To the person who asked if he signed it why would it be considered a forgery: consider 'the Dutchman' and Neal in the Pilot. The Dutchman tucked his signature discreetly into a bond forgery and so did Neal. But only if it was closely examined could you find it and realize it was, in fact, a forgery.

"What are you going to do about this, Petey?"

Peter was not feeling like a Petey. Having Kramer call him by his pet name right now rankled. "I'm going to look into it."
"You believe him?"

"Do I believe he'd pull something like that? Oh of course he would. I'm going to confirm it though. He sighed. It's international. I'll be up in the middle of the night making phone calls." He grumbled. He glanced at Kramer. "I know your still expecting to get something on him."

"He did a lot more than he's paid for Pete."

"Justice isn't just about punishment. It's about reform and repayment and the punishment fitting the crime." Peter glared at him. "And maybe you haven't figured it out by now, but contrary to the easy belief that eighteen is a mature age, Neal sure as heck isn't...wasn't... totally mature. But he is getting there."

"And how do you expect him to repay the millions of dollars damage to society?"
"By serving it." Peter's voice was flat. "Not rotting in a prison system warehouse that'll just cost society more."

"If he's like this now, I pity whoever raised him." Kramer stated. "Unless of course, they were just like him. They probably were."

Peter went home, with a list of places to call to try and confirm Neal's story. He'd also called and enlisted Mozzie, pointing out he'd better get him the right numbers if he didn't have them if he didn't want Neal charged with forgery again.

Kramer's remark bothered him. He was sorry he hadn't gotten to know Ellen Parker better. He suspected she'd never share anything Neal didn't want her too. But he also knew that he respected her greatly for someone he'd barely met. Anyone that could handle a young Neal Caffrey, possibly on a sugar high, in his adolescent years must truly have been remarkable.

By morning, he was red eyed from talking to people overseas. He was sneezing on dust from plugging in the old fax machine and still looking for emails and proof of the incident that would confirm Neal's dare. Pictures weren't too hard to come by. Even in the age before cell phone cameras were common, a fair number of people had taken shots and posted since on the internet.

"So did you find what you needed it to clear it up?" Elizabeth asked, handing him coffee.

"I found lots of proof of what happened and even the art is online. Here, they just got it up." Peter swiveled the laptop to reveal early Brian Rayvner paintings on a web gallery.

"So that's good, isn't it?"

"Well, getting hold of the guy is a bit of a problem. He's an artist. Enough of one to have an agent and lawyers. All I want is an answer to a simple question and I'm playing phone tag and getting a run around!"

"The question being did they have a dare."

"Exactly. And please put it in writing. Okay, also, how did his painting end up used as a forgery."

Peter went to work late after a short namp and was still out of sorts when he arrived. Neal glanced up from his desk as Peter glowered down at him.

"Rough night?" Neal dared ask.

"After spending all night confirming your story? Yes. And I still haven't."

Neal looked surprised and disturbed at this and Peter savored the fact that he realized the trouble he was in. He wasn't above thinking it unfair that he should have the sleepless night and the prankster had slept like a log. "Why not? It was pretty commonly known. It even made the papers." Neal was frowning.

"I haven't confirmed how you were involved." Peter's voice was firm. "It could be argued..," his voice lowered for privacy.., " that you stole it, signed it and used it for the forgery."

"Who'd have thought covering my tracks so well would be a bad thing." Neal observed. "What exactly do I need to prove that painting was not created by me and was not meant as a forgery, no matter how it got there?"

"A statement from Brian Rayvner about the dare and information on what happened to the painting."

"Oh. I'd have thought you'd talk to him first thing."

"I tried. I've got art agents and lawyers in the way. Plus a whole different time zone."

"Oh." Neal blinked at him thoughtfully, fiddling with his pencil. "Sorry, I forgot, he's not much with phones. He just redirects if he doesn't know you. I'll get you his private line."

"You have his private line?"

"Well...yeah."

Peter closed his eyes. "And you didn't think to mention this yesterday?"

"You didn't ask."

Peter forced his legs to move before he gave into the urge to strangle his CI, born of sleeplessness and frustration.

Neal brought him the number right after lunch. It still took time to get through and then with some bickering and bantering over the speakerphone, Neal told Brian what he wanted and why. Peter was listening in and noted with interest that Brian really did know him as 'Neal' not one of his other aliases.
Brian fell silent, after snickering at the memory of the escapade. "I don't know. I'll fax you the statement or mail it...signed affidavit. But I don't know where the painting went. It vanished right when I moved. I thought it was just lost. Hey, can I get it back?"

"It'll be in evidence at least for awhile. It might be quicker if you know who took it." Peter told him.
"I don't. But if you work with the police on this end, I'll get them looking into who took it."

Peter handed over the affidavit from Brian Rayvner to Hughes. He showed it to Kramer. Much back and forth between London and the White Collar unit brought up the name Davinski, a low rent driver who helped Brian move and had ties to his Uncle the forger. Apparently he'd been looking to make a quick buck and decided the old painting from art school was good enough to sell as a fake.

"So Caffrey's name being on it was a coincidence?" Hughes shook his head.

"His luck will run out, Peter. He hasn't been caught on everything." Kramer stated.

"He's an asset. And unless and until he chooses to go back to that life, I believe he's earned the benefit of the doubt." Peter said firmly.

Hughes, he noticed with relief, did not contradict.

Kramer left, not looking angry but not gone for good either.

"Peter."

Peter turned to look back at Hughes.

"We can't give him a free pass on everything he did in the past if it comes up." Hughes said softly.

"There has to be better alternatives than sending him back. After working for us, it would be a death sentence no matter how careful we were."

Hughes sighed. "Just be careful. And make sure he's careful. Because if something does come up, how willing Caffrey is to accept responsibility will affect how we can help him."

"He's been accepting it. Far more than in the past."

"It may take some faith Peter. On his side, not just yours, or ours. He has to admit he made mistakes and be willing to own up."

"I know."

Peter went out and gave Neal the news.

"I'm thrilled to disappoint Kramer once again."

"I'm thrilled you managed it." Peter sighed. "But I would love to know what you were doing at that art school. Because I know you weren't there just for the art education."

Neal just gave him that classic Caffrey grin and walked back to his desk.

The End