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Summary: Halloween is just around the corner, and for the first time since her childhood, Sara is really looking forward to.
Notes: Sequel to "Try To Remember", set the autumn after their kidnapping. Neal and Sara are back to being an item, and will attend the Burke Halloween Party in partner costumes. Written for WC Women Fest. Fills also the “celebratory kiss” square on my Trope Bingo Card. Costumes listed at the end.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neal’s apartment
October 1
Ever since Neal told her about the upcoming Halloween Party at the Burke’s a few weeks ago, Sara’s mind was busy with finding a good costume for the two of them. But try as she might, she struggled with the task.
Sure enough, there were plenty of good costumes out there, just waiting to be grabbed. But none of it was good enough for what Sara had in mind. Ever since their kidnapping back in early Spring, she and Neal were going strong, stronger than ever before, and somehow, Sara wanted their costumes to reflect that.
Initially, her mind went to some of the most iconic couples from the movies. Danny and Sandy from “Grease”, Rick and Ilsa from “Casablanca”, Scarlett and Rhett from “Gone with the Wind” – the longer she thought about it, the longer the list became. And while these also were good choices, Sara wasn’t quite convinced about any of it.
Due to the string of long cases he and Peter were working recently, Neal and his brilliant mind were no help at all. Sure, he had an open ear for her, whenever she needed to vent about her search. But somehow, Sara got the impression that Neal’s mind was occupied with something else, next to work.
Pushing any further thought about Neal’s mindset to the back of her own mind, Sara pulled her laptop closer, where several search engines were open in windows. So far, she hadn’t been lucky to find anything in the depths of the World Wide Web, but if Sara Ellis was anything, she was determined to close any case – even if it was just finding the perfect costume for a Halloween party.
Reading through the results of yet another search, she made it as far as to the second entry when her mobile started to ring. Heaving a sigh, she finally located it on the table next her coffee cup and answered the call.
“Ellis.”
“Hey, Sara, Elizabeth speaking. Any luck on finding a costume?”
For a second or two, Sara was silent. Ever since the kidnapping and her amnesia, Elizabeth reached out to her. The other woman made sure that she and Sara met on a regular basis, mostly in cafés or small restaurants in close range to either of their jobs, discussing everything from the latest trends to fashion to their partners.
“No,” Sara replied with a sigh. “You know, there are quite a lot of good costumes available, and on any other occasion I would be absolutely fine with them, but…”
“…you want it to be special this time, right?” Elizabeth finished for her.
“Yeah,” Sara deadpanned, her mind already occupied with another thought. “Do you think I’m crazy for being so fixated on that?”
Elizabeth chuckled, and Sara couldn’t help but smile as well. For a very long time, Sara wasn’t exactly the poster child for forging friendships easily, but the other woman had managed to slip behind her still existing walls.
“No, sweetie, you’re definitely not crazy. I remember the first Halloween after Peter and I started dating, I was so determined on trumping the other women attending that I started looking into costumes sometime in early Summer,” Elizabeth said matter-of-factly, as if it was a natural thing to do that.
“Wow,” Sara answered, humor lacing her voice.
“Oh, you could say that,” Elizabeth said back. “You know what, Sara?” There could be the rustling of paper be heard over the telephone, apparently Mrs. Burke was looking for something. “Ah, here is it. There’s a new costume rental shop, only a few blocks from your office. We could meet the day after tomorrow and have a look on what they have in store. What do you say?”
“Yeah, why not? I mean, the worst that can happen is that we leave emptyhanded, right?”
“Right,” Elizabeth replied. “Too bad that our men are so extremely busy these days. We could use Neal’s input on the costumes.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think that he would be such a help, even if he and Peter wouldn’t have such a workload,” Sara returned, her voice even and void of emotions.
“How’s that so?” Now, Elizabeth’s interest was piqued. She had witnessed the positive spin in both Neal and Sara over the last months, and she was determined to get to the bottom of any problem these two might get into.
“Ah, I don’t know,” Sara said with a sigh. “It’s probably nothing, and maybe it’s really just work, but sometimes I get the feeling that Neal hasn’t heard a single thing I said to him. As if he was somewhere far far away in his mind.”
For a couple of heartbeats, static filled the line between Riverside Drive and DeKalb Avenue, since Elizabeth didn’t know what to say. Peter hadn’t mentioned anything to her, at least nothing that indicated that Neal’s behavior was somehow out of character. Quite the contrary, he told her, on more than one occasion, that Neal didn’t strain from Peter’s orders while being undercover, resulting in them making more than one clean arrest.
“Probably,” El finally replied. “You know, it’s been sometime for Neal too.”
“What?” Sara inquired, the question marks in her voice indicating confusion. Apparently, she hadn’t realized something about Neal.
“If I’m not mistaken, this is the first real relationship Neal has since things ended with Kate. And what Peter told me, Neal didn’t have an exactly perfect childhood either.” Elizabeth paused, letting her words sink in. “Sara, we both know Neal to some extent. He wants to be committed, but maybe his past keeps sneaking into his brain. Just give him some time. I have the feeling that Neal really wants this relationship to work, so maybe he just needs to work out some things in his mind.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Sara concluded, her mind still a bit reeling from Elizabeth’s insight. How on Earth could she have missed that?
“See you on Friday?”
“Sure, just give me a call, okay?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
White Collar Offices
October 11
Usually, Neal Caffrey was the last one to voluntarily do paperwork, and Peter had to resort to threatening bodily harm to his friend. But, as Peter and the rest of the office were privy to witness today, all it took to convert the reformed con man were a string of tough cases that required him to go undercover and maintain several aliases simultaneously.
Keeping the smile on his face upon seeing his friend working diligently on his case reports in check, Peter stepped out of his office to the landing. Since getting him back from the clutches of his kidnappers, everyone could see a real change in Neal. He was focused, tried to stay on the straight and narrow, didn’t defy Peter’s orders on cases and refrained from using too much of his former criminal techniques to attain their marks.
“Neal!”
The man in question looked up, his expression a mix of curiosity and dread. Nonetheless, he leapt out of seat, crossed the office and sauntered up the stairs to Peter.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Come in, I’ve got to show you something.” With that, Peter went back into his office, Neal hot on his heels.
“Close the door, please.”
Once again, Neal felt dread creeping up his spine. He racked his brain, but he couldn’t come up with anything that he might have done wrong, not on the cases or here in the office.
“Sit down.” Peter indicated the chairs in front of his desk. He could feel Neal growing more and more suspicious.
“Relax, Neal, you didn’t do anything wrong.” Peter had to suppress a chuckle upon seeing Neal exhaling visibly. “But I think I finally found something for Sara.” Neal’s head shot up, his eyes searching Peter’s face for any indicators of deception. “Or should I better say someone?”
“You found her,” Neal replied, the short sentence more a statement than a question. “You found Emily.”
“Yeah. I did, and let me tell you, it wasn’t an easy task at all.”
“But Big Bad Peter Burke managed it nonetheless,” Neal said with a mischievous grin on his face. One that Peter only could return. “So, where is she?”
“She’s currently living upstate New York, in a little town near the Canadian border.” Peter took a small note out of Emily’s file and held it out to Neal. “Here are her contact number and address.”
Neal took the proffered piece of paper, his face twisting in confusion. “And?”
“And I might or might have not mentioned the upcoming Halloween party at our house. As well as the fact that Sara is living here in New York and that this party would be a good opportunity for them two to meet on neutral ground, so to speak.”
“You gave her your address?” Neal asked, a touch of incredulity lacing his voice.
“No, I didn’t,” Peter replied, but a look at Neal and the unspoken question in his eyes urged him to continue. “First of all, I have to run it by El. But most of all, I want you to talk to her.”
“Why?”
“I think it would be better if she hears it from you that Sara is in a relationship than me. In a good relationship, as I might add.”
Neal didn’t give Peter a verbal answer, letting his expression speaking for him. And that told Peter that his friend didn’t buy the explanation.
“I’ll give her a call, I promise. Though I’m not gonna tell her a lot about me.”
“Thought so.”
For several seconds, the office was silent. Peter was just about to tell Neal that he could go back to his paperwork when the younger man got up and moved his body so that no one could see his left side, except for Peter. To the latter’s surprise, Neal pulled a small box out of the pocket of his suit jacket, one covered in dark blue velvet.
“Can I ask you a personal question, Peter?”
“Sure, Neal, you know that. What is it?”
Neal slid the box over the desk to Peter, motioning to him to open it. Peter did as told – and couldn’t help but gasp. Sitting on the small cushion inside was a beautifully crafted ring, adorned by a perfectly clear diamond, which was surrounded by light and dark blue gems. Peter was by far an expert in any kind of jewelry, but even he recognized that this ring was custom-made.
“Wow!” was all Peter got out.
“You think Sara will like it?” Neal asked, and probably for the first time since meeting him, Peter could see kind of uncertainty written in the younger man’s face.
“No, she won’t like it,” Peter said matter-of-factly, causing Neal to look like a deer in the headlights. “She will love it. And she definitely will say yes.”
For the second time since entering his office, Neal released the breath he was holding. Leave it to Peter Burke to nearly cause him having a heart attack.
“You think so?”
“Oh yeah.” Peter closed the box and slid it back to Neal, who put it back into his pocket. “But Neal, that one must have cost a fortune.”
Neal got the hint hidden in Peter’s voice, and he just nodded.
“Yeah, it would. If you would go to any jeweler and ask him to create the ring.” He got up. “But let’s just say I had some time on my hands.”
Before Peter could say anything, Neal was out of his office, only to stop outside and wink at his speechless friend, who was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Neal just admitted to have made the ring himself. Neal Caffrey, Peter concluded once his mind was back to working properly, was indeed a man of many talents.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Burke’s house, DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn
October 31
By the time the party rolled around, Neal and Elizabeth were in different states of nervousness. As promised, Neal had given Emily a call, but she had to decline his invitation. She reasoned that Sara loved Halloween as a child, and that seeing her long lost sister right on that day might cause her to hate it from now on. Above that, Emily couldn’t come down to New York since she had to host her own Halloween party, for her two kids and their friends. But she promised Neal that she would definitely come down to the Big Apple around Christmas and that she would give him a call. Nonetheless, Neal was nervous, mostly about Sara and if she was going to say yes to his proposal.
Elizabeth on the other hand was nervous about the costume Sara chose for Neal and herself. Sure, she knew that Neal was downright delectable in leather, but she couldn’t stop worrying. But maybe, she thought while preparing a batch of pumpkin pie muffins, it was more about the fact that only six days ago, Sara had collapsed at work, than the costume itself. Neal got the call while being undercover, but somehow, he managed to maintain his cover and got away, straight to the hospital. By the time he had arrived, El was already with Sara, as Sara had put her as her emergency contact as well, in case their men were unavailable due to their work. Neal, of course, was worried, but both Sara and the doctor reassured him that she was fine and just a bit stressed out by her latest case at Sterling Bosch resulting in her not taking care of herself and eating on a regular basis. And yet, Elizabeth couldn’t help but think that there was more to that than meets the eye.
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Over at Riverside Drive, Neal and Sara were getting ready for the party. Once he saw the costume Sara had chosen, Neal was ecstatic about. Fortunately, he didn’t know that she and Elizabeth had to reschedule their “get the costume” date (as El had put it) three times before finally making it to the store. Already dressed in skin-tight blue spandex, red shorts and a yellow belt, he was now standing in front of the mirror next to his bed.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Sara coming up behind him, holding a red-brown wig which would be part of her costume. At first glance, one would think that she was dressed for just another day at the office. Yet, her costume was that of one of the most successful female comic characters ever – Lois Lane. Wearing a tight-fitting, grey skirt and matching jacket, as well as a dark pink blouse, Sara already was a sight for sore eyes. Once again, Neal couldn’t believe that this stunning woman was his. How on Earth did he get that lucky to score her not once, but twice?
“Penny for your thoughts, Neal.”
Sara’s voice was more than laced with humor, and looking at her through the mirror, Neal could see a sparkle in her eye – not for the first time since they made it through the aftermath of their kidnapping.
“Ah, nothing, just enjoying the view.” For emphasis, he winked at her, again through the mirror, and that caused Sara to dissolve in peals of laughter. A beautiful sound, and Neal resolved to himself that he would do everything in his power to hear that special sound as often as possible.
Still laughing, Sara plopped down on the bed, before trying to get the wig on her head. When she had shown the costumes to Neal, she had admitted that she never had worn a wig before. Neal promised her that he would take care of that, but apparently, he had forgotten about it.
“Need a hand?” the soft voice of June Ellington came from the doorway all of a sudden, and just now Sara realized that Neal was no longer standing in front of the mirror but right next to his landlady.
“You know how to get that,” Sara held the wig up, “on my head without me getting frustrated?”
“Of course, my dear. Come over to the table, and you have it on in no time.”
Sara did as told, and as promised, a few minutes later the wig was fixed to her head. In the meantime, Neal had finished his look by putting quite some hair wax into his beautiful locks, giving him a sleek look.
“I have to admit, Neal, you look quite out of this world in this outfit, not to mention that blue really suits you,” June said while giving the man who was like a son to her a thorough once-over.
“Really?” Neal questioned, a tinge of humor to his voice.
“Absolutely,” June replied before turning to Sara, who was applying the last touches to her make-up. “I suggest you take your baton with you, Sara. Just in case.”
“Don’t worry, Ms. Ellington. It’s already in my purse. And this time it’s lined with just a little bit of kryptonite,” Sara said with a wink, causing both women to chuckle. Neal only rolled his eyes before grabbing a light-brown trench coat, slipping it on and holding his hand out to Sara.
“Ready for take-off, Lois?”
“As ready as I’m gonna be, Clark.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When they finally arrived at DeKalb Avenue, some of the guests were already there – if the cars parking in second line were anything to go by. Grabbing the two casseroles of pumpkin cream and a basket filled with pumpkin-spiced sweets, Neal and Sara made it up the stairs, but before any of them could ring the bell, the door opened, revealing Peter’s costume for the evening. He was dressed in a white shirt, khaki trousers and boots, and Neal almost immediately knew where he had seen that style before.
“Oh, Mr. O’Connell, nice to see you.”
“Dang it!” Peter exclaimed, just as Elizabeth was coming down the stairs, dressed in a long black, sleeveless dress, bringing Evelyn Carnahan back to life.
“Hey, Neal, Sara, come on in!” she said while grabbing one of casseroles from Neal and carrying it over to the kitchen.
“Wow,” Neal said once they were both in the kitchen as well. “I never would have guessed that you would choose Rick and Evelyn from ʻThe Mummyʼ as your costume.”
“Yeah, I thought it would be nice to have Peter being a true archeologist/adventurer, if only for one night,” Elizabeth answered, only to be met by two confused expressions. “Oh, you don’t know Peter’s nickname while he was working his way up the ranks down in Washington?”
“You mean when he was working with Philip Kramer?” Neal said, not quite able to keep the shudder running through his body out of his voice. He only had met the man once, while they were working the case of a stolen Degas, but that was enough to give him the creeps.
“Yeah, and back then, everyone called Peter only ʻthe archeologistʼ for his penchant to dig deeper than any other.”
“Yeah, sounds definitely like someone I know,” Neal replied, giving Peter a wink.
A laughter coming from the backyard cut the silence, and Neal, always the curious one, went over to the door leading out to the patio.
“So, who’s already here?”
“Why don’t you have a look for yourself?” Peter suggested, and before anyone could say more, Neal was out, Satchmo hot on his heels. Sensing that El wanted to talk to Sara alone, Peter followed suit, muttering something about keeping him on a leash, though Elizabeth wasn’t sure if her husband was talking about their dog or their friend.
“How are you feeling, Sara?”
“Good, thank you. As the doctor said, I just overdid it with work.” Sara sat down at the kitchen counter. “Now that this particular case is closed, I can relax a bit.” Elizabeth turned around from the stove, holding a tray full of pumpkin cookies. “Are these what I think that they are?” Sara asked, more than a bit surprised, while pointing at the tray.
“Pumpkin cookies, after a recipe of my family,” Elizabeth answered proudly. It was the first time ever that she made them, and if Diana’s moan upon tasting one was anything to go by, she made them quite fine.
“Did Neal tell you that these are my absolutely favorite cookies?”
“No, we didn’t really talk about the Halloween dinner, just that he would bring the pumpkin cream.” Elizabeth motioned over to the basket. “He didn’t even mention that he would bring that one too.”
“Oh, that’s just a little something from ʻThe Greatest Cakeʼ,” Mozzie said from the doorway, causing both women to slightly jump.
“Wow, now that’s what I call a costume,” Elizabeth said while giving her friend a hug, as well as the woman accompanying him. Both Mozzie and Sally were dressed as villains from the Batman comics, Mozzie in a dark suit with a bowler hat and carrying a cane, all of it covered in bright green question marks. Sally was also dressed in green, the floor-length dress fitting her curves perfect and working quite well with the bright red wig and the heavy green make-up.
“Elizabeth, Ms. Ellis, it’s a pleasure to see you both.” Mozzie noticed that Sara couldn’t place the woman next to him. “Sara, may I introduce you to my friend Sally?”
“Hi, Sara, it’s good to see that you made it through everything so fine,” Sally said while holding out her hand.
Sara took the hand and shook it, but somehow, the woman still remained suspicious to her. Fortunately, Elizabeth noticed it and started to clarify.
“Sara, Sally helped Peter and the team a lot in finding Neal and locating him. And at some point, the fact that you had lost your memories was mentioned as well.”
“Oh, okay.”
Before Sara could say anything more, Peter came back in, a slightly worried expression on his face.
“Peter, is everything okay?”
Sally voiced Sara’s thoughts to a T.
“Yeah, it is,” Peter answered before focusing on Sara. “Sara, Neal wants to talk to you outside.”
“Okay.” Sara got up and went to open the door, but Peter stopped her with a hand on her wrist.
“Just don’t assume the worst, okay?”
“Okay.”
With that, Sara was out on the patio, and for the first time, she saw Diana, wearing a Lara Croft costume, and Jones, who was dressed as Dracula, standing there, both of them wearing a knowing smile on their faces. What the heck was going on?
“Hey, Repo.”
Neal’s voice caused Sara to turn around, and only now she noticed that he was standing in the far corner of the garden, right in the middle of a heart made of candles.
“Neal…”
“Shh, just let me talk, okay?” Sara only nodded while slowly closing the distance to Neal. “You know, when we first met in court, during my trial, I honestly never ever would have thought that I would do that ever to a woman, at least to you.” They all chuckled, knowing that Sara had called Neal a few names while giving her testimony. “And yet, here we are,” he got down on his knee, holding his hand out to her once again. “Sara, you know that one of my biggest talents,” he looked over to Peter before continuing, “at least among those who are legal, is my way with words.” Sara nodded, remembering all the letters, emails and notes he left for her since last May. She had collected them all in a box, sitting behind her evening gowns at her side of their wardrobe.
“Just saying ʻI love youʼ, even a thousand times over and over again, wouldn’t even begin to sum up everything I feel when I’m with you.” Neal locked their gazes, drawing her into his world, letting her forget everything that was around them. “I need you, Sara Ellis, more than I need air to breathe. More than I need anything to drink or to eat. No piece of gold, no painting, no jewelry, as unique as it might be, can ever be as satisfying to me as seeing you smiling at me, as seeing you waking up next to me, so beautiful and peaceful.” Sara saw Neal taking something out of his pocket, though he kept it still hidden in his palm. “In my other life, the life I had before I met you, I saw the most beautiful places this world has to offer, and yet, no place could match the stunning beauty you are, no matter what time of the day.” Another round of chuckles could be heard. “Or fill me with so much happiness, so much love and so much thankfulness to every deity as I have since we made it out of this nightmare back in May.” Neal swallowed, and Sara saw a tear rolling down his face. “When I was at their mercy, the only thing that kept me from giving up was you, Sara, and the hope that I could get you back, that you would give me a second chance, after everything I put you through.” He turned his hand, revealing the beautiful ring and causing Sara to gasp. “Long story short, I’m here, on my knee, to ask you one question: Sara Ellis, would you do me the honor and marry me?”
“I…” Sara began to stutter, mostly due to the fact that her heart was apparently running a marathon inside her chest.
“I would say yes, if I were her,” Elizabeth whispered to her husband.
Apparently, El wasn’t as silent as she had planned, if the look on Sara’s face when she spun back to them was anything to go by. Turning back, she gave her most winning smile to Neal.
“Yes! A thousand times yes!”
Neal put the ring on her left ring finger, then got up to his feet and kissed her with all his might.
“Thank you, Sara, for saying yes”, Neal said after breaking the kiss, his voice full of emotion and a bit teary.
“You really thought I could say no, Caffrey?” Sara replied, with just a bit of tease in her voice.
“Yeah, it was a possibility,” Neal admitted, still holding her close to him, keeping their proverbial bubble up.
“No, I would never do that to you. Not when you’re proposing to me with such a stunning ring.” She held her hand up. “Where did you get the money to buy it?”
“I have to admit that I didn’t buy it.” He paused, and as if on cue, her eyes went wide, assuming the worst. “I made it. June had some vintage jewelry that she didn’t need anymore, and she didn’t want to sell it, so I asked her if I could get them to reuse the gems in this ring.”
“So this is an original Caffrey design?” Sara asked, amazement prominent in her voice.
“Yep, it is,” Neal said with a nod, a proud smile spreading on his face. But not for long, since Sara pulled him close to her by the neck and kissed him again, surrounded by their unique family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Costumes:
Burkes: Rick O'Connell & Evelyn from "The Mummy" (which is a hint to my upcoming Big Bang story)
Jones: Dracula (like Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the TV show)
Diana: Lara Croft (like Diana a tough lady)
Neal/Sara: Superman/Lois Lane
Mozzie: The Riddler
Sally: Poison Ivy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Happy Halloween!!
Notes: Sequel to "Try To Remember", set the autumn after their kidnapping. Neal and Sara are back to being an item, and will attend the Burke Halloween Party in partner costumes. Written for WC Women Fest. Fills also the “celebratory kiss” square on my Trope Bingo Card. Costumes listed at the end.
Neal’s apartment
October 1
Ever since Neal told her about the upcoming Halloween Party at the Burke’s a few weeks ago, Sara’s mind was busy with finding a good costume for the two of them. But try as she might, she struggled with the task.
Sure enough, there were plenty of good costumes out there, just waiting to be grabbed. But none of it was good enough for what Sara had in mind. Ever since their kidnapping back in early Spring, she and Neal were going strong, stronger than ever before, and somehow, Sara wanted their costumes to reflect that.
Initially, her mind went to some of the most iconic couples from the movies. Danny and Sandy from “Grease”, Rick and Ilsa from “Casablanca”, Scarlett and Rhett from “Gone with the Wind” – the longer she thought about it, the longer the list became. And while these also were good choices, Sara wasn’t quite convinced about any of it.
Due to the string of long cases he and Peter were working recently, Neal and his brilliant mind were no help at all. Sure, he had an open ear for her, whenever she needed to vent about her search. But somehow, Sara got the impression that Neal’s mind was occupied with something else, next to work.
Pushing any further thought about Neal’s mindset to the back of her own mind, Sara pulled her laptop closer, where several search engines were open in windows. So far, she hadn’t been lucky to find anything in the depths of the World Wide Web, but if Sara Ellis was anything, she was determined to close any case – even if it was just finding the perfect costume for a Halloween party.
Reading through the results of yet another search, she made it as far as to the second entry when her mobile started to ring. Heaving a sigh, she finally located it on the table next her coffee cup and answered the call.
“Ellis.”
“Hey, Sara, Elizabeth speaking. Any luck on finding a costume?”
For a second or two, Sara was silent. Ever since the kidnapping and her amnesia, Elizabeth reached out to her. The other woman made sure that she and Sara met on a regular basis, mostly in cafés or small restaurants in close range to either of their jobs, discussing everything from the latest trends to fashion to their partners.
“No,” Sara replied with a sigh. “You know, there are quite a lot of good costumes available, and on any other occasion I would be absolutely fine with them, but…”
“…you want it to be special this time, right?” Elizabeth finished for her.
“Yeah,” Sara deadpanned, her mind already occupied with another thought. “Do you think I’m crazy for being so fixated on that?”
Elizabeth chuckled, and Sara couldn’t help but smile as well. For a very long time, Sara wasn’t exactly the poster child for forging friendships easily, but the other woman had managed to slip behind her still existing walls.
“No, sweetie, you’re definitely not crazy. I remember the first Halloween after Peter and I started dating, I was so determined on trumping the other women attending that I started looking into costumes sometime in early Summer,” Elizabeth said matter-of-factly, as if it was a natural thing to do that.
“Wow,” Sara answered, humor lacing her voice.
“Oh, you could say that,” Elizabeth said back. “You know what, Sara?” There could be the rustling of paper be heard over the telephone, apparently Mrs. Burke was looking for something. “Ah, here is it. There’s a new costume rental shop, only a few blocks from your office. We could meet the day after tomorrow and have a look on what they have in store. What do you say?”
“Yeah, why not? I mean, the worst that can happen is that we leave emptyhanded, right?”
“Right,” Elizabeth replied. “Too bad that our men are so extremely busy these days. We could use Neal’s input on the costumes.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think that he would be such a help, even if he and Peter wouldn’t have such a workload,” Sara returned, her voice even and void of emotions.
“How’s that so?” Now, Elizabeth’s interest was piqued. She had witnessed the positive spin in both Neal and Sara over the last months, and she was determined to get to the bottom of any problem these two might get into.
“Ah, I don’t know,” Sara said with a sigh. “It’s probably nothing, and maybe it’s really just work, but sometimes I get the feeling that Neal hasn’t heard a single thing I said to him. As if he was somewhere far far away in his mind.”
For a couple of heartbeats, static filled the line between Riverside Drive and DeKalb Avenue, since Elizabeth didn’t know what to say. Peter hadn’t mentioned anything to her, at least nothing that indicated that Neal’s behavior was somehow out of character. Quite the contrary, he told her, on more than one occasion, that Neal didn’t strain from Peter’s orders while being undercover, resulting in them making more than one clean arrest.
“Probably,” El finally replied. “You know, it’s been sometime for Neal too.”
“What?” Sara inquired, the question marks in her voice indicating confusion. Apparently, she hadn’t realized something about Neal.
“If I’m not mistaken, this is the first real relationship Neal has since things ended with Kate. And what Peter told me, Neal didn’t have an exactly perfect childhood either.” Elizabeth paused, letting her words sink in. “Sara, we both know Neal to some extent. He wants to be committed, but maybe his past keeps sneaking into his brain. Just give him some time. I have the feeling that Neal really wants this relationship to work, so maybe he just needs to work out some things in his mind.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Sara concluded, her mind still a bit reeling from Elizabeth’s insight. How on Earth could she have missed that?
“See you on Friday?”
“Sure, just give me a call, okay?”
White Collar Offices
October 11
Usually, Neal Caffrey was the last one to voluntarily do paperwork, and Peter had to resort to threatening bodily harm to his friend. But, as Peter and the rest of the office were privy to witness today, all it took to convert the reformed con man were a string of tough cases that required him to go undercover and maintain several aliases simultaneously.
Keeping the smile on his face upon seeing his friend working diligently on his case reports in check, Peter stepped out of his office to the landing. Since getting him back from the clutches of his kidnappers, everyone could see a real change in Neal. He was focused, tried to stay on the straight and narrow, didn’t defy Peter’s orders on cases and refrained from using too much of his former criminal techniques to attain their marks.
“Neal!”
The man in question looked up, his expression a mix of curiosity and dread. Nonetheless, he leapt out of seat, crossed the office and sauntered up the stairs to Peter.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Come in, I’ve got to show you something.” With that, Peter went back into his office, Neal hot on his heels.
“Close the door, please.”
Once again, Neal felt dread creeping up his spine. He racked his brain, but he couldn’t come up with anything that he might have done wrong, not on the cases or here in the office.
“Sit down.” Peter indicated the chairs in front of his desk. He could feel Neal growing more and more suspicious.
“Relax, Neal, you didn’t do anything wrong.” Peter had to suppress a chuckle upon seeing Neal exhaling visibly. “But I think I finally found something for Sara.” Neal’s head shot up, his eyes searching Peter’s face for any indicators of deception. “Or should I better say someone?”
“You found her,” Neal replied, the short sentence more a statement than a question. “You found Emily.”
“Yeah. I did, and let me tell you, it wasn’t an easy task at all.”
“But Big Bad Peter Burke managed it nonetheless,” Neal said with a mischievous grin on his face. One that Peter only could return. “So, where is she?”
“She’s currently living upstate New York, in a little town near the Canadian border.” Peter took a small note out of Emily’s file and held it out to Neal. “Here are her contact number and address.”
Neal took the proffered piece of paper, his face twisting in confusion. “And?”
“And I might or might have not mentioned the upcoming Halloween party at our house. As well as the fact that Sara is living here in New York and that this party would be a good opportunity for them two to meet on neutral ground, so to speak.”
“You gave her your address?” Neal asked, a touch of incredulity lacing his voice.
“No, I didn’t,” Peter replied, but a look at Neal and the unspoken question in his eyes urged him to continue. “First of all, I have to run it by El. But most of all, I want you to talk to her.”
“Why?”
“I think it would be better if she hears it from you that Sara is in a relationship than me. In a good relationship, as I might add.”
Neal didn’t give Peter a verbal answer, letting his expression speaking for him. And that told Peter that his friend didn’t buy the explanation.
“I’ll give her a call, I promise. Though I’m not gonna tell her a lot about me.”
“Thought so.”
For several seconds, the office was silent. Peter was just about to tell Neal that he could go back to his paperwork when the younger man got up and moved his body so that no one could see his left side, except for Peter. To the latter’s surprise, Neal pulled a small box out of the pocket of his suit jacket, one covered in dark blue velvet.
“Can I ask you a personal question, Peter?”
“Sure, Neal, you know that. What is it?”
Neal slid the box over the desk to Peter, motioning to him to open it. Peter did as told – and couldn’t help but gasp. Sitting on the small cushion inside was a beautifully crafted ring, adorned by a perfectly clear diamond, which was surrounded by light and dark blue gems. Peter was by far an expert in any kind of jewelry, but even he recognized that this ring was custom-made.
“Wow!” was all Peter got out.
“You think Sara will like it?” Neal asked, and probably for the first time since meeting him, Peter could see kind of uncertainty written in the younger man’s face.
“No, she won’t like it,” Peter said matter-of-factly, causing Neal to look like a deer in the headlights. “She will love it. And she definitely will say yes.”
For the second time since entering his office, Neal released the breath he was holding. Leave it to Peter Burke to nearly cause him having a heart attack.
“You think so?”
“Oh yeah.” Peter closed the box and slid it back to Neal, who put it back into his pocket. “But Neal, that one must have cost a fortune.”
Neal got the hint hidden in Peter’s voice, and he just nodded.
“Yeah, it would. If you would go to any jeweler and ask him to create the ring.” He got up. “But let’s just say I had some time on my hands.”
Before Peter could say anything, Neal was out of his office, only to stop outside and wink at his speechless friend, who was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Neal just admitted to have made the ring himself. Neal Caffrey, Peter concluded once his mind was back to working properly, was indeed a man of many talents.
Burke’s house, DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn
October 31
By the time the party rolled around, Neal and Elizabeth were in different states of nervousness. As promised, Neal had given Emily a call, but she had to decline his invitation. She reasoned that Sara loved Halloween as a child, and that seeing her long lost sister right on that day might cause her to hate it from now on. Above that, Emily couldn’t come down to New York since she had to host her own Halloween party, for her two kids and their friends. But she promised Neal that she would definitely come down to the Big Apple around Christmas and that she would give him a call. Nonetheless, Neal was nervous, mostly about Sara and if she was going to say yes to his proposal.
Elizabeth on the other hand was nervous about the costume Sara chose for Neal and herself. Sure, she knew that Neal was downright delectable in leather, but she couldn’t stop worrying. But maybe, she thought while preparing a batch of pumpkin pie muffins, it was more about the fact that only six days ago, Sara had collapsed at work, than the costume itself. Neal got the call while being undercover, but somehow, he managed to maintain his cover and got away, straight to the hospital. By the time he had arrived, El was already with Sara, as Sara had put her as her emergency contact as well, in case their men were unavailable due to their work. Neal, of course, was worried, but both Sara and the doctor reassured him that she was fine and just a bit stressed out by her latest case at Sterling Bosch resulting in her not taking care of herself and eating on a regular basis. And yet, Elizabeth couldn’t help but think that there was more to that than meets the eye.
Over at Riverside Drive, Neal and Sara were getting ready for the party. Once he saw the costume Sara had chosen, Neal was ecstatic about. Fortunately, he didn’t know that she and Elizabeth had to reschedule their “get the costume” date (as El had put it) three times before finally making it to the store. Already dressed in skin-tight blue spandex, red shorts and a yellow belt, he was now standing in front of the mirror next to his bed.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Sara coming up behind him, holding a red-brown wig which would be part of her costume. At first glance, one would think that she was dressed for just another day at the office. Yet, her costume was that of one of the most successful female comic characters ever – Lois Lane. Wearing a tight-fitting, grey skirt and matching jacket, as well as a dark pink blouse, Sara already was a sight for sore eyes. Once again, Neal couldn’t believe that this stunning woman was his. How on Earth did he get that lucky to score her not once, but twice?
“Penny for your thoughts, Neal.”
Sara’s voice was more than laced with humor, and looking at her through the mirror, Neal could see a sparkle in her eye – not for the first time since they made it through the aftermath of their kidnapping.
“Ah, nothing, just enjoying the view.” For emphasis, he winked at her, again through the mirror, and that caused Sara to dissolve in peals of laughter. A beautiful sound, and Neal resolved to himself that he would do everything in his power to hear that special sound as often as possible.
Still laughing, Sara plopped down on the bed, before trying to get the wig on her head. When she had shown the costumes to Neal, she had admitted that she never had worn a wig before. Neal promised her that he would take care of that, but apparently, he had forgotten about it.
“Need a hand?” the soft voice of June Ellington came from the doorway all of a sudden, and just now Sara realized that Neal was no longer standing in front of the mirror but right next to his landlady.
“You know how to get that,” Sara held the wig up, “on my head without me getting frustrated?”
“Of course, my dear. Come over to the table, and you have it on in no time.”
Sara did as told, and as promised, a few minutes later the wig was fixed to her head. In the meantime, Neal had finished his look by putting quite some hair wax into his beautiful locks, giving him a sleek look.
“I have to admit, Neal, you look quite out of this world in this outfit, not to mention that blue really suits you,” June said while giving the man who was like a son to her a thorough once-over.
“Really?” Neal questioned, a tinge of humor to his voice.
“Absolutely,” June replied before turning to Sara, who was applying the last touches to her make-up. “I suggest you take your baton with you, Sara. Just in case.”
“Don’t worry, Ms. Ellington. It’s already in my purse. And this time it’s lined with just a little bit of kryptonite,” Sara said with a wink, causing both women to chuckle. Neal only rolled his eyes before grabbing a light-brown trench coat, slipping it on and holding his hand out to Sara.
“Ready for take-off, Lois?”
“As ready as I’m gonna be, Clark.”
When they finally arrived at DeKalb Avenue, some of the guests were already there – if the cars parking in second line were anything to go by. Grabbing the two casseroles of pumpkin cream and a basket filled with pumpkin-spiced sweets, Neal and Sara made it up the stairs, but before any of them could ring the bell, the door opened, revealing Peter’s costume for the evening. He was dressed in a white shirt, khaki trousers and boots, and Neal almost immediately knew where he had seen that style before.
“Oh, Mr. O’Connell, nice to see you.”
“Dang it!” Peter exclaimed, just as Elizabeth was coming down the stairs, dressed in a long black, sleeveless dress, bringing Evelyn Carnahan back to life.
“Hey, Neal, Sara, come on in!” she said while grabbing one of casseroles from Neal and carrying it over to the kitchen.
“Wow,” Neal said once they were both in the kitchen as well. “I never would have guessed that you would choose Rick and Evelyn from ʻThe Mummyʼ as your costume.”
“Yeah, I thought it would be nice to have Peter being a true archeologist/adventurer, if only for one night,” Elizabeth answered, only to be met by two confused expressions. “Oh, you don’t know Peter’s nickname while he was working his way up the ranks down in Washington?”
“You mean when he was working with Philip Kramer?” Neal said, not quite able to keep the shudder running through his body out of his voice. He only had met the man once, while they were working the case of a stolen Degas, but that was enough to give him the creeps.
“Yeah, and back then, everyone called Peter only ʻthe archeologistʼ for his penchant to dig deeper than any other.”
“Yeah, sounds definitely like someone I know,” Neal replied, giving Peter a wink.
A laughter coming from the backyard cut the silence, and Neal, always the curious one, went over to the door leading out to the patio.
“So, who’s already here?”
“Why don’t you have a look for yourself?” Peter suggested, and before anyone could say more, Neal was out, Satchmo hot on his heels. Sensing that El wanted to talk to Sara alone, Peter followed suit, muttering something about keeping him on a leash, though Elizabeth wasn’t sure if her husband was talking about their dog or their friend.
“How are you feeling, Sara?”
“Good, thank you. As the doctor said, I just overdid it with work.” Sara sat down at the kitchen counter. “Now that this particular case is closed, I can relax a bit.” Elizabeth turned around from the stove, holding a tray full of pumpkin cookies. “Are these what I think that they are?” Sara asked, more than a bit surprised, while pointing at the tray.
“Pumpkin cookies, after a recipe of my family,” Elizabeth answered proudly. It was the first time ever that she made them, and if Diana’s moan upon tasting one was anything to go by, she made them quite fine.
“Did Neal tell you that these are my absolutely favorite cookies?”
“No, we didn’t really talk about the Halloween dinner, just that he would bring the pumpkin cream.” Elizabeth motioned over to the basket. “He didn’t even mention that he would bring that one too.”
“Oh, that’s just a little something from ʻThe Greatest Cakeʼ,” Mozzie said from the doorway, causing both women to slightly jump.
“Wow, now that’s what I call a costume,” Elizabeth said while giving her friend a hug, as well as the woman accompanying him. Both Mozzie and Sally were dressed as villains from the Batman comics, Mozzie in a dark suit with a bowler hat and carrying a cane, all of it covered in bright green question marks. Sally was also dressed in green, the floor-length dress fitting her curves perfect and working quite well with the bright red wig and the heavy green make-up.
“Elizabeth, Ms. Ellis, it’s a pleasure to see you both.” Mozzie noticed that Sara couldn’t place the woman next to him. “Sara, may I introduce you to my friend Sally?”
“Hi, Sara, it’s good to see that you made it through everything so fine,” Sally said while holding out her hand.
Sara took the hand and shook it, but somehow, the woman still remained suspicious to her. Fortunately, Elizabeth noticed it and started to clarify.
“Sara, Sally helped Peter and the team a lot in finding Neal and locating him. And at some point, the fact that you had lost your memories was mentioned as well.”
“Oh, okay.”
Before Sara could say anything more, Peter came back in, a slightly worried expression on his face.
“Peter, is everything okay?”
Sally voiced Sara’s thoughts to a T.
“Yeah, it is,” Peter answered before focusing on Sara. “Sara, Neal wants to talk to you outside.”
“Okay.” Sara got up and went to open the door, but Peter stopped her with a hand on her wrist.
“Just don’t assume the worst, okay?”
“Okay.”
With that, Sara was out on the patio, and for the first time, she saw Diana, wearing a Lara Croft costume, and Jones, who was dressed as Dracula, standing there, both of them wearing a knowing smile on their faces. What the heck was going on?
“Hey, Repo.”
Neal’s voice caused Sara to turn around, and only now she noticed that he was standing in the far corner of the garden, right in the middle of a heart made of candles.
“Neal…”
“Shh, just let me talk, okay?” Sara only nodded while slowly closing the distance to Neal. “You know, when we first met in court, during my trial, I honestly never ever would have thought that I would do that ever to a woman, at least to you.” They all chuckled, knowing that Sara had called Neal a few names while giving her testimony. “And yet, here we are,” he got down on his knee, holding his hand out to her once again. “Sara, you know that one of my biggest talents,” he looked over to Peter before continuing, “at least among those who are legal, is my way with words.” Sara nodded, remembering all the letters, emails and notes he left for her since last May. She had collected them all in a box, sitting behind her evening gowns at her side of their wardrobe.
“Just saying ʻI love youʼ, even a thousand times over and over again, wouldn’t even begin to sum up everything I feel when I’m with you.” Neal locked their gazes, drawing her into his world, letting her forget everything that was around them. “I need you, Sara Ellis, more than I need air to breathe. More than I need anything to drink or to eat. No piece of gold, no painting, no jewelry, as unique as it might be, can ever be as satisfying to me as seeing you smiling at me, as seeing you waking up next to me, so beautiful and peaceful.” Sara saw Neal taking something out of his pocket, though he kept it still hidden in his palm. “In my other life, the life I had before I met you, I saw the most beautiful places this world has to offer, and yet, no place could match the stunning beauty you are, no matter what time of the day.” Another round of chuckles could be heard. “Or fill me with so much happiness, so much love and so much thankfulness to every deity as I have since we made it out of this nightmare back in May.” Neal swallowed, and Sara saw a tear rolling down his face. “When I was at their mercy, the only thing that kept me from giving up was you, Sara, and the hope that I could get you back, that you would give me a second chance, after everything I put you through.” He turned his hand, revealing the beautiful ring and causing Sara to gasp. “Long story short, I’m here, on my knee, to ask you one question: Sara Ellis, would you do me the honor and marry me?”
“I…” Sara began to stutter, mostly due to the fact that her heart was apparently running a marathon inside her chest.
“I would say yes, if I were her,” Elizabeth whispered to her husband.
Apparently, El wasn’t as silent as she had planned, if the look on Sara’s face when she spun back to them was anything to go by. Turning back, she gave her most winning smile to Neal.
“Yes! A thousand times yes!”
Neal put the ring on her left ring finger, then got up to his feet and kissed her with all his might.
“Thank you, Sara, for saying yes”, Neal said after breaking the kiss, his voice full of emotion and a bit teary.
“You really thought I could say no, Caffrey?” Sara replied, with just a bit of tease in her voice.
“Yeah, it was a possibility,” Neal admitted, still holding her close to him, keeping their proverbial bubble up.
“No, I would never do that to you. Not when you’re proposing to me with such a stunning ring.” She held her hand up. “Where did you get the money to buy it?”
“I have to admit that I didn’t buy it.” He paused, and as if on cue, her eyes went wide, assuming the worst. “I made it. June had some vintage jewelry that she didn’t need anymore, and she didn’t want to sell it, so I asked her if I could get them to reuse the gems in this ring.”
“So this is an original Caffrey design?” Sara asked, amazement prominent in her voice.
“Yep, it is,” Neal said with a nod, a proud smile spreading on his face. But not for long, since Sara pulled him close to her by the neck and kissed him again, surrounded by their unique family.
Costumes:
Burkes: Rick O'Connell & Evelyn from "The Mummy" (which is a hint to my upcoming Big Bang story)
Jones: Dracula (like Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the TV show)
Diana: Lara Croft (like Diana a tough lady)
Neal/Sara: Superman/Lois Lane
Mozzie: The Riddler
Sally: Poison Ivy
Happy Halloween!!
