Happily Ever After AU - for conning

[abrightboy]

From here

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[conning]

Neal shakes his head in the negative. He inches closer, acutely aware of every step and motion and the possibility for it to give him away. He wants to see who's there. He wants a glimpse, just that much.

"It's none of your business," James growls.

There's the meaty sound of a fist hitting muscle, and James gasps. Neal's eyes go wide. He jerks forward, clearly intending to run out and see what's going on.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm grabs him and yanks him back.

"Why did he ask you to meet him here if he was confronting someone else here?" he hisses. "He wanted you to see this."

[conning]

Neal looks at Malcolm uncertainly, coiled-spring tense. It makes sense, unless James wasn't expecting whoever this was. Unless he's been ambushed, too.

Another thud, a wheeze, a scuffle. A louder bang as someone hits the ground. Neal jerks away from Malcolm and bolts for the room the sounds are coming from.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm stays back. If Neal runs into danger, the only ace they'll have is if nobody knows Malcolm is there.

[conning]

Neal has never been very good at thinking with his head when his heart is involved.

He skids into the open and it's James on the ground, the stranger Neal's own age punching him in the ribs, face.

"Hey!" Neal shouts, and charges, without goal or plan beyond 'make the guy stop.'

Which means he ends up on the ground, tussling with the stranger, trying to keep the upper hand with someone who's more muscular than him and more used to fighting. Neal sees stars as the stranger clocks him, hitting the nearly-gone bruise on his face where Rhonda elbowed him in the asylum basement.

[abrightboy]

That’s what he was afraid would happen. The man has his back to the door while straddling Neal. Malcolm creeps in, picks up a chair, and clobbers the man over the head with it.

[conning]

The guy goes down, briefly, before he's staggering to his feet and just straight-up running for it.

Neal is too dazed to pursue.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm bolts after him, jumping over the railing from halfway down the stairs to tackle him.

[conning]

They go down in a tumble. Neal rolls onto his sized, still dizzy, trying to put together what just happened--

And then he hears gunshots from where Malcolm and the stranger disappeared. Emotion takes over again and he runs for the stairs.

[abrightboy]

The gun went off while Malcolm tried wrestling it out of the assailant’s hand. He manages to free it and it goes skittering away under some disused metal shelving, but in that moment the attacker knees Malcolm in the ribs to buy himself an opening and he bolts out the door while Malcolm tries to push himself to his feet.

[conning]

Neal doesn't bother going after the guy who's already half-way out the door. He couldn't care less right now about catching him. What he cares about is getting to Malcolm and making sure he's okay.

Neal checks the other man over almost neurotically as he helps Malcolm to his feet, oblivious to his own bruises and the fact that his lip is split and there's blood at the corner of his mouth. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm doesn’t look any worse than when they got there, visible injuries from his fight with the elevator shaft, but none from their attacker. He stumbles as he reaches his feet, but Neal steadies him. He doesn’t answer the question, still laser focused, he points out the door.

“He got away,” he notes. He looks at Neal. “I’m so sorry…” He frowns. “You’re bleeding.”

[conning]

Neal waves off the comment. “I’m fine, it’s not serious.”

He assumes it’s not, anyway. Neal presses a hand against Malcolm’s cheek. “You’re sure he didn’t hurt you?”

[abrightboy]

Malcolm glances towards the door, then at Neal, then up the stairs.

“I’m okay,” he promises. “How’s your dad?”

[conning]

That's right--his dad. Neal gives Malcolm a wide-eyed look that says quite clearly he has no idea, then he's rushing for the stairs again.

James is sitting up by the time Neal reaches him. He tries to wave off Neal's offer of help to stand, but Neal insists, helping the other man to his feet as James groans faintly.

He's definitely the most beat up of the three of them.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm doesn’t seem super concerned about that.

“Who was that?” he asked without preamble.

[conning]

“One of the Flynns,” James says, wiping a little blood from his mouth. Neal offers his handkerchief, or starts to, but then moves to clean James’ face himself. The man winces in pain and surprise, but doesn’t draw away.

“Which one?” Neal says quietly.

“The youngest son of their former boss. The only one that really matters anymore.”

[abrightboy]

"What was he doing here?" Malcolm asks. "Did you invite him here?"

[conning]

James pushes Neal’s hand away so he can glare at Malcolm, and it hurts in a way Neal doesn’t expect. It hurts enough to snap him out of his concern and get between Malcolm and James. “Don’t look at him like that. Did you?”

“No,” James growls. “He must have followed me. He was the one who was following me before, too. I found a picture of him when I was working a lead on Ellen.”

[abrightboy]

"You've spent the last twenty years looking over your shoulder and you let some mob administrator follow you? To a meeting with your son?" Malcolm asks skeptically.

[conning]

"He's not an administrator," James says, starting to take a step forward. Neal matches him, blocking his way, hand hovering over James' chest.

The older man stops, and for a second Neal is... scared. Of something. He's not sure what. He eases back to take Malcolm's hand, the gesture both protective of Malcolm and reassuring for himself.

"So who is he?"

"He's the one in charge. He's probably the one who killed Ellen."

[abrightboy]

“The one in charge rarely does his own dirty work anymore, so what could he want with you that’s worth the risk of dirtying his own hands?” Malcolm asks. “He has people for that. He could have sent one of them if he just wanted you dead.”

[conning]

“That’s true when a family has power,” James grunts, wiping a fresh but of blood from his mouth. “Not when the youngest son of the dead patriarch is trying to establish significance and clout again. He’s got people. He also wants to make it clear that he’s not afraid of blood.”

“Why Ellen?” Neal’s tone is hard, or he tries to make it hard, but it comes out fractured.

James eyes Neal, a tinge of guilt on his face now. “Me and Ellen were the ones that got his dad arrested. It didn’t stick, but it was the beginning of the end for the Flynn’s reputation.”

Neal shakes his head. “That doesn’t make sense.”

[abrightboy]

“You’re saying that now, after all this time, he killed her for that? How did he find out her current location and identity?” Malcolm asks.

[conning]

“That was his excuse,” Neal murmurs. Something is clicking. He doesn’t like it. “That was his excuse. You said the Flynns didn’t own the police, that it was the other way around.”

He gives James a sharp look. “Someone still owns them. Someone Ellen knew about, hid evidence about. That has to be it. Someone owns Flynn and sent him after Ellen because he had a reason, albeit a flimsy one, to want revenge. But whoever it was had access to federal witness protection records.”

Neal can’t breathe. “Someone on our side sold her out.”

It doesn’t occur to him that he just said said our side.

It very clearly caught James’ attention. He scowls.