Fanfic Short Stories

White Collar: You Stole My Raphael

Summary: AU in which Neal and Sara are professors, and Peter needs one of them to lead a seminar for the White Collar team.

A/N: Inspired by a Tumblr reverse tropes prompt: Academic Rivals who are professors vying to have the best class

FBI Agent Peter Burke is sitting in the office of Ivan Sherkov, dean of the Art History department at Columbia. It's late on a Monday afternoon, so there aren't many people around.

"You stole my Raphael!" It sounds like a woman, her voice echoing down the corridor.

"I borrowed it." The response comes from a deeper voice. "I was going to return it this evening. If you hadn't come back early, you'd never have known it was gone."

"There they are," says the dean. He walks to the door of his office. "Professors, do not keep our guest waiting."

The squabbling professors look young, in Peter's opinion. They couldn't be more than two or three years beyond finishing their PhDs. Ivan introduces them as Sara Ellis and Neal Caffrey, the newest members of the department.

Peter explains his goal. He'd started his career in the FBI's Art Crimes division in D.C., where he'd received a decent overview of art. However, his new White Collar Crimes unit doesn't have that kind of background. He's looking for a seminar to help the team learn the basics they need when dealing with suspected art theft.

Sara and Neal both look rapt.

"Yes," Neal says. "The methods of identifying a forgery are fascinating. I can definitely teach them the best techniques."

"What they need is an overview of provenance," Sara says. "I can teach them how to research the history of an artwork and to identify the signs that the provenance is questionable."

Ivan looks at Peter. "Which seminar do you want?" he asks.

"Both," Peter says.

Neal and Sara exchange a surprised glance.

"This will be interesting," Ivan predicts.

"What were you saying about a stolen Raphael?" Peter asks as he and the two professors leave Ivan's office.

"I have a print of Raphael's St. George and the Dragon in my office," Sara says. "Or I did before I left on vacation."

"You'll have it back before the day is over," Neal grumbles. "I was just using it as an example for one of my classes. The level of detail is fantastic. It's the latest in reproduction techniques, based on the newest digital technology. You can see so much detail of the brush strokes... Honestly, you should be flattered that I took it."

Peter smiles as they walk away. They aren't so much squabbling as bantering. It's so fun to watch that maybe he'll sit in on the seminar with the rest of his team. In fact, maybe he should invite this duo of professors to consult the next time there's a high-profile art theft.

A/N: Many thanks to Silbrith for letting me borrow her Sherkov character! This is an AU I'd love to return to one day...