NEAL CAFFREY + OPEN
LOW | NARRATIVE/OPEN
TAG IN OR GDOC HERE
For the last couple of days, Neal had been spending a lot of time stuck in his own head. He’d been thinking about his life, his future, and what that might look like in Atlantis. Did he even have a future in Atlantis? Apparently, some version of him did because a couple of his own kids had shown up. His and Lissa’s kids for that matter. It wasn’t fool proof given the fact that others had come and gone. There were no guarantees that he would stick around, and there were no guarantees that Lissa would either. He couldn’t help but wonder that if he did the thing that he’d been thinking about doing that he would jinx it. Jinx them.
Neal sure as hell didn’t want that, but he also knew he couldn’t live his life here based on the possibility that one of them could leave. It was no different living his life back home worried that shit was going to hit the fan if he got back into another relationship. Kate died, Sara left town, and Rebecca turned out to be a completely different person. The unexpected happened in New York, and it happened in Atlantis.
It was a slow day at the office, so Neal found himself browsing jewelry sites and scrolling through engagement rings. He saw several that he liked but also some that made him outwardly wince. Why anyone would put some of those things on their fingers he had no idea. Yes, Neal was most definitely a snob when it came to the finer things in life. This was not news to anyone who knew him.
As he continued searching, he began wondering if he would have ever thought about taking this step if he hadn’t come to Atlantis. Truthfully, he’d thought about it the most with Sara. They’d even staged the entire thing atop the Empire State Building for a case once upon a time. They’d been pretending to be different people for the job, but a big part of him had meant everything he’d said to her. She’d still left, and it hadn’t been meant to be.
Not wanting to dwell too much on past memories, he started thinking about ‘what ifs.’ Not the typical real-life what ifs, but ones related to his other identities like the one he’d used for his proposal to Sara - his favorite, Nick Halden. There were so many others to choose from, and Neal had often spent time over the years developing backstories to use. Details were important, but they couldn’t be too specific. Sometimes he missed the opportunity of pretending to be someone else for a case or a job he was trying to pull. The process was cathartic in some ways since he didn’t have to worry about being Neal Caffrey when he was in the alias’ shoes. He wondered what his life could have been like in other realities like if he’d been from one of the worlds other people from Atlantis were from before coming here. So many different possibilities.
At first he didn’t notice the man walking up to his desk, but when he did, Neal quickly changed the page with a couple of quick keystrokes. He definitely didn’t want to alert the entire office that he was sort of, possibly, maybe looking at engagement rings. Peter had already giving him a few of those knowing, smug looks ever since their conversation about knowing. Neal cleared his throat and looked up at the guy.
“Hey, you’re Ken, right?” The guy said. He was looking around like he was a little confused.
Neal shook his head. “Neal,” he corrected. He was pretty sure the guy was new to the station, but most people still knew his name. “Can I help you?”
“Sorry, no. I’m looking for Ken. Agent Burke asked me to find him.”
“I don’t know a Ken that works here. You’re sure he didn’t ask for me?”
“No…” The guy had a stack of familiar paperwork in his arms, and Neal wasn’t about to offer to take it from him on ‘Ken’s’ behalf. “Thanks, anyway.”
“Uh, sure,” Neal said and watched him walk away. Weird.
Shaking his head, Neal picked up his jacket and decided to go grab something to eat for lunch. He was walking down the street headed to Cinders when he heard a couple of whispers behind him. He glanced back to see two girls staring at him but then turned red and pretended to look away as soon as they saw him looking. He wasn’t sure what that was about but brushed it off and headed inside to place his order.
“Order for Ken,” someone called out from behind the counter after a few minutes. The name caught his attention, but he stayed put and glanced around to see who this mysterious Ken was. No one stepped up and finally the attendant walked over to him. “Ken?” She asked, a little impatient. “Your order’s ready.”
“Wait, but I’m not…” he started, but it was too late. She’d thrust the bag into his hand and had already retreated to her space behind the counter. Sure enough, the bag had his order down to the extra sauce he’d requested. What the hell was going on? Was he giving off ‘Ken’ vibes today?
Once outside again, he started back towards the office but was stopped by the two girls who had been giggling behind him. He looked at them expectantly, and one of them laughed nervously. “Hi, sorry to bother you, but can we get a picture with you? We saw you perform this weekend, and wow. Just wow.”
Neal had no idea what they were talking about, but he didn’t even want to ask. Agreeing for the picture, he let them snap one with their phones.
“Oh my god, our other friend isn’t going to believe this. Thank you so much, Ken!”
They’d started to walk away, but now Neal knew something wasn’t right. “Wait,” he called. “What show are you talking about? Why are you calling me Ken?”
One of the girls giggled. “Is that your stage name? I’m sorry. We just had so much fun the other night.”
“Fun where? I don’t remember seeing either one of you.”
“Oh, at Xquisite. I mean, we were just in the audience. Not one of the lucky ones who got to come up on stage with you. Wink wink.” She winked along with the words, and there was something about the way she said it that made Neal a bit uncomfortable.
“Right. The audience.” Neal shook his head. “Nevermind.”
“We’ll be back Saturday night!” They shouted as he started to walk away.
Neal ignored their laughter and was now starting to get a little frustrated. This had to be something Atlantis had cooked up, but he still didn’t know what ‘show’ they’d meant. Xquisite. A feeling of dread suddenly came over him, and he pulled out his phone for a quick search. Oh god. No. Atlantis, no. Atlantis had turned him into a stripper named Ken.
"Neal?" He'd been so focused on the videos he was seeing on his phone that he hadn't heard someone else walk up behind him. It took a couple of seconds to realize that they'd actually used his real name. Please dear god let them know who he really was.