STORY: The Magic Of Christmas (Neal, Peter, El)
Summary: It’s only a few weeks after his suicide attempt, and the wounds on both his body and soul are still fresh and raw, but Neal feels the first strands of hope when he spends some afternoons assisting Elizabeth on an outdoor event in a park.
Notes: Written for both the “Winter Magic” challenge over at story_works as well as the Team Hearts December Battle for gameofcards. Sequel to “Airport Aftermath” and “Road To Recovery” (upcoming), set between Season 1 and 2.
Lennox Hill Hospital
Psychiatric Ward
Room 426
“Hi, sweetie!”
Elizabeth Burke always had a wonderful voice, at least to Neal’s ears, but these days, it was even more beautiful, bringing rays of sunshine into the dark, grey world that surrounded him ever since his whole life all but blew up into his face, taking Kate with it into the abyss.
“Hi, Elizabeth!” Neal tried to sound as optimistic as possible. Though Dr. Ratchford warned him of “just doing an act” when it came to his emotions, Neal didn’t want El to worry about him. “Everything’s alright?”
“You know that I should be the one asking you that?” she asked while getting out of her coat and hanging it up next to the door. “But to answer your question: yeah, it is, well, almost everything.”
Elizabeth finally sat down in the plastic chair next to his bed, a smile both on her face and in her blue eyes. And try as he might, Neal couldn’t quite quell the flare of pain that lanced his heart at seeing them, so much like Kate’s. From the moment she opened the door that one morning, Neal marveled at how much Kate and Elizabeth were alike. But thank God, Elizabeth was still alive and kicking.
“So, what’s going on at the event planning front?”
“Oh, a lot,” Elizabeth answered with a smile while grabbing her planner. Ever since he woke up here, Neal showed a lot of interest in her business. Not that he wasn’t interested in it before, but it seemed, at least to her, that he used it as kind of an exit, a refuge from the rest of the world. “And before you say it, I have forwarded any order of desserts and cakes to ʻThe Greatest Cakeʼ.” She leaned in, as if she was about to share the biggest secret of all. “Peter might deny it, but let me tell you: he loves their truffle selection. Mozzie brought some over just the other day, and when he thinks I don’t see it, he grabs one or two.”
“Peter Burke has a sweet tooth - who would have thought?” Neal said with a smile, and for the first time in a long time, it felt right to do so.
For a few seconds, silence reigned in the room, with Neal watching the snow falling outside the window and Elizabeth flipping through the pages of her planner.
“You know, Neal, I talked to Dr. Ratchford right before I came in here.”
“Yeah?” Neal asked, his mind already running a mile a minute, providing heaps of scenarios.
“Yeah,” El looked up and saw the slightly frightened look on Neal’s face. “Don’t you fret, sweetie. I had an idea while driving up here, and just happened to see him outside. Otherwise, I would have talked to him after my visit with you.”
“What kind of idea?” Elizabeth had to put up a fight to keep a smile in. Just start talking about an idea, and you had Neal (and his brilliant mind) on board.
“Well, there’s a Winter- and Christmas-themed event taking place on Friday, and just when I left the house, the woman doing all the decoration canceled on me. Well, it was more her daughter, since she herself was just getting a cast on her leg and arm, but nonetheless, she can’t fulfill the contract.”
“Did she leave any first ideas?” Voluntarily or not, Neal’s voice finally had its positive, optimistic edge back - the most beautiful sound to Elizabeth these days.
“Yeah, though it’s not much. She just made me a list of materials, but I suspect there’s a bit missing. I worked with her before, and somewhere en route she would come up with new things and materials she needed.”
Finally locating the papers in question, El handed them to Neal, who didn’t waste any time and flipped through them. Elizabeth practically could see the wheels in his head turning, turning the list into the most beautiful and most stunning decorations ever seen.
“So, what was your idea? That I give you some incentives on what to make out of that,” he held up the list for emphasis, “or what?”
“That, and that you come with me to the park for the next few days, helping out a bit.” Without missing a beat, Neal’s eyes went down to the bandages around his wrists. “Oh, you don’t have to lift a finger at all. We have enough folks there to do everything, since Mozzie and June promised to get some of their friends aboard.”
“Wow!”
“Wow indeed, but you know what’s missing in the picture? Someone who gives them the right direction, a visionary who sees the whole picture in all its glory when everyone else just sees a blank canvas. And there’s no one else better for that job than you, Neal.” She grabbed his hand, engulfing it with both of hers, her fingers slightly touching the bandage. “There are still people out there who love you, Neal, and who miss you all dearly. So what do you say?” El looked up, locking her blue eyes with his. “Should we ditch this place for a few hours and try to bring a bit of the magic of Christmas back to the Big Apple?”
Bryant Park
35 minutes later found them pulling into a parking lot across Bryant Park, and even across the distance, Neal could see the first indicators for an upcoming event. Tents were raised up, a stage was already there, some of the trees surrounding the main event area were already decorated, though Neal had to ditch these attempts.
“Hi, Elizabeth!” Yvonne, her lovely assistant, hurried over to where they were standing near the entrance. “Oh, hello….?” She knew the face of the young man next to her boss, but somehow, she couldn’t find a name to it.
“Neal.” He shook hands with her. “Neal Caffrey.”
“Oh, right! Peter’s friend and FBI colleague!”
“Guilty as charged,” Neal returned with a smile, which was, if you asked Elizabeth, close to his famous megawatt smiles.
“So, what’s going on right now?” Elizabeth asked, trying to get the show on the road, so to speak.
“Well, the other contractors are pretty much on time, but I have absolutely no idea how it all should work out without any kind of decoration.” For emphasis, Yvonne threw her hands up, close to declaring defeat.
“That’s why I brought Neal along.” Yvonne glanced from Elizabeth to Neal and back, not quite believing what she was hearing. “He has a brilliant mind when it comes to decorating, and I think he already has an idea or two.”
“Oh yeah, but before we start, I need these decorations over there,” Neal pointed over to the trees lining the sidewalk, “to be taken down.”
“Why?”
“They just don’t match with my ideas.”
When they called it a night a few hours later, Elizabeth Burke was close to cry with joy. Even though they were far from being finished, you already could see a progress on the decorations. A phone call to Mozzie resulted in a giant heap of light strings hanging from the trees, shrouding pretty much the whole park into a warm light; June and her circle of friends also stopped by, not only to drop off some large angel figures, but also to chat a bit with Neal.
Speaking of Neal: to Elizabeth’s immense joy, he really seemed to enjoy the activity, even though it was a chilly affair, due to the low temperatures. She didn’t say anything to her employees and contractors about Neal’s recent “problems”, and while some of them did cast a second glance at his bandaged wrists, she hadn’t seen anyone asking him about them.
“Thank you.”
Out of the blue, Neal was standing next to her, and try as she might, Elizabeth couldn’t help but jump a bit upon hearing his voice so close.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t, sweetie, I was just a bit lost in thought.”
“What had you occupied?”
“You.” Neal’s only answer was a pair of raised eyebrows. “Not in the way you might think. Tell me if I’m wrong, but you seemed to enjoy this afternoon.”
“Absolutely, and that’s why I said thank you.” Neal gave her a hug. “I might have a long road ahead, still, but I think I took the first step into the right direction today.”
“Honey, no one asks you to forget it all in no time. I only know what Peter told me about Kate, but I know for sure that you loved her, you still do, and letting her go isn’t something that will happen in a heartbeat.” She grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her. “But I think she would want you to move on, to take up life again. From what Peter told me, she was one to enjoy life, and I like to think that she would want the same for you. Keep her in your heart, remember the good times with her, but open your heart for everything that life has to offer.”
For some seconds, their gazes remained locked, as if Elizabeth was trying to send her message into his very soul. In the distance, a car honked, and just like that, the moment was over and Elizabeth let go of his face.
“I like to think that too.”
They were still standing next to each other, and yet, Elizabeth had to strain her ears to hear. Nonetheless, she couldn’t help but smile at his words. For the first time since that fateful call from the warden, she was absolutely sure that, with time, they would get “their” Neal back.
For the next two afternoons, they repeated this new pattern, with Elizabeth picking him up at Lennox Hill and returning him in the evening. Dr. Ratchford was happy to see the obvious change in Neal’s behavior, and he and the nurses were all subjected to long retellings of all his afternoon’s activities.
Friday came around, and even at breakfast time, Neal’s whole body was thrumming with anticipation. At some point during the week, June came by, spending some time with her boy and dropping off one of his winter suits, along with one of Byron’s coats, a pair of leather gloves and, of course, a woolen fedora.
When Neal came back from a PT session for his hands, Peter was sitting at the table in the corner, trying to solve the crossword puzzle of the NY Times.
“Need some help?”
“We’ll see,” Peter returned with a smile while giving Neal a once-over. His friend was still too thin for his liking, but according to Julie, one of his nurses, and Dr. Ratchford, Neal finally had worked up an appetite, something that had left them all worried in the first days.
“Something’s up, Peter?”
“Oh, I’m just here to pick you up for the event.” He let his gaze sweep over Neal’s body. “But I’m not sure if they would let you in in this very fashionable ensemble.”
“Ha, ha, ha, very funny,” Neal countered, and Peter had to contain a whoop of joy. Before the explosion, you could tell Neal’s inner balance with the level of sarcasm he used, and that little return was another step in the right direction, back to the Neal they all had come to love over the months since his release.
“I wasn’t kidding, well not exactly.”
“I know, Peter, but rest assured, June took care of that on Wednesday.” Neal walked over to the small wardrobe, pulling the suit and everything else out. “A suit, a coat, a pair of gloves, a fedora, a scarf, a pair of winter boots.” For emphasis, he pointed to every single item, much to Peter’s entertainment. “I think I’m covered for the afternoon, don’t you think?” Neal looked up, and Peter was privy to see a very familiar (and dearly missed) sparkle return to his friend’s sky blue eyes.
At first, it was a bit strange to Neal wearing a suit again, but by the time they pulled into the parking lot near Bryant Park, he was closer to feel like a regular human being again. Exiting the car, Neal couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit proud.
The whole park had a warm, yellow glow to it, mostly due to the many, many strings of light cascading down the trees. The large, illuminated angel figures added to the effect, and the white tents and tables actually resembled clouds, thanks to the uncounted layers of tuft he added to them.
Next to him, Peter was rendered speechless, glancing around the park with wide eyes.
“Neal… you did this all?”
“Well, I just ordered them all around to do it, but yeah, that’s all my ideas you see here.”
“That’s just… that’s just incredibly beautiful.” Peter gave a huff, but Neal knew that it was just a way to cover up for his emotions. “Damn it, Neal.”
“What’s up, Peter?”
“I just hope you realize yourself how valuable you and your talents are.”
“I do, I always did. Sure, I didn’t use them for honorable causes at times, but…”
“And yet you were willing to throw them all away, along with your life.”
“Believe me, I realized over the last few days that it was apparently a big mistake on my behalf.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, I do, and I’m willing to work on that. But I need your help, Peter, yours and Elizabeth’s and Mozzie’s and June’s and whoever else is willing to chip in.” Neal took a breath, mostly to steady himself, but he also saw from the corner of his eyes that most of their closest circle of friends were watching them. “You know what they say about most of those who attempt suicide?”
“It’s more a cry for help than a serious attempt on taking your own life,” Peter answered.
“Yes, it is,” Neal turned to address not only Peter, but everyone else. “I’m sorry for putting you all through so much in the last few weeks, and I know that there’s a long, rocky road still ahead of me. I know that I might recover just fine, but I can’t do it alone. So if you still want me around…”
“What a question, silly, of course we want you around.”
Surprisingly to them all, Mozzie was the first to speak up, closing the distance and engulfing Neal in a (only a bit awkward) hug. Soon, Elizabeth and June followed, and even Diana, Jones and Hughes offered their help. They all knew that Neal still had a long way ahead of him, but for the first time since that fateful day on the airstrip, they all could see the proverbial sliver of hope appearing on the horizon.
The End
Notes: Written for both the “Winter Magic” challenge over at story_works as well as the Team Hearts December Battle for gameofcards. Sequel to “Airport Aftermath” and “Road To Recovery” (upcoming), set between Season 1 and 2.
Lennox Hill Hospital
Psychiatric Ward
Room 426
“Hi, sweetie!”
Elizabeth Burke always had a wonderful voice, at least to Neal’s ears, but these days, it was even more beautiful, bringing rays of sunshine into the dark, grey world that surrounded him ever since his whole life all but blew up into his face, taking Kate with it into the abyss.
“Hi, Elizabeth!” Neal tried to sound as optimistic as possible. Though Dr. Ratchford warned him of “just doing an act” when it came to his emotions, Neal didn’t want El to worry about him. “Everything’s alright?”
“You know that I should be the one asking you that?” she asked while getting out of her coat and hanging it up next to the door. “But to answer your question: yeah, it is, well, almost everything.”
Elizabeth finally sat down in the plastic chair next to his bed, a smile both on her face and in her blue eyes. And try as he might, Neal couldn’t quite quell the flare of pain that lanced his heart at seeing them, so much like Kate’s. From the moment she opened the door that one morning, Neal marveled at how much Kate and Elizabeth were alike. But thank God, Elizabeth was still alive and kicking.
“So, what’s going on at the event planning front?”
“Oh, a lot,” Elizabeth answered with a smile while grabbing her planner. Ever since he woke up here, Neal showed a lot of interest in her business. Not that he wasn’t interested in it before, but it seemed, at least to her, that he used it as kind of an exit, a refuge from the rest of the world. “And before you say it, I have forwarded any order of desserts and cakes to ʻThe Greatest Cakeʼ.” She leaned in, as if she was about to share the biggest secret of all. “Peter might deny it, but let me tell you: he loves their truffle selection. Mozzie brought some over just the other day, and when he thinks I don’t see it, he grabs one or two.”
“Peter Burke has a sweet tooth - who would have thought?” Neal said with a smile, and for the first time in a long time, it felt right to do so.
For a few seconds, silence reigned in the room, with Neal watching the snow falling outside the window and Elizabeth flipping through the pages of her planner.
“You know, Neal, I talked to Dr. Ratchford right before I came in here.”
“Yeah?” Neal asked, his mind already running a mile a minute, providing heaps of scenarios.
“Yeah,” El looked up and saw the slightly frightened look on Neal’s face. “Don’t you fret, sweetie. I had an idea while driving up here, and just happened to see him outside. Otherwise, I would have talked to him after my visit with you.”
“What kind of idea?” Elizabeth had to put up a fight to keep a smile in. Just start talking about an idea, and you had Neal (and his brilliant mind) on board.
“Well, there’s a Winter- and Christmas-themed event taking place on Friday, and just when I left the house, the woman doing all the decoration canceled on me. Well, it was more her daughter, since she herself was just getting a cast on her leg and arm, but nonetheless, she can’t fulfill the contract.”
“Did she leave any first ideas?” Voluntarily or not, Neal’s voice finally had its positive, optimistic edge back - the most beautiful sound to Elizabeth these days.
“Yeah, though it’s not much. She just made me a list of materials, but I suspect there’s a bit missing. I worked with her before, and somewhere en route she would come up with new things and materials she needed.”
Finally locating the papers in question, El handed them to Neal, who didn’t waste any time and flipped through them. Elizabeth practically could see the wheels in his head turning, turning the list into the most beautiful and most stunning decorations ever seen.
“So, what was your idea? That I give you some incentives on what to make out of that,” he held up the list for emphasis, “or what?”
“That, and that you come with me to the park for the next few days, helping out a bit.” Without missing a beat, Neal’s eyes went down to the bandages around his wrists. “Oh, you don’t have to lift a finger at all. We have enough folks there to do everything, since Mozzie and June promised to get some of their friends aboard.”
“Wow!”
“Wow indeed, but you know what’s missing in the picture? Someone who gives them the right direction, a visionary who sees the whole picture in all its glory when everyone else just sees a blank canvas. And there’s no one else better for that job than you, Neal.” She grabbed his hand, engulfing it with both of hers, her fingers slightly touching the bandage. “There are still people out there who love you, Neal, and who miss you all dearly. So what do you say?” El looked up, locking her blue eyes with his. “Should we ditch this place for a few hours and try to bring a bit of the magic of Christmas back to the Big Apple?”
Bryant Park
35 minutes later found them pulling into a parking lot across Bryant Park, and even across the distance, Neal could see the first indicators for an upcoming event. Tents were raised up, a stage was already there, some of the trees surrounding the main event area were already decorated, though Neal had to ditch these attempts.
“Hi, Elizabeth!” Yvonne, her lovely assistant, hurried over to where they were standing near the entrance. “Oh, hello….?” She knew the face of the young man next to her boss, but somehow, she couldn’t find a name to it.
“Neal.” He shook hands with her. “Neal Caffrey.”
“Oh, right! Peter’s friend and FBI colleague!”
“Guilty as charged,” Neal returned with a smile, which was, if you asked Elizabeth, close to his famous megawatt smiles.
“So, what’s going on right now?” Elizabeth asked, trying to get the show on the road, so to speak.
“Well, the other contractors are pretty much on time, but I have absolutely no idea how it all should work out without any kind of decoration.” For emphasis, Yvonne threw her hands up, close to declaring defeat.
“That’s why I brought Neal along.” Yvonne glanced from Elizabeth to Neal and back, not quite believing what she was hearing. “He has a brilliant mind when it comes to decorating, and I think he already has an idea or two.”
“Oh yeah, but before we start, I need these decorations over there,” Neal pointed over to the trees lining the sidewalk, “to be taken down.”
“Why?”
“They just don’t match with my ideas.”
When they called it a night a few hours later, Elizabeth Burke was close to cry with joy. Even though they were far from being finished, you already could see a progress on the decorations. A phone call to Mozzie resulted in a giant heap of light strings hanging from the trees, shrouding pretty much the whole park into a warm light; June and her circle of friends also stopped by, not only to drop off some large angel figures, but also to chat a bit with Neal.
Speaking of Neal: to Elizabeth’s immense joy, he really seemed to enjoy the activity, even though it was a chilly affair, due to the low temperatures. She didn’t say anything to her employees and contractors about Neal’s recent “problems”, and while some of them did cast a second glance at his bandaged wrists, she hadn’t seen anyone asking him about them.
“Thank you.”
Out of the blue, Neal was standing next to her, and try as she might, Elizabeth couldn’t help but jump a bit upon hearing his voice so close.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t, sweetie, I was just a bit lost in thought.”
“What had you occupied?”
“You.” Neal’s only answer was a pair of raised eyebrows. “Not in the way you might think. Tell me if I’m wrong, but you seemed to enjoy this afternoon.”
“Absolutely, and that’s why I said thank you.” Neal gave her a hug. “I might have a long road ahead, still, but I think I took the first step into the right direction today.”
“Honey, no one asks you to forget it all in no time. I only know what Peter told me about Kate, but I know for sure that you loved her, you still do, and letting her go isn’t something that will happen in a heartbeat.” She grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her. “But I think she would want you to move on, to take up life again. From what Peter told me, she was one to enjoy life, and I like to think that she would want the same for you. Keep her in your heart, remember the good times with her, but open your heart for everything that life has to offer.”
For some seconds, their gazes remained locked, as if Elizabeth was trying to send her message into his very soul. In the distance, a car honked, and just like that, the moment was over and Elizabeth let go of his face.
“I like to think that too.”
They were still standing next to each other, and yet, Elizabeth had to strain her ears to hear. Nonetheless, she couldn’t help but smile at his words. For the first time since that fateful call from the warden, she was absolutely sure that, with time, they would get “their” Neal back.
For the next two afternoons, they repeated this new pattern, with Elizabeth picking him up at Lennox Hill and returning him in the evening. Dr. Ratchford was happy to see the obvious change in Neal’s behavior, and he and the nurses were all subjected to long retellings of all his afternoon’s activities.
Friday came around, and even at breakfast time, Neal’s whole body was thrumming with anticipation. At some point during the week, June came by, spending some time with her boy and dropping off one of his winter suits, along with one of Byron’s coats, a pair of leather gloves and, of course, a woolen fedora.
When Neal came back from a PT session for his hands, Peter was sitting at the table in the corner, trying to solve the crossword puzzle of the NY Times.
“Need some help?”
“We’ll see,” Peter returned with a smile while giving Neal a once-over. His friend was still too thin for his liking, but according to Julie, one of his nurses, and Dr. Ratchford, Neal finally had worked up an appetite, something that had left them all worried in the first days.
“Something’s up, Peter?”
“Oh, I’m just here to pick you up for the event.” He let his gaze sweep over Neal’s body. “But I’m not sure if they would let you in in this very fashionable ensemble.”
“Ha, ha, ha, very funny,” Neal countered, and Peter had to contain a whoop of joy. Before the explosion, you could tell Neal’s inner balance with the level of sarcasm he used, and that little return was another step in the right direction, back to the Neal they all had come to love over the months since his release.
“I wasn’t kidding, well not exactly.”
“I know, Peter, but rest assured, June took care of that on Wednesday.” Neal walked over to the small wardrobe, pulling the suit and everything else out. “A suit, a coat, a pair of gloves, a fedora, a scarf, a pair of winter boots.” For emphasis, he pointed to every single item, much to Peter’s entertainment. “I think I’m covered for the afternoon, don’t you think?” Neal looked up, and Peter was privy to see a very familiar (and dearly missed) sparkle return to his friend’s sky blue eyes.
At first, it was a bit strange to Neal wearing a suit again, but by the time they pulled into the parking lot near Bryant Park, he was closer to feel like a regular human being again. Exiting the car, Neal couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit proud.
The whole park had a warm, yellow glow to it, mostly due to the many, many strings of light cascading down the trees. The large, illuminated angel figures added to the effect, and the white tents and tables actually resembled clouds, thanks to the uncounted layers of tuft he added to them.
Next to him, Peter was rendered speechless, glancing around the park with wide eyes.
“Neal… you did this all?”
“Well, I just ordered them all around to do it, but yeah, that’s all my ideas you see here.”
“That’s just… that’s just incredibly beautiful.” Peter gave a huff, but Neal knew that it was just a way to cover up for his emotions. “Damn it, Neal.”
“What’s up, Peter?”
“I just hope you realize yourself how valuable you and your talents are.”
“I do, I always did. Sure, I didn’t use them for honorable causes at times, but…”
“And yet you were willing to throw them all away, along with your life.”
“Believe me, I realized over the last few days that it was apparently a big mistake on my behalf.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, I do, and I’m willing to work on that. But I need your help, Peter, yours and Elizabeth’s and Mozzie’s and June’s and whoever else is willing to chip in.” Neal took a breath, mostly to steady himself, but he also saw from the corner of his eyes that most of their closest circle of friends were watching them. “You know what they say about most of those who attempt suicide?”
“It’s more a cry for help than a serious attempt on taking your own life,” Peter answered.
“Yes, it is,” Neal turned to address not only Peter, but everyone else. “I’m sorry for putting you all through so much in the last few weeks, and I know that there’s a long, rocky road still ahead of me. I know that I might recover just fine, but I can’t do it alone. So if you still want me around…”
“What a question, silly, of course we want you around.”
Surprisingly to them all, Mozzie was the first to speak up, closing the distance and engulfing Neal in a (only a bit awkward) hug. Soon, Elizabeth and June followed, and even Diana, Jones and Hughes offered their help. They all knew that Neal still had a long way ahead of him, but for the first time since that fateful day on the airstrip, they all could see the proverbial sliver of hope appearing on the horizon.
The End