January 7th: Puppeteer - Super Saturday word count - - pay an escalation cost for each additional add-on.
(ex. Manipulative + injury OR twist OR style = 600 words; Manipulative + 2 picks = 800 words; Manipulative + all picks = 1,000 words.)
400 words Today your heroes are up against a Manipulative Bastard
+200 words - One of your main characters suffers a serious injury.
+200 words - A dramatic plot twist that is so obvious that the [heroes] assume it's fake.
+200 words - Write it in noir style.
Warnings: N/A
Fandom: White Collar!
Disclaimer: I do not own White Collar!
Playing the Game
Neal Caffrey ran. He knew he had to blend in, to walk, to not alert his stalkers, that they had been made, but he couldn't help it. He knew he was being watched, he could feel the glaring eyes on his back. Adler has been watching him for days, just waiting till he slipped up. A flare of panic rose through him and he ran.
He wasn't going crazy, he was sure of it. After Kate had died, and Garrett Fowler went to ground, that's when the eyes started following him. He ignored Peter's sympathetic gaze, it hurt. Peter warned him that he should have given up, that it was going to turn out badly, but he couldn't have given up on Kate.
Neal dashed into the side alleyway and froze. His eyes narrowed, his breathing harsh. At the end of the alley stood the man who made him who he was today, Vincent Adler, heavy coat and ballcap hiding his identity. It seemed he was back from wherever he had decided to escape to, last he heard, that was Argentina.
He may have thought that disguise could fool random people and FBI agents, but not Neal. Not after he killed Kate. He would be forever angry at the man, and would make sure Adler would get what was coming to him, but he couldn't do this here. Not now, when Peter was tracking his every move.
Neal turned to leave, to go back onto the street where it was safe, but was blocked. Two men started to advance towards him from where he came, huge knives clutched in their hands.
"Going somewhere Caffrey?" Vincent sneered at the man who had tried to steal from him. Neal could still remember the note he left for him. 'Nice try, Neal.'
He could see the thug's heads nodding slightly in confirmation and he knew Adler was calling the shots from behind him. Unless he could think of a way out, and fast, this wasn't going to end well.
Before he could even begin to formulate a plan, thug 1 smirked at thug 2. A punch from the left hit him dead in the stomach. Neal automatically bent over to get his breath back and was rewarded with a searing hot pain as a knife plunged into his side"
It seemed to go on forever, he had dropped to his knees long ago, and was surprised himself, that he had stayed conscious throughout. His eyes focused solely on Adler who was off to his side, watching. He gave up trying to block when nothing seemed to work, using all his energy to ignore the two lowlifes and glare at his former mentor.
Sirens started to sound and Neal collapsed onto the cement, panting heavily as they released him and stepped away, intending to get paid.
Vincent walked away, pained and labored breathing in his ears and a wide smirk on his face. He had won this time. Adler lowered his head when a panicked Peter Burke ran past him, entering the alley, and listened to Peter's yells.
"NEAL! Stay with me! I'm coming!" Vincent Adler turned getting a last glimpse; other FBI agents had taken the two thugs he paid into custody and Burke was on his knees by Caffrey's head.
"You're going to be okay Neal, EMT's are on their way." Adler smiled when he heard Burke's reassurances. Of course Neal Caffrey was going to be okay, he wasn't done playing this game, it was only getting started. He had a submarine to find.
When Peter Burke looked back up, towards the entrance realizing who he saw, con-man Vincent Adler was gone.