Undercover (White Collar, M)

[GroundIntoDust]

AN: You don't really need to have seen White Collar to enjoy this story. In short, Neal is a suave, image-conscious ex-con who is working with the FBI under the supervision of Peter.

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Neal Caffrey was working undercover. For tonight, he was Michael Everett, multi-millionaire investor in oil companies, living the high life at the age of 32, having a nice drink and looking for a woman to flirt with.

If successful, that woman would be a Ms. Angela Lofton, a frequenter at this particular bar. Lately, three different millionaire men had been robbed. The three victims had little in common, but they all recalled going to this bar not long before the robberies and chatting with a woman, who, after the sketch was finished, appeared to be this Angela Lofton. It appeared that she was working for someone else, scoping out rich men at the bar to be her employer’s next targets. But tonight, Neal would go in, hoping to be the next victim of these robberies.

The plan was to make subtle eye contact with Lofton and make her notice him. He would play coy for several minutes before going over to buy her a drink. He would introduce himself as his alias Michael Everett, a name which the FBI had artificially linked to a nearby condo. Then he would make flirtatious conversation with her while dropping hints about his abundant wealth. After tonight, the FBI would stake out the condo to which Michael Everett’s name was linked until the robber appeared. While Neal was undercover tonight, Peter and Jones would be listening and giving directions from the van.

As usual, Neal was the perfect fit for the undercover role, but tonight he was a little nervous. Not because of anything to do with the job, but because of a more personal issue: he had a cold. The prior day, it had been a stinging sore throat, but he had been able to perform just fine despite the discomfort. Today, however, he had started sneezing. And that was one thing he couldn’t hide.

Or at least, not here. He had been able to hide it well enough during the day at the Bureau, avoiding any lengthy one-on-one conversations so that he could frequently turn towards a wall or hide behind his computer or his files while he stifled his sneezes into near-silence. But tonight, he had to buy a woman drinks and make playful, confident conversation with her until Peter gave him the okay to get out of there. Not to mention the fact that the microphone on him would probably pick up any sounds of him stifling sneezes, no matter how close to silent he was able to make them.

“Ready, Neal?” Peter’s voice sounded through the small speaker in Neal’s ear.

Neal stood on the sidewalk just outside the bar. Jones had confirmed earlier that Lofton was in there, so now was their chance.

Neal gave a characteristic grin with a tilt of his head. “I’m ready.”

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Neal headed smoothly into the bar and took a seat, choosing one where he and Lofton could make good eye contact but that wasn’t too close to her. She was already talking to another man who appeared to be quite wealthy as well. Neal took into account the competition for her attention and noted that he would have to do a little more than normal to impress her and make her think he was the one worth stealing from.

He ordered a scotch and kept his head tilted down towards his drink once it came. Every so often, he glanced up at Lofton, subtly displaying his interest in her. After a few minutes, he saw her say some parting words with the man she was speaking with, and Neal sipped at his drink as she approached him.

“You look lonely,” Lofton opened flirtatiously.

Neal set down his glass and eyed her up and down with a hint of a smirk. “I could use some company.”

Lofton sat down next to him. “Long day?”

“Stocks take a lot of work.” He rubbed the tip of his nose back and forth a couple times.

“I agree,” she said coyly. “What sort of stocks do you trade?”

“Oil.” Neal was silently grateful that Lofton’s current conversation allowed him to be succinct. His nose was starting to really bother him. It was itching and running, and the running just created more itching. He was hesitant to sniffle because his microphone would pick up the noise. He didn’t want Peter to call him out early; Neal was confident that he could do the job, and he wanted to get it done.

Lofton toyed with a cocktail napkin, and it was apparent that she was waiting for him to make a move. “Can I buy you a-hhh drink?” he asked. He mentally cursed himself for his inability to keep his voice steady. His nose was just too ticklish, and his breaths were more and more often punctuated by shaky exhales and small gasps.

“Everything okay there, Neal?” Peter came in over the speaker in Neal’s ear. Neal didn’t answer, couldn’t answer now—both because it would look weird if he muttered something right now, and because he didn’t trust himself to make a convincing argument while his breath was hitching and interrupting his speech.

Meanwhile, Angela Lofton was giving Neal an affirmative, devilish smile. Neal signaled to the bartender. “A scotch f-for the lady, please.” Again, he wasn’t able to keep his voice steady! He closed his eyes momentarily in frustration. By the time he opened them, his nose was itching horribly. He felt his nostrils flare as he exhaled shakily.

“Hehh….”

The bartender was pouring the drink, and Lofton was gazing slyly at Neal’s condition. With a sideways glance, Neal could tell that she had noticed that he badly needed to sneeze, and he felt blood rush to his cheeks. He lifted a hand to rub furiously at his nose in a last attempt to dissipate the sneeze. The tickle backed off momentarily, but it quickly returned as a burning need to give one huge, relieving sneeze. Or maybe more than one.

“Hah…HUH….” He was so close to sneezing. Let’s just get it over with at this point, he thought.

He lifted a hand under the guise of covering his mouth and nose—but with the tip of his thumb, he lightly teased the outside of his nostril. His nostrils immediately flared in response, and he covered his nose for real now.

“Huh…ISHHOOO!” He had managed restrain his outburst from being overly loud, trying to maintain a sense of propriety. However, his nose was not happy with his attempts to restrain it. It itched like crazy, and he knew he desperately needed to sneeze again.

“Neal?” Peter’s voice came in through the speaker in Neal’s ear again. “Get out of there before you make a fool of yourself. Go to the bathroom or something and get yourself under control.”

Neal’s next exhalation was half a sigh a frustration and half a precursor to an urgent sneeze. “Hurr…HUH-ESSHHHOOOO!”

“Neal,” Peter warned over the speaker. But Neal wasn’t done yet.

“HUH-ESSHHHHHOOOO!....” Neal sighed in relief at the disappearance of the itch in his nose. His sinuses still felt vaguely uncomfortable, but he could gather himself for now, at least.

“Excuse me,” Neal said suavely to Lofton, who had watched his ordeal with what looked like passive interest. He took out his pocket handkerchief and dabbed at his nose, hoping to be unobtrusive in the gesture.

“Neal!” Peter warned once again. Neal wanted to stay and seduce Lofton—he was confident he could, even with this rotten cold—but he thought better of it. Peter would kill him if he didn’t excuse himself to the bathroom.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” he told Lofton, deliberately brushing his arm against her shoulder as he headed for the restroom, hoping for a casually flirtatious effect.

Was Peter going to notice he was sick? Was he going to reprimand him for messing up his flawless cover? Was he going to tell Neal to go home? No matter which way, Neal was dreading whatever lecture Peter was going to give him.

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Possibly to be continued!

[ID2006]

I love a sneezy Neal

[SneezeyLove]

This is wonderful! I love how you've written Neal. Please write more - I would love to see the lecture that Peter is going to give!

[42686]

this is great, i;d like to see what'll happen next sneezy neal is always nice

[MoonDuck]

No no no no, not "*possibly* to be continued!" I need moreeee. This is too good; I need to know what happens!

[everest]

I love White Collar! Neal's quite, determined confidence is one of my favorite things about him. You've portrayed him really well here, and I'm intrigued by Peter's involvement. I'd love to see you continue!

[Lietome]

Please continue! I love it!!