White Collar fic - Can't Be Both (Chapter 2)

[sheenianni]

Title: Can’t Be Both (Chapter 2)

Author’s Name:  sheenianni

Fandom: White Collar

Spoilers: Season 3.10 – Countdown

Characters/Pairings: Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke, Clinton Jones, Diana Barrigan, Elizabeth Burke, Sara Ellis, Agent Kramer, June and others

Raiting: PG

Warnings/Triggers: None

Word Count: ~ 5,300 (chapter), ~31,000 (total)

Summary: In the aftermath of Elizabeth’s kidnapping, Neal has to make a life-defining choice - and then he has to face its consequences. Post 3.10 Countdown story.

This story is finished. New chapters will be posted every few days.

Prologue II Chapter 1

A/N:

Now we’re moving to the next part of the story… Just to be clear, as I’ve already stated before, this has been written long before the new promo for the second half of Season 3, so there aren’t any spoilers; though those who watched it might find some interesting things there.

Again, this story has been beta’ed by GrayWolf84 from fanfiction.net.

Enjoy!

                                 

CHAPTER 2

“He saved my life,” repeats Elizabeth for the umpteenth time, trying to make these men understand that thief or not, Neal Caffrey still deserves a second (third) ((or fourth, really)) chance. If only Peter would say something, instead of sitting there and nearly painfully clutching her hand, afraid that she will somehow disappear into thin mist!

“Matthew Keller stated numerous times that he was going to kill me after he got the treasure. He was only keeping me alive until Mozzie arrived and the exchange was arranged.”

“I think you have made your point, Mrs. Burke,” says Hughes kindly. “And we aren’t doubting Caffrey’s actions of the past few days. However, he was still involved in the theft of the Nazi treasure – “

“So he gets a commendation for helping me before he is sent back to jail for the rest of his life,” says Elizabeth with barely hidden disgust.

Peter finally breaks from his shell-shock state and looks at her. “Honey – “

“Don’t “honey” me, Peter.” Elizabeth frees herself from her husband’s hold and gets up from the chair. “Forgive me, gentlemen,” she says crisply. “I believe I’ve already answered all your questions. If you’ll excuse me now, I need some air.” Before she does something stupid like shouting at them and uselessly destroys Peter’s career for good.

It has only been a few hours since her rescue. She still remembers the powerful relief when Neal appeared in her room, barricaded the door, got her out of her restrains and called the FBI for help. She also remembers the two minutes of deadly, mind-breaking fear, when she was cowering in the corner, Neal was standing weaponless in front of her, ready to die in her defense, and Keller’s men were trying to break through the door, right until they heard the magical words – “FBI! FREEZE AND DROP YOUR WEAPONS!”

A huge part of her just wants to find some calm place, envelop her arms around Peter and cry a bit after the trauma she went through. But when Elizabeth saw Peter slapping cuffs on Neal and heard all the details, she immediately knew that breaking down would have to wait until the young conman’s situation was resolved.

Elizabeth respects law and realizes it is there to protect people, but right now, all she can think of is how utterly wrong it will be if Neal gets locked away for decades just because he didn’t want to let down an old friend and because he couldn’t immediately resist the temptation that many other men would have succumbed to.

Moreover, Elizabeth knows that if Neal falls, her husband will never be the same, because no matter how angry Peter is with Neal right now, he has also come to love him like family.

When an agent later offers her a blanket and a comfortable chair to sit on, Elizabeth hides her face behind her palms and silently starts to cry.

*          *          *

Neal is sitting on the bench and waiting.

It would take him ten seconds to get out of the cuffs. Less than a minute to get out of the building. An hour later he is at an airport, tomorrow in Asia or Europe – or maybe Africa; there are certainly a few places where he could hide for the time being.

Except, that would be for the rest of his life.

Which is one of the reasons that Neal is still in the room with his hands laid tamely in his lap, staring at the door and waiting, hoping against hope that somehow, somebody will offer him a lifeline that doesn’t include spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Besides, even though his basic instincts are screaming at him to run, he can’t do that to Jones, Diana, June, and Elizabeth.

And Peter. Especially Peter.

Neal fears there is no way to save his friendship with Peter – and damn, that hurts so much he almost can’t breathe – but he dares to imagine that someday, Peter will realize he never wanted Elizabeth to get hurt. Maybe then… well, Neal doesn’t even know what he is really hoping for, but he knows for sure that he simply can’t make things worse with Peter, because somehow, Peter’s opinion of him has become one of the most important things in Neal’s life.

Sadly, Neal fears he has already done enough damage to last him for a lifetime.

Some time later, Diana exits the room. She walks down to him with a tight smile in her face, which makes Neal grateful, knowing that there is another person who looks at him with something besides pain or contempt.

“I ate your sandwich,” he says instead of greeting.

“Yeah, I know. Jones told me. They’re taking a small break now, Jones is bringing them coffee. They want you up there in ten minutes,” says Diana with a sigh.

Neal’s mouth goes dry. “And, how…”

Diana drags a chair opposite him and sits down. “It doesn’t look good,” she says without preamble. “Neal, I know you’re probably trying to protect your friend, but you need to tell us the truth. We already have enough evidence to put Mozzie away for a long time. There’s hardly something you could say that would incriminate him even further. But if there’s something, anything, that could help to reduce the charges against you, you need to tell us.”

“I can’t. Diana, I can’t talk against Mozzie – “

“Neal, are you daft?” exclaims Diana, causing a few people to look their way. “Look, I understand he’s your friend. But he’s already in over his head – “

“He saved my life, Diana.”

Neal sees that the agent is momentarily taken aback.

“What happened?” she asks at last.

“A job or two went wrong,” says Neal. “Obviously, I couldn’t go to a hospital, or there would have been questions. If not for Moz, I would have long ago been dead or in prison. And he helped me – many times, and not just with my work. For years, he was there for me as a friend. My only friend.”

“I understand,” says Diana softly.

Neal raises his cuffed hands and shakily pushes away a lock of his hair.

“Well, then what about Peter?” asks Diana suddenly.

Neal is taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“If they charge you with First Degree Grand Larceny – and they will – that’s twenty five years in prison. Combined with the forgery of the Degas – “

“I’ll be imprisoned for decades. I get it,” says Neal with constricted throat. “But what does that have to do with Peter?”

“He was your supervisor,” explains Diana. “He probably won’t lose his job, but it will forever be there in people’s minds. But if that’s not enough for you…just look at him. He was already forced to arrest you. If you really stole the treasure and lied to him, then you don’t deserve his friendship. But if you didn’t, or if there is anything that could soften the blow for him, then you owe him the truth. Otherwise you’re breaking his heart for nothing.”

Now Neal feels even worse and completely helpless.

“Diana…”

“Peter put a lot of things on the line for you, Neal. Don’t screw it up even worse than you already did.”

Neal swallows.

“I – I need to use the bathroom,” he says quietly.

Diana gives him a sharp look. “What – “

“I just want to clean up a bit,” interrupts Neal softly. “I swear I won’t try anything. I just – I need a minute – “

“Blake?” calls Diana across the room.

The younger agent comes to them.

“Take Caffrey to the bathroom.”

Blake touches Neal’s arm, who giddily stands up and almost loses his balance because of the long sitting and his exhaustion. Diana catches him before he falls, and then steadies him as Neal tries to regain control of his body.

“Thank you, Diana,” says Neal and tries to make her understand that it is not just for catching him right now.

Judged by her expression, she understands. “Don’t mention it.” She looks at her wristwatch. “You have five minutes.”

“Okay,” says Neal and lets Blake accompany him to the bathroom.

And he realizes he has absolutely no idea what to do next.

*          *          *

As Reese Hughes suggests the break and Agent Jones leaves for the coffee, Agent Kramer walks to the glass and looks down where Caffrey sits alone in the handcuffs.

The kid looks… lost. And defeated.

Kramer watches as Agent Barrigan brings her chair across Caffrey and as they talk. Even from the distance, it’s obvious that they’re closer than just as an Agent and a CI or a suspect. During the short time of his stay before Peter’s wife was kidnapped, Kramer came to know that Caffrey was friendly with almost all the White Collar division. He still stands by what he’s said to Peter – Caffrey obviously wants to be there.

Seeing the young conman in handcuffs brings back painful memories.

Kramer thinks of the day roughly thirteen years ago, when his own CI was pretty much in the same position as Caffrey now. George had been a young thief and forger, just a few months short of twenty-five, when Kramer took him under his wing. He was Kramer’s third CI, but unlike the previous two, he was much more charming, naive and innocent – as much as a conman can be. They had been working together for almost a year, when George’s sister Lisa – an “alleged” criminal – got into trouble with the mob. She needed money.

They pulled off two burglaries until they were caught.

The worst thing wasn’t that George broke his trust and used his relative freedom to commit more crimes. Of course that left Kramer angry, disappointed and feeling betrayed, yet he was still willing to help his CI as much as he could. George was after all a friend, and while he disapproved, Kramer could understand George’s fear for his sister.

They offered him a deal.

George refused to take any responsibility for his actions.

In the disaster that followed, George had been sentenced to six years in prison.

He was incarcerated again just eight months after his release and convicted of a jewelry heist, this time for eleven years. That happened five years ago.

Kramer shakes his head to put the old ghosts back to sleep, and instead looks back down at Caffrey.

Barrigan has just called a young agent to come over to them.

As Caffrey stands up, Kramer is startled when the man stumbles and Barrigan catches him.

Kramer wonders if he is now seeing the beginning of a con or an escape attempt. However, for some reason, he doubts that that is the case.

Kramer has to admit that Caffrey intrigues him.

Just from observing him and asking a few questions here or there, he has determined that Caffrey is, indeed, extremely smart, just as Peter told him. Judging by Elizabeth Burke’s rescue and by the tales that are flying around the bureau, Caffrey is also fearless and has more balls than some agents that Kramer knows personally. He has proven himself to have an exceptional ability to keep a cool head in tough situations. While a few of Caffrey’s schemes were borderline insane, most have turned out be completely brilliant.

Caffrey is charming, bold, evasive, smart, annoying and very skillful, and he has some sort of morals, even if they are a little distorted. Kramer can certainly understand what draws Peter to this man so much.

For Peter’s sake, Kramer hopes Caffrey will use his smarts well today.

He doesn’t want his friend to suffer through the hell of anguish and self-doubt he himself went through when the George’s emails from prison started to arrive.

*          *          *

Under Blake’s watchful eye, Neal washes his face and hands and tries to rearrange his tangled mess of hair to look somewhat presentable.

His black turtleneck shirt has a tear at the shoulder and another at the chest. It looks dirty, just like the rest of his clothes. Neal is now glad he bought his casual pants for this occasion, because he wouldn’t have liked any of his usual clothes to be ruined this way. First thing after he gets home, he’s throwing them to the trash.

That is, if he gets to go home. Which is extremely improbable, so it’s possible that the pants will have a longer life after all –

Damn it if Neal knows what to do.

He is still just as clueless when they exit the bathroom and Diana leads him up to the conference room.

There’s Hughes, Kramer, Peter, Jones, two of their other agents and an agent that Neal doesn’t know.

Diana removes his handcuffs and Neal warily takes the seat they offered him.

He is battling his exhaustion, and the lack of sleep is causing him to be on edge.

But that is good. On edge is fine. On edge will keep him from making stupid mistakes.

“Are you sure this is the right time for this?” asks the unknown man with a frown. “Caffrey is obviously in a bad condition right now. If we do this, his attorney might accuse us of interrogating him under duress.”

“I’m fine,” says Neal forcefully. Noticing their disbelieving stares, he insists: “Really, I am. Though I could do with some coffee…”

Jones gets him a cup before anyone has a chance to protest. Neal gratefully accepts it and drinks it down in two huge gulps. The throbbing in his head subsides a little and the pain sort of shifts.

“All right,” says Hughes. “Everybody except for Agent Kramer, Jones and Caffrey, please leave now – “

“No, wait – Diana, Peter!”

Diana stops while Peter has already left the room.

“Can’t Diana and Peter be here?” asks Neal quickly.

Diana looks at Hughes and Neal in indecision.

Hughes frowns. “This is unusual – “

“Please, sir, I want them here.”

“This goes against the standard procedures – “

“They have a right to be here, sir,” says Neal softly, but firmly. “Both Diana and Jones are the closest to me on the team; besides, she’s been involved in this. She should hear this.”

“Neal, it’s alright,” says Diana. “I can watch the recording later – “

“But I want you here,” he says. He doesn’t voice aloud that he needs at least some half-friendly faces in this room.

Diana evidently understands, though, because she looks at Hughes and asks: “Sir, would that be possible?”

Hughes sighs. “Very well. If Caffrey is sure…”

“I am.”

“Alright, Barrigan. Now, if we can start – “

“What about Peter?” interrupts Neal again.

Hughes frowns. “I can’t in good conscience allow his presence. Peter is too close to this; besides, he hit you a few days ago – “

“I deserved that,” says Neal quickly. “Please sir, I need him to hear this. Peter needs to hear this.”

Hughes sighs again. “Caffrey – “

“I let him down, sir,” says Neal quietly. “The least he deserves are the answers about how and why it happened.”

“Can you honestly tell me his presence here won’t intimidate you?” asks Hughes.

‘Define intimidate’ – Neal stops himself just in time.

“I’m not afraid of Peter,” he says instead.

Silence.

“Sir, please. Please let him be here.”

Hughes still looks unconvinced.

Neal is at shorts about what else to say. He has all but begged on his knees to press his point – and if he thought it had even a minimal chance of success, he would have tried that, too.

Suddenly, Kramer raises from his seat. “I’ll go fetch him,” he says, and he and Hughes exchange a look before Hughes finally nods.

“Thank you,” says Neal quietly to the room.

Then they wait.

Ten minutes later, Kramer is back and Peter wordlessly takes a seat next to him.

Hughes gives Neal a pointed look. “Are you satisfied? Can we start now?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you very much.”

Hughes pulls out a paper and coughs before he starts reading: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. If you start answering questions now, you can stop at any time. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to us?”

Neal hesitates.

They have little direct proof that they could use against him. On the other hand, he was one of the few people who knew about the treasure, his alibi won’t hold, he has proven that he knew about the treasure’s location after the theft and a part of his painting was found at the crime scene (though that evidence is now destroyed, and he was careful with the cameras when replacing the scraps… but if they investigate, they will see him enter the building, Cindy might become involved and Neal doesn’t want that).

There is also the matter of the stolen Degas, which – despite the brilliance of the original plan – is now about to come back to bite Neal in a very bad way. After all, it would take the FBI maybe fifteen minutes to pull his anklet’s data and find some irregularities… two, three hours before they found out that he might not have been locked up in the room the whole time… and let them investigate further, they are bound to find someone who saw his whole little parachuting escapade.

Neal quietly concedes it doesn’t look good at all.

However…

Last time, they had some pretty good evidence against him, and yet not even a tenth of it held up in the court. True, his charm won’t help him as much because he is a convict now; however, with a good lawyer at his side, Neal might yet be able to perform a miracle.

“Can I take a look at that again?” he stalls for time and points to the statement of his Miranda rights in front of Hughes.

Wordlessly, Hughes offers the paper to him. Neal reaches for it and takes it, but not before he briefly crosses his eyes with Peter.

The brief second of contact makes Neal’s stomach churn and his hands almost start shivering again.

Because all the reasons above mean very little. In fact, it all comes to a very simple choice: to remain a con, or to become a man.

The choice being simple doesn’t make it easy.

In a split-second decision that has been brewing in him for months, Neal grabs the pen from the table and quickly signs the document.

“I understand. And I’m willing to make a confession.”

He truly isn’t at his best form right now; far from it. He might even regret it later. Most likely, he will regret not having his lawyer with him here. But right now, Neal feels the overwhelming need to do this, to turn over a new leaf before… whatever. Before he changes his mind. Or loses his will. Or aliens invade the FBI office.

Whatever. Just do it now.

Diana accepts the document from him and passes it back to Hughes.

Then the old agent begins the questioning.

“All right Caffrey. What can you tell us concerning the theft of the U-boat treasure?”

“I… “And Neal’s mouth goes dry all over again.

Is he really doing this?

“I have the right to remain silent, right? Whenever I want, I can stop this.”

“That’s right,” says Kramer with a small nod. “You can stop whenever you want, or you can ask for your attorney. That’s perfectly within your rights.”

Neal stares at them without a word.

“Neal,” says Diana pleadingly after a minute of silence, but it’s Peter’s quiet voice that cuts right through him.

“I trusted you, Neal.”

He still doesn’t even look at Neal. And suddenly, that breaks the dam of Neal’s emotions and all the things he has kept cooped up in the last days – weeks, months – now flow to the surface.

“You trusted me? You trusted me? That sounds rich from you, Peter! There we were, barely minutes after the explosion, after Adler nearly shot me, and what was the first thing on your lips? ‘You did this, Neal!’ You had no doubts; you just blamed me for it without any hesitation! And I didn’t even know why! I almost died, and then you, my friend…” Neal’s voice breaks as he battles the feelings of rage, grief and guilt.

“I didn’t steal the art, Peter. And I’ve told you over and over again, but you never listened! Instead you interrogated me, watched me, hoped for the proof that I was guilty – ”

He suddenly notices the look that Hughes casts at Peter and immediately shuts up.

“If you didn’t do it,” says Hughes and turns his attention back to Neal, “tell us what really happened.”

Neal is already regretting his outburst. His hands are shaking and he can almost feel the room closing up on him. He firmly clasps his hands together and interlaces his fingers, so that he can hide his emotions better.

He takes a deep breath.

“I apologize for the yelling,” he says with as much calm as he can muster.

Peter finally looks at him. “I’m your supervisor, Neal. It’s part of my job to be suspicious – “

“I get that,” says Neal softly.

“I don’t think you do.”

“No, I do,” insists Neal quietly. He lets out a shaky sight. After their horrible argument and the subsequent silent treatment of the past days, he can’t even begin to describe his feelings now that Peter is finally talking to him again. “I know you’re also my friend. I should have told you.”

Peter gives him a tight nod and looks away again.

“Neal, you need to tell us what happened,” says Jones unobtrusively.

“I don’t know if my lawyer would advise me to do that,” stalls Neal, and then he shuts up.

His lawyer. Mozzie. This whole mess –

“Caffrey,” growls Diana warningly and Neal’s mind jump back into the game.

Right. He’s in the room with five agents who mean business and are impatiently waiting for the confession he promised them. By now, even Diana looks a bit pissed off, and Jones seems to be developing a migraine.

He might still be able to lie his way out of most of this mess. After all, only Peter knows about his burned paintings, and there is no other evidence that would confirm he knew about the theft from nearly the beginning. And there is this chance that maybe Peter wouldn’t tell, or wouldn’t be able to prove that the paintings used were truly his, or that this kind of evidence will generally be considered inadmissible –

Neal internally shakes his head. He takes a shaky breath before he starts to talk.

“I’ve already told you I didn’t steal the art. However, I’ve kept a few things out – a lot of things.” This is his last chance to stop. “When I came home after the warehouse explosion, I found a key and a note…”

*          *          *

“Mr. Caffrey, are you telling us that you purposely destroyed evidence to a Federal investigation?”

“No, I’m telling you that I – “

Diana can tell that Neal’s frustration is growing. Fortunately, Neal stops himself just in time, possibly biting his tongue before saying something idiotic.

She can’t even say that she blames Caffrey for his frustration. It has been almost twenty minutes and they are obviously still barely at the beginning of the story. Neal takes a deep breath and wills his tone back to politeness.

“Forgive me sir. Yes, it is true. I exchanged the scraps of the paintings because I knew the original would be identified as my own work. Given my history, I thought nobody would believe me if I tried to tell them I was innocent.”

“Which you weren’t.”

“Actually, I’d say I was, right up to that point,” says Neal calmly. “I didn’t do anything except for not reporting the treasure’s location right away, of which I found out two days before I replaced the scrap of the painting. I believe that if it was any other citizen without a criminal past, no one would blame him for taking two days before reporting something like this, especially given the fact that their friend was involved in the theft.”

When put like that, Diana has to agree Caffrey is right. But…

“However, you didn’t report the treasure’s location two days later,” says Agent Kramer. “In fact, you didn’t report it at all.”

“I know,” replies Neal with a painful smile. “I said I was innocent, right until then.” He pauses before he speaks quietly. “I don’t deny I messed up. I’m just trying to put a timeline to how much and why.”

‘Messed up.’ It’s a nice euphemism, that’s for sure. Diana can tell right now that this is going to be a very, very long – not to mention unconventional – interview. She just wonders who it is harder for; for Neal to speak about it, or for Peter to sit there and listen.

“So you replaced the pieces out of fear that you wouldn’t be believed,” states Hughes with just a hint of question.

Neal frowns. “I guess… I didn’t really think about it that much. It was more of… an instinct? Force of habit?” Suddenly, he chuckles. “In the past, I always used to cover any tracks that could implicate me, and I was really good at it… allegedly, that is. I was – ow!”

Under the table, Diana kicks Caffrey to shut him up before he says something even worse.

Jones obviously shares the sentiment. “With all respect sir, I don’t think it is right to question Caffrey right now. He hasn’t slept or properly eaten in two days –” (“Th- Three days,” half-yawns Caffrey.) “ - and the accuracy of his answers is bound to be affected.”

Meaning, they should stop Neal before he does irreparable damage to his case.

“I second that, sir,” Diana finds herself speaking.

Hughes starts standing up. “All right. Let’s postpone this talk – “

“Please, don’t.”

The quiet words from Caffrey catch them all by surprise.

“Neal, are you all right?” asks Peter with a hint of worry, and Diana almost wants to kiss him for it.

“Let’s finish this,” says Neal in a strange mixture of authority and pleading.

“You don’t have to – “

“I need to do this now, Peter,” replies Neal in the same quiet tone. “Diana, Jones – let me do this. I can handle it. I promise I’ll take it seriously. I – can’t wait for who-knows how long with all this hanging over me. Let’s finish this up.”

The agents look at each other. “All right,” says Kramer and Hughes sits back down.

Diana doesn’t miss Caffrey’s relieved sigh.

“Neal, can you tell us what happened after you switched the painting scraps?” asks Jones gently.

Neal gulps down another cup of coffee before he starts again.

*          *          *

“Whoa whoa whoa, go back here. How did you find out about the manifest?”

Neal wants to groan. Of course that Peter simply has to ask this kind of questions.

He pretends to think about it before he shrugs. “Simple. I have my ways.”

“That’s not an answer,” says Hughes frowningly.

Neal shrugs again. “It’s the only one I have, sir.”

“What are you hiding this time?” asks Peter.

“Nothing. Everything. Take your pick.” Neal is suddenly feeling reckless. “I’ve told you; I’m damn good at what I do. I noticed something was going on; I poked around, I found the truth. That’s all.”

“You’re covering for someone.”

Only the years of experience from running cons prevent Neal from reacting to Kramer’s sharp, accusing tone. He is strongly taken aback that someone has put the pieces together so quickly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” says Neal blankly.

“Were they working with you?” asks Kramer again. Neal realizes the agent won’t let it go until he receives at least some answer.

“If,” he starts. “If – and this scenario is just a theory – someone hypothetically revealed the information to me, it would have been by accident and not really their fault. But since this is only a theory, there is no way to tell what really happened.”

No way in hell will Neal implicate Agent Melissa Matthews. Melissa may not be exactly Neal’s type, but he has come to respect her after she admitted her defeat at his hand and didn’t report him, displaying an interesting mixture of fairness, forwardness and even sense of humor.

She seemed like an okay person; besides, Neal owes her after conning her. The least he can do is make sure Melissa stays out of the trouble he pulled her into.

“Who was it?” asks Diana curiously, but there is an undertone to it – no doubt she wonders if it was her or Peter who let it slip that the manifest existed to Neal.

“I refuse to answer this question.”

“Mr. Caffrey – “

Neal stares firmly at Hughes when he repeats: “I refuse to answer this question.”

“Do you realize that the prosecutor might want to use your refusal to draw conclusions against you during the trial?” asks Kramer.

“I understand completely. I’m still not answering the question.”

“If you avoid answering some of our questions, it might put the rest of your statements in a shady light – “

“Can we skip this?” snaps Neal impatiently. “Because now you can try to persuade me to tell you a name while I’ll continue to refuse to comply. We will dance about it for half an hour until either you give up, or I decide to call my attorney. I’ve been on both sides of this before. I’m not gonna slip. Would it rather be possible to move on?”

There is icy silence.

It was a brilliant expression of boldness, disrespect, defiance and resolve. Neal only prides himself on the last one.

He feels another wave of pain as his exhaustion is catching up with him. He rubs his eyes before he even realizes he is doing so.

“I apologize if that sounded impolite,” he says in a not-so-good attempt to minimize the damage.

In the end, it is Jones who breaks the silence. “What did you do with the knowledge of the manifest’s existence, then?”

Neal clasps his hands together under the table and ponders how to best answer that. He will definitely leave out the unsuccessful attempts; he might be stupid enough to confess, but not that stupid to tell them more than what they’re likely to find out anyway. He hopes Diana won’t put two and two together, or that if she does, she will keep the knowledge to herself and maybe only break his legs later when they are in private.

But the successful attempt… that is a completely different matter altogether.

Neal has rarely felt shame for any of his many crimes, but this time, he feels his cheeks turning dark as he stares at the hands in his lap.

Maybe now is the right time to execute his right to remain silent?

“When we found out about the manifest, we tried to search for it,” confesses Neal quietly, avoiding everyone’s eyes. “Then I discovered its location.” His voices level drops to a near whisper. “I went to get it. Peter, I… “

How the hell is he supposed to tell Peter he has violated his trust like that?

“I made a copy of the key to your safe. Then I broke into your home.”