2A/N: I forgot how much I hate coming up with titles for stories. Also, for whatever reason this one was not wanting to be written. I had it all thought out in my mind, but getting it typed out took forever. I don't really like how this one turned out. It was also delayed because I made the mistake of watching the first episode of Prodigal Son, and of course couldn't stop watching it during my free time instead of writing (and now thinking of what crossovers could be written between Prodigal Son and White Collar...). Next story in the series should be up sooner since I'm excited about it and almost have it completely written.
This is one where I wish I could write fight scenes, but no. Better to leave it up to the imagination than whatever monstrosity I would come up with. Also, there may be mistakes as I only gave it a read through for editing maybe once or twice.
In the months following the reveal that his CI was actually CIA, Peter was sort of expecting something to happen. He wasn't sure what, but who learns a secret like that and then everything goes back to how it was before? Well, things had gone back to how they were before, and Bryce made it incredibly easy for him to fall back into their old witty banter between FBI agent and CI.
They continued to solve cases, nothing too large came up, so Peter enjoyed the time to go back home at a reasonable hour and have dinner with El almost every day. It also seemed like Bryce was much more relaxed and happier whenever Peter saw him. Having both Peter and Hughes aware of his CIA agent undercover status did wonders for his mental health. Life went back to normal, and Peter didn't push Bryce to tell him more about his time with the CIA. He understood government restrictions and respected them, to a point. He still had many less than kind words that he thought about the CIA with how they've treated the mental and emotional health of one of their agents.
Working with Neal Caffrey added a few strokes of gray to his previously black and white world. Peter didn't want to think about what color that gray now turned with it being a CIA agent teaching him these things instead of a conman. But it may be simpler to keep thinking of them as gray areas with how dedicated Bryce has been to the role of Neal Caffrey. And it was this dedication that came up again in a display that worried Peter on their new case.
It was a standard art theft from a gallery with a forgery in its place. It wasn't even a great forgery when the employees of the gallery were able to notice that something didn't look right when they arrived for work that morning. So, it did not take long for the FBI to become involved as a few other paintings were now suspect once under further scrutiny. It was not a bad idea, put the focus of the investigation on a clear forgery to take the heat off of the other paintings that were also stolen.
"It really isn't that bad of a plan. Especially if our thief doesn't have the best forgery skills. Gives more of a window to fence the other stolen paintings, maybe have the one that was originally noticed as a forgery mysteriously show up and be returned. Takes some creative thinking to pull this one off." Neal commented to Peter as they were walking around the gallery to see if any other paintings stood out as fakes.
"Hypothetically, have you done anything like this?" Peter questioned; eyes more focused on the painting in front of them.
"I hypothetically wouldn't need to run a con like this because my paintings wouldn't be noticed by the employees for a long time. But it might be an idea to tuck away for a rainy day – no one would expect me to pull a con like it…" Something didn't sound right to Peter with what his friend said, or how he said it. He had a hunch on what it was about. Peter turned towards Neal, because it was Neal who was in front of him, had been with him once stepping into the gallery earlier. Peter reached out and put a hand on Neal's shoulder, making sure he had the other man's full attention.
"You doing okay, Bryce?" And it was as if a light switch was flipped, and the questioning look on Neal's face turned to a frustrated Bryce with his eyes closed.
"Fuck…" Bryce ran a hand over his face and unconsciously ran a quick check around them to see who may or may not be in the area to notice what was going on. The hand on his shoulder gave another squeeze before letting go, and Bryce let go of the breath he was holding in. "Thanks, Peter."
"You want to get some drinks later?"
"No, I'm good. I have some paintings that I was…" Bryce realized what he was starting to say and abruptly stopped mid-sentence to think. He made eye contact with Peter who could see the small bit of panic forming. Before Bryce was able to continue talking, Peter had an idea. Drinks were too much of an overlap between Bryce's world and Neal's.
"It's a Friday, I don't think anyone will be using the FBI gym later tonight. You interested?" Panic disappeared into a small smile with a hint of mischief.
"Sure. I hope you like hitting the floor again and again." Bryce grinned with most thoughts of his recent identity crisis forgotten for now.
"Yeah, we'll see. Don't you forget that I've had my eye on you for a while, and I am pretty sure you haven't had any regular training."
"I could say the same for you, Peter. White collar may have made you soft with all the paintings and mortgage fraud and bonds…" Their bickering changed slightly when Bryce saw Diana walking over to join them, "and there is no way you can teach me how to fight. I mean, look at these arms! You expect me to be able to fight?" Diana looked amused as she walked up to them.
"I don't know, Caffrey. Those arms look pretty good to me. You have to have some muscle to get in and out of tight places, right?"
"Diana, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were flirting with me!"
"Then I guess it is good that you know better." She grinned back at him. "So, what's this I hear about Peter teaching you to fight?" Peter gestured for Bryce to answer as he should be the one to lead how whatever was going to happen, happened.
"Peter seems to think that I should learn some self defense since I won't be able to talk my way out of every situation I find myself in. And, he may be right, as much as it pains me to say that." He stage whispered the last bit to Diana, making her smile even more.
"This I gotta see."
"No, Diana. At least give the guy a few training lessons before anyone is humiliated in front of you or others. Especially since I know you won't keep this quiet from the rest of the team."
"Fine, Peter. You win. But I do want to see how his progress is coming along once he gets over his embarrassment of losing so much."
"Ouch! Ye of little faith, Diana. I'm wounded!"
"If that's all it takes to wound you, then you won't last long against Peter."
"Wanna bet on that?" Diana couldn't help but grin back at Neal with his words. Peter was starting to wonder what he just got himself pulled into – that's what he gets for letting Bryce decide the direction of the conversation.
"Sure, Caffrey. $100 on Peter getting you to tap out first."
"Only $100?"
"Fine, $200."
"Sure. Any time limit during the match?"
"No. I know how you can be with loopholes. If I set a time limit you would just run around the room avoiding Peter until the time ended. Either he taps out first, or you do."
"Smart. I can accept that. Just one round, or best two out of three?"
"Let's extend the embarrassment. Best two out of three." Bryce continued to grin at Diana.
"How long do I get to train?"
"I'll give you a fair shot. How about three months from now."
"Since when do I play fair? Two months." Diana gave him a confused and questioning look.
"Alright, two months. It's your money I'll be getting that much sooner." She offered her hand to Neal who took it, and they sealed the deal of their bet with Peter as their witness. With that, she left the two guys and went off to continue her work.
"You do know she's going to create a betting pool." Peter sounded slightly exasperated. He knew the direction the match between him and Bryce was going to go.
"Yup." Bryce had an excited energy about him with this new development.
"Do I have any chance of beating you, even if the match was today?"
"Nope." Peter's suspicion was confirmed. He was not looking forward to the inevitable bruises and explaining them to El.
"Whoever you're going to find to be probably the only one to bet on you. We split the earnings? 30/30/40? You and I each get 30 and 40 goes to whoever you convince?"
"Peter? Look at you! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were good friends with a conman!" Peter couldn't help but smile back at Bryce when he saw his friend's enthusiastic face at the situation.
"Well, it will teach everyone to do a better job at investigating before placing bets and to not assume they know how it will end. You know this will bring questions your way, right? No one can become that good in only two months." Bryce shrugged in answer.
"They'll find out soon enough, let them assume what they want to. You didn't hear this from me, but at the end of the year the FBI might be losing Neal Caffrey but gaining an Agent Larkin." Bryce's voice was as low as it could go but still be audible. Peter turned his full attention on Bryce.
"You're serious?"
"Well, there are still a lot of hoops that Hughes needs to go through. Many more meetings that he and the higher ups in my office need to have, but Hughes has a pretty solid case. And he has my full support."
"You decided." Peter stated.
"I decided. I don't want to leave my partner. Now, come on. We should get back to this case before anyone else overhears what we're talking about." Bryce walked away to continue investigating the other paintings on the walls. Peter couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day.
After they wrapped up at the gallery, Peter ordered some takeout and had it ready for the two of them to eat back at the office. Something light to eat while finishing up the final tasks for the day before they headed to the FBI gym.
It was while Peter was finishing some paperwork that Bryce stood up and made his way over to Hughes' office, brushing off Peter's questioning look and telling him that he'll fill him in later.
Hughes knew that his current headache would be worth it in the end. He and Bryce had a good conversation a few weeks ago about what the CIA agent ultimately would like to do. He wasn't going to force Bryce to change from CIA to working for the FBI, but he could hope. He was also going to let Bryce come to him once he made the choice. So, when that choice was made, Bryce had invited Hughes over to June's place so that they could talk in an area where Bryce knew there wouldn't be any bugs or people watching (that he didn't know of). He also made sure that Mozzie would stay away that night by telling him that there would be a few suits over that night to discuss options concerning what would happen after the tracking anklet was removed. Which wasn't a complete lie.
It was enough of the truth mixed in with enough suits to be sure that Mozzie would stay away, fearing what the government would do to him if he was in a room with that many suits. Bryce didn't want to think about the day Moz found out about his CIA roots. But it would have to happen eventually, especially if Bryce was going to end up joining the FBI as an official agent. Bryce had made a mental note to make sure to keep some of the older CIA spy equipment in storage – stuff that the CIA wouldn't miss, and would hopefully be enough to get the little guy talking with him again after the inevitable argument about everything Bryce kept hidden. He was a friend he didn't want to lose.
They discussed several different options that night, but the only one that Bryce felt completely comfortable with was to take on the name of Agent Larkin again. He was done with Neal Caffrey. After they reached that conclusion, Hughes had enough to go start the discussions with the CIA. Bryce was left out of most of the conversations as he still had his mission he needed to complete, but it was close to completion. It should be able to be wrapped up by the end of the year. Bryce would make sure of that. He may have taken a few risks to get the information he needed faster, but he brushed it off as Neal Caffrey being an influence on his life. Whether that was entirely a good or bad influence, Bryce shrugged it off and figured he had Peter to help be his moral compass in the future.
Hughes started to realize just how large the headache might get, and that it probably would never go away when Bryce knocked on his office door late on a Friday afternoon. The first words coming out of Bryce were enough to make him wish for a drink.
"Hey, Hughes. I need to talk with you about a bet…"
"Come in and shut the door." Bryce did as he was told before sitting down, knee bouncing up and down, a Neal Caffrey smile directed at the senior agent.
When Bryce rejoined Peter in his office, the agent was starting to gather his belongings together. It seemed he was ready to head to the FBI gym.
"How was your conversation with Hughes?" Peter didn't even try to hide his curiosity.
"I found an agent to bet in favor of me and is good with our plan."
"Hughes thinks you'll beat me?" Bryce gave his friend a deadpan look.
"Peter. He's seen more of my files than you have. Of course he's betting on me." Peter nodded before a grin spread across his face.
"Imagine Diana's expression when Hughes goes to her with his bet." Bryce grinned back in return as they gathered the last of their things and headed out of the office towards the gym.
Peter soon found out how much work he would have to do if he ever wanted to come close to beating his friend at their sparring matches. While he had kept up with a little bit more than just the minimum training required throughout the year to remain operative in the field, Peter was embarrassed at how quickly Bryce had him pinned to the ground.
They went at it for a few more matches, more for Bryce to gauge where Peter was at in skill. Peter was hesitant to go all out at first, despite Bryce telling him it would be okay. But after hitting the ground and getting the wind knocked out of him several times in a row, Peter decided to trust his friend to know his limits and went all out. Even then, Peter only got in a few hits. Not nearly enough to get a win in a match. Bryce and Peter kept at it for a while, until the CIA agent could see that his friend was running on fumes.
"Okay, okay…" Bryce blocked the last few hits that came his way. "I think we should take a bit of a break, Peter. You're doing really well for an FBI agent, but there is still a lot you have to learn."
"You think what you teach me will be enough for me to beat you in two months?"
"No, but it will give you a better shot at lasting longer than a few minutes." Bryce cheerfully responded as he tossed a towel at Peter to soak up some of the sweat.
"Oh, don't sound so smug about all of this. I will beat you one day!"
"Yeah, I'll believe it when it happens… so, there's this move that I think you would be well suited for…" And with that, Peter listened intently as Bryce worked on teaching him a few basic moves that he hadn't known before. They walked through the motions slowly, letting Peter grow accustom to the movements and committing it to memory.
They continued until Peter let himself fall to the mat after being unbalanced, and just laid there for a few moments, eyes closed. Bryce grabbed a fresh towel and dropped it on Peter's face. It was a testament to how worn out Peter was that he didn't react more than dragging a hand up to grab the towel, giving his face a wipe with it, and then letting his hand fall back down to the mat with a thump.
"You doing okay there, Peter?"
"Yeah, just give me a minute or ten." That made Bryce chuckle as he went to get their water bottles. Peter's water bottle was something he gently set down next to his friend's head. Peter cracked open his eyes and saw the bottle next to his head. With a groan, he forced himself into a sitting position, put the towel around his neck, and grabbed the water bottle.
"I am now very glad that Neal Caffrey is a nonviolent conman. Made everything before so much easier than you could have made it." Bryce joined Peter sitting on the mat, their knees almost brushing.
"Easier to keep the two lives separate that way – or at least that was the initial thought when making Neal." Peter nodded in response, and then let out a large yawn. It was then that he fully realized how late it was.
"I don't know about you, but a shower and sleep sound really good right now." Bryce agreed with what Peter was saying, stood up, and then offered a hand to the other man still sitting on the mat. Peter gratefully accepted the help, and Bryce directed him to head for the showers while he took care of sanitizing the mats and cleaned everything up. It would only take a few minutes. Peter clapped him on the shoulder in thanks and turned towards the locker room to take a long, hot shower.
Bryce was quick to clean and sanitize everything, packed up all of his and Peter's belongings in their bags, and followed the path Peter took towards the locker room. A long, hot shower did indeed sound lovely after their session.
Their time together working out and training turned into a tentative schedule. They would try for at least two nights a week, but really aiming for three nights. And with time and practice, Peter did steadily improve on his fighting skills. Repetition was key after all. He was still not to the level of Bryce, but the training was good for both of them to get back into peak shape. It was also therapeutic in the way that they both were able to get lost in the sparing and forget about the outside world for a little bit.
Occasionally there would be others in the gym at the time Peter and Bryce went late at night, and Peter tried not to enjoy those nights too much. After all, they had their roles to play. Peter was the one who was teaching Neal how to fight after all. But Peter was still concerned about his friend and how everyone in the office was going to react towards Neal's skills.
Finally, the day had come, and the whole White Collar division was eagerly waiting for the end of the day when they all would crowd into the gym and watch one of their best agents and one of their best CI's go at it. They all thought they knew how it was going to end and were looking forward to the good humored jokes and slaps on the back to congratulate Neal at giving it a try, but better luck next time. Word around the office was that there was someone who bet on Neal winning, along with the con betting on himself. Diana was keeping the name closely guarded, and she was thinking that Hughes bet on Neal to give the younger man a hard time at losing later.
The end of the day rolled around with Neal and Peter heading out before the rest of the office to get ready. It was as they finished warming up and stretching that the rest of the White Collar office started to join them. Diana, being the one who helped organize it, called for any last bet changes. She got a few laughs from that, but no takers. With the business side of the match taken care of, she turned to Peter and Neal and gave them a gesture to begin with a grin on her face.
The two men gave each other a low high five before retreating back a few steps to watch each other, neither striking first. Even though they had talked about it before, and Peter confirmed while they were warming up, he still gave Bryce a meaningful look. One last check to make sure the CIA agent was good with going all out on the match. Bryce gave a small nod in return before darting forward and beginning the match.
Everyone watching instantly could tell that it was not the match they were expecting of their FBI agent against his CI. It was not the easy fight they were expecting where Peter was going to be the clear winner. Even with the training they were doing during the past two months, there was no way Neal only just learned how to fight like that. There were a few nervous chuckles from the otherwise silent crowd as Neal ended the match by getting Peter to tap out with a chokehold he could not get out of. Peter stumbled forward as soon as he was let go with Neal reaching out a hand to help steady his friend.
As Peter leaned over, hands on his knees to catch his breath, Neal walked over to the side and grabbed both of their water bottles and two clean towels. He handed over one of each to Peter, who accepted them with a smile in thanks. They did not pay attention to the unease from the crowd around them at seeing one of their more experienced agents in the office be taken down by a nonviolent conman. A few more seconds of rest, and the two were ready for the next round.
It lasted much longer than the first round as it seemed clear that Neal was playing with Peter a bit. Putting on a show for the audience. There were a few close calls where people thought for sure Peter was going to win. But they were sorely disappointed. Instead, Neal ended the second round by getting Peter to the floor and getting him in an arm lock, forcing the muscles to hyperextend, touching the line of being almost too much. As expected, Peter tapped out. It was after Neal helped pull him to his feet that the two looked over to where Diana stood on the sidelines.
Bryce knew that there was going to be some conflicted responses, but he did not expect it so soon after the match. Regardless, he did not let his Caffrey smile falter as he walked over to the agent. Peter followed several steps behind, towel hung around his neck.
"So, Diana. I believe I won the bet." Neal reached out his hand for the envelope that held the betting pool money. She didn't say anything and handed it over. However, before Neal could grab it, another hand reached over and took it from Diana.
"Don't worry, Caffrey, I'll count it to make sure it's all there and then portion out your cut of the winnings." Hughes smiled as he placed the envelope in the inside pocket of his suit jacket. Everyone from the White Collar floor were shocked to find out that it was Hughes who was the one to place his bet on Caffrey. Hughes continued talking to then address everyone,
"Let that be a lesson to you all to do proper investigating before making a bet. Even if you think you have all the details, there will still be info that you're missing. Caffrey, come to my office Monday morning," With that, he walked to the doors and exited the room. Slowly, many of the other people decided to leave as well. Not knowing what to say this time, Diana smiled at the two guys and told them to go take a shower and enjoy the weekend.
Peter didn't notice too much of how their coworkers viewed the match and the responses to Neal's apparent fighting skills. The fighting took a lot out of him, and he was already thinking of how nice a shower was going to be, and then a cold beer once he left the building. Bryce however did notice the change in attitude some people had towards what just happened and told himself that it was all part of the plan. Even if it hurt to see these reactions from coworkers he thought of as friends.
The weekend flew by, and Monday morning came too soon for Bryce. He could tell that the mood in the White Collar floor changed between Friday and Monday, and it was not fully unexpected. Friendly smiles he would receive before were now hollow copies of coworker respect. Bryce set his stuff down at his desk and made his way to visit Hughes in his office as requested.
Knocking on the open door, Bryce let himself into the office and waited while Hughes finished with an email. He sat himself down in one of the open chairs, waiting patiently for the other man's attention. He did not have to wait long. That, or Hughes saw that Bryce was about to grab the rubber band ball on his desk to start fidgeting with.
"First order of business, as requested, here are both your and Peter's share of the bet money. I trust his portion will make it to him with no issue." A white envelope was slid across the desk towards Bryce. "Secondly, while you're here, are you satisfied with the results from your match with Peter?" They both knew he wasn't talking about being satisfied that he beat Peter. That was a given.
"You had a good view of how everyone reacted. I told you before that not everyone would take it nicely. They all still think I'm a con. And now I'm a con who can take down their best agents. They don't like that. It brings up the question of what else am I hiding and can they really trust me." Bryce stated with a matter of fact shrug.
"You start putting this suspicion in their minds, so then when they find out you're CIA…?"
"It gives an answer to their previous suspicions of who I am since I'm clearly not the nonviolent criminal they all knew before. Not with skills like they saw on Friday. It takes their mind off of the shock of a CIA agent being among them for a mission. No fed likes being investigated. This gives me a chance to maybe slowly win back their trust if they're preoccupied at connecting the dots of the skills they've previously seen." Hughes nodded in understanding at Bryce's words, getting more of an explanation behind the events from the previous week.
"Well, keep me updated if you have any other crazy plans you have in the works." Bryce said that he would as he recognized the dismissal for what it was and got up out of the chair to head over to Peter's office for the next case.
