[open]

[notgoingtorun]

If Neal was being truly honest with himself, he knew full well that this moment was inevitable. He knew he was going to be exposed one way or another. At least this way, Peter had let him keep at least some of his dignity by allowing him to tell the truth on his own, rather than have the message delivered for him as though he were completely incapable of telling the truth. Oh, it would still be humiliating to round up so many people and tell them the truth, reliving a difficult conversation over and over again, but perhaps that was the message that Peter was trying to get through Neal's head: taking the easy way out was never the best solution. Neal had taken the easy way out, and he was paying the price for it now.

Neal had put this off for as long as he could, but he knew it had to be done. Aside from facing Peter's wrath, the guilt would gnaw at him until he did. Guilt was a new feeling, one that had never touched him when he was stealing priceless artifacts or defrauding billionaires, but now that he'd made friends and started a life that was built on lies, he was starting to know what regret really felt like.

This wasn't the first time that he'd had to do this dance -- once, not so long ago, he'd had to sit down with Kate and tell her that Nick Halden was a fabrication, and that hurt -- but that didn't mean he wasn't nervous about it. He'd dressed in his best clothes today -- suit, waistcoat, tie, hat -- because if he was going to go back to being Neal Caffrey, then he was going to own it.

As Neal began to track down his friends, people he cared about, people who trusted him, he realized that this was going to be a very long day.

"Hey there," he said, plastering on a cheerful smile as he approached, "do you have a couple of minutes? There's something I need to talk to you about."

Comments

[girlsolo]

Caffrey looks flustered, not nervous exactly, but like she did something he did expect. That's good. It means she's not as predictable as she's afraid she is. Either that or she hasn't been a mark and he hasn't been studying up on her, or - a small frown for that thought - she totally has and he's been trying to play her. But seriously, there's no angle here, and Kate decides not to be an idiot and to go with her first impression.

She reaches out, pats his arm. "One hut, no waiting, visits from the local hottie and her best girlfriend completely optional." A flash of a smile again, this time more sympathetic. "Lock-up sucks. So does having a constant babysitter. I'm not much good as a character witness but I make a great alibi."

[notgoingtorun]

"I seem to have collected a lot of those in my life," Neal said, thinking of Mozzie and his annoyance at not being asked to speak at Neal's commutation hearing. "But you can never have enough good alibis, even if you're not supposed to be collecting that sort of trouble anymore." He leaned towards her, nudging her shoulder lightly with his. "I appreciate the hut. Glad to know I won't have to be an island homeless person. I'm a terrible panhandler."