Title : Stay Too Long
Author's Note : Just my take on what happened next after Neal found the treasure in side the warehouse.
Disclaimer : I don't own any of the recognizable characters. That honor belongs to Jeff Eastin, White Collar writers and USA Network.
Summary : The events following Neal's discovery of the treasure inside that warehouse. OOC/AU/One-shot/Ficlet
Warning : Some spoilers from season 2 finale, Under the Radar.
77850 Gansevoort St, Unit A, New York, NY
Neal just stood there in awe of what he had just discovered. He couldn't believe his own two eyes. It was the treasure from the German U-boat. It didn't get blown up after all. Neal couldn't help but smile. He wondered who was responsible for all this.
You will thank me. He remembered the note said. Whoever it was, he or she did quite an incredible feat.
"Judging from that look on your face, I get that you like what you see." a familiar voice from behind him said.
Neal turned around to find Mozzie standing there. "Moz! You did this?" he asked.
"Don't look so surprised! I have a wide variety of skill set, as well as various contacts of unsavory character to help me pull this off." Mozzie replied, the smile on his face as devious as Neal's.
"How in the world did you do this?" Neal asked him, the amazement clear in his voice.
"I'll fill you in on all the details later. Right now, we need to decide where to stash these. We can't just keep all of these in one spot. We're going to need to move some of it around. We'll need Alex's help..." Mozzie's voice trailed off when he noticed Neal abrupt silence.
The smile that Neal had on his face earlier was gone and was now replaced with a more perturbed look. Mozzie knew that look. Hesitation. And only one person could make Neal Caffrey have second thoughts when it comes to a big score such as this.
"You're thinking of the Suit, aren't you?" Mozzie asked, but he already knew the answer to that.
Neal sighed. "Peter knew. He knew that the treasure wasn't there. And the first person he accused was me." he answered. "After all this time, I thought that I've proven myself to him. Even after I swore to him that I didn't steal it. He practically called me a liar to my face. And now, you give me this!" he added.
"If it makes you feel any better, you didn't lie. You didn't steal it. I did." Mozzie told him.
"It's not that simple, Moz!" he snapped. "I don't even know how to make you understand this!" he said in frustration.
"I understand it quite well, Neal!" Mozzie said. "We have hit the mother lode of all treasures and you can't seem to enjoy it properly because you're worried of what Agent Peter Burke might think of you once he finds out!" he shouted.
"Moz, Peter is smart, okay! He will figure this out eventually! He probably knows about this by now! Look, you're angry, I get that! But you're forgetting that he holds the key to my freedom! He finds out that I have something to do with this, he could very well send me back to prison!" Neal explained.
"But you didn't steal it Neal...I did!" Mozzie said. He looked at Neal, who just stared at him back in confusion. "I did it! You can't take credit for this one, Neal! All those time and energy we've devoted in the past to con Adler, you had to screw it all up when you got sidetracked with Kate! You lost focus! You messed up! You got caught!" Mozzie said, screaming with anger.
Neal looked at him. He had never seen Mozzie with this kind of rage. He was always the calm voice of reason between the two of them. Neal touched his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, but Mozzie just swatted his hand away.
"Don't you get it, Neal? After all these years, our long con with Adler finally paid off! And you, you're just planning to hand it all over to the FBI! You expect me to just stand back and let you do it?" Mozzie asked. He shook his head and let out a dry laugh. Then, he looked at Neal straight in the eye.
"In case you have forgotten, Kate died because of this treasure! Alex had a target painted on her back for quite some time because of this treasure. I got shot! I got shot, Neal! I got shot! Don't expect me to walk away from this empty-handed! This, right here, is my compensation!" Mozzie yelled, his eyes welling up with tears.
"I'm sorry, Moz! I'm so sorry..." Neal tried to make him understand but Mozzie interrupted him.
"Save it, Neal! You know, if this were a few years ago, I probably would believe you. But not now, not anymore!" Mozzie said, shaking his head. "Look at you, you're a different man than that moppy-haired kid I met at the park over 8 years ago. That kid, he was my friend. I look at you now, I don't recognize you anymore. I'm not even sure I want to know you!" Mozzie's voice filled with pained regret.
"Moz, please stop this!" Neal pleaded.
"No, I don't think I will!" Mozzie snapped back. "You know who you look like to me now, Neal? The Suit! Is that who you want to be?" Mozzie asked. "What's that they say, uhm...'The things you want to covet the most are the things you see everyday, but do not possess.' Is that it, Neal? Do you want Peter's life? Go to work for the system everyday. Catch criminals. Be a lawman. Come home to your insurance investigator girlfriend at the end of the day. Argue about what movie to watch or what to have for dinner. Oh, you'd love to have a life like that, wouldn't you?" Mozzie mocked.
Neal just stood there and remained silent. He didn't exactly know how to answer Mozzie.
"What...cat got your tongue,Neal?" Mozzie asked. "I'm right, aren't I? I know I'm right. You always loved to live in a dream world. Nick Halden's fantasy life...a happily ever after with Kate...now, you want to be Peter Burke!" Mozzie pointed out.
"I'm not going to apologize for wanting a better life, Moz." Neal finally said.
Mozzie sighed. He shook his head in frustration. "I stayed too long. That's the problem." He looked at Neal straight in the eye. "You didn't have anyone! Even Kate left you eventually! But I stayed and stood by you! I remained your friend, like a loyal dog. Always there, ready to serve! I stayed TOO long! Only to find out that in the end, our friendship meant nothing to you. That you'll choose Peter over me! I broke my own rule. I should've left a long time ago. It wouldn't have hurt this much!" he said emotionally.
Mozzie took a deep breath and faced Neal. "Are you going to turn me in now?" he asked.
"It's not like that at all, Mozzie!" Neal said.
Mozzie put his hand up to silence Neal. "Do me a favor. Give me a couple of hours head start before you call Peter. Let me get away. You owe me that much, at the very least! Goodbye, Neal. I hope that you, The Suit, Mrs. Suit and the insurance investigator enjoy your long, happy, boring lives together!" With that, he turned around and walked away from Neal and out of the warehouse.
"Mozzie, wait! Moz!" Neal yelled. He tried to stop him. He went after him outside, but Mozzie was gone. He had always been good with quick getaways. Neal was left there standing alone, confused as to everything that had transpired that day.
Months later, Central Park, New York City, NY...
Mozzie sat down on the park bench as he sipped his Chai latte and read the newspaper. He had been back in New York for a few days now after months of being away. Unbeknownst to Neal, Mozzie had kept some of the treasure for himself. Like he said, he wasn't walking away empty-handed. He's no fool. He stashed some of the treasure in a secured location for a rainy day.
Using some of his resources, he had gone around the world. He went to man's every version of paradise on earth. Indonesia, Australia, Mexico, Italy, Brazil, Monaco, England, Japan, all the exciting places he could think of. Sometimes, he just put a map on a dart board and wherever the dart landed, that's where he went. Eventually, all roads led him back to New York. There was something about that city he just couldn't leave behind, no matter how hard he tried.
Since there was no mention of the recovered treasure in any of the news, he figured it was safe to come back. Although, he did wonder what happened to the rest of the treasure. Mozzie cringed at the thought of it just wasting away and eating up dust in some FBI storage locker. He was interrupted from his musings when someone sat on the bench behind him.
"I saw a mockingbird at the park." a familiar voice said.
Mozzie knew that voice. He remained silent and continued to sip his tea.
"You're supposed to say 'What color was the mockingbird?'" the voice insisted.
"The bird died. Go away, Neal!" he snapped.
"Oh, so you do remember me!" Neal stood up from his bench and sat next to Mozzie. "Missed you, Moz! Where have you been?" Neal asked, smiling.
Mozzie was surprised to see Neal not wearing his Devore suit. Instead, he was dressed in a white shirt and denim pants, his hair unkempt. He looked very much like that young con man he met at the park over 8 years ago. The young man who became his friend and partner in crime. Mozzie took this as a symbolic gesture.
"I went on a little trip. Went to Bhutan, the Land of the Thunder Dragon. The last Shangri-La. Oh, the charm, the magic, the enigma! A country of surprises. It's in the Himalayas, the rooftop of the world. A hidden paradise where dreams never die and love is the law of the land. You'd like it there." Mozzie said.
"Maybe I'll go there someday, when this is off." Neal said, gesturing at his tracking anklet.
"You here to arrest me, Neal?" Mozzie asked.
"Uhm, Moz, I'm a CI! I'm not an agent, I don't arrest people." Neal answered.
"So, is the Suit going to pop out of the bushes anytime now to handcuff me?" Mozzie pressed.
"Mozzie, I didn't tell Peter about your involvement in 'recovering' the treasure. It's all good. Everything worked out just fine. If you had stayed a little longer back at the warehouse, I could've filled you in on my plan!" Neal playfully chastised him.
Mozzie remained silent, his face serious. He wasn't amused at what Neal said. As if everything that happened was all a joke to him. Neal saw this and wiped the grin off his face.
"Look, Moz. I'm not going to apologize for wanting to be happy. But I will apologize for being one lousy friend." Neal said. "Kate died. Alex got hurt. You got shot. I put the people that I cared about the most in danger. Someday, I'll learn to live with that! If it's fine by you, I would still like to be your friend. Are we cool?" Neal asked, as he put his hand out for a hand shake.
Mozzie looked at him, deciding whether or not to shake Neal's hand. "We're...okay. We'll work our way back to being cool." he answered, finally taking Neal's hand to shake it. Of course, this was all conditional, Mozzie thought. He's not going to be just Neal's loyal sidekick anymore. He's not going to be there to do his bidding. And most of all, this time, he'll make sure that doesn't stay too long for him to get hurt.
~FINI~
Footnotes :
*I know, it's too obvious if it was really Mozzie who stole the treasure. For this fic's sake, let's just say that he did it!
*I never said that Neal turned the treasure over to the FBI, now did I? Maybe he kept some for himself, just like Mozzie. Or maybe he kept it all, who knows?
*This was my first Mozzie/Neal fic. I wrote this because I thought Mozzie was long overdue for a meltdown. Kinda figured that Peter and Mozzie are so different and Neal is the bridge to their different worlds. It was bound to be chaotic at some point.
*Thanks so much for taking time to read this!