STORY: Lady In Red (#4 The Archer & The Con Man Series)
Summary: Neal and Peter get unexpected help on a case.
Notes: Another part of my “The Archer & The Con Man” series, though this time without Phil & Clint (these two love-birds are taking a break with each other ;) ). Written for gameofcards challenge #27 and the prompt “red”. I'll leave it to you who the lady is, but I might solve it in a second part. Title and story inspired by a Twitter conversation between kanarek13 and myself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even a seasoned con man, who could tell you stories about (alleged) heists in the most uncommon ways and places, had his limits. Call it a moral code, a hidden part of his mind labeled “conscience” or whatever, if Neal every stayed true to one thing, it was this set of lines, of borders that he wouldn’t cross if he could help it. Like bringing bodily harm to anyone (maybe himself, but that was a different page), or only taking from those who really deserved it, not anyone else. Well, Robin Hood certainly did something right with that back then.
Doing more than one job for S.H.I.E.L.D. had the side effect that some of these lines were either completely erased or so washed out that even Neal himself could only find them after a long search. A few more got lost when he started to work for Peter, but his lover managed to show him some new ones. And still, Neal wondered while exiting the rented limousine and walking up the steps of the Embassy mansion, there were things and situations he rather would avoid at any cost. Well, if he was the one in command, which he wasn’t tonight.
Alone the setting of their little undercover operation was causing a red alert in his brain. Sure, he even had (allegedly) done a heist in a royal castle once, but meeting their latest bad guy, a man with a tendency for violence, here of all places, sent shivers down Neal’s spine. Peter, the team and the Embassy security already had an elaborated plan in motion, but Neal made himself aware of his surroundings, just in case. After all, it was a semi-personal case for him, with one of Mozzie’s friends lying in a coma at the ICU of Lennox Hill.
He and Peter were competitors for this case, which centered around one of Picasso’s rather unknown artworks. Their mark, for the lack of a better word, wanted to sell it to the highest bidder. Neal already had established contact, posing as a wayward art curator, which gave him access to the painting - and made him realize that whoever bought it in the end, would go home with a rather sloppy forgery. Picasso had his own style of painting, and what he saw here was a far cry from it, though it would take a keen eye to spot the differences.
Neal placed himself at the far end of the curved bar, giving him a vantage point to observe almost the whole ballroom. He saw Peter entering, dressed, like himself, in a tux, looking handsome as ever. They exchanged an almost imperceptible nod before Peter was swallowed by the crowd. And that’s when Neal (and every other male in the room) saw her descending the main staircase. The floor-length cherry red dress hugged her curves in the most delicious way, and for a change, she had her long red locks draped over one shoulder, giving her an even more mysterious aura.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC??
Notes: Another part of my “The Archer & The Con Man” series, though this time without Phil & Clint (these two love-birds are taking a break with each other ;) ). Written for gameofcards challenge #27 and the prompt “red”. I'll leave it to you who the lady is, but I might solve it in a second part. Title and story inspired by a Twitter conversation between kanarek13 and myself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even a seasoned con man, who could tell you stories about (alleged) heists in the most uncommon ways and places, had his limits. Call it a moral code, a hidden part of his mind labeled “conscience” or whatever, if Neal every stayed true to one thing, it was this set of lines, of borders that he wouldn’t cross if he could help it. Like bringing bodily harm to anyone (maybe himself, but that was a different page), or only taking from those who really deserved it, not anyone else. Well, Robin Hood certainly did something right with that back then.
Doing more than one job for S.H.I.E.L.D. had the side effect that some of these lines were either completely erased or so washed out that even Neal himself could only find them after a long search. A few more got lost when he started to work for Peter, but his lover managed to show him some new ones. And still, Neal wondered while exiting the rented limousine and walking up the steps of the Embassy mansion, there were things and situations he rather would avoid at any cost. Well, if he was the one in command, which he wasn’t tonight.
Alone the setting of their little undercover operation was causing a red alert in his brain. Sure, he even had (allegedly) done a heist in a royal castle once, but meeting their latest bad guy, a man with a tendency for violence, here of all places, sent shivers down Neal’s spine. Peter, the team and the Embassy security already had an elaborated plan in motion, but Neal made himself aware of his surroundings, just in case. After all, it was a semi-personal case for him, with one of Mozzie’s friends lying in a coma at the ICU of Lennox Hill.
He and Peter were competitors for this case, which centered around one of Picasso’s rather unknown artworks. Their mark, for the lack of a better word, wanted to sell it to the highest bidder. Neal already had established contact, posing as a wayward art curator, which gave him access to the painting - and made him realize that whoever bought it in the end, would go home with a rather sloppy forgery. Picasso had his own style of painting, and what he saw here was a far cry from it, though it would take a keen eye to spot the differences.
Neal placed himself at the far end of the curved bar, giving him a vantage point to observe almost the whole ballroom. He saw Peter entering, dressed, like himself, in a tux, looking handsome as ever. They exchanged an almost imperceptible nod before Peter was swallowed by the crowd. And that’s when Neal (and every other male in the room) saw her descending the main staircase. The floor-length cherry red dress hugged her curves in the most delicious way, and for a change, she had her long red locks draped over one shoulder, giving her an even more mysterious aura.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC??