A Secret Alias


It was a random case, one where Peter was poking around Stanford University and the student population between the years of 1999 and 2003. Since their suspect had been involved in one of the local fraternities, he decided to go skimming through the other fraternities that were present on campus during those years and their members.

The work was dull, just a whole lot of smiling faces from their student profiles. That was until he came upon a familiar face that had him backtracking.

"Neal," he couldn't help but speak out loud as his eyes traced over the face and noted that this was an image of the kid predating his FBI file photos and any other information that they'd been able to confirm about him.

"Knew you'd be a frat boy," he felt the grin growing on his face in correlation to his amusement at the memory of Neal's commentary when they'd discussed college.

Pulling up the photo, he looked at the name associated with it. "Bryce Larkin, that's new," which explained why they'd never encountered this information before. It was under an alias that they hadn't picked up on.

"Now, who were you here," he continued to mutter to himself as he put the name into the system to pull up the school records.

Reading through the file, Peter was intrigued to see that 'Bryce' was a track star, he'd studied accounting and computer engineering, and he'd had a social reputation. "And you called me a Mathlete," he couldn't help the snort as he shook his head.

His friend had dared to mock him when he had a similar background. The kid had studied accounting and showed a similar degree in mathematics with scholarships through athletics. Sure, he'd been in track which wasn't as interesting as baseball, but it was still a sport.

He'd been given access to the Stanford database for research, but he still put in a request for the school to send everything that they had on Bryce Larkin and their suspect over.

When it arrived, he settled in to read with a fresh cup of coffee and a clear schedule to dedicate to his research. The suspect was a professional assignment, but he counted Neal's history as one as well since he was his CI… a research assignment that he found more interesting than that of their current suspect.

Bryce's records had a list of classes and grades, notes from the teachers about his participation in classes and campus activities, and a personal profile.

The profile stated that Bryce was a nerd who spoke Klingon, enjoyed video games, and loved movies like Dune. His best friend was stated to be Chuck Bartowski who'd been his roommate at the fraternity.

Looking up Chuck, his records showed that he was a brilliant computer engineer, but he'd been expelled for cheating their senior year when Bryce turned him in. After that, the kid got a job at the local Buymore back in his hometown of LA. That's where he remained and there was nothing associated with him as a criminal so he wasn't inclined to dig any deeper into the guy.

Then going back to Bryce, he found that the kid had graduated and gotten a job working at a bank in DC. From there, he'd been a skeleton barely on the records until he'd been allegedly killed in a bank robbery.

Once he'd finished going through it, he turned towards his window. He'd taken plenty of notes for himself while copies would be added to Neal's official record, but he felt like he was missing something.

Pursing his lips as he thought, he was intrigued.

Then he turned and did another search.

This time, he was looking for any crimes that were committed around the area that also fit the man's MO.

When he'd finished, he was surprised to discover that there was none.

"What were you doing?" Why would the kid invest so many years into the alias not only to earn the degrees but to do even some work at the bank before faking his death? The university was where it began, but there was no traceable crime associated with him. Then the bank made sense if he was involved with the heist, but why so much work into the university beforehand? Especially when it wouldn't take him very long to case the bank, let alone the years he allegedly worked there?

Researching the heist, he found that the date was just after he'd arrested Neal and sent him to prison so there was no way the man could have been on sight for the crime. Had his faked death been a means to hide his disappearance?

Calling Jones and Diana in, he ran them through the summarized version of the information that he'd found. Then he tasked them with additional searches to see if they could figure out the reasoning for Neal's alias. If nothing else, getting different heads looking at it from alternate perspectives, they might figure out what Neal had been up to.

Laughing, Diana thought he was joking, "This isn't what I'd expect of Neal..." She commented as she flipped through the data he'd discovered, but her smile fell the more she read. "This is real?"

Jones was equally surprised, but less vocal as he looked through his copy.

"He speaks Klingon, fluently. At least according to the notes on his profile," Peter cocked his head at them before shaking it at their disbelief. "Yeah, I wouldn't peg him for a nerd either which is why I wonder what this alias was about. It's well-crafted and deep, he invested years of his life into this, and it's never come up while we have no idea why he did it."

Keeping the alias between them, Peter gave them time, but even after a series of surreptitious searches, they were unable to find the cause behind Neal's alias.

They hadn't been able to learn anything more than the story of a kid growing up in Connecticut, going to Stanford, and dying in a DC bank.

No matter how well they'd searched the robbery, they were unable to find anything beyond the basic data that went into an investigation and no arrests were ever made.

"So, what if he created the character, for some reason, but then he was involved in the robbery and faked his death to get away with it?" Diana suggested from her seat at the conference room table.

"He was in prison when the heist was pulled which would be a great alibi, but why pretend to kill him? Could it have been a message that he was being cut out of the job?" Peter piled onto her theory as he stood and looked out the window for inspiration. It had potential, but it still didn't feel right.

"What if he was hiding out, like this was the alias he returned to between his heist and crimes elsewhere and then he faked his death when he needed to keep it from being connected to him?" Jones threw in another possibility from his seat across from Diana.

Pacing, "Better, but why fake the guy's death? He was in prison and we didn't find this until we were investigating one of his classmates. If he'd left the ID, he'd have had a safe alias to return to that was clean when he got out of prison." That theory made sense for creating a safe identity that could be retreated into whenever he needed a clean identity that wasn't being pursued by the FBI or any other law enforcement. However, not only was there the question of why he'd kill off such a well-crafted identity but also how he'd come to have such an air-tight alias in the first place… He stopped to look at his agents, "Are we even sure this is an alias? What if this is his real name and Neal Caffrey is the alias?"

"Makes sense, we've never been able to confirm that Neal Caffrey was his real name and it didn't show up until his eighteenth birthday." Jones agreed with him and sat up straighter in his seat.

Liking the feeling of the theory, he still couldn't make sense of it though. "So, if Neal is actually Bryce Larkin, a nerdy computer engineer and accountant with degrees from Stanford University, why create Neal Caffrey, go into crime, and ultimately kill off his real identity? There are still a lot of questions, but I think we're onto something big here." He moved back to the table where he could see the data for himself. He liked their creativity, but the pieces didn't all fit together yet, something big was still missing.

They bounced ideas some more to try and guess what filled the gap, but none of their ideas felt right, and they couldn't prove anything anyway.

Calling it quits after a while, they decided that at least updating the file to include the additional data was a good move. It wasn't like they'd been able to prove anything else against Neal. This just gave them more ammunition to crack something later.

Taking a walk with Neal as they discussed the case, Peter decided it was a good time to question his friend. "What do you think motivated him to a life of crime?"

Turning to look at him, Neal furrowed his brow, "As in why would I turn to crime if I were in his shoes?"

"Sure, why would you turn to crime if you had say, a couple of degrees from Stanford University? They have a lot of pull as a big university that can open a lot of doors legally. So why go into crime and force things for yourself?" Peter wondered if Neal would give insight into himself, or if he'd just try to see it from their suspect's point of view.

"Well, it depends. You'd be surprised how many people I've encountered in the criminal world who have legitimate backgrounds that could take them anywhere. Some use those backgrounds as a means to enhance their reputation because they're legitimately connected so why not trust them? Others, they seek the world of crime for some purpose, to do what they're told they can't, for the challenge, to get what's not allowed… there are a lot of reasons why people turn to crime." Neal aimed for the perspective of their suspect, but he didn't have enough to be more exact since they didn't have much to go off of on the guy.

Deciding to take a more direct route, Peter pushed, "Why would Bryce Larkin go into crime when he has two legitimate degrees from Stanford?"

Pausing and turning to him, Neal looked him in the eyes. "Really? That's what you're so keen to interrogate me on?"

"Yes, so talk!" Peter ordered as they walked through the busy city streets.

"It's an alias that I created to get close to some up-and-comers. There are a lot of brilliant minds in universities, and a lot of potential scams to learn. It was a long-term con intended to make some valuable contacts. Then I transitioned to the bank and learned a lot there as well. However, in the long run, the identity wasn't as profitable as I had hoped so I burned it and moved on. I'm just surprised that you're so interested in an old alias that hasn't been used in years." Neal spoke with casual ease, but it was too casual.

"You've practiced that quite well. I guess you expected me to find the alias and came up with a cover story." He cocked his head at the man and pursed his lips giving a soul-searching look. "What's the real story?"

Sighing, Neal tried a little more hemming and hawing before finally giving up. His posture relaxed and his eyes dropped convincingly, "I wondered how long it would take you to make that connection. So, you found me and want to know why, huh?"

Still stopped, Peter faced his friend just as seriously. "Of course, you don't create aliases without a purpose, and yet I can't find a single crime associated with Larkin. That's not mentioning why you'd fake the death of such a good alias… if it is an alias?"

Taking a deep breath to buy time, Neal took a moment before he responded. "First, Bryce is an alias, and yet he isn't. That's my legal name, Peter, but it isn't my real name, it isn't the name on my birth certificate. Bryce came into existence when I was eighteen for reasons that I can't share, and he was allegedly killed for reasons that you don't get to know. Things happened, and I ended up involved in things that shouldn't have happened. That's a name that's best left in the past, for all of our sakes."

Not buying it, Peter knew that there was something there, something huge and very important, but he'd have to wait Neal out since he didn't seem inclined to share. "Well, that's not going to happen. Since you went to school with our suspect, the bosses want you to go undercover as yourself and see what you can learn."

Paling, Neal clearly didn't look happy. "This has gone into my official file, hasn't it?"

"It's a name that's been confirmed as you; yes it's in your official file. What's going on, Neal?" He used the name that was the most familiar, and for all that he knew; Neal might be what was on the man's birth certificate.

"Peter, it wasn't my idea to kill Bryce, okay? That wasn't what happened, but it was the cover story, and everyone from Stanford knows that story. They're going to know that something is up if I just waltz in undead. It's risky." Neal was still determined to push all attention away from his legal name, but he hadn't mentioned a hurdle they couldn't overcome.

"A lot of criminals fake their deaths. I believe Neal Caffrey was allegedly eaten by a shark, just to name one means that you've attempted to get me off of your trail. That's not an issue since we need you to have criminal associations, it could've just been a ploy to get away with a bank heist." He shrugged casually, but he kept his focus on Neal to see his reaction.

Turning to the side, Neal still wasn't happy, but he seemed to be sensing that things weren't going his way, that he would be going undercover as himself. "Still, it's a bad idea, but it's more dangerous if I explain why."

"Does this have anything to do with Charles Bartowski? The man is the main name associated with yours, but you got him expelled. Why?" Peter pushed for additional information on the subject, especially since it could shed light on the reason why Neal was so worried about them pushing in on the identity.

"Not directly, no. Chuck wasn't involved in what went wrong until later, it's more about his father. I… I got Chuck expelled to save his life. He's too smart for his own good sometimes and he'd attracted dangerous attention. His father knew what I'd done so he contacted me… it didn't go well for me." Neal's voice was soft as he spoke, and his eyes had a depth of emotion that he'd rarely seen in the man.

"You speak of Chuck like you do Mozzie… or me. This guy, he was a good friend of yours?" Peter realized that he was adding another important figure to Neal's history.

"Yeah, Chuck is smart, he's got a big heart, and he was a good friend. However, he's hated me since senior year so it's best to retain a distance. He doesn't know that I'm alive, and, again, it's best for everyone's sake that it remains that way." There was a sadness underlying his tone, but the determination was more dominant.

"Neal…" he wasn't sure what to say. Emotions weren't his forte, but he appreciated gaining another insight into his friend. "Talk to me, I want to know if anything even looks like it's going to go wrong on this operation. I don't expect anything, but I don't want you taking risks."

"You mean other than parading around as a dead version of myself?" Neal was making another attempt at getting out of the assignment.

"Other than that, yes. The bosses aren't open to alternatives, you're going in Neal." Peter confirmed despite feeling some of his own nerves at the prospect of what could go wrong.

Turning and resuming his walk, Neal seemed resigned to his fate and working on thinking things through.

Moving to catch up, Peter was worried, but he also vowed to himself that he was going to keep his friend safe.


Thank you, everyone, for reading, leaving kudos, and commenting, :D

Since this is a short story, I'll post the ending next week which means that it's time to vote for the next story again. (I'm still waiting to see how long my stretch of shifts will be around next weekend so I'm uncertain when I'll post, but I'll post as soon as I can). Please PM, review or comment your request or I'll just post the first one in the list of completed stories.