ELIZABETH BURKE + NEAL BURKE
PG-13 (Pre-Arrival Threats) | COMPLETE
His heart was racing.
When Neal first heard his parents talk about Peter's plan to stop a heist at the Clermont Estate he didn't think too much of it. After all, it was just an old Georgian house somewhere upstate, and there didn't seem to be anything particularly special about the property outside its age. He wasn't even sure why criminals would find it a good target. He tried not to think about it, but after finishing his Trigonometry homework he ended up spending several hours online researching the location.
None of the history lessons piqued his interest, but once he learned that the basement housed a large, Class TRTL-60 safe, all bets were off. He didn't care what was behind it, the fact that a private home had the security storage one might find on a bank vault was appealing enough. And the fact that the next day was Senior-Skip Day at his school-- well Neal found the timing to be serendipitous. He waited until Peter was on a phone call for work, and fed Elizabeth a story about wanting to spend the night at Theo’s house after a trip to Coney Island.
It was easy enough to make the trip upstate during the day. He took the public tour of the Clermont Estate to scope out the security, and spent the afternoon walking along the Hudson River while waiting for the cover of dark. Once the property seemed empty enough, Neal made his way back, managing to keep a low profile despite the bags strapped to his back.
The fact that it was so easy should have been his first clue that something was wrong, but Neal was so excited to be standing in front of his most challenging safe, that he didn't even notice the men who stepped up behind him until he felt the barrel of a gun digging into his side.
"What the hell are you doing, kid?"
For once, Neal didn't bother to come up with any stories. Holding his hands up in surrender, he tried to turn around but the man threatening wouldn't let him look back. "I just wanted to see if I could crack it," he confessed.
"Well go on then, " came the reply as he was prodded with the gun.
"What?" Neal asked, stepping forward just slightly, but still holding himself in a non-threatening manner.
"If you open the door, we'll let you go. If you fuck up..."
Neal didn't need to hear the end of the threat. He was already aware of how badly he'd screwed the pooch this time. He walked over to the door, slowly lowering his homemade bag to the floor. It was a bulky contraption, designed so that he could carry his homework, saxophone case, and baseball gear on his back and leave his hands free. He briefly considered if he could reach for his bat in time, but quickly abandoned the thought. After all, it wouldn't make sense to bring a bat to a gun-fight. Just focus on the safe, he thought, wondering if these were the men his dad was coming for. If so, perhaps there was a chance he could get out of the situation alive. Sure, it wouldn't save him from anything else, but he'd cross those other hurdles once he got to them.
He worked with a quiet efficiency and was only stopped once by the man with the gun, who demanded to know what he was using. After a brief explanation of his gear, Neal turned his attention to the lock. He had to take a few deep breaths to try and quell the loud beating of his heart in his ears, but after a moment he was able to focus. He told himself there was no gun, no threat of jail or worse-- parental disappointment. It was just him and the safe. If he survived this he was never going to break the rules again. Or at least that's what he told himself as he worked.
It was almost disappointing how easily Neal managed to get the door opened. He heard the two men behind him excitedly whisper to themselves, but he didn't hurry to stand. He was curious about what would be so precious to be contained behind such security measures. It didn't seem like much to him. There was a simple bank bag that one might use for deposits, a large stack of papers, and on the bottom shelf a coin that was almost hidden from view.
Behind him, the man with the gun ordered him to stand up. Neal braced himself for the worst, but some voice inside him suggested he take the coin, and he deftly palmed it as he started to stand up. It was lucky for him that his other hand was on his bag, because the second he had the coin in hand the world went dark.
---o---
If he was dreaming, then it was a nightmare. Neal was drenched in sweat and thrashing in his sleep. He could still feel the gun pressed against him, the fear of death and the regrets that accompanied it. With a sudden jerk, he sat upright on the bed and shouted, "Please don't shoot me!"
He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he looked around the room in confusion. This wasn't his bedroom. Had the robbers kidnapped him? If they had, they didn't do a very good job of locking him away. He wasn't tied to anything, and the room was bright and inviting. What in the world was going on?
Elizabeth just happened to be home as five in the evening rolled around. She heard a shout from an empty room that she could have sworn wasn’t there before, at that moment she looked down at her tablet reading Arrivals - Neal Burke. A puzzled expression set on her face as she tried to work out exactly which Neal Burke it was going to be, or how old, or what. Baby Neal was still there, she knew that.
Hesitantly she knocked on the new door opening it seeing the hologram pop up to explain everything to teenage boy. His features a mixture of her own and Peter’s.
“Neal?” She asked still stunned by the possibility that this really was her son all grown up.
He paid little attention to hologram now explaining his new world. Neal was more distracted by the woman standing in the doorway, finding himself both comforted and confused by her appearance. She looked like the woman he’d said goodbye to earlier that morning, but a little softer. There were less lines on her face, although the look of concern was certainly familiar.
“Mom?” he began, moving to plant his feet on the floor, though he didn’t immediately stand up. He was starting to feel safer with her presence but was still very confused. “You look… Where are… What’s going on?” he finally asked.
Opening and shutting her mouth, El took a long second to just look at her son, it wasn’t possible, was it? Of course it was, this was Atlantis. And yet, her mind was still racing. A couple of tears started to fall as she pulled him into a hug. “You’re so grown up.” She said after letting him go and looking at him. “Um, it’s a little bit complicated, but I’ll get the hologram to restart, it’ll explain it better than I can.”
With the tears and hug that came, Neal was certain that his mom knew about the situation he previously found himself in, and that the lecture was sure to follow. But then she simply commented on his age, and he found himself confused all over again. So rather than comment and accidentally confess to something he didn’t need to, he just followed her lead and listened to the holo-recording.
After the welcome speech was finished, Neal was silent for a moment, simply trying to process it all. Atlantis was definitely not the situation that he expected, but considering his last memory it was probably the best alternative to reality. “So you’re not--” He cut himself off from saying something like not my mom, because that wasn’t an accurate way to describe what was happening.
Stumbling over the word choice, he finally opted for asking, “How old was I when you came here?”
“I wasn’t pregnant yet,” El answered with a soft smile. “But when Peter showed up, he showed up with you as a baby.” She knew it would be really confusing have Neal and Neal and Neal around she mildly wondered what would happen if the Neal she’d met who had grown up in Atlantis would show up too. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but your father is going to be so excited to see you, grown up you.”
“I’m glad Dad’s here too,” Neal replied, returning her smile with a small grin of his own. It would be odd to only have one of his parent’s around, even if El had teased Peter in the past about being a single mother whenever a case kept him out after dinner. Shaking away the memory, he turned his attention back to the first part of her explanation. It was too weird, but he had to ask, “Is the baby… me still here?”
“He is.” Elizabeth answered still feeling the shock of seeing her grown up son knowing the baby one was also here. “It’s okay though, there is another,” she paused trying to find the right word and narrowed her eyes as she thought about it. “Like you, she’s here older and her younger self is still here too.” She didn’t feel like that was the best way to explain it. “Are you okay?”
He wasn’t completely sure how to answer her question. He was alive, so that was a good start. And no one seemed to be mad at him which was also good. But he was also in a completely new place with parents that were his, but didn’t really know him, and he sort of had a baby brother now who was also himself. It was a lot to wrap his mind around. Neal gave her a weak smile as he responded. “I think so? I’ll get there.” Wanting to think about other things, he added, “Is it just you and Dad and the other me? Or is there anyone else we know here?”
She could tell he wasn’t completely okay, and she understood it. If she hadn’t been in a different version of New York before coming here she didn’t think she’d have handled it as well. “You will, it takes time, but I think you’ll like it here.” She told him smiling, at least she hoped he did. “Neal is here, I’m sure we’ve told you all about him. He’ll be excited to meet you.”
He perked up at the mention of his namesake. At least there would be one person he could talk to about his less-than-legal activities without fear of punishment. If the Neal who was in Atlantis was anything like the one he knew back home, at least. “Oh yeah!” he replied. “He doesn’t live in New York anymore, but sometimes he shows up for dinner, and I have a cool hat collection because of him.”
“I’m sure hats aren’t the only thing Neal gave you,” El was aware of what they had thought was Neal’s death but wasn’t actually. Being in Atlantis changed some of those things for a person. “He’s doing well here, hasn’t stolen anything, that we know of, has a serious girlfriend, likes to spoil the younger,” she paused. “You, although we may need to figure out what else to call the baby now, with you here as well.”
At that, Neal made a face. Getting used to the little version of himself was probably going to be the hardest adjustment he would have to make. “Maybe he can go by my-- our middle name? Robert?” Perhaps he could pretend baby Neal was just a little brother if he was called something else.
“I’ll talk to your father, but I’m sure that would be just fine.” Elizabeth was a little unsure about it but her first priority was to make sure her teenage son was comfortable and baby Neal was young enough that calling him something else wouldn’t be a problem.
He could sense her hesitancy, and Neal swallowed guiltily as he glanced down at the floor. It had to be weird, a teenage son popping up out of nowhere, but she was still being so nice to him. He was grateful for the mostly familiar face after waking up from a dangerous situation.
Looking back over at his mom, Neal leaned over and hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re here,” he said meaningfully. It didn’t matter how old she was.
Wrapping her arms around him she smiled, it might still be confusing but not in the bad kind of way. “I can’t even express how happy I am that you’re here.”