind of the situation with a couple of ill-intentioned calls from his senior colleagues goading him about his team giving rides to criminals to help them get to the scene of their crimes faster. He had seen Diana return alone and now watched Peter as he came in and spoke with her. He looked so miserable that Hughes made a mental note to go easy on him despite the severity of the situation. Peter nodded to him as he came up the stairs and joined him in his office.

"Better close that door behind you, Peter" He cautioned to the special agent. Peter did so and then sat down on the other side of Hughes' desk, letting out a deep sigh.

"Let's get on with it." Hughes said in a comforting tone of voice. "Tell me the whole story and we'll see what can be done to sort things out."

Peter filled him in on everything that had happened from the initial staff meeting in the conference room to his conversation with June and Mozzie. Hughes' raised an eyebrow as Peter described Neal's bizarre behavior the previous evening but made sure he kept his face expressionless when Peter told him about the incident in the van. He regarded Peter as his best agent and pretty much above reproach. He knew that Peter would be beating himself up enough without adding to his discomfort. When Peter had finished Hughes sat silently for a few minutes digesting the information.

Finally he got up and went out of the office, motioning to Diana with the two-finger come here wave. She immediately complied and joined them, hovering in the doorway. "Come in and close the door please, Agent Berrigan. Tell us what progress you've made since this afternoon."

Diana had been hard at work since returning. She had spoken with the café owner, who confirmed Neal's account of his whereabouts. She had also tracked down the cab driver and he had given a statement that he had been booked over the phone and had taken the couple to Central Park. They had paid cash and given him a generous tip. He hadn't even heard the bank alarms because he had been sitting listening to Car Talk on his ipod. He said that the couple had seemed calm and pleasant, and he had had no reason to suspect anything was amiss. His cab cam gave a clear picture of the woman but nothing usable on the man whose face had been hidden by his baseball cap. Diana had taken the cash for analysis but it had no prints other than the driver's. She had even tracked the call made to book the cab and it had been from an unlisted disposable cell phone. Hughes and Peter were both impressed with how much she had done.

"Peter, do you think Neal was telling the truth or not?" Hughes asked.

"At the time, I was convinced he was lying but having spoken with June and Mozzie and now with Diana's report, I'm inclined to believe him. Of course Mozzie could be involved without Neal knowing about it, but now I'm not so sure about that either." He gave Diana an update on his visits to June's. Diana looked concerned at his account of Neal's meltdown the night before and very surprised when he related today's conversation with Mozzie and June.

"But it looked so like Mozzie on the video feed. I have a copy now by the way, if you want to review it again." She offered.

"Yes, I would like to see it for myself." Hughes said. "Peter, why don't you get Jones up here and Neal, too? I'd like to see his reaction when he watches it. Let's meet in the conference room in half an hour, I expect you'll want to speak with Neal privately first."

Diana went back to her desk to burn a disc with the footage and then headed out for lattes. Perhaps they would ease the tension in what was sure to be an awkward meeting. Peter went downstairs to let Jones off babysitting duty and to try and make amends with Neal. Jones looked mightily relieved when Peter arrived. He reported that Neal had not said a thing the whole time other than to ask for some water when they first arrived. He gathered up his files and quickly left to go back upstairs. Peter motioned for the guard to unlock the cell and went inside to sit down beside Neal who had only briefly glanced up at him when he had got there before dropping his head back down to stare at the floor in front of him. His expression was grim.

Neal was still cuffed and Peter immediately took out a pocket knife and sliced the plastic cuffs open. He noticed Neal's wrists were red and as soon as Peter released him Neal hid his hands in his pockets. Still he did not look up. Peter hesitated to touch him but then decided to go ahead and placed an arm round Neal's shoulders. Neal didn't pull away. Peter took this as a good sign. Okay, here goes.

"Neal, I am truly sorry for hitting you. Whether you were involved in what went down or not I had no right to strike you like that. I don't know what came over me. I have been so worried about you since yesterday and I am terrified that you are about to make a monumental mistake regarding this woman and end up back in jail. We both know you wouldn't survive a month there this time around. Please, I don't know what is going on with you but something is really wrong here. Don't shut me out now, even though I'm sure your trust in me has plummeted since I hurt you. I need you to tell me who this woman is and what you know about what happened at the bank today."

Neal gave him a sideways look before turning away. He tried to wipe his eyes without Peter seeing but when he felt Peter squeeze his shoulder he couldn't sustain his composure and he dropped his head into his hand. Even though he had no idea what had happened he did suspect Mozzie's involvement given that he had texted him about the operation. He just felt so relieved that Peter was no longer angry at him that he could not be mad at him for hitting him. He felt the life he had created for himself crumbling down around him and wanted nothing more than to just sit here. Peter made him feel safe; something that had been a rarity in his life. An overwhelming tiredness came over him and he leaned into Peter, trying to calm himself down enough to speak coherently.

Peter sat silently and kept his arm around Neal protectively until the younger man's breathing returned to normal.

"I don't know how it all went down today, Peter."

"I saw your texts to Mozzie. Do you think he's involved?"

"I don't know. If he is, you know I can't rat on him. Anything he did would have been to help me. So let me take the fall for it Peter."

"Do you know the woman?"

"I don't know her name."

"That's not what I asked, Neal."

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I knew her. A long time ago." Peter took this to mean she was an accomplice in Neal's criminal past. "Can you let it drop for now, please Peter?"

"You know I can't Neal. Did you ever commit a crime with her?"

Neal looked Peter straight in the eye and whispered, "Yes."

Finally, a straight answer. Was that so hard?

"So, what was it? Art theft, forgery, bank fraud, the music box?" He looked at Neal expectantly. But his partner was staring at the ground again. Neal swallowed and opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again. He cleared his throat and turned back to Peter.

Come on Neal, keep going, tell the truth.

Peter tried to keep his expression neutral while internally willing Neal on. When Neal finally responded Peter immediately wished he hadn't done so."

"Murder."


TBC

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