conning | I've been here, I've been there // Honey, I been somehow everywhere

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for: norton folgate

I've been here, I've been there // Honey, I been somehow everywhere

Neal isn't really sure what's going to happen when the Admiral sends them home. To his home. Where by now, somewhere in the world, Kate is alive and healthy. It's strange to think of her somewhere unknown and not feel the immediate need to go find her. To save, protect, avenge her. It's also strange that even knowing she's out there, even seeing proof, Neal can't shake the guilt of killing her, either. It feels like things should have shifted, that some monumental internal change should have taken place. He still feels the things he always had, but with new knowledge counter it.

It's all swirling in his brain when Norton meets him in his cabin. Still roiling there when Neal squeezes his hand and tells thin air that they're ready.

It snaps to background when, on his next blink, Neal and Norton find themselves in the conference room of the FBI's New York City White Collar division, and Neal is still holding Norton's hand. The door from the office floor swings open and admits a small flood of people in the forms of Peter, Diana, Jones, and... Mozzie?

All four of them stop dead, seeing Neal and a stranger at the far end of the room, plus whatever Norton chose to bring. Neal stares at all of them, bemused.

"I knew it! I told you." Mozzie says, pointing at Neal. He glares at Peter and company in triumph.

Peter's jaw works for a moment before he takes a deep breath, clearly trying to focus on being relieved instead of furious. "Neal. Who's your friend?"

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Norton watches with a small frown between his brows as the anklet is put on. He'd heard Neal talk about it before, but he'd never seen one, and the idea of it--monitoring Neal at all times--makes him uneasy. But at least it's over quickly and once the cuff of Neal's trouser is back down and they're riding the lift down, Norton can (almost) forget it's there.

He suspects Neal never forgets it's there. He squeezes Neal's hand back and returns Neal's smile with a mischievous grin of his own.

"I did enjoy aggravating Agent Burke. Like teensy bit of revenge on your behalf."

Neal grins at his feet, then leans sideways to steal a quick kiss before the elevator dings. He’ll let go of Norton’s hand if the other man is inclined to pull away. This might be New York in 2014, they might have the security of the Barge’s general attitudes to dilute some of that sense of danger, but Norton is still from 1955. Neal doesn’t want to assume.

“Want to get a taxi to my place or walk? It’s only a few miles, but I’m not the one with a suitcase.”

The Barge is another world. Norton categorizes it in his head as something between his public school experience and a Soho club. A place where he can earn alliances through courtships and zhoosh himself up like Mae West for fun and get only compliments.

This is different. This is a real city. So just before the lift opens, Norton instinctively drops Neal's hand. He knows there's no risk of arrest, but he also knows there's still other sorts of risk. It's one thing to drop a bit of innuendo in front of the FBI agents. That was almost a form of power play. But out in the city there's no telling how strangers may react.

He brightens in excitement when Neal mentions a taxi, though.

"Are the taxis yellow, like in the films?" Norton's ridden in cabs plenty of times, but a London cab isn't a New York taxi.

The excitement about the taxi sweeps away the pang of sadness he feels when Norton lets go—not for himself. He wishes he could say them holding hands on a New York street wouldn’t raise any eyebrows. That he can’t breaks his heart a little bit.

“All the good ones are.” He gives a little flourish of a gesture out of the elevator and toward the glass wall that couches the clear front doors. “After you. There’s nothing in the world like that first breath of real city air.”

He’s joking. He’s also not.

"Honey, I lived through the Great Smog of 1952. That air," he points to the outside with a flick of his wrist, "looks positively bucolic."

Which is all for the best, because it means that when he steps outside he can properly see the New York skyline.

"Gosh," he whispers, gaping at it. "Look at the size. Puts Big Ben and St. Paul's to shame."

They step outside, and the heat and garbage and gasoline musk of downtown swirls over them like a benediction. The noise, the crowds, the cars—it’s all a little overwhelming after how quiet the Barge is, on a general noise level.

It’s perfect.

Neal breathes in deep, his eyes lighting up, the tension from upstairs dropping away. New York, New York. A hell of a town.

“God I miss this city every time I leave.” He grins at Norton. “Wait until you see the Empire State Building.”

"It's amazing. London seems downright shabby by comparison. We're still morosely clearing out bombed wreckage, but this city is so ebullient."

He turns to face Neal and half raises his hand. He was going to rest his palm on Neal's chest, but stops himself just in time. This is still much too public.

"Neal, darling, I know people are trying to kidnap you and that's terrible important and we're in great danger, but can we find the time to go to a club while we're here? I'm aching to go to a proper club, with actual people around laughing and dancing and all the rest."

Neal’s heart gives another little ache at that aborted gesture, but the question makes him grin.

“Absolutely. There are more than a few that also make sure the atmosphere stays friendly.”

He’s sure Norton knows what he means, since outright saying there are gay bars all over the city seems like it would spit on Norton’s caution. Neal flags a cab at the curb, the yellow checkered vehicle careening to a stop in front of them.

Norton gets his suitcase and himself settled into the cab, and once Neal's in as well he'll silently take Neal's hand, keeping it low against the seat where he thinks the driver won't see.

"I really don't like that tracking thing when we know there's someone with bad intentions trying to find you. What if they intercept the signal?" He doesn't know much about how the anklet works, just deducing based on what he knows about things like radar and radio signals combined with his experience with alien technology. But if it gives away Neal's location, it's inherently a point of weakness when trying to hide from ne'er-do-wells.

It’s funny how much more something can mean if its context changes. When Norton takes Neal’s hand in the relative safety off the cab, Neal straightens a little, giving the other man’s fingers a little squeeze. The question gives him that particular warm chest pressure he associates with an all-encompassing hug.

“It’s surprisingly secure. The technology is a lot more targeted than what… was available before.” At least he caught himself before he said anything about the 1950s. “Which isn’t to say it’s entirely outside the realm of possibility, but it’s a lot less likely than being physically followed or having someone track my phone.”

Still, Neal scowls down at his ankle. “At least I don’t have to foot the bill to wear it. A lot of those who opt for this instead of prison have to pay for the privilege on top of everything else. And the scar was finally starting to fade again on the Barge.”

Edited 2023-07-25 02:55 (UTC)

Norton's mind starts to weave around the two opposing groups causing Neal problems right now--the people who tried to kidnap him and the FBI--and wonders if he can arrange mutual extermination. But before he goes too far down that rabbit hole, he reminds himself of all the ways a plan like that could go wrong, not the least of which is that Neal probably wouldn't want the entire New York FBI office killed.

"I want to tear the thing off you and toss it under the wheels of the nearest bus." He can't do that, either, but it's probably a more acceptable fantasy than chess mastering a two-sided mass murder.

God Neal wants to kiss him right now. He winks instead. "Maybe we can make that our last little New York excursion before we go back to the Barge."

He points out the window across Norton, not so much because there's something notable, but because he wants to draw Norton's attention away from the unpleasantness and back to the city itself. "Once we're another couple of blocks north you'll be able to see a peek of Madison Square Park."

Norton looks where Neal's pointing, although he doesn't see anything yet. "Is that near were you live? I love a good park. Something else for the list before we go, nighttime stroll in the park." He doesn't think about any possible safety concerns. He simply thinks of parks at night as one the places where liaisons happen. At night they could walk arm-in-arm and he wouldn't feel so nervous about it.

The park at night is an interesting prospect, if not a safe one. He can’t bring himself to shoot the idea down when they just got here.

“There’s a lot that’s close, but Central Park is better.” Which is a good thing, he realizes abruptly. “Shit.”

He looks down at his ankle. “I forgot. With this thing on I’ve only got two square miles.”

How could he forget? There’s a surreality to it that makes him feel dizzy for a moment.

He wrinkles his nose at that. "They do keep you on a short leash."

It makes him ponder the sticky situation Neal is in. Even though he's graduated and not dead, he's not free if he comes home.

"What do you plan to do after...long term, I mean? What with your home being rather unwelcoming to you?"

"Yeah they do." There's a quiet bitterness in it. He hasn't let that particular beast out of its cage a lot around Norton, but it's not a new sentiment. It's just more potent at this particular moment than usual.

He breathes in deep, biting the corner of his lip. "That's what I thought I'd use my deal for. Not the one that Malcolm gave me. The one that, hopefully, I'll be able to get myself. Get free and clear of all of this, the FBI's control."

"You'll get your deal. I know you will." The thought is bittersweet. Neal deserves to be free, but once he gets his deal he'll have no reason to remain on the Barge. He'll be able to come back home for good and start a new life here. Norton doesn't dwell on it, however, and focuses instead on enjoying the present, despite tracking anklets, FBI, and kidnappers.

"Can I get a smart phone while I'm here? I'd like to be able to send you electronic text messages." He may not understand emojis terribly well, but he'd have a fun time sending them to Neal from across the room of his flat anyway. And, if they have to split up, it would give him a way to stay in contact, or for Neal to contact him if an emergency should arise.

Neal's thoughts go there, too. To the fact that at some point, if he sticks it out long enough, if he manages to help someone else get their life back, he'll get his, too. He'll get his, and he can come back here, and live it. He looks down at their linked hands, then up at Norton's face, trying to sort out how he feels about that prospect. It's not the pure and simple victory it might have been six months ago.

The question, though, makes Neal grin. He loves Norton's fascination with technology, and the assiduously correct way he refers to it. "Absolutely. It's a matter of practicality if nothing else. Maybe we can ask the Admiral to keep them functional when we go home."

"I've never had one of my own before. Only borrowed one once when I was briefly in..." He glances at the cab driver. He's sure that cabbies in New York are as used to bizarre conversations as cabbies in London are, but all the same he maybe shouldn't talk about running around in 2018 when it's currently 2014. "...Cardiff. That was right before I came to the Barge."

“If I remember correctly I’ve got at least two burners just at my apartment.”

Two ‘burners’ of an acceptable quality, anyway. Neal almost kisses Norton, almost moves to do it, but catches himself before he does more than lean in a little. This time when he points, it’s at the Flatiron building. “Madison Square Park is right across from that, it’s where they put the Christmas tree every year.”

He tries to spend the rest of the ride, short as it is, playing tour guide, pointing out the things that can be seen from their route and talking about the things that can’t. When they climb out of the cab at June’s house, Neal takes a moment to study the building and orient himself to where they are.

He tweaks one of the buttons on Norton’s jacket, a brief and subtle touch. “We can trust June. Not with time travel and aliens immediately, maybe, but with the important things.”

A little teasing, a little true.

Norton puts aside all thoughts of the future and delightedly takes in the sights of New York. And when they reach Neal's home, Norton ogles the building at well. He knew from Neal's cabin that he had nice digs, but the cabin on the Barge doesn't do justice to the full force of the exterior. It's like a posh Kensington property.

And best of all, from what Neal says, it's a proper home where they can be their proper selves (mostly). He grins.

"God bless understanding landladies."

"Understanding landladies who regularly played cards with the Rat Pack." He grins at Norton. "So sooner or later I do want to introduce her to the idea that you're very familiar with the world of her 20s. If anyone other than Mozzie would believe it... I think it would be her."

He draws in a deep breath and leads the way up to the front door, palming his key and letting them both inside when he gets there. It feels almost strange to do it, like he should still be knocking or ringing the bell to let June know he's back. Except for her, he was never gone.

"June?" He takes Norton's hand as soon as they're safely over the threshold and the door is closed behind them. "June, are you home?"

"Upstairs, dear," she calls, her voice slightly muffled by the distance.

Neal gives Norton's hand a squeeze. "Mind if I bring a guest up to introduce him?"

"Oh! Hang on, let me make myself presentable for company."

Norton sets his suitcase down in the entrance hall for now, until he knows where he'll be carrying it.

"Feels almost as if I'm being introduced to the family. Never had that happen before," he murmurs to Neal. "Being a bit nervous about making a good first impression is part of the experience, right?"

Neal smiles. “She’s definitely family, and she will definitely love you.”

He almost says as much as I do, but catches himself. Just in case that would be too much. Just in case it would scare Norton off. Just in case.

He picks up the suitcase himself with his free hand as he hears June starting down the stairs, drawing Norton forward to meet her at their base. She’s dressed for an evening in, but flawlessly polished, right down to the present but understated touches of makeup and the little flashes of gold on her fingers and earlobes.

Neal lets go of Norton’s hand for a moment when she’s in reach, hugging her tight with one arm. “You look lovely as always, and I’m sure you did when we walked in, too. June Ellington, may I introduce Norton Folgate?”

He looks at Norton, gesturing him over. “We’re…”

It occurs to him that from June’s perspective Neal himself has barely had time to even process Rebecca’s betrayal, never mind find someone new.

“We met when I was abroad, and Norton is in the States to help me with some work for the FBI.” If Norton allows it, Neal will slip his arm around the other man’s waist. “He… We… were involved, and I’m very glad to say the change in scenery hasn’t changed any of our personal feelings.”

As Norton hears footsteps on the stairs, he cocks his head in curiosity, eager to see this woman who played cards with Frank Sinatra and is like family to Neal. He's not disappointed. June is elegant and the warmth she has for Neal is obvious and she has an air of mischief about her, such that he can easily imagine letting her know that they might break a few teensy unimportant laws and she'd be perfectly sanguine about it.

So when Neal wraps an arm around his waist, he doesn't pull away or tense. Neal said she's family and that she's understanding, and Norton trusts Neal's judgement.

"Lovely to meet you, Mrs. Ellington. Neal speaks very fondly of you."

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