Chapter Ten

"Ready?"

"Yes, Maste…Neal, don't make that face."

"Sorry."

"And don't apologize."

"Right." Neal took a deep breath and consciously flattened his expression. "Better?"

"Yes, Master."

Neal managed not to cringe this time at hearing the title but Peter still had to stop him from trying to open the front door himself. Even though it added another element of danger to their trips out into public Peter did appreciate the fact that despite being an accomplished con artist Neal still couldn't just effortlessly slip into his 'Master Halden' role. It showed that his 'Caffrey' side was not only genuine but that he'd developed a deep distastes for his alternate persona.

Peter wasn't too worried about Neal's slip, he had noticed that for Neal to truly perform he needed an audience. During their very first outing together Neal had been very casual with him right up until the moment that they stepped off the elevator into the corporate setting. Even with Harper although Neal had stumbled a bit when they had first arrived at the fitting once he'd found his footing he'd been able to play his part well enough to get them home. Getting the sense that Neal worked best under pressure Peter trusted that if they got into any real trouble that Neal wouldn't hesitate to step up to it. Considering that Neal was still a free man after what sounded like a lifetime of cons and crime he clearly wasn't an easy fox to trap.

Neal stepped out of the house and Peter followed him and turned to close and lock the door. Fitting the key into the lock a slight smile twitched the corner of Peter's lips, he had only ever owned two keys in his life, one to the house he shared with Elizabeth and now this one. Peter tried not to attach too much emotion to physical things since they were so easily taken away but couldn't help feeling a certain pride and honor at possessing the forbidden object. Since locks didn't need keys to open for Neal Peter doubted that he even understood what a powerful symbol of trust and respect they key represented when he'd given him his own copy. Even when in the service of private owners they had gone out of their way to ensure that he instantly returned any key that he was briefly allowed to use, something they had done under the instruction of the Market.

Even with material possessions on his mind as he carefully tucked the brass house key into his pocket Peter didn't even think twice about his gold wedding band. Over the past few days that he had been wearing it the jewelry had become part of him and with their trip outside happening suddenly Peter had been more focused on the journey not the details and so he was currently wearing it. When Neal took the first step off the marble landing in front of the house there was a sudden beeping alarm that went off in his pocket. Neal jerked back from the step like it had been electrified.

"Nea…Master Halden," Peter corrected himself quickly "is something wrong?"

"Peter, your ring." Neal reminded.

"How…"

"I forgot that Mozzie set a proximity alarm on my phone last night," Neal pulled out his phone and silenced the alarm "it automatically goes off when I leave the house to remind us to make sure you're not wearing your ring"

"Mozzie did that?"

"We were talking about rings, and he was afraid that you and I would forget to take yours off. I told him about the check list and he was certain that the check list itself would be easily forgotten."

"Which it was."

"New routines are hard to create, but the alarm is automatic. I'm glad he came up with the idea. He's looking out for you."

"He's looking out for you." Peter corrected.

"Can't it be both?" Neal smiled.

Peter wasn't sure how to respond, he still couldn't make his mind up about Mozzie. He knew now that Mozzie wouldn't purposefully put him or Elizabeth in harms way, but he still feared what might happen if Mozzie got into a situation where he felt he had to protect Neal. Peter didn't trust Mozzie not to betray him if he felt Neal was getting in too deep with the Animula even if Neal didn't ask for him to intervene. At the same time Peter could understand where Mozzie would see Neal as being someone who needed to be saved from himself, mostly because he saw Neal in exactly the same way.

The confidence to leap without looking is often what it takes to get to the far side, the fear of failure itself can assure it. However, there are some chasms that simply can't be crossed and a little foresight in those situation could go a long way. Unfortunately you can only adopt one philosophy, it was Mozzie's nature to look, it was Neal's to leap. As much as he hated to admit it Peter tended to agree with Mozzie's approach, even though going up against the Market was probably going to take Neal's blind faith in success.

Having been reminded of the ring Peter reached up to remove it. Taking it off instantly made him aware of its absence unlike the way it had felt natural being there the moment he'd put it on. Even though he trusted Neal to keep it safe he hated to hand it over to him. Not wanting to make Neal feel guilty about taking it Peter quickly offered it to him forcing himself to look relaxed about the exchange.

"You don't have to give me. You can keep it in your own pocket."

"Thank you."

Peter carefully placed the ring in his breast pocket along with the house key. Neal waited another moment to make sure they were both ready to leave the safety of the property before he turned to head down the steps. The garden and wall that surrounded the mansion offered them just as much privacy as being inside so they weren't concerned about anyone having witnessed the brief interaction. Getting to the gate Neal slipped his hands into his pockets letting Peter open the wrought iron for him.

Stepping through Neal did well not to look back as he turned to the left and headed down the sidewalk. A Master would expect his Animula to follow him, he wouldn't think to check to make sure that he was. Feeling more confident than he had expected to Peter followed Neal keeping to his right shoulder and a step back. It was a beautiful afternoon after last night's rain but being a weekday there was still a minimal amount of people out on the ritzy neighborhood streets.

With a clear destination in mind Neal lead Peter across through the houses and up into the South entrance of Riverside Park. The long skinny park was flanked on one side by the Hudson River and on the other side by Upper West Side. Peter was very familiar with the park which went a long way towards helping him relax. He and Elizabeth had lived in the Upper West Side neighborhood and would often come here at off hours to enjoy time together. The winding paths through the trees didn't have much foot traffic during the weekdays and many of the people who were there were runners who didn't have the time or inclination to check the eyes of everyone they quickly passed.

Peter wasn't sure if Neal knew that he had frequented this park and that he'd feel more comfortable here or if he had chosen the path strictly because it would keep them off the main streets. Either way Peter appreciated the route and even risked looking around, his eyes lingering on sites where he and Elizabeth had shared particularly fond moments. Peter smiled as they came across a particular grove of trees that created a protective ring around a small patch of grass about fifteen feet from the path. Due to the steep slope of the park on one side that was crowned with a stone wall and the way the path ran parallel with the grove Peter could safely be in the ring of trees without being spotted as Animula by keeping his back to the path.

Once he and Elizabeth had found the strategic spot they had started to sneak a blanket and a small picnic type lunch into the park in a briefcase that no one would think twice about Peter carrying. It was wonderful but at the same time Peter's heart used to race painfully anytime he'd hear anyone go by on the path behind him and he noticed that even though she tried to hide it Elizabeth would tense fearfully as well. However no one ever took the time to cross over to the grove to challenge their right to be there.

"I take it this is a special place?" Neal asked knowingly.

Peter hadn't even realized that he'd come to a stop on the path until Neal spoke. Peter looked up at Neal to see him smiling at him before quickly bringing his eyes back down.

"It's okay, we're alone." Neal assured. "Did you an Elizabeth used to come here?"

Peter nodded.

"Did you two go out often?"

"As often as we could manage."

"That's very brave of you both." Neal said approvingly.

"It was always risky and stressful on us both, but at the same time we wanted nothing more than to be able to give each other normal lives…even if it was just for an hour."

"It's amazing what people take for granted in this world."

"When I was being difficult at the Market handlers always called me an ingrate." Peter growled darkly.

"What?"

"They said I was lucky that I didn't have to ever worry about going hungry or being homeless, that I should be grateful that I was born valuable enough to be protected from the hardships of being human. More than one handler told me that mine was a life that most would gladly give up their souls to have."

"And yet I bet none of them ever said they'd give up their *own* humanity to be in your place."

"Never."

"I thought so." Neal shook his head sadly. "How do Market Handlers sleep at night knowing the pain they are causing?"

"Handlers are just like Masters, they enjoy the power or at the very least they find a way to justify it."

"Humans do have an amazing capacity to rationalize their own bad behavior."

Peter decided against mentioning how good Neal himself was at that exact behavior with his feelings that his criminal lifestyle wasn't hurting anyone since he only stole from 'fat cats who deserved it'. Neal didn't seem to make the connection himself which didn't surprise Peter, one of the powers of rationalization was that you could only ever really see it in other people. Not wanting to start a pointless argument Peter decided on changing the subject.

"So where are we going?" Peter asked.

"Not too much further." Neal answered vaguely.

The mischievous glint in Neal's eyes gave Peter the distinct impression that wherever they were going Neal had high hopes that Peter was going to enjoy it. Peter really couldn't think of anything other than seeing Elizabeth that he wanted right now, but he didn't dare hope that was what they were up to in case Neal had something different in mind. Without further hint or explanation Neal continued up the park path.

When they needed to abandon the relative safety of the park for the city streets Peter moved in closer to follow directly in Neal's step. One of the main advantage of being out with Neal as a Master was that he was physically attractive enough to not only keep most eyes on him but also to make people unlikely to randomly start a confrontation with him. Even still as they entered more heavily populated areas Peter noticed that he was getting a few curious glances and that a majority of the people who identified him moved away. Keeping his eyes down as best he could Peter mimicked Neal's every motion as precisely as he could to keep them from being inadvertently separated as they weaved though the streets.

It took Peter a moment to realize that Neal was taking him on a very serpentine route through the populated city. It took him a few more turns to figure out the reason. Every time they came to an intersection Neal would take whatever path it took to keep them moving instead of waiting for any of the lights. On the move they would be even less likely to be bothered by any of the other New Yorkers who were also just trying to get somewhere. Standing at a light would invite more risk of confrontation.

Eventually they were forced to stop as they came to major four lane intersection that needed to be crossed. Bowing his head Peter tried to stare at the dirty sidewalk in hopes of being left alone. There were only a few people waiting and most of them crossed the smaller road or just ran out in between traffic against the light leaving them nearly alone. However the sixth sense that lets you know when you're being watched was burning in Peter's mind and prickling the hair at the back of his neck. Risking a glance to the left Peter locked eyes with a young girl around five years old with light hazel eyes who was staring up at him in fascination. She had her mother's hand held tightly as they waited for the light as well.

"You have pretty eyes." The little girl said with a shy blush.

Unsure of what to do Peter just flashed her a quick smile. The girl smiled back before stepping closer to her mother to hide behind her arm while still watching Peter. She tugged on her mother's arm to get her attention.

"Momma, look, he's got nice shiny eyes."

Peter's blood flashed to ice as he accidentally looked up at the child's mother. The woman had been watching the traffic but dutifully turned her attention to her daughter's request. Clearly startled by meeting what was most likely the first Animula she'd ever seen the woman's eyes that matched her daughter's perfectly widened slightly in shock but she didn't pull away. Neal had taken notice of the situation and was about to intervene when the little girl reached out and tugged on Peter's jacket to get his attention back to her.

"I'm Julia, I'm almost five." The girl announced to Peter. "What's your name?"

"Don't bother him, Julia, he's…working." The mother finished awkwardly. She gave Peter a sympathetic look before turning to Neal apologetically. "I...I'm so sorry, she doesn't know any better."

"She perfect just the way she is." Neal smiled.

The woman furrowed her brow slightly but she mostly just looked relieved that Neal wasn't angry. She had been astonished to see an Animula but Peter felt that she had actually been fearful of Neal. From the look of her well worn dress Peter calculated that she probably wouldn't earn half his Market value in her entire lifetime and coming across someone supposedly rich and powerful enough to own him appeared to unsettle her more than seeing an Animula. Neal bent down slightly to address Julia who was starting to pick up on her mother's uneasiness.

"Hi there, Julia. I'm Neal, and this is Peter."

"Is he your friend?" Julia asked warily.

"Yes he is, my best friend in fact."

Relaxing again Julia looked up at Peter and smiled at him. Heartened that she wasn't afraid of him Peter smiled back at her but he was grateful when the light changed. With the walk sign lit up Peter nudged Neal's shoulder to alert him to the fact that they could and should be leaving. The brief interaction had caught the attention of a few spectator and they were making Peter increasingly nervous even though no one was being openly hostile. Peter assumed it was the power of Neal's charisma that was keeping the situation calm but he didn't want to tempt fate too much and encouraged him to step out into the crosswalk.

"Bye, Peter." Julia waved.

"Good-bye, Misses Julia." Peter replied.

Peter offered Julia and her mother a shallow bow out of pure habit before joining Neal to cross the street. Even though she had clearly planed to cross the large avenue Julia's mother was left a little stunned on the curb and did not take advantage of the light. Getting to the far side they traveled in silence down the busy avenue for a few blocks before turning into a run down neighborhood that neither Peter nor Neal looked like they belonged in. As soon they were alone on the street except for a few homeless sleeping against the buildings Peter stopped. It didn't take Neal more than two steps to sense that he's lost his shadow and he turned around with a guilty expression.

"Pete…"

"Thank you." Peter interrupted.

"Oh good." Neal breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to be pissed at me."

"No, well, maybe a little, but…"

"I could see her mother was already uncomfortable telling her daughter what you were, I thought by showing Misses Julia that we were friends there will be a greater chance that when she grows up and hears about Animula being soulless monsters that she'll question that seeing that she's already met one and any adult watching would think I was merely humoring a chi…"

"I understand why you did it. That's not what I'm talking about." Peter stopped Neal's explanation of the risk he'd taken. "Although I do appreciate that as well. I wanted to thank you for how you answered Julia's question, you could have simply said 'yes' without elaborating."

"I hope I wasn't over estimating our relationship." Neal chuckled.

"Not at all."

Neal's expression brightened as he motioned for Peter to continue following him. Peter wasn't very sure about going into the somewhat derelict portion of the city but Neal was leading the way with as much enthusiasm as Satchmo had on their walk the previous night. Deciding to trust him Peter stayed with him without question. They arrived at a building that had a large Condemned Building notice slapped across the front door. Ignoring the sign Neal tapped a code into the out of place high end automatic lock on the double doors.

The inside of the building didn't look like it was a going to fall apart but it didn't look like anyone had lived there in a while either. Without questioning him Peter followed Neal back to the service type elevator that Neal pulled the gate away from before opening the metal shutters. Peter wasn't sure what he was going to find at the top floor but when Neal opened the elevator doors again he had to do a double take.

The open penthouse suite of the abandoned building had a large meticulously cared for Japanese style garden with both sand, rock and grass patches between the small trees and shrubs up on a dais in the center of the room. It was surrounded by four large wooden pillars that were supporting a glass atrium above that streamed in the late afternoon sun. The floor was covered with deep colored hardwood floors and the walls were made of thin wooden beams supporting paper that glowed with a warm light from behind. Hearing the sounds of water Peter noticed a large coin shaped stone with a hole in it at the far end of the garden that had water pouring out from the opening down into a bed of rocks.

Neal took off his shoes and silently encouraged Peter to do the same. After leaving his shoes by the elevator Peter followed Neal over to the steps that lead up onto the platform garden. In the center of the indoor green space there was a small alter overflowing with cut flowers. Neal went over to the flowers and picked out a small red and a small white carnation. Still standing on the edge of the garden in a bit of daze Peter stood peacefully as Neal came back over and secured the red flower into the button hole of his lapel before doing the same to his own jacket with the white one.

"Wha…"

Before Peter could finish the elevator rumbled again. Peter turned as the doors rolled up and found his heart suddenly light as feather as Elizabeth stepped out followed closely by Mozzie. She looked around the unexpected spectacular scene with the same wonder that Peter had but only for a second before she spotted Peter and lost all interest in the scene itself as she hurried towards him. Meeting her half way Peter threw his arms around her waist and lifted her up off her feet slightly before putting her back down but keeping her in a tight embrace. Elizabeth looked up at Peter with her eyes bright with joyful tears at the unexpected visit.

"Hi, Hon." Elizabeth greeted.

"Hello." Peter returned warmly.

Peter stole a quick kiss and held her close to his chest for a moment before looking back over his shoulder at Neal. He was ecstatic to see Elizabeth but terrified that her anklet was going to record her in a condemned building in the middle of Harlem. Neal didn't seem to have any of the same reservation as he stepped up to the couple.

"What do you think?" Neal asked proudly. "I know it's not much from the street, but this is actually the latest craze. Exclusive hot spots in the middle of the poorer side of town hidden in 'condemned' buildings. It's like gentrification without the actual gentrifying part."

"My other clients have been very happy with this venue." Mozzie added.

"Venue?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Clients?" Peter asked nervously. "Neal, what is this?"

"It's a wedding."