Before Story Notes! IMPORTANT
Avery is the past adoptive sister of the Burke family. The show never mentioned Peter's actual family so I'm making it up as I go along!
Neal Caffrey is an FBI Agent! And he's not fully like the person in the show (he's not a conman … yet).
I know in the show I think Neal is like, 38 or something but I'm going with 33 for the purposes of my story. Avery will be 29.
White Collar Fanfic | Threads of Trust | Prologue
Avery Daniels; convicted of Bond Forgery and suspected of counterfeiting, art forgery, racketeering and security's fraud. This got her a four-year sentence and yet there were only three months left, but surprisingly, she didn't want to wait until her release date – she needed to get out … now.
Megan Lowe, the secret she's kept from her brother and pretty much everyone whom she didn't know closely. There was only one guy who knew actually, apart from her of course. A few weeks ago was the last time Megan was seen and the last visit always replayed in Ava's head – after realizing everything that had happened, something just didn't fit right, the situation didn't feel right. All those years ago, Avery made a promise to herself and Megan – she would protect the younger girl and so far, she hasn't done such a great job. Ava landed herself in prison because of it.
Avery brushed through her newly darkened and cut hair, she had just completed drying and staining the strands with a coffee ground dye in order to darken it. Naturally she's a blonde, strawberry blonde to be exact and in this place – she could stick out like a sore thumb, especially during her escape attempt. There were still a few more party tricks up her sleeve to stop everyone from being alerted about her fleeing.
For the past nearly four years, Avery's been a model prisoner, she only became one because if an escape was likely to happen – she didn't want to be under extreme lockdown and right now, she's in the best position she could possibly be. Her plan was already worked out and it had been for weeks – but now she had a true incentive to put it into action.
Once her face was clear of stains and dirt, she retrieved a plastic bag from inside the toilet tank. After much surveillance (secretly), Ava knew that no one ever came into this staffroom toilet and it was connected to a hallway that would lead her in the right direction. The fact that no one came in here was a very good thing, it's given her probably an extra half-an-hour to make herself different in appearance.
Opening the dripping wet bag, she retrieved a nearly used up eye liner and a very small bottle of mascara – for someone with Ava's type of skills, it was easy to grab these items off the guards, especially when most of the population was female – except for the warden, he's a man.
After applying the very little make-up, she reached into the bag again and pulled out a set of guard clothing – the last piece to make her appearance completely different. With this uniform and her newly dyed and cut hair not finished – she'll be unrecognisable upon first sight. They won't be expecting this change so nothing will happen – they'll still see her as her blonde self with no make-up. Gotta love the art of what so little can do to an appearance.
And then everything was done – she was ready to initiate her plan.
Looking into the mirror; Avery saw someone with dark hazel eyes that were filled with experiences only certain people could know or understand. Her dark hair was naturally wavy but with all that length off, it felt different. The strands used to drop down to the point of her elbows and ever since arriving in this place – she's been growing it. Her uniform was like any other guards clothing and the plastic bag was obviously keeping it dry while in the toilet tank, hidden out of plain sight. Quite a few times she's seen new guards and trainees wandering around – that's basically who she's going to become now, for the next few minutes anyway.
Avery nodded to herself towards the mirror, letting out a breath, her heart pumping with adrenaline as she continuously walked through her plan. She knew everything would work out though – she's smarter than most of the people in this place and a lot of the guards are just plain stupid anyway.
With one last check to make sure she had her card, the one that would get her out the front door – she headed towards the exit connecting to the hallway.
It was time to break out of this place and find Megan.
…
Agent Peter Burke of the FBI was NOT having a good day; the moment that Security Box exploded into dust was the moment he wanted to punch through a wall and be done with it. They were looking for a Criminal that was nicknamed, 'The Dutchman' and so far it hasn't been at all fun. Peter Burke has been looking for this one person for probably the same length of time as someone else he had to put away nearly four years ago, someone he used to know.
FBI agents were scattered around him, all coughing harder than he was – dust was literally filling the room while a few Agents rushed to open a few windows. "Argh!" He exclaimed with annoyance, but he was mostly pissed that the one lead they've had in months had literally blown up in their faces. "We were this close to the Dutchman and my evidence gets blown up!" Using his fingers to show a small distance – indicating that they were so close. Many of the agents around him bowed their heads, ashamed that all the man hours that had been put into this were now wasted.
A dark skinned man in his mid-thirties coughed once before addressing his superior, "Agent Burke, how'd you know it was going to do that?" Indicating to the now destroyed Security Box. Peter had called out for everyone to stop, but it had been too late because now this happened.
Agent Burke brushed stuff off his suit even though getting off dust would be impossible, especially while they were still standing in a cloud of the substance. "Three, two and four." He began, irritated that only he had been the one to realize this connection. It was a mockery, that's what this was. "Look at your phones – what does it spell?!"
The man from before, Clinton Jones, looked down at his phone, "Oh," Kicking himself mentally when he realised too, no wonder Peter was pissed, it should have been the most obvious thing to spot. "'FBI'" A couple of people around him started to look ashamed, especially the ones who considered themselves the smartest people in the room.
"Yeah," Peter grunted, calming himself down but was still annoyed with what had happened. They now had nothing to lead them to the Dutchman, they were back to the start again. "'FBI'" He repeated for good measure.
Jones shook his head, "He must have known we were coming." He assumed. Whoever this person was – they were mocking the Federal Bureau of Investigations. And, he/she was doing pretty good job of it too.
Peter scoffed, "You think so, Copernicious?" He said with a sarcastic measure. There was so much dust and other stuff staining his suit – it's his favourite one too! "So, does someone wanna tell me what this is? … anybody?" Picking up a small strand of something unidentified from his shoulder, holding it up to the light. It was like a thin strand of red thread but it felt more like a wire to the touch, but it couldn't be, it was way too thin to be something like that. So, what was it?
Everyone was silent – no one had an answer to give – not even a guess.
"Nobody knows what this is?" Peter was getting annoyed again. "Great!" He exclaimed, "Look at you … how many of you went to Harvard?" He questioned rhetorically, but as everyone in the room pretty much raised their hands – his eyes shut with exasperation, honestly feeling embarrassed for them … and himself. When they realised that they shouldn't have put up their hands – they slowly brought them down, looking sheepish.
Just then; two new people walked into the room – Diana Berrigan and Neal Caffrey, two of Peter's Probationary Agents in the White Collar Division. Diana was an average size woman with slightly lighter skin than Agent Jones but she had the aura of confidence and dedication brimming off her. The man beside her, Neal Caffrey, he was slightly taller than her and was also expelling confidence but most of all - interest. He hasn't been in the FBI as long as the many others in the room have, but he's still working alongside his mentor Agent Peter Burke. He dark hair was gelled back just enough and unlike the other Agents, he wore a suit that looked much like the Rat Pack style of clothing. He was a unique character.
Peter's eye lit up slightly when he saw his two Agents come into the room. "Ah, Diana, Neal." He started, "Apparently, our boy has a sense of humor." These were the two Agents he trusted the most out of the group and Jones was with them. They're a tight net group and have worked together well on past cases.
Diana stopped in front of Peter, her façade serious – that's what made Peter frown, looking both confused and concerned. Neal stayed behind Diana – he may have confidence and skill in everything he does, but Diana would always be above him in authority. He'll leave her to announce what they've just found out – he wasn't entirely sure how Peter Burke would react.
"What?" Peter questioned, his tone silently demanding an answer.
Diana sighed, keeping her voice down but she knew everyone around the two were going to be listening in anyway. "Avery Daniels escaped." Her tone blunt.
…
Avery Daniels, or in other words, Avery Burke – Peter's adopted sister was never the one like following rules. Not many people know this fact, nor do they care, but Peter did. Avery had always been distant growing up after arriving in his family at the age of 11. She mostly stayed to herself but he always found himself protective over her, even when the bombshell hit him as he found out the things she's done over the years. When she turned 18; Avery disappeared and was never to be seen again. Until … her case file was put on his desk; she was never really missing after all, just under different identities that were very tricky to pinpoint. To say it was a shock to find out everything she's allegedly done was an understatement of the Century.
The day he had to arrest her was a numbing day – she may not completely see it, but he still saw her as his sister, even if they weren't blood-related in any way. She was still family – just as much as the White Collar group were.
"What's this?" Peter questioned after getting over his initial shock. He grabbed the file that Diana held out for him to take, walking behind her and away from the dust-filled room. They were in the hallway, moving away from all the prying ears and eyes that wanted to butt into the conversation.
Diana tried brushing some of the aftermath off his suit, but even she couldn't get all of it off. "The U.S. Marshals are requesting your help." She told him, not surprised by the request being given to him. She knew about the sibling connection but even then, Peter had still been the one to catch Avery after three years of chasing. It was impressive to her.
"MY help?" Peter asked, making sure. It's been years since he's seen Avery – the day she was prosecuted for that matter. He didn't go and visit her like he probably should have done – but for the things she did, or allegedly did, it was just something he couldn't understand on some level. Most of it still hadn't fully processed through his mind. Even after seven-ish years now. He still didn't get why she left home and why she became this criminal – she broke all connections with them the moment she did.
Diana hummed, nodding her head, "Director Thompson asked for you personally." They stopped at a good distance away from everyone.
"Why would he want me?" Peter questioned, but again, he already knew why. The question just slipped out before he could stop it.
Diana just sent him a dumb look, knowing that he knew the answer already, "Maybe because you're the only one who's actually been able to catch her?" She replied, raising an eyebrow. No ones had been able to catch Avery … accept Peter Burke. "And besides, you're probably the only one that really knows how she thinks."
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