Chapter Text
A week had slipped by since Neal's family had unexpectedly reentered his life, and he was more than ready for the routine of his ‘work’ life. He loved his family, but their sudden reappearance had unleashed a whirlwind of emotions and complications. As promised, Danny and Elle were still hanging around in the city, with the rest of the Fenton clan planning to visit as soon as they could arrange it.
So, when Neal walked into his office to find Jazz comfortably settled at his desk, he had to do a double take.
Jazz Fenton, who had matured into a very poised 36-year-old, was perched behind his desk. Her vibrant hair was neatly gathered in a bun, her attention completely on the computer screen. The glow of the screen threw light on her eyes, revealing a hint of boredom as she appeared to be skimming through, what Neal could only guess, the news.
"Jazz?" Neal exclaimed in surprise, coming to a halt in front of his desk. He'd expected to find Peter there, or maybe a pile of files to work through. Not his sister.
His sister looked up at him and her face broke into a smile. "Neal!" She stood up and gave him a tight hug which he returned, still surprised. "It's good to see you."
"What are you doing here?" he asked as they pulled away from each other. "I thought you guys weren't flying out until next week."
The redhead grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "I managed to clear my schedule earlier than I expected. Thought I'd come and surprise you."
"Well, you certainly managed that." Neal said with a laugh. "Though, I'd appreciate it if you didn't take over my workspace."
She glanced back at the desk, an amused smirk on her face. "Oh, is that what this is?" she asked, "I couldn't tell with all the clutter."
He chuckled and moved in for another hug, which Jazz was more than happy to return.
The sound of a clearing throat had him spinning around, only to come face to face with a clearly bewildered Sara.
"Oh, hey Sara." Neal greeted, detaching himself from his sister. "What brings you here?"
Sara shot him a look that he couldn't quite decipher, her eyes darting briefly towards Jazz before returning to him. "I, um... I was here to talk to Peter about something." She attempted to sidestep him.
Swiftly, he caught her by the waist and gently turned her back around to face him. "Hey, are you alright? Is everything okay between us? Is it because I’ve been busy lately?"
Jones chose that moment to stride into the office, his gaze shifting between Sara and Jazz with an amused smirk. "Damn Caffrey, where do you keep finding all these lovely ladies?"
It took his brain a moment to boot up before he understood. "Oh, no, Sara, it’s not what you're thinking." He quickly gestured towards Jazz. "That’s my sister, Jasmine."
Sara exhaled a relieved sigh and relaxed in his hold. "You're usually much better at reading people, Caffrey."
"Well, I’m usually not caught up in a misunderstanding about flirting with my sister," he retorted, before shooting his sister an accusing glance. "And you, you could’ve said something."
Jazz held up her hands in innocence. “No, this was much funnier. I finally understand why Sam kept calling you and Danny, Clueless #1.”
Neal's smile was soft, almost wistful. It was strange but heartwarming. Both Danny and Elle had started to do something similar. They all shared memories, going back to when Danny was fourteen. And even though Neal hadn't actually been there, and had only inherited those memories due to Vlad's experiments, they spoke about them as though he had been. It felt like a warm, subtle form of inclusion, of family. And despite the weirdness of it all, Neal found it oddly comforting.
“Oh what’s this, Caffrey didn’t have any luck with the ladies?” Sara asked, and suddenly Neal realized what a terrifying combination he had created by introducing them.
“Neal was adorably clueless about this girl he was head over heels for, despite her feeling the same. But his understanding of social cues was just about as effective as a snowball in a sauna,” Jazz revealed.
That sparked a thought. “Did Danny ever end up with Sam?” Neal wondered aloud.
Jazz shrugged. “They had a bit of an on-and-off thing. Not sure where they stand now. You should ask her yourself when she gets here.”
“Wait, Sam's coming too?” He knew that Danny’s friends might drop by, but they were Danny’s friends. He hadn’t actually met them yet.
She looked surprised. “Of course she is, and so is Tucker. Neal, you didn't think they'd pass up a chance to see you, did you?”
“Well, I didn't really expect anyone to come at all,” he admitted quietly, almost to himself.
Jazz's eyes softened. “Oh, Neal...” she murmured in a tone reminiscent of the way she used to say, “Oh, Danny.” Hearing that sent a rush of emotions through him, and he had to blink rapidly to keep the sudden tears at bay.
Peter came to his rescue as he entered through the glass doors. He also did a double take when he saw two pretty redheads at Neal’s desk, and Neal smiled when Peter looked at him with unfairness scrawled all over his face.
“How is it always you?” his handler asked, clearly done with Neal’s antics.
“She’s my sister, Peter. Don’t be gross.” he teased and Peter’s mouth opened in a small “o”.
"Ah, I see the Caffrey men have a preference for redheads," Peter quipped, earning him a playful elbow from the conman. "I assume this family reunion isn't wrapping up anytime soon?"
“I don’t think so, my parents are coming in somewhere this week, and my childhood friends are also coming to pay a visit.” Neal said with a thin smile.
“They’re really happy to have found you.” Peter remarked, wondering if his CI was ever going to explain why his family hadn’t seen him in 20 years.
“I didn’t think they would be,” he confessed. “I didn’t think they’d care. Especially after finding out about this,” he motioned to his anklet.
“I know I often talk about you being a criminal,” Peter said, suddenly serious. “But you deserve to be loved, Neal. You deserve to have people that care about you, past wrongs or not.”
Neal turned away to glance at his sister. He was so happy that his friends and family had found him. In all his years by himself he had never let himself imagine that he’d have this again.
"Thanks, Peter," he said, heartfelt. "I’m beginning to believe that myself."
Jazz left him with a promise to get dinner with just the two of them, which Neal gladly accepted, before turning his attention to Sara and his team.
“Shall we?” Peter motioned for the conference room and started walking while everybody else followed him.
“So, what brings you here today, Sara?” Diana asked as she and Clinton sat down. Peter had opted to lean against the door, while the insurance investigator plugged her thumb drive into her computer.
“My client wants his painting back, but it was seized in an FBI raid a couple of months ago.” Sara began as she clicked through various slides of a quiet domestic scene.
The painting depicted a sunlit room where a man and two women gathered around a harpsichord. The man, standing at the harpsichord, seemed to be playing music while the women, one seated at the instrument and the other standing nearby, attentively engaged in the performance. The room was richly decorated, featuring a large Persian carpet over the table in the foreground and paintings on the wall.
“That’s The Concert from Vermeer!” Neal exclaimed with a blinding grin on his face. “Wasn’t that stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum? Oh Peter it was beautiful, these two men came in dressed as polic-”
“Neal.” the FBI agent warned with a mild glare. “I was aware that the FBI had seized it, but I thought it was currently in DC?”
“Yes, it was found in DC but according to my source it’ll be coming to New York soon,” the insurance investigator said as she wrung her hands together. “Which is why my client is also coming to New York to try and get it back.”
“Well, your client can try but as far as I know the painting is still cataloged as evidence.” Peter said with a little shrug.
Diana looked Sara up and down again, “Let me guess, you told him as much already, but he won’t back down?” After a nod from the other woman, she continued, “You look uncomfortable.”
“My client is persuasive.” she started, “I’ve been getting weird vibes from him since day one. He’s never explicitly said or done anything wrong, but I don’t think that a simple ‘no’ is going to suffice.”
“This must be a real creep if you’re so worked up over it. You’re not easy to rile up.” Neal added with a knowing twinkle.
Sara scoffed and removed her USB from the computer. “I’m just here as a courtesy, my client will probably be here soon, and I wanted to inform you guys.”
“We appreciate that Sara,” Peter said as he opened the door for her. “right, Neal?”
“She knows I’m just joking, loosen up a little, Peter.” Neal said playfully as he escorted Sara down the stairs to the bullpen.
“What’s this I hear about a family reunion, anyway?” she asked as they arrived back at his desk.
“Oh yeah,” he awkwardly straightened out his tie. “My brother and younger sister came to the office a couple of days ago.”
“His twin brother, I should add.” Peter said as he snatched back the coffee cup that Neal had pilfered from his desk.
Sara looked at him with incredulous eyes, “You have a twin brother? How is this the first time I’m hearing of that?”
“I’m not-I wasn’t close with him or any of my other siblings.” Neal answered with a little huff. “After reconnecting they promised to bring the entire family, plus a couple of friends, apparently.”
“Where are they staying? Your loft isn’t big enough for 3 siblings, your parents, and some friends.” Diana asked as she joined them with her own cup of coffee, or whatever the brown sludge was that came out of the coffee maker.
“Oh no, Danny owns a couple of buildings in New York, so they’re staying at his place.”
“Is that why your lifestyle is so expensive? Because you grew up a rich boy?” Sara laughed at the affronted look Neal sent her.
“Nah, he inherited a bunch of properties a while back. He’s also not afraid of ‘haunted’ houses, so I heard he’s bought some of them for barely nothing.”
Danny had accidentally mentioned that he needed a place to live during his early days as King. This led to many ghosts who either owned a house or haunted one, coming to him with offers. As a result, he ended up owning a lot of houses.
“You’re welcome to meet them, if you want.” Neal suggested to Sara. “I’m supposed to meet Danny for lunch anyway.”
Sara seemed to mull it over before shaking her head. “I’d love to meet them sometime but I have an appointment for Sterling Bosch that I can’t reschedule. I’ll call you once I have some free time, yeah?”
“Sure, rain check.” he said with a small smile. “And we’ll let you know if your creepy client shows up.”
He turned back towards Peter and raised an eyebrow. “So, anything else we need to work on?”
“I’ll give you three guesses.” his handler deadpanned.
“Mortgage fraud?”
“Mortgage fraud.”