Author's Note: It has been a long time since I've updated this story- actually, it's been 46 days since I've updated this story, which I believe is the longest time I've ever gone without posting or updating something on here so I greatly apologize for the long wait. This seems to be the most popular story of mine for whatever reason, and I personally don't really want to tag this story as "Complete" so I made a poll on my profile on whether or not I should continue this story with episode 2, "Threads." This would start after chapter 15 (this is chapter 12), so if you'd like me to continue this story or not vote!
Disclaimer: I do not own White Collar, nor am I making any profit off of this.
~oOoOoOo~
Neal wasn't really sure what he had been expecting when he had asked Moz to find information about Kate's whereabouts, but he certainly hadn't been expecting this.
The photo of Kate was enough to make his heart flutter. Taken just days before it was enough reassurance to let him know that she was still out there and not just a whisp of a dream or mere whim. But that momentary flutter, small enough that it didn't even brighten his now-dim eyes, was drowned by the threat of the bodiless hand on her shoulder.
The bodiless hand presented more questions than he felt comfortable with, or could answer. It was all the common questions that popped up now and then: who is he? Is he after something? What does he want? Does he know who I am? Where is he? Is she with him? Is she hurt? These questions were most likely the sort that his marks asked themselves after he'd conned them.
One question, though, that was different than any question than his marks or he himself had ever asked was "What does his ring mean?" Neal hadn't seen it before, and he'd seen hundreds of different kinds of rings in his lifetime. It was definately not a famous design, or an especially expensive one or he'd have heard of it.
An overwhelming sense of hopelessness and fear clouded his mind and his eyes. He wished badly that Moz would leave so that he wouldn't witness the emotional breakdown that was threatening to come through. He always tried to keep his emotions in check, to be sure that no one around him knew exactly what he was feeling. Letting marks and other conmen know how you were feeling opened the opportunity for them to get the upper hand. Neal had heard tales of what had happened to conmen too foolish to let their emotions show and, even though Neal knew enough to not believe in old wives' tales, he wasn't planning on becoming one of them.g
The great Neal Caffrey, killed for showing his soft side.
Although now that he was under FBI supervision there was a less likely chance that he'd get killed by another criminal for simply showing his longtime affection for dogs or coffee. Even if he was still put in almost the same danger he faced while partnering up with another felon, and had the possibility of getting into even more trouble than he had been in before, at least there was a team of armed federal agents surrounding him at almost all times, ready to shoot someone, if not for killing their new team member, then just for the sake of shooting somebody. And Neal doubted that Peter would let a conman get away after shooting the man he'd spent tireless hours chasing down for three years and then convincing his boss to release from prison. Neal may be a thorn in his side but he was a hell of a lot better than other white collar criminals.
But the fact still lay that it wasn't often that Neal felt like this; knowing his marks and their information provided a safety net to make sure there wouldn't be any surprised. But how else was Neal supposed to feel when he couldn't even tell what the hand's owner looked like?
"I may lose her again, Moz..."
"Lose her? I just found her."
"So did he. So did he."
Staring at the photo of Kate and the hand - this man with a ring - he could be sure that it would haunt him for months to come.
~oOoOoOo~
There it is, short and sweet. Quotes are from "Pilot" and belong to Jeff Eastin and USA. Don't forget to vote ;-)
