Happily Ever After AU - for conning

[abrightboy]

From here

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[abrightboy]

"Oh. Should we read it now?" Malcolm asks. "What do you think it's about? Do you think he found any real clues?"

[conning]

Neal shakes his head, not sure about... well, any of those questions, honestly. He rolls over to get his phone, then rolls back, staring at the unlocked home screen for a few long seconds without going to his messages.

[abrightboy]

“You don’t have to,” Malcolm reminds him. “We’re on… “ What did Gil call it? “Mandatory medical leave.”

[conning]

Neal makes a softly amused sound. Shakes his head. “No. I need to do this.”

He opens up the messages and his nerves are both rewarded and disappointed at once.

I know who killed her. Not who leaked her location, but I know who pulled the trigger.

He turns it toward Malcolm. “He definitely doesn’t trust me yet.”

[abrightboy]

“That’s rich considering who broke into the apartment with a story full of inconsistencies,” Malcolm remarks. “Ask him who.”

[conning]

Neal simply texts "Who"

No punctuation, because for some reason it feels more passive aggressively satisfying that way.

He waits, silent, watching for the little dots of a reply in motion, not thinking about the fact that his dad might not see the message yet.

[abrightboy]

“If he asks to meet you, are you going to go?” Malcolm whispers, like he’s worried the text message might hear him.

[conning]

"If you'll come with me."

He's not ready for Peter to meet James yet. Not yet. Malcolm, though, he trusts.

[abrightboy]

"I'd go anywhere with you," Malcolm tells him. It's matter of fact, like he's reporting something mundane, not making a big romantic declaration. Blame the head injury.

[conning]

Neal smiles with a softness very few people get to see. "I confess that I love you, I rejoice that I love you. I thank the maker of Heaven and Earth that gave you to me - the exultation floods me. I cannot find my channel - the Creek turns Sea at thought of thee."

Hopefully Dickinson won't mind his playing with the words a little.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiles brightly at him. “You can always think of a poem for the moment you want to make,” he says. He’s about to say something else when Neal’s phone beeps.

[conning]

Oh right. His dad.

Neal looks at his phone and grimaces. “He wants to meet. I’ll say we can do it in the afternoon.”

He wants to know what James thinks he’s discovered. Desperately wants to know. But he’s not going to drag Malcolm out of bed now that they’re finally settled.

[abrightboy]

"Are you sure?" Malcolm asks. "I'm... I'm okay."

He's concussed and bruised. But he's sure he's fine if Neal needs him.

[conning]

"He can wait," Neal says firmly. He kisses Malcolm's forehead. "You need rest."

[abrightboy]

He's not wrong. It's hard to argue with genuine sincere love and protection. With a jingle of restraints, he snuggles up into the crook of Neal's shoulder.

"You'll stay with me?"

[conning]

"I'm not going anywhere. Not tonight." He holds Malcolm close, gentle enough not to put pressure on any hidden bruises. Almost thoughtfully, he adds, "You saved more lives today. Including your own."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm turns his face against Neal's shoulder and smiles into his skin.

"Maybe I just wanted to see the you that listens to me again," he points out, but he knows that's not all it was. He always wants to save people by putting killers away. His whole identity revolves around it. "Don't leave without me tomorrow?" he murmurs sleepily. He doesn't trust James and he doesn't want Neal left vulnerable in his presence alone.

[conning]

Neal makes a soft noise, pretending to be amused instead of touched. He breathes in the smell of Malcolm's clean body pressed close to his, the scent of his dry cleaned pajamas. "Wouldn't dream of it."

He kisses Malcolm's crown. "Now sleep. The me that listens to you will be right here when you wake up."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm does stir in his sleep, but he doesn’t outright thrash and it’s almost six hours later before he wakes up, his eyes fluttering open with a soft gasp while he grapples for purchase on whatever is under his hands.

[conning]

Neal sleeps through the stirring, emotionally exhausted himself. When Malcolm gasps he twitches into half-wakefulness, enough that he's reaching out to touch Malcolm's cheek as the other man scrabbles at him and the sheets.

He means to say, "You're okay."

It comes out kind of like, "Yurrickay."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm blinks at him, glancing around, coming to his sense enough to realize he's home, safe, in bed.

"I dre..." He trails of, scrubs his hand over his face, then tries to fumble the buckle open on the cuff. "Anyway. I'll. Make coffee."

[conning]

Neal catches Malcolm's hand, unbuckling the cuff himself so he can lift Malcolm's fingers and kiss them. "You can tell me."

[abrightboy]

"I couldn't find you," Malcolm says. "I mean. You were here, but it wasn't you and I couldn't find you."

[conning]

For some reason, that makes Neal's skin crawl in a way that other nightmares haven't. Maybe because it's too close to something that could happen in that other place, or... he's not sure. It just disturbs him in a visceral way he can't explain. Neal shivers, kissing Malcolm gently.

"I'm here. The real me. The me that listens to you."

[abrightboy]

That makes Malcolm smile and he leans up to steal one more kiss.

"You'll always be here when I wake up," he says. He looks at Neal's phone on the night stand. "Your dad. We're supposed to go see your dad." Look how well his brain is working. "In a bit. Coffee? I'll make coffee."