AN: Thanks once again for the reviews/alerts and don't forget to watch tonight's episode! I apologize for any mistakes.
Disclaimer: White Collar belongs to USA Network and Jeff Eastin.
CHAPTER 3
Neal had always liked New York City. It was a wonderful place for someone that didn't want to be found. Neal had made his way out of the food truck when it stopped at a red light after 15 minutes of pulling away from Crossroads. He made his way to a nearby park and sat down in a bench in a quiet area. Mozzie hadn't really specified what he should do or how they would get in touch after his escape.
Neal did a mental inventory of everything he had and what he should do. The officers in Crossroads probably wouldn't notice that he was gone until they went through the rounds at dinner time and he didn't go out of his cell. Neal smiled at the thought that they would go inside his cell and find a perfectly good imitation of a body in his bed, made out of a pillow and books beneath his blanket. They would probably sound the alarm then, but he still had a good two hour head start before he would really have to worry about it.
He had normal clothes on and although he usually preferred something a bit classier, like a button down dress shirt, some nice pants, and his fedora, he admitted that his current look was for the best. At least the clothes were clean.
Apart from his attire, he didn't have anything else. Mozzie had sent him some money with the package but it had never reached him. Neal was pretty sure that someone had picked it out before the bag actually got to him. Not that money was really an issue for him. He'd been picking pockets and conning his way through every day since he was 11. No, money definitely wasn't the problem. The problem was that he was below sub par to say the least. He'd been in jail for almost a month. He'd been beaten almost every day, and he hadn't eaten a decent meal in ages. He was hungry. After fifteen minutes of trying to make up a plan, that's the only thing he could actually come up with: he was so hungry.
Neal stood up straight and with as much confidence as possible and started walking in the direction where he knew there would be some easy targets. After some time walking around, he spotted his mark. He walked briskly towards him and ten seconds later he had his wallet in his own pocket. Neal took cover behind a tree and went through the man's wallet. He came up with forty dollars in cash. He wasn't stupid enough to try to use any of the credit cards. He put the money in his back pocket and walked over towards two police officers eating lunch in a bench. He dropped the wallet beside a trash can where they couldn't miss it and walked away. He needed the money, but the guy obviously needed his ID and cards back. He was sure that the police men would pick it up.
After crossing the street to a nearby slightly disgusting looking pizza place, he made his way back to his original bench and sat down to attack two pieces of pizza and an orange soda. It was a Thursday, which meant that Mozzie was most likely at his place in Wednesday. Neal decided that he would go to his flat and see if he could find him there. If that didn't work out, then he'd just have to look at the rest of his places. One place for every day of the week. They weren't too far apart, but it would take time. At least he had a plan now.
Neal grabbed his second piece of pizza with gusto. Greasy pizza had never tasted better.
To say he was disappointed was an understatement. It was late, he was tired, and hungry again. To make matters worse, he'd been halfway around New York City by now and he hadn't found traces of Mozzie anywhere. Every single place was empty. His last hope was Monday. Unfortunately, that particular flat was located dangerously close to Crossroads. Well, not close enough to worry, but it was also in Brooklyn. By now, they had found out he escaped. They had probably alerted the police. He had to be careful.
Neal made his way towards a small shop in the corner of a street and bought a sandwich and a bottle of water. He made his way out of the light and tried to walk calmly down the street when he saw a police car drive by slowly. He fought the sudden impulse to run as fast as possible in a different direction and his heart started pounding inside his rib cage. The best disguise was achieved by being a nobody, blending in with the environment. Mozzie had taught him that. He released a shaky breath when the car turned a corner up ahead and he was alone in the street once more.
This wasn't good. He needed somewhere out of the way to eat his food and then make his way to Mozzie's before someone spotted a kid all alone out in the middle of a rather chilly night and started asking questions. The shortest route to Mozzie's place involved going through some quiet residential streets.
Neal was looking around when he spotted the perfect place down some stairs of a rather abandoned looking house. He made his way down and sat at the bottom in front of a black door. The place was dirty, but he didn't care. After making sure that he couldn't be spotted from the street he sat down in the last concrete stair. He was about to take a bite of his sandwich when he heard a voice dangerously close to him. He was startled, thinking he'd been made out, but after a second of near panic, he realized that the voice wasn't talking to him.
"Hand it over lady. I don't want to tell you again." Neal made his way slowly up the stairs crouching low so he could observe what was going on in the street.
"Okay, just let me go first. I'll give you my purse, just let my arm go so I can give it to you."
The other voice sounded remarkably collected. Neal went up another step and saw that the first voice belonged to a large man. He had a mask on and he was grabbing a woman by her right forearm. Neal couldn't make out much of her face, but by the sound of her voice he could tell that she wasn't too old.
"This is the last time lady. Give me your purse or I'll you'll get hurt." He sounded angry now and Neal realized that he had been slurring his words. He was most likely drunk, but that only made him more dangerous. He watched with increasing horror as the man grabbed the woman closer and reached with his other arm for something in his pocket. He was taking it out and Neal saw a flash of silver. He was mugging this woman, and now he had a gun. He was going to kill her.
Neal's breathing was getting dangerously defective by now. His heart was pounding rapidly and he could feel the rhythm pounding in his head. This wasn't happening…
Gun. Neal, gun. Run. Now.
Without giving it a second thought he quickly climbed the last of the stairs and grabbed the man's left foot as hard as he could. The man was obviously caught off guard and he released the woman immediately and stumbled back. Neal turned around and pushed him down the stairs. The man never saw it coming and he disappeared stumbling down all the way to the last step where Neal had been hiding a moment before.
Not wasting any time, Neal turned around, caught the woman's scared eyes, and made his way over to grab her hand.
"Come on", he said rapidly, "I don't think he'll stay down there for long." He pulled on her hand and turned around to run towards safety. She hesitated for a second and then she started running with him. They made it down two blocks until they stopped and rested panting against a wall in front of a lamp post.
"I think we lost him." The woman was talking to him. He turned his head to look at her. She was pretty, beautiful actually. Her face was flushed. She had long brown wavy hair and she was dressed impeccably, but the thing that caught his attention was her bright blue eyes. His head was still pounding and he put a hand up to his head to try to hold it still.
"Hey, are you okay?" She asked, concern evident in her tone of voice.
Neal turned to look at her again and felt himself starting to calm down a bit. Good. The last thing he needed was to pass out in front of a complete stranger. A perfectly nice looking stranger, but a stranger none the less.
"Yeah." He tried to sound as normal as possible. "Yeah, I'm okay, just out of air from running," he said quickly.
She turned away from him and looked down the street where they had come up running. She looked concerned, scared even.
"Don't worry he won't come looking for us," Neal said after observing her for a moment.
"How do you know?"
"He just won't. He sounded drunk and you never go after someone who hasn't even seen you, that's just asking for more trouble."
The woman turned back to look at the strange person that had helped her. Now that they were beneath a bright light she looked a bit surprised at his appearance. He looked young, fourteen/fifteen years old. His hair looked long under his blue cap and his clothes were what any normal teenager would wear: jeans, t-shirt, a hoodie, and tennis shoes. Something felt wrong though. What was a kid doing out alone in the middle of the night? She looked at him as he straightened up and found herself smiling at the most wonderful blue eyes she'd ever seen.
"Thank you, by the way," she said coming over to stand in front of him, "I think you just saved my life."
The kid looked at her strangely, shook his head a little bit and when she met his eyes again he flashed her a dazzling smile. "You're welcome. You should really be more careful."
His voice was soft, soothing. She checked him over again and noticed that despite his wonderful smile, he looked tired. He looked exhausted to say the truth. He was still holding something in his hand and he turned it over and walked past her to throw it in the trash can. She saw that it was a rather pathetic looking sandwich. She immediately realized that he was too thin, his clothes were a bit loose. He was walking slowly too, as if he was sore.
"Did you hurt yourself?" she asked.
"No, I'm just tired. It's late and I'll probably be grounded for a month after I get home at this hour." Neal lied smoothly. The woman was looking too closely at him. Maybe she'd heard something about an escaped kid from Juvie. He had to get going before something else happened.
It didn't look like she believed him. "Do you have some place to go? Somewhere to stay for the night?"
"Yeah, I was on my way home from a party. My house is a bit far away from here tough, so I guess I'll just get going." Neal turned around and started walking when he felt a hand on his arm and he turned back and shook it off.
"Look, I'm not trying to get you in trouble or anything, but it's late. You just saved my life. You look tired and I live two blocks away from here." She nodded back to the direction they'd come from. "I had to park my car a block away and was walking to my house when that man tried to mug me." She paused for a moment. "What I'm trying to say is that you could come over to get cleaned up and I'll call you a cab or you could stay in my house for the night if you need somewhere to stay."
Neal was startled. The woman hardly knew him and she was inviting him to stay over. He could be a criminal… okay, yes, he was a criminal, but he could be the not so nice criminal type. Her offer sounded like a trap.
She saw him hesitating and asked another question, "Are you hungry? I've got some left overs back at my place."
Neal looked at her again. He was tired. He felt sore. He was so hungry that his stomach was actually growling again and to tell the truth, he didn't have any place to go to. His search for Mozzie had been futile and he was sure that the last place was empty as well. This woman was offering a free dinner and bed for the night. It sounded like a pretty good deal right then.
Forgetting to keep up his story about parents and a home he didn't have, he nodded once towards the strange woman in front of him. She smiled and started walking. Neal caught up with her quickly and walked quietly beside her until they reached a pleasant looking house about half a block were everything had happened earlier. She stopped at the door and looked at him expectantly, but didn't say a word.
"My name is Nick Halden, by the way," he offered following her up the stairs.
She opened the door and turned back to invite him in.
"It's a pleasure Nick. I'm Elizabeth."