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Part 2 of Shades of Red
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Published:
2024-08-15
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2024-11-14
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2/?
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Drive Me Crazy

Summary:

The Whiter Collar team is investigating a millionaire laundering money through illegal street racing. They send Neal Caffrey undercover to see if he can make a connection, but it is Jason Todd and the fact that he used to be the fastest pit boy in Crime Alley that becomes the lynchpin of the op, forcing Jason to introduce the team to his strange red family.

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

The lead was a strange one for the White Collar office. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard of someone laundering money through a different illegal activity.” Diana admitted, as the van made its way back to the office.

“It’s not that unusual.” Neal Caffrey, or rather, Jason Todd, replied. “The cars involved in street racing are very expensive. Actually, just the parts can make serious money. A set of good tires can feed someone for a month if they know what they’re doing. You win a car, you part it out, use the best parts to improve your own vehicle and sell the other parts to reputable businesses, get your receipts, purchase new parts, and go again, using the excess from the deals for whatever you need.”

“So we’re going to need to infiltrate one of these races.” Peter observed. “Can you pull that off, Caffrey?”

“No problem, Peter.” Jason said with a grin. He knew he could blend in no problem, but Neal Caffrey wouldn’t fit in at all. “Once we get the dates for the next races, we’re set.”

Before Jason was ready, the night for the next underground race was happening and he was wired up, feeling strangely off-footed. Playing Neal, was, at its’ heart, playing his brother . He based most of Neal off of Dick Grayson. Tonight, though, he was going undercover in a community where Jason would ultimately fit in a thousand times better. Still, he went with the cover that Peter handed him, yet another rich asshole looking to bet on the drivers. 

Still, Jason loved fast cars…and fast bikes…and fast spaceships. Jason just liked going at speeds generally considered unsafe by people who had no lives. He was trying to look like a rich guy trying to pick out which car to bet on, when he heard his name. Not Neal Caffrey, but…

“Jason!” A rough voice called from the side of the green car several feet ahead of him. “Holy shit , Todd, I haven’t seen you in ages .”

“It’s Harper now actually.” Jason corrected, automatically without thinking about it, and then froze. Shit . He hadn’t meant to do that. He recognized the guy, and his brain had defaulted to ‘ friendly face ,’ in a familiar setting, and against all logic he had answered truthfully . Fizz had been one of his fellow street kids back in the day. He had been a great mechanic, though, and he and Jason had teamed up often as pit boys for the street racers in Crime Alley. 

“No shit?” Fizz said with a laugh. “You drivin’ tonight? You were the fastest pit boy Crime Alley ever saw. I’d love to see you behind the wheel.” 

Jason knew, now that he had been recognized, that the cover that Neal had given him would never work. He heard the team panicking in the van through his earpiece, but he did some of his best work on the fly. “Nah, not tonight.” He answered, letting his natural Crime Alley accent out at full strength, replacing Neal’s bland, inoffensive from-anywhere accent. “Jus’ seein’ the kinda machines these outsiders run in New York.” He scoffed a little. “I might have to bring mine out for the nex’ one though, cause I’m not seein’ much competition.”

“Oh, hell yes , Jay!” Fizz said excitedly. “I can get you in , bro. No maggoty oranges here as payment in New York. The next race is in five days, if you can swing it, I can get Trent to sponsor your ass. He trusts my picks.”

“He should.” Jason replied, knowing for a fact that Liam Trent was the white collar mark. “You an’ I have been doing this shit since we were shorter than the fuckin’ cars.”

“What are you runnin’ these days?” Fizz asked, curious.

Jason grinned to himself in answer. “It started life as a Vette, but my husband has modded it so much that I don’ think it’s really recognizable anymore. We call it San Lazaro, ‘cause it’s got so many aftermarkets.”

“When can I see it?” Fizz demanded, sounding fascinated. 

“I’ll text ya in a few days.” Jason promised, having to completely shut out his panicking team. “You can come check ‘im out.”

“I’ll hold you to that, brother.” Fizz said with a grin. “You wanna shed that fancy suit and get down in the pit with me?”

“Not tonight.” Jason said, shaking his head. “‘M gonna schmooze and be seen by the gala set. You know these fuckers wouldn’t see the value in the grease.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Fizz said with a sigh. He flicked a card at Jason, who took it quickly. “These here are my real numbers. You call, you hear me, Jay?”

“You got it Fizz.” Jason replied, leaving the side of the street and making his way to the stands, where he could watch the races. He had talked himself up, and he was going to have to race in under a week. He had to understand his competition.

That meant that he had to shut up the FBI agents talking to him in his ear. “Peter.” He muttered, as Peter was freaking out about how Neal couldn’t go ‘ off book ’ like this. “I was recognized.” He said quietly. “Unless you wanted me to burn the op, I had to do what I did, and now I have less than a week to make sure I can win a race to get in with our mark.” He blew out a breath. “I can do this, but I need to study the cars I’ll be facing as much as I can.”

“ How do you know you can do this? ” Peter’s voice demanded. 

“‘Cause my husband is the best mechanic on this planet.” Jason answered honestly. He wisely did not add on the ‘and a few others,’ that was floating in his head. At least some of his identity had possibly been outed, and he was going to try and salvage what he could of both Peter’s op and his own for the Justice League.

“Husband?” Peter squeaked into the earbud, making Jason grin.

The time crunch that the next race put them under had Jason wiping his face after the one tonight. The acid green car that had won was good , but Jason had full faith in the monstrosity that he and Roy were constantly building. “Okay.” He said as he climbed into the van. “That…was something none of us expected.”

“Is that so, Jason ?” Diana asked, with a grin. “I knew Neal Caffrey was an alias!”

Jason shrugged. “I think everyone knew, I just never confirmed it before.” He leaned back in his seat. “I wouldn’t have confirmed it now, but I managed to salvage the op. It’s just changed.” He leaned over, grabbing one of the steno pads that littered the van, and a pen, scrawling out an address and handing it to Clinton, who was driving the van. “Head there. With any luck, Roy’s still up, because he’s going to want to start tinkering with Lazaro as soon as we tell him what’s going on.”

“What are you going to tell him?” Peter demanded. “This is a case, Neal. You can’t just read in anyone.”

“You get to decide that, Peter.” Jason said with a sigh, leaning back into the uncomfortable, smelly seat that was life in the van. “I’m not trying  to get us into an interdepartmental pissing match. You decide what I’m telling Agent Roy William Harper Jr. of the Central Bureau of Investigation.”

Peter’s jaw unhinged. “You…you’re married to a CBI agent?”

“He wasn’t with the CBI when we got married.” Jason remarked defensively, as if that changed anything. “And technically Neal Caffrey isn’t. Jason Peter Harper is married. I was starstruck by him when he was friends with my older brother long before Neal Caffrey existed.”

“You have a brother?” Diana asked, blinking.

“More than one.” Jason admitted. “And that’s all you're getting about that .”

As they pulled into the garage parking lot that was just inside Neal’s perimeter, Jason stretched. “I was never going to introduce you guys.” He admitted. “This part of my life was supposed to be protected from all of Neal Caffrey’s people and drama, not because I don’t trust you, but because I want it to be safe and Neal’s an ex-con, but I’m glad you can meet him.”

Peter was struggling with all of the discoveries he had come across tonight. The confirmation that ‘Neal Caffrey’ was an alias was the smallest of the discoveries he had made. It left him feeling strangely off-balance as he followed Neal- Jason- Neal into the garage. It was dark, but his CI flipped on the overhead fluorescent lights of what seemed to be a normal garage. 

A moment later, a cat wandered into the space, seemed to look them over, and then left again. Neal didn’t seem to notice, moving over to one of the far bays, and pulling a cover off of a car. The car was not the kind of classic that Peter would have expected from Neal, but it did look like it would fit right in with the cars that had been at the race. 

“Guys, meet San Lazaro, the key to this case.”

“And who are you tonight?” A voice called, before a man walked into the garage, in scruffy jeans, a baseball cap over red hair, and a Wonder Woman T-shirt. He smirked slightly at them. “The cat gave you up, Jaybird, if you were trying to sneak back out.”

“Fucking cat.” Neal replied with a grin. “But I wasn’t sneaking. We need your help, Roy.”

“It’ll cost you.” The man replied with a wicked grin. 

“You know I’m good for it.” Neal replied, with a returning smirk, his voice dropping into something that Peter was not comfortable hearing. He hated this case more and more every minute.

Chapter 2: Recriminations

Summary:

Peter observes some things, most of which he doesn't understand.

Chapter Text

Peter was a seasoned FBI agent. He had a lot of experience both in the office and the field. He had a ton of experience with Neal Caffrey, but this…threw him for a loop. Still, he cleared his throat. “Peter Burke, FBI, White Collar team. These are agents Berrigan and Jones.” He said, gesturing sideways with his head. He held out his hand. 

“Agent Roy Harper, Central Bureau of Investigation.” The redhead said with a smile. “And this is obviously a business call.”

“Kind of.” Neal answered. “I need San Lazaro though.”

Roy blinked, leaning back slightly to look at the group. “Okay, that’s interesting. Why? You’re not planning on trying to sell our second child, are you?”

Neal gave a sigh, shaking his head. “No, Roy, I’m not going to sell him.” His tone was one of longsuffering. “I’m going to race him.” He chuckled a little. “You’re as bad as Vic.”

“No one is as bad as Vic.” Roy said with an eyeroll. “You weren’t there for most of it, Jaybird.” He paused. “So…what kind of race, and where? He’s going to need a little work to get him race ready. I had been experimenting with an alternate catalytic converter from that little market on Green Street in that one town, but I haven’t gotten the kind of redox I wanted out of it yet.” 

Neal looked at Peter, and gestured for him to answer. The thing was, Peter didn’t know how much to tell this man. It was obvious that Neal trusted him, but as much as Peter and Neal had worked together, as much as they had been through, there was always that sliver of doubt. It didn’t help that there was a thorn in his paw about the fact that Neal had a hidden family, a husband, and if he did, then what about Kate? What about the trust he had thought they had? “We were investigating someone laundering money through illegal street races. Caffrey was recognized, and in order to save the op suggested that he would take part in the next race.”

“Gotta love the idiots who somehow think that running their finances through illegal activity somehow makes them more law-abiding than the RICO case down the street.” Agent Roy Harper said, with an eye roll. “How’d you get recognized? Someone in the gala set or the street set?”

Jason laughed as he popped the hood on the car. “One of the guys from when I was the fastest pit boy in Crime Alley.” He answered. “He even brought up the one time one of the Diamond District dirtbags paid us in moldy oranges.” He shook his head. “He called me Todd, and I immediately corrected him with ‘ It’s Harper now actually, ’ without thinking.”

The CBI agent’s eyes went soft, but his smile changed to a smirk. “Aww, Jaybird, you really do love me.”

“Lies.” Jason retorted, even though he was smiling. “Lies and slander. “ He huffed slightly. “Maybe I just didn’t want to claim any of my questionable parental figures.”

“To take a leaf out of one of your too-long books: ‘ Methinks thou doth protest too much.’”  Roy Harper teased. “Either way, yes, you can use Lazaro, but we’ll need to get some work done first.” 

“I’m home.” Jason said with a shrug. “Put me to work, babe. We have to win this race to catch our criminal.”

Roy shook his head. “Of course it’s work that’s brought you home on a random night, but okay, Jay. If you say so. Let’s get to work on Lazaro, but you’re dealing with Kara pouting because she’s upstairs with Lian while we’re down here in the garage getting all greasy.”

“Fair.” Jason said after a minute. “That’s fair. But I get coffee at daybreak.”

“Deal.” Roy agreed, before turning to the others. “However, you agents don’t have to wait. Can I offer you anything to eat or drink while this big lug gets to work criticizing my mechanical genius?”

Diana glanced around the garage and shook her head, but Clinton easily accepted a cup of coffee from the redheaded agent, who disappeared briefly into the house, and came back with a Teen Titans mug that he pushed into Clinton’s hands. 

“Roy the fuck did you do to this axle?” Neal’s voice, Jason’s voice, came from under the car. “There's an aftermarket axle and there’s whatever this is.”

“It helped me pick up a quarter of a second, before I installed the alien multi-spark system.” Roy frowned. “Vic was suggesting we put Lazaro on bottles.”

“We are not putting him on bottles!” Neal argued from under the car. “I know we joke about him being our baby, but you are gonna have to put my ass back in that hole in the ground, before I put any self-respecting car, let alone Lazaro , on bottles .”

“Tell me how you really feel, Jaybird.” Roy said, rolling his eyes. 

Peter felt even more lost. “Bottles?” He asked, trying not to sound as confused as he felt. He wasn’t a car guy like Neal… Jason …obviously was.

“Nitrous oxide.” Agent Harper explained. “You can put a system in the car, which uses bottles of nitrous oxide. You press a button and it injects nitrous into the engine. When the nitrous is heated during combustion, it reaches five hundred seventy-two degrees Farenheit, and breaks down, and the oxygen it produces. The oxygen helps the engine burn more fuel and produce more power.”

Diana chuckled, and Peter wasn’t sure why at first, until he looked over to see Neal, lying on his back on one of those garage rollers, still half-under the car , but his eyes fixed on Roy Harper in a way that made Peter feel a little uncomfortable.

“Fuck, I forget how smart you are, sometimes, Harper.” He said, the Jersey-voice even rougher than it had been before. 

“Maybe you should find a way to come home more often then.” Roy snarked back at him.

Neal gave a visible sigh. “Maybe now I can. It’s technically within my radius. We’d just have to watch it.”

“Whatever we have to do, Jaybird.” Roy replied with a sigh. “Lian has officially decided that reading time is no longer a thing, because you’re no longer there to do the voices, and when Kara got hit with the green shit two weeks ago, we didn’t even know if we could call you.”

Neal physically winced. “Shit.” He breathed. “Okay, I hear that. I need to do better.” Neal paused and Peter couldn’t remember a time when he had seen so much truth on his Criminal Informant’s face. “I need to be there more for Lian, but I also need to be there more for both you and Kara.” 

“I’m fine.” Agent Harper, Roy, argued. “I know what a long assignment is like.”

Neal got to his feet from the roller he had been lying on and prowled toward the CBI agent. “And I know you , Arse. I need to be here for you too.” And then he kissed him. It wasn’t a polite kiss – it was the kind of kiss that had Peter politely looking away because there was too much in it. Peter didn’t know all the history in it, but there was most definitely history there.

But the case was too important for him to archeologize and risk it. He needed Neal to be able to deliver and win the race, so he could keep his questions to himself…for a while.

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