A/N: Ok, so the actual summary I wanted to give and that Fanfiction wouldn't allow because of the word limit is: "A pre-series AU in which Neal is preparing to steal a piece from the gallery Elizabeth works at but when someone beats him to it and robs the place, when he becomes a witness and is forced to talk to the FBI. Enter Peter Burke, who begins to fall for Elizabeth but even he cannot escape the charismatic charm of "Nick Halden". Neal can only keep up the charade for so long, especially as he begins to find himself unwilling to keep it up. Soon, Matthew Keller makes things dangerous for everyone involved, and things quickly spiral out of Neal's control."

This story is slash, sorry for those who don't prefer that.

Enjoy :)

The 'View of Toledo' would be difficult to apprehend, Neal mused. He stood in front of the piece, arms crossed while he pretended to study it, when really, his mind was elsewhere. It would be difficult, but not impossible. This gallery was relatively small, there was marginally less security compared to bigger, more popular galleries, which made Neal's job a little easier. Not a whole lot easier, though. Still, he had no doubt he could do it.

He'd already noted the alarms attached to the frames of every painting in the room, the security cameras that watched every visitor and the guards that strolled by every half an hour. He had yet to case the entire place, but there was no rush. Today was day one, and if it took one hundred days, then so be it. There could be no mistakes.

It helped that he was – so far – hidden from the eyes of the law. He'd made a few blunders in the past year that had had him leaving town quickly, but Mozzie had been quick to find out if anyone was on his tail. It seemed that he was safe. And so perhaps Neal was hoping that it wouldn't actually take one hundred days; he would prefer to be in and out of New York as quickly as possible, but there was a reason he was after this particular painting.

It was Kate's favourite. Neal wasn't sure why, exactly; he'd visited the gallery for the past couple of days and just stared at it, trying to work out what it was that Kate liked about it. She'd mentioned it a few times in the past, and every time they stopped off in New York she insisted that they go and see it. If Neal could give it to her, perhaps she'd stop hiding and come back to him. The news of its theft was sure to gain her attention, and then he knew he'd win her over again.

"You like that painting, huh?"

Neal turned to see a woman with dark hair stood a few paces nearby, watching him with bright blue eyes and a friendly smile. He frowned slightly and she came closer, elaborating.

"I've noticed you come in here and look at it." she said. "You're a fan of El Greco?"

"Very much so. He's part of my thesis." Neal replied swiftly, uncrossing his arms. "I'm taking an MA at the university around the corner."

"Well, if you need any information, I'm happy to provide it. I'm the assistant manager here." the woman said with another friendly smile. "I'm Elizabeth, by the way."

"Nick." Neal responded, flashing a smile at her. "I think I'm covered on Greco, but thank you."

Elizabeth nodded. "Ok, well, nice to meet you."

"You too." Neal answered absentmindedly, his attention returning to Greco's piece as Elizabeth walked off, her heels clicking against floor.

Neal spent a few more hours at the gallery, wandering around and scouring the place to learn its security measures, and how he'd consequently get around them. When it got to closing time, Neal was already planning to come back the next day.

He found himself returning every day. Not necessarily to stare at the 'View of Toledo' the whole time; often he strolled around the different floors, looking at the works of local artists and smiling at Elizabeth every time he passed her in a hallway.

He'd found that this was a nice place to think. More often than not, Moz was camping out on his sofa, so unless he was prepared to hear the conspiracy of the day, his shabby apartment didn't offer the tranquillity Neal sometimes desired. This gallery, though, wasn't popular enough that he didn't have tons of visitors streaming through its doors every morning, which meant there were usually empty parts of the gallery that Neal could simply sit in and think. Think about the heist, think about whether he was being careful enough to hide himself from the eyes of the law, think about Kate.

To cover the fact that he was visiting every day – as he was certain some members of staff noticed him frequently – Neal brought a sketchbook with him. Towards the end of the week he found himself entering the Van Gogh exhibition which the gallery was hosting for a fortnight.

The room wasn't empty, though, as he'd hoped. Instead, Elizabeth was there, admiring the 'Couple Walking in the Trees' with a small smile on her face.

Neal stepped up next to her. "Your favourite?" he guessed. Elizabeth jumped and snapped her head across to look at him. When she saw it was Neal, she relaxed.

"I thought you were my boss." she said. "He's been telling me off for hanging around this exhibition all the time."

"Well, now you're giving me information on these paintings, so fill my head with knowledge." Neal responded, prompting a smile from Elizabeth.

"Yes, it is my favourite." she answered. "I don't know what it is about it, exactly; it just looks peaceful and serene, you know?"

"Looks spooky if you ask me." Neal replied. "I mean, what are they doing in those woods in the middle of the night?"

"How dare you," Elizabeth laughed. "If you're here to mock my preferences then I'm going to have to escort you out."

"Me? Elizabeth, I'm hurt." Neal responded. "And after I bought a pencil from your gift shop." He pulled out the aforementioned object, twirling it between his fingers. "Look, the gallery's title is inscribed here."

Elizabeth laughed again, a high pitched, melodious laugh that lured a smile out of Neal. "Alright, I'm sorry. Please don't report me to the curator." she added with a grin.

"Maybe if I got another free pencil I'll think about it."

"Well not until I see what's in that sketchbook of yours." Elizabeth responded. "Let's have a look." Before Neal could react, she had slid it out from where it was resting in the crook of Neal's pocketed hand and was flipping through the pages.

Neal's eyes widened and he made an aborted move to snatch it back, but Elizabeth twisted out of his reach.

"Nick, these are… incredible." she breathed, eagerly flipping from one sketch to the next. "They're a perfect match."

Neal cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "Thank you." he mumbled with a wary eye, waiting for her to make the connection.

She smiled and closed the book, handing it back to Neal, who all but snatched it back. "In another life you'd have made an excellent art forger."

Neal forced a laugh and he didn't have to fake the look of surprise on his face; he was convinced she was going to actually jump to that conclusion.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment, I think." he said, edging away.

"You should." Elizabeth replied. "You know, I–"

She was interrupted by a loud alarm blaring from the room across the lobby, and Elizabeth raced away from him, sprinting surprisingly quickly in high heels. Two security guards closed in behind her, and Neal found himself following to see what was happening.

He never got to enter, though, as Elizabeth was already leaving the room, rubbing her face tiredly as she came closer. Neal could see the security guards talking to a boy of about twelve while someone worked to turn the alarm off.

"He grabbed it." Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes. "Set off the alarm."

"Why'd he grab it?" Neal asked with a frown.

"I don't know, Nick, why do kids do anything? He probably wanted to look at it up close."

Neal was about to reply when another man caught his attention. He was walking through the lobby, headed for the exit. He was hurrying, though, and keeping his arms close to his body, which was hidden by a large, zipped up jacket.

Neal nudged Elizabeth and nodded at the guy, and Elizabeth's gaze hardened when she spotted him.

"Excuse me sir," she said, stepping in his way. "Do you mind unzipping–" The man ignored her, though, instead opting to push her away and bolt for the exit. Elizabeth fell backwards and Neal caught her before she hit the floor, and the two of them watched as he fled, the two security guards racing after him.

"Alright?" Neal asked as Elizabeth straightened up.

"Yeah." she responded, her gaze still fixed on the open doors. "We need to call the cops."

Time for me to leave, Neal thought. "Actually, do you mind if I shoot off? I've got a lecture in a bit, and–"

"What?" Elizabeth asked, turning to him with a frown. "You need to give your statement, you got a better look at him than any of us. I'm sure your tutor won't mind."

Neal couldn't think of a valid excuse to get out of there. "Okay," he said with a weak smile. "I'll stick around for them."

Elizabeth smiled warmly and rubbed his arm as she marched towards the entrance, meeting the two guards, who had come back empty-handed.