Chapter Text
Neal landed at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris that night to start his new life. After easily passing through customs with the new passport he made earlier, he made his way towards the exit to grab a cab into the city. When all of a sudden, a woman bumped into him at the arrivals hall.
“Oh I’m sorry.” She apologized. Neal looked at noticed she was around his age, tall, tan skin, and had a thin yet muscular stature. She beautiful long dark brown, almost black, straight hair. He also noticed that she spoke English with an American accent. She had a compelling and innocent allure to her. He didn’t see the darkness hiding within her.
“It’s okay.” He smiled. She smiled back.
“I’m Emily.” She was lying, but he didn’t notice.
Neal took his new alias for a spin, “Christopher.”
After a moment ‘Emily’ asked him, “So, you heading into the city?”
“Yeah, the 10th Arrondissement. You?”
“Wow, what a coincidence. So am I.” She smiled and feigned surprise. She knew exactly where he was going.
He gestured towards the sliding glass door, “You want to split a cab?”
“I actually have a car. If you want a ride into the city.” She offered and flashed another seemingly innocent alluring smile.
“Sure.”
She knew he’d take the bait.
They walked out to the parking lot together, “So, Christopher, you here for business or pleasure?”
He took a second, “A new start.”
He wasn’t exactly lying. New York had to become nothing more than a memory for him. He needed to ensure that the Panthers thought he was dead and that everyone he cared about were safe.
He asked, “What about you?”
“Moved here a few years ago. I was in New York visiting some old friends.” That was a complete lie. She hadn’t even been on a plane recently. She’d been in Paris for a while, getting ready to execute her plan.
After finding her small black sudan they both got in. He gave her his address and she nodded, claiming she knew exactly where it was.
Neal didn’t know it yet, but they weren’t going there.
They got out of the airport parking lot and started heading off. While she drove they continued to chat. Neal didn’t know she was lying to him, but she knew he was lying to her. She knew exactly who Neal was and why he was in Paris.
She had been keeping track of him for years now.
Although anyone else would call it stalking.
About a half hour or so after they set off Neal started to wonder why they weren’t near the city yet. The airport was only about a half hour or so from the city and they hadn’t hit any traffic. He was starting to get suspicious. He had this terrifying gut feeling that something was really wrong.
“So, how much longer do you think?”
‘Emily’ thought for a moment, “Little while.”
“Because we’ve been on the road for a while now.”
“We’ll get there.” She said cryptically.
Neal couldn’t resist the feeling that there was something seriously wrong. He got out his burner phone, it didn’t have a map app, but it did have a compass app.
Paris was southwest of the airport...they were going northeast.
She glanced over at the light shining from the phone in the dark car. A slow sinister smile crept across her face, “You’re catching on.”
He looked at her, his concerns growing. “Where are we going?” He demanded.
“Not to the city, that’s for damn sure.”
“Did they send you?” He was referring to the Panthers. He wondered if they knew he faked his death and were after him for taking them down.
She scoffed, knowing who he was referring to, “No, I don’t work for anybody .”
Neal subtly looked at the speedometer and saw they were going around 110 kpm, which was about 70 mph. He couldn’t exactly unlock the car and jump out at that speed. He would most likely break something and be unable to run.
“What do you want?” He angrily asked, “Anything I don’t have I can get for you or help you with.”
She continued to look at the dark road. They were the only ones on it and there weren’t any street lamps, just the car’s headlights. “It’s not what you can get me or help me with.” Neal was confused, “I want you. ”
That scared Neal much more than he let on.
“Who are you?” As soon as it came out Neal realized it was a stupid question, like she wasn’t going tell that easily.
She simply responded, “I’m going to be the only person in the world who knows where you are.” Without taking her eyes off the road she opened the middle console with one hand and pulled out a full syringe before closing it again.
Neal moved as much as he could in the seat, which wasn’t much. “Okay, okay, let’s just talk about this.”
“No.” She said simply. She took the cap off the needle with one hand. Neal tried to get the needle from her but she managed to stab him in the thigh and pushed the plunger all the way down, releasing all the contents of the syringe. Then she threw it in the backseat.
He instinctively felt around the place she dosed him. It started to itch and tingle, “What the fuck?!” She smiled ominously as she drove. “You bitch!” As terrified as he was he felt his heart rate start to slow, he started to feel lightheaded and tired.
It didn’t take too long for him to fall unconscious.
When he woke he quickly realized he was tied to a bed. His hands were each tied at either side of the bed with his feet the same way, except he saw a chain also wrapped around his right ankle. The ropes seemed thick and tight. The knots were right behind his palms and at his ankles. He couldn’t reach them. He tried to get his breathing under control. His jacket was gone, he was just in his dress shirt and pants. He looked around and saw he was a in a dimly lit cabin about a few hundred square feet. There weren’t any windows but he noticed a small bathroom on the other side to his right, a ‘living’ area near the wall opposite the bed, and a tiny kitchen to his left. The thing the mostly grabbed his attention was the door opposite the bed. He thought it was titanium. He grew even more worried when he saw a keypad next to it.
“Hey, Neal. Glad you’re up.”
He looked to his left and saw her standing there.
“Where the hell am I?”
The innocent compelling vibe to her was completely gone. Replaced with something sinister, violent, crazy.
“You’re in a place I built from the ground up. A place for us to live. A place you can’t escape from. It's so off the grid no one will ever find us.”
‘ Us?’ Neal thought, he was confused.
“It will be a great place for us to live and have a family. I’ve wanted you for so long. Now I finally have you. I can have everything I’ve ever dreamed of.”
Neal couldn’t hide his confused and shocked response to that, “Excuse me?”
Because that sounded batshit crazy.
….Because she was batshit crazy.
She was a delusional violent psychopath who took advantage of Neal’s “death”.
She walked over to the foot of the bed, Neal’s eyes followed her. “I’ve been following you for a long time now. I’m so happy I could finally make my move.”
“Who the hell are you?!”
She put her hands on her hips and sighed, “I knew you wouldn’t remember me. But I remember you. I’m Christina Mendoza. I worked for Vincent Adler.” Worked was overstating it some. She was an intern when Neal was running his con with Mozzie.
He didn’t really remember her and wondered how she knew he was still alive.
Luckily she answered that question, “You’re probably wondering how I even managed to find you and how I knew you were still even alive.” Neal stayed silent, “Like I said, I’ve following you very closely for a very long time, Neal.”
“You’ve been stalking me.”
She brushed it off, “Oh don’t get caught up on semantics.” He called it like it was...stalking.
“You’ve managed to double cross everyone in your life. You’ve double crossed the Panthers…” She counted on her fingers for a moment, “Like four times. You’ve double crossed Peter, the FBI, Mozzie, Keller. It’s almost impressive.” She looked him dead in the eyes, “You won’t be able to do that shit with me.”
Neal had to ask, “Why is that?”
“Because if you don’t do everything I say or try to escape...I’ll tip off the Panthers that you’re still alive and sold them out. When they can’t find you, you know what they’ll do.” Fear set deeply into Neal, “They’ll kill everyone that you ever cared about. Mozzie, Peter, Elizabeth, or that little boy she’s carrying. You know that the Panthers still have a mighty reach from prison. That's why you faked your death. You wanted to ensure they couldn't hurt them.” She gave an evil smile with an devilish look in her eyes, “You don’t want to be responsible for the murders of Peter’s wife and son, do you?”
Neal was in a silent shock.
“That’s what I thought.”
Neal didn’t know what to think, what to say. Christina noticed. “So you do as I say, and the people you were trying to protect by ‘dying’ will be just fine. If you don’t, then…they’re dead.” The following silence hung heavy in the air. Neal sincerely didn’t know if he was more terrified or pissed off. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to say or how to play this to his advantage.
Because she had all the power and the leverage...and he had none.
“I’m glad I don’t have to worry about Burke though. Because you took care of that for me. Everyone thinks you’re dead. Because you did a damn good job making them believe it. He’s not going to come looking for you.
Because no one searches for a dead man.”
That sent a chill down Neal’s spine. When he was planning his ‘death’ he never thought it could backfire like this. He never thought that the Panthers, or anyone else for that matter, would figure it out.
She changed the topic, “I’m just glad that you’re finally mine . There’s no escaping me.”
All this was terrifying Neal more than anything else had. He was trying not to panic.
Neal’s eyes widened with pure fear when Christina started to take off her t-shirt and pants, revealing a lacy bra and underwear set. She walked over to the right side of the bed and gave another devious smile, “I’ve been waiting so long so this. Years, I’ve been waiting.” She straddled his waist and started to undo his belt and pants.
Neal tried to move, but he couldn’t. “Woah! What the fuck! No! Stop!”
She curled up his belt in her hands with an evil idea. She set it aside for the moment and pulled down his pants and underwear in one fluid motion.
“What the fuck! Stop!” Neal yelled as he struggled against the ropes.
She smiled and enjoyed how much he was struggling. She took a second to take it in before ripping open his dress shirt and running her hands up and down his chest.
“You’re so cute when you’re scared.”
She continued to run her hands up and down his chest, “You have such an amazing body.”
“You’re psychotic!” He thoughtlessly spat
She looked him in the eyes with a small nod and smile, “Yeah...I am. You should do what I say so you or others don’t get hurt.” She continued with what she wanted to do and went below his waist. He tried to stop her but he couldn’t.
He would learn quickly that there was no stopping her.
About a week after Neal “died”
Mozzie walked out of a bar one evening when a man appeared almost out of nowhere and asked, “Are you Mozzie?”
Mozzie was concerned, “Who’s asking?”
“Here.” The man gave him an envelope and vanished into the crowd of people around them. Mozzie was curious. He moved to the side of the sidewalk and cautiously opened the letter.
Mozzie,
This letter is to tell you that it was all just a con on the Panthers. I know, I’m sorry, but I got in too deep with the wrong people. I knew that they weren’t going to let me get away with screwing them over like I did. If I just ran then they would hurt the people I care about. I had to “die” in order to not only to keep myself safe but you and Peter as well. Just know that I am alive and okay. You can come find me when they’ve all been convicted and all this has blown over. It's too risky to come now. It'll probably calm down in a year or so. Also, this probably goes without saying, but don’t say anything to Peter. The less he knows the better. Keep watch over him, over everyone. Thank you for everything. I’ll be waiting.
33 Rue de Récollets
Neal had written the note and given it to the guy about a week before the con on the Panthers went down.
He muttered with a small smile, “You little shit. Neal Caffrey’s greatest con.”
Mozzie had no real reason to question the note. It seemed legit to him and it was the sign he had been wishing for. That his best friend wasn’t dead. He had no idea how badly Neal needed help. How badly his plan had backfired. Mozzie would listen to the note and wouldn’t figure out that his friend needed help for a long time.