Fic: The World's a Stage (White Collar; NCIS)
Title: The World's a Stage
Author: kaylashay
Rating: FR21
Disclaimer: I'm not USA / Jeff Eastin / etc. (White Collar) or Bellesario or CBS / etc. (NCIS), so I don't claim to own them.
Genre: Slash; AU; Very Minor Crossover w/ NCIS
Fandoms: White Collar; NCIS (minor)
Pairings: Peter/Neal; Neal/Other Male; Pre- Gibbs/Tony
Warnings: Slavery; Forced Puppy Play; Non-Con Implied; Past Major Character Death
Word Count: 2,365
Beta: azraelz_angel
Written For: sinfulslasher's wcpairings requests... I tried to fit several of her prompt ideas into one fic.
Series: Pompeii (previous fics are NCIS only and not required to read this)
Summary: Peter is merely a player shaping Neal for his stage. Will their time end in mere oblivion?
Part 01: The Entrance
"So, Peter, you've turned away three other offers, why the interest in mine?"
"The others wanted a hired thug. I figured you'd appreciate some of my other skill sets better. I may be a killer, but I need a justified reason for doing it outside of money."
"So five years in prison haven't eroded your morals. And I am always interested in a man that has higher standards and brains. My only concern is if those morals still extend to your former employer."
Peter snorted, "They didn't give a damn about me, so I don't give a damn about them."
"You have to know that once you're on my team, I will not stand for outsiders taking things from you. I would have crushed Keller for you had you been my employee."
"Had I been your employee then, I would have taken Keller out before anything happened to Elizabeth. I played by the rules and they failed me. I won't let that happen again."
"Understood. Now I figure you assume that I want you for your skills with a gun as well as the finance background I know you possess. However, there is something else in your background that intrigued me even more."
"Can't be my culinary skills. Only thing I mastered was a pot roast."
"Hardly. According to your records, you spent all four summers of your undergrad as a trainer."
Peter smiled. "Yeah, it paid the bills. Also enjoyed breaking some of the tougher pups. The guy that taught me said I had a skill for handling unruly and untrainable pups."
"That's what he told me when I doing my background research. I have a pup that I want you to refine for me."
Peter raised an eyebrow. "Only one?"
"Yes. Neal… Well Neal is special. I've kept him as a personal pup for four years now. He's been house broken. But now that I've grown tired of him, I think it's time to make him earn his keep. Have you heard of the underground show fights?"
"Yeah," Peter said with a thoughtful look. "Put two pups in the ring and to the victor goes the spoils."
"Precisely. The challenge for you will be making Neal a fighter while keeping a tight leash on him."
"What's my cut and how long do I have?" Peter decided to cut to the chase.
"You'll receive a third of all winnings once he hits the rings. For training, I'll give you one million in four payments over the course of a year. I'll also provide you whatever training space and equipment you will need as well as other pups for test fights."
"Most would probably try to haggle, but like I said before, the money isn't what motivates me."
"Then we have an agreement Mr. Burke?"
"I believe we do Mr. Adler," Peter said as he went to rise from his seat, but his new boss waved him back down.
"Normally, a handshake would seal the deal. Instead, I think your new pup should do the honors."
Peter watched silently as Adler moved his chair back away from the desk. Then with a snap of his fingers a pup emerged from the space underneath. Peter's breath hitched at the site of the dark-haired pup padding is way across the floor to sit in front of him.
"Neal, be a good boy and suck Mr. Burke off."
Before Peter could protest, the pup was reaching up and using his teeth to pull down the zipper of his pants. Within moments, his cock was engulfed by wetness and Peter couldn't help but reach his hands down to grip the pup's furry head.
"Consider this a bonus if you will," Adler was saying.
Peter's focus was solely on the pup however. Neal had been trained well and Peter was on the edge of an orgasm within minutes. When Neal glanced up at him with a look seeking approval buried within haunted blue eyes, Peter lost control and spilled into the pup's mouth. A credit to his training, Neal swallowed every drop.
It was minutes later, after he had tucked himself away and had his hand wrapped around Neal's leash that he was able to speak again.
"I'm glad I came to you Mr. Adler. I don't believe the other offers had as good of perks as that."
"I like a man who can appreciate the finer things in life, Peter. Train him well. I expect great things."
------ §§§§§ ------
Part Two: Many Parts
Peter watched as the throngs of people, pups and slaves passed around him. Unconsciously, he tightened the leash attached to Neal. After one year spent training, Adler had decided that Neal would make his debut at the Pompeii. It was a large-scale event in which to launch a career, but then Adler was all about showboating.
It had taken skills that Peter wasn't sure he had to coax Neal into a pup that could handle confrontation and come out on top. He was naturally resistant to physical fighting and usually spent the initial face off with his opponent trying to wear him down with lightning quick movements.
He'd pressed Adler on Neal's background, trying to find out more about the man turned pup in order to facilitate his training. But he didn't garner much information that route. However, one of the guards had been more willing to talk after one too many beers.
He'd told Peter how Neal had been a young upstart that Adler had hired by the name of Nick Halden. When Adler had learned that Halden was intending to con him out of millions, Adler had turned the tables on Halden. The guard wasn't sure where the name Neal came from. Peter assumed that Halden had been alias and that Neal was his real name.
Peter knew that digging much further would garner attention from Adler, and he was smart enough to know that negative attention from the boss was not a good thing. Instead, he focused on what he did know about Neal and figured out a way to get the pup to fight. He even went as far as donning some pup gear and hitting the ring with Neal himself. It was those sessions in which Neal was at his finest. Peter just had to hope that Neal would channel those sessions when he entered the ring for real.
Neal had been slotted into the fifth night of fights, but at Adler's request Peter had brought Neal for the opening ceremonies and some of the non-fight display shows. The whole ordeal was taxing, but Peter made sure Neal was ready to perform whenever requested. Adler had also requested Neal's services in his skybox a few times during some of the more intense rounds of fights.
Now, Neal was about to face off in his first fight against a veteran that Peter had done some research on over the past few days. The pup was a late entry with an unknown handler. But Spot was well known by many and had a record from Peoria, Philly and Baltimore that was almost perfect. Peter was concerned for Neal going up against a veteran of Spot's standing.
When the time came, he placed Neal in the launch cage that would hold him until the first bell rang to signal the start of the fight. He gave Neal's head a good rub and then leaned close to his ear.
"Make me proud, Neal," he said fighting back the fear of what could happen to Neal and ultimately himself if the fight didn't go in Neal's favor.
Then he moved over to the handler viewing area and saw his counterpart ending a hushed cell phone conversation. Peter held his breath as he waited for the bell to ring, but before it did, there was a rush of shouts and in the distance some gunfire.
Instincts that never faded had him reaching for the gun that wasn't at his hip. His eyes widened when Spot's handler did the same. They locked eyes and Peter knew that this was a man to be trusted.
"Peter Burke, FBI," he said softly, his voice choking on the words he hadn't said since Elizabeth's death.
"Gibbs, NCIS. Things are about to get hot."
Without speaking another word to each other, they jumped into the ring and went to their respective pups. Once they were secure, Peter kept to Gibbs' side. Given what he had picked up, the man hadn't been under long and Peter wanted to do his best to stay out custody. Six years under with only three other people in the know would be hard to explain to the SWAT teams flooding the place.
"You're with Adler," Gibbs said to him as they kept out of the way.
"Yeah. Been with him a year training Neal. Been under longer though. Can I borrow that phone to make a call?"
Gibbs nodded and passed the phone to him. Peter could only hope that the last number he had for Kramer was still active. He pressed send and listened to the rings as his hand slipped down to pet Neal, reassuring the pup that everything would be okay.
------ §§§§§ ------
Part Three: The Exit
For the first time in over a year, Peter was finally free to let his guard down. The last six years had been the toughest of his life. Losing Elizabeth was still a sharp needlepoint of searing pain in his heart. Taking out the bastard responsible for her death hadn't eased that pain.
When he was sitting in handcuffs in the same interrogation room he had broken so many criminals in before, he hadn't felt a thing. For all he cared, they could toss him in a cell and throw away the key. He had nothing left to live for. Then Kramer, his former mentor, along with the state's attorney offered him a deal.
It was either prison or a deep immersion undercover assignment. To the outside world, he would be tried and sentenced for the murder he'd committed. To the two currently in the room and the FBI director, he would still be employed by the FBI and considered on assignment. That assignment was to infiltrate the stronghold created by a very wealthy and well connected man named Vincent Adler.
Adler, among other things, was a ringleader in underground slave trade and pup fights. It was suspected that as many as five thousand illegally enslaved people were being used in fights around the country. In addition, legally enslaved pups were added to the mix.
Peter had never given slavery much thought beyond his stint as a pup handler to pay the bills during college. He had seen and heard enough from some of the seasoned handlers that if a pup ended up in the wrong hands, it could be bad.
Peter had agreed to the assignment and let himself slide into the role of disgraced FBI agent. The fact that he had done it without a hitch had given him worry over the years. The charade hadn't seemed much of a charade after the first two years in prison. He wasn't treated with kid gloves and after the second attempted rape, he realized he was going to have to get his hands dirty while still working for the side of good.
It took five years for his reputation to grown enough his parole had been arranged. On paper, it all looked legit. He was a convicted felon with nothing left to lose. He also had the training and background that criminal elements would salivate over. He was approached with several job offers in the weeks after his release, but it was the offer from Adler that had him feeling justified that five years in prison was worth the wait to get this bastard.
He hadn't anticipated Neal. When he learned about the job Adler wanted him for, the set up couldn't have been more perfect. He was going to be right where he needed to be in order to bring the man down. Then the dark-haired, blue-eyed pup he was supposed to train had sucked his cock. Peter had almost broken cover when those blue expressionless eyes had looked up at him, seeking approval.
The more he learned about Neal, the more he wanted to kill Adler just like he had Keller for his wife's death. Peter had tried hard not to compare Neal to Elizabeth, but their similar looks and the knowledge that Neal was incredibly smart somewhere underneath his pup front had led to him latching on to Neal emotionally.
In the dead of night when he was sure there were no bugs close enough to pick up his words, Peter would whisper to Neal his reassurances that he would get Neal out of the hellhole that Adler had made of his life.
Peter sighed as he reached out a hand to pet the soft hair of Neal's head. The takedown had occurred three days before and the FBI had provided Peter an apartment and some money until the dust had settled. When they had tried to take Neal from him to be processed with the rest of the slaves, Peter had balked. He had finally gotten Kramer's attention in the mess and had requested keeping Neal with him after explaining that Neal was not a legal slave.
Peter agreed to a DNA sample and fingerprints being taken while he retained custody of Neal. He hoped that they would be able to confirm the pup's identity, because Peter only had Adler's word to go on as to who the kid really was. Whatever they found, Peter was going to keep his silent promise to Neal to be there for him no matter what.
Despite Peter's attempts, Neal was still firmly in pup mode, ignoring all attempts that Peter had made to surface. He could only hope that if he continued to love the pup and treat him as best he could, Neal would be drawn out of his head space. Peter was looking forward to the day that he could hear Neal speak and learn if he was really as smart as those crafty blue eyes he had coaxed life back into led him to believe.
Author: kaylashay
Rating: FR21
Disclaimer: I'm not USA / Jeff Eastin / etc. (White Collar) or Bellesario or CBS / etc. (NCIS), so I don't claim to own them.
Genre: Slash; AU; Very Minor Crossover w/ NCIS
Fandoms: White Collar; NCIS (minor)
Pairings: Peter/Neal; Neal/Other Male; Pre- Gibbs/Tony
Warnings: Slavery; Forced Puppy Play; Non-Con Implied; Past Major Character Death
Word Count: 2,365
Beta: azraelz_angel
Written For: sinfulslasher's wcpairings requests... I tried to fit several of her prompt ideas into one fic.
Series: Pompeii (previous fics are NCIS only and not required to read this)
Summary: Peter is merely a player shaping Neal for his stage. Will their time end in mere oblivion?
Part 01: The Entrance
"So, Peter, you've turned away three other offers, why the interest in mine?"
"The others wanted a hired thug. I figured you'd appreciate some of my other skill sets better. I may be a killer, but I need a justified reason for doing it outside of money."
"So five years in prison haven't eroded your morals. And I am always interested in a man that has higher standards and brains. My only concern is if those morals still extend to your former employer."
Peter snorted, "They didn't give a damn about me, so I don't give a damn about them."
"You have to know that once you're on my team, I will not stand for outsiders taking things from you. I would have crushed Keller for you had you been my employee."
"Had I been your employee then, I would have taken Keller out before anything happened to Elizabeth. I played by the rules and they failed me. I won't let that happen again."
"Understood. Now I figure you assume that I want you for your skills with a gun as well as the finance background I know you possess. However, there is something else in your background that intrigued me even more."
"Can't be my culinary skills. Only thing I mastered was a pot roast."
"Hardly. According to your records, you spent all four summers of your undergrad as a trainer."
Peter smiled. "Yeah, it paid the bills. Also enjoyed breaking some of the tougher pups. The guy that taught me said I had a skill for handling unruly and untrainable pups."
"That's what he told me when I doing my background research. I have a pup that I want you to refine for me."
Peter raised an eyebrow. "Only one?"
"Yes. Neal… Well Neal is special. I've kept him as a personal pup for four years now. He's been house broken. But now that I've grown tired of him, I think it's time to make him earn his keep. Have you heard of the underground show fights?"
"Yeah," Peter said with a thoughtful look. "Put two pups in the ring and to the victor goes the spoils."
"Precisely. The challenge for you will be making Neal a fighter while keeping a tight leash on him."
"What's my cut and how long do I have?" Peter decided to cut to the chase.
"You'll receive a third of all winnings once he hits the rings. For training, I'll give you one million in four payments over the course of a year. I'll also provide you whatever training space and equipment you will need as well as other pups for test fights."
"Most would probably try to haggle, but like I said before, the money isn't what motivates me."
"Then we have an agreement Mr. Burke?"
"I believe we do Mr. Adler," Peter said as he went to rise from his seat, but his new boss waved him back down.
"Normally, a handshake would seal the deal. Instead, I think your new pup should do the honors."
Peter watched silently as Adler moved his chair back away from the desk. Then with a snap of his fingers a pup emerged from the space underneath. Peter's breath hitched at the site of the dark-haired pup padding is way across the floor to sit in front of him.
"Neal, be a good boy and suck Mr. Burke off."
Before Peter could protest, the pup was reaching up and using his teeth to pull down the zipper of his pants. Within moments, his cock was engulfed by wetness and Peter couldn't help but reach his hands down to grip the pup's furry head.
"Consider this a bonus if you will," Adler was saying.
Peter's focus was solely on the pup however. Neal had been trained well and Peter was on the edge of an orgasm within minutes. When Neal glanced up at him with a look seeking approval buried within haunted blue eyes, Peter lost control and spilled into the pup's mouth. A credit to his training, Neal swallowed every drop.
It was minutes later, after he had tucked himself away and had his hand wrapped around Neal's leash that he was able to speak again.
"I'm glad I came to you Mr. Adler. I don't believe the other offers had as good of perks as that."
"I like a man who can appreciate the finer things in life, Peter. Train him well. I expect great things."
------ §§§§§ ------
Part Two: Many Parts
Peter watched as the throngs of people, pups and slaves passed around him. Unconsciously, he tightened the leash attached to Neal. After one year spent training, Adler had decided that Neal would make his debut at the Pompeii. It was a large-scale event in which to launch a career, but then Adler was all about showboating.
It had taken skills that Peter wasn't sure he had to coax Neal into a pup that could handle confrontation and come out on top. He was naturally resistant to physical fighting and usually spent the initial face off with his opponent trying to wear him down with lightning quick movements.
He'd pressed Adler on Neal's background, trying to find out more about the man turned pup in order to facilitate his training. But he didn't garner much information that route. However, one of the guards had been more willing to talk after one too many beers.
He'd told Peter how Neal had been a young upstart that Adler had hired by the name of Nick Halden. When Adler had learned that Halden was intending to con him out of millions, Adler had turned the tables on Halden. The guard wasn't sure where the name Neal came from. Peter assumed that Halden had been alias and that Neal was his real name.
Peter knew that digging much further would garner attention from Adler, and he was smart enough to know that negative attention from the boss was not a good thing. Instead, he focused on what he did know about Neal and figured out a way to get the pup to fight. He even went as far as donning some pup gear and hitting the ring with Neal himself. It was those sessions in which Neal was at his finest. Peter just had to hope that Neal would channel those sessions when he entered the ring for real.
Neal had been slotted into the fifth night of fights, but at Adler's request Peter had brought Neal for the opening ceremonies and some of the non-fight display shows. The whole ordeal was taxing, but Peter made sure Neal was ready to perform whenever requested. Adler had also requested Neal's services in his skybox a few times during some of the more intense rounds of fights.
Now, Neal was about to face off in his first fight against a veteran that Peter had done some research on over the past few days. The pup was a late entry with an unknown handler. But Spot was well known by many and had a record from Peoria, Philly and Baltimore that was almost perfect. Peter was concerned for Neal going up against a veteran of Spot's standing.
When the time came, he placed Neal in the launch cage that would hold him until the first bell rang to signal the start of the fight. He gave Neal's head a good rub and then leaned close to his ear.
"Make me proud, Neal," he said fighting back the fear of what could happen to Neal and ultimately himself if the fight didn't go in Neal's favor.
Then he moved over to the handler viewing area and saw his counterpart ending a hushed cell phone conversation. Peter held his breath as he waited for the bell to ring, but before it did, there was a rush of shouts and in the distance some gunfire.
Instincts that never faded had him reaching for the gun that wasn't at his hip. His eyes widened when Spot's handler did the same. They locked eyes and Peter knew that this was a man to be trusted.
"Peter Burke, FBI," he said softly, his voice choking on the words he hadn't said since Elizabeth's death.
"Gibbs, NCIS. Things are about to get hot."
Without speaking another word to each other, they jumped into the ring and went to their respective pups. Once they were secure, Peter kept to Gibbs' side. Given what he had picked up, the man hadn't been under long and Peter wanted to do his best to stay out custody. Six years under with only three other people in the know would be hard to explain to the SWAT teams flooding the place.
"You're with Adler," Gibbs said to him as they kept out of the way.
"Yeah. Been with him a year training Neal. Been under longer though. Can I borrow that phone to make a call?"
Gibbs nodded and passed the phone to him. Peter could only hope that the last number he had for Kramer was still active. He pressed send and listened to the rings as his hand slipped down to pet Neal, reassuring the pup that everything would be okay.
------ §§§§§ ------
Part Three: The Exit
For the first time in over a year, Peter was finally free to let his guard down. The last six years had been the toughest of his life. Losing Elizabeth was still a sharp needlepoint of searing pain in his heart. Taking out the bastard responsible for her death hadn't eased that pain.
When he was sitting in handcuffs in the same interrogation room he had broken so many criminals in before, he hadn't felt a thing. For all he cared, they could toss him in a cell and throw away the key. He had nothing left to live for. Then Kramer, his former mentor, along with the state's attorney offered him a deal.
It was either prison or a deep immersion undercover assignment. To the outside world, he would be tried and sentenced for the murder he'd committed. To the two currently in the room and the FBI director, he would still be employed by the FBI and considered on assignment. That assignment was to infiltrate the stronghold created by a very wealthy and well connected man named Vincent Adler.
Adler, among other things, was a ringleader in underground slave trade and pup fights. It was suspected that as many as five thousand illegally enslaved people were being used in fights around the country. In addition, legally enslaved pups were added to the mix.
Peter had never given slavery much thought beyond his stint as a pup handler to pay the bills during college. He had seen and heard enough from some of the seasoned handlers that if a pup ended up in the wrong hands, it could be bad.
Peter had agreed to the assignment and let himself slide into the role of disgraced FBI agent. The fact that he had done it without a hitch had given him worry over the years. The charade hadn't seemed much of a charade after the first two years in prison. He wasn't treated with kid gloves and after the second attempted rape, he realized he was going to have to get his hands dirty while still working for the side of good.
It took five years for his reputation to grown enough his parole had been arranged. On paper, it all looked legit. He was a convicted felon with nothing left to lose. He also had the training and background that criminal elements would salivate over. He was approached with several job offers in the weeks after his release, but it was the offer from Adler that had him feeling justified that five years in prison was worth the wait to get this bastard.
He hadn't anticipated Neal. When he learned about the job Adler wanted him for, the set up couldn't have been more perfect. He was going to be right where he needed to be in order to bring the man down. Then the dark-haired, blue-eyed pup he was supposed to train had sucked his cock. Peter had almost broken cover when those blue expressionless eyes had looked up at him, seeking approval.
The more he learned about Neal, the more he wanted to kill Adler just like he had Keller for his wife's death. Peter had tried hard not to compare Neal to Elizabeth, but their similar looks and the knowledge that Neal was incredibly smart somewhere underneath his pup front had led to him latching on to Neal emotionally.
In the dead of night when he was sure there were no bugs close enough to pick up his words, Peter would whisper to Neal his reassurances that he would get Neal out of the hellhole that Adler had made of his life.
Peter sighed as he reached out a hand to pet the soft hair of Neal's head. The takedown had occurred three days before and the FBI had provided Peter an apartment and some money until the dust had settled. When they had tried to take Neal from him to be processed with the rest of the slaves, Peter had balked. He had finally gotten Kramer's attention in the mess and had requested keeping Neal with him after explaining that Neal was not a legal slave.
Peter agreed to a DNA sample and fingerprints being taken while he retained custody of Neal. He hoped that they would be able to confirm the pup's identity, because Peter only had Adler's word to go on as to who the kid really was. Whatever they found, Peter was going to keep his silent promise to Neal to be there for him no matter what.
Despite Peter's attempts, Neal was still firmly in pup mode, ignoring all attempts that Peter had made to surface. He could only hope that if he continued to love the pup and treat him as best he could, Neal would be drawn out of his head space. Peter was looking forward to the day that he could hear Neal speak and learn if he was really as smart as those crafty blue eyes he had coaxed life back into led him to believe.