The Universe Of Neal Caffrey

Small Circles

Co-posted on Archive of Our Own under the pseudonym 00qverlord.

They had all the people they needed to pull this off, but Kate O'Hare knew Nick Fox. His brow was furrowed and it was obvious he was thinking something he didn't want to admit to the others. So Kate did the obvious thing; she approached him about it.
"Something on your mind?"
"Just a small something," Nick said as he paced around the chairs in no particular pattern "I was just thinking of someone else we could use to pull this off. A sweet talker, but there's one problem."
"If they're in prison, I just need to pull a few strings," Kate bargained.
"No... He was in prison, but he's kind-of-sort-of-maybe on loan to the FBI right now as a CI, but more for art crimes than what I do."
"Then couldn't we kind-of-sort-of-maybe borrow him, I mean it would be as simple as requesting a transfer for him and his handler."
Yeah, it would be that simple. But not for this one.
Nick, who hadn't stopped pacing, had said "I just don't really want to deal with his handler. We worked a couple jobs together and while I got away, he was chasing after a girl and his handler is the one who caught him. I mean if I go up there requesting to see him, then I'm going to get pulled into all this drama and maybe get arrested again."
Then it dawned on Kate, "I could go with you, I mean as an escort or something. I probably would have to get you some kind of security anyway, no offence,"
"None taken."
"And it would just be easier for me to come along."
Nick stopped pacing and looked at Kate. She was right, it would be easier than anything, she was a skilled agent who had tracked him twice and taken him down once, it wasn't like she couldn't do it again. He nodded at her, and the next day, there was a taxi waiting to take them into the city.

Kate never questioned who he wanted to find, after the adventure with Boyd Capwell, she knew both Fox and his marks could be quite unpredictable. So when they pulled in to the Bureau, she was honestly surprised.
"I knew he was working with the FBI, but the Bureau? Why do you think I've been out in the field so long, it's because I've been avoiding this place!"
Kate glanced at Nick and only saw the hint of a sly grin, and she knew she was in for a hell of a day. They were escorted up the stairs and into an office and were told to sit down, ever so kindly by a woman that Nick had flashed a smile at, but Kate ended up getting her business card. She grinned at him in triumph, even though she didn't swing that way, it was one more victory over Nick, which yes, she was counting.

Kate wanted to believe it was anyone other than who was standing in the doorway. Not Peter Burke, he, she was fine with. It was the other man that was standing with him, that Kate O'Hare herself wished to go back to planning and scheming about how to take down Griffin, who would rather be anywhere but here, standing in front of Neal Fucking Caffrey. As Kate was frozen, so was Neal, right in the middle of the doorway, but he wasn't looking at her. He was staring at Nick Fox, and while Peter just looked kind of confused, Nick had the slyest grin on his face. And when Kate got a hold of herself again, she wheeled on Nick.
"You know Neal Fucking Caffrey?"
"Yes, I know Neal Fucking Caffrey."
"You know, Neal Fucking Caffrey is standing right here."
"Right, Ok." Kate turned back to the two men near the doorway. "Sorry about that. It just wasn't who I was expecting to see at all. I wasn't expecting anyone specific, but not Neal Caffrey. Kate O'Hare." She extended her hand to the agent, who shook her hand and replied with "Peter Burke. How does he know Neal?"
This is where Nick stepped in, clapping Neal on the back, who still kind of had a stunned look on his face. The clap sort of startled him back into reality, and he pulled Nick into a hug, "I thought you were dead, you idiot!" The two did manage to separate, where Nick launched into his story about how he met Neal Fucking Caffrey.

----

Neal did agree to the deal, and even Peter was in on it, albeit begrudgingly. He didn't like the fact that they had to swindle the guy into jail, but the fact that he was going to jail was good enough for him. So he did -with a lot of persuading the bureau- release Neal into the custody of Kate O'Hare. He would have loved to go with them, but they did need him here to stay on White Collar crime. He was their lead agent, and they couldn't just toss him into the air willy-nilly. At the last minute, Neal persuaded them to take off his tracker as well, as yes, he probably would be doing something illegal, but it was for the 'greater good' (his words exactly), and since he couldn't look for Kate anymore and Nick was here, he didn't have anywhere to run to.

So with the three of them off to the rest of the rag-tag crew, they came together to take down Derek Griffin.