The Curious Case of Neal's Name Games
I don't know why, but fic's where Neal isn't Neal really intrigue me. So I had to write my own version. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue this, it may stay as it is or I'll work on it in between chapters of the other two. Up to you all. Again, I'm working off Wordpad so tell me if there are any mistakes.
When Peter and Neal got to the office on Tuesday morning everything was already buzzing. Jones and Cruz were huddled together at one of the computer stations and checking a whole pile of papers against whatever they had up on the screens from what Neal could see.
Seeing the two walk out of the elevators Jones wandered over to the glass doors of the White Collar rooms and held it for them.
"What's happening, we lose another agent?" peter asked
"Kind of careless of you." Neal chimed in. He pulled his hat off his head and rolled it back and forth in his hands as Jones and Peter spoke.
Jones just gave Neal a look. "No, but you won't believe who did turn up." the huge grin on his face lead Neal to think that this would be one of the Interesting Cases. Not like the cold cases Peter had stuck him on for the past few weeks. God he hated mortgage fraud.
Jones wouldn't say anymore, just told the pair that Hughes wanted them in his Office. Peter scurried on up while Neal sauntered behind him. Talking to various people in the office trying to find out more information but they all waved him on to Hughes office. By the time he got to up there Peter was already engrossed in a file, parts of which were scattered all over the table in front of him. It looked old. .
"So what's so interesting?"
Hughes sent him a look. Peter didn't even pull his head up from the file. "Customs caught James Carver coming through La Guardia last night. He was a case I got before yours but he seemed to fade away into the night. It's been a cold case for around seven years, about when I caught wind of you, but it spiked up last year. Its one that I go back to now and them to see if I can find something to hang him on. Know anything about him?"
Neal looked at the picture Peter handed over. "Well I know you still haven't found him."
At that Peter's head whipped up "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I'm saying this is the weirdest case of identity theft I've every heard of. This," he said taping the photo. "Is not James Carver."
"Then who is he that you can say that."
"I don't know who he is, just that he's not James."
Hughes butted in. "Then how do you know."
Neal got a shifty look on his face, one Peter recognized as his 'I'm about to say something that's going to upset you' look. "What crimes have you got James Carver suspected of? Have the statue of limitations run out on any of them?"
"Neal." Peter ground out warningly.
"Hey, it's a simple question."
Peter sighed. "Some forgeries and a couple of fake bonds. The guy seems to be a younger version of you. "He smirked. "Although I never caught him."
Neal rubbed his hands together feeling non-existent handcuffs around his wrists. "Maybe you did."
"I think I'd remember if I ever arrested him. I was looking for him for a while."
"You did, you even sent him away for four years as the sentence for bond forgery."
Peter looked at him in disbelief. "You mean James was one of your identities and someone started using it after I put you away?"
Neal looked at Peter, Hughes and back to Peter again. "I'm saying you had Neal Caffrey's fingerprints on a bond so Neal Caffery got arrested and sent to jail. It doesn't mean that the man you arrested was Neal Caffrey."