WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

It had been a very nice service. All of the White Collar Division had shown up. And, as a surprise, some of the members of the other divisions had shown up. Most came up to Peter, afterwards, and told him how professional Neal had been on the job. They told Peter now impressed they had been with the young man. A lot of them even said that they could see how much Neal had meant to the division. And not just as a Confidential Informant. They had seen Agent Peter Burke develop a friendship with the conman. And many had thought that he was crossing a professional and ethical line by doing so. But if that was truly how they felt on this day, Peter would never have known it. He brushed tears out of his eyes as he and Elizabeth walked out of the church, arm in arm.

The memorial service had largely been a symbolic gesture. There had been no body to bury. Not after the explosion had leveled the building Neal had been in. Not after crews had worked, systematically searching the building for survivors and remains. Remains were found, they were analyzed and catalogued. But you can't analyze and catalogue ash. It's just not possible. And not after 2 months had passed and every one Neal had ever known, it seemed, had gone to ground. No word, anywhere, about anything.

Peter had thrown himself back into his work. He still had not cleaned out Neal's desk. The desk was not being used, not one seemed to have the heart to sit there. And Peter would find himself, on occasion, staring at the desk, as if he were trying to make Neal appear. Jones and Diana were doing the same. They would hear Neal's voice. They would look up to see if it was him and find that they could no longer hear it.

Elizabeth also took on more work. She had almost too much work. She figured, if she thought about the job and Peter all the time, she wouldn't have time to think about Neal. But one evening she found herself fixing Neal's favorite dishes. She set the table to eat before she realized what she had done. She burst into tears and ran upstairs, leaving the food cold and uneaten.

June missed his…presence. And Neal had had a definite presence. She found herself visiting his apartment a lot. She could not bring herself to change anything. Though she did clean out his fridge and wash his clothes. She could not…would not accept or allow herself to think that he was gone.

WC WC WC WC WC

"They think you're dead, Neal." Mozzie replied.

Neal nodded. "That's good."

"How is it good…letting June think you're dead?" Mozzie asked. "You haven't seen her…, and El…." He shook his head.

"It won't be forever, Moz." Neal said. "But if I'm in danger, then so is everybody around me." Neal reasoned.

"So, this case you were working on… building collapsing…?" Mozzie inquired.

"I was using an alias. I got a note, asking Neal Caffrey to be at a different place at the same date and time." Neal replied. "It wasn't a coincidence. What are the odds of having two, seemingly, random appointments be at the same exact time on the same day?"

"Not likely." Mozzie admitted.

"Exactly." Neal agreed. "If I showed up with Peter and do my job, then I'm reinforcing the alias. But if I miss my other appointment…."

"…which you never do." Mozzie finished.

"…which I never do. It would say…." Neal theorized.

Mozzie looked at Neal, confused. "What would it say?"

"I haven't gotten that far yet." Neal replied. "Except that, maybe, somebody wants to prove I'm Neal Caffrey."

"…which you are."

"…which I am." Neal agreed.

"You, however, great a conman though you are, Neal Caffrey,…you are not worth blowing a building up for." Mozzie stated.

"That particular…eerie coincidence was courtesy of the city of New York. They had the building slated for demolish. The charges were set and, fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, they went off early."

"How is it fortunate?" Mozzie asked.

"People think Nick and/ or Neal are dead." Neal explained. "Whoever this is will slip up, thinking I'm taken care of."

Mozzie nodded. "Exposing themselves…." He paused. "But, if there's a case, won't Peter be working it?" Mozzie asked.

"They already have." Neal explained. "They, if I know Peter, checked the rap sheets on the guys working for the demolition company that took down the building. That would have produced a number of suspects, a few who actually know me. White Collar will assume the connection, get their convictions, and stop looking."

"Meanwhile, you still have a huge target on your back." Mozzie surmised. "You know we could always …. Lolanna's just…."

"You and Lolanna are going to have to go without me." Neal replied.

"The timing couldn't be better, Neal. Everybody already thinks you're dead. Nobody's gonna be looking for a dead man riding an airplane. And since they had to remove the anklet for this last case…."

Neal shook his head. "I don't know that taking me out was enough, Moz. If they go after June, or El, if they target Peter…." He said worry etched on his face. "I need to find out who it is, and stop them….

Mozzie nodded his understanding.

TBC