Movie Night

Chapter 4 - Desk Set

Chapter Description: It's Peter's last day at the FBI. Then he gets to score the nominations for movie night. Because of course there would be scoring involved. The Caffreys can't make this simple.

Manhattan FBI offices. December 21, 2006 - Thursday afternoon.

It was the end of Peter's last full day at the Bureau. Friday would be a mere formality, so he was clearing out his office today. He was nearly done, and now he eyed the painting on his office wall. He'd brought a blanket to wrap it in, so it wouldn't be damaged when he took it home.

Should he take it home? It might make more sense to drive directly to Win-Win and drop it off there.

He took down the painting and wrapped it, setting it down next to the box where he'd placed other personal items, including a framed picture of El and a bust of Caesar that had been a gift from Neal. Those would also go to his new office.

There was a knock at his door, and Peter turned around to see Jones.

"Need any help?" Jones said. "You mentioned you'd be packing up this afternoon."

Peter accepted the offer. He'd enjoyed catching up with Jones, Diana, Tricia, Hughes, and Jorge during the going away lunch today. Travis Miller, who'd left the Bureau to work for a tech company, had also attended the lunch.

As they carried Peter's belongings onto the elevator, Jones asked, "What did you think of what Travis was saying about team structures?"

Travis had been excited about something called Agile. It seemed to entail bringing people into small interdisciplinary teams. He'd suggested that instead of having separate units for White Collar, Missing Persons, and Organized Crime, the Bureau should put together small teams of investigators from across those groups.

"I see where he's coming from," Peter said. "Say an embezzlement has occurred. Someone — often a suspect — goes missing, and there might be a mob angle. Do you give the case to Organized Crime, or Missing Persons, or White Collar? Giving it to the wrong group could waste time. If there were teams made up of people across those areas who are used to collaborating, they could bring multiple perspectives to a case at once."

"Yeah," Jones said. "It sounds great in theory. But could you really get them to collaborate? Because most times that isn't how things work around here."

Peter nodded. "It does sound like the setup to a joke. A White Collar agent, a Missing Persons agent, and an Organized Crime agent walk into a conference room. You expect to hear a punchline."

"Exactly. Remember when Agent Rice pulled us into a Missing Persons case, back when Caffrey first joined our team?"

"Or when we worked with Organized Crime on the Samurai bonds case? Not a model I'd want to follow."

"But I get what Travis was saying. If you had people with all those types of experience really thinking of themselves as a team and acting like a team, maybe add in a tech expert, they could be amazing."

"Going to suggest it to Hughes?" Peter asked.

"Maybe. Do you think Organized Crime would go for it?"

Peter grimaced. "Not without evidence that it would work. You might be able to talk Karen into a trial, but you'd need to be careful about who you get from her. It would need to be someone who's actually open to new things, instead of being a malcontent she's simply trying to get off her hands."

The elevator dinged and they exited to carry the painting and box to Peter's car. "Thanks," he said as he closed the door to the backseat.

"Is there a Lambo in your future?" Jones asked, a smile in his voice.