Chapter Description: Is Peter's boss a Grinch? Opinions are mixed. Meanwhile, Ellen shares her favorite movie.

Manhattan FBI offices. December 20, 2006 - Wednesday morning.

"What time is your exit interview on Friday?" Karen asked after she and Peter discussed ideas for the Organized Crime unit.

"I meet with HR at 9am."

Karen smiled. "That's one of the things I really appreciate about William. He doesn't pull silly power plays and make you hang around all day. He pushes HR to process things early so you can enjoy a day off."

Peter stared at her, surprised at this take on things. "And does he always skip the debrief?"

"I honestly don't know. My take on it in this instance is that he trusts us to handle turnover on our own." Karen took in Peter's expression. "You thought he was in a hurry to get rid of you?"

He nodded.

"You really got off on the wrong foot with each other." She paused. "One more failing in our onboarding. No one told you about William's idiosyncrasies. People who don't know about his style tend to think he dislikes them. I guess that explains why you were open to a new job offer so soon after joining our team."

Peter pondered her comments on his drive to lunch. When he arrived at Win-Win, he walked to Henry's office. "Do you have time to chat before you show me my new space?"

"Of course." Henry gestured for Peter to have a seat. "What's up?"

"Before I start working here, I'd like to know more about your management style and your expectations of how we'll interact."

"Please tell me you aren't changing your mind about the job," Henry said. "We need you."

"I'm not getting cold feet. But I realized that I went into my last job with a set of assumptions that hindered me. This time around I want to be clear about what to expect."

Henry nodded. "I like to touch base with our leaders — and that includes you — at least once a week. Daily, when our schedules make it feasible, even if it's just chatting over coffee. If there's an issue or something that's frustrating you, I want to know sooner rather than later. I'll jump in with ideas unless you tell me you just want to vent. I'm always willing to be a sounding board, and I'll seek you out to bounce ideas around when I'm working on something I think you'd be interested in. If I have an issue with something you're doing, I'll ask about your reasonings and share my concerns, and if we're having trouble reaching a consensus I'll pull in other team members to help moderate. And if you have an issue with something I'm doing, I expect you to let me know."

Peter liked what he was hearing. After a few more questions, they completed the I-9 form and then the fun part began. Henry walked Peter over to his new office. The furnishings were stylish and modern, sleek charcoal steel with royal blue accents.

"I picked items from what we had in stock," Neal said, joining them. "I thought you'd like these, but we can change almost anything."

"Off hand I can't think of anything I'd change." He stepped inside to get a better feel for the space. With the deep gray walls, he would have expected it to feel dark, but that was offset by the light streaming through the window in the wall behind his desk.

Henry demonstrated the shade that Peter could lower in the afternoon if the light caused a glare, and that made the spacious office feel cozy. Shelves lined the lower half of the wall to the right of his desk. They were mostly bare, but one held a set of very familiar accounting textbooks. "Tell me you borrowed these from El and didn't break into my house to steal them."

Neal grinned. "She was a willing accomplice."

"I'll have to thank her. And thank you, too. I couldn't ask for a better welcome. I already feel at home here." He looked at the unadorned wall above the shelves. "This looks like the perfect place for the painting in my current office." It was one Neal had painted, of the view from the roof of the Federal building.

"It should look stunning there," Neal agreed.

Peter nodded. The blues and grays in the painting of two rivers converging would fit perfectly in this room. It was clear Neal had put a lot of thought into designing a space that felt both comfortable and distinctly different from Peter's previous offices.

Sofia stopped by, greeting Peter and then reminding them that they had lunch reservations. She joined Peter, Henry, Neal, Sara, Anna, Radha, Sal, Ellen, and Nirmala at Henry's favorite Indian restaurant.

"Did you pick our Win-Win office location because of its proximity to this place?" Anna asked. "I think you eat here at least once a week."

Henry smiled. "It may have played a role."

"You should take cooking lessons," Ellen said, "and learn to make some of these dishes at home."

"Now that Peter's joining the team, maybe I'll have time," Henry answered. He raised his water glass in a toast. "Welcome to the team, Peter!"

The others raised their glasses, repeating the toast.

"It's been a year of big changes for us at Win-Win," Sofia said. "Henry got married, Neal and Sara got married, Radha and his wife had a baby, we expanded the business significantly, and we had a role in exposing a crooked politician."

"I was able to leave WITSEC," Ellen added. "That was a massive change in my life."

"I connected with my father for the first time as an adult," Neal added. Sara placed her hand over his, not saying aloud that he'd lost his mother, but showing her support. He glanced at Peter. "And now we're wrapping up the year with you joining the team. As changes go, it doesn't get much better." His sly smile acknowledged that Peter had another fantastic change — impending fatherhood — that was still a secret.

"I'm feeling a lot of empathy for what you experienced joining the Bureau three years ago," Peter admitted. "Making the move to the private sector after more than a decade working for the government is a bit daunting."

"I bet you won't be freaking out this time next year," Neal said. Turning to Sara he added, "When I reached my first year anniversary on the White Collar team, I had a moment of panic. There'd been so much change and turmoil in my life, and I started to worry that it wasn't enough, that Peter expected even more change from me in order to stay with the team."

Peter shook his head at the memory. "That was definitely not a scenario the Bureau covered in my management training."

"You handled it well," Neal said.

"Why don't I remember this?" Henry complained.

Neal grinned at him. "You were a little preoccupied coming out to our family."

Henry's eyes widened. "Oh, right. Talk about big changes..."

After the meal arrived, the conversation moved to movies, with Neal, Sara, and Henry explaining the holiday plans without revealing the films they had selected.

"I'd pick Mary Poppins," Sofia said. "A single woman with an amazing skill set. I feel like she's a role model."

Nirmala expressed a love for Bollywood, which Peter hadn't heard of. Once she described it, he wondered if El would like it. Nirmala was pleased at this response. "What movies does she like?"

"Pride and Prejudice," Peter said automatically.

"There's a recent Bollywood-style version, called Bride and Prejudice," she said. "That would give you both a sense of what it's like, and it's a familiar plot with Western elements. Some of my friends call it a gateway movie. I've used it to entice them into Bollywood."

"I'll see if I can find it," Peter promised. "It sounds like something she'd enjoy as a Christmas gift."

"This gives me an idea for a team-building event," Radha said.

"Movie recommendations?" Henry asked.

"No, although that would be an interesting question to ask new employees to help us get to know them," Radha said. "What if we asked which is their favorite meeting room, and why? Not just the current rooms, but also the previous ones." Win-Win had decorated each conference and huddle room with a different theme, and they frequently switched up the themes.

"I like it," Henry said.

"It could give us ideas for what to try next," Sofia added.

On the walk back to the Win-Win office building, Neal asked, "What movie would you pick, Ellen?"

"I'd been thinking that Mike would pick Elf," she said. "He once mentioned it reminds him of WITSEC."

"Really?" Peter was surprised.

Ellen shrugged. "A kid raised to believe he's someone he's not, who then runs away to discover who he really is."

"Like Neal," Peter said.

"I guess I need to watch that one," Neal said. A moment later he added, "But it's your husband's movie. What's yours?"

"Oh, I'd probably go with Meet Me in St. Louis," Ellen said.

"Why?" Peter asked, sensing from her tone that there was a strong personal connection.

"Well, when the Marshals uprooted me from D.C. and moved me to St. Louis, I knew next to nothing about the city. I found myself in an unfamiliar place, in a house a stranger had selected, with random furniture the Marshals used to fill it, and I experienced a massive wave of homesickness. If I could have turned around and driven back home, I would have. But I needed to be strong."

"For us," Neal said in an undertone.

"Yes, you and your mother needed an anchor. You were both as lost as I was, if not more. To stave off my misgivings, I turned on the TV and surfed through the channels, looking for something that would distract me. Eventually Meet Me in St. Louis started playing. I'd never seen it, but I knew the film was considered a classic, so I settled down with a cup of tea to watch. It featured a young woman in the reverse of my situation. St. Louis was the home she knew and loved, and she was devastated to be moving away. Silly, I suppose, but I felt a connection with her, and that convinced me that I should try exploring St. Louis to get a sense of why she and her family loved it."

"Exploring," Neal repeated. "That's what you called it when you took us places. Or took me."

Ellen nodded. "Eventually your mom stopped joining us, but exploring the city became a habit, and that included taking you to every museum. It worked. By the time I finally moved away, I had grown to love it there."

"Do you want to move back?" Neal asked.

She shook her head. "This is home now. Mike and I can visit his family there for the holidays, and that's enough for me."

###

Mid-afternoon, Peter's cell phone rang. "What's up, Neal?" he answered.

"Henry mentioned you had questions about his management style, and he suggested I call to see if you'd like another perspective."

"The fact that he asked you to do that tells me a lot. This morning my replacement said I'd misjudged our boss here, and he isn't as bad as I thought. That had me questioning my assumptions, and I decided to have a conversation with Henry about how he runs things. I don't want to repeat my mistakes."

"Hmm."

"Yes?"

"Maybe working with a bunch of psychology experts at Win-Win is rubbing off on me, but I have to wonder if your replacement is painting the boss in a positive light because she has to keep working with him."

"It was more Karen convincing herself that William's a good guy?" Peter pondered that.

"People con themselves all the time. And you have good instincts. I can't help remembering how often the White Collar team said never to bet against your gut. If you believed the guy is a Grinch, he probably is."

"The Grinch did turn out to be a good guy in the end."

Neal chuckled. "I distinctly remember you telling me that you don't believe in Christmas miracles. I'm not saying your boss has no redeeming qualities, but let's face it — you met Henry three years ago and knew from the start that he was a mischief-maker with a heart of gold."

Peter laughed. "Not quite how I would have phrased it, but yeah, I saw he had a lot in common with you." And since then he'd watched them both grow in maturity, into people he admired.

"You know you can trust us, and that when we disagree, we can work things out. We're not going to pull any passive-aggressive stunts. Or, if it seems like we are, you can call us on it, and we'll listen. We both respect your opinions, and the entire team will be aware of that."

"Thanks," Peter said. "The fact that the job I'm leaving had me doubting my instincts is definitely a red flag. I really am looking forward to being at Win-Win and working with you again."

That evening Peter stopped by a shop to look for the Bride and Prejudice movie for El. When he was browsing, he noticed an old holiday favorite from his childhood. He had to smile as he remembered Neal's comments about Christmas miracles. Peter hadn't been as cynical as a child. He picked up the DVD, deciding to buy it. This would be his nomination for movie night at the Caffreys.

###

Irene and Edmund Caffrey called promptly at 10am on Thursday. It was clear they had ideas about what they wanted him to look for in the movie nominations, but it would be up to Peter to turn it into a scoring system.

So far he'd noted that they wanted to give points for movies that were set at Christmas, that had a happy ending, and that were comedies. Edmund stipulated that no one should die in the movie.

"I'd like there to be music," Irene added. "Not that it has to be a musical, but having at least one prominent song that isn't simply a soundtrack is nice." She paused. "And children."

"There should simply be a child in the cast?" Peter asked. "Or as a main character?"

"I'm not sure," Irene said. "Can we give more points if a child has a speaking part, and even more for being a star?"

"A sliding scale," Peter said. "I can absolutely handle that."

"It would be ideal to have a multi-generational cast," Edmund said. He hadn't spoken up much. His wife was the movie aficionado. "And I'd prefer an older movie."

"How old?" Peter asked. Eventually they landed on adding a point for being at least twenty years old, and two points for at least forty years old.

"Would it be too snooty to give points for Oscar nominations?" Irene asked.

"Not at all," Peter assured her. "More points for multiple nominations?" That led to another sliding scale, with winning an award counting for even more than a nomination. "Anything else?" he asked. He was already mentally designing the formulas he'd use to calculate the scores.

"I think we want to give preference to a shorter movie," Edmund suggested. "Under two hours should get a higher score. Ideally we'd watch the top two movies, to give everyone some variety."

"I agree," Irene said. "A double feature with an intermission in-between."

"What criteria would you add, Peter?" Edmund asked.

Thinking back to the conversation at lunch yesterday, Peter said, "I'd give extra points to a strong personal connection to the movie. If someone mentions details that relate to something specific in their own life, that's more compelling." He gave the example of what Ellen had said about Meet Me in St. Louis.

"That's a marvelous idea," Irene said. "What about..." she trailed off. "No, I don't think that would work."

"What did you have in mind?" Peter asked. So far everything they'd mentioned could be handled in a simple spreadsheet.

"It would be nice at the party to have everyone act out a favorite scene, or at least recite a favorite line, but you'll need to tally the score before then," Irene said.

"True," Peter said, "but it could still be fun. Angela has some games in mind, like guessing what everyone nominated before we reveal the winners. I'm sure she'd be happy to arrange what you're describing."

Edmund chuckled. "I didn't expect to hear you call that fun. You looked distinctly skittish when Irene suggested acting out scenes in Hawaii."

Two years ago, they had reenacted scenes from Irene's movies in their Honolulu hotel. It had been meant to entertain Neal, who was confined to his hotel room with strep throat. Peter remembered the trepidations he'd felt back then. "I've come a long way," he admitted.

A/N: Neal connecting with his father, Ellen leaving WITSEC, Henry's wedding, and exposing a crooked politician all happened in my story Full Circle. The death of Neal's mother occurred in Roads Not Taken. Neal and Sara's wedding occurs in Set in Amber by Silbrith. Neal freaking out in Hawaii after his first year at the FBI happens in Caffrey Aloha.

Meet Me in St. Louis was a title I considered for the story that eventually was posted as The Caffrey Conversation.