Pierre Hotel. Saturday morning. July 10, 2004.

The Pierre Hotel had an old world charm. In his con artist days, Neal would have hung out in places like this looking for victims. Now he was here visiting his grandparents. They'd arrived last night and would leave Sunday for Switzerland, taking Noelle along. Irene was disappointed but not surprised that Neal declined a last-minute invitation to travel with them.

When he'd first met his grandparents in the spring, Neal had been somewhat dazzled by his grandmother. Her beauty, charm, stage presence and buoyant joy were irresistible, but now that he knew what to expect he'd be immune, right? But somehow he felt swept away again as she led him through stories that meandered through his own childhood and his mother's, and even some tales of Irene's youth, building a bridge of experiences that connected him to multiple generations of family.

The buzz of Neal's cell phone broke the spell, bringing him back to reality. With an apology to his grandmother he answered, "Yeah?" He walked out onto a terrace.

"Neal, may you live long and prosper."

"What? Oh, wait, Travis? Is the away team mission over?"

"Yeah, I got home last night, and wanted to let you know it was a success. Your advice and wardrobe assistance get most of the credit. I took the suits to a dry cleaners, and they'll be ready by 1:00. What would be a good time to return them?"

Edmund had just placed an order for room service to bring up lunch so they could dine in privacy. "I'll be at the Pierre Hotel the next several hours. You want to drop by around 2:00?" Neal gave Travis the room number.

Friday had been productive. Julia Winslow had sent Neal her analysis of the Masterson financial statements. He hadn't had a chance to study it in detail, but it was clear that the company was hiding international revenues, and Julia said their online sales were also understated. She found that payments to musical artists were lower than they should be, and it would appear that they received almost no percentage of international and online sales. The company reported that piracy ate up almost all profits in those areas and Julia agreed that most music companies suffered in that area, but not to the extent Masterson claimed. She said she had another hypothesis to investigate and would get back to him with more data in a few days.

Also on Friday, Angela had called to say that Henry had embraced Neal's plans to move the Masterson con along faster. She'd given an interview as Grace after a performance in Montreal, and would be in Toronto today. She mentioned flying home to D.C. Sunday to spend time with her mother.

And now Travis was making progress toward identifying Robert's accomplice. Everything was coming together as Neal intended. All the pieces of his intricate chess match were in play, bringing Henry, Robert and Masterson where he wanted them. And the Bureau still thought it was simply a game of Find the Lady.

Neal returned from the terrace full of confidence and prepared to enjoy his time with his grandparents.

Noelle arrived shortly before lunch was delivered, her arms loaded with shopping bags from several upscale clothing stores. She leaned down to drop a kiss on top of Neal's head as she swept past the sofa to drop her purchases in her room. Then she joined them for the meal, bringing the conversation around to international travels. Noelle, her parents and Neal reminisced about favorite European destinations. Much of Neal's time in Europe had been spent in planning and committing crimes, so he didn't go into much detail about his own travels. Neal learned that his mother had loved beaches, while Noelle had a fondness for skiing and winter destinations. Neal, of course, had been drawn to the great art museums, and Irene had enjoyed theaters and opera houses. Edmund and his son David had shared a preference for hiking, and Edmund also admitted that he made a habit of sneaking away to local pubs when he was on assignment. "It's useful to know local sentiment, in addition to the official party line. There's nothing like listening to the conversation in the pubs and public spaces to get a perspective on the issues of the day."

"And nothing like a knack for picking up languages and accents to get people to open up to you," Neal added. He'd learned today that being multilingual was something he had in common with his grandfather.

Edmund nodded, acknowledging that had been a help. "Meredith had that talent, too. I could take her to a park and the locals would be charmed by her accent, and then would sit about and gossip. As long as I was carrying a little girl, people assumed I was harmless." He glanced at Noelle. "And when I tried to wrangle twin girls, the world was my oyster. Many a stone-faced politician melted at the sight of the twins and started prattling away. Then in later years it was visits from my grandchildren that broke the ice. It's a pity I haven't any great-grandchildren to take on this latest venture."

Neal looked at his grandmother, curious what she would say. "I'm too young to be a great grandmother," she said calmly.

Noelle smiled at Neal. "She used to say that about being a grandmother, too. But she didn't complain when Henry was born. In fact, she was so busy showing him off to her friends on every visit that sometimes I worried she'd try to keep him when I returned home. It was a relief when you were born so she had a local grandchild to dote on."

"A relief to poor Meredith, too," Irene added. "You must understand, Neal, the twins did almost everything together. Even as adults, they met their husbands, got engaged and got married within months of each other. It was barely a week after Noelle told us she was pregnant that Meredith made the same announcement. My own pregnancies had gone so smoothly it never occurred to me that either of my girls would have issues. But by the time Henry was born, Meredith had suffered two miscarriages. And yet for all her own heartache, Meredith was always happy when Noelle brought Henry to visit."

Noelle picked up the story about her sister. "She had a friend who was a fashion designer, specializing in looks for children. She had a sideline in outrageous onesies, and she'd lend them to Meredith. When we visited I'd put Henry down for a nap in a boring outfit, and return to find he'd been transformed into a lion or tiger or some other creature. He never seemed to mind wearing the costumes as long as they didn't impede his ability to get around. He simply chuckled at my reaction when I'd see him."

"Robert was less pleased," Irene recalled.

"Robert was too concerned with being dignified and manly to have fun."

Irene nodded. "David was a much better sport. Meredith liked to put Angela into bunny outfits."

"There was that cow phase," Noelle added.

"Very true, but to get back to the original story, as much as Meredith enjoyed your visits, she always cried after you left. She so longed for a child of her own and a nephew simply wasn't the same."

It was the perfect opening. "Last weekend I met Julia Winslow. She mentioned I was born in Baltimore. How did that happen?"

"I told you he didn't know," Irene said.

"Know what?" Neal asked.

Noelle took a sip of water, watching him closely. Then she asked, "Did your mother ever mention how you were conceived?"

"Huh? Ew. No," he said automatically. He paused and studied his aunt. She couldn't have meant what he'd first thought. "This isn't going to get X-rated, is it?"

Irene giggled, and Noelle blushed slightly. "No, that's not what I meant. Meredith went to a doctor to understand the medical issues and her options. He told her about work being done by fertility specialists in England. In the end she and James went there. In fact, we made a family vacation of it. Mom and Dad had friends they wanted to visit in London, and I went along with Henry." Noelle paused to reach forward and brush back a lock of Neal's hair. "Your parents wanted you very much, sweetie. Meredith would have done almost anything to have you."

"And Baltimore?" Neal asked.

"My obstetrician had been excellent, and was one of the few women in the field in those days. Meredith and I talked a lot about the pregnancy and what to expect, and I'd been so pleased with my experiences when Henry was born that we decided to use the same doctor and hospital for your birth, too."

"We?" Neal repeated. He knew little about childbirth or the bond between twin sisters, and he still didn't grasp why this was being described as a joint decision. He was torn between wanting to know more, and feeling somewhat squeamish about the topic.

It was something of a relief to be interrupted by a knock on the door as Travis arrived to return Henry's suits. Initially baffled and befuddled to meet the actress known as Irene Randolph, he was soon swept under her spell as she recounted memories of her brief time on the Star Trek set. He didn't stay long, and all Neal learned about the undercover op was that Travis had gotten the information he'd been assigned to gather and Jones had narrowed down the list to three suspects.

With Travis' departure, Noelle told Neal it was time for their session. They were meeting every other week now, so it had been a while since they'd talked as therapist and patient. They sat on the terrace for privacy, but before the session could officially start Neal asked Noelle if Henry had contacted her. She'd seemed somewhat distracted earlier, and he'd started to wonder if Henry hadn't followed through on his promise. Perhaps his mother was still worried about him. But at the mention of Henry's name, she smiled with genuine happiness. "I was scheduled to be in a conference in Los Angeles a few days ago. Graham strongly advised me at the last minute to spend a day in San Francisco before returning home, and I'm so glad I did! It did me a world of good to see Henry for myself. He mentioned some plans for finding Robert, and admitted that the best ideas had come from you. It sounds like things will be put into motion soon; he was pleased to know my parents and I will be out of the country and beyond Robert's immediate reach in case things go wrong."

"Do you have any advice for us? I thought you might know how we can avoid a gun fight and get Robert to surrender quietly when he realizes he can't get away."

"The best way would be to capture him when he isn't armed. The next best would be to capture him when Henry isn't around. Their emotions and resentment toward each other makes it difficult to get either of them to be rational when they're together." She opened her notebook. "But we're here to talk about you. Henry said you told him about being accepted into Columbia. Have you told everyone else?"

Neal shook his head.

"Why not?"

He shrugged. "There's so much going on right now, and the school year seems to be right around the corner. Catching Robert and supporting Henry is more important, and I can't be certain that will be wrapped up before classes start. I've been thinking about asking to defer my start for a semester, or even for a year."

"I can see why you want to support Henry, and it's good of you. But I understood you aren't part of the case to capture Robert. Why should that have any bearing on your plans for graduate school?"

He couldn't tell her about the upcoming Masterson con, because she didn't know her son was Shawn Legend. Instead he latched onto another reason. "I feel partially responsible for Robert going off the deep end. If I hadn't become a part of Henry's life again, maybe things would be different. I know I made Robert angry, irrationally so, and he took some of that out on Henry."

"You may have influenced the timing slightly, but you aren't to blame for the difficulties between Henry and his father."

"I made it worse," Neal insisted.

"I'm not convinced that's a bad thing," Noelle said. "A coldly rational Robert who was jealous of Henry's success at Win-Win might have simply arranged an accident that took Henry's life. We'd have lost him and perhaps never known why. An irrationally angry Robert means we still have Henry."

"You can't know that."

"No, I can't. But I can tell you that Robert's relationship with Henry was rocky for a very long time, and it was Robert's fault, not yours. I was in denial myself for several years, because there was still love between them amidst the animosity and I thought if we could just hold onto that love we could cure the rest. I was wrong." She paused. "Do you have any memories of Robert from before you went into WITSEC?"

Neal thought back. "When I met him again his voice sounded familiar, but that's it."

"Did you know Meredith had another miscarriage, a few weeks before the marshals took you away?"

"Yeah. I'd heard about that."

"The combination of physical and emotional distress was overwhelming for her. Mom took care of her for a few days, and I brought you to Baltimore to stay with us. You were three years old, Henry a few months from turning six." She paused. "You weren't aware of what was going on – with either of your parents – but the stresses were getting to you. I didn't notice it at first as you and Henry were tearing around the house in pure, rambunctious little boy mode. Early in the day Henry had pulled several pots out of the kitchen cabinets and was giving you drumming lessons."

Neal grinned. "I remember that part. He was so proud of himself. And I thought he was the most awesome thing ever."

"The most noisy, at any rate. That's why I was worried that afternoon when I realized you'd both been quiet for some time. I went looking and found Henry sitting on the living room floor, playing more quietly than I'd ever seen. You were beside him, leaning on his shoulder and asleep, and he was determined not to disturb you. When I picked you up I realized you were running a mild fever. I gave you something to bring down your temperature and told Henry how proud I was of him, watching after you like that. I realized that in addition to being bright and bold and loud, he was also sweet, and I felt so lucky that he was my son."

"He's lucky to have you, too," Neal said.

Noelle reached over and squeezed his hand. "You fell asleep again as we were finishing dinner, and I took you down the hall, planning to put you in the guest room. Henry insisted you stay in his room. It was a more cheerful space, and I thought it probably would be less jarring for you to wake up in a room designed for a child. Well, Henry supervised putting you to bed. He'd decided that I should put you at the foot of his bed, and in fact you were both so small that I didn't have to worry that you'd kick each other in your sleep. While I was getting you into your pajamas, Henry took every single stuffed animal he owned out of his toy box and finally selected one he wanted me to tuck into bed with you. A brown dog, as I recall. I think we ended up sending it back home with you."

"We took it to St. Louis. I remember it. I..." He blinked as it came back to him. "I called it Henry."

"Oh, my. If we tell him, he'd be so full of himself."

"Let's keep it a secret," Neal suggested.

Noelle nodded. "Before I turned out the lights, I kissed you on your forehead. Henry immediately demanded to know why I kissed you goodnight differently than I kissed him. I explained that in addition to letting you know that you were loved, I was also brushing my lips across your brow to see if you felt hot, because that could mean you weren't feeling well and needed more medicine. I wasn't sure how much of that he understood, but he seemed satisfied and we went through getting him ready for bed, too. After the customary kiss on the cheek he was ready to sleep. I went back to the living room, and about an hour later I checked in on you. You were clearly having a nightmare, whimpering and restless. Henry had slipped out of bed and stood beside you. You must have woken him, and he was worried. He checked for a fever the way I had. He noticed the door open, and he looked up at me and said you needed more medicine. Before I could step in to check for myself, Robert started yelling over my shoulder."

"Why?"

"He was incensed at the thought of his son kissing another boy."

Neal looked at her in shock. "He couldn't have thought... I mean, a little kid like that..."

"I pushed Robert down the hall to our bedroom and explained that Henry was following my example, and that we should be happy to have such a caring child. Robert couldn't go from such extreme anger to happiness at the drop of a hat, but at least he stopped yelling and admitted he'd overreacted. Then I hurried back to Henry's room. As I'd expected, the commotion woke you up. There you were, in a strange place, not feeling well, with one of the grownups who should be protecting you being scary instead. You were huddled under the covers, sobbing. Henry had climbed back up onto the bed and was sitting beside you, patting you on the back and telling you not to cry, but there were tears streaming down his face. I sat on the bed, gathering each of you up to comfort you as best I could, letting you know you were safe and loved and promising that Robert was sorry for scaring you."

"Was he?"

"I'd convinced myself he was. Finally you both fell asleep, and I took comfort from the love and trust the two of you had in me as I indulged in some tears myself. It was the first time I'd seen that side of Robert, the first sign that our marriage and family weren't as perfect as I'd thought. Over the next few years, I realized that Robert was determined to find fault in his son. There was no way to be good enough. And then Henry joined Win-Win and proved to be better than his father, that wasn't acceptable, either."

As awful as the story was, at least it helped Neal understand Henry's refusal to talk about some of the things Robert had done years later. "You both deserved better. In fact... How are things with Joe?"

"We're here to talk about you, Neal."

That had sounded rather sharp, as if something in her romance had hit a sour note. He'd circle back to that later. "Okay. We've established that it's not my fault that Henry and Robert are at odds. I promise I'm not punishing myself by thinking about putting off graduate school. I'm just not certain I'm ready yet."

"Ready in what way?"

Neal didn't answer.

"Neal, is this about money? I'd never have suggested a school as expensive as Columbia if I didn't have a plan to help you afford it. There's a –"

"I'm not taking your money," Neal insisted.

"It isn't mine," she said. "It's part of a –"

Before she could continue, Neal added, "Not my grandparents' either. I'm not having them think I'm only interested in them for their money."

Noelle stood up. "This is ridiculous! If you would just listen, for heaven's sake, you'd realize that I'm –"

This time it was Irene who interrupted. She opened the door to the terrace and asked, "Are therapy sessions usually this loud? I didn't realize therapists made a habit of yelling at their patients."

"I..." Noelle trailed off, then sat down. "Neal, I'm so sorry. That was entirely unprofessional of me."

"We always knew that the closer we got as family, the sooner we'd have to end a patient-therapist relationship. If I had to pick, I think I'd rather have an aunt who cares enough to yell at me." He clasped her hand loosely. "Is everything okay with you and Joe?"

Irene pulled up a chair to join the discussion. "I'm so glad you asked. I've been dying to know and she keeps brushing me off. I really liked him, right until the end. He clearly goofed up, but I like someone who has a few rough edges. Robert was too polished."

Neal hadn't heard about this, but he'd liked Joe and added, "He checked out. I had someone in the Bureau run a standard background check and there were no red flags."

"You did what?" Noelle asked.

"Well Henry wasn't around to run a Win-Win background check, so I took the initiative."

"You think I would want my son to run a background check on my..." She seemed at a loss for words.

"Boyfriend?" Irene suggested. "Or at your age do we skip directly to lover?"

"Boy toy?" Neal suggested with a grin. "He seems too staid for that. Is companion more discreet? Noelle seems like the discreet type."

"Too much so, sometimes," Irene agreed companionably.

"I'm right here," Noelle objected.

"Well if you're going to stay, I wish you'd contribute to the conversation," Irene said. "Has Joe apologized yet?"

"Yes!" Noelle said, not at all her usual calm self. "But it's none of your business, and I haven't decided if I've forgiven him."

"We should stop teasing her until after they've had make up sex," Irene said in a stage whisper.

"You know about that?" Neal asked, surprised to hear his grandmother use the term.

"Oh, dear boy, you must realize the concept has existed for a very long time, even if we didn't call it that back in the dark ages. People haven't changed that much."

Neal grinned, entranced yet again. "I like you."

Noelle rolled her eyes. "And you're her favorite grandchild."

"No I'm not," Neal protested. "She loves all of us, and I've been away. I mean..."

"Yes, I do love all of you," Irene said. "But we had a different bond. You were the only grandchild in D.C. with us. I saw you nearly every day, kept you when your parents needed a break. It broke my heart when the marshals took you away. Soon afterward I encouraged Edmund to take another post in Europe because the memories at home were too painful." She shrugged. "And that doesn't even take into consideration all the effort and anticipation leading to your birth. You were our little miracle."

Neal wanted to follow up on that, but Edmund stepped outside to let them know that a representative from the United Nations had arrived to give them a briefing. Since Noelle was included in the trip to Switzerland, she needed to hear the briefing, too. Neal made his goodbyes and headed home.

He hadn't scheduled any performances this weekend in his role for Urban Legend. Henry and Angela were carrying the burden for the next few days, and he was free to relax. He had a quiet dinner with June, and on Sunday called Mozzie who mentioned that he and Henry had made progress on the plan to send Robert to Alaska.

"We have an IP address for Robert's accomplice." He gave it to Neal, who would pass it along to Jones the next day. "With that we can identify who he is. He sent the article about Heinemann to Robert, and Robert read the article. He took the bait. After visiting my site, he searched for more information about Heinemann and his theories."

"A good start."

"It gets better. Henry arranged an interview where Graham expressed his company's interest in facial recognition technology and his plans to send a representative to negotiate with Heinemann to bring his innovations to the private sector. I made sure the interview metadata would send it to the top of the search results for the criteria Robert would use, and that did the trick. He read the interview. Next step will be to convince him that Henry is the person Graham is sending to Alaska. This morning Graham sent an email to you at the FBI saying he's convinced Henry to make the trip, and hopes it will lead to your cousin giving up his 'foolish' search for Robert. He'll say they're going to pin their hopes on facial recognition, instead. Running all their security feeds through Heinemann's process will be their test. If they find a hit on Robert, they'll invest in Heinemann's work and make him a partner in the company."

"A partner? That will rattle Robert."

"Enough to send him to Alaska to stop Henry," Mozzie agreed. "We want you to respond back to Graham that you'll help talk Henry into doing what his grandfather wants."

"Sure," Neal agreed readily. "When do you plant the clues that Henry took a charter from Seattle to Alaska?"

"I leave in a few hours," Mozzie said. "I want to do this in person, so I'll be gone several days. Sundays through Tuesdays are light for bookings of music performances. I won't miss out on much as Urban Legend's agent. Henry has an interview as Shawn this evening, and plans to drop in on a performance with a group he knows in D.C. Monday. Angela also has a performance planned as Grace at a nightclub in D.C. Monday night."

"Both going to D.C. That's interesting."

"Henry said he didn't like to perform there for fear of photos appearing in the paper that his grandparents would notice. While they're out of the country, it's a perfect time to hit a market we've been ignoring."

"How long is Henry planning to stay in D.C.? Maybe I could stop by and talk to him."

"You just saw him a few days ago," Mozzie pointed out. "If you're going to travel, I'd rather send you to another performance as Neal Legend. The requests are stacking up."

"I know, but I'd like to see Henry in person again, make sure he's sticking to the plan and not going rogue. Maybe it's time to schedule a performance with both Shawn and Neal."

"Lose the mystique of whether Neal is a real person who's still alive?"

"I know, Mozz. You don't want to give up the conspiracy theory you've been spinning. But it's all been leading up to the big reveal. One moment with lots of press and attention to make Masterson take notice. We're getting close, right?"

"Henry said almost exactly the same thing yesterday."

"Then we're on the same page. Good." But Neal wasn't entirely convinced it was good. An impatient Henry could be unpredictable, and Neal had a plan to keep on track. "You don't think he's going to go off script, do you?"

"Well, he's a lot like you so... Probably." Mozzie chuckled. "Speaking of being like you, did I ever tell you about the conspiracy theory your cousin inspired when you were in the hospital?"

"No," said Neal. "What happened?"

"Well I'd stopped by your room, and you were out like a light, and then a minute later I ran into you again, walking about dressed in a suit. Of course, my first thought was that you'd been cloned."

"Naturally," said Neal with a smile.

"It turned out that the Suits had asked him to impersonate you to rattle a suspect who thought he'd succeeded in killing you. I realized right away that it was Henry. No fooling me." There was a pause. "Neal?"

"Oh, right." Where had that famous sheep been cloned? Was it England? Someplace in Great Britain. Noelle had said his mom was desperate, that she'd do anything to have a baby. They'd talked a lot yesterday about what a miracle he'd been but they hadn't really said anything concrete about what that meant. The Ambassador was wealthy and had a lot of connections. Could he have convinced someone to... "I mean, cloning people is illegal, right? No reputable doctor would be making human clones."

"That's a matter for debate, but Henry's almost three years older. There's no way he's your clone. I mean, it would have to be the other way around."

And Henry had been along on that trip to England. The epitome of the healthy child Meredith Caffrey Bennett had wanted. "Exactly. I mean, that's ridiculous. I'd know if I were a clone, right?"

"Riiiiight," Mozzie said. "Do you have some reason to think you might be?"

"No! Of course not." Neal stood up and walked around the room. Obviously he'd been spending too much time around Mozzie, listening to his wild theories. He needed to stop thinking about this nonsense and get his head back in the game.

"Completely off the subject," Mozzie was saying, "when was the last time Henry was at your loft?"

"Sometime in early March, I guess. Why?"

"Any chance you'd have a strand of his hair?"

"Mozz, stop it. I'm not Henry's clone."