Neal Caffrey one shots | White Collar

Royalty

{A/N} | A while ago someone left behind a prompt of Neal being royalty. I couldn't find the prompt anymore and I can't remember who requested it but I hope you'll like it. It's not really royalty but I thought this worked better for the story. Enjoy!

Neal Caffrey had a secret. Well, he had multiple but there was one secret that he would never ever share with some. Not even his friend Mozzie knew about it.

It was a secret that if found out, it would affect a lot of people. It would likely cause a national scandal, and Neal was not about to make that happen.

The thing was, this secret was about to come to light. People were about to find out and Neal was scared of the outcome.

"Neal!" Peter Burke yelled from the top of the bullpen.

Neal looked up, saw his handler give him the double finger point and sighed. the walk to his handler's office was short but Neal was busy thinking about what it was his friend wanted to talk about.

"Peter." Neal grinned innocently as he entered the office.

Peter shot him a look but didn't comment on the way his CI was behaving. "We've got a new case." He said, handing the other man a manilla file. "All the way from Ireland."

"The Doheny family?" Neal asked, a sharp pang of fear popping up in his chest as look looked through the file.

"Yeah, you heard of them?"

"I mean, I know they're a wealthy noble family in Ireland." The CI replied, keeping his voice light. "Why did they ask us for help?"

"Mrs Doheny seems to be under the impression that something of extreme value has been stolen from their family. She requested the help of the FBI since it happened on USA soil."

Neal sank down in a chair. "What was stolen?"

"Her oldest son, Daniel Doheny," Peter answered.

Neal felt his heart drop. It'd been a long time since he heard that name. Peter couldn't know, right? He couldn't. There was no way he knew.

"A kidnapping?" Neal asked, hoping his voice didn't give him away.

Peter shook his head. "Not a kidnapping. A painting of him was stolen."

Neal cocked his head, faking confusion.

"You don't know the story?" Peter asked, regarding his CI with a curious look.

"I've heard it. Their oldest son went missing when he was fifteen and was never heard from since." Neal of course knew the story all too well. He knew that that son hadn't left at age fifteen, but on the day of his sixteenth birthday. He knew exactly why the son had left and where he'd gone.

"Almost, Mr and Mrs Doheny believe their son was kidnapped on his sixteenth birthday. Even after twenty-years they're still looking for him. That's what makes this painting so valuable." Peter said. "Their youngest son, Darren, had it hung up in his estate here in Manhattan. When he got back from his trip to Bali, he discovered it missing. He told his mother and she reported it to us."

Neal nodded, trying very hard not to show his feelings on his face. He was usually very good at concealing his feelings but this case was exactly what he had dreaded.

"We're meeting with the youngest son in an hour. Mr and Mrs Doheny will be here tomorrow." Peter said. "You'll be coming with me to the meeting."

"Why?" Neal asked, maybe a bit too quick. "I mean, maybe I should reach out to Moz, see if he's heard anything on the streets. A painting with that kind of backstory will be worth a lot and they'd want to move quick before it gets too hot to sell."