Summary: Instead of going after the Raphael, Agent Kramer goes after something else. A safety deposit box at a bank. A place where Neal hid something he never wanted to see again.

Chapter 1

Neal managed to get the Raphael from Ellen and deliver it to Sara with little trouble. Peter turned up on the way back and helped escort him to the Sterling Bosh office.

Agent Kramer never made an appearance. Neal had expected him to, in a kind of last-ditch effort to pin something on him but, nothing.

While Sara and Peter seemed pleased over the safe and uneventful return of the Raphael, Neal couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone wrong. Did Kramer have another plan?

As he authenticated the painting, Peter's phone rang. Neal shared a looked with Sara as Peter spoke to the person on the other end. He grew more and more agitated as the call went on.

The glances he gave Neal were not encouraging.

"Peter?" Sara questioned when he hung up.

"Kramer found something," he responded, glancing suspiciously at Neal. "Whatever it is, it was enough for him to call in some favours and have your commutation suspended."

"What?" he and Sara gasped at the same time.

"Neal," Peter stressed his name, the way he always did when he was upset or disappointed with him. "Was there anything else contained in those letters? Addresses to your stores or something?"

Neal shook his head.

"I only told Kate where the painting was," he responded. He had stolen it for her, after all. And he wanted Kate to meet Ellen.

"What about the other letters?" Peter asked.

"Other letters?" Dread coiled in Neal's stomach. The FBI can't have cracked that code as it was more complex than the one he used with Kate. Not even Kate knew it.

Neal swore. There was a group of people who might be able to crack it. If Kramer knew someone from The Company, then he might have been able to break it.

"Neal?" The concern in Sara's voice made his stomach churn.

"There's, there's a safety deposit box I opened when I first came to New York," he swallowed before going on, "the other letters mentioned it." And were signed with the name for the box.

He hadn't even thought about that box in ages, truthfully, he wanted to forget about it. And he had succeeded slightly, not recalling the box until Peter brought up the other letters.

"Damn it, Neal!" Peter cursed in frustration. "What was in the box?"

"Nothing illegal," Neal responded automatically. He hoped that the recipient of his letter had been able to remove what he required from it. If the FBI managed to get their hands on that... Neal feared for Kramer's team. They didn't have the slightest idea what they were now involved in.

He took a breath and forced his thoughts to slow down. It was entirely likely that Kramer had cancelled the commutation hearing in anticipation of getting the Raphael. Neal had just beaten him to it.

"Right, we're meeting at my house," Peter said, "Diana's going to bring what she's found out there. Sara, you're invited."

No. Not where Elizabeth was. Neal stepped forward.

"Maybe we should meet somewhere else," he responded, "and keep it to a small group." He didn't want Sara involved in this either. If Kramer had found his box, then he didn't want everyone involved.

He didn't want anyone involved.

"Neal," Peter sighed, "my house is perfectly safe. Mozzie's over there right now, checking for bugs and the like. It'll just be us."

Us. Neal shook his head as he ticked off names in his head. Peter, Elizabeth, Mozzie, Jones, Diana, Sara; and he lived at June's which meant she could end up involved if this went bad, there were many people willing to help him. None of them knew what they were getting involved in.

But, Peter's tone left no room for arguments and maybe Neal didn't want to. It was nice having people to watch his back. He didn't know whether to hope they would continue doing it if the truth came out or hope they would turn away and stay safe.

Mozzie would probably kill him though.

Neal, Sara and Peter arrived latest. Elizabeth; Peter's dark haired, light eyed wife, had already placed tea and coffee out and given hot beverages to those who wanted them.

Clinton Jones was holding a take away coffee cup from one of the many places near Federal Plaza and standing awkwardly in the corner of the lounge room.

Diana was sitting on the couch, although she stood up as they entered, and had a coffee made by Elizabeth Burke in hand. Peter was happy to see that it was the plain black mug she had and not the 'Female Body Inspector' one that someone; he had his bets on Neal, had bought him.

They both wore suits and looked ready to work.

Mozzie was dressed a little more lax. The short, bald and bespectacled man was wearing a pastel yellow button up shirt and shorts. He wasn't even standing in the room, choosing to stand just beyond the open entranceway between the dining room and the lounge.

"Did you get the painting?" Elizabeth asked, pushing a cup of tea into her husband's hand.

"Yes," Peter responded, his voice dulled by the impending bad news.

"I finally got my Raphael," Sara said, sounding almost orgasmic. She was certainly pleased with the current course of events, Neal's suspended commutation aside.

Neal waved away the coffee Elizabeth went to hand him.

"Do you have any wine?" he asked instead, hoping to be slightly buzzed if he had to talk about the past.

She frowned slightly, displeased with his choice to drink so early. Peter elbowed Neal in the side and told El not to bother.

"Neal, you okay?" she asked, noticing the tight smile he was giving. It wasn't as polished as his conman smile but was far from a real smile.

"Just wondering what Kramer hopes to pin on me now," he responded, trying not to think too hard. He already had a headache from considering the multiple angles and pathways of events which could come of this.

That seemed signal to the room that it was time to get down to business. Diana pulled out a file and placed it on the coffee table. She didn't open it.

"While the DC team worked on the letters to Kate, Kramer was playing a side-angle," she announced, starting from the beginning and looking every person in the room in the eye. "He took some unmarked letters which Neal had passed to Kate and went and decoded them himself."

"Or so he told you," Neal responded, unwilling to believe that the man he met was capable enough to decode his letters alone.

Diana glared at him but nodded.

"Or so he told us," she confirmed, "he's been working this for days, decoding information and getting a warrant. Today, he made his move." She opened the folder and pulled out a copy of the warrant which she passed to Peter. "He managed to get a warrant to search the contents of a safety deposit box in a New York bank since Neal mentioned it and the name it was created under in his letters."

Neal swallowed as Diana gave a dark chuckle.

"You'll never believe what was in there," she said, looking up at him as she opened the followed and spread out the pictures.

Two sets of IDs and wallets. One for a Danny Brooks and the other for a Bryce Larkin.

It was the second black ID for Bryce Larkin that drew everyone's attention. It had a picture of a younger Neal Caffrey with the words; 'Central Intelligence Agency', printed on it.

Author's notes: And this is the start of a Chuck/White Collar crossover.

This takes place at the end of Season 3 of White Collar and a few years after the conclusion of Chuck. I really don't know where this story is going, I just feel that there's a lack of 'Neal Caffrey is Bryce Larkin' stories.