![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Summary: After moving back to New York, Sara is unsure about the future, afraid that Neal, despite them going strong and having a daughter, will fall back into his old, semi-criminal ways. Good thing that there’s one woman who has some knowledge about sharing a life with a con man – June Ellington.
Notes: Written for Mini-fest #3 of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
wc_women_fest. Sequel to my other stories “All In” and “Of Second Chances”. Focus on Sara and June, with appearances/mentions of Neal, Byron, and others. Unbetaed, so if you spot any typos, grammatical errors and such, please point them out to me. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moving back to New York was, surprisingly enough, quite easy – if “moving” meant just packing up your stuff and haul it across the Atlantic Ocean. Even settling back into the live in the Big Apple went as smoothly as expected.
Allison took the move in stride, making friends with both Neal Burke and Theo Berrigan almost in a heartbeat, which was not only welcomed by Neal and Sara, but also by Diana, who also had moved back to New York. Or as Clinton called it: “The band is back together”.
If she was to judge the last few weeks only by those facts, Sara couldn’t be more content about it. Both she and Neal had found new (old) jobs – Neal as a fully paid consultant for both the FBI and Sterling Bosch, where Sara became the new Vice President.
But what really got her thinking a lot was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. The feeling was, no big surprise, about Neal. Back when they were living in London, they were just another modern day couple, with Neal staying at home with Allison and her at work. When she first suggested the move, both her and Neal agreed that he would go and get a job as well – not for monetary reasons. Sara honestly had no idea how, but soon after moving together, Neal surprised her with a nice backlog of money, stashed in a bank account.
And exactly that was what kept her thinking. What if Neal went back to his (semi-) criminal ways once he was back on his home turf? With everyone, especially Mozzie, closer to him than ever before, the possibility was definitely there, and as much as she loved him, and as much as she knew how much he adored both her and their little princess, she would have been stupid NOT to consider it. Con men were, like any other sort of criminals, bound to fall back to their old ways, just because they were human beings. Would Neal be, like in so many other aspects, the literal exception to the rule?
So one afternoon, with Allison having a play date with Neal and Theo at the Burke’s and Neal out on a case with Peter and the rest of the team, Sara found herself standing at the steps leading up to June’s mansion. If anyone could give her an advice, it was June.
“You plan on growing roots out there, dear?”
The soft-spoken, humor-laced asked question, coming from the woman in the doorway, brought Sara out of her reverie.
“No,” Sara answered with a smile. “Mind if I come in?”
June’s answer only consisted of her taking a step back, letting Sara in before leading the younger woman over to the living room.
“How’s Allison?” June asked casually as they both sat down.
“She’s really thriving in living here, and having both Neal Burke and Theo Berrigan close definitely helps her,” Sara told her with a bright smile. “And we have found out that she’s definitely Neal’s daughter.”
“How’s that?”
Instead of answering straight away, Sara fished her mobile out of her purse and scrolled through the many pictures stored there. When she had found the right one, she turned the display over to June, presenting a bright painting to the only grandmother Allison would ever have.
“That’s her painting?” June asked, incredulously.
“Yep, and she did it without any help from me or Neal,” Sara answered, pride lacing her voice.
“What does Neal say about her apparent talent?”
“Oh, he’s elated. And he’s already making plans, checking out pre-schools and schools specialized in fostering such talents. I think he’s still hoping of having an original Caffrey hanging in a gallery one fine day.”
One of June’s staff put a tray with coffee and cookies on the small table in front of them, giving both women to take a small break.
“But that’s not the real reason for your impromptu visit, right, Sara?”
Leave it to June and her sharp wit to see through her motives. Neal had told her early in their first relationship that this was the treat he honored the most in June (and any other woman for that matter), and it seemed that she hadn’t lost her touch.
“No, not at all.” Sara put the coffee cup down and caught June’s eyes. “Did Byron ever get back to his old ways as a con man after you became a family?” She paused. “I don’t know why, but somewhere in the back of my mind, there’s this little voice that keeps nagging me about Neal becoming a consummate con man again, now that we are back on his home turf.”
“Oh, dear,” June began before scooting closer to Sara and grabbing both her hands, “as much as Neal resembles my dear Byron in so many ways, there’s one thing that differs our men. Neal is, at the bottom of his heart, a romantic, and while I can’t guarantee you that he won’t try anything semi-legal in the years to come, he never, ever would do anything that would either hurt you and Allison or put any of you in imminent danger.” June paused, taking a sip from her coffee and giving Sara the chance to process her words. “You see, in all the years since I ran into him in the thrift store, I’ve seen many sides of Neal. I’ve seen him pulling cons that would have been impossible under different circumstances. I’ve seen him toying with both the FBI and other criminals, toeing along the fine line between freedom and prison. And I’ve also seen the fallout of Kate’s death, more than Peter, Mozzie or anyone else together. After he came back from prison, he didn’t sleep for a full week, opting to spend his nights down here in the library instead of upstairs in his bed.”
“I know that about Neal, but the rational part of my brain can’t stop thinking about his ʻfinalʼ con here, letting everyone believe he’s dead and gone for good,” Sara challenged.
“Did he talk to you about his motives for pulling that stunt on all of us?” Sara nodded, remembering the many nights they spent in London talking about the fallout of his “death”.
“Well, as you know, I was the only one who knew some of the details of his plan. He did it to protect all the people he considered his family – Peter, Elizabeth, their unborn baby, Mozzie, the team, and you, even though you were so far away in London. And while I wasn’t happy about him pretending to die to do that, I could understand and relate to him. Back in the day, when some rooms in this house were an illegal casino, Byron was also toeing along the same fine line. I couldn’t stop him from doing all those illegal activities, but I also knew that when push would come to shove, Byron would rather go down himself than putting anyone else in the crosshairs.”
Suddenly, June got up, walking over to the desk standing on the opposite wall and beginning to rummage around in one of the drawers. Sooner than later, she came back, holding a bunch of what looked like letters to Sara.
“Here, read the first one.” June offered the bunch to Sara, who hesitated to take them. “Don’t worry, they’ve been read by so many people over the years, they’re no longer a secret.”
Sara took the letters, noticing the old stamps and the feeling of well-aged paper in a heartbeat. What was June aiming at with showing them to her?
“I found them some time after Byron passed, well-hidden in a drawer in his ʻofficeʼ upstairs. Long story short, they showed me a side in my husband I’ve failed to see in all the years of our marriage.”
“You mean the big difference between him and Neal?” Sara asked.
“Yes,” June answered, and Sara could detect a tinge of sadness in the other woman’s voice. What on Earth did Byron write in these letters to cause such a reaction, even after all those years?
The first thing Sara noticed about the letter was the fine handwriting. She let her eyes flying over the lines, and the further down the page she got, the more she was surprised about the words Byron Ellington found for his family. Apparently, he had two sides battling inside of him. The first, the smaller one to him, was that of the consummate family man, eager to protect them at any cost. In the other corner, so to speak, was the likewise consummate con man, ready to go for the next big game. And if he ever would have gotten in a situation to have to choose between the two sides, Byron would apparently have gone for the con man side, taking the fall for his crimes and paying the price, whatever that would be. Which also meant he would have left his family, June and the girls, hung out to dry, just like that.
“I bet you were livid after reading those lines.”
“No, not at all.” Sara looked up, trying to read June’s face. “First of all, Byron was already gone, so why getting angry at a dead man? And second, when the situation really came up, Ford took all the blame, stating that he was the brain behind everything and that he, more or less, forced us to participate.”
Sara only nodded, not really knowing what she should say now. Was Neal really that different from Byron? Would she, together with Allison and all their friends, their extended ragtag family, be able to keep Neal in their life and on the straight and narrow? Only time would tell, but now, she had at least a good example and a sounding board in June. And if these two women had something in common, it was that they were strong and independent, able to pull through any storm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Notes: Written for Mini-fest #3 of
wc_women_fest. Sequel to my other stories “All In” and “Of Second Chances”. Focus on Sara and June, with appearances/mentions of Neal, Byron, and others. Unbetaed, so if you spot any typos, grammatical errors and such, please point them out to me. Enjoy!Moving back to New York was, surprisingly enough, quite easy – if “moving” meant just packing up your stuff and haul it across the Atlantic Ocean. Even settling back into the live in the Big Apple went as smoothly as expected.
Allison took the move in stride, making friends with both Neal Burke and Theo Berrigan almost in a heartbeat, which was not only welcomed by Neal and Sara, but also by Diana, who also had moved back to New York. Or as Clinton called it: “The band is back together”.
If she was to judge the last few weeks only by those facts, Sara couldn’t be more content about it. Both she and Neal had found new (old) jobs – Neal as a fully paid consultant for both the FBI and Sterling Bosch, where Sara became the new Vice President.
But what really got her thinking a lot was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. The feeling was, no big surprise, about Neal. Back when they were living in London, they were just another modern day couple, with Neal staying at home with Allison and her at work. When she first suggested the move, both her and Neal agreed that he would go and get a job as well – not for monetary reasons. Sara honestly had no idea how, but soon after moving together, Neal surprised her with a nice backlog of money, stashed in a bank account.
And exactly that was what kept her thinking. What if Neal went back to his (semi-) criminal ways once he was back on his home turf? With everyone, especially Mozzie, closer to him than ever before, the possibility was definitely there, and as much as she loved him, and as much as she knew how much he adored both her and their little princess, she would have been stupid NOT to consider it. Con men were, like any other sort of criminals, bound to fall back to their old ways, just because they were human beings. Would Neal be, like in so many other aspects, the literal exception to the rule?
So one afternoon, with Allison having a play date with Neal and Theo at the Burke’s and Neal out on a case with Peter and the rest of the team, Sara found herself standing at the steps leading up to June’s mansion. If anyone could give her an advice, it was June.
“You plan on growing roots out there, dear?”
The soft-spoken, humor-laced asked question, coming from the woman in the doorway, brought Sara out of her reverie.
“No,” Sara answered with a smile. “Mind if I come in?”
June’s answer only consisted of her taking a step back, letting Sara in before leading the younger woman over to the living room.
“How’s Allison?” June asked casually as they both sat down.
“She’s really thriving in living here, and having both Neal Burke and Theo Berrigan close definitely helps her,” Sara told her with a bright smile. “And we have found out that she’s definitely Neal’s daughter.”
“How’s that?”
Instead of answering straight away, Sara fished her mobile out of her purse and scrolled through the many pictures stored there. When she had found the right one, she turned the display over to June, presenting a bright painting to the only grandmother Allison would ever have.
“That’s her painting?” June asked, incredulously.
“Yep, and she did it without any help from me or Neal,” Sara answered, pride lacing her voice.
“What does Neal say about her apparent talent?”
“Oh, he’s elated. And he’s already making plans, checking out pre-schools and schools specialized in fostering such talents. I think he’s still hoping of having an original Caffrey hanging in a gallery one fine day.”
One of June’s staff put a tray with coffee and cookies on the small table in front of them, giving both women to take a small break.
“But that’s not the real reason for your impromptu visit, right, Sara?”
Leave it to June and her sharp wit to see through her motives. Neal had told her early in their first relationship that this was the treat he honored the most in June (and any other woman for that matter), and it seemed that she hadn’t lost her touch.
“No, not at all.” Sara put the coffee cup down and caught June’s eyes. “Did Byron ever get back to his old ways as a con man after you became a family?” She paused. “I don’t know why, but somewhere in the back of my mind, there’s this little voice that keeps nagging me about Neal becoming a consummate con man again, now that we are back on his home turf.”
“Oh, dear,” June began before scooting closer to Sara and grabbing both her hands, “as much as Neal resembles my dear Byron in so many ways, there’s one thing that differs our men. Neal is, at the bottom of his heart, a romantic, and while I can’t guarantee you that he won’t try anything semi-legal in the years to come, he never, ever would do anything that would either hurt you and Allison or put any of you in imminent danger.” June paused, taking a sip from her coffee and giving Sara the chance to process her words. “You see, in all the years since I ran into him in the thrift store, I’ve seen many sides of Neal. I’ve seen him pulling cons that would have been impossible under different circumstances. I’ve seen him toying with both the FBI and other criminals, toeing along the fine line between freedom and prison. And I’ve also seen the fallout of Kate’s death, more than Peter, Mozzie or anyone else together. After he came back from prison, he didn’t sleep for a full week, opting to spend his nights down here in the library instead of upstairs in his bed.”
“I know that about Neal, but the rational part of my brain can’t stop thinking about his ʻfinalʼ con here, letting everyone believe he’s dead and gone for good,” Sara challenged.
“Did he talk to you about his motives for pulling that stunt on all of us?” Sara nodded, remembering the many nights they spent in London talking about the fallout of his “death”.
“Well, as you know, I was the only one who knew some of the details of his plan. He did it to protect all the people he considered his family – Peter, Elizabeth, their unborn baby, Mozzie, the team, and you, even though you were so far away in London. And while I wasn’t happy about him pretending to die to do that, I could understand and relate to him. Back in the day, when some rooms in this house were an illegal casino, Byron was also toeing along the same fine line. I couldn’t stop him from doing all those illegal activities, but I also knew that when push would come to shove, Byron would rather go down himself than putting anyone else in the crosshairs.”
Suddenly, June got up, walking over to the desk standing on the opposite wall and beginning to rummage around in one of the drawers. Sooner than later, she came back, holding a bunch of what looked like letters to Sara.
“Here, read the first one.” June offered the bunch to Sara, who hesitated to take them. “Don’t worry, they’ve been read by so many people over the years, they’re no longer a secret.”
Sara took the letters, noticing the old stamps and the feeling of well-aged paper in a heartbeat. What was June aiming at with showing them to her?
“I found them some time after Byron passed, well-hidden in a drawer in his ʻofficeʼ upstairs. Long story short, they showed me a side in my husband I’ve failed to see in all the years of our marriage.”
“You mean the big difference between him and Neal?” Sara asked.
“Yes,” June answered, and Sara could detect a tinge of sadness in the other woman’s voice. What on Earth did Byron write in these letters to cause such a reaction, even after all those years?
The first thing Sara noticed about the letter was the fine handwriting. She let her eyes flying over the lines, and the further down the page she got, the more she was surprised about the words Byron Ellington found for his family. Apparently, he had two sides battling inside of him. The first, the smaller one to him, was that of the consummate family man, eager to protect them at any cost. In the other corner, so to speak, was the likewise consummate con man, ready to go for the next big game. And if he ever would have gotten in a situation to have to choose between the two sides, Byron would apparently have gone for the con man side, taking the fall for his crimes and paying the price, whatever that would be. Which also meant he would have left his family, June and the girls, hung out to dry, just like that.
“I bet you were livid after reading those lines.”
“No, not at all.” Sara looked up, trying to read June’s face. “First of all, Byron was already gone, so why getting angry at a dead man? And second, when the situation really came up, Ford took all the blame, stating that he was the brain behind everything and that he, more or less, forced us to participate.”
Sara only nodded, not really knowing what she should say now. Was Neal really that different from Byron? Would she, together with Allison and all their friends, their extended ragtag family, be able to keep Neal in their life and on the straight and narrow? Only time would tell, but now, she had at least a good example and a sounding board in June. And if these two women had something in common, it was that they were strong and independent, able to pull through any storm.
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(no subject)
Date: 2016-07-03 09:58 pm (UTC)Really love this :D
(no subject)
Date: 2016-07-03 10:05 pm (UTC)PS: Our story for slashorific is in the works, but wrestling these boys into commission is quite a task! I changed the storyline a bit, toning down the crime side, focusing more on Neal and Peter.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-07-03 10:12 pm (UTC)