Chapter Text
Initially, it was the exquisite skill of the forger that caught Peter’s attention. The obvious eye for detail and wide range of sharply honed skills. The department nicknamed their perp James Bonds and settled in for the long haul. A forger this good...well, it was only a matter of time before he moved onto bigger and better things.
Like taunting the FBI. Slipping every tail. Dodging every net. He was a magician but a magician who eventually led them to a name. Neal Caffrey—age seventeen. It wasn’t the kid’s age that had Peter’s mind working though, it was his most recent evasion of the FBI. They’d been close. Really close. Inches away actually, only to turn a corner to find Caffrey was gone.
And security tapes didn’t show how he’d left the building. It wasn’t even the first time something like this had happened. Caffrey was a chameleon, master of disguise and seemingly had the ability to just know when they were close. It was like...magic.
“You know Peter,” El said, “you can’t blame magic every time you run into this kid. Just because he’s slick doesn’t mean he’s a witch.” She smiled.
Peter sighed. “Hard not to consider it, hon.” Before he and El had gotten married, she’d let him in on her family secret. The Mitchells were a proud family of witches. El was more interested in her business than brewing potions, but she still found time to help the innocent. Even if Peter wasn’t always thrilled about her being in danger.
“I admit; the whole vanishing act recently was pretty weird.” She wrapped arms around his shoulders and peered down at the papers on the table in front of him. “I could make a call...if you want.”
“To whom?” Peter turned his head to look at her.
“Well, you know my cousin Henry married a witch. Her name is Phoebe. I’ve talked about her before.”
“Right, Henry’s the cop?”
“Yeah.” Elizabeth smiled. “I visited her when I was in San Francisco.” She shrugged. “In any case, if there’s a young witch abusing his magic she’ll want to know. I’ll give her a call. If he is a witch, you aren’t going to be able to handle him without a bit of help anyway.”
“And if he isn’t, then I’ll just have to face the fact that a teenager is smarter than me, right?”
She kissed his cheek. “You’ll catch him. I know it.”
***
Paige shooed her son out the door to school, phone wedged between her shoulder and ear, hands full with his backpack as she slipped it over his shoulders. She waved goodbye and turned her attention back to the phone call.
“You really think this kid is a witch?”
Paige nodded, “I can see your point there.”
“And I guess there’s no harm in checking...I’ll call my sisters and we’ll work something out. Maybe I’ll just swing by this afternoon. Sure. It’s no problem at all, you’re family.” Paige smiled. “Sure. See you later.”
“Who was that?” Henry asked. “Kids get out all right?”
“Yes, they did.” She kissed her husband. “And that was your cousin, Elizabeth. Apparently, her husband has quite the escape artist on his hands.”
“They think magic is at work then?”
“Elizabeth isn’t sure, but Peter is suspicious. I know how you law enforcement types get. Someone will have to check. Can’t let someone run around abusing magic.” She wrinkled her nose. “I should get to work. I’ll see you tonight?”
He nodded, leaning down for another kiss. “Tonight.”
***
Unaware of either parties’ discussions, the subject of the FBI manhunt, a slender teenager with dark hair and bright blue eyes, slipped into his apartment after a long day of the confidence game with a smile on his face.
About four seconds later, white light heralded the arrival of his whitelighter.
“You know, Mozzie, you could knock first.” Neal eyed the eternally balding, bespectacled man. “What if I had company?”
“I know when Kate is here, Neal.” Mozzie rolled his eyes. “So, what’d you get up to today?”
“Nothing evil.” Neal smiled. “I thought you were laying low or something. Aren’t the Elders pissed off at you or something.”
Finger to his lips, Mozzie shushed his young charge. “Don’t say the E word. You never know when they’re listening. Worse than G-men.”
“Uh huh.”
“Speaking of evil...have you seen Kate today?”
Neal frowned. “Look, I know you don’t like Kate but calling her evil is a stretch.”
“Not really. She’s a demon.”
Neal rolled his eyes. “Reformed.”
“Uh huh.” Mozzie shook his head. “There’s a bit of chatter about you. You should probably lay low for a couple days.”
“Fine.” Neal flopped down on his couch. “Anything else?”
Mozzie adjusted his glasses. “No…I noticed you’ve been kind of twitchy lately. The chase getting to you?”
“No.” Neal shook his head. “I’ve just had a lot of premonitions lately. Weird ones.” He frowned.
“What kind of weird are we talking about here?”
“I mean sure I get flashes when the Feds close in but this is different. I see this man. Tall, dark hair. Looks like me. He keeps trying to say something but I can’t understand him.” The boy shrugged. “Maybe it’s nothing.”
“Could be. Or it could not. I’ll ask around.” Mozzie sighed. “You know, you aren’t too old for Magic School, Neal. It’s not too late.”
“No,” Neal snapped. “Stop asking.”
“All right. All right. Mea culpa.” Mozzie raised his hands in surrender. “Call if you need anything.”
Neal watched his whitelighter orb away and sighed. He wasn’t even sure why he’d told his paranoid guardian about the visions. They weren’t even really premonitions. More like...bad dreams.
A couple minutes later, Kate shimmered into view, a smile on her cupid’s bow lips. “Hey, Neal.”
“Kate.” Neal smiled. “It’s good to see you. How long do you have?”
“Don’t worry, I got a hall pass.” She sat down on the couch next to him. “Are you okay? You look a bit tired.”
“Running can tire a person out.”
“You know, if you just...came home with me…” She batted her eyelashes. “Adler would protect you too.”
“Thanks, but I want my freedom.”
She nodded. “Of course. You want me to order pizza? My treat.”
Neal smiled. “You know just the way to cheer a guy up.”
She turned away, eyes flashing black as a sly smile worked across her face. “You bet I do.”
***
Later that evening…
“Wow, this kid has quite the rap sheet,” Piper said. “Forgery, theft, racketeering…What is racketeering?”
“When you sell a service that doesn’t exist,” Henry replied. “Basically.”
“So, this little delinquent has been running around kingdom come, possibly using magic to steal and con people.” Piper shook her head. “Is this a recent photo?”
“Yeah.” Paige nodded. “Elizabeth sent it all over.”
“He’s a good-looking kid,” Phoebe said. “I guess that helps with the whole conman thing. Do you really think he’s using magic?”
“We’ll find out,” Paige said. “I’m going to head to New York tomorrow and try to track him down. I was thinking, given that he’s a teenager—it might come in handy to have a teenager along.”
“Does that mean me?” Wyatt asked, peaking out of the living room. The tall blond teenager raised his eyebrows.
“Or me?” A slightly smaller teenager peered out from behind him, green eyes wide.
“Why am I not surprised that you two are eavesdropping?” Piper asked, glaring at her sons.
“We’re predictable?” Wyatt said with a smile.
“We aren’t that predictable, Wy.” Chris gave his brother a look.
“But yes, I was thinking of you two,” Paige said. “Plus, I might need help containing our little friend if it turns out he does have magic.”
“Then what?” Phoebe asked. “Bind his powers and let the FBI lock him up? He’s just a kid.”
“A kid who has stolen millions of dollars,” Henry said. “You can’t just let him get away with it.”
“No, but I don’t know that prison would be right either.” Piper shook her head. “All right Paige, you may borrow the boys—but they better not miss any school.”
“That’s all I need.” Paige smiled. “Come on kids. We’ve got a conman to catch.”
***
Elizabeth heard a knock on the door and smiled, shushing Satchmo as she opened it to the slight red-head. “Paige!”
“El!” Paige hugged her cousin-in-law. “It’s good to see you.”
“You look great. How are the kids?”
“Good. I brought some along too,” she jerked her thumb back at the boys standing behind her. “The blond is Wyatt and the grumpy one is Chris, my nephews.”
“Hey, I am not grumpy.” Chris frowned.
“Of course not sweetie.” Paige smiled.
“Well come on in. I have a room set up just in case Mr. Caffrey turns out to be more trouble than an average teenager.”
“Wonderful.” Paige and the boys followed El upstairs to her workroom. She set up a partial crystal perimeter already and had a few potions on standby. “Ooh, I smell—binding potion?”
El shrugged. “It won’t work on anyone really powerful, but if he’s just some one-trick pony it should do the trick. If we you need it.”
“Well, if I bless it that will up the stakes. Not that I necessarily plan to bind his powers—if he has any—but it’s nice to have the option.”
“That was my thought,” El agreed. “He could just be a messed-up kid who needs help.”
“Here’s hoping.” Paige glanced at the boys. “I brought the boys along to facilitate the conversation, as it were. I figure a teenage boy is more likely to respond to other teenagers.”
“Good point. Well, if you want to scry for him, I have something that he touched.” She headed over to a table with a map already spread out on it and held up one of the confiscated bonds. “Here.”
Paige took the bond. “Wow, this looks real.”
“I know.”
Paige picked up the crystal and swung it over the map, biting down on her lip in concentration. The crystal made a tight circle before pulling free of her grip and dropping to the map.
“Well, that’s a terrible neighborhood,” El remarked. “Cheap though.”
“All right, let’s go see if Mr. Caffrey is home.”
***
Off Central Park there was a huge mansion with cream walls and broad windows trimmed in white. The interior was lush Baroque. On the third floor, behind a massive mahogany desk, sat a dapper man in a perfectly tailored suit. He fiddled with his silk tie, looking up as Kate shimmered into the room.
“Hello, Vincent.”
“Kate. How is Neal?”
“He’s…trying. I keep tempting him and he keeps resisting. But he’ll give in. He’s falling in love with me.” She smiled. “It’s only a matter of time.”
“Good. That boy is very special, Kate. If we can’t turn him to darkness…he’ll have to die.”
“I understand.” She smiled, her wide blue eyes terrifyingly blank.
“That’s my girl.”