JULIA'S DILEMMA

A Sneaky Pete fanfic

By Tipper

Disclaimer: I claim no rights to these characters, their stories, or the setting. This is a purely for fun.

Status: Complete in four chapters.

Characters: Julia and Marius POVs, but all the family play a part except Carly (sorry Carly)

A/N: If you know my stories here and at Ao3, you know that I totally have a thing for ersatz families and beautifully acted and clever tv shows, however implausible. That, and I knew that Marius was someone worth caring about by how he reacted to what happened with Eddie's poor toe. So, this story is guilty pleasure to provide a little h/c for Marius.

Description: Julia knows that Marius isn't Pete, and yet he still shows up, saving her when Luis comes looking for payback over Valerie. He wasn't her cousin. He was a stranger. Why would a stranger risk his life for hers? Why did he even care?

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CHAPTER ONE: THE CONFRONTATION

Julia drove home from the City in a bit of a daze, sensing more than seeing the cars that flowed by on 95. Black, white, silver and the occasional flash of red – she just avoided them as they blurred into the darkening gloom.

It had been sunny when she'd met Bagwell, but, as if to match her mood, the sky was now a mask of heavy, dark clouds, on the edge of raining, but with pockets of brightness. What did they call it? Changeable?

She'd hoped for something to allay her worries about Pete, something to provide an explanation for the questions she'd had about him and Aunt Maggie. Why did Pete have two names? Why did the state know him as Marius instead of Pete? Had he changed his name legally? If so, why? And why had the other man named Marius seemed familiar, and why had Maggie left with him instead of Pete? Why…why…why…?

The answer to the main question, as it turned out, was simple. It was also horrible, incredible, terrible and painful.

The man she knew wasn't Pete.

He was Marius.

Pete, her actual cousin, was the man that had left with Aunt Maggie. Bagwell had shown her pictures of the two of them.

But she didn't know the answer to the other questions: why was Marius pretending to be Pete? And why did Aunt Maggie go along with it? Why did Pete?

Bagwell had been nice to her, answering her questions, but she could see the questions in his eyes, especially as her composure had started to slip once she knew the truth. If she were Marius' ex, why wouldn't she know his name? Not long into the conversation, he'd started grilling her, asking her about their relationship, how it had started, what he was like. She had expected that, and hadn't wanted to get Pete in trouble, but her prepared answers had broken down once she understood that Marius had manipulated her, conned her, played on the whole family's affections for the Pete they'd loved as a child. Finally, she'd apologized to Bagwell, said she'd had to get back to her children, to her family, and had abruptly left him in a cloud of confusion. She'd felt his suspicious gaze on her as she practically ran out of that park. And, yes, she felt a bit guilty about having stirred something up with Bagwell, but not enough – because by then she was just too angry with Marius to care.

As she drove the hour and a half back home, though, the cars swirling around her as dangerous and swift as her thoughts, the anger had dissipated. Pete had helped the family get the money back that Audrey had trusted to Lance, and exposed him for the snake he was. He'd brought the money back after stealing it to use in New York, even though he easily could have left with it. He'd helped her get Dockery's money back after the backpack debacle. He'd yelled at her to not open the door when she and Valerie had been trapped in the storage facility, even when his own life was at stake. Why had he done any of that? So she was back to bewilderment. She knew she might be angry again soon, but for now, she just felt adrift.

A car blasted her with a long honk, and she startled slightly, realizing that her speed had dropped below 40. She pressed her foot down, her gaze refocusing on the road ahead.

It was no good ruminating. She needed answers. Before she told her family, she needed to understand.

Pete had said he'd wanted to explain. It had better be a good one.

She swung off the highway at the Bridgeport exit, heading away from the water and towards home. She'd check in on the kids, whom Carly was watching, then call Pete and suggest he meet her at the bar on the water. Her eyes narrowed as she realized Carly was going to ask questions when she'd beg for a few more hours of babysitting, want to know what was going on. She needed something to tell her….

She settled on a convenient lie in her head as she pulled up in front of her house, working over the words to say as she exited and locked the car. She just needed to say that Maggie has asked her to speak with Pete's pro—

"Hey, Little Blondie."

Julia came to an abrupt halt, her head popping up in surprise.

"Shit," she muttered as Luis stepped out the car she hadn't even noticed as she'd parked behind. She really should have noticed a vehicle that black and ugly on the street. People in this neighborhood drove Corollas, not Lincolns. Luis stepped towards her, and she took a step back, drawing her leather purse protectively in front of her. Another man also climbed out of the car, bigger and more brutish than Luis, with black hair and somewhat vacant, bright blue eyes. She watched as the goon placed his hand under his jacket near his waist.

"What do you want?" she demanded of Luis, switching her gaze back and forth between the gun she knew was under that jacket and him, her voice cracking slightly.

"You took something from me," Luis said. "Two things, actually." His gaze narrowed icily, and Julia started to shake. Luis had always been a little scary, but looming over her like this, she was absolutely terrified.

"I only did what you asked me," she stammered. "I bailed out Valerie. You never said I had to let you kill her."

"It wasn't your responsibility to protect her, either," he said. "Or the money she stole from me."

Julia blinked, knowing that money had already gone towards the bond they'd lost, and took another step back. She glanced up at the house, half expecting to see Carly looking through the window, or, god forbid, Ellen or Jacob.

"Your family's out," Luis said. "I made sure. I wouldn't do this in front of your children."

"Do what?" she asked weakly.

"You know what," he said. "You helped Valerie get away from me. If I can't punish her, then I will punish the woman who helped her. You understand," he added. "This is my business. Someone needs to pay."

He stepped aside and the blue-eyed muscle came forward, and this time he showed the pistol.

"Get in the car, Julia," Luis ordered. "Trust me, it'll be quick. We'll make it look like an accident for your family."

"Um…I….I…."

"That wasn't a request."

"Please, I…Wait, I just—"

"Grab her," Luis ordered, and the goon stepped forward, and Julia opened her mouth to scream.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Pete's voice called out, and, before she understood what was happening, he had run into the gap between her and Luis. He had his hands up, his phone in one of them, the other pushing outwards, as if to ward off the goon and Luis. He had his back to Julia, forcing her back another step, but he looked at her over his shoulder, that strange smile on his face that she wasn't sure was an actual smile.

"You okay?" he asked her.

She just blinked. "Pete?"

He inclined his head to her, still smiling, as if to say "don't worry, I've got this," and turned to face Luis.

"What's going on?" he asked Luis. "Maybe it's something I can help with?"

Luis was frowning at Pete. His hired muscle had dropped the jacket back over the gun, clearly waiting for an order.

"You're her cousin," Luis said eventually. "Pete."

"That I am," Pete said. "And, as you know, my cousin's brother's is also a cop and I've got him on speed-dial." He shook the phone in his hand. "But I don't think we need to do anything too crazy here, like call anyone or do anything unnecessary that could result in anyone getting hurt." The smile grew. "I understand you may be, uh, missing some money? Somewhere in the neighborhood of seventy-five thousand dollars?"

Luis' eye twitched; Julia could almost see his mind turning as he tried to deal with this wild card.

"What do you know about it?" he asked gruffly.

"Not a lot, not a lot," Pete said quickly, shrugging. "Just that you're missing that money, stolen by a woman that Julia unfortunately lost. A criminal whom, you may recall, you asked Julia to bail out, which she did, and now Julia's out some money as well, because it was a high bail. That's right, isn't it?"

He looked over his shoulder at her again, and she nodded shakily. "Yeah. It was…it was a lot of money." What the hell was he doing?

"So, the way I see it," Pete continued, turning away from her, "you were both screwed by this woman, who is now in the wind with no way to track her."

"Your cousin helped her escape," Luis stated.

"Ah, see, you don't know that," Pete said, holding up a finger. "You're guessing. I'm not. Julia's a lot of things, but she's no lawbreaker. She wouldn't have helped someone skip, particularly not with that much money on the line. And especially not knowing that you'd come after her if she did, which you have. Truth is, Julia's got a soft heart, and…" He smiled again. "…And she can be a little gullible sometimes. I'm guessing Valerie talked her into stopping somewhere, perhaps because of the baby, or because she had to pee, and she took advantage of Julia's trust. Played on that gullibility. And now she's gone, and both of you are screwed as a result."

It was like a record scratch in her mind. What did he just call her?

"Gullible?" Julia repeated, looking at the back of Marius' head. He looked at her, and she frowned. "Is that what you think of me?"

He looked briefly confused at the statement, then frowned. "Yes," he said. "You are. Because you're good hearted. It's easy to prey on that."

She felt a touch of her earlier rage emerge inside her at his words. But Pete…No, Marius…had already moved on, talking a mile a minute, distracting Luis and the goon, talking about making some sort of deal, something that could "benefit all of them." But she had, in fact, lost the thread of the conversation because the words "prey" and "gullible" were ringing inside her head like a sort of chant. How dare he? How dare he? She was not prey! Her family was not-

"Julia," Marius said then, "how much do you think you can get?"

She blinked quickly, her fury still very much present. "What?" she snapped.

"For the deal," he said, eyebrows lifted. "How much?"

She just shook her head. She didn't know what he was talking about.

He frowned again, but more in worry now, she could tell, worry for her. He was worried about her.

And just as it had in the car, her anger faded, because he was standing between her and Luis. He was risking his life to save her.

The confusion came back full force. She did not understand him at all. Who the hell are you? She wanted to ask. Why are you doing this for me?

"Okay, it's okay," he said to her, his voice soothing. He must think I'm too scared to contribute¸ she realized as he turned back to Luis once more. "Look, Luis, can I call you Luis?" he asked.

"No."

"Okay, right, no problem. So, here's the thing. We don't have any money, because Valerie skipped the bond. But if we could find some cash, or, say, if you were willing to lend us even a small amount – say twenty-five thousand? – then I promise you, in two weeks, we'll double what Valerie stole from you - a hundred and fifty thousand, all yours, no strings, just a get out of jail free card for Julia and her family."

"No deal."

Marius tilted his head. "Why?"

"Because I need to send a message. What happened with Valerie cannot happen with anyone else I employ or work with. She got away. Someone has to pay."

"And someone will. But with money, not blood. And you can't tell me that money isn't a lot more valuable to you than a life."

Luis' eyes narrowed, obviously thinking. Then he said, "A hundred-fifty's not enough for what she did."

Marius grimaced. "What's your number then?"

"Double it again."

"Three hundred thousand?"

"Yeah."

"You only lost seventy-five."

"And my revenge. That's worth a lot more. It's worth her life," he glanced at Julia, and Julia swallowed nervously, clutching her purse again to her chest.

Marius' lips pursed, and he looked at Julia as well over his shoulder. She met his almost calculating gaze, terrified once again.

"What's the matter?" Luis taunted. "You saying her life's not worth three hundred thousand? Because if that's what you're saying, then we'll take her right now and—"

"We'll do it," Marius said. He lifted his chin. "But we need that seed money."

Luis gave a tiny smile, and asked, "What's my collateral?"

"I am. Your man here…what's your name?"

The goon looked at Luis. Luis' eyes narrowed.

"His name is Tony."

"Tony can be my shadow. I promise to never be out of his line of sight. He'll be with me every second of every day. If he thinks I'm trying to pull something, or to get out of town, or something else along those lines..." He shrugged. "He can kill me. And I'll be the life you take for Valerie's."

Julia's eyes widened. What?

Luis shook his head. "No. Julia's the one who—"

"She has two little kids, and a whole family that cares about her. I don't think you're the kind of person that would take a mother away from her kids – I know you could have gone up to the house before she came, but you didn't. You probably waited until the kids were gone. But me? I don't have any kids. I'm just the cousin, and one that's…a little questionable. I know I'm not worth as much as she is, but the family's not going to lash out at you the same way as they would if you killed her. They'll mourn, but they'll just assume I did it to myself. Which is kind of true." He smiled that sad smile again.

Julia's heart wrenched, even as her mind still stumbled over the fact that he wasn't really her cousin.

"Pete," she croaked. "You can't.…"

"And there's one more condition," Pete said then. Luis frowned.

"I don't like additional conditions," the man said.

"This one's easy, I promise. For the next two weeks, you have to leave Julia and her family alone. You don't follow them or threaten them or…whatever else it is you do. You let them be. You can terrify the crap out of me as much as you like, but you leave them alone."

Luis pursed his lips, eyes going back and forth between Julia and Pete.

"So what do you say?" Pete asked Luis then. "Do we have a deal?"

And, amazingly, Luis inclined his head. He even smiled. "Alright. Two weeks. I'll get you the money. Tony, you stay with him. As for you…" Luis looked at Julia, his dark eyes feeling like they were staring right through her. "You're lucky your cousin loves you this much. I'm not sure I would have done that for any of mine."

Julia just blinked, her mind reeling as Pete…Marius…as he stepped closer to her, taking her arm and she unconsciously leaned on him.

Luis stared at them a moment longer, then turned away. In moments, he was climbing into that black monstrosity of a car and driving away.

Tony watched the car leave, frowning slightly, and looked at Pete.

"Can, um…can we have a minute to talk?" Pete asked Tony. The goon sneered, and Pete smiled. "Like I said, we won't leave your sight, but there's no rule about my having a quiet word with her now, is there? You scared her, she needs a minute. Give us a break, yeah?"

Julia watched as Tony thought that over. He clearly wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed because a moment later he nodded and backed off a few paces so that he'd be out of earshot. He did rest his hand on what was obviously his gun, though.

A moment later, Pete was facing her directly, his warms hands on her arms, holding her in place. It was oddly comforting; she did actually feel safer.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently. "I mean that. Are you okay right now?"

She tried to nod, to appear calm and cool, but a tear rolled down her face and she knew she couldn't lie.

"No. Not really. That was…" She shook her head, turning her gaze away.

"I know. Believe me. I'm sorry. Take a breath."

So, she did. She took a deep breath and sighed. It helped.

And then she looked him in the eye. Marius' eyes. He wasn't her cousin. He was a stranger. Why would a stranger just do what he did?

"Why did you do that?" she asked him.

"Do what?"

"That. With Luis."

"He was going to kill you."

"I know. But…why did you get involved?"

She knew the question was a pregnant one, at least for her. He frowned slightly, studying her. Or rather reading her, she realized.

"I got involved," he said, putting stress on the word, "because I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want anyone in your family to get hurt." He frowned again, and he could feel his eyes searching her face. "Do you believe me?"

Oddly, she did, because she was nodding even without consciously meaning to.

"Okay then." He looked over at Tony, then back to Julia. "Because now that that's settled, we have a problem."

"Yeah, three hundred thousand of them," she said, agreeing. She eyed him. "Which your life now depends on."

"That's part of it, yes," he said. "But I'm less worried about that than the other, because even if we solve this problem with Luis, you still have a problem with the person who started all this."

Julia frowned. "You mean, Lance?"

Pete actually chuckled a little at that, but shook his head. "No. I mean Dockery."

Julia instantly shuddered. Oh. Dockery.

"I'm guessing he still thinks he owns you," Pete said.

She shrugged. "He sort of does."

"Then we need to solve that problem as well as the Luis problem. And I may have an idea how."

Her frown deepened. "Really? How?"

"I need to check on some things, but, tell me this, do you know if Luis has given the money back to Dockery yet? The money he was supposed to be laundering for you?"

"Uh…" Julia tried to remember that night in the park. Did the money come up? Or was it just about Valerie? "I don't know."

"Then probably not, but we should find out. I'll ask Tony over there; he looks like a talker." He smirked and Julia snorted a small laugh.

"You might want to rethink that part of the plan," she said, still smiling.

"Oh ye of little faith," he said. "I'm good at getting people to tell me things."

She tried not to react at those words, even though they chilled her a little. She realized she kept defaulting to thinking of him as Pete. Marius. He's Marius. She frowned again.

"Yeah," she said. "You are good at that, at conning people, aren't you?"

He gave an ever so tiny smile at those words, even as his face stayed cool. "Yeah," he agreed. "Sometimes."

She shrugged again. "So, what's your plan?"

"A classic. Two alpha males, one pot, you get them to fight each other over it instead of cooking you in it."

She frowned again. "How?" she repeated.

"You let me worry about that. But you need to trust me."

She hesitated. She couldn't help it. "Trust you," she repeated.

He nodded. "It doesn't work if you don't trust me. Do you? Do you trust me?"

She took in a deep breath, the truth of who he was rushing through her mind clashing with everything she'd seen him do, including saving her just now. It was like a maelstrom.

But she made a decision.

For now, she needed him. If he really had a plan, then….

"Yes," she said. "I do. Pete."

He smiled again, very briefly, then nodded. "Alright then. I have some things I need to do. I'll see you later?"

"At the farm?" she asked. "For dinner?"

His eyes narrowed slightly. "I…you think it's a good idea?"

"Yeah. You said you wanted to explain things to the family."

"I do, it's why I came here first, to talk it through with you before I faced everyone else. But…" He grimaced.

"But?"

"I have Tony. How do I explain that? After bringing Marius home with mom the other day, I don't know if I can bring in another stranger."

She pursed her lips, glancing at the goon. Tony was watching them both, his arms crossed over a massive barrel chest. He really was intimidating despite the eyes; it was obvious why Luis hired him.

"Maybe not tonight, then," she agreed. "But soon. I'll think of something."

He nodded. "Give my regards to everyone. And I'll be in touch – probably call you later."

She smiled, then, without really thinking about it, she grabbed him in a hug. He tensed initially, but then seemed to give in to it.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear. "For saving my life."

He didn't reply, and so she just squeezed him again and let go. Then she was walking away up the path to her house. She stopped when she got to the top of the stairs, turning to see if they were still there. They were. Marius was watching her, his expression curiously uncertain. Tony just watched Marius.

She raised a hand to him, and went inside, locking the door behind her.

She glanced around, and her gaze settled on Ellen's purple backpack sitting innocently on the coffee table. Her baby girl.

Her baby girl has almost lost her mother.

And just like that, the fact that she'd almost been killed hit like a ton of bricks, and she started crying.

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Marius watched Julia close the door behind her, and guessed she was locking it. She was a smart woman. She was also strong and clever, beautiful too. He really would do anything for her. He'd do anything for any of them. Getting between her and Luis hadn't been planned, it had just happened. And he did have a plan, or at least the beginnings of one.

But that wasn't what was consuming his thoughts right now.

She knew.

It shouldn't have felt like a punch to the chest, but it did. As much as he tried to tell himself it had just been another job, another set of marks, another chapter in his life to move on from, his heart hurt. Marjorie had been right, he just hadn't wanted to admit it. He was such a fool.

He'd meant it, about not wanting to hurt them. He wouldn't. But Julia knowing, which meant they would soon all know… What the hell had he been thinking?

He was supposed to be better than this. First rule, don't fall for your own con. And he had. He hated himself for that.

He knew the only reason she hadn't confronted him with it was because Luis had shown up and derailed whatever she'd been planning. But how long would she keep it to herself? She would have to tell them all, and it'd probably happen soon.

He just hoped it wouldn't be until after he'd gone, which he now couldn't do until he'd dealt with Luis and Dockery for Julia. Facing the family once they knew the truth, that he was nothing to them, he didn't think he could handle that.

A few feet away, Tony cleared his throat. Marius looked over at the goon, and nodded.

"Yeah," he said to his new shadow. "Sorry. You're right, we should get going. I gotta go find a room somewhere to stay. Adjoining rooms?"

"One room."

"Hope you don't snore."

"It's a vain hope."

"Great," Marius said with a sigh. "My car's over there. Let's go."

Tony shrugged and followed. For half a second, Marius thought about running. Really running. He could do it, there would be opportunities. He knew how to get away from men like Tony. It wouldn't be hard.

But then again, maybe there was something else he could get out of this. Dockery had money. At least five hundred thousand, and probably more. If this brief time in Bridgeport was about to end, he may as well have something to show for it.

Nodding to himself, he opened the doors and got in. As Tony climbed into the other side, grunting slightly, Marius smirked.

He had a plan.

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TBC