STORY: The Man Is Mine! - for Caffrey-Burke Day 2015
Summary: They say that patience is a virtue, but even the most patient man can only take so much teasing. Time to make a claiming, preferably coram publico.
Notes: Written for Caffrey-Burke Day on October 23, as well as for the “Friends to Lovers/Friends with Benefits” square on my Trope Bingo Card. Inspired by both the picture below, originally posted by sherylyn for TDK daily (on LJ), and my own comment to the post. Set at some point after the finale, with Neal working with the FBI once again and Diana back in New York. Title is borrowed, with only a slight change, from a McCartney/Jackson song. Short appearance of an OMC and a OFC, named after characters from another of Matt's TV shows. Unbetaed, so if you spot any typos or grammar errors, please let me know!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“…and as soon as they are in the room, he all but ignores me! As if I’m suddenly wearing an invisibility cape!”
Neal, sitting at the breakfast counter in Peter and Elizabeth’s kitchen, was on a full-on rant. Which, on the other hand, was a good thing, or he would have noticed in a heartbeat that El was more than a bit struggling with keeping up a straight face.
Normally, the tables were turned. She had lost count over the years of the cases where she would listen to her husband complaining about Neal’s talent of attracting everyone’s attention, not just that of their mark alone.
And now, Neal was here, complaining about Peter doing the same. Which was oh so funny on so many accounts, mostly on that that Neal apparently had no idea of Peter’s true feelings for him. Time to give them two morons, her morons, a helping hand (aka a shove).
“So, Neal, tell me about these two,” El suddenly said, using his pause to catch a breath for her input. “I mean, if he’s really doing what you’re saying, it’s high on time that he gets an earful or two from his lovely wife.” For emphasis, she winked at Neal, causing him to really smile for the first time since showing up.
“Yeah, maybe he needs that.” Neal paused. “You know, I wouldn’t be so worried about it if the guy wouldn’t look like a long-lost twin of mine.” He fished his mobile out of a pocket and scrolled through the images. Before long, he turned the display around to her.
“Wow!” Elizabeth took the phone from him, getting a closer look at the man, who really looked like Neal’s doppelganger. As far as El could tell, the man in the picture had the same striking blue eyes, the same height and built and, last but not least, almost the same hair color, the dark rich brown only shorter and with some blonde highlights. “And you’re sure he’s not related to you?” she asked while handing the mobile back to Neal.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Diana had the lab running a DNA test on us, Jones called James in prison. But both roads had a dead end. Nothing.” Neal somehow sounded disappointed, and Elizabeth felt for him. She knew the stories of Neal’s life all too well, having heard them from both Peter and Neal.
“What are you going to do about it?” she asked all of a sudden, causing Neal to almost choke on his coffee.
“About what?” he asked, his voice slightly laced with incredulity, while putting down the cup. “My doppelganger? Or the fact that your husband is apparently attracted to him?”
The words came out harsher than he had intended, but before Neal could apologize to her, Elizabeth continued her questioning of him.
“So you admit to have feelings for Peter?”
Surprisingly enough, Neal couldn’t find even the slightest trace of hurt or jealousy in her voice. Which in turn was somewhat encouraging for him.
“Yes, I have, but rest assured, I will never ever act on them. That would be wrong, so wrong on so many levels.”
“Why not?” A simple question, and yet it prompted Neal to look at her as if she just had grown a second head or something like that. For a man being so intelligent, an expert on so many various fields, Neal could be pretty dumb sometimes.
“Because,” she sighed, and Neal was tempted to stop her, but before he could decide on it, El continued. “My husband has feelings for you too. I think it goes back to the beginning of your cat-and-mouse game.” Neal’s beautiful blue eyes grew large. “And before you say anything, I would be absolutely okay with you acting on your feelings.” El caught his eyes with hers. “Better you than any random woman. I can share, but definitely not with another woman.”
Neal was speechless, and for some long heartbeats, he felt as if El had pulled the rug out under his feet. In a matter of seconds, his whole world was turned upside down. Was he really that close to fulfil his greatest, yet most secret fantasy? One that had taken up residence in a corner of his brain all those years ago when Peter Burke began to chase him half around the world?
“So, Elizabeth,” Neal finally looked up at her again, a sly smile starting to spread on his face, “any ideas?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three days later, they finally had enough evidence on Donovan and Iris Franks, a pair of marriage swindlers making their criminal way through the high society from Los Angeles to New York, and it was time to put an end to their activities.
Thanks to his doppelganger, Neal was reduced to watch from the van, most of the time with only Diana or Jones for company. And if that wasn’t cruel enough, he only learned of the other man’s existence when they arrived on location. Peter apparently already knew about him, if the smug smile he was wearing while finally informing Neal was anything to go by.
While Diana, Jones and some other agents went to arrest the couple, Neal also stepped out of the van, shedding the wind breaker he had put on this morning on the way out. Crossing the street, he positioned himself near the stairs to the main entrance of the house. For what he had in mind, he not only needed the audience of the other FBI agents, he most of all needed Donovan to see it.
At long last, Jones came out, leading Iris down the steps and over to the police van. Her eyes fell on Neal, causing them to wide, but Neal didn’t even acknowledge her presence. His eyes were already set on Diana and Peter, who led a handcuffed Donovan out of the house.
Said Donovan almost did a double take upon seeing Neal just standing there. Peter followed suit, much to Neal’s joy. Apparently, the sight in front of him had exactly the effect Neal had desired.
Dressed in one of his finest suits (Peter would bet it was one of Byron’s Devore ones) and a royal blue dress shirt, Neal truly was a sight for sore eyes. Not to mention that the younger man looked so delectable in this outfit that Peter had to put a fight not to take him somewhere and have his way with Neal.
In the meantime, Neal had made his way up the few steps to Peter, who still was rooted to the spot on top of the stairs. With one last look at Donovan, Neal closed the distance to Peter, grabbing the other man at the lapels of his suit jacket, pulling him flush to his own body. Peter only managed to utter a gasp before Neal sealed the deal, so to speak, with his lips descending on Peter’s. Smiling into the kiss, Neal felt Peter relaxing and finally putting his hands on Neal’s back.
At long last, they had to break the kiss, since breathing somehow became an issue. Still wearing the triumphant smile, Neal turned his head around, enough to catch Donovan’s eyes again and stating to everyone in hearing distance: “The man is mine!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HAPPY CAFFREY-BURKE-DAY EVERYONE!!!
Notes: Written for Caffrey-Burke Day on October 23, as well as for the “Friends to Lovers/Friends with Benefits” square on my Trope Bingo Card. Inspired by both the picture below, originally posted by sherylyn for TDK daily (on LJ), and my own comment to the post. Set at some point after the finale, with Neal working with the FBI once again and Diana back in New York. Title is borrowed, with only a slight change, from a McCartney/Jackson song. Short appearance of an OMC and a OFC, named after characters from another of Matt's TV shows. Unbetaed, so if you spot any typos or grammar errors, please let me know!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“…and as soon as they are in the room, he all but ignores me! As if I’m suddenly wearing an invisibility cape!”
Neal, sitting at the breakfast counter in Peter and Elizabeth’s kitchen, was on a full-on rant. Which, on the other hand, was a good thing, or he would have noticed in a heartbeat that El was more than a bit struggling with keeping up a straight face.
Normally, the tables were turned. She had lost count over the years of the cases where she would listen to her husband complaining about Neal’s talent of attracting everyone’s attention, not just that of their mark alone.
And now, Neal was here, complaining about Peter doing the same. Which was oh so funny on so many accounts, mostly on that that Neal apparently had no idea of Peter’s true feelings for him. Time to give them two morons, her morons, a helping hand (aka a shove).
“So, Neal, tell me about these two,” El suddenly said, using his pause to catch a breath for her input. “I mean, if he’s really doing what you’re saying, it’s high on time that he gets an earful or two from his lovely wife.” For emphasis, she winked at Neal, causing him to really smile for the first time since showing up.
“Yeah, maybe he needs that.” Neal paused. “You know, I wouldn’t be so worried about it if the guy wouldn’t look like a long-lost twin of mine.” He fished his mobile out of a pocket and scrolled through the images. Before long, he turned the display around to her.
“Wow!” Elizabeth took the phone from him, getting a closer look at the man, who really looked like Neal’s doppelganger. As far as El could tell, the man in the picture had the same striking blue eyes, the same height and built and, last but not least, almost the same hair color, the dark rich brown only shorter and with some blonde highlights. “And you’re sure he’s not related to you?” she asked while handing the mobile back to Neal.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Diana had the lab running a DNA test on us, Jones called James in prison. But both roads had a dead end. Nothing.” Neal somehow sounded disappointed, and Elizabeth felt for him. She knew the stories of Neal’s life all too well, having heard them from both Peter and Neal.
“What are you going to do about it?” she asked all of a sudden, causing Neal to almost choke on his coffee.
“About what?” he asked, his voice slightly laced with incredulity, while putting down the cup. “My doppelganger? Or the fact that your husband is apparently attracted to him?”
The words came out harsher than he had intended, but before Neal could apologize to her, Elizabeth continued her questioning of him.
“So you admit to have feelings for Peter?”
Surprisingly enough, Neal couldn’t find even the slightest trace of hurt or jealousy in her voice. Which in turn was somewhat encouraging for him.
“Yes, I have, but rest assured, I will never ever act on them. That would be wrong, so wrong on so many levels.”
“Why not?” A simple question, and yet it prompted Neal to look at her as if she just had grown a second head or something like that. For a man being so intelligent, an expert on so many various fields, Neal could be pretty dumb sometimes.
“Because,” she sighed, and Neal was tempted to stop her, but before he could decide on it, El continued. “My husband has feelings for you too. I think it goes back to the beginning of your cat-and-mouse game.” Neal’s beautiful blue eyes grew large. “And before you say anything, I would be absolutely okay with you acting on your feelings.” El caught his eyes with hers. “Better you than any random woman. I can share, but definitely not with another woman.”
Neal was speechless, and for some long heartbeats, he felt as if El had pulled the rug out under his feet. In a matter of seconds, his whole world was turned upside down. Was he really that close to fulfil his greatest, yet most secret fantasy? One that had taken up residence in a corner of his brain all those years ago when Peter Burke began to chase him half around the world?
“So, Elizabeth,” Neal finally looked up at her again, a sly smile starting to spread on his face, “any ideas?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three days later, they finally had enough evidence on Donovan and Iris Franks, a pair of marriage swindlers making their criminal way through the high society from Los Angeles to New York, and it was time to put an end to their activities.
Thanks to his doppelganger, Neal was reduced to watch from the van, most of the time with only Diana or Jones for company. And if that wasn’t cruel enough, he only learned of the other man’s existence when they arrived on location. Peter apparently already knew about him, if the smug smile he was wearing while finally informing Neal was anything to go by.
While Diana, Jones and some other agents went to arrest the couple, Neal also stepped out of the van, shedding the wind breaker he had put on this morning on the way out. Crossing the street, he positioned himself near the stairs to the main entrance of the house. For what he had in mind, he not only needed the audience of the other FBI agents, he most of all needed Donovan to see it.
At long last, Jones came out, leading Iris down the steps and over to the police van. Her eyes fell on Neal, causing them to wide, but Neal didn’t even acknowledge her presence. His eyes were already set on Diana and Peter, who led a handcuffed Donovan out of the house.
Said Donovan almost did a double take upon seeing Neal just standing there. Peter followed suit, much to Neal’s joy. Apparently, the sight in front of him had exactly the effect Neal had desired.
Dressed in one of his finest suits (Peter would bet it was one of Byron’s Devore ones) and a royal blue dress shirt, Neal truly was a sight for sore eyes. Not to mention that the younger man looked so delectable in this outfit that Peter had to put a fight not to take him somewhere and have his way with Neal.
In the meantime, Neal had made his way up the few steps to Peter, who still was rooted to the spot on top of the stairs. With one last look at Donovan, Neal closed the distance to Peter, grabbing the other man at the lapels of his suit jacket, pulling him flush to his own body. Peter only managed to utter a gasp before Neal sealed the deal, so to speak, with his lips descending on Peter’s. Smiling into the kiss, Neal felt Peter relaxing and finally putting his hands on Neal’s back.
At long last, they had to break the kiss, since breathing somehow became an issue. Still wearing the triumphant smile, Neal turned his head around, enough to catch Donovan’s eyes again and stating to everyone in hearing distance: “The man is mine!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HAPPY CAFFREY-BURKE-DAY EVERYONE!!!