Missing scene from "Stealing Home" Season 4. This one-shot begins right when Sara and Neal start their little quid-pro-quo session. I just felt that after that and before Neal waking up all cheerful and happy to have Sara on board for his commutation, must've happened something else... and also, I just need some Neal/Sara fluff while we dreadfully wait for January 9th 2014...
"Is your real name Neal Caffrey?" asked Sara with mischievousness, not really expecting an answer but just teasing him, which had become one of her favorite hobbies. Why? Because she could.
"That's a really long story, I rather we start with something less boring" answered Neal evading the question but smiling at the always challenging woman in front of him, with the sharp mind who always asked just the right questions
"Oh I'm sure it's boring" she said sarcastically playing along "How about you tell me about your favorite childhood memory then, some mayhem you must have caused I assume" she said not really pushing him but still, digging for some intel on the real Neal Caffrey. Plus, picturing a young blue-eyed boy was just too adorable.
Neal smirked and frowned pretending to remember "Hmm, believe it or not, I was a pretty dull kid. I loved school and I always did my homework"
Sara laughed "Yeah right"
"I'm not kidding! The most mayhem I caused was when I redecorated the kitchen" he said recalling with a little smile
"Oh? Please do tell" she said sipping her wine
"Well, I was 9 and I thought it would be a nice mother's day present to redecorate the kitchen so I painted it all inspired by Pollock's style. It was pretty good actually" he said smiling
"Oh my! I bet your parents were not thrilled!" said Sara grinning while imagining an adorable version of a young Caffrey splattered in paint
"Not at all. My mom almost had a heart attack but Ellen saved me by paying for the repairing" he said chuckling
"Who's Ellen?" asked Sara curious
Neal's smile faded and he looked down "Um, she was my, um, a very good friend of the family. I pretty much grew up with her as a second mom"
Sara frowned noticing the change of humor on Neal's expression and grabbed his hand "Hey, it's ok, we don't have to talk about anything that you don't want to" she said gently
Neal looked up at her and smiled "Ellen was my father's partner…" he said tentatively and when he saw Sara's look of confusion, he added "They were both cops"
Sara raised her eyebrows in surprise. Never in a million years, had she imagined that Neal's dad was a cop "I see, she sounds like a really cool aunt and partner in crime to your shenanigans too" she said smiling sweetly
Neal gave her a look of gratitude for not pushing any further into the obvious irony of his life as a thief whose father was a cop "Ellen was the best" he said with a big proud smile "What about little Sara, were you goodie or naughty?"
"Oh, I was bad news! Emily was the role model" she said blushing a little "I got expelled from school once because I poured glue on some boy's hair" she said giggling
Neal grinned "Oh wow! So you were a bully!"
"No, no, I was no bully, I just didn't take any bull from anyone and this boy had me over the edge so I just took matters into my hands" she said with full seriousness
Neal laughed "You nailed his ass to the wall"
"I damn did!" she said laughing as well "He also was telling me all the time that my eyes were the color of smelly musk and my legs looked like straws from a milkshake!" she complained furrowing her brow in the most adorable tantrum-like look, Neal thought
"If that boy could see you know..." he said whistling in appreciation "Look how beautiful those musky eyes are and God knows I would take gladly those straws in my milkshake any day" he said with a sexy look
Sara gasped "Neal! That is so ordinary!"
Neal laughed "as much as you think highly of me, I can be ordinary too, you know"
"Oh shut up!" she said pretending to be serious but barely containing her laughter "I missed you Neal" she said shyly
Neal looked tenderly at her "Me too… although I believe you were very, um, entertained with Brian…"
"Ugh, don't even mention that jerk, plus I'm sure you heard from the van how much I was unable to hide my disgust for him" she said looking down a little embarrassed
"What do you mean? The minute I heard he discovered you were lying I ran to get you" he said not really understanding the reason for her look of embarrassment and then a light-bulb turned on "Did you confess later something I should know about?" he said teasing her
"Of course not" she said putting her hair behind her ear and standing up from the coach "More wine?" she put distance feeling absolutely exposed when she remembered what Brian had said: If you had kissed me with half as much love as you looked at Caffrey…
Neal frowned and made a mental note to get the recording from that day, he HAD to listen to whatever he missed when he ran out of the van. But he had a pretty good idea of what it must have been… he stood up and walked quietly to where Sara was next to the wine cellar. He stood behind her and put a gentle hand on the small of her back making her flinch but she didn't turn around
"Sara? What's wrong?" he asked quietly rubbing slightly her back
She froze and didn't say anything. She had no idea his touch could still affect her this much. Maybe Brian was right, maybe she did have feelings for Neal that went beyond the typical friendly appreciation and blissful enjoyment while having sex.
She felt his breath on her ear "Sara… talk to me, didn't you say you came here to talk?"
She turned around to find him inches from her face. She licked her lips remembering how good of a kisser he was and feeling dizzy from his cologne "Neal…" she said in a whimper and hated herself for letting him affect her this much
He got even closer to her by pulling her gently with one hand on her hip. He caressed her cheek with his other hand entwining his fingers on her hair and resting it on her neck. He pushed her face up gently and looked into her eyes finding in them whatever he missed on the audio and something else… was that fear?
"Are you afraid of me?" he asked reading her thoughts
She sighed looking down "No…" she wasn't exactly afraid of him but she was afraid of falling for him. Of course she wasn't going to share that out loud.
"Then what is it" he asked again lifting her chin up
She couldn't look him in the eye anymore so she just went with her impulses and kissed him tentatively. He responded immediately, softly at first but the minute he felt the shy touch of her tongue on his bottom lip, he lost it and pushed her against the wine cellar holding her close to him, kissing and caressing, remembering what he had yearned for so long. "Sara… I missed you so much" he said breathlessly kissing her neck and behind her ear, reclaiming his territory and making her whimper just as he used to do. Neal smiled at the realization that he could still melt her and melt himself in the process. That's what it had been with Sara, pure fire. But this time, it felt different, he had the urge to take it slowly and burn slowly on that fire.
Neal slowed down for a bit, gently and slowly caressing her hips and bottom with one hand while rubbing her back with the other. His lips entertained on her neck, nipping at it slowly and sweetly, leaving a trail of sloppy and lazy little kisses right down her collarbone and back up the other side; taking his time on tasting every inch and inhaling her perfume.
Sara felt dizzy and intoxicated; Neal had the ability to melt her defenses and melt her altogether in a sea of pleasure, yet, this time around, it all felt familiar and not consuming, just blissful and pleasant. Not only did she feel warmth in certain parts of her body but she felt also warmth in her heart; she felt protected, cherished, cared for… 'It's only a kiss', her rational self said. But it was one hell of a kiss, one which spoke volumes in terms of the gentleness and deep care he took, as if he was trying to sculpt her figure through kisses, delicately and carefully, yet with extreme passion and devotion.
She felt so good, so loved… 'wait, loved?!' her rational-self spoke again and she freaked out. She couldn't be feeling this way. She knew she wanted him but it was not only physical yearning… though she was not ready to admit the other type so she pushed it aside… "Enough of that, Caffrey" she said and started pushing at his belt
Neal smiled pleased. He had always been a fan of Sara's dominant side and he was more than happy to let himself be led by her "Yes ma'am" he said and grabbed her carrying her to the bed.
What came next was a sequence of multiple ecstatic moments for Sara triggered by Neal's skillful hands and mouth and one very in-sync for both of them, grunting and groaning in unison, overwhelmed by pleasure.
Sara couldn't help but feel tears threatening to fall when she saw his beautiful face contorted in pleasure, lips slightly parted and whispering her name as a plea, followed by a little sweet smile, not the one he used for his cons, but one that was secretly reserved for this moment… she realized she didn't want to ever share this smile with anyone else, it was too precious and it was hers.
As soon as Neal was done, Sara pushed him gently aside and she turned her back to him. She couldn't let him see her like this. 'Keep it together, Sara' she told herself mentally while wiping her tears discreetly
Neal liked to snuggle and so he immediately went to cuddle with her, spooning and laying a hand on her flat belly. She put her hand on top of his and entwined her fingers in his tightly "That was amazing, Repo. I can't believe you're here" he said and she could sense the smile in his face
"I can't believe I'm here either… I just came here to talk" she whispered realizing how deep in she was. She just realized she was in love with Neal Caffrey but how stupid was it? He was a convicted felon! Sure he was about to go into a commutation hearing in a couple of weeks to determine his freedom but still, she couldn't claim any stakes on him, not when he seemed to be in a totally different level of engagement with her. It seemed for him it was all fun and most surely, he didn't want any commitment now, he was just about to regain his freedom for God's sake, he would not be in any mood to get another type of "anklet" on him.
Neal chuckled "Well, we did talk but we're just too good together to let it go to waste" he said having no idea what it was doing to Sara's emotional state right now
Neal noticed the quietness on Sara and shook her gently "Hey, is something wrong?"
Sara took a deep breath and put her mask on. She couldn't let him see how smitten she was with him when it was clearly just fun for him. With a fake sexy smile on, she turned around to face him "Yes. I'm hungry… for food, Caffrey, you're a terrible host" she said playfully
Neal grinned and stood up immediately not caring at all on putting some pants on. Not that Sara minded, au contraire, she was totally enjoying the view and Neal knew it, so he just smirked at her and walked towards the fridge to pull some fruit, cheese and bread. Sara congratulated herself silently for being able to con the master of cons with her fake smile… 'Whatever keeps him smiling and being as sweet as he's being right now', she thought.
He walked back to the bed with a tray full of food and more wine. He put his boxers on and sat down cross-legged with an adorable smile.
He fed her with some strawberries and grapes, happy to be feeding himself as well "Don't you just love fruit after sex? I mean, the only thing missing for this perfect moment is the beach… Aw man! Once I'm free of this thing, I promise to take you to Punta Cana, how does that sound?" he said excitedly
She smiled and nodded "Neal, I want to testify on your behalf"
"Punta Cana sounded that good huh?" he said smiling
She chuckled "No, silly. I mean it, I want to do it"
He got serious "You sure? I wouldn't want to put you under any pressure here…" he said hesitantly
"It's ok, Neal. I already testified in a trial of yours once. It'll be nice to do so again, but for you instead of against" she said with a smirk
He grinned happily and kissed her "Thank you, Sara! It means a lot to me"
She smiled in return, happy to see him so happy "Punta Cana does sound nice though…" she said raising her eyebrows suggestively and tracing a finger on his thigh
He put the tray aside and tackled her "Making love to you again, right now, sounds even nicer" he said kissing her passionately
She laughed "Oh Caffrey, only one strawberry and you're recharged? I'm impressed"
"You have no idea" he said and showed her exactly how recharged he was by rubbing himself against her leg
Sara gasped in mock-surprise "No objection from me, your honor. You may proceed" she said grabbing his neck and pulling him down for another kiss.
Exhaustion left them spent and so they slept peacefully until Neal had to get up early in the morning for his heist with Gordon Taylor. He kissed Sara on his way out and left her some pancakes, coffee and more strawberries on the dining table with a note that said "Strawberries have nothing on you. You bring me back to life, Sara"
Sara almost lost it there. She knew he was referring to the joke they shared last night but she wanted this to mean so much more. She knew where her feelings where but she wasn't so sure of how to deal with them, she had never felt like this before and it was scary. Plus, she didn't know how Neal felt and that was even scarier…
For now, all she wanted to focus on was on building a solid testimony on his behalf and really contributing to set him free… how far had she come! Five years ago she was calling him a sociopath and now, here she was, hopelessly in love with him…
Punta Cana with him sounded good indeed but even more so, she just wanted to be with him… even if the anklet didn't come off soon, Sara was determined to fight for him and more importantly, fight against her own demons and walls. She decided that Neal was worth the fight.
She only hoped he wanted the same someday…
Feedback please? :)