Washington, D.C. Monday morning. August 9, 2004.

Peter had to give Annina Brandel kudos for making things as painless as possible for him at the U.S. Marshals' D.C. office. She'd clearly filled out the right forms, because when he arrived for his appointment he was immediately ushered inside to see Neal's file. He found the birth certificate and was allowed to make a copy. It wasn't until he was putting the original back in the file that he took the time to read through it.

Sure enough, Neal George Bennett had been born in Baltimore. Everything looked as expected. Then Peter did a double take. Had he read that correctly? He reviewed a portion more carefully. Yes, that's what it said. Did Neal know?

For a moment he stared at the document, wondering if he should still give the copy to Neal. Then he checked his watch. Not even 8am yet. Most people would object to being called this early. He decided he'd contact Noelle over his lunch break. She could tell him what this meant.

Then he went to the Bureau for a morning of management training. His plans to call Noelle were derailed when he was invited into Philip Kramer's office to discuss a case.

###

Monday after a late breakfast, Edmund, Irene, and Noelle took Neal to an orchard outside of town. They told him it had been a favorite destination of Meredith's. She had loved making dishes featuring fruits from this orchard.

There were baskets at the entrance. Visitors could pick fruit that was in season, and pay for it on their way out. There was also a coffee shop that served cider and pies and other fruit-based items.

For a while they wandered the orchard, finally ending up at a gazebo in the center of the property. Noelle sat down on a bench, as did her mother. Neal and Edmund leaned against the gazebo railing. Certain that the long-awaited revelation was coming, Neal forced himself to remain still rather than pacing.

Noelle started out by sharing a message from Meredith, saying that Neal had been the greatest source of her happiness. She added a comment about Meredith's awareness that her feeling of unworthiness had damaged her relationship with Neal, because she had found it difficult to accept the happiness he brought her. Then she took a deep breath and said, "We've mentioned the difficulties Meredith had, the miscarriages, and how she went to a fertility clinic in England."

Neal nodded. At last they were getting to health-related issues and the mysterious doctor's note.

When Noelle seemed tongue-tied, Edmund faced Neal and said, "As you can surmise from the miscarriages, Meredith didn't have a problem getting pregnant. The issue was carrying a baby to term. The clinic in England had just announced their success with a test tube baby. The U.S. Wasn't as far along in that technology yet. That's why we went out of the country."

"I was a test tube baby?" Neal asked.

"Yes," Noelle said. "And the clinic wouldn't implant you in Meredith, because they said it was too high-risk. So I agreed to act as a surrogate."

"That's why I was born in Baltimore. And what was Julia's part in this? She said she was there when I was born."

"She'd dropped by the house to keep me company while Mom and Meredith were doing some shopping. I went into labor and Julia drove me to the hospital."

"Not Robert?" Neal asked.

Noelle shook her head. "You weren't his child. He wasn't particularly interested in your birth. Anyway, Meredith and Mom were in town in anticipation of the big event, and they were in the delivery room with me. They stayed with us in Baltimore until you were six weeks old, and then they took you back to D.C."

Neal took a moment to absorb that, and then asked, "Did Henry know?"

"He was only two and a half when you were born," Noelle said. "Too young to understand what was going on, and too young to remember."

"I worried he might be jealous," Irene added, "of all the attention you were taking away from him, but it was never an issue. The truth was, with me and the twins, there were plenty of opportunities to dote on both of you. He seemed quite fascinated with you, actually. I always thought the two of you bonded during that time."

"When the marshals took you away we weren't supposed to talk about you, so I didn't mention it when Henry was growing up. And then when it was apparent Meredith hadn't told you... Well, it didn't seem right to tell anyone until you knew. Except, I'd made a promise to Meredith." Noelle stood up and walked over to the railing where Neal stood, and clasped one of his hands. "I imagine things have changed over the years, but at that time it was the birth mother's name that went on the birth certificate. So I was listed as your mother. But of course you belonged to James and Meredith. At the clinic before the procedure I promised that I'd give up all rights to you, and that it would be up to Meredith if and when to tell you about the surrogacy."

Neal took a moment to gather his thoughts and then said, "Saturday she gave you permission to tell me."

"Mom had been pushing me for a while now to tell you, and I was working my way up to it. I'm glad I was released from the promise. That made it easier." She squeezed his hand. "There is one more piece, however. There's something I didn't know myself until after I talked to Meredith."

Neal held his breath as Noelle gathered her nerve.

"Go on, then," said Edmund impatiently.

Noelle raised a brow. "This isn't easy, Dad."

"Easy. When is life easy?" Edmund asked. "It's simple enough. The doctors weren't really sure why Meredith's pregnancies weren't successful, while Noelle had smooth sailing carrying Henry. They thought it might be hormonal, or maybe something to do with an infection she'd had when she was a teenager."

It flashed through Neal's mind that they might be worried about something genetic Meredith had passed along. What if the concern wasn't about Meredith's health, but about his own? Maybe he couldn't or shouldn't have kids himself?

Picking up the story again, Noelle said, "To be safe, the doctors took eggs from both of us. There were two embryos at first, one from one of Meredith's eggs, and the other from one of mine. If both had been viable, they both would have been implanted. But shortly before it was time, one of the embryos died."

"Which one?" Neal asked.

"We decided we didn't want to know. You were going to be Meredith's son and it shouldn't make any difference who was the egg donor. The doctors insisted on putting the information in an envelope that we could open if we ever needed to know. That envelope went to the marshals with your birth certificate and other documents. On Saturday Meredith gave the envelope to me. That night Mom opened it and..." Noelle squeezed his hand again. "You're mine."

"Wow," said Neal. He hadn't seen that coming. He'd been expecting bad news. This was good. It was good, wasn't it? He turned it around in his head. Yeah, once he got used to it, he thought it would be good.

"Not that it makes a difference," Edmund said. "Meredith was your mother. She raised you and loved you as her son. As best she could."

"But I was certain you and Henry were brothers," Irene added.

Henry. "Did you tell him, before the Executive Decision left?"

"It was tempting," said Noelle, "but I thought you should be told first. I also think he'll appreciate the news more once he's had time to work through the issues he's facing now."

"Can I be the one to tell him?" Neal asked.

"If you like."

"At Christmas," Irene suggested. "What better gift to give Henry, than to let him know he has a brother?"

###

After a late lunch, Neal had packed his things and decided he'd go to Peter's hotel early. Sitting in the lobby for a while would give him a chance to think things through. Noelle offered to drive him, saying she needed to go back to Baltimore and the hotel was on her way. They talked mostly about Henry.

When she pulled in front of the hotel a valet came to her door. She glanced at Neal. "Last chance for questions. Anything you didn't want to ask in front of my parents?"

Was it the psychologist or the mom in her that had guessed? "They've got a bar."

Noelle handed her keys to the valet and followed Neal to the bar. With a long drive in front of her, she ordered a non-alcoholic drink and waited for Neal to kick off the conversation.

He ordered a glass of wine and after it arrived he looked around the bar. Mostly empty, but still best not to refer directly to WITSEC in a public setting like this. "When you learned that we had to leave D.C., there was an argument about whether I should go with Meredith or with my Uncle David."

"Either way, it broke my heart to see you go. I so wanted to keep you, but that simply wasn't an option. Your father had put you at risk and my role in your birth didn't change that. After my promise to Meredith, I was determined to prove I was keeping my side of the bargain. I insisted that you were hers and belonged with her."

"You were being stubborn and emotional," Neal noted. "I know some people who would describe me the same way."

"Poor David had no idea why I wasn't open to any arguments. He'd been overseas during the pregnancy and we hadn't told him I acted as a surrogate, much less..." She shrugged. "He'd come back around the time of your christening and brought Paige with him. It was the first time we'd met her, and we confused her horribly. We introduced Meredith as your mother and yet I was the one nursing –"

"Whoa," said Neal. "Not ready to go there yet. Or maybe ever. Can we skip that part?"

Noelle smiled indulgently. "Needless to say, it's hard enough telling identical twins apart when they aren't both acting like mothers to the same infant."

"And David didn't notice?"

"Normally he would have, but Paige did a marvelous job of distracting and befuddling him. He'd proposed to her shortly before you were born, and Mom convinced them to get married while we were all gathered in D.C. Paige's family made a whirlwind visit for the wedding and dealing with in-laws really threw him for a loop."

Neal considered the implications. "Did you ever tell them?"

"No. Surprisingly few people knew I acted as a surrogate. I was finishing up my PhD, so people at the university who knew I was pregnant didn't realize that soon after I graduated the baby simply disappeared. Once I started to show, I stopped going to Win-Win, at Robert's request. He didn't entirely approve and in the end it was easier not having to explain that the baby wasn't his. His parents knew, of course, and his siblings. I don't think his brothers approved, either, and that was rather awkward. I preferred avoiding them, and for a few months I made excuses to skip Win-Win gatherings. Not only was I busy finishing my degree, but I also made a lot of trips to D.C. to visit my supposedly pregnant sister."

"Good thing Henry was too young to understand what was going on. I can imagine all the questions he would have had."

"You're right. We never would have gotten away with keeping things as quiet as we did..." She looked across the room. "Aren't you supposed to meet Peter at 4:00?"

Neal saw Peter and checked his watch. It was only 2:30. "That was the plan." He waved Peter over. "Short day?"

Peter sat down and ordered a beer. "More like a surprising day. I was debating whether to call and see if you could meet earlier. There's a case I'd like to run by you."

Noelle reached for her purse. "I should get out of your way, then."

"No, not yet." Peter put a file folder on the table. "There's something I need to run by you, too. A while back, when Neal mentioned how surprised he was to learn he was born in Baltimore, I decided to get him his original birth certificate. I thought it would answer some of his questions, but instead it seems to raise more. You see, I stopped by the marshals' office this morning to get a copy of the document. It's in here." He slid the folder across the table to Noelle.

She opened the folder. Then she closed it, reached into her purse, and put on reading glasses. After giving both men a glance meant to suppress any comment on the glasses, she read the birth certificate. "May I keep it? I've often wished I'd kept a copy."

"Yeah." Peter slid a glance at Neal. "Do you know what it says?"

"I found out today. I'm still getting used to it. It was a shock, to say the least."

"How...?" Peter looked uncomfortable and drank some beer to hide his reaction.

"You didn't know about my torrid affair with my brother-in-law?" Noelle teased.

Peter nearly choked on the beer.

Neal patted him on the back. "I didn't tell you Mozzie's theory that I'm Henry's clone?"

Noelle stood. "I should be on my way. It's up to you what to tell Peter and who else you think should be told, but do try to keep it quiet until Henry knows."

Neal stood up, too, and embraced her. "I think just Peter and El for now," he said.

"I'll miss you, sweetheart. If you have any more questions, or just want to talk, I hope you'll call. I promise I won't hover." With a quick kiss on his cheek, Noelle said goodbye and left.

Peter suggested they go up to his room, not only to hear the reason Noelle was listed as Neal's mother, but also for privacy to talk about the case that he'd mentioned.

The hotel room had a small desk, and Neal sat in the desk chair and put his feet up on the bed while Peter shed his suit jacket and gun holster.

Pushing Neal's feet out of the way, Peter sat on the bed. "No more kidding around. What's going on with Noelle and your birth certificate?"

For a moment Neal considered fabricating a wild story to see how long he could keep it spinning before Peter guessed, but he decided against it. He went straight into the truth.

"Huh," said Peter. He stared in the distance a moment and then asked, "Your mom is dating my brother?"

"I'm not really to the point of calling her Mom. My grandfather had a good point. Meredith's the one who raised me. I knew her as my mother all my life. I love Noelle, but I'm still getting to know her."

"Right. But I talked to Joe this weekend. He and Noelle are dating again, and he seems determined to make things work this time. Us Burkes don't give up easily. I wouldn't be surprised if this time next year, you're my nephew."

"That makes Henry your nephew, too." Neal smiled, both at Peter's consternation and at the idea of having a brother. The shock was wearing off, and joy replaced it.

"Yeah. Give me time to get used to the idea of one nephew, first."

"You can tell Elizabeth about all of this, of course, but don't let it go any further. And even if I stop thinking of Meredith as my mother, I can't go around calling Noelle Mom, not if I'm trying to keep my dad's enemies from figuring out I was Neal Bennett." Neal's bubble of joy shrank as he considered the implications. "In fact, we both need to make sure we think and speak of Noelle as my aunt, and Henry as my cousin, so we don't risk slipping up in public." He decided it was time to change the subject. "You said there was a case?"

"This one is right up your alley," Peter promised. "It hasn't hit the media yet, but we can't keep it quiet much longer. Last night someone broke into the National Gallery and stole a painting."

"Which one?"

"A Raphael. St. George and the Dragon."

Neal's eyes widened.

"When D.C. Art Crimes ran the names of people who'd been in the museum recently, yours popped up."

A wariness came over Neal. "I wasn't casing it, Peter."

Peter looked surprised. "Of course not. But you were there the day before the theft. Did you notice anyone acting suspiciously? Or see anything that would give us a clue to how they got in and out without setting off the alarms?"

How far had they come that Peter instantly dismissed the idea that Neal had stolen the painting? Neal felt a glow of pride, even as he admitted, "I was so distracted wondering about the big secret my family was keeping from me, I didn't pay as much attention as I normally would. However..." He paused as he considered how best to explain what he knew. "Hypothetically..."

Peter groaned.

"When I gave my confession for immunity, we only talked about crimes I had committed. We didn't cover the ones I had planned. If you hadn't recruited me, I was going to make a forgery of that painting and steal the original." He shrugged. "It was Kate's favorite."

"And you were desperate to get in contact with Kate. Did you already know how you were going to get it out of the museum?"

"There was a security guard with a gambling problem who was willing to share information for a price. He was going to provide the building plans and tell us the exact time when they were going to shut down the security system for an hour to upgrade the software to the newest version. They were adding extra guards for that evening, and I was going to slip in as one of those guards."

Peter took a sharp breath. "What's the name of the security guard?"

"I don't know. I wasn't working that angle." He grinned. "Remember how you said you didn't want to use Mozzie for any more cases?"

"I'm sure I'll regret this, but give him a call. The Bureau can probably discover which guard has a habit of gambling, but if Mozzie can tell us it saves time and impresses my old mentor. I started out as a probie on Philip Kramer's team, and they're working this case. I want him to see the value you bring. It could be good for your career with the FBI down the road."

"Can we visit the crime scene?" Neal asked. "My experience on the other side of the law could come in handy."

"I'm sure it would. I'll ask." There was a pause and then Peter added, "This is when you're supposed to be calling Mozzie."

"Oh, sorry, got distracted a moment." Neal gestured around the room. "I was just thinking, this all started in a hotel room. You kicked off a conversation about how I should give up crime and work for you when we were in that hotel in St. Louis."

"You were supposed to be part of a museum heist, and instead you helped me prevent it." Peter smiled. "Do you remember talking to El on the phone when we were there? You were running a pretty high fever so I wasn't sure if you knew what you were saying."

"I think I remember most of it."

"When I talked to her later, she told me that you trusted me to find the real you, the person hidden under the slick con man veneer."

Neal nodded. "Yeah, it was something about how FBI agents find people, and how I'd hidden who I was so deeply that I thought I needed help finding myself. I wanted to find the real me but was also scared of being found."

"Here you are. Valued member of my team. Soon-to-be college student. Henry's half-brother. Probably going to be my nephew. Not too scary after all."

"Not too scary," Neal agreed. "Good job, Agent Burke. Now how about we find that thief?"

###

On Friday, Peter's management meetings finished by noon, and he picked up a sandwich to eat on the train to New York. He still couldn't believe that Philip Kramer had denied both Peter and Neal access to the crime scene.

Sure, the case belonged to the D.C. team and they knew their jobs, but Neal had provided important information. What was the harm in letting them look around? He hadn't remembered Phil as being so concerned about protecting his turf.

Yesterday when Tricia updated Peter on the team and their cases, she mentioned that Neal planned to leave early this afternoon. He'd put in overtime the last few days, and she'd approved the request for comp time. She hadn't asked what he had planned.

On the off chance of catching him, Peter went directly to Riverside Drive from the train station. He got there in time to see a somber Neal escort June into the mansion.

Well, at least he was home. Peter rang the bell and Neal got to the door ahead of the maid. "Peter, this is a surprise. Come in."

"I won't stay if this is a bad time," Peter said.

"No, it's fine. Today is June and Byron's wedding anniversary. We went to the cemetery to leave a bouquet of the flowers he used to give June. Now she wants to be alone for a while. You can come up to my loft if you want."

Peter pushed his suitcase out of the way and then followed Neal upstairs.

"Beer?" Neal asked as they walked into the loft. "I picked up your favorite brand."

"Yeah, I'll take one." Peter took a seat at the dining table and looked around the room. There was a stuffed animal on the bookshelves – a brown dog. That was new. And some kind of ornate wooden box that normally sat on the shelves was instead on the coffee table. "How's June?"

"A little low today, but better than she was doing after Father's Day." Neal handed Peter a bottle of beer and sat down with a glass of wine. "Did you know she's been buying up shares of Masterson Music?"

"No. I guess the stock is a bargain right now."

"That's right. She has enough that she has a seat on the board, and she's influencing their reorganization. It's a project she can put her heart into, and I think that's helping her cope with losing Byron. I introduced her to Samantha Weston and Cassie Blanca this week. They described their experiences with Masterson, and that seems to have inspired all sorts of schemes. June's working to get their musical careers back on track while planning how to help others who were harmed by the company's business practices."

"A happy ending," Peter said. "You deserve a lot of the credit for that."

"I couldn't have done it without you," Neal said. "You and the Bureau brought the sting together."

"Not calling it a con anymore."

"Nope. My cons didn't end in people being arrested."

"Now that the sting is over, you won't be using that Neal Legend ID," Peter said.

"Right. You want me to turn over the ID." Neal started to stand.

"No, keep it," Peter said.

"Are you serious?"

"I thought it might help control your flight instinct, if you knew you still had that ID as a means to escape. It's in our systems now, so you can't use it to escape the FBI, but we did a decent job of making people think Neal Legend was a distant cousin and not the son of James Bennett. If you ever need to hide out from your father's enemies or from Vincent Adler for a few days, the Legend ID should work."

"Just for a few days?"

"Yeah. I'd track the ID if you used it and find a way to help you out. I just thought, given the resources they have, it seemed only fair for you to keep a trick up your sleeve."

"Thanks, Peter."

"The other reason I stopped by was to apologize again. I still can't believe Kramer shut us out of the case after you provided that lead. You pointed out an important hole in the museum's security."

"Nothing in the news about finding the painting or the thief yet," Neal noted.

"Unfortunately the guard Mozzie named isn't with the museum anymore. We're still in the dark about the thief's identity and how they managed the crime. But we'll get them."

"You mean Kramer will get them."

"The Bureau will. We're all a team. Except when we're in a turf war." Peter gestured toward the coffee table. "Is there a story behind the box?"

Neal explained that Byron had used it to keep a record of his milestones and successes as he gave up a life of crime. "He thought I could use something similar, so he left it to me. Instead of scraps of paper, I've been creating origami to represent the things I want to remember." He walked over and picked up a nearly complete origami dog in brown paper. "This is the one I'm adding next."

"Any relation to the stuffed animal on your shelves?" Peter asked.

"Good eye. Yeah. Meredith gave it to Noelle when they talked. It's the only memento I have from my childhood."

"What's the memory you're adding to the box?"

"Finding out who I really am, and being okay with it."

###

Wednesday, Peter was standing in front of the team in the large conference room as he led the morning briefing. "The last item on our agenda is Tuesday Tails. Yesterday was Diana's first chance to participate, and things went somewhat differently this time. At Neal's request, I lifted the ban on going more than two miles from the office." Seeing Neal's grin he added, "That was a one-time exception for this week only. Diana, give us the readout."

"It wasn't like Quantico," Diana said. "And I doubt most suspects would stop and wave at me or sit beside me on the subway."

Neal shrugged. "Peter told me to go easy on you the first time. Next time the training wheels come off."

"Bring it," Diana challenged. "And I didn't need training wheels this time."

Team members laughed and called out support for Diana or bets that she'd regret her rash words. Peter smiled in satisfaction. It was good to see the team rallying around the newest member. "And once you got off the subway?" he prompted.

"Soon we were in the middle of a college campus. Neal melted into a group of students, but since it's still summer those weren't big groups, and most of them weren't wearing suits."

"But you at least ditched the hat?" Jones asked.

"I didn't want to make it too easy," Neal confirmed.

"Quiet," Tricia said. "Let Diana finish."

"We went through a student center and an administrative building and then into an academic building. He almost lost me leaving that one. He slipped down a corridor that led to a series of other corridors, and checking each one would have taken so long I'd have lost him for sure. I decided my best bet was to go back outside and watch the exits. I guessed right. Soon he slipped out the back and I was following him again."

"Nice work," said Travis. "I fell into the trap of checking endless corridors once."

Diana acknowledged the compliment with a nod. "We dodged around buildings for a while. Must have been about fifteen minutes later that I spotted Neal heading into a building called Watson Hall. Unfortunately the place was a mass of small rooms – they looked like art studios – and that's ultimately where I lost Neal. I'd been hanging back so not to be obvious where I was, and that gave him too much of a head start. I was about to give up when he found me. Our hour was over, and we came back here."

"By way of a bistro," Neal added. "Never let it be said I caused our newbie to starve."

"Any suggestions for Diana for next time?" Peter asked.

Team members asked questions about the exterior and layout of Watson Hall and then offered advice for how she might have kept up with Neal. Peter was glad Diana had been matter of fact about losing Neal and that she wasn't disheartened by the experience. She was listening to the suggestions from the team and it seemed like she looked forward to her next round of Tuesday Tails. All indications were pointing to Diana being a good fit for the team, and an example of the kind of attitude he wanted to foster.

Then Jones asked the question Peter had been waiting for. "Why ask for the exception to the two-mile limit? There are plenty of places closer to the office where Neal could have pulled the same tricks."

"Yes, Neal." Peter smiled. "It's about time you disclosed the significance of leading Diana to Columbia."

"Starting in the fall semester, I'm going to be heading to Columbia after work several evenings each week," Neal said. "I'm enrolled in a dual master's in art history and visual arts, and Watson is one of the places where I'll spend a lot of my time on campus."

Applause and whistles followed the announcement. The morning briefing lasted half an hour longer than usual as team members plied Neal with questions about the degree program and offered advice for juggling the job and school. It was a welcome contrast to the situation a couple of months ago. Back then Neal had been stressing about how he'd pay for the degree and unwilling to share the news that he'd been accepted by a prestigious university. Urban Legend had still been a secret and Neal thought he had to stop Masterson Music by himself to prove that he belonged in the team.

Of course Neal still had secrets. That was part of his nature Peter was learning to accept. But meanwhile Neal was learning to trust people more, and was putting down roots.

As Peter looked approvingly at the team interacting with Neal, Hughes walked by and beckoned Peter out into the hall. "Looks like the shouts I heard weren't a matter for concern."

"They were congratulating Neal on his acceptance into Columbia. He finally told the team."

"I'm glad he was able to swing the tuition after the Bureau didn't come through for him," Hughes said.

"He got a full scholarship." Peter decided to add the comment he'd almost made after his own midyear review. "Thanks for supporting me back in December when I came to you out of the blue with a request to recruit a suspected felon as a consultant. I know it was a big risk."

"Hard to argue with success." The conference room had grown quiet as people noticed Hughes observing through the glass wall. He stepped inside and extended a hand to Neal. "Congratulations, Caffrey. I know how much this means to you."

"Thanks," Neal said, shaking Hughes' hand.

"My only concern is D.C. Art Crimes will try to recruit you away once you have those credentials."

Neal looked around the room at the team. "Nah. I'm happy here. New York is home."

Later, back at his desk, Peter tried to imagine an older version of Neal, with the master's degrees and a few years' experience at the FBI. What would that be like? Hughes had been joking, but would other team leads get over their skittishness about Neal's criminal past and try to recruit him away? If they did, Peter told himself he should be happy for Neal's success, and not feel like he was losing his son.

Neal knocked on his door. "Got a minute?"

Peter waved him inside. "What's on your mind?"

Neal closed the door and sat down. "Father's Day."

"That's about ten months away."

"Funny. No, I mean this past Father's Day. Before we got busy with tracking down Robert and the Masterson sting, I'd planned to request a do-over."

"Why?"

"I got too much inside my own head after seeing that video of me as a kid. That kinda zapped the fun out of everything at the end, and after I went home I regretted it. Anyway, there's a Yankees game this weekend. You wanna go?"

Peter stopped trying to envision an older Neal. He needed to take the time to enjoy this Neal, the one who looked up to him as a father figure and a trusted friend. "Let's do it. Just you and me this time. El has an event scheduled for Saturday."

"I'll pick up the tickets." Neal stood up and was reaching for the door when he turned around. "You know what would be perfect? We should go to a day game on a Tuesday."

"No, we aren't playing Tuesday Tails in Yankee Stadium," Peter insisted.

Neal chuckled as he left. Peter supposed he should be worried what the kid would do next, but he couldn't help smiling. He realized he smiled often at work these days, especially compared to other team leads.

At home that night Peter told El about the way Neal made the announcement he was enrolled in Columbia, about the invitation to the Yankees game, and about the revelation he'd experienced in his office after Neal had left. "Neal brings a lot to the table. His skills have helped solve cases and have made our team experts in tailing suspects. All of that went into his appraisal. But there's one thing I didn't include. White Collar is more fun with Neal around."

A/N: If you're reading this series in order, then the next story after this one is The Golden Hen by Silbrith, set at the end of August, 2004. 

The next chapter in this story is bonus content featuring Diana.