Chapter 1
It's been three years, four months and seventeen days since Neal's been in prison. Not that she's been keeping count. No, that'd be ridiculous given that she doesn't really love him.
Don't get her wrong, she's still amazed by his wide range of skill set and what new talents he's acquired while travelling the world and um...acquiring items of significant value or powerful history. While she was still hiding from him. But she loved Nick Halden, and he doesn't exist. She's always had trouble trusting people, given what she had to grow up with.
People who lie. People who aren't who they say they are.
People who lie about who they are.
She believes in the power of words. Words change opinions, decisions, perspectives...lives. They changed hers.
"I need you to know something about me. I'm not Nick Halden. My name is Neal Caffrey."
She's still processing this information when he pulls her into a hug he thinks is comforting. Her mind is still whirring, trying to process what he said.
He eventually explains everything; from the plan to con Vincent Adler, to Alex Hunter to his associate who goes by the strange name of Mozzie. He says he didn't know about the Ponzi scheme Adler was running (that much she can trust safely, given how his bank account is as empty as hers). But of the rest, she is still uncertain.
"Did Nick Halden ever exist?"
"No."
"Was everything you told me a lie?"
A pained expression on his face.
"Ni-Neal?"
"Yes. Most of it."
A pained expression on her face.
That's almost it for her. She knows Nick. She loves Nick. Nick who worked as a Financial Consultant for Adler. Nick who amused her with his stupid magic tricks. Nick with his crystal blue eyes and the earnest smile. Nick who...
Nick who? Exactly. He doesn't exist.
Neal Caffrey does.
Neal.
Even the name feels wrong to her. And that's just the beginning.
Take a deep breath, she tells herself.
She almost tells him it's over. Instead, she gives what she thought they had a second shot.
"Don't ever lie to me again."
She should've done the former.
And now she's living in a crappy apartment, working at the local cafe as a waitress and waiting for it all to be over. It' not like she's not trying. She does, but with the bullish markets and the wrecked economy there are few employment options that involve her proficiency (management); and no one wants someone who has been out of the game for almost six years.
It's not even close to where she imagines she would be by now. She's a management graduate, not a high school dropout; she shouldn't have to bus tables. She has a degree from one of the best universities in the States and its sitting somewhere in that cupboard; probably at the bottom eating dust.
She has no real friends in the city. She chats with the other workers but it's just small talk. The same 'Do you want to go get lunch' and 'Can you cover my shift tomorrow'. She hasn't heard from Mozzie since Neal went to prison.
Maybe that's why she visits him every week, because it's something to do.
And she didn't go to Chicago, so why does it feel like a big step in the wrong direction?
Disclaimer: Don't own it.
References to the Season Two episode Forging Bonds.
In my personal view, I think the writers left a whole slew of untied ends what with Kate, Fowler and Operation Mentor.
This is my take on Kate Moreau.
I don't think she's completely evil, but in my mind she's not completely innocent either. Also, in my mind she's not the one for Neal. Sorry if that conflicts your notions.
This is what I think could've happened on Kate's end in Season One.
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