STORY: All In (Sara, Neal)
Summary: Sara ponders her life, and the different kinds of games people can play.
Notes: Written for Round 3 of runthecon and the prompt "the games people play", given to me by the ever awesome kanarek13. Set in the gap year of the finale (and afterwards), but reflects back to events in earlier seasons and pre-series. Some events mentioned in there will be addressed in another story I’m writing at the moment (for wcpairings, so I can’t say too much about it).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sitting in the large living room of her London apartment, sipping red wine and enjoying a few moments of relative silence after yet another chaotic day at the office, Sara Ellis allowed her mind to wander off. Or better wander back to some special moments in her life.
When she was a kid, games were fun. Playing hide and seek with Emily was something she couldn’t get enough of, the same could be said about all the adventures the two girls experienced with their dolls. But then, one day, when they were already grown out of their childhood games, Emily decided to play the adult version of “hide and seek”. And as much as Sara tried, she couldn’t find her sister, and so, games were no more any fun.
Adulthood came around, and with that, Sara became a member in a completely different kind of games, masked under the pretense of doing her job. Never before in her life lying, pretending and acting on instinct, always with one feet in another shade of the grey area between legal and illegal, was part of her life on a daily base, resulting in her private and professional life to blur into each other.
Men, she noticed early on, were true masters of that kind of game. Sure, she had her fair share of witnessing women doing the same, but, at least to her, women were a tad easier to read and reveal their true intentions then men. Must be in their genetic code or something like that, she mused one evening while going over the file about a stolen Raphael once again.
The first to prove that theory was, in one way or another, her father. Back then, she took whatever he told her about Emily and her sudden disappearance at face value, but as she grew older, she realized that he only told her some sweet little lies, if only to protect her from the ugly truth. And as hurtful as that was to realize, she couldn’t be mad at her father. He did what any father would do in a situation like that.
Bryan McKenzie on the other hand wasn’t as lucky to earn the same forgiveness. He openly played with her, with her heart, with her emotions, only that Sara didn’t realized that until it was almost too late. Even now, years later, she felt nothing but disgust towards him.
Next to these two, there were other guys, playing along the same lines, being more or less successful. But none of them had anything on the guy that first caused her anger, than frustration, heartache, irritation, and more recently, joy, along with a wonderful purpose that she didn’t realize was missing from her life - Neal Caffrey.
When she first came across his name, he was the main suspect in the theft of Raphael’s “Saint George and the Dragon”, and Sara, as a brand-new insurance investigator, was determined to prove his guilt and get him locked up for good.
They didn’t meet in person until his trial, and from the second their eyes met, Sara knew that the handsome man with the striking blue eyes was a grand master, maybe even more, when it came to playing games with others.
Peter Burke, the FBI agent who finally caught him, told her a bit about Neal, and even though it wasn’t much that he could relegate to her due to the trial, it was enough for Sara to see her theory about men being proved once again.
Long story short, Neal was convicted (though not for the theft of the painting, which left Sara quite angry and frustrated), and with time, his name became nothing more than a fleeting memory at the back of her mind.
Fast forward to some years later: Sara was working the Halbridge case, when her boss, Winston Bosch, suggested to get the FBI on board. Sara was okay with that - but only until she realized that Peter Burke, and by extension Neal Caffrey, would work the case with her.
Faster than the proverbial speeding bullet (and definitely faster than she ever wanted it to happen), Sara was caught up in the tangle that meant working with the hot mess named Neal. Once again, she noticed that he was playing with her, though on a different level than other men before. But in the same time, she also had the chance to look behind the curtain, if only for a fraction of a second at best, but it was enough for her to realize that behind the mask of a suave, charming con man a rough, unknown territory labeled “the real Neal” was waiting to be explored.
Unfortunately, she only got to scratch on the surface, so to speak. First, Neal kept some very vital information from her, causing her to break up with him and realizing that, once again, she was played. Then, they both gave it a second chance (but not until Neal returned from a little detour to a sunny island), only to end it once again when she got the job offer to work here in London, being the boss of the whole Sterling Bosch office at the banks of the River Thames.
At first, they got in contact via email and Skype on a regular base, but with time, the number of these messages and calls dwindled down to one call on her birthday in November. She didn’t hear from Neal over the holidays, but she wasn’t worried. The man had, like herself, a bad track record when it came to friend- and relationships.
The next time she heard his name was when Elizabeth called her, the other woman’s voice filled with tears, and Sara finally learned, a week later, that Neal was dead. Her initial reaction was her usual one - blocking the pain, the feeling of being left alone, out of her heart and mind, like she did all the years back when Emily vanished out of her life.
But that worked fine only until she came home, and heard the undecipherable babbling of her little daughter Allison. Mrs. Roberts, an elderly neighbor of Sara’s in the apartment block and frequent babysitter, came out to welcome her home, the sweet girl with the red blond hair and the stunning blue eyes attached to her hip.
Sara took one look at her girl, choked and fled to the bedroom, locking the door behind her. She didn’t want to scare both her daughter and Mrs. Roberts, but seeing the blue in Allison’s eyes brought back all the memories she had of her father. A father this sweet little girl would never, ever meet in person.
Imagine her surprise several months later when she went to Paris to help out on a case at the Louvre and she was introduced to the new Chief of Security at the world-famous museum. It took all of her natural strength to stop herself from slapping him in front of everyone, but one look from him told Sara that this guy - who went by the name of Nicholas Beauchamp - was someone new and had nothing to do with the former con man she used to know.
Back to the present, where Sara’s train of thought was interrupted by two hands landing on her shoulders, softly kneading the flesh beneath them.
“She’s finally asleep?” Sara asked without looking up.
“Yep,” the man in her back answered before coming to the front of the couch and flopping down next to her. “Only took me three stories this time.” They locked gazes, and like so many times before, Sara couldn’t help but getting lost in Neal’s wonderful blue orbs. “You gotta admit, I’m getting better,” he added with a smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also on AO3
Notes: Written for Round 3 of runthecon and the prompt "the games people play", given to me by the ever awesome kanarek13. Set in the gap year of the finale (and afterwards), but reflects back to events in earlier seasons and pre-series. Some events mentioned in there will be addressed in another story I’m writing at the moment (for wcpairings, so I can’t say too much about it).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sitting in the large living room of her London apartment, sipping red wine and enjoying a few moments of relative silence after yet another chaotic day at the office, Sara Ellis allowed her mind to wander off. Or better wander back to some special moments in her life.
When she was a kid, games were fun. Playing hide and seek with Emily was something she couldn’t get enough of, the same could be said about all the adventures the two girls experienced with their dolls. But then, one day, when they were already grown out of their childhood games, Emily decided to play the adult version of “hide and seek”. And as much as Sara tried, she couldn’t find her sister, and so, games were no more any fun.
Adulthood came around, and with that, Sara became a member in a completely different kind of games, masked under the pretense of doing her job. Never before in her life lying, pretending and acting on instinct, always with one feet in another shade of the grey area between legal and illegal, was part of her life on a daily base, resulting in her private and professional life to blur into each other.
Men, she noticed early on, were true masters of that kind of game. Sure, she had her fair share of witnessing women doing the same, but, at least to her, women were a tad easier to read and reveal their true intentions then men. Must be in their genetic code or something like that, she mused one evening while going over the file about a stolen Raphael once again.
The first to prove that theory was, in one way or another, her father. Back then, she took whatever he told her about Emily and her sudden disappearance at face value, but as she grew older, she realized that he only told her some sweet little lies, if only to protect her from the ugly truth. And as hurtful as that was to realize, she couldn’t be mad at her father. He did what any father would do in a situation like that.
Bryan McKenzie on the other hand wasn’t as lucky to earn the same forgiveness. He openly played with her, with her heart, with her emotions, only that Sara didn’t realized that until it was almost too late. Even now, years later, she felt nothing but disgust towards him.
Next to these two, there were other guys, playing along the same lines, being more or less successful. But none of them had anything on the guy that first caused her anger, than frustration, heartache, irritation, and more recently, joy, along with a wonderful purpose that she didn’t realize was missing from her life - Neal Caffrey.
When she first came across his name, he was the main suspect in the theft of Raphael’s “Saint George and the Dragon”, and Sara, as a brand-new insurance investigator, was determined to prove his guilt and get him locked up for good.
They didn’t meet in person until his trial, and from the second their eyes met, Sara knew that the handsome man with the striking blue eyes was a grand master, maybe even more, when it came to playing games with others.
Peter Burke, the FBI agent who finally caught him, told her a bit about Neal, and even though it wasn’t much that he could relegate to her due to the trial, it was enough for Sara to see her theory about men being proved once again.
Long story short, Neal was convicted (though not for the theft of the painting, which left Sara quite angry and frustrated), and with time, his name became nothing more than a fleeting memory at the back of her mind.
Fast forward to some years later: Sara was working the Halbridge case, when her boss, Winston Bosch, suggested to get the FBI on board. Sara was okay with that - but only until she realized that Peter Burke, and by extension Neal Caffrey, would work the case with her.
Faster than the proverbial speeding bullet (and definitely faster than she ever wanted it to happen), Sara was caught up in the tangle that meant working with the hot mess named Neal. Once again, she noticed that he was playing with her, though on a different level than other men before. But in the same time, she also had the chance to look behind the curtain, if only for a fraction of a second at best, but it was enough for her to realize that behind the mask of a suave, charming con man a rough, unknown territory labeled “the real Neal” was waiting to be explored.
Unfortunately, she only got to scratch on the surface, so to speak. First, Neal kept some very vital information from her, causing her to break up with him and realizing that, once again, she was played. Then, they both gave it a second chance (but not until Neal returned from a little detour to a sunny island), only to end it once again when she got the job offer to work here in London, being the boss of the whole Sterling Bosch office at the banks of the River Thames.
At first, they got in contact via email and Skype on a regular base, but with time, the number of these messages and calls dwindled down to one call on her birthday in November. She didn’t hear from Neal over the holidays, but she wasn’t worried. The man had, like herself, a bad track record when it came to friend- and relationships.
The next time she heard his name was when Elizabeth called her, the other woman’s voice filled with tears, and Sara finally learned, a week later, that Neal was dead. Her initial reaction was her usual one - blocking the pain, the feeling of being left alone, out of her heart and mind, like she did all the years back when Emily vanished out of her life.
But that worked fine only until she came home, and heard the undecipherable babbling of her little daughter Allison. Mrs. Roberts, an elderly neighbor of Sara’s in the apartment block and frequent babysitter, came out to welcome her home, the sweet girl with the red blond hair and the stunning blue eyes attached to her hip.
Sara took one look at her girl, choked and fled to the bedroom, locking the door behind her. She didn’t want to scare both her daughter and Mrs. Roberts, but seeing the blue in Allison’s eyes brought back all the memories she had of her father. A father this sweet little girl would never, ever meet in person.
Imagine her surprise several months later when she went to Paris to help out on a case at the Louvre and she was introduced to the new Chief of Security at the world-famous museum. It took all of her natural strength to stop herself from slapping him in front of everyone, but one look from him told Sara that this guy - who went by the name of Nicholas Beauchamp - was someone new and had nothing to do with the former con man she used to know.
Back to the present, where Sara’s train of thought was interrupted by two hands landing on her shoulders, softly kneading the flesh beneath them.
“She’s finally asleep?” Sara asked without looking up.
“Yep,” the man in her back answered before coming to the front of the couch and flopping down next to her. “Only took me three stories this time.” They locked gazes, and like so many times before, Sara couldn’t help but getting lost in Neal’s wonderful blue orbs. “You gotta admit, I’m getting better,” he added with a smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also on AO3