Fiona's apartment, New York City. Monday morning, March 21, 2005.

The alarm clock buzzed and for a rare moment Neal Caffrey wished he was a kid again. Back then his mom had let him sleep in and skip school on his birthday.

Fiona stirred, then reached for the clock on the nightstand. As Neal appreciated the view, he had to admit there were definite advantages to being an adult. Fiona smiled at him, and his return grin was interrupted by a beep from his phone. It beeped again as he reached for it, and he saw three text messages:

Happy Birthday, kiddo.

Breakfast in 15 minutes.

Pls be dressed.

Neal jumped out of bed and ran for his duffle bag. He'd packed one of his vintage suits so he could go directly to work from Fiona's. "We're about to be invaded," he warned.

His girlfriend and fellow student in Columbia's graduate art program laughed as she reached for a robe. "It's not my fellow Brits hoping to retake the colonies, is it?"

"Not that type of invasion." He kept a toothbrush and razor in her bathroom, so all he grabbed now was clothing.

Fiona followed as he dashed toward the bathroom. "You're annoyed, rather than worried. Is it someone from the FBI?"

After the ordeal with Keller recently, he should have been more clear. "More annoying than work. It's Henry."

"Your cousin?" Fiona had met Henry Winslow on his last visit to New York. "I thought you liked him."

Neal turned on the shower, and as he waited for the water to get hot explained, "Normally, yeah. But we spent the last four days trying to outsmart each other at the Burke family cabin. I thought he'd give me a break today, but no such luck. He's a firm believer in starting birthdays with a big breakfast."

Fiona glanced toward her kitchen in dismay. Cooking wasn't her strength. "Most mornings I make do with a cup of tea," she reminded him.

"Don't worry about the food. He'll bring it with him." Neal sped through his shower and wondered what other surprises Henry would have in mind today. He couldn't do much, right? After all, it was Monday. They both had to work. They were adults now. Professionals.

As soon as he stepped out of the shower, Fiona stepped in. Although the apartment was charming, a downside was how long it took to get hot water. They'd learned it was best to keep the shower running once it finally reached the right temperature. When the doorbell rang, Fiona was drying her hair, and Neal was buttoning his shirt. He opened the door, but remained standing in the doorway, arms crossed. "Did you consider we might want privacy this morning?"

Henry pushed past Neal, arms filled with canvas bags. "Nah." He set most of the bags on Fiona's tiny dining table and started pulling out containers of food. "Courtesy of June's chef."

"Emil didn't have to do that," Neal protested. "We could have gone out for breakfast. There are plenty of places to choose from."

"Speak for yourself," Henry said as he grabbed a still-warm croissant and smeared it with honey. "No restaurant can beat this spread. Good morning," he added to Fiona as she joined them.

They all sat down to eat, and Neal contributed an absent-minded comment occasionally as Henry pelted Fiona with questions. Of course Henry took care that it didn't come across as an interrogation. Fiona would assume he was merely expressing an interest in her life. But with a master's degree in psychology, Henry was an expert at getting into your head and learning more about you than you would have imagined possible. It was actually a lot like the way a con artist operated.

Neal understood that Henry was acting the role he'd adopted years ago — that of protective older brother — even if he did seem particularly intense this morning. While his actions might make sense, his appearance didn't. He'd always worn a suit when visiting the White Collar team's offices in the Federal Building, and that's where they would go after breakfast. Why was Henry in jeans and a red polo-style shirt?

"Is it a casual day or something?" Neal interjected when Henry paused to bite into a Danish.

"Yeah," Henry confirmed. "This afternoon's team building event isn't conducive to wearing suits. Since Peter and I were keeping it a surprise, I figured I'd need to bring along something more appropriate for you, too. You'll find it over there." He indicated one of the canvas bags he'd carried in with him.

Fiona asked, "What else do you have planned for Neal's birthday?"

Well, that was a novel approach. Simply ask Henry his plans? No way would he give a straight answer.

Sure enough, Henry deflected. He rolled his eyes and said, "It's gonna be meetings all morning, with updates on a case and strategizing next steps."

"Stop whining," Neal said. "You love strategizing."

"It does happen to be a strength of mine. As opposed to Neal here, who acts entirely on impulse."

Neal considered going with impulse and shoving him, but decided to be gracious in light of the gourmet breakfast. As much as he enjoyed spending the night with Fiona, breakfasts at her apartment were normally not a highlight. "I have good instincts," he said calmly. Hey, he was twenty-six today. He could be grown up.

"I had hopes that after the meetings we could go someplace interesting for lunch," Henry said, returning to Fiona's question. "I mean, Manhattan, right? So many options for excellent food. But based on what I saw of the agenda, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up calling out for pizza."

"I've never quite grasped the appeal of pizza," Fiona admitted.

"Then Neal has been a very negligent boyfriend. Next time I'm in town, I'll take you to a place I discovered in Little Italy."

This time Neal was the one rolling his eyes. "Between work and classes, Fiona and I don't get many evenings free to spend together, and she's leaving soon for a temporary assignment in Paris. What makes you think I'm bringing you along on a date?"

"Oh, did you think you were invited?" Henry responded. "How about we make a bet? This afternoon I'm going along for your firearm certification test. We'll see who's the best. If you beat me, you can come along. If I win, we leave you behind and talk about you over New York's best pizza."

Neal had never seen Henry shoot. It was safe to assume he was good at it. Henry's father wouldn't have tolerated anything less than perfection, but Neal was a crack shot himself. He was about to agree to the bet when he noticed Fiona's expression. She was getting better at accepting the dangerous aspects of Neal's job, but talk of guns and shooting still made her uneasy. He gestured toward Henry's shirt. "What made you think you could raid my closet?" he asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Henry looked affronted. "It's my shirt. I've been looking for it since July. How did it end up in your closet?"

This was would get a smile out of Fiona if he told it right. "Last summer when you fell off the radar, Sara Ellis helped me sneak me into your office on a weekend to look for clues of what you were up to. We started by visiting your apartment so I could dress like you and fool the office security guard. Sara took it a step further than I intended. When I started styling my hair like yours she volunteered to help. I thought she was just applying a gel, but it was actually a temporary hair dye that gave me highlights in a color closer to yours. I nearly panicked when I realized what she'd done. I was half afraid my hair would turn green and fall out." He smiled. "I'd seen too many sitcoms with that scenario as a kid."

Fiona laughed as intended but then looked from Neal to Henry and back again. "Did you actually fool the security guard into thinking you were Henry?"

"Piece of cake," Neal said. "I walked in like I owned the place, and kept my face averted most of the time. Sara and I were busy pretending to flirt, so I barely spared a glance for the guard."

She studied them both again and frowned. "You don't look alike. You're about the same build, but..." She shook her head in disbelief that they could ever be mistaken for each other.

"Well, at the time Henry's hair was longer," Neal said.

"In our younger days we made a game of impersonating each other. We can copy each other's walk and expressions and voices," Henry added.

"Why?" Fiona asked. "Is this another American tradition no one told me about?"

"Not exactly," Neal said. "Remind me someday to tell you about the Masterson Music case. Then it'll make more sense." It was a long story, and they needed to head to the office soon. "I guess I should change." He picked up the bag of clothing Henry had brought and carried it into the bedroom. A pair of jeans were folded on top of a crimson polo shirt, similar to the one Henry was wearing. Definitely a theme here, Neal noted. Was the implication that Neal was supposed to follow Henry's lead, or was Henry wanting to imitate Neal this time?

Neal returned to the dining room, carrying the running shoes that had been at the bottom of the bag. He sat down to put them on.

"Oh, that reminds me." Fiona stood and hurried to the closet, where she pulled out a gift bag. Handing it to Neal she said, "Happy Birthday!"

Opening the bag, he pulled out a pair of blue socks with a birthday cake printed on them. Fiona had become aware of the concept of novelty socks over Thanksgiving and now they were her go-to gift. He stood to hug her and said, "I'll make sure Henry doesn't steal them, but it won't be easy. In fact..." he sat down to pull off his plain brown socks and replaced them with the ones from Fiona. "That should do the trick."

Her smile lit the room. "You look every inch the birthday boy, now. What a happy coincidence that it's a casual day for you. I must say, however, I'm still confused about something. What is team building, and why does it require you to dress differently than you normally do?"

Neal was curious about that, too. He'd heard the term before, but when Jones and others mentioned team-building events it usually referred to something like going out for drinks after work.

Henry explained the concept of a group of co-workers trying an activity with the goal of learning more about each other and building bonds. However, he declined at first to share what today's event would be.

"C'mon," Neal insisted. "You want to be the one to tell me, right? You can do that now, or I'll get it out of someone else as soon as we reach the office."

Henry pondered that, and then nodded in acquiescence. "Good point. We're going to play laser tag."

Neal grinned in anticipation. Last year after his firearm certification test, he'd noticed the laser tag facility and had tried to talk Peter into playing. There hadn't been time that day, and then Neal had forgotten about it. "Have you ever played?" He wondered if Henry had been practicing, planning to trounce him.

"No, but it's essentially hide-and-seek with lasers, right? We're gonna wipe the floor with everyone else." He grinned.

"Oh, I see it!" Fiona exclaimed. She beamed at them. "I hadn't believed anyone could mistake you for each other, but I see it now. It's that smile, and that mischievous look in your eyes. It really is identical."

"Yeah," Neal agreed. "For an instant he looks almost as good as me."

"Still in denial that I'm older, wiser, and better looking." Henry looked pointedly at his watch. "C'mon, kiddo. Time to get to work."

Henry's rental car.

Over the last four days, Neal and Peter had been chasing after a mystery of Henry's invention. That had been a birthday present to Neal — a mystery to solve while vacationing at the Burke family cabin. Now Henry presented another riddle, but Neal suspected this one wasn't a game. Henry was working to present a facade of birthday lightheartedness, meaning that he was hiding something else.

A few years ago Neal had read several of Henry's psychology textbooks. It had been enlightening for an up-and-coming con artist. There was a section about how people took on different traits at home versus at work. Neal assumed that he'd already seen Henry's work personality. After all, Henry had collaborated with the FBI before. But now Neal wondered if he had ever really experienced what Henry was like at Winston-Winslow, where he had the weight of a family legacy to contend with. Today could bring new insights as a whole contingent of Win-Win representatives descended on the FBI.

Neal put on his seatbelt and said, "I appreciate that you were trying to be subtle this morning with your questions, but you don't have to grill Fiona like she's a suspect in a case, you know."

"Just being thorough," Henry responded as he started his rental car. "You did run a background check on her, right?"

"No," Neal said. "And I'm not going to. First of all, the FBI frowns on using their resources for personal reasons, and secondly she's not a criminal."

"The Win-Win databases didn't have anything suspicious on her, but I like to follow up in person when I can."

Henry reached forward to turn on the radio, but Neal pushed his hand away. This discussion was far from over. "You ran a profile on my girlfriend?"

"Well, yeah. I was checking out Michael after I met him on my last visit, so I thought I might as well run Fiona through a background check, too."

"Does Angela know you're checking on her boyfriend?" Neal was certain their younger cousin wouldn't be happy to hear that.

Henry's expression hardened. "After what I found about her last boyfriend, she should be grateful. Anyway, Michael seems clean, but I'll find time to talk to him more, to be safe."

There was definitely something up with Henry. He sounded stressed, but Neal didn't mention that he'd noticed. Not yet. "Okay. I get you want to keep an eye out for us, but don't go overboard."

"If I'd known Fiona was leaving, I wouldn't have been so worried."

"It's just for three months. Probably." Neal tried to sound upbeat, but he knew the allure of Paris. He wouldn't blame her if she agreed to stay longer.

"And that's why you decided to spend the night at her apartment, getting in a little more time together. I wondered why you abandoned me at your loft."

"Yeah, I wanted time with Fiona. But there's also the fact that you invited yourself over. You didn't ask if I wanted a houseguest for a couple of nights." Not wanting to argue, Neal turned on the radio, scanning through the stations until he found one he liked. Soon they were singing along to "Name" by the Goo Goo Dolls.

Even as he harmonized on the song, Neal made plans to talk to Peter about his concerns. If Henry was worried about something and thought he had to hide it from Neal — after their recent agreement to stop keeping each other in the dark — it had to be serious.