A/N: Bum bum buhhh! I told you it was an epic evil ending! This will be the last chapter before the sequel. Hope you've enjoyed the story! -A
Chapter 20: After the Fact
Neal was dead. There was no way around that fact, Chris soon realized. All the forgers were. Yet, she couldn't come to terms with what had happened. No one could.
Mozzie was hardly seen after that. He had no reason to hang around. Peter was devestated, like he lost a son. El's reaction was similar, like she was the mother bear who couldn't protect her cub. Sara burried herself in her work, trying to distract herself from the greif. For June, it was like losing Byron all over again. Diana and Jones lost the laughter that had been brought in with the convict. Even Hughes was sad. But no one took it as bad as Chris. She became a walking Zombie. Not even Gia, who lost her older brother, was a depressed.
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There had been one thing to survive the blast, though there was a giant burn hole on top. Neal's hat. It was given to Chris. Neal's desk more or less became a memorial to the lost consultant. His picture was there, along with photos of him with various agents. Someone raided his tie drawer and put the best one on the table. There were also exquisite 'doodles' someone had found in a different drawer scattered all around. Then, in front of everything, was the tracker. The one thing that made his time with them possible.
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Chris moved her things from June's only a few days later. Peter was taking them to his house, where she would be moved into the guest room. Chris was standing in Neal's apartment, looking around. Everything she saw made her heart hurt. She looked to the hat in her hands, tears welling in her eyes, and threw it on the table where she knew no one would move it. Then she wiped away a single tear and walked out
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Everyone had such nice things to say about Neal at the funeral. How, though he was a criminal, he was a good man, the nicest most of them had ever met, truely a diamond in the rough, one in a million. Chris tried to speak, but simply broke down in tears and ran away. Peter found her crying in a park not far from the grave yard. He picked her up when she wouldn't (possibly couldn't) stand and carried her to the car. Honestly, she wasn't that big...
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The only place Chris could find peace, oddly, was in Neal's apartment. June liked the company, needless to say. A few people dropped by from time to time, but she went there almost every day. Anything to distract from the pain.
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As soon as Chris returned to school, she gave up her 'law-breaking' ways. No more fake report cards or forged signatures or homework/test answers. She quit cold turkey. As did her friends, because that's just how close they all were. She became a model student. Straight A's, never got in trouble, nearly perfect attendence... That's what happens when you live your life in auto-pilot.
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All in all, Chris' world was shattered into pieces when her father died. She was trapped in a tail-spin and the only thing that could be done was wait for the crash. It was inevitable. The question wasn't 'if,' it was 'when.' And when it did happen, no one knew what to expect. So, for the time being, she would go through life day by day and try to hold herself together. But that was like everything else in life, easier said than done.
A/N: So, that's the end. Keep a look out for the sequel, 'Aftershock.' I'll try to get it up in the next couple of days. So, you see the review button down there? Yeah, he's lonely, why not go and give him a little love? Until next time! -A