Target: Neal Caffrey

When master thief Klaus Mansfeld decided to persuade Neal to rejoin his crew, he called on his brother Rolf, the cybercriminal nicknamed Azathoth, for help. Rolf performed a detailed analysis of Neal to formulate his plan. He identified three key vulnerabilities to exploit.

Warning for spoilers for the Caffrey Conversation series

1. The FBI: Lingering Bureau distrust of a former thief working in a law-enforcement organization is low-hanging fruit. Rolf studied the first major incident in the autumn of 2004 when Garrett Fowler tried to frame Neal and why the attempt failed. Rolf intends to use Vermeer's painting of The Astronomer to poison Neal's regard for the FBI. Neal won't necessarily be framed. The threat of one can be just as powerful. Rolf is particularly pleased with the choice of the work. Not only is the subject significant but also the artist. Neal forged a Vermeer painting when he went undercover to trap Klaus (The Woman in Blue). It's payback time. Peter is an amateur astronomer and will wonder what hidden meanings the painting may have. There are several objects which could be significant—a celestial globe, an astrolabe, and a cryptic diagram on the wall of unknown significance. Rolf also knows about the Braque painting Neal is hiding. He has two tools that can be used together or separately.
2. Guilt: Henry told Peter that Neal overdoses on guilt. It's a chink in his armor that Rolf is quite aware of. He studied Neal's reactions in the aftermath of Klaus's supposed death at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Although Neal tried to hide his PTSD symptoms, they became evident when Rolf kidnapped Neal and Peter in the fall of 2004 (The Woman in Blue). Rolf tested Neal by leading him to believe he'd killed Peter during the kidnapping. In London, Neal's reactions to Peter's abduction at Scima Workshop provided additional information to refine his scheme. He now intends to exploit Neal's guilt over the Braque to reinforce the effectiveness of The Astronomer.
3. Psychological Manipulation: Rolf feels Neal's greatest vulnerability lies in psychological manipulation and has latched upon virtual reality as the means to achieve his objective. For a villain who delights in mind control games, virtual reality is a dream tool. And Neal has a heightened sensitivity because of former incidents. It wasn't difficult for Rolf to hack medical records where he learned about the childhood issues Neal had from child abuse. His problems with flashbacks came to a head in the spring of 2004 they came to a head when Neal was given a drug overdose. (See Caffrey Flashback for both the accounts.) The way Neal dealt with his PTSD symptoms last fall was also instructive.

In Nocturne in Black and Gold, Rolf sets his plan, Operation Capriccio, in motion. Will it work? We're about to find out.

Nocturne in Black and Gold on Archive of Our Own
Nocturne in Black and Gold on FanFiction