Hello! This story is based off the TV show White Collar. I started watching the show and couldn't get the imagine of Neal as Thorne out of my head. Thanks for reading, please review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Lunar Chronicles or White Collar.
Really, they were asking for it, Thorne thought as he sat across from—what had she called herself? Special Agent Linh? Yeah, that sounded right—and had his genius spelled out in succinct sentences for him.
"Carswell Thorne, former Cadet in the American Military. Rumored to have stolen a million dollars' worth of priceless goods, including Venezuelan Dream Dolls, a Diamond necklace, and the crown jewels of a small island nation. Convicted of stealing a Class 11.3, 214 Military Rampion and sentenced to six years in high security prison. Now tell me, Mr. Thorne, why did you decide to escape?"
"Call me Thorne. Mr. Thorne is my father, and Thorne is what all my friends call me."
"We are not friends Mr. Thorne."
Thorne grinned at Agent Linh and stuck his boots up on the corner of the table, "You sure do seem to know a lot about me without being my friend. You've done your stalking well. Perhaps you'd like to skip right to lovers?" He gave her a wink.
She did not seem amused. Perhaps his charm had faded a bit after a year in prison. Or maybe he was just not her type. It was probably the latter, since he was, you know, Carswell Thorne, Devilishly Handsome Criminal Mastermind.
Agent Linh finally opened a manila folder on the desk between them. She pulled out three different photos. "Mr. Thorne, I am going to ask you questions, and you are going to answer them truthfully and professionally."
"Aye aye captain," Thorne saluted Agent Linh. She did not smile back.
"At 12:33, you exited the cafeteria early from lunch, complaining about a stomach ache. A guard escorted you to the sick bay, where you knocked him out using the doctor's stool. You stole his clothes, and walked back to the cafeteria, where you waited outside the doors, your back to the security cameras focused on the entrance to the cafeteria. Correct?" Agent Linh slid a photo of the back of a guard with an ill-fitting uniform on, along with one of an unconscious guard stripped down to his underpants in the sick bay.
"Wow, Miss Linh. You really did your homework. I knew you had it bad for me."
"Will you please answer the question?"
"Only if you stop showing me that picture of the guard. I do not need to see that tragedy again."
"Then at 1:42, you escorted the other prisoners to outdoor time, where you sauntered out the doors of the prison, telling the other guards you needed a smoke break." At that, Agent Lihn showed Thorne the last photo, this one of him obviously winking at the security camera. One of his finer ideas, Thorne had to admit.
"Why am I here, if you already know everything?" Thorne asked.
"We need your confirmation."
"You have all the confirmation you need right there, Miss Linh. Look at these beauties, do you think any other devilishly handsome criminal mastermind could pull this off?"
"You would be surprised how many other people I have encountered that could do what you did."
Thorne gave her a huge grin, with dimples and all. "So you do admit I'm devilishly handsome?"
"So you admit that you escaped a high security prison, accept the fact that one of our tech personnel spotted you escaping and was able to alert the prison to apprehend you, and agree to the two extra years you will have to serve as punishment?"
Thorne held up his hands, "Woah Miss Lihn, let's not start throwing accusations out here. I admit that I did evade my cell, but two more years? C'mon," Thorne shook out his sleeves, then put his hands behind his head. "Doesn't that seem a bit excessive?"
"You escaped a high security prison Mr. Thorne, not to mention you assaulted a prison guard. I think the punishment speaks for itself."
"Yeah, but, I barely got past the gates! I had like twelve steps of freedom!"
If he wasn't mistaken, Agent Lihn was sporting a bit of a smirk, "Our tech personal are excellent, as you must have noticed. You actually owe them. If you had gone a mile away, it would have been three years."
Thorne gave a groan, tilting his head back, "If I had gotten a mile away, I wouldn't be setting here. I would be in the Bahamas, a fruity drink in my hand and sandals on my feet."
"I'm sorry for your loss Mr. Thorne. Now, why did you escape prison after a year of perfect behavior?"
"Did you not just hear my comment about the Bahamas?"
"Mr. Thorne."
"You want the truth?" Thorne stated, sitting up straight and putting his elbows on the table. "I was bored."
"Bored?" Agent Lihn repeated, her eyebrows scrunching together.
"Yeah, bored. You must realize, Miss Linh, that I am used to being in situations that test my intellectual capacity and my physical prowess. Sitting in a barred cell does not exactly fill those requirements."
"You escaped prison because you were bored and thought it would be fun? Am I hearing you correctly?"
Thorne gave her a cheeky wink, "I'll let you decide that for yourself."
"I thought you said you would be professional."
"Being a professional liar is one of my many great skills."
"Mr. Thorne, please stop wasting my time. You are not my only case that needs attention."
"Really? Maybe if you share the details, I can help you solve your other cases. I am a devilishly handsome criminal mastermind."
"Absolutely not," Agent Linh stated, grabbing her papers and making to stand up.
"C'mon, you could give me a nice suit and some cool sunglasses, and I could go undercover with a briefcase full of cash to trade with the criminal. Then I could apprehend the con artist, since you know, I do know how to think like one."
"And then you would make a clean get away with the cash and send a postcard of you in the Bahamas to the FBI office."
Thorne grinned, "You know me too well Miss Linh."
"Causality of reading through all your files in preparation of catching you."
"Did the files mention how devilishly handsome I am?"
Agent Linh seemed to ignore him as she walked toward the door. "You'll be in contact with our lawyers about your extended stay in prison. I suggest not escaping again if you want a shorter sentence."
Thorne just smiled at her, "And to think Miss Linh, you claimed to know me."
…
"Coffee?"
"Yes," Cinder sighed into the proffered mug. "Thank you."
"No problem. After all, what are boyfriends for?" Kai smiled, taking up a spot across the kitchen table from Cinder. "Rough day at work?"
"You've no idea. Carswell Thorne decided to escape from prison this morning, another house was raided this afternoon, and tonight I got a call from one of the officers that our lead on the Torin Case had gone cold."
"Well, at least you didn't have to deal with angry nitpicky elderly people who complain about the buttons on their shirts not being the right size."
"I'm pretty sure you just described something Carswell Thorne would do."
"Did he really try to escape prison?"
"Try? That cocky kid did escape."
"Why?"
"Because he was bored."
Kai laughed, taking a sip of his own hot chocolate. "That was the reason why he broke out?"
"The only one I could get out of him."
"You know, I kind of want to meet this guy." Kai slowly leaned back in his chair. "See if he actually exists as you tell me."
"You don't believe me?" Cinder glared at him over her mug of coffee.
"No, I just don't believe the things Thorne does. He's like one of those people you need to see to believe."
"Says the youngest CEO of Emperor Clothing Corps."
Kai pointed, "Hey, you promised not to use that against me at home! I just want to be a normal guy, with a cute girlfriend, and without an entire company resting on my shoulders."
"Fine, fine," Cinder replied, but they were both smiling at each other, their cheeks a tad pink. "Stars, even thinking about Thorne gives me a headache."
"Can't blame you. The guy seems crazy."
"Crazy annoying. He kept complaining he was bored. The guy's in prison for stars' sake, and he escapes because there's not enough excitement. If it's that boring, I would like to go to prison. I could use a bit less exciting in my life."
"You're preaching to the choir babe."
Cinder gave a glare to Kai. "Don't call me that. It's weird." Kai's eyes crinkled.
"Love you…baby?"
Cinder snorted as he placer her empty mug next to the sink. "Keep trying." She turned, placing her hands on the sink lip. "Why can't he just be happy with what he has? An easy life, tucked away, never having to worry about money."
"He's a con artist. Literally, he takes things, and turns them into profit. No wonder he's bored having everyone do everything for him. Maybe you should slacken his chain a bit."
"Slacken his chain? You're talking about the man who let a tiger escape from a zoo, just to impress a girl, with nothing but a pressed penny from the gift shop and a charming smile. You give him anything, he'll find a way to use it to his advantage. He said so himself today when he suggested the FBI let him help solve cases."
"Did he really ask that?"
"Oh yeah, wanted sunglasses and everything." Kai got up, refilling Cinder's mug and then his own.
"Actually, he might be on to something."
"What?" Cinder asked, turning her body to look at him, arms crossed.
"Maybe you should take him up on his offer? You just said you were stuck on the case, and he wants something challenging. His criminal mind could catch something you overlooked."
"One, there's no way the Bureau would ever allow that. And two, are you insane? Thorne's a crazy genius. He would play us all like pawns."
"Not if you restricted his movement. Track him, keep 24-hour surveillance on him, never let his leash get longer than what you can control."
"Kai that's-"
"Brilliant?"
"Impossible." Cinder deadpanned. "Thorne would never stand for our demands."
"How do you know for sure? You're giving him what he wants." Kai ticked off the points on his hand. "A challenging job, freedom, no more staying in prison, and the ability to do what he's good at. And you get help solving cases. Win-win."
"It would never work. You're just saying this because you want to see the Carswell Thorne in action."
"Okay, maybe a little bit, but just think about the possibilities you would have with someone with his contacts on your side."
"Kai, you do know our sources of information have to be legal, right?"
"They could give you anonymous tips!"
"Now you're really stretching it. Kai, it's not going to happen. Thorne is just too unpredictable. His history speaks for itself."
"Why don't you have Cress run one of those special searches on him, like the one you asked for when you started dating me? See if she runs across anything."
"You were just a cute guy who came up and asked me out while I was getting coffee! Can you blame me for using FBI resources to check your background?"
"Hey, if that's what I have to go through to get a date with the prettiest girl in New Beijing, I'll allow it." Kai gave her a grin, and the blush that came was automatic. "Now why don't you think about the idea while I take you out to dinner?"
…
"Agent Darnel? Hey? Cress?" Cinder peeked around the door. The poor girl looked like she had spent the night in her office. Cinder counted three different energy drinks, one large tea container, and she was pretty sure Cress was wearing that dress yesterday.
"Cress, did you sleep at the office again?"
"I-no. Maybe? What time is it again?"
"Eight a.m. on Tuesday."
"Um, yes, I may have slept at the office again. Sorry."
"I thought you were going home after you finished looking into the baker's financial records?"
"Well, I was, but then I finished doing that, and I couldn't find anything unusual. So I went back to the owner of the company, and started looking at his search history, but got nothing. That made me angry, so I started playing mahjong to cool down. After a couple rounds of that, I realized I should go through each employee's record, looking for anomalies, and cross-referencing with our criminal's profile, and I found a few hits, so I started looking deeper, and well…" Cress half spun in her chair. "I guess it got kinda late?"
"Cress, you can't just sleep at the office. It isn't good for you."
Cress waved a hand, turning back to her computer. "I'm okay. You wanna look at the list of suspicious employees? See if anything stands out to you?"
Cinder sighed, running a hand over her ponytail. "What I want is for you to go home, take a shower and a nap, then come back this afternoon."
"I'm okay. All I need is some more-" Cress stretched her hands above her head and yawned. "-caffeine."
"Cress, really, you'll work better if you are rested. I need you to look into a project for me. It can wait until this afternoon."
"I've been sleeping for four hours. I've survived on less. What project is it?" She looked instantly more alert and excited.
"Cress…"
"Did somebody call for caffeine?" said a new voice as a stunning girl with blue hair sashayed her way into the office.
"Iko!" both girls shouted.
"I come bearing gifts!" Iko pronounced. "A large coffee with a hint of cream for Cinder, and a five-hour energy for Cress."
"Thank you thank you!" Cress said, downing the little bottle.
"Thanks Iko," Cinder sighed as she wrapped her hands around the mug.
"So, how is the smartest tech personal in the world and my partner in crime this beautiful morning?" Iko asked, making herself at home in one of the office chairs.
"Cress spent the night here again."
Iko tsked. "Cress, girl, we have got to get you a life. Maybe I'll make you get coffee tomorrow, and you can run into your own Kai," Iko said with a wink at her best friend. Cinder nudged Iko with her elbow.
"If only," Cress sighed, spinning around in her desk chair to face the two.
"What about Julian from the BAU? He's pretty cute," Iko pronounced.
Cress wrinkled her nose. "He's so…stoic?"
"Tall, dark, strong, and handsome. What's not to like?"
"I dunno, he's always so serious. It's kinda scary."
Iko have a huff, then turned to Cinder. "Kai have any friends you can set her up with?"
"Besides the old men on the board of directors? No. He doesn't have time to make actual friends."
"Iko's New To-Do List: one, find Cress a man and a life. Two, find Kai a life that doesn't involve board meetings. Three, Cinder, do you have anything you need me to do for you?"
Cinder gave a little laugh, "Nope, this coffee was good enough, thanks Iko. You're the best."
Iko gave a flip of her hair. "I know. So besides talking about cute men, what's our plans for today?"
"Uh, actually, I have a special project I need Cress to work on for me."
"What did Kai do this time?"
Cinder rolled her eyes. "He gave me this horrible idea."
"Now I'm really intrigued." Iko gave Cinder a little 'go-ahead' wave. "You can't hold out on us. It's practically girl code that you are obligated to tell us."
Cinder sighed, leaning back in her chair and addressing Cress. "What do you know about Carswell Thorne?"
"Carswell Thorne?" Cress squeaked out. "He just escaped from prison. Uh," Cress turned back to her computer and pulled up a few tabs. "He's a master con artist. Internationally known, caught by you a year ago."
"Yeah, I know that stuff." Cress turned to Cinder, her eyes wide. Cinder continued, "What about his personal life? I want to you compile everything about Carswell Thorne that isn't in the official FBI files. I want everything he's hiding. Precious jewels, past girlfriends, nervous habits, the things that make him tick. Can I have it by lunch?"
"Uh," Cress said, wringing her hands before unlocking a drawer in her desk. "You can have it now?"
Cinder took the out held file without a word and began flipping through it. Sure enough, it was all there. Carswell Thorne's life laid out in black and white lines and way too many photos of him winking at the camera.
"Do you do this extra research for every case we take on?" Cinder asked, not looking up from the file, missing the blush creeping up Cress's neck.
"Just the special ones."
"And the hot ones," Iko grinned, looking over Cinder's shoulder.
"No! I mean, you were chasing him for so long I thought it would be good to know about him and well, I just kept it all in case you needed it again. And you did! So it's okay!" The blush just crept up further.
"Is there any pictures where he isn't winking?" Cinder grumbled.
"It's kinda his signature move," Cress softly said, hiding behind her chair.
"Yeah, Kai's insane. I'm insane. This plan is not going to work, it's not worth it. I can't work with him."
"Work with him?" Iko stared straight at Cinder. "What are you talking about?"
"Thorne keeps complaining about how he isn't challenged enough and we're stuck on the Torin case, so Kai suggested we have Thorne as a consultant on the case. Even though you have some suspects Cress, it would really help knowing how the criminal did the job. A con artist helping to catch other con artists. It made sense over the chocolate cake last night, but now there's no way."
"That's actually...an amazing idea!" Iko squealed. "If you can make sure he wouldn't escape."
"That's what this was," Cinder held up the file, "Leverage. But it doesn't matter now, because it isn't going to happen."
"I know you have your reservations, but getting an insider's perspective would be really nice. Maybe do a trial run first? Pull up a solved case, see how fast he can solve it. If he does well, it'll help you get the bureau on your side and show how worthwhile it would be." Cress fidgeted with the ends of her hair.
"Okay, that sounds reasonable. But it still doesn't solve how we keep him contained."
"I can check into some FBI equipment," Cress stated, then pointed at the file. "And I know one thing in there that Thorne will do anything to protect."
"A girl?"
Cress grinned, "Better."
…
Thorne was really starting to hate prison. For one, the coffee was atrocious. It was as if they purposefully tried to brew him the worst coffee cup in the world. Then there was the dress code. If there was one color he didn't look good in, it was orange. Sure, the living quarters were subpar and his inmates weren't exactly warm and fuzzy, but nothing compared to the soap. It was disgusting, the final straw! He had tried to start a movement to stop the low-quality soap from being used, but as he was still using the soap, you can see how that turned out.
So Thorne was more than pleased when Agent Linh came to talk to him again. Perhaps a few more charming words and he could convince her to see his side. If nothing else, surely she had the power to get him some high-quality soap.
"Miss Linh, how lovely to see you again. What brings you back to my humble abode?"
"I have a proposition for you."
"Really now? Miss Linh, you are starting to become my favorite FBI agent." Thorne watched her as she sat down, file in hand and elbow on table.
Agent Linh looked Thorne dead in the eye. "How serious were you when you asked to help solve cases?"
Okay then. He did not expect those words to come out of her mouth. His day really was looking up. "I am always serious Miss Linh. Especially when it comes to a cool pair of sunglasses."
Cinder rested her forehead on her palm then breathed out deeply. She finally opened the file, laying several pieces of paper in front of Thorne. For once, Thorne was happy to note, the papers seemed to have nothing to do with him. A close up of an emerald, blueprints to a house, a certificate of authenticity, and a portrait of a woman. Very interesting.
"Mrs. Channary, owner of FIrehardened Makeup Company, woke up one summer morning, put on her favorite emerald broach, and went to a jewelry store around the corner to shop for a new watch. While browsing, the owner of the shop noticed her broach and asked to take a look at such a beautiful piece of jewelry. The owner quickly noticed the broach was a fake. Only three weeks ago, Mrs. Channary had it appraised and confirmed as real. She was the only person with access to her apartment, no cleaning services and no utility workers had come into her apartment. The broach was on her person at all times. How was the real broach stolen?"
"Is this some sort of game? Don't get me wrong, I love playing games, but this is weird, even for the FBI."
"The FBI wants to test your skills before they take you out into the real world. If you want that pair of sunglasses, I suggest you take this seriously."
"Yes madam!" Thorne gave her a quick salute, then bent over the photo of the emerald. "Nice forgery. Definitely not an amateur. You said stolen, so can I assume the appraisalist wasn't working for the bad guys and gave a false reading?" Cinder nodded. "The forger used the dye method on the stone, really not bad."
"Dye method?"
Thorne looked up at her. "Do they not teach you about jewel forgery in FBI school?"
"They teach us how to catch those who know about jewel forgery."
Thorne gave her a grin, "Touché. The forger used a cheap stone, probably topaz, by the looks of this, and using some chemistry techniques, he dyed the stone the color of an emerald. Simple and cheap, but effective. Whoever did this isn't rich, which eliminates the window and roof as a point of entry. The target's on the top floor, and scaling equipment is expensive. Not that I've ever, you know, looked into it. Is there an elevator in the building?"
"Two actually. One for civilians, one for maintenance."
"Do any reach to the roof? Or require a key card?"
"Only the maintenance elevator reaches to the roof. Neither require identification for entry. The civilian has a member of the staff in it at all times and goes from the first floor to the top floor, and the maintenance can only be reached from the basement after employees have clocked in for work."
Thorne scoffed, "And people think this building is secure. Our person of interest entered the apartment as a normal civilian. He walked in with a tenant and took the stairs to the basement, getting his maintenance worker groove on. Due to fire codes, it's illegal to lock stairways and not have stairways reach every floor, so he could slip right in to the basement from the ground floor. From there he could catch the maintenance elevator up to the roof, and enter Mrs. Channary's apartment through the heating ducts, as it's summer and no one is using them." Thorne pointed at the blueprint where the ducts entered her room. Cinder nodded, and Thorne kept going.
"Normally, there are only three times during a day that a person will take off precious jewelry: at night, when showering, and when going through metal detectors. Since you specifically told me details about the apartment, we'll rule out that last one. Where does the broach go at night?"
"In a safe under her nightstand. Garan Manufacturing with fingerprint identification and a twelve-digit access code."
Thorne gave a low whistle, "The woman knows how to buy a safe. So our thief didn't steal it at night, because no one in their right mind wants to crack a Garan safe if he can help it. Which leaves showering. I'm guessing she showers in the morning, as 70% percent of the population does. The emerald is no doubt still in the case until she gets dressed for the day, which means our thief needed to create an instance in which she had to shower unexpectedly. Did it rain any time during the three weeks?"
"Down poured for an entire Tuesday." Cinder gave a small smile. So he was right. Of course he was. Carswell Thorne was never wrong. "Nice job, time for a hint. Mrs. Channary had a board meeting every week day from 10 to 11:30 am."
Thorne gave her a lazy grin. "You're making this too easy Miss Linh. How'd she normally get home? Private driver?"
"He was unexpectedly sick that day. Bad sushi the night before."
"Of course. Taxi?" Thorne pulled the picture closer. "No, she's too classy for that. I bet she called a driving service."
"She got an ad for a new company just the day before."
"Of course she did. So our criminal picked her up in his driving service, had unexpected car trouble, and made his client walk a couple blocks back to her apartment, in which time her impeccably done hair was completely ruined. Now, one's hair cannot come back from the rain with that much hairspray in it. Trust me, I've been there. Bad night in LA, don't ask. So she goes home, no doubt she's a busy woman, has another meeting right after, and has to get back to professional-looking fast. She throws her clothes with the emerald broach somewhere, showers fast so she has time to make herself presentable again before her meeting with a new client. Or in other words our thief's accomplice. The water masks the sound of the thief climbing around the heating ducts, and it's an easy switch and grab." Thorne grinned, leaning back in his chair, hands clasped behind head. "So, how'd I do?"
"How did you know the thief set up the meeting?"
"Conning 101: You only let one element go to chance, zero if you can. The rain was the big element, but it's summer in New York. Odds were favorable. So of course the thief set up a meeting a short time after her board meeting was over with. He had to get her crunched for time."
Cinder took the papers, a slight frown on her face. "You solved in three minutes what it took the FBI to solve in three days."
"What can I say? I'm a natural." Thorne gave her a wink. She got up and began to leave. "Miss Linh?"
"What?" She turned back to him.
"You've got me curious. Who actually did it?"
"Oh, it was the jewelry shop's owner's son. He saw the appraisal of the emerald with his dad, and how much it was worth. Was tired of seeing all these rich clients walk over his dad. Classic revenge scheme."
"Ah, should have seen that one coming. You didn't tell me the jeweler had a son."
"You didn't need to know."
"Miss Linh, if we are going to begin working together, I can't have you holding out information on me. It just isn't professional."
If he wasn't mistaken, Agent Linh rolled her eyes as she slammed the door shut. "Goodbye Mr. Thorne."
He grinned. Oh man, would this be fun.
The next morning, Thorne woke up to a pair of black professional sunglasses sitting on his desk.
