Old Habits Die Hard (Private)

Neal shoved the card into his pocket. Harper was smart, just a number, if anyone got a hold of it they would just throw it out or if they were curious call it, probably to get a answering machine with a simple: 'Leave a message I'll get back to you'. Smart. Neal watched the Tarus pull up next to him and sighed. "Darn, I must have had too much wine with Moz, Didn't realize I had left my radius. Did I?" Neal gave a charming -but loose and semi probable tipsy- smile as he slid into the car.
 
Harper smiled, watching him walk away. She shook her head, sliding her hands into her pockets and continuing on her way. Still, it had been so long since she'd seen him... it was like a blast from the past and yet, it felt like nothing had changed. Like they had just saw each other the other day. Funny how that worked she supposed. She was used to the game, had always done a pretty good job keeping her emotions in check but Neal Caffery... well, he was something else. And because of that she had to be extra careful when it came to him.


Peter watched Neal, not convinced. Neal made a point to know exactly where his radius was, drinking or not. Never had he 'accidentally' stepped outside it. Sure there was a first time for everything but... not with Nean Caffery. He just nodded, "Yeah... I'm sure..." He shook his head as Neal got in before pulling away and heading to the office. He had been gone like 20 minutes, there was no way he'd gotten that drunk so quickly. "We're going to the office." He told him simply. Something told him he hadn't had to go back to his place to begin with, so he wasn't going to waste time bringing them there when El was waiting for him at the office.
 
Neal shrugged at Peter and nodded watching him in a casual sort of way, that may or may not be noticed and thereby cause suspicion. "Why the office?" Neal asked genuinely curious there would be no new leads, there couldn't be yet, and plus peter would have told him, also there just wouldn't be. No, not with Harper she was good.


El sat on Peter's desk with her feet, now stripped of her deadly spike heels, dangling. She crossed her legs and looked at herself in the glare of Peter's window that looked out over the Bull-pen. She tried a few posses before Peter got there to see if she may or may not be able to get him home early.
 
Harper glanced back at the street a she walked down. She debated he next course of action before stepping into a coffee shop and ordering a coffee. She as next to the window and watched the people walk by, ordinary people going about their lives with their own secrets.


Peter sighed as he got in. He rubbed his temples as he started to drive again. He didn't know what Neal was up to but he was up to something and that never boded well. He shrugged at the question. "Because that's where I'm going and you obviously need supervision..." He muttered. They arrived a short time later. Peter headed inside, looking around before seeing El in his office and hurting to see her.
 
"when do I need supervision? I am not toddler? What have I ever done?" Neal complained like this all the way to the office hoping that Peter would drop him off at home. But he didn't. Upon seeing El in Peter's office Neal backed right off though. He knew his limits, and he knew that he shouldn't take Peter to far where it wasn't warranted. He slipped behind his desk to pick up the Aristotle bust and become fascinated. Letting Peter alone to go up to his wife, who by this time looked like she was trying a bit too hard, making Neal think she was a little starved for... something.
 
Peter ignored him. Was Neal a grown man? Maybe... but not all convicts had to be this whiny. Just my luck... He thought to himself, shaking his head as he drove to the office. "You really want a list of things things you done?" He asked, rolling his eyes, even if an incomplete list. At the pulled in he left Neal to do... whatever he was doing. Jones already knew to keep an eye on him, he was up to something. But for right now he was too concerned with his wife, he smiled as he stepped into his office, wrapping her arms around her and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Hey honey." He told her as he pulled away with a warm smile on his face.
 
"Hello to you too." El said laughing she pushed a rouge hair away and leaned into her husbands embrace, she looked up at her face. "Uh-oh, Poor Neal what happened?" She leaned back on his desk smiling. "And don't deny things Peter Burke, you have the Caffery Flu face. Don't lie to me." She playfully reached out a slender finger and tapped Peter's nose once, her eyebrows went up in sync with the tap.


Neal picked up his rubber band ball and fiddled with it. Looking over his right shoulder at Jones, who was not being very subtle about keeping one eye on Neal. He waved, looking up towards Peter and El he stopped frozen deep in thought. El and Peter did that to him. Made him question everything. He never had parents but- well he had a mom. AND he had Ellen. But a mom and a Dad? Never. He shook his head. No, his name was not satchamo and he did not have four legs. It was a bad thought and he knew it. Plus there were people like Mozz who didn't even HAVE a mom and a Ellen. He shook his head and tipped it back throwing the rubber band ball up to catch it.


(sorry this is so late)
 
Peter smiled at her, watching him for a moment, his eyes traveling over her face. He was so lucky to have a loving, compassionate and lovely wife. "You're beautiful." He told her, giving her a kiss on the cheek when she asked her next question. He groaned a bit, leaning back and casting his gaze to Neal where he was sitting at his desk. He leaned back, looking out the window. "I can never hide anything from you." He sighed, giving her a small smile. "It's just this new case We picked up... He started acting weird at the crime scene. It's just a feeling, I don't have anything to prove it but I can't feel like he's hiding something... then he went outside of his radius. Neal knows exactly where his radius ends, he's never gone out side of it. He told me he was tipsy but...." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter, you don't want to hear about boring work stuff do you?" He asked, trying to shake the thoughts off though he couldn't help but to feel like Neal was hising something, the question was why?
 
(AGAIN WITH THE CRAZY LIFE ACK I FEEL SO BAD)


Neal watched from his desk in secret as El wrapped her arm around peter's midsection. "Hon, talk to him. You know Neal better than I do and even I know that he doesn't like to open up with out prying but he does like to open up. Especially to you." She rubbed her hand down his arm. "He's not a simple person. But would you want him any other way than he is?" Neal looked away from where he was spying shaking off that 'their talking about YOU' feeling he had to find out what Harper was doing here, and why.
 
Peter sighed, looking down at El. He rested his arms on her shoulders. "Yeah... He'll open up, but not before we go through this whole process of secrets, hiding, and uncovering..." He muttered. Seriously, he'd asked him what was wrong and he said nothing so he should just leave it at that. In real life that's how it worked, if wanted to tell them something you just told them. They didn't spend their time digging into their pasts on a whim. But this was Neal Caffery's world, and his secrets made Peter uneasy, especially when it came to cases. He took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah... I suppose so..." He muttered, nothing about Neal was simple, nothing easy. "It just shouldn't always have to be this difficult... can't he just tell me?" He muttered.


Who would of thought... Neal Caffery. Maybe when this was all over she would hang around for a bit. Then again, maybe that was a bad idea. Still, it had been a surprise, what a coincidence running into him. Or was it? Harper had just finished her coffee and was still staring out the window. Before she could ponder the thought longer her phone went off. Well... one of her phones. She dug through her purse, pulling out a basic, encrypted phone, the one that had brought her here. She glanced down at the short text massage, next heist. There seemed to be a few different paintings he wanted... why she had no idea, there was nothing particular special about the last one... or this one. Then again she didn't really care, she just wanted to get this over with.
 
Neal pulled out a sketch pad and pencil and began to sketch the empty frame only, he put in the things he hadn't seen but knew were there, the knife blade he knew left one ding in the frame when you pulled it out, he had seen it happen himself. but it was almost impossible to detect. But what did she want with this one? what made it special. He pulled out the file and looked at the painting, it wasn't valued at much, the artist was successful but not famous.... the file was old, so was the painting but not so old, maybe 10 or maybe 15 years... it was a 70x60 painting.... No, that wasn't right, he flipped to the photos from the crime scene.... 80x70 you could see it in the measuring device laid out. Neal stood up and grabbed the file, he bounded up the stairs and opened Peter's door, "It's a forgery!"
 
Peter would give an occasional glance in Neals direction. Old habits he supposed, it was hard for him to relax when he knew something was wrong with Neal. Mainly because when Neal was concerned he tended to do something stupid. Still, he shook it off, focusing on El when suddenly the door to the office flew open. He blinked in surprise, looking over at Neal. It took him a second to digest what he had said, focused on El and his concerns too much to really get it at first. He recovered quick enough, hardly missing a beat before glancing at the pictures in his hand. "Forgeries? What are you... are you sure?" He asked. Then again this was Neal Caffery, of course he was sure but he'd like to know why... and what that meant...


Harper sighed, standing up. Well... may as well get back to work. The sooner this was over with the better. She left her payment on the table before heading back to her hotel room to research her next target, with luck she could get this taken care of in the next few days. She grumbled a bit under her breath. She kept her hair over her face as she walked down the street, being as indiscreet as she could be. She wasn't the type that worked for other people. She didn't do it for money, she had always had a problem with authority. Her working for someone was not like her but under the circumstances... she wasn't just thinking about herself, and sometimes... it just had to be done, it wasn't much of a choice.
 
"Yeah, and it's a pretty bad forgery they got the dimensions wrong, look." He held out the file letting El see too, "You can clearly see the file from the museum says it should be 70x60 but in the crime scene photos... it's 80x70, that's a whole 10 inches more of canvas on each side..." He gave Peter a look, the chase was on, he had found a major lead Peter, was looking at him in a worn out way that was Peter. He thought Neal was up to something... Neal was withholding he supposed... he knew Harper was in town... he knew it was her knife that had taken the painting. So he had solved it... but the forgery was a road to go down... he didn't know WHY Harper would take a forged painting... he hadn't gotten to look at the painting but he was willing to bet his hat on the fact that there were more mistakes than just the size... Harper was a talented thief and fence... she would be able to tell. So why would she take a near worthless painting? a bad forgery of an artist who wasn't even famous?


El smiled and slipped off the desk. She kissed her husband on the cheek. "You boys have fun. Oh, and Neal sweetie.. you should stop by for dinner at some point. And feel free to bring that lovely Piont Nior Mozzie brought last time." She slipped on her shoes and swished gracefully down the stairs.
 
Peter blinked, switching gears as he looked down at the picture. "Wrong size?" He repeated slowly. What kind of forger made it the wrong size? And how had someone not caught it before? Surely the museum knew better... how had they missed that one? He took a deep breath, looking over at El as she slid off his desk. He gave her a small, apologetic smile. "Thanks hun." He told her with a smile, giving her a small kiss before standing up, straitening out his suit. He watched her leave for a moment before turning to Neal. "What's your take on take on this? What kind of forger makes the painting the wrong size?" He asked him, watching him carefully at his response as if to discern the truth from any lies.


Harper first picked a wealthy businessman's pocket, taking the credit card out and tossing the rest of the wallet in a trash bin. She slid into a boutique, staying away from the cameras. She bought an outfit for an art gallery showing before heading back to the hotel. She tossed the card on the way back, it was safer than keeping it. She made her way back to her hotel to plan out the details. The showing was tomorrow night, she had a lot to do before then. She tossed her bags aside as she got back to the hotel room and plopped onto the bed with blueprints and security information.
 
"Uhm, a bad one?" Neal offered with a smile, "It couldn't have been there long, maybe just over a week, I think that the forgery wasn't of much purpose... maybe it was an in.... no wait, a test?" Neal looked a bit lost. "I don't see why they would steal it, if it was me, -I would first of all have made it the right size- I would want the gallery to know that they had been stolen from... but then again they do... Also it's off by ten exactly which is weird...and... Har- and I don't think the thief is the forger." Neal turned from Peter. Stupid, stupid stupid.
 
Peter leaned back against the desk, motioning for Jones and Diane to join them before moving into the conference room. "Obviously... They would of wanted people, or someone to know it was a forgery if they made such an obvious error they weren't trying to keep it much or a secret," he pointed out. How had HE missed something so obvious? So sometime in the last week or two it was switched out... What kind of test?" He asked Neal curiously, testing who and for what purpose? This wasn't adding up, he was missing something... His eyes snapped to Neal at his almost screw up. "Uh huh... What makes you think so? And if they weren't why would they steal it? Maybe there was something hidden in the 10 inches?" He suggested, thinking aloud, eyes still on Neal.
 
"It's possible and..." This wasn't Harper's MO so it wasn't her puling the strings, so she could be in trouble. Harper wouldn't.... Neal gulped. "And I have seen the knife before and the person who owns it isn't a forger?" Neal bit at his lip lamely, knowing he had just opened a path that he couldn't talk his way back up out of. But the thing he had with Peter, the trust. He wasn't going to give that up. He wasn't going to give out Harper's name either.
 
"If so the question is what and why?" Peter mumbled, brain trying to wrap around it. In truth there were a lot of questions but if they figured that one out then they could ho from there. Peters eyes never left Neal as he spoke again. He searched his face and body language. Neal Caffery wasn't easy to read, but Peter knew him well enough to spot a lie. Peter always felt like he was on needles. What was he telling? What was he hiding? Woul his secrets get them in trouble? Trusting him was a gamble at times, but he continued to because, as if yet, he had come through. "You've seen it? We can get a sketch to the lab then. Who had it? Where did you see it?" He asked Neal, still watching him.
 
Neal backed up suddenly feeling caged. "an old friend that could know a forgery.... Look peter- I don't know it's just I think she might be in trouble... I have no reason to... It's just uhm." Neal pointed at Peter's belly, "You have that gut thing..." Neal never knew how to describe Peter's 'gut instinct' thing, but this was like that. Harper was a high profile art thief that just stole a bad forgery of a bad painting.
 
Several thoughts went though Peters head as Neal spoke. One, he'd been right. Neal had known who was behind the heist at the museum and hadn't told him. Two, the thief was female. Three, it was someone Neal was concerned about... and that wasn't a long list. As an agent the facts ran through his head first, cold hard facts. Then came the observations. Neal actually seemed a bit... nervous. That never happened, no matter how tight the situation seemed. So this was different,it wasn't really about him. Peter could only assume this had something to do with the girl. Who was she to him? Peter had never discovered another significant female in Neals life... He looked down at his stomach for a second before he realized what Neal was talking about. "You have a gut feeling she's in trouble?" He clarified. Trouble or no her work showed she'd done this before, she wasn't completely innocent, but she was clearly important to Neal. Peter leaned back, rubbing his temples for a moment before looking back up. "What exactly do you suggest then?" He asked cautiously.
 
Neal shrugged, "Why do you think I'm telling you? I don't know where she is and all I have is a feeling.... and a knife. I mean who else would I look to but Peter Burke?" Neal shifted his weight. "Anyways the goal is the same, Find her." For different reasons. He hadn't seen Harper in years, and god knows that relationship was unresolved... "Peter, I didn't lie to you... and I'm telling you now that means something,doesn't it?"
 
Peter took a deep breath, watching Neal. She was defiantly different to Neal than any of the other girls he always played around with. He rubbed his temples again before looking back up at Neal. His eyes searched Neal's face carefully as dozens of thoughts ran through his head. "You are telling me." He agreed, "Though what that means I'm not sure yet." He took one more deep breath before standing up strait. "But you're right, we have to find her... so, Neal. What's her name?" He asked, watching him and motioning for Jones to join them.
 
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