Life Unfiltered : Live...Laugh...Love Out Loud.

Willie Garson in "Hot In Cleveland"

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:43:40 GMT

Willie "Mozzie" Garson played the role of 'Dr. Brotz' in last night's episode of Hot in Cleveland (S03E08 : "God and Football"). Cast includes Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, and Wendy Malick. Also guest starring Dan Cortese.

Willie Garson - HiC s03e08 from Section Eight Entertainment on Vimeo.

Many thanks to Avalon for the heads up! crossposted from Dreamwidth.

#Psych : James Roday's Audition Video

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:29:13 GMT

After watching this, it's quite obvious...he's the perfect guy for the job!

crossposted from Dreamwidth.

"Life with Archie" First Ever Gay Wedding.

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:52:46 GMT

This week, Archie Comics released its first-ever issue featuring a same-sex wedding.

“Life with Archie No. 16″ hits newsstands this Wednesday, featuring the interracial, same-sex wedding of character Lt. Kevin Keller, a white American soldier wounded in Iraq, and Clay Walker, the black physical therapist who helped him recover.

*Archie's going to a wedding — a gay wedding.

Last year, Archie Comics, the comic industry’s embodiment of wholesome Americana, crossed an important bridge when it introduced its first gay character, Kevin Keller. In Life With Archie no. 16, it takes an even bigger leap by featuring Keller’s same-sex marriage. And to boot: Keller is a soldier injured in Iraq who meets his partner, an African-American doctor, while recuperating in the hospital.*

crossposted from Dreamwidth.

Psych-Os Rejoice!!!

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:15:47 GMT

Psych has been renewed for it's SEVENTH season. You know that's right!

The news was announced on Twitter along with this photo....

And this video with a special message from James Roday and Dulé Hill on their FB page....

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
(posted for the Psych-Os without an FB account.)
crossposted from Dreamwidth.

100 Years in Ten Minutes (1911 - 2011)

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:12:29 GMT

A very powerful video, albeit some important events are missing (let's face it, you can't really fit all the world's events of the past century within 10 minutes!). Kudos to derDon1234 who researched, compiled, and edited the clips.

crossposted from Dreamwidth.

ICYMI : #TimHoward's GOAL for Everton.

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:22:31 GMT

In case you missed it...Tim Howard, goalkeeper for both Everton and the US Men's National Soccer Team, (yes, that's right...I said GOALKEEPER!) got a lot of attention for his kick of about 100 yards Wednesday night that made him just the fourth goalkeeper in the history of the Premier League to score a goal.

crossposted from Dreamwidth.

Geeks vs Nerds

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:14:00 GMT

It's 'GEEKS' vs 'NERDS' and you must choose a side! One common fallacy is that the two words are one and the same. Time to clear that up and know exactly which one you are.

crossposted from Dreamwidth.

What are 'Happy Primes'?

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:29:22 GMT

According to The (10th) Doctor, "Any number that reduces to one when you take the sum of the square of its digits and continue iterating it until it yields 1 is a happy number, any number that doesn't, isn't. A happy prime is a number that is both happy and prime."

Did you get all that?

crossposted from Dreamwidth.

John Barrowman is a Nerd...Just Like Us!

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:11:51 GMT

Love Captain Jack Harkness? (Seriously, who doesn't?) Do you like Spiderman? Or how about Wonder Woman? Well then, John Barrowman has a treat for you! Prepare to have a nerdgasm when you watch this video of John Barrowman, live in concert, as he sings the classic superhero tunes.

Notification : Stories and Stuff...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:49:09 GMT

This my personal account. For GVF related posts, you may go to gloriavotsisfan . For fanvids, stories and "Hunter Chronicles" stuff, visit sectioneightentertainment . All my fics will (eventually) be posted there. Thank you.

"Much Ado About Nothing" Trailer

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 03:30:55 GMT

David Tennant and Catherine Tate stars in Digital Theatre's production of William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". Here is the trailer.

twitvid.com/YLYGL crossposted from Dreamwidth.

Strasbourg [Chapter Three]

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:48:35 GMT

A/N : Continued from Strasbourg [Ch 2]

CHAPTER THREE

Asher and Aretha dropped Alex and Zeke back to the hotel. After that, Aretha had Asher look into the contents of the laptop, if it did in fact contained the recently stolen operating system for a microwave laser. Asher verified that it was indeed the laptop they were hired to retrieve, and they proceeded to the location where they were supposed to make the exchange.

They received a message that the rendezvous would take place in a church, Église Sainte-Madeleine. The two then headed off to to the designated location in hopes that it will all be over soon and they could all go home.

Back in their suite, Alex had just gotten out of the bathroom after soaking her sore body in the tub for almost an hour. Zeke had gone to the pharmacy nearby the hotel to get some medical supplies. Now wearing a grey tracksuit, Alex lied down on the bed and waited for her crew members to return. Her head hurt and almost every muscle of her body ached.

She turned on the television to check if their little adventure had made the local news, which it did. She was glad to know that nobody had died in the incident. Twenty-three people with minor injuries but no fatalities, the news anchor reported. No reports about any Chinese casualties so it was safe to assume that they have managed to flee the crime scene as well.

Alex thought back on the incident, trying to remember if there was anything that she had missed, or anything that she could have done differently, that would have changed the outcome of the events that had transpired. She had been too distracted lately. Now, too many doubts and 'what ifs' were running through her head.

Moments later, Alex heard someone knocking at the door. She got up, turned the tv off and went to the door. Instead of opening it, she peek into the door's peephole to see who it was. She knew that it wasn't any of her crew member, for they all have keys. She saw that it was a hotel attendant, or someone dressed as one, with a cart of food. She knew for a fact that none of them orders room service in a hotel, as they were always careful not to let strangers into their rooms. Only one conclusion came to mind.

It's a trap! Alex thought.

Alex tried to think of quick escape route. At the current state she was in, she was under no condition to pull another daredevil stunt similar to what she did earlier back at the penthouse suite. There was another knock on the door, only this time, it was more demanding and forceful.

Then came that familiar male voice who shouted, "Open up, Hunter! We know you're in there!" followed by another series of loud banging on the door.

Shit! Alex cursed.

She knew exactly who it was on the other side of the door. All those years, she had managed to elude that man dozens of times, until tonight. She looked for an alternative way out of there, but failed to see one. She finally resigned herself to the fact that she was trapped and that she needed help.

She sent a quick text message to Zeke, warning him of the situation, and told him to stay away from the hotel. Right after she pushed the 'SEND' button, came a loud crashing sound. She quickly threw her phone out the window, hoping that Zeke got the message.

Just then, six men from outside had busted in, one of them she knew quite well.

"Freeze, Hunter! Hands where I can see 'em!" said the pudgy man with a cheesy mustache, dressed in very expensive Brioni suit.

Alex did as ordered as she looked into the eyes of the man who had been after her for years. "Agent Doogie! Long time no see!" she said dryly.

Douglas Buckley, aka 'Agent Doogie', was an American agent for the International Criminal Police Organization who had been obsessed with catching her for years.

"What's the Interpol doing here in these neck of the woods?" she asked coyly.

"Don't get cute! Alexandra Hunter, you're under arrest!" Agent Buckley mirandized her, while an officer from the local Strasbourg police put the handcuffs on her. Then she was led out of the suite, out of the hotel and into a black vehicle waiting outside.

Come on, Aretha! You're my only hope! Alex silently prayed.

Back in the van, Asher and Aretha were waiting to see who showed up for the exchange. They stayed inside the van, which was parked not too far away from the church. Then, they saw a car pull up in front of the church's porch. They didn't recognize the people who came out of the car, which quickly roused Aretha's suspicions. She then dialed a number she knew by heart, which was answered by a familiar voice with a Spanish accent.

"Hello, Aretha? Is something wrong?" Valerie worriedly asked.

"Hey there, Val. Sorry to call you this late. Just wanted to verify the names of the people you sent here to pick up the 'merchandize'." Aretha said.

"What people? I haven't sent anyone! My office never got any messages from you or your crew about an exchange tonight!" Valerie said in a slightly panicked tone. "I'd advice you to get out of there now! It's a trap!" she added.

Aretha agreed and she hung up the phone. "Let's go, Asher! It's a set up!" Aretha ordered Asher. Just then, her phone rang. It was Zeke. "Zeke. What's going on?" she asked.

"Bad news, Aretha! I just got a text message from Alex. Interpol agents busted into the suite. They arrested Hunter!" Zeke informed her.

Aretha shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. God! When will this day end? she thought. "Where are you now?" she asked out loud.

"I'm at the parking lot of the hotel." Zeke replied.

"Don't go anywhere. We'll be there soon!" Aretha ordered.

After they picked up Zeke, they tried to think of a plan to get Alex out. They never bothered going back to their suite since they didn't leave anything in there that was of any value. Everything they needed were inside the van, which now served as their temporary operations center. Zeke served as the lookout, he made sure that they weren't being watched. Asher clicked away in his computer as he tried to find out where Alex was being held.

As it turned out, she was arrested and officially booked at the local Strasbourg police station. Afterwards, she was released into the custody of the Interpol agent in charge of her case, and was now neing kept in an undisclosed location.

Aretha placed another call to Valerie to brief her about everything that had just transpired. Valerie told her the name of Alex's ICPO arresting agent, and promised Aretha that her office will be coordinating with ICPO headquarters regarding the matter.

"Asher, tell me you found her!" Aretha said after she had hung up the phone.

"Just hang on, one more second! There! Hah!" Asher shouted triumphantly. "It took me a while, but I've remotely reactivated the tracking device that I put in her shoes!" he continued.

After a few more clicks, he said, "Found her! She's being held at the Villa Novarina. Not too far away from here!" he exclaimed.

"Good work! Valerie did say that Alex was being held in one of the Interpol safe houses here in Strasbourg, pending their trip back to Interpol HQ in Lyon, France in the morning." she sighed. "Okay, new assignment! Find out everything you can about a certain Agent Douglas Buckley! I mean everything!" she ordered Asher.

"Agent Douglas Buckley, gotcha! Is he the one who has Alex?" he asked.

Aretha nodded. "Apparently, he's been obsessed with catching Alex for years!" she said. She turned to Zeke. "Zeke, I want you to 'retrieve' a couple of things for me!" she said.

"What is it?" Zeke asked her.

"For now, let's just call them our 'bargaining chips'!" Aretha said as she let Zeke in on her plan.

First thing in the morning, the rest of the crew were good to go. Aretha briefed her team on what was about to go down. Asher had all of Agent Buckley's information ready for her. Before she went in, Asher handed her a portable video player containing some very incriminating evidence against Buckley. Zeke had their 'bargaining chips' ready on standby. He had wanted to go with Aretha inside as back up, but was ordered to remain outside.

"No, this bastard is mine!" Aretha said in a wicked tone.

Aretha went inside the villa alone.

"Anyone in here whose name is NOT Agent Douglas Buckley would do well to get out of here right now!" she said as she announced her presence.

She didn't see Alex anywhere, so she assumed that they were holding her in one of the rooms upstairs. The other two agents were on alert, but Agent Buckley waved them off.

"Leave us!" he ordered. "Well, if it isn't the great Margaretha Deveraux!" he said after they were finally alone. "I take it, that you're here for your friend, Alex Hunter? Well, you can forget it! I'm taking her back with me to Interpol HQ! You may have had your little deal with the UNSC, but that immunity only applies to you! Not your crew!" he scoffed.

Aretha glared at him. "See, you have me at a slight disadvantage here, Agent Buckley. You know me, but I don't know you. Well, I didn't, up until a few hours ago." she said as she moved closer to Buckley. "And what I found out about you made my stomach turn!" Aretha continued in an icy tone.

Buckley just waved his hand off to dismiss her. "I don't care what you think you may have on me! It pales in comparison to what Hunter had done in the past!" he shouted angrily.

"Allegedly! None of it was ever proven! Hear says do not count as facts! Don't forget that!" Aretha said in a steady voice.

"Allegedly, my ass! She had been linked to the sudden 'disappearances' of numerous expensive works of arts from all over the world! René Magritte's painting, 'Olympia', stolen from the Jette Museum in Belgium. The Salvador Dali sculpture, 'Lady with Drawers', stolen from the Belfort Museum in Brugge. The Edgar Degas painting, 'The Chorus' stolen from the Marseille Museum. The Vincent Van Gogh painting, 'Vase and Flowers' stolen from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Giza, Egypt. Do you want me to continue?" he asked angrily.

Aretha shook her head. "No need. But you failed to mentioned one thing. The most important thing, well, to you, at least. I know you're not really after her because of the art works she 'allegedly' stolen. Those were very expensive, yes. But what you're really after is something 'priceless', something you believe that Alex Hunter has in her possession." Aretha said as she studied Buckley's reaction carefully.

She noticed that Buckley grew interested in what she had just said. "You want the Alva Varden diamond, that priceless necklace that was part of the Princess Sophia treasure! The huge, flawless diamond that legend said Adolf Hitler had given to his mistress, Alva Varden, as a gift. The same one that was lost at sea when the Princess Sophia sank decades ago." she said without taking her eyes off of the agent.

Aretha studied Buckley's reaction before she continued. "That caught your attention, didn't it? Well, don't get excited just yet! I'm not about to hand it over to you! I'm not daft! See, I know your kind, Agent Douglas Buckley! You catch thieves and you force them to tell you the location of the stolen goods. Then, you 'dispose' of your suspects, make it look like an 'accident' or 'self-defense'. After that, you either collect the reward money from the owners or fence the merchandize yourself. You, Agent Buckley, are nothing but a glorified pirate! The kind who hides behind a badge!" she said, her tone dripping with disdain. "You do what you have to, even murder someone, just for money!" she hissed. She saw Buckley blanched.

"I don't know what you're talking about, bitch!" he yelled.

"Oh, well, this BITCH has proof of you murdering someone in cold blood! You might remember a man from Austria named Greger Schmidt. He had a map to the location of the lost war treasures of Dachau. You killed him and took the map, only to find out that the map was a fake!" Aretha snapped back.

She took out the portable video player that Asher had given her earlier and hit the 'PLAY' button as she showed it to the corrupt agent. It played a recorded video feed from a surveillance camera. The video showed a man in his thirties, being roughed up by Buckley's goons inside what seemed like a interrogation room.

Moments later, it showed Buckley, clear as day, as he pulled out his gun and shot the man three times in the back of the head. He ordered his goons dispose of the corpse. Then, it showed Buckley move towards the camera, took out a handkerchief and proceeded to remove the tape. The screen went blank afterwards.

Aretha watched as Buckley's face turned all white. "See, you may have a number of researchers on your team. I only needed a 22 year-old computer genius who has problems with authority. I will give you points for taking the tape to cover up your crime." she said. "But next time, if you're going to keep incriminating evidence against yourself, do NOT hide it on your own laptop! You stupid, stupid man!" she mocked him.

She circled around the pudgy agent, now sitting down, still staring at the blank screen. "Oi! Look at me!" she tried to get his attention, her English accent now more pronounced as her anger seeped out. "You can keep that, I've made copies for safe keeping!" she said.

Aretha grabbed Buckley's face. "Here is what's going to happen. You will release Alex Hunter to me. You will forget about pursuing Alex completely. If you as much as cast a shadow in her direction, a copy of the video goes to your superiors. If anything bad happens to Alex, I will come after you. You said earlier that you know who I am. Well, I'm guessing that you know what I'm capable of as well. You ever mess with what's me or mine in any way, shape or form, I know where you live! And if you really do know me, that alone should scare you, you feckless thug! Because I am that one MONSTER you do not want knocking at your door!" she warned him in a malevolent tone.

She pushed the nervous man back to his chair. "Now tell your men I want my friend in here, NOW!" she demanded.

Buckley radioed his agent to bring Alex downstairs, which they soon did. Aretha checked to make sure that Alex was alright. Then she used her earpiece to tell Zeke to come in with the 'bargaining chips'. Zeke came inside, dragging the Dupuis brothers with him. Gilles and Alain both looked battered and bruised, for they fought and struggled with Zeke earlier when Zeke 'retrieved' the two of them.

"There you go!" Aretha said. "You can bring those two back to Lyon with you. We can't have you going back to ICPO headquarters empty-handed! That would look suspicious!" she stated.

With that Aretha, Alex and Zeke proceeded to leave the villa. Aretha stopped and turned back to Buckley. "Oh, and it would be wise for you and your men not to follow us again this time! For your own well-being, and all that!" she said. Then she left with her crew.

A couple of hours later, Alex and her crew were on a plane headed back to Budapest. Alex thanked them, especially Aretha, for coming to her rescue.

"Don't mention it." said Zeke

"We're family. We stick together!" said Asher.

As they were all settled in on their seats in first class, Alex turned to Aretha. "I mean it.Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!" she said to Aretha "And I'm so sorry for screwing up so bad on this job. It won't happen again, you have my word." she promised.

"Oh, Alex...none of this was your fault!" Aretha reassured her.

"No, my head wasn't in the game! If I weren't so distracted, this whole matter would've come out with a different result!" Alex replied.

"Look at me, Alex. None of us blames you. This whole case was just a big pile of one bad surprise after another. You had no control over that!" Aretha said. She continued, "But since we're on the subject...as I've said before, I can't fault you for worrying over Neal. But maybe, as time pass by, you should learn to live your own life. I'm not asking you to forget about him completely. I just want to remind you that your son needs you more." She squeezed Alex's hand.

Alex nodded and they waited in silence for their plane to reach their destination.

BACK TO VADZEL MANOR, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

They all got back to Hungary safe and sound. Asher and Aretha had gone out to meet with Valerie to hand the laptop over to her, officially this time. Alex now had just finished singing Nicholas to sleep and kissed him goodnight. As she stood there staring at her sleeping son, she thought back on the events that happened back in Strasbourg. What Aretha had said earlier was right. She needed to get Caffrey out of her head.

Easier said than done! she thought.

She recalled those precious times they had with each other back in the day. Neal Caffrey was like a drug, and boy, did she got hooked. She had learned to live her life by his side, on his side. And she was very happy when they were together.

Alex remembered the first time Neal had ended their relationship years ago. One of the most painful, heartbreaking moments of her life. She remembered not being able to get out of bed for days, just locked herself inside her room where she preferred to exist in alternating states of extreme emotional pain followed by dead-like numbness.

Her heartache over Neal Caffrey had almost destroyed her once. Somehow, she found the strength to rise above it. And as she watched Nicholas sleep, she knew that her little boy is the one she draws her strength from as of late. She knew what she needed to do, she needed to put any thoughts of Neal at the back of her mind. He is the least of her priorities now.

I need to do this...for my son's sake. she said to herself.

For she knew, when it all comes down to a choice between Neal Caffrey and Nicholas Hunter, Nicholas will always come first.

~FINI~

Footnotes :

*Église Sainte-Madeleine or Sainte-Madeleine Church was the first convent in Strasbourg to be dedicated to Mary Magdalene.

*Agent Douglas Buckley is Alex's very own version of a corrupt Peter Burke.

*All the expensive pieces of art work mentioned were really stolen in real life, just not by Alex Hunter! =D

*The Princess Sophia treasure was partly true, although there was no Alva Varden diamond. I made that part up.

*In this story, we get a rare glimpse to Aretha's past. She is NOT really that nice, especially if anyone that she cares about are threatened. From the moment I introduce her character, it's been said that she is a valuable asset to various international organizations. Someone as skilled as that, you can surely bet that she can be a very dangerous enemy. And a very good friend to have on your side.

*So there it goes. My take on how Alex was arrested in France. As Jones explained in "Home Invasion", the charges were mysteriously dropped and that Alex has powerful friends.

*I chose to write Alex's little trip down memory lane as vaguely as possible, since I haven't seen the flashback episode yet.

***Thanks for taking time to read this story. Hope you enjoyed it!***

*Reposted from Strasbourg Ch 3, originally published on FFNET last 01-07-11

Strasbourg [Chapter Two]

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:39:28 GMT

A/N : Continues from Strasbourg CH 1

CHAPTER TWO

By the time Alex got to the conference room, the briefing was almost done. Being a con artist, she had learned to hide her feelings from others quite well. All except from Aretha, who had been watching her intently since she had walked into the room.

"Alright, Asher, I want you to find out everything you can about the Dupuis brothers and the microwave laser. Zeke, I want you to call Valerie Vega's office and coordinate with her people about the 'accommodations' they'll be providing for us while we are in Strasbourg. We'll reconvene here first thing tomorrow morning for the final details. Class dismissed." Aretha told the crew.

"Except for you, Hunter! You get to stay. We need to talk." Aretha added.

"Uh oh! Sounds like trouble in paradise!" Nigel whispered.

Zeke nudged him in the rib. "Shut up, kid!" he told him. The boys left the conference room.

Aretha moved closer to Alex. "What's up? And don't even bother denying it! I can see it in your eyes! Something's wrong. Now tell me!" she pressed.

Alex hesitated at first, but she knew she couldn't hide anything from Aretha. "That was Hale on the phone. The verdict was in, regarding Neal's case. He was found guilty of bond forgery. They gave him a four-year sentence." she explained.

Aretha patted her on the shoulder and gave her a sympathetic nod. "Look, Alex, I know that this is difficult for you. I'd advice you to get him out of your head completely, but I also know that that's impossible since he's the father of your son. If you need some time to clear your head, just let me know. This mission is built for four people, but we can get by with three. Take some time off, we'll be fine." she said.

Alex shook her head. "No! You're right! I can't spend my life worrying over Neal Caffrey! I have duties to fulfill, a son to take care of, a job to do! I can do this! I'd be much better once I'm working on the field again!" she said empathically.

Aretha nodded in agreement. "Alright then. Go get some rest. I'll see you back here first thing tomorrow morning." They both left the lair and proceeded to their own rooms.

The next day, their plans for Strasbourg were finalized. Asher had all the information ready. He had made them fake passports and documents and their legends. Zeke had arranged for all the 'equipments' they'd be needing in Strasbourg, courtesy, of course, of the UNSC. Mostly 'tools' they're not allowed to have on the plane with them.

As Aretha was making her final points before their trip, Alex found it hard to concentrate. She tried to shake the thoughts of Neal away and focused her mind at the job at hand. Aretha asked her if she was alright.

Alex answered "I was just thinking how our lives would be so much easier if we have a private jet!" she chuckled.

Asher quickly agreed and Zeke just groaned. Soon, they all proceeded to get ready for their trip. They packed all their necessities. Alex kissed her son goodbye before she left the manor.

STRASBOURG, FRANCE

Their direct flight from Budapest to Strasbourg wasn't that long. They arrived in their hotel in a few hours. Valerie's office had somehow managed to reserve them two adjoining suites at the posh Hotel Regent Petite France. Also waiting for them in Strasbourg was black van fully equipped with everything that they would need for their 'assignment'.

They have received information that the Dupuis brothers are staying at the nearby hotel, in the penthouse suite of the very expensive La Résidence Jean-Sébastien Bach. Clearly, provided for them by their Chinese contacts.

The next few days, the crew had spent on doing surveillance of the place. They needed to know the type of schedule that the Dupuis followed. The kind of people they hung out with, the kind of night life habits they have, if any. Alex also tried to stay out of plain sight, since the brothers Dupuis knows who she is. It might arouse their suspicions, and they can't have that.

Alex and Aretha planned their next move. They've decided on a simple breaking and entering, smash-and-grab type of job, with Alex on point and Zeke as back-up. Aretha and Asher stays in the van as look outs. It was supposed to be an easy job. They wait for Alain and Gilles to go to their favourite night club, as soon as they leave, they break into their suite, get the laptop back, and then get out before the brothers come back. Sounded easy enough. Alex had done dozens of those kind of jobs on her own, even without back up. She could break in and out of almost any kind of room blindfolded. That is, if her head was fully in the zone.

The night of the 'assignment' came, which Asher dubbed as Operation : Foolproof.

"Don't you think that's kinda jinxing it a bit, Ash?" Alex asked him.

"Nope, I'm very hopeful that this assignment will be over soon and I will be back to watching episodes of Doctor Who in no time!" Asher replied confidently.

"Exercise cautious optimism, Ash! You never know what kind of surpise the future holds." Alex said cryptically. She went back to preparing for the job.

Alex was wearing her usual black leather cat burglar suit, with her belt bag containing her burglary kit. As per usual, they all have their com links on, not only for communications purposes, but also so that Asher could track all of their locations on the grid. Alex had her com link transceiver clipped on the collar of her jacket for easy access.

Asher did a final sound check to make sure that all their earpiece communicators were working. After everything was all prepared, Alex said a silent prayer and went into the hotel.

In the beginning, everything went as planned. Alex broke into the Dupuis' penthouse suite. She went into the bedroom and found the case containing the laptop inside one of the drawers.

Like I said, they're not very smart. Alex thought. She was just about to grab the case when she heard Zeke's voice on the com link.

"Hunter, get out of there now! The mission's been compromised! I repeat, get out of there right now!" he shouted.

Then she heard gunshots, followed by a few loud explosions from what sounded like grenades. As it turned out, the Dupuis didn't go to their usual night club hang out. They had gone to make the exchange with the Chinese. It seemed that they didn't like the terms of the deal so the Dupuis had walked away without handing over the 'merchandize'.

The Chinese, sensing a double cross, had followed them into their hotel and then riot ensued. With Zeke trapped in a gun battle with the Chinese agents a few flights below, Alex now had no back up against the dubious Dupuis brothers, who were fast approaching her location.

*Alex struggled to see through the thick smoke as she tried to find her way out of the room that was now engulfed in flames. She stopped in her tracks. Without warning, the sound of a single gunshot rang in the air. As she felt some of the bullet's impact on her left collar bone, Alex's body slammed against the wall, her head hitting hard against the concrete. Her body slumped to the floor. As she fought to stay conscious, she heard two male voices talking in French.

"Elle est morte. Allons-y!" ["She's dead. Let's go!"] the first voice said. Alain Dupuis, she recognized that voice.

"Non, nous avons besoin obtenir l'ordinateur portable!" ["No, we need to get the laptop!"] the other voice said. That would be Gilles Dupuis, Alain's equally crooked older brother.

"Juste que le feu détruire ! Nous avons besoin de sortir d'ici, maintenant !" ["Just let the fire destroy it! We need to get out of here, now!"] the younger Dupuis yelled.

Alex heard them leave in a hurry. She tried to use her earpiece to call her team for help, but it wasn't working. She looked at the com link transceiver clipped on her jacket and saw that it was busted.

"Aretha!" she called before she lost consciousness.*

Back in the van, Asher and Aretha heard everything that was happening. They were trying to contact both Zeke and Alex on their earpieces. Zeke was busy fighting off the Chinese. They couldn't get any response from Alex.

"She's off the grid, Boss! Not even a blip on the radar!" Asher said in a panicked voice.

"Keep trying! I'm going in!" Aretha replied as she was getting out of the van. She tried her earpiece as well. "Alex, can you hear me? Please say something!" she pleaded in a frantic voice. Still no answer from Alex.

Aretha scrambled her way into the crowd that was trying to get out of the building. It was only a matter of time now before the authorities are called in to the scene. They needed to get out of there, FAST. Aretha proceeded to go to Zeke's location to give him assistance. She saw him struggling out of the building, coughing from all the smoke.

"I shot four Chinese agents, they're still trapped inside! The Dupuis brothers got away. And I've lost contact with Hunter! Sorry, boss!" Zeke said apologetically.

"We need to find her fast, before the police get here!" Aretha said. She tried the com link again, but only silence from the other end answered her.

Back in the penthouse suite, Alex was starting to wake up. She rubbed the back of her head as she tried to recall where she was. Then she saw the fire around her and it all came back to her.

The mission! she remembered.

She crawled on the floor, careful not to inhale the smoke. Finally, she got to the drawer where the laptop case was located. She strapped it onto her back and tried to find her way out of the room. She found the door ajar and made her way through the corridor.

The entire hallway leading to the emergency exit was engulfed in fire. That was clearly not the way out. She needed to think fast, or else she's going to die right there. And she can't let that happen. She had a little boy to come home to. She needed a plan, quickly, before it's too late.

She saw the fire hose reel nearby. Then she remembered that Bruce Willis movie Mozzie loved so much, he had to watch it every time it was on cable.

Why the hell not? I'm all out of options! Alex thought.

She smashed the glass and pulled the fire hose out and went back inside the penthouse suite. She picked up a chair and then smashed the window. She used the fire hose as a rope and tied it around her midsection. She went out the ledge and tried not to look down.

Here goes nothing! she said to herself. She closed her eyes and then jumped. As she fell, she screamed, "Yippee ki-yay!-" Her yell was cut short, so did her fall.

The fire hose wasn't long enough and she was still dangling at least twenty feet above the ground. The metal part of the hose was starting to dig into her ribs. She undid the knot and began to fall. With a loud crash, she landed on the roof of a sedan.

On the ground, her fellow crew members had been frantically trying to find a way to get her out, while trying to get people out of the burning building. All of a sudden, they heard a female voice yell, followed by a loud crashing sound nearby. Then they saw Alex emerge out of the rubble, dusting herself off as if nothing had happened.

"Damn, Alex! Did you just Spider-Manned your way out of that building?" Zeke asked, seemingly quite impressed.

"Nah, I 'John McClaned' my way out!" Alex replied with a sly grin. Then she saw Aretha coming her way.

"Damn it , Alex! New rule : If you're alive, you answer me when I call you on your com link!" Aretha said angrily.

"I couldn't!" Alex answered as she pointed at her com link transceiver. It had a bullet in it. "Dupuis shot me! Good thing that's the only thing damaged!" she continued.

Then Alex saw Asher come out of the van. "Hey, Ash, think fast!" Without warning, she threw the laptop case to their resident nerd.

"You got the laptop?" Asher asked incredulously.

"Hell yeah, I got the laptop! Now, do your thing, Poindexter!" Alex teased their young crew member.

Sirens were blaring from a distance. They made sure that no one else were remained trapped inside and everyone made it out alright. They proceeded to get in to the van, when Aretha noticed Alex winced. There was obviously more to her injuries than she had let on. Alex had her hands on her ribs as she walked. Then, there was the trickle of blood coming down Alex's right temple.

"Alex, you're bleeding! We need to have you get checked out!" Aretha said worriedly.

"No! No hospitals! It's too risky! I'm alright!" Alex replied.

The sound of sirens were becoming louder. A signal that they needed to get out of there in a hurry. They helped Alex into the van.

"Okay, we're taking you back to the hotel. Zeke, get some medical supplies from the pharmacy! Asher and I can handle the exchange!" Aretha ordered as Asher drove the van away from the crime scene as fast as he could without attracting any unwanted attention.

Unbeknownst to Aretha and her crew, they were already being watched from a distance. Not far away from them was another black van. The driver waited a short while before he started to follow them wherever they were headed.

~END OF CHAPTER TWO~

Footnotes :

*Alex Hunter's weakness, as always, is Neal Caffrey. Remember, when she gave birth prematurely when she found out about the FBI closing in on Neal? Her mind gets distracted and her body panics at the mere mention of his name. I wouldn't go so far as to say that she is still in love with him, but there's a deep bond between them since he is Nicholas' father.

*A direct flight from Budapest to Strasbourg only takes about an hour.

*Doctor Who is a long-running BBC programme popular amongst tech geeks and sci-fi nerds alike. I'm a huge fan of the show.

*In case you haven't figured it out, the name of the Bruce Willis movie was "Die Hard". Mozzie quoted some lines and was wearing the 'John McClane' attire when he pretended to be a mental patient in "Vital Signs".

***Thank you kindly for taking time to read this chapter! This one was so much fun to write! Hope you enjoyed it!***

*Reposted from Strasbourg CH 2, originally published on FFNET last 01-05-11.

Strasbourg [Chapter One]

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:33:20 GMT

Title : Strasbourg

Author's Note : Another story set before Alex and Neal saw each other again in "Home Invasion". First attempt to write an action caper story. Constructive criticisms are welcome, just please don't be too harsh.

Disclaimer : I don't own any of the recognizable characters. That honor belongs to Jeff Eastin, White Collar writers and USA Network.

Summary : Alex gets distracted and a lot of things go wrong as the crew takes a job in France as a favour for a person from Aretha's past. Follows "Thieves".

CHAPTER ONE

STRASBOURG, FRANCE

Alex struggled to see through the thick smoke as she tried to find her way out of the room that was now engulfed in flames. She stopped in her tracks. Without warning, the sound of a single gunshot rang in the air. As she felt some of the bullet's impact on her left collar bone, Alex's body slammed against the wall, her head hitting hard against the concrete. Her body slumped to the floor. As she fought to stay conscious, she heard two male voices talking in French.

"Elle est morte. Allons-y!" ["She's dead. Let's go!"] the first voice said. Alain Dupuis, she recognized that voice.

"Non, nous avons besoin obtenir l'ordinateur portable!" ["No, we need to get the laptop!"] the other voice said. That would be Gilles Dupuis, Alain's equally crooked older brother.

"Juste que le feu détruire ! Nous avons besoin de sortir d'ici, maintenant !" ["Just let the fire destroy it! We need to get out of here, now!"] the younger Dupuis yelled.

"Aretha!" she called before she lost consciousness.

FLASHBACK TO THE WEEK BEFORE, BACK IN BUDAPEST...

Alex and Nicholas are now back in her son's room at the manor. They just came home from spending most of the the day at the park and a little shopping. Their little adventure outside of Vadzel was a bit tiring for little Nicholas, who is currently fast asleep in his crib. Alex tucked him in and gave him a kiss.

She then proceeded to put away the things she had bought for Nicholas earlier. She didn't really know why she bought all of those when she knew that Nicholas still have a lot of clothes he hasn't worn yet. She noticed that there were still unused stuff in the baby closet, mostly gifts from friends that Nicholas' got on his birthday just a few months ago. She had only opened and used the gifts that came from close friends and family, and put everything else away.

Alex remembered that day well. Nicholas' first birthday. Alex thought that it was just going to be a small party, with only the people in the manor attending. She didn't know that Aretha, who seemed to live to surprise people, had paid for all the expenses so that Hale and his family could visit them and spend the holidays at the manor. Alex was more than delighted. So far, her Christmases in Hungary have been the most memorable, with the year when Nicholas was born as her top favourite. This past one was by far one of the happiest, since it was Nicholas' birthday and she had her family and friends with her for the holidays.

If only Caffrey were here, then everything would've been perfect. she thought.

She shifted her gaze back to the beautiful child sleeping in the room. She wanted so much for Nicholas to have normal family life, both loved by his mother and his father. But then again, there aren't a lot about her's and Neal's lives that were considered as normal.

Last time she'd heard, the jury was about ready to give a verdict regarding Neal's case. Alex remained optimistic, but there was this persistent feeling of queasiness in the pit of her stomach. Her gut was telling her that something was about to go very wrong.

Alex went to find Aretha after she left Nicholas' room. She wanted to know if there had been any new jobs for them to do. The past several weeks without a single case have been like a vacation for all of them. It was a welcomed period of rest for the whole crew. They all did their own thing. Asher kept busy by playing his online role-playing games. Zeke cleaned all of his guns and rearranged the munitions section of their lair.

Alex spent most of her time with Nicholas. As for Aretha, well, no one really knew how Aretha spent her downtime. But that was then, and now would be a good time to come back to work. Zeke was already bored of doing nothing after the first week of vacation. He decided that Alex should learn archery, which was fun for her at first. Then, Zeke decided that Alex would also benefit with some jungle survival training.

That's where Alex drew the line. No way! I don't do jungles! Alex had been avoiding Zeke and had been staying as far away as possible from the lair since then. Yup, it was definitely time to get back to work!

Edina had mentioned earlier that Aretha had a female visitor in her study. So she made her way to the Aretha's office, hoping to meet this woman. She peeked through the glass on the door of the office. She saw Aretha and the visitor having what seemed to be a pleasant conversation. Alex caught glimpse of the visitor, but not enough to see her face. Then Aretha saw Alex snooping so she excused herself and stepped outside of the office.

"What do you think you're doing?" Aretha asked her.

"Well, Edina told me you have a visitor. Just curious as to who she is." Alex replied.

"I'll explain later." Aretha told her.

"You will explain now! Come on! Who is she? Your best friend? Your secret sister, perhaps? Your lesbian lover?" Alex wiggled her eyebrows at Aretha when she mentioned the last part.

"You watch way too much telly, Alex!" Aretha replied. She continued, "If you must know, she was my mentor. Come on in. I'll introduce you." They both went inside the office.

Alex saw the woman inside the office. A strikingly beautiful woman in her mid 40's. She was slightly taller than Alex, had long, straight, black hair, stunning golden brown, round shaped eyes and lovely full lips. She looked like she belonged in a billboard endorsing a beauty product.

Aretha spoke first. "Alexandra Hunter, I would like to introduce you to my oldest friend, Miss Valerie Vega. Valerie Vega, I would like you to meet my associate and good friend, Miss Alexandra Hunter." she said.

Valerie held out her hand to shake Alex's and with a Spanish accent said "Pleased to meet you, Miss Hunter. Aretha had spoke highly of you in our conversation."

Alex shook her hand. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss Vega. It's not very often that I get to meet any of Aretha's close friends." she replied.

Alex had enjoyed hearing Aretha and Valerie's tales of how they met and became good friends. Valerie regaled Alex with stories of how she had plucked Aretha from obscurity, to which Aretha objected.

"Oi! I was never obscure!" she said.

Alex noticed the deep bond of friendship and trust between the two. And she didn't feel jealous at all. It was comforting to know that Aretha wasn't all alone in life before she had met Alex. Alex listened to more of Valerie's tales of how she had made sure that Aretha had mastered everything she taught her before she had decided that it's time for her to retire from the life of crime. There was a glint of sadness mixed with joy as she told Alex their story. It all seemed so nice, but Valerie's tone implied that she was leaving something out. Alex got curious.

Alex began to ask questions. "So, that's it then? You came here just to reminisce and wax nostalgic over your past adventures?" she said, trying very hard not to sound rude.

Valerie looked at Aretha. "You warned me that she was good." she said with a smile.

Aretha nodded and then turned her attention to Alex. "Valerie is here to give us an assignment, Alex." she explained.

Alex was confused. "An assignment? What do you mean?" she asked.

It was Valerie who answered. "You see Alex, I said that I retired from the life of crime. I didn't stay fully retired from the game. Look, I'm sure that Aretha's told you of the cases she worked on for various covert international government agencies. Let's just say that I work for one of those agencies." She looked at Alex and tried to gage her reaction.

"You're a spy?" Alex asked her.

Valerie shook her her. "No. Not quite. I work for the UNSC." she said.

"You mean the United Nations Security Council? That UNSC?" Alex asked.

"Yes, that UNSC. I am what you would call a 'power broker'. One of the few that the UN have working in Western Europe." Valerie began to explain.

"Wait, what exactly is a 'power broker'?" Alex asked again.

"A 'power broker' is a person that the UNSC hires to ensure that the balance of power is maintained between the countries who are members of the Union. Basically, we make sure that one nation doesn't harbor any form of harmful technological devices or weapons of mass destruction that is not sanction by the United Nations." Valerie explained to her.

Alex wanted to ask more questions but decided to just let Valerie speak.

"About a month ago, the UNSC had confiscated the operating system for a microwave laser from the Chinese government. Two weeks ago, the laptop containing the operating system was stolen from what we thought was a secured location. We've recently heard word from our contacts that the Chinese Defense Ministry had hired thieves to steal the laptop back from the Council." Valerie informed her.

She took a deep breathe and continued. "If this operating system makes it back to China, they will have the technology to build a directed energy weapon that can be fired at any aimed direction without any need for any projectile. China could fire at any of their enemies and we won't know it until it hits. Now, do you understand why we want it back?" she asked them.

Alex and Aretha both nodded. This would mean chaos for all the nations not allied with China.

After a brief pause, Alex spoke. "Do you have any information as to who had stolen the laptop?" she asked.

Valerie nodded. "Yes, we do. Thieves named Gilles and Alain Dupuis. They are brothers, from France. Last time we heard, they took the laptop back to France with them. They are currently back in Strasbourg awaiting instructions as to when they will make the exchange with the Chinese." Valerie replied.

Alex shook her head. "I know them. The Dupuis brothers. I had a nasty encounter with them some time ago, back in Ukraine." Alex said. She saw Aretha raised an eyebrow. She ignored Aretha's questioning looks and continued. "These two like to play rough. Not too smart though. But whatever they lack in brains, they more than make up for in brawns. This could get ugly." Alex said in a serious tone.

"We've handled ugly situations before!" Aretha answered confidently.

Aretha then reassured Valerie that they, to the best of their abilities, will recover the stolen laptop. Valerie told them to contact her office for anything they will require for the 'Strasbourg operation'. It will be provided for them, no questons asked. With that, she said goodbye to both Alex and Aretha and left.

Aretha looked at the silent Alex and asked, "So, how is it that you know the Dupuis brothers? I don't remember doing a job involving them in the past."

Alex sighed. "It was a job I did for my friend Mozzie." she replied vaguely. She turned the tables on Aretha. "If I may ask, how is it that you're fine with the fact that you and Valerie now play on opposite sides?" Alex asked her.

"I don't see it like that. Val and I have a deeper history together. Everything that I am now, I owe to her. I know that even if she had left the life of crime behind, our friendship still remains. And I trust that she won't betray me, same way she trust me not to double cross her." Aretha said with a smile. "Now, how about we go back to the lair and brief the boys about our latest job? Time to get back to work!"Aretha said as she winked at Alex.

Just then, Alex's cell phone rang. "Uhm, you go ahead, Aretha. I'll catch up with you in a bit. I need to take this call." Alex said. She waited until Aretha was gone before she answered the phone. What she heard from the other line was the news she had been dreading for quite some time now.

~END OF CHAPTER ONE~

Footnotes :

*Thought I'd do something different and write a cliffhanger beginning.

*Fans know that Alex Hunter had only been arrested once in France. (WC s01 e11 – Home Invasion) This is my version of that story.

*Strasbourg is the capital city of the Alsace region of north-eastern France.

*Valerie Vega is Aretha's mentor and old friend, which is who Aretha is now to Alex. Valerie taught Aretha everything she knew, Aretha is teaching Alex what she'd learned from Valerie. Like one generation passing on the torch, so to speak, onto the next generation, and so on. Also, a bit of foreshadowing. Valerie had gone legit and yet Aretha had remained friends with her. Same as in the future, when Neal eventually went FED and yet Alex and Mozzie are still friends with him.

*I don't really know much about laser technology. What I know about lasers, I've learned from watching sci-fi tv programmes and films.

***Many thanks for taking time to read this chapter. Stay tuned to find out what happens next!***

*Reposted from Strasbourg CH 1, originally published on FFNET last 01-04-11

Thieves [Chapter Two]

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:28:07 GMT

A/N : Continued from Thieves [CH 1]

CHAPTER TWO

After a long flight, Alex and Asher arrived in Budapest. Alex drove them from the airport immediately to Vadzel. As Alex had expected, Asher's reaction to the place mirrored the look of awe that she had previously, when she had first set foot at the castle-like manor. After a tour of Vadzel, Asher now seemed more keen on working with Alex and Aretha.

Alex told him to wait at the foyer while she went and find Aretha. She took a little detour to her son's room to make sure that he is alright. He was sleeping quite soundly, with a bit of an angelic smile on his face as if he was dreaming of something nice. So she just gave him a little kiss and left his nursery. She then made her way to Aretha's office.

She saw that Aretha was busy having a conversation with someone inside the office. A casually dressed black gentleman, fit, muscular, and very tall. Close to the same, if not the same age, as Aretha's. Might be a client. she thought. So she peeked through the glass window and silently mouthed words to Aretha, "Meet us at the foyer when you're done!" and then proceeded to leave to join Asher in the foyer. But Aretha called her back and told her to come in.

Alex joined them inside the office. She was curious as to who the man was. Aretha spoke first.

"Alexandra Hunter, may I introduce you to Mr. Ezekiel Kosa. Ezekiel Kosa, this is Alexandra Hunter, my associate." She turned her gaze to Alex and added, "Alex, after taking your advice into consideration, I've decided that you were right. We do need help. So, I've hired Mr. Kosa to be our 'Head of Security'."

Alex gave Aretha a disbelieving look. Yet another unexpected surprise from her English friend.

Kosa held out his hand to shake Alex's, and with a Western African accent, said "Pleased to meet you, Miss Hunter."

Alex met his eyes and replied, "The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Kosa. Would you excuse us, please? I need to speak with Miss Deveraux, in private." Without waiting for an answer, she then pulled Aretha outside of the office and closed the door behind them.

Alex was obviously caught off guard by all this. She knew that since Aretha owns the manor, she's entitled to hire anyone she wanted to. Still, Alex felt that she should have at least been asked for her opinion on the matter.

"You just hired him? Just like that? What happened to not letting in strangers inside the manor? I'm assuming that you know this man? That you trust him with your life? With all our lives?" she asked, half whispering, half shouting.

Aretha did her best to calm her. "Alex, I apologize that I had done this without consulting you. But in all fairness, you were the one who said that we should hire people who specializes in the other aspects of the job. Yes, I do trust Ezekiel, with all of our lives, not just mine. He had more than proven his loyalty to me in the past on more than one occasion."

Alex took a deep breath to calm herself. "He saved your life, huh?" she asked.

Aretha nodded. "Yes, more than once. And I've saved his life more than once. We've learned to trust each other. And I know that you don't give away your trust as if it were candy, but I'm hoping that in time, you will learn how to trust him as well. The same way you've learned how to trust me and I've learned how to trust you."

There was a brief silence between them. Finally, Alex spoke. "Alright, Aretha. I'll give him a chance, but only because I trust your judgement !"

Aretha smiled at her and they both went back inside the office.

Ezekiel stood up from his chair. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

Aretha nodded. "Yes, everything is fine." she replied.

Alex spoke, "If you don't mind, Mr. Kosa, would you tell me something about yourself?" she asked.

"Please, call me Zeke. And no, I don't mind at all." Zeke replied.

"What is it exactly that you do, Zeke?" Alex asked him.

Zeke looked her straight in the eyes, with a serious facial expression, and said, "Well, Miss Hunter, I used to be a soldier in my previous line of work. As of late, I mostly do 'private contracts' as a 'retrieval specialist'. I retrieve certain objects for other people in any manner necessary. I suppose that the word to best describe me is a 'mercenary'. But I assure you that I am in no way near as evil as that word implies. As for my skills, I am fluent in four different languages, I have a high level of expertise on various forms of martial arts and I specialize in weapons and munitions."

Alex halted him. "Pardon the interruption, Zeke, but did you just say weapons and munitions? As in guns?" She looked at Aretha and then back to Zeke "I am NOT a big fan of guns!" she said.

"Neither am I, Miss Hunter, I assure you. But just because you don't like guns, does not mean that it should stop you from learning how to use it. It just might save your life one day." Zeke replied.

Alex looked at him with annoyance. "Well, what Aretha seemed to have failed to mention to you is that we have an infant living here in this manor. My son, Nicholas, who happens to be less than a year old. So excuse me all to hell if I don't share your confidence about having guns anywhere near the premises!"

It was Aretha's turn to speak. "I've thought about that, Alex. It just so happens that there is this huge empty space at the lower level of the East Tower. I will have it remodeled as the new base of our operations. That way, it will be very far away from our residence." she assured Alex.

"You just have all the answers, don't you?" Alex said. With a resigned tone, she added "Alright, fine! You win!" Alex looked at the both of them and said, "I suppose the only thing left to do is for you guys to meet our new 'tech support' specialist."

She walked towards the door but Aretha stopped her. "You mean your friend, Asher? I haven't hired him just yet." she told Alex.

" 'I' hired him!" Alex said with conviction. Aretha stared her in the eyes, but Alex held her gaze and told her, "You're just going to have to TRUST me on this one!" With that, she turned around and walked away. Without looking back, she said "You two, follow me to the foyer. Oh, and Zeke, you may call me Alex. The whole 'Miss Hunter' bit is getting old!"

The three of them went to meet Asher back in the foyer. Asher was looking quite a bit nervous when she saw Aretha and Zeke. Alex broke the ice.

"Asher Henrie, as you may well know, this is Margaretha Deveraux. Isn't it nice to finally put a face to the dosier?" She ignored the looks that both Aretha and Asher had given her and continued. "And this is Ezekiel Kosa, our 'head of security'. Margaretha Deveraux, Ezekiel Kosa, meet Asher Henrie. As of today, he will be our very own one-man Geek Squad."

Asher gave her yet another irritated look. Suddenly, he realized, "Wait a second! You mean I'm hired?" he said excitedly.

Aretha replied "Alex here was very insistent upon it. She said that you will be a valuable addition to the team. Welcome to our crew, Asher Henrie!" Aretha held out his hand to shake Asher's.

"Thank you! You won't regret this!" Asher replied. Zeke shook his hands as well.

Alex spoke. "Alright, I will leave you all to discuss the 'financial' aspects of your jobs. I, on the other hand, am off to spend some quality time with my son. And then I'm off to get some well deserved beauty rest. Ciao for now!" she said as she headed up the stairs. She heard Asher's voice calling to her.

"Hold on, Alex! You have a son? Alex? Alex!" he shouted.

"We'll talk later Ash!" she chuckled as she continued her way upstairs.

True to her word, Aretha turned the lower level of the East Tower as their headquarters. Alex was surprised to know that it used to be a dungeon. But then again, they lived in a castle. Asher was very excited when Aretha gave him free reign over acquiring all the gadgets that their lair would require. He felt like he had built them their own personal Bat Cave.

Zeke did have a separate shock proof as well as sound proof section, where he keeps all the guns and other weapons locked for safe keeping. They also have a conference room, a gym/training room, a dressing room where they keep all the props and disguises, a laboratory, and a tech center that Asher liked to call the 'Magic Shop'.

Only the four of them have access to the 'cave'. Aretha meets with clients at her office. Jakob and Edina use the intercom to call them if they needed anything. No one else but their crew sets foot inside their headquarters.

In between jobs, they used their time to teach each other some of their skills, if only as a way to get to know each other better. Aretha taught Asher a few basic skills in picking locks and lifting pockets. Asher in turn taught Zeke to be more tech savvy and computer friendly. Zeke in turn taught Alex various ways on how to defend herself.

At first, Alex was very hesitant to accept Zeke's offer. She's never known herself to be a violent person. Zeke then made her realize the it was not about violence, but about being able to defend herself if the situation called for it. So, Zeke trained her in capoeira to build up her agility and krav maga as an effective form of self defense. She also learned how to use kali fighting sticks just in case she needs to defend herself from more than one person. She found all her training quite useful in her line of work.

After that, Zeke told her it was time for her to learn how to use a gun as a weapon. She said she wasn't interested but Zeke was very persistent. He told her that if and when the time comes that her cunning talents and her martial arts training had failed her, the only thing that can save her is a gun and she needs to learn how to properly use it.

As Zeke prepared to train Alex at the gun range, Alex took the 9X19 mm Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol, cocked the gun, then aimed and emptied a round. Alex had hit all of her targets with great precision. She then turned to Zeke who was shocked at what he saw. As it turned out, when it came to guns, Alexandra Hunter was already a marksman.

She winked at him and said, "Just because I don't like guns, doesn't mean I don't know how to use 'em!" She had failed to mention to any of her crew members that anything and everything she needed to learn about guns, she already learned from Neal Caffrey.

Since it was mostly the two of them who worked together in the field, Alex and Zeke had to learn to trust one another. They needed to, as their lives oftentimes depend on each other's hands. Alex told Zeke about her old life back in New York, about her family and friends, especially about the father of her son.

Zeke, in return, told her about his life back in West Africa. How he used to be a soldier for the West African military in Sierra Leone, along side his older brother who was the General. Zeke told Alex about how he thought that he was fighting for the rights of the people, only to find out that he had been used as a murderer of the same people he was trying to protect, by the corrupt government he swore allegiance to. He told Alex how he found out that his own brother had betrayed him and when he tried to get away, his brother's men killed Zeke's wife and his new born daughter.

Zeke told Alex about how he had killed his own brother in a fit of rage after he'd learned about the death of his family. He told her about how he had to leave West Africa because of the bounty that was put on his head for the assassination of a high ranking government official and how he could never come back to the place he was born. He could never go back to the place where his beloved wife and daughter were buried and couldn't even lay flowers on their graves.

After Zeke was done telling his story, they both had to wipe the tears away from their eyes. Alex admired Zeke's resilience. Most people, herself included, would most probably just curl up in a corner and wait for death if something as devastating as that had happened to them.

I don't think I could go through living the rest of my life if anything bad happens to my Nicholas! She shuddered at the thought. But instead, the tragedies from his past has made Zeke harder and stronger in the present. And because of that, he had gained Alex's trust, admiration and most of all, her respect.

As time went by, and they did more and more jobs as a team, Alex realized that they all worked quite well together, like well-oiled machinery. Aretha, as their 'chief strategist' and 'lead negotiator', would be the one to pick and choose which job to take. She is the one who makes all the plans and decide which tactics to use. Asher is the one-man geek squad in charge to gather up all the information that they need, as well as any legend they would require for a con. He also provided them any gadget they needed for the jobs.

As for the field work, Alex and Zeke were mostly teamed up together in the front lines. Zeke, their head of security, who aside from being their weapons and munitions specialist, also did most of the retrieval jobs. And of course, he had the very difficult task of watching ALL their backs. Alex, with her skills as a con artist, did most of the high end grifting. She was also their liaison to the black market as well as the 'streets'. With all their skills combined, the success rate of their cases skyrocketed. A fact that Alex liked a lot, since it not only gives her a job to provide for her son, but also frees her to have an ample amount of time to spend with Nicholas.

From time to time, Asher would insist that they should have a name for their team.

"All great crews have catchy names!", he reiterated. Then he would suggest the cheesiest, most ridiculous names and the rest of them would just shoot down his ideas.

Alex looked at the crew that they have managed to put together. Their leader, Aretha, the 'procurement specialist' who could do anything and everything. The young nerd, Asher, who could get you what you need without leaving his tech center. Their muscle, Zeke, who was an expert on 'retrieving' objects, with or without the use of brute force. And of course, Alex, the cunning con artist and black market fence who uses her feminine wiles to get anything she needs.

Together, they can steal your money, your identity, your confidence, and everything in between, without you noticing it until it's too late. It doesn't really matter however which term you put it or whatever name you call them. The rest of the civilized world would only view them as one thing. They are 'THIEVES'.

~FINI~

Footnotes:

* Ezekiel Kosa is a character which personifies an even balance of kindness and darkness inside him. In my head, his physical looks are a mix of Djimon Hunsou (Amistad), Idris Elba (Luther) and Boris Kodjoe (Undercovers). He is haunted by powerful memories from a painful past that he had left behind in Sierra Leone, yet still find strength to go on with the present. Hope to explore more of his story later on.

* Aretha's character, since I've introduced her, is the jack-of-all-trades of the group. That's why I made her as the mastermind of the operations, so to speak. She knows everything, can do anything, and has powerful connections.

* Legends are the fake identities they create for a con job that has all the paper works, id's, background stories and other documents required to make a grifter seem legit.

* Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian form of martial arts, disguised with fluid acrobatics, dance-like movements and used to build up one's agility, strength and endurance.

* Krav Maga is an ecclectic form of martial arts training that the Israeli Defense/Special Forces Unit uses for hand to hand combat technique.

* Kali is a fighting technique using sticks for attacks as well as defense.

***Again, many thanks for taking time to read this story. Hope to write more, for both your enjoyment, as well as my own.***

*Reposted from Thieves CH 2 originally published on FFNET Jan.03, 3011

Thieves [Chapter One]

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:22:53 GMT

Title : Thieves

Author's Note : Set months after "Budapest" and "Golden Slumbers". New characters are introduced. Strayed a bit farther from the White Collar sidewalk this time, so Alex may seem OOC. Just thought that since Channing Powell originally introduced Alexandra Hunter as a strong, smart and capable character in "Home Invasion", I kind of wanted to do a back story of my own based on that perception.

Disclaimer : I don't own any of the recognizable characters. That honor belongs to Jeff Eastin, White Collar writers and USA Network.

Summary : Follows "Budapest" and "Golden Slumbers". Alex and Aretha get some help from old friends to form a new crew. A filler story about what Alex Hunter's life was like without Neal Caffrey. [AU/OOC]

CHAPTER ONE

It was already spring time in Budapest, just four months after Alex had given birth to Nicholas. The past months she spent mostly on caring for her son. She even discovered that she had a talent for cooking and baking, something which surprised her because up until then she's never been known of being domestic.

I guess motherhood really does change a woman. she chuckled at the thought.

She loved motherhood. For the first time in a long time, her life was perfect. She felt so safe, secured and most of all happy, while living in the manor with her son. But, as much as she loved her life in Budapest, she couldn't help but feel sort of guilty of abusing Aretha's kindness.

She then thought about finally leaving Vadzel with Nicholas. After all, it had been a year since she first arrived in Hungary and she thought that they might be overstaying their welcome. When Alex approached Aretha about this, she could see a mixture of anger and pain in the expression on her friend's face, as their conversation took a bit of an ugly turn.

Aretha just rattled her with questions. "Oh, really? Where will you live? What are you going to do? Who will care for your son when you're working? Are you sure that you've thought this through? I know that you can't go back to New York with your son without attracting the attention of your old boyfriend. Oh, no wait, he's too busy being indicted on art theft, bond forgery-"

Alex had to stop her right there. "Whoa, whoa! Hold up! Time out! No hitting below the belt! Look, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you. You've been so generous to me and my son and I feel like I would be taking advantage of your kindness if we stayed here any longer." she tried to explain.

Aretha took a deep breath. "You're not taking advantage of me. Do you have any idea what you've given this place? Happiness. You and your son have brought light to this old, dark manor." she said emphatically.

"A few more light fixtures would do that!" Alex joked. In a more serious tone she added, "We're already drowning in debt of gratitude! I just want to make sure that we're not a burden. We've been you're charity case long enough!"

To which Aretha quickly replied, "Believe me, you're not! And you owe me nothing! Look, you and your son can have a life here. And if you want to, you can be a part of my operations."

Alex couldn't believe it. "You're offering me a job?" she asked her.

"Only if you want to. It's nothing we've never done before, only this time you can have a more active role." Aretha paused and then said, "Would you at least consider it?" Aretha pleaded before leaving the room.

Alex went back to Nicholas' nursery, where she decided to rethink her original plans of leaving. Aretha was right. They have no other place to go. She couldn't really return to her previous life in New York. Then she'd be a burden to Hale and Iola. Not to mention the fact that she's not ready to face Neal just yet.

Oh, Neal! She had heard that the FBI had finally caught him. He is currently facing the possibility of going to prison. I can't tell him now! He's already in neck deep with his own problems. Alex sighed.

The idea of staying seemed more and more appealing now. She had to admit, it wasn't that bad. She had grown accustomed to the life that she had in the manor. Aretha had even offered her a job, so technically they won't be there as a charity case. As she watched Nicholas sleep, she realized that this is what is best for her son too. This was the only place her son has ever known as home. And everyone there treated him like a little prince. So she had made her decision.

She whispered to her son, "Looks like we're staying, Moonbeam."

Over the next few months, she divided equally as a mother and as Aretha's new partner-in-crime. Aretha had taught her a lot about the 'confidence game', since her new job required more than just her expertise with black market fencing. Alex already had some knowledge about grifting, mostly things she had learned on her own. A few things she'd picked up from fellow cons like Neal and Mozzie, as well as some tricks of the trade she had learned from Hale.

But what Aretha taught her were more than just the basics. With her help, Alex honed her skills as a master manipulator. Aretha had taught her how to effectively use charm, glamour and feminine wiles to induce trust from other people. From her, Alex learned how to speak a few other languages, as well as how to fake foreign accents. She had become a very gifted con artist, easily transforming herself from one persona to another in a blink of an eye.

Most of the time, she served as Aretha's 'co-strategist' and 'researcher'. But lately, she had been doing a lot of 'field work' for their cases. And as much as Alex loved being back in the game, it took too much precious time away from her little boy. Not to mention that the huge amount of work load was wearing her out. So, she went to talk to Aretha.

"We need help!" she said

"Why what's wrong ? Is Nicholas sick?" Aretha asked, quite worried.

"No, no! I mean 'us'! Our little operation. WE need help!" Alex replied. Aretha looked confused, so Alex continued, "Look, we're being spread too thin! The amount of jobs we've been doing lately and there's only two of us to do everything!"

Aretha seemed to realize what was wrong. "Oh, alright. Look, if you're overwhelmed because you're taking on a bit too much responsibilities, just tell me. I just thought that you liked keeping busy."

Alex was quick to answer, "No, no! I'm not complaining. I just thought that we could use someone who specializes on the other aspects of the job. For example, we need a full time 'information analyst'." She sighed and continued, "Keeping busy is one thing, being swamped is another. I barely have time to tuck my son in bed and kiss him goodnight! I don't want him to grow up thinking that Edina is her mother!"

But Aretha was quick to disagree. "We're fine. Next time, just let me know what you can and can not take on. I will take care of the rest. I'm used to doing this on my own, you know. For a while there, I did everything. Besides, we can't just let outsiders in the manor." she pointed out.

Alex shook her head. "I know that you're used to doing everything by yourself, and I'm honored that you think I'm up to you're standards. But sooner or later, we'll be in way over our heads and miss something. And in our line of work, those kind of mistakes can be very dangerous!" Alex tried to make her see some sense. "And we won't hire a complete stranger. I know someone who may be up for the job. You can even vet him yourself if you want." she continued. It took a while but she finally got Aretha to agree with her.

The next day, Alex was on the next flight to Vancouver, Canada to see an old friend. After her almost 16 hour flight from Budapest to Vancouver, she received a call from her friend giving her specific directions on when and where to meet.

Jeez, he's almost as paranoid as Mozzie! Well, almost! Nobody's more paranoid than Mozzie! she thought.

Later, they met on Stanley Park, with Alex now wearing a red fedora hat as instructed. She waited by the statue of Lord Frederick Stanley, growing impatient by the minute, when she heard someone call her name.

"Alexandra Hunter! You are as lovely as the day we met." the man voice said.

Alex turned around to face her younger friend. "Asher Henrie! You silver-tongued devil!" she laughed and gave him a hug.

Dressed in baggy denim trousers, an untucked black t-shirt underneath his unzipped Volcom hoodie, a pair of Converse trainers, and a trucker hat that says J!NX, no one would ever think that the young man who stood before her was a technological savant at first glance. But looks, as they say, can be deceiving.

Asher Henrie was one of the best hackers in the computer underground network, not to mention that he is a master of electronic gadget wizardry. His skills range from forging identities, to diverting international bank accounts, to hacking into government databases, both foreign and domestic. Asher was the man she turned to when she went looking for answers about Aretha's past. He clearly is more than a suitable man for the job as their 'tech support specialist'.

They exchanged pleasantries for a bit. Then followed by an uncomfortable silence. Alex was the first to speak.

"I'm really sorry for getting you in trouble the last time I asked you for a favor, Asher." she said, talking about the heat he got from all directions when he looked up information about Aretha, per Alex's request.

"Apology accepted." Asher replied. He continued, "Are you sure everything is alright now?" he asked.

Alex nodded. "Everything's cool. Have you thought about our job offer?"

Asher paused to think. "I don't know, Alex! Getting involved with someone in that line of work could be hazardous to one's health." he finally said.

"Oh, come on! You like the adrenaline rush from these sort of things!" Alex said with a sly smile.

She remembered when she first met Asher when he was just an 18 year-old genius who had problems with respecting authority. He had developed a huge crush on her after she saved his life from a band of thieves whom he had previously sold bad intel to. Because of this, Alex knew that she can work Asher into agreeing to coming back to Budapest with her.

"Besides, did I mention that you'd be living in a castle?" she added.

Asher looked at her. "Those things are overrated. What I'd like to know is how much will I be compensated if I choose to take this job offer?" he asked.

Alex arched an eyebrow. "Since when did you ever worry about the money?" she asked. Not waiting for a reply, she added, "You want to talk about payment, you'll need to have this conversation with Aretha herself. I'm just a middleman, here to make you an offer."

Asher shook his head. "You seem to be very certain that I will take this job. What makes you so sure that I'll just pack up everything and leave with you?" he asked.

Alex leaned closer and whispered into his ear. "Because I know you, Ash! You would eat my laundry for a month if I tell you to!"

Asher's face then blushed into a bright shade of red. "Uhm, alright. When do we leave?" he asked, slightly stuttering.

"We're on the next flight to Budapest. It leaves in two hours. Better be ready by then." she answered.

"Hold on! In two hours? But you just got here! What's the hurry?" he asked.

"Let's just say that I have someone special in my life whom I desperately need to get back to." she replied cryptically. She turned around and started to walk away.

Asher quickly followed her."Okaaay!" he said while trying to keep up with her pace.

"So, tell me something. What's this castle like?" he asked.

"Oh, you'll see!" was all he ever got out of her.

~END OF CHAPTER ONE~

Footnotes:

*Apologies if the pacing of the story seemed to be at break-neck speed. Trying to be as concise as I can so the story won't seem long-winded and boring.

* In my head, I kinda picture Alex as a good mother, without sacrificing her strengths as a woman. She bakes and cooks and takes care of her son. She loves Nicholas very much and feels guilty whenever she needs to leave his side in order to do her job. All the while, she is also a strong, confident and cunning woman. All in all, an amalgamation of Martha Stewart and Lara Croft, but in a more subdued manner. She's matured a lot when she became a mother but there are still hints of a devil-may-care adventure seeker persona from her previous life.

* Asher Henrie's character was modeled after all my favourite nerdy sidekicks of various heroes and heroines. Like most sidekicks have tendencies to fall for their team member or boss, he has a huge amount of admiration for Alex.

* Stanley Park is sort of Vancouver's version of NYC's Central Park.

* J!NX is a popular brand of nerd clothing. Volcom is a popular brand of clothing that skaters wear. In my head, since he is the youngest in their crew, Asher's style is a mix of geek chic meets skater boy.

***Again, many thanks for taking time to read this chapter.***

*Reposted from Thieves CH 1 originally published on FFNET Jan. 03, 2011

Golden Slumbers

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:18:51 GMT

Title : Golden Slumbers

Author's Note : A very short ficlet following "Budapest". Constructive criticisms are more than welcome, but don't be too harsh.

Disclaimer : I don't own any of the recognizable characters. That honor belongs to Jeff Eastin, White Collar writers and USA Network. All rights to the song "Golden Slumbers" belong to Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

Summary : Alex and Nicholas and a lullaby song...story picks up shortly after where "Budapest" left off. [AU/OOC]

It was almost midnight. Alex quietly entered her son's nursery. She had just sneaked out of Aretha's little party downstairs in the ballroom. It wasn't a large gathering, just them and a small group of Aretha's friends. Alex didn't even know most of them.

I'd much rather be in here. Alex thought. She looked at the clock, "Ah, minutes to spare!" She moved closer to Nicholas' bassinet, expecting her son to be sound asleep. She was surprised to find him wide awake, cooing.

"Why hello there, my little Moonbeam!" That was Alex's little nickname for Nicholas because just like his father's, her baby's bright eyes were so blue. "What are you doing up so late?" she softly continued. Alex bent over to slowly pick him up. "You really shouldn't be awake right now. You need your beauty sleep." Alex said with a smile.

She had never really known true happiness until she first held Nicholas in her arms after he was born. She looked at the clock. Almost there. 3. 2. 1. Midnight. She softly kissed her son in the forehead.

"Happy New Year, Nicholas!" she said softly. "You are my New Year's kiss. I couldn't ask for anyone better!" She smiled at her son as she swayed him lightly "You know, I have a great feeling about this year. This year is going to be fantastic!"

Slowly, Alex tried to ease him down back to his bassinet when she heard him softly cried. "What's wrong, Moonbeam?" Nicholas stopped crying when she picked him up again. "Oh! Don't you want to sleep yet?" Nicholas just cooed. "Tell me, what does my beautiful baby want?" she asked, not really expecting an answer. She just savored the feeling of holding him in her arms. She never wanted to let him go.

She never thought she would ever have anyone in her life whom she would love more than anything, more than anyone. I would walk through fire for you, kid! She continued to sway him lightly, hoping that it will make him fall asleep.

After a while, Nicholas still showed no signs of being sleepy. Alex tried nursing him. She told him a story. Both didn't work.

"I suppose you want me to sing you a song?" she asked him. "See, that should really be your father's department. He has a much better singing voice than I do." She smiled when when she thought of Neal. A smile that quickly turn into a frown. Neal. You should be here with us. she thought. She then snapped out of it and turned her attention back to Nicholas.

"Anyway, I'll try my best to sing you to sleep. But I have to warn you, the only time I ever sing with an audience is during karaoke nights when I'm drunk." She looked at Nicholas and added, "Pretend you didn't hear that!" she whispered. She saw her son's lips curled up a little bit, with a hint of dimples showing. "Is that a smile? Are you smiling at Mama?" She laughed softly. "Oh, alright! Here goes nothing!" Softly, Alex started singing the only song that came to mind at the time.

"Once there was a way to get back homeward,
Once there was a way to get back home.
Sleep little darling, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby.

Golden slumbers fill your eyes.
Smiles awake you when you rise.
Sleep little darling, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby.

Once there was a way to get back homeward,
Once there was a way to get back home.
Sleep little darling, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby."

After she finished the song, she looked at her son. Finally, he sleeps! She gently eased him down in his bassinet. She made sure that he was warm and all tucked in. Alex looked at her son with a loving smile on her face as she watched him sleep.

"Goodnight, my little Moonbeam!" she whispered. "Sweet dreams, my baby! Mama loves you!" she added. She gave him one last look. Yup. This year is going to be fantastic! With that, she quietly left her son's room.

~FINI~

Footnotes :

*Just a very short continuation of Budapest. I felt it was important to show how much Alex loves her son.

*I remember my Mom telling me that she used to talk to me and my siblings when we were babies. Not baby talk, but like a normal person. She said she felt closer to us that way.

*I picked the song "Golden Slumbers" by The Beatles because that was the song my older brother used to sing to my niece when she was a little baby. That was the only song that made her sleep.

*The song was originally based on a lullaby poem, "Cradle Song", by dramatist Thomas Dekker.

***Again, many thanks for taking time to read this fic.***

*Reposted from Golden Slumbers, originally published on FFNET Dec. 23, 2010.

Budapest [Chapter Four]

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:13:58 GMT

A/N : Continued from Budapest CH 3.

CHAPTER FOUR

"What?" A startled Aretha asked Alex. "What do you mean the baby's coming now? I thought you said the baby's not due for at least three more weeks!" Aretha's usual cool, calm and collected demeanor was gone and in her face now showed fear and panic.

Alex had to laugh at that. Her friend Aretha, who's had her share of dangerous encounters. This is the same woman who had participated in a high-speed pursuit while escaping the clutches of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, the same one who single-handedly fought off the Royal guards of the Verdala Palace in Malta with a cutlass and a smile, the same one who laughed and spat in the faces of her torturers when she got nabbed in Myanmar, all that and countless of other sticky situations from jobs she had done in the past. This brave woman is now standing in front of her, panicking and not knowing what to do.

One baby about to be born, and now she's scared! Alex chuckled. "Well, obviously the baby can't tell time yet!" Alex joked just to ease the tension.

Jakob helped her get inside the car."Let's just get me to the hospital! I would hate it if I had to give birth to my child in a Bentley!"

The drive to the hospital was torturous for Alex. When they arrived at the hospital, Alex was ushered into a room, and Aretha was sent to register her. By the time Aretha returned, Alex was already gowned, examined, hooked up to monitors, and was now arguing with the nurse. Alex turned to Aretha,

"Can you please tell them to find me a God damn anesthesiologist!" Alex yelled.

"Don't curse! The baby can hear you now!" It was Aretha's turn to joke now to keep Alex calm.

The nurse told them it was too early to give Alex anything for the pain. Then the nurse left to fetch the doctor. The doctor arrived later and examined Alex again. He said that Alex would probably deliver within the next 3-4 hours, and to try to relax as much as possible. He would be around to check on her in another hour or so.

Try to relax? Alex wanted to hit the doctor.

"Is there anything I can do for you right now, sweetie?" Aretha asked.

"Yes, actually, there is." Alex replied.

"Name it." said Aretha.

"Find Neal Caffrey and castrate him! Make him a eunuch! Make sure that he doesn't do this to another woman ever again!" Alex was yelling really loud now.

"Uhm, I was thinking more in the lines of ice chips and a cool rag for your forehead, dear." Aretha said as she wiped the sweat from Alex's brow.

Between contractions and the pain, Alex was angry and hurting and sick and was rather rude to anyone who entered the room. Jakob and Edina walked in, and when they tried to greet her, she yelled "Shut Up! Don't talk to me!" She did asked for forgiveness shortly after and was forgiven by the couple.

After a while, the pain started to get worse. Where was the nurse? I want those meds now! Alex thought.

The nurse came back and gave her an IV. The nurse had trouble finding a vein. Another nurse checked the internal contraction monitor and found out that Alex was at 8cm. The nurse said it was too late to give her drugs. Boy, did Alex complain. They called the doctor in a hurry.

They then moved Alex to the labor and delivery room. Two doctors arrived and Alex was maneuvered into 'position'. She was fully dilated and was told to push. After several attempts at pushing, Alex almost gave up. For her, it was one of the hardest part of the labor. It took her awhile, but the delivery room nurse was great in helping her. She told Alex how to focus and how to push.

"Okay, Alex, push with the next contraction." she was instructed by one of the doctors.

Alex held her breath, put her chin to her chest and pushed. With each contraction, she pushed three or four times. Between each contraction came the terrible cramping. Sometimes she whimpered, but mostly Alex was silent. She no longer had the energy to yell, curse, or cry, or do any of the things she did earlier. Finally, after one last push, Alex felt the baby slide into this world and saw the doctor lift him up.

"It's a boy!" the doctor said as he cut the umbilical cord.

Alex began to shake uncontrollably and cry. She then laughed with amazement. Her son was born at 12:25 AM, December 25th. The other doctor gave her son a check up. He weighed 9lbs 15oz. and was 19.5 inches long.

Later, back in the recovery room of the maternity ward, Alex stared in awe of baby in her arms. There was no doubt that the boy was Neal Caffrey's son. He had dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. He is the best Christmas present she could ever have.

My beautiful baby boy! Alex knew exactly what to name him. Just then, Aretha entered the room after she was told it was okay to go see Alex and the baby.

"Aretha, come here and meet my son!" she said as Aretha moved closer.

"Margaretha Deveraux, I'd like to formally introduce you to Nicholas Leopold Hunter." she said.

"Oh my God, Alex! He's so beautiful!" Aretha gushed.

"Isn't he just? I made him from scratch!" Alex beamed with pride. Aretha arched an eyebrow

"With a little help from the father, you mean." she said.

"Nope, I'm fairly certain that I did all the work!" Alex boasted.

And they both laughed. Outside, they heard the hospital staff singing Silent Night.

"Merry Christmas, Alex!" Aretha greeted her.

Merry Christmas, Aretha!" Alex replied.

Then, Nicholas opened his eyes. Alex gave him a gentle kiss on his forehead. She then tearfully whispered to him, "Hello, Nicholas! Happy Birthday, baby! I am very pleased to meet you. I'm your Mama. Welcome to the world, my little darling! I am glad you were born. You are healthy, you are safe, and you are loved! "

~FINI~

Footnotes :

***A short but sweet ending to this story, I think. Thank you to all who had read this roller coaster storyline .***

*Originally wrote that Aretha was in the delivery room with Alex, but changed my mind. I didn't think it would be fair to Neal.

*The details from the delivery scene was based on the experiences of my older sister and my sister-in-law.

*The name Nicholas has a double meaning...after St. Nicholas because the baby was born on Christmas Day, and as you may all know, after Nick Halden, one of Neal Caffrey's favourite aliases.

*Reposted from Budapest CH 4 originally published on FFNET Dec 2010

Budapest [Chapter Three]

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 02:58:41 GMT

A/N : Continued from Budapest CH 2

CHAPTER THREE

After lunch, Alex went back to the music room, which now doubled as the Christmas room, while the others went on with the rest of their day. Aretha went out to meet with a 'client' about a potential 'case'. Edina had errands to run. Jakob said he'd be at the stables, if in case Alex needed anything. All of them have been so nice to her during her stay at the manor. Alex felt so blessed.

She went to the vinyl section of the music library to pick an album to play on the gramophone. Given the amount of Christmas carols they sang earlier, Alex was in the mood for something else. She decided to play a Nina Simone record, an artist who she and her mother had both held in highest regards. Music filled the air as Nina Simone's Feeling Good started playing.

The song's lyrics struck a chord with her heart, as it always does. For her, the song had evoked such powerful memories and emotions. Not only because it was her mother's favourite song, but also because the song had gotten her through some difficult phases in her life. As the song played, she sang along.

"It's a new dawn,
It's a new day,
It's a new life,
For me
And I'm feeling good ."

To her, the song sounded like such a joyful declaration of optimism in the face of struggle. Alex had always been afraid of change. That was something she struggled with, especially after she found out that she was pregnant. This song somewhat gave her hope. And it somehow made some of her fears dissipate. After all, like what Aretha had said before, she was not all alone.

After the music had faded, Alex just quietly rested on her favourite French sofa as she stared at her beautiful Christmas tree and reminisced about how much her life had changed since her arrival in Budapest. The first few months she spent living in Vadzel had been peaceful and relaxing, something Alex would have normally abhorred since she had been so used to the noisy and exciting lifestyle she had previously lead back in New York City. She welcomed the peace and the calm as she recuperated from her injuries. She even learned to eat healthy, something she never would've done back in New York. It was good for her and the baby.

As the months progressed though, after her injuries had healed, she grew jaded and disillusioned. As huge as Vadzel was, she still couldn't help but feel cooped up. and it didn't take long before cabin fever set in. Jakob and Edina tried to keep her spirits up by giving her the grand tour of Budapest. She found it exhilarating at first, but after a while, even that got old.

She started asking Aretha about the cases she had been working on and the heists she had been planning. Even dropped a few hints from time to time that she'd be more than happy to help if Aretha ever needed it.

Aretha was hesitant at first. She remembered that during the early stages of their friendship, the only thing Alex ever asked of Aretha was that she promised not to let her dangerous exploits get in too close proximity of Vadzel as it might put her & her child's well-being at risk, given the nature of Aretha's line of work. Aretha gave Alex her word that she would make sure that none of the dangerous parts of her lifestyle would ever touch them, and she wanted to stay true to her word.

Except, Aretha saw how depressed Alex got as the days went by. So she started to include her in planning some of her heists. Nothing that put Alex in any danger, but exciting enough to keep Alex from getting bored and keep her senses sharp. The two of them worked pretty well together. They had a natural rapport to them that reminded Alex of the times when she worked with Neal and Mozzie. Alex enjoyed the time she spent in helping Aretha plan jobs, especially cons and heists.

That went on until about a month ago. Now that Alex was in the late stage of her pregnancy, she spent the last few weeks nesting. She still needed a few things for the baby, who is due to arrive in a few weeks. She had finished decorating the nursery where the baby would be staying in, which was predominantly in gender-neutral colors of white and green since she doesn't know if it's a boy or a girl.

Aretha once asked her why she had never bothered to find out the gender of the baby. She said that she doesn't care whether the baby is male or female, just as long as the baby was born healthy. Alex couldn't mask her excitement. Excitement mixed with fear. As daunting as it seemed, still, she couldn't wait to meet her baby.

Alex waited till after dinner before she made a phone call to Hale and Iola back in New York. She had promised to keep in touch with them and she intended to keep it. They were her godparents, after all, her parents' best friends. Hale and Iola and their family were the only people she had in her corner when she was growing up, till she met Neal and Mozzie. It had been a while since she had talk to the couple and she was so thrilled to hear about news from back home.

Iola was so happy to hear Alex's voice. She asked about the baby and shared stories of her own pregnancies so Alex would know what to expect once she gives birth. Iola pretty much filled the gap that Alex's mother left after she died. Alex had always thought of Iola as her second mom. She was so glad that Iola was there for her, so to speak, especially during these trying times. It felt good to have someone to talk to who's had first hand experience with pregnancy.

They talked for a while until Iola finally handed the phone over to Hale. He was just as glad to hear from Alex as Iola was, but something in his voice seemed different. It hinted trouble. Something was up.

"Hale, what is it? Is something wrong? You know you can tell me." Alex asked him.

"Nothing, my dear. Why would you think that?" Hale replied.

"You seem to be preoccupied with something. Now tell me, what's the problem? Is it Iola? She seemed fine when I talked to her! How about you? Are you alright?" Alex's voice was filled with worry. She couldn't bear to think of anything bad happening to the family she had come to love as her own.

"No, no, Alex! We're alright! We're all fine!" Hale tried to keep her calm. He knew he couldn't hide anything from Alex. He took a deep breath and told her, "Alex, my dear, it's about Neal."

Alex heart skipped a beat when she heard Neal's name. Neal. Oh, God! Now she really was scared. She struggled to maintain her composure. "What about Neal, Hale? Has something happened to him?" she asked.

"Something's about to." Hale replied. "One of my old contacts told me that the FBI are looking into him." he continued.

"So what? They've always been looking into him." Alex said. He replied in a worried tone,

"They've been paying strict attention into his recent activities. There's this agent assigned to his case, Agent Peter Burke. He has made Neal his very own pet project. I looked into him, and Alex, this guy is good. Really good. He's very intelligent and extremely thorough. My contact believes that the FBI is really closing in on Neal. One small slip and he's toast!" The tone of Hale's voice really worried Alex.

"Have you told Neal about this?" she asked.

"Of course I have! You would think that he'd listen. But you know Neal, he can be such a child sometimes. He thinks of this as a challenge, like a big game of cat and mouse!" Hale replied.

How quickly Alex had forgotten, Neal Caffrey is his own worst enemy. Many times he had been told to grow up, but never really have.

"Then tell Mozzie! Surely he'll listen to Moz, for crying out loud!" Alex was practically in tears with worry.

Hale did his best to calm her down. He promised that he would talk to Mozzie, although he wasn't too sure that even he could make Neal listen to reason. With that, Hale and Alex said their goodbyes and hung up the phone.

Alex went to bed but couldn't really sleep. She was worried for Neal. Neal was smart but often times brazen and too fearless for his own good. If this Agent Burke was as good as Hale said he was, it may only be a matter of time before Neal gets caught by the FBI.

God, I really hope Moz talks some sense into him! She couldn't fathom anything bad ever happening to the father of her child. She tossed and turned the whole night and it wasn't until dawn when she finally got some restless sleep.

The next day was the day before Christmas. Everyone was in good spirits. Everyone except for Alex, who had been preoccupied all day. Aretha asked her what was the matter. Alex told her about her conversation with Hale about Neal. Aretha told her that there was nothing that she could do from where she was and that she had much more important things to focus on.

Aretha wasn't so sure that she had gotten through to her. So to distract Alex from her worries, she suggested that they all go to the town square later in the evening to listen to the Christmas carolers perform.

That evening, Aretha and Alex, dressed in their lovely winter garbs, along with Jakob and Edina, arrived in the town square just in time. The performers were about to start the Advent concert. Alex was deeply moved as she listened to their beautiful voices.

Her heart longed for the family and friends from back home whom she didn't get to spend this Christmas with this year. Her eyes welled up as she continued to listen to their performance. Every note and every line of every song seemed to touch her soul.

By the time the concert was over, tears were streaming down her face. Aretha noticed that she was more upset now than before and asked if she was alright. Alex just smiled and blamed it on hormones. Jakob moved to get the car. They were headed back to the manor for Christmas Eve supper. While walking, Alex felt this distinct popping sensation, followed by a sudden gush of water that uncontrollably leaked out of her and was now running down her thighs.

Oh no! Alex thought. Out loud she called, "Aretha! I think my water just broke! The baby's coming NOW!"

~End of Chapter Three~

Footnotes :

***I was disappointed by the outcome of this chapter myself. Some people may find it confusing. Apologies if it seems long, incoherent and disorganized.***

*I'm a big fan of Nina Simone's works. In my head, she is an artist that Alex idolizes in the same manner as Neal Caffrey was a fan of the Rat Pack.

*Timeline explanation : Alex arrived in Budapest when she was two months pregnant. It took about six weeks for her broken leg to heal. She worked with Aretha when she was four months pregnant up until after the seventh month of her pregnancy. Then she took her "maternity leave".

*Budapest is six hours ahead of New York City.

***Again, many thanks for taking time to read this chapter!***

*Reposted from Budapest CH 3 originally published in FFNET Dec 2010.

Budapest [Chapter Two]

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 02:41:56 GMT

A/N : Continuation of Budapest [CH1]

CHAPTER TWO

A few hours later, Alex woke up to a knock at her door. Four knocks, to be exact. Alex knew who it was. Aretha.

She always knocked four times. Not three, not five, always four times. It her little code. "Hold on!" Alex shouted. "You know damn well I can't move that fast! I'm as big as a house, for Christ's sake!" Alex managed to find her mukluks and put them on. Then, she waddled towards the door and opened it.

Standing by the door was her tall, raven-haired friend, Aretha. "Well, it's about time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty!" said Aretha in her distinctive English accent. "It's past ten o"clock! That's late, even for you, innit?" she said with a smile.

Alex is always suspicious when she sees Aretha smile. She arched eyebrow, "You're up to something. What is it?" she asked.

Aretha's smile grew bigger. "You'll see. Put your robe on. Let's go downstairs. Go on!"

"Just tell me what it is!" Alex said with feigned irritation.

Aretha's smile grew even bigger. She was enjoying this. "It's a surprise!" With that, she turned to the door and left the room.

Alex put her robe on and followed her. "A surprise, great! Just great!" Aretha was one big surprise from the moment they first met.

FLASHBACK TO MONTHS BEFORE, IN BUDAPEST AIRPORT...

Alex looked around for an attendant that can help her to a taxi that will take her to a hotel. She didn't have much to carry, but given her current situation, the slightest bit of movement hurt. She needed help, badly.

"Alexandra Hunter?" asked the distinctive female voice from behind her.

Alex turned to see who it was. She looked at her. The woman was tall and fit, in her late thirties, with long black hair tied into a ponytail. Reluctantly, she answered, "Yes?"

The woman then abruptly said "No! It's Anja Gardner now, remember?" Her accent wasn't Hungarian. It's British. Estuary English, to be precise.

"How did you know that?" Alex snapped at her.

"Relax, sweetheart! Hale sent me." the woman reassured her.

Alex just shot her an icy look. The woman continued, "What, did you really believe that Hale will just ship you off to a foreign land on your own to fend for yourself..." and in a softer tone "And your child?" Alex gasped after hearing that.

"It's okay. Your secret is safe with me. I'm here to help. Not like I could say no to a good friend like Hale. He only told me because he knows I don't like to go into things blindly." the woman stated, as she motioned to one of the attendants to help carry the bags. The woman proceeded to push Alex's wheelchair.

Then it occurred to Alex, "Wait a minute...I don't even know you!" Alex said slightly raising her voice.

The woman replied softly, "Shhh! Not so loud, dear!" Without stopping, she said "Right now, I'm Greta Gardner, your sister. Now hush! We'll do formal introductions later!" she promised.

Alex still wasn't convinced, but she let the subject drop for now. For some reason, Hale trusts this woman, and she trusts Hale. That's good enough for her.

They kept going. They stopped right next to what Alex assumed was the woman's car. Not just any car, it was a 2001 Mercedes Benz E55 AMG. Not bad... Alex thought. The girl's got taste!

One attendant put the bags in the trunk, another one helped Alex get in the back seat of the car. As soon as she was all settled in, 'Greta' gave the men a their tips, got into the driver's seat, started the car and drove.

After minutes of silence, 'Greta' spoke first. "Okay, introductions, as promised. My name is Margaretha Deveraux. You may call me Aretha for short. I'm a friend of Hale's. I'm what you would call a 'procurement specialist'. I can procure whatever you want, wherever it is, whenever you need it! For a price, of course! I mean, my services will cost you, but you get what you pay for!" Aretha continued to talk as she drove. "Alright, your turn!"

Alex took a moment before she replied. "Well, as you already know, my name is Alexandra Hunter. You may call me Alex. I'm in the 'moving business'. I know people who knows people who robs rich people." she said, still unsure whether to trust Aretha.

Alex looked at her through the rear view mirror. "So tell me, Aretha, how much is it going to cost Hale for this 'service' of yours?"

Aretha gave her a puzzled look. "Oh, this! No, sweetheart, this one is strictly pro bono!" She saw that Alex didn't seem convinced. "I owe Hale. He saved my life years ago when we pulled a London job." She continued, "You mean a lot to him and his family. I'm honored that he entrusted you unto my care."

After a few more miles of driving, she made a turn and drove inside the gates of an estate built on a cliff overlooking the Danube River.

Aretha stopped the car in front of a beautiful Gothic Tudor mansion. Alex looked at the place with awe as she was was help out of the car by a middle-aged gentleman.

"Welcome to Vadzel! You fancy it?" Aretha asked. "This place used to be the vacation home of the Duke Andrassy. I won it from him on a baccarat game in Monaco. Let's go inside." Aretha motioned to the entrance of the manor.

The man from earlier then wheeled Alex into the manor. The Duke Andrassy! Alex thought. I've always wanted to dance with a duke! she smiled.

The interior of the manor had Alex even in more awe. The place had an elegant design, filled with antique vases and expensive art works. Neal Caffrey would love to live here!

Alex was too busy surveying the place that she didn't even notice the middle-aged lady walk into the room until she was standing in front of her.

Aretha introduced her, "Alex, this is Edina. That one over there..." she motioned to the man who helped Alex earlier, "...is her husband, Jakob. They live here too. They take care of the place when I'm gone. If you need anything and I'm not here, you can ask them for help."

Aretha then turned to Jakob and Edina, "Jakob, Edina, this is Alex. She'll be living here in the manor as my guest, until further notice." They exchanged pleasantries and helped Alex up the stairs. They then showed Alex the room she'd be staying in.

Inside her room, Alex struggled to keep her jaw from dropping. This room is bigger than my whole apartment back in New York! Alex thought as she toured the room.

In it was a beautiful fireplace, a luxurious walk in closet, an elegant bathroom, a terrace with a parapet and a view of the Danube, and a huge bed that is so soft it's like made of clouds. Alex felt like a princess.

This entire place is like a fairytale castle, all that's missing is a moat! This is all too good to be true! she thought.

That last part made Alex stop. Too good to be true. She may have to do a little digging in the morning, find some info regarding a certain Margaretha Deveraux. For now, Alex wanted to sleep in her 'princess' bed.

The next day, Alex made a phone call to her friend who happened to be in the 'information business'. What she found out worried her. She went to find Aretha to confront her. She found her in the library.

Aretha looked surprised to see her. "Well, hello, Alex! I hope you-" Alex held out her hand to interrupt her.

"Listen, here, lady! Like you, I don't like going into things blindly either! So I had a friend look you up! And you know what? That raised a lot of flags from different sorts of people, and most probably put my friend at risk! Not to seem ungrateful, but I don't want to get mixed up with someone who could put me and my child in danger!" Alex said angrily.

Aretha walked towards her. "Alex, you need to calm down, please! I assure you, I can explain everything." she said.

This made Alex angrier. "Don't tell me to calm down, you-oww!" Alex grabbed her belly and yelled in pain.

Just then, Aretha noticed the blood running down in between Alex's thighs, "Oh my God, Alex! You're bleeding!" She helped Alex to a chair and called Edina to have Jakob get a doctor.

Aretha went back to Alex to comfort her. At this point, Alex was on full on panic mode. She tried her best to calm Alex down. "It's going to be alright, sweetie. Just keep calm. The doctor will be here soon!"

Later, the doctor came out of Alex's room. He told Aretha that the baby was in distress, due to the mother's stress caused by the combination of her recent injuries, jet lag and high blood pressure. But he reassured her that both Alex and the baby are fine will stay that way as long as Alex got enough rest and relaxed a bit.

The doctor then gave her Alex's prescription with specific instructions on when and how to take her medication. Before the doctor left, Aretha reassured him that his instructions will be followed to the letter.

That night, Aretha went to Alex's room to make sure that she had already eaten and had taken her meds. She saw Alex staring out the window. "Alex, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"Just peachy! The world is my oyster!" Alex retorted.

Aretha sat down to the chair next her bed. "Now, now! The doctor said you should relax, for your own sake and the baby's." She saw Alex's face softened when she mentioned the baby. She knew that Alex would do anything for her child.

"Look, Alex. I'm not really a bad person. I mean, I do illegal things, yes, but I'm not evil! If it will give you peace of mind, I will tell you who and what I really am! I'll answer any of your questions!" Aretha assured her.

"Yes, actually, that might give me some peace of mind." Alex replied.

Aretha began to tell Alex her story. "Remember when I told you that I was a 'procurement specialist'?" she asked.

"Yes." Alex replied. "You can procure whatever I want, wherever it is, whenever I need it." Alex couldn't help but smile a little. "So, you are that good, huh?" Alex asked.

"Oh, I'm very good at what I do! Sometimes, a little too good. That's when I attract all the unwanted attention." Aretha replied, with a hint of regret in her voice.

"What is it exactly that do you do?" Alex asked her.

"Almost everything, I suppose. I'm a grifter, a thief, a forger, a hacker, you name it! I do whatever is necessary to get the job done! And I do it quickly, quietly and efficiently!" Aretha answered.

Alex asked her again. "And this 'unwanted attention' that you speak of, they come from who, exactly?" She saw the reluctance in Aretha's eyes, "Come on! You said you'll answer any of my questions! Who?" she pressed.

Aretha gave in, "Various covert international government agencies." she reluctantly blurted out.

Alex looked at her incredulously. "You're a spy?" she asked.

Aretha shook her head. "No, I'm a spy's go-to-girl!" She saw that Alex looked confused, so she continued. "I get them anything they need. In return, they give me money or protection. It's quid pro quo! See, nobody's supposed to know any of this. That's why when your friend looked me up, it set off all sorts of alarms." she explained.

Aretha saw that Alex had a worried look on his face. "Don't worry, you're friend is fine." Aretha reassured her.

Alex let out a sigh of relief. She looked at Aretha. "So what...you're like a modern day Mata Hari or something?" she asked.

"Well, I've never been called that but yes, I guess sometimes I am! But not all the time!" Aretha said as she laughed.

"Oh, great!" Alex said sarcastically. "Just my luck! I'm pregnant, injured and all alone in a foreign land, and all I have is a part-time international spook!" she said with a mixture of irritation and deep sadness in her voice.

To Alex's surprise, Aretha held her hand and said, "Look at me! I may not be perfect, but I'm here for you. I'm here to help you, so let me. You are NOT all alone, Alex! Do you hear me?"

FLASH FORWARD TO WINTERTIME IN VADZEL...

"Alex? Alex! Can you hear me?" Aretha's voice snapped Alex back into the present.

"I said your surprise is in the music room! Come on, let's go!" Aretha told her.

Alex followed Aretha, the stranger who she now regarded as a friend, into the music room. Aretha just loved the look on Alex's face once she saw her surprised.

"Oh my God!" Alex gasped. "It's beautiful! Thank you, Aretha!" she said with great emotion.

Aretha's surprise for Alex stood right beside the piano. It was a Christmas Tree, beautifully trimmed, with presents underneath.

"Oh, it wasn't just me! Jakob and Edina helped!" Aretha said.

Alex expressed her gratitude to the couple as well.

"Hold on, it's not finished! Miss Hunter, will you do the honors?" Aretha said as she handed Alex the Angel tree topper. "Oh, and don't forget to make a wish!" she added.

Jakob helped Alex put the Angel on top of the tree. "I did make a wish but I'm not gonna tell you what it is!" Alex said with a chuckle.

"That's fine." said Aretha. "Edina, the refreshments, please!" She looked at Alex and said "Relax, it's just eggnog flavoured coffee and some crumpets! Like I'd make a pregnant woman drink alcohol, at this time of the day no less! I'm not daft!" They all laughed.

Jakob played the piano and they all sang Christmas carols, as they ate crumpets and sipped eggnog-flavoured coffee.

Alex looked at the people around her, she then realized Aretha was right. I am NOT all alone, after all!

~End of Chapter Two~

Footnotes :

*This chapter went a little longer than I expected.

*In this chapter, I thought with Alex being in a foreign land, injured and pregnant, she could surely use a friend. Just like Neal, she needs a June and a Mozzie. I created Aretha cause I imagined she's like a younger version of June mixed with a tougher female version of Moz. Like a fairy godmother with ninja skills! I hope you enjoy reading about Aretha as much as I enjoyed writing about her.

*mukluks = slipper socks

*I'm not a car expert. I just remembered one of my brothers mentioning back then that he wanted a 2001 Mercedes Benz E55 AMG*

*Some parts of the Vadzel bit was inspired by scenes from "Pretty Woman" and "The Princess Diaries".

*In some countries, they trim their Christmas tree just days before Christmas.

*Still haven't decided if the baby will be a boy or a girl.

***Again, many thanks for taking time to read this chapter!***

*Repost of Budapest (chapter 2) from FFNET. originally published Dec 2010.

Budapest [Chapter One]

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 02:37:12 GMT

Title : Budapest

Author's Note : The continuation of my first ficlet, "Copenhagen". Again, constructive criticisms are welcome, but please don't be too harsh!

Disclaimer : I don't own any of the recognizable characters. That honor belongs to Jeff Eastin, White Collar writers and USA Network.

Summary : Set months after "Copenhagen". Trying to get by with a little help from her friends, Alex has fled Denmark and is now living in Hungary. And, oh yeah, it's the holiday season and she's just about ready to give birth.

CHAPTER ONE

Yet another cold and grey early winter morning in Budapest. It has been months since the Copenhagen job. Alex's leg has healed quite well. Her shoulder, good as new, except for the scar that slice wound had left. As Alex lay in her bed, she thought back on what has happened since Denmark.

FLASHBACK TO MONTHS BEFORE IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK...

"Alex, please listen to me, dear! You really must let Neal know about this! Something as life-altering as this one shouldn't be kept as a secret!" Hale, always the voice of reason.

He had flown immediately to Copenhagen after she made that urgent phone call to him. She knew she could always depend on Hale. She couldn't call Mozzie. She knew that at the end of the day, the only side that Mozzie would ever be on was Neal's and she couldn't risk him telling Neal about her condition.

Hale, on the other hand, was someone she could trust. Hale and his wife Iola had been kind enough to treat her as part of their family since her parents death when she was just a teenager.

"Don't think that I haven't thought about this long and hard, Hale. Believe me, I have! My child and I have no place in Neal's life at the moment. He has this whole fantasy of him and Kate living happily ever after, together! As in the just the two of them! I get that!" Alex sighed.

In a much calmer tone, "Look, Hale, this isn't permanent. I just need to get out of Denmark as soon as humanly possible. Start somewhere fresh. Preferably, in a place where I can gather my thoughts and plan my next move without any additional distractions. Maybe, I'll call Neal. Then, again, maybe I won't. I don't know what will happen next! All I know is that I have another person's life to think about now." Alex gave a him a reassuring look, "Listen to me, it'll all be alright. Now, how about getting me out of here!" she said with a smile.

A couple of days after that, Hale was in the seat next to Alex at the airport. She didn't know how Hale did it, but somehow he had managed to convince Dr. Aubrey to release her into his custody.

They sat there, awaiting her next destination. "Here is your passport and a few pieces of I.D. for your new identity. You are now Anja Gardner. Off to Budapest to live your sister. The folder contains all of Miss Gardner's paper works. Quite a legend I've made, if I may say so myself!" Hale said with a proud smile on his face. "Almost up on par to Mozzie's standards!" There's that sheepish grin again.

"I don't know if a mere thank you will ever be enough, Hale, but thank you!" She squeezed his hand. "And thank you for agreeing to keep this as our secret. I know it's hard for you to choose sides, but I'm glad to have you on mine!" Alex said emotionally.

Hale took her hand and gave it a little kiss, "Oh, Alex! You know you've always been like a daughter to me. I do wish you well. Just promise me you will call if you need anything. And I mean ANYTHING! Let us know you're okay, because you know Iola worries about you too!"

"I will, I promise!" Alex said with a smile.

Just then, the airport speakers announced "Malev ungarske Airlines Flight MA 751 fra København til Budapest nu bording på terminal 3. Malev Hungarian Airlines Flight MA 751 from Copenhagen to Budapest is now boarding on terminal 3."

"Well, they're playing my song." Alex said with a chuckle.

Hale stood up and pushed Alex's wheelchair till they were in front of the gate.

"I can take it from here, sir." one of the airport attendants said to Hale.

Alex looked at Hale and said, "Give Iola a big hug and a kiss from me when you get home. Tell her I will call as soon as I can."

Hale gave Alex a hug, "I'll do that. You better keep your promise."

"Wish me luck!" Alex's said, as her eyes began to well up with tears.

Hale's eyes were starting to fill up too. "Alex, my dear, you are not the kind of lady who needs luck! But good luck, to both you and your child!" Hale said, as a lump formed in his throat.

With that, they said their goodbyes. The airline ground crew proceeded to wheel Alex inside the gate. With a worried look on his face, Hale followed her with his eyes until she disappeared inside the terminal. He waited a few minutes, and then he left.

ALEX'S ROOM IN BUDAPEST, HUNGARY...

Alex's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the huge gust of wind coming from outside her window. Forecast said 70 % chance of snow later today. Yippie!

It's too early get up. Besides, she's not doing anything today. She can afford to stay in bed late, even all day if she wants to.

She made a mental note to call Hale and Iola later. Just to catch up and to let them know how much she misses them. Alex then pulled the duvet over her head and went back to sleep.

~End of Chapter One~

**Delighted that I got a lot of positive reviews from my previous ficlet, "Copenhagen". This inspired me to write a sequel, of sorts. Not a lot has been said about Hale's character from "Point Blank". Just that he's a good friend of Neal and Mozzie and that he has quite fond of Alex. So I decided to expand on that. I tried my best not to stray too far from the sidewalk though, so to speak. Hoping to get some positive feed backs from the readers for this chapter. In the mean time, I'm trying to find inspiration for the succeeding chapter(s). New characters will be introduced, including of course the baby. I haven't decided yet whether it will be a boy or a girl. Again, waiting for inspiration. Many thanks for taking time to read this chapter **

*Repost of my fanfic, "Budapest" (chapter 1) from FFnet. Dec. 2010.

Copenhagen

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 02:31:53 GMT

Title : Copenhagen

Author's Note : This is my first ever White Collar fanfic. Apologies if it's not up to standards and slightly out of character. Constructive criticisms are welcome, just don't be too harsh.

Disclaimer : I don't own any of the recognizable characters. That honor belongs to Jeff Eastin, White Collar writers and USA Network.

Summary : Alex's POV. Flashback to years ago after Neal and Alex tried and failed to get the Amber music box in Copenhagen, with a little twist in the end.

Alex was laying in her hospital bed. Her broken left leg in a cast, still recovering from the operation that reset it. Her right shoulder was throbbing under the bandages that covered her stitches.

"Well, that's going to leave a mark.", she muttered softly under her breath, laughing half-heartedly.

None of that mattered to her though. She kept ignoring the pain from her leg and arm. She continued blocking out all the noise coming from the machines, struggling to not pay attention to all the hustle and bustle of the hospital's doctors and nurses.

She just kept staring at the door. She kept waiting for the man with gorgeous blue eyes to come in through that door and tell her everything's going to be alright. And she did just that until the drugs finally kick in and she fell asleep.

Days later, Alex thought of that night. They were so close. They almost had the Amber music box. But Frederik got spooked and tripped the alarm.

Bloody amateurs! More often than not, they are risky additions to an already established crew, especially for a job as tricky as this one. I told Neal that, but did he listen? No!

Then she remembered. Neal. She remembered how he helped her up when he realized that she got hurt from the jump. Neal was deceptively strong, for a man who claims to be a lover, not a fighter.

She vividly recalled how he took her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way because she couldn't walk on her own. Well, at least he didn't just leave me there!Neal Caffrey, always the gentleman!

She remembered how he helped her out of the car and into the wheelchair. He brushed a few strands of hair away from her face and whispered to her ear "They'll take good care of you here."

Before the nurses took her inside the hospital, he tenderly kissed her on the forehead and said "Goodbye, Alex! I'm so sorry!"

Alex fought back the tears. She knew Neal had to do it. He couldn't afford to stay, there was far too much heat. He knew that I can take care of myself, that's why he left! She swallowed down the lump in her throat.

Tears fell as she blinked. She wiped the tears from her eyes. She stared at the door once more and hoped. She waited, but she knew that the man she's waiting for would never come. And she cried herself to sleep.

"Well, I see my patient's feeling a bit better today! Keep this up, and you just might get out of here sooner that expected." said Dr. Brendan Aubrey, the British physician in charge of Alex's case. He's handsome, humorous, and very sexy.

A Doug Ross body with a John Carter face...too bad he's married!, Alex thought. Out loud she said, "That's music to my ears, Doc! Just give me my walking papers and I'll be out of your hair in no time!"

Dr. Aubrey held his out hand. "Wha-hey, easy there, tiger! You still have quite a way to recovery!" In a more serious tone, "Besides, there's something else I need to talk to you about."

Alex listened to what he had to say. Her eyes grew wide in shock. She couldn't believe what she was hearing! This can't possibly be happening! Seriously?

As the doctor kept talking, Alex just tuned him out. Her thoughts were focused on the first few words that Dr. Aubrey said. "Alex, you're pregnant!" His words kept echoing in side her brain.

As Dr. Aubrey filled her in on her options, her thoughts took her somewhere else. It took her back to that night a couple of months ago, that night Neal told her that Kate had left him after they had this big fight. That same night that she helped Neal drown his sorrows with red wine. That same night they fell back into old habits while they were intoxicated. That night they made love, as hot and passionate as they did when they were still lovers. Neal needed comforting and Alex was more than ready, willing and able to provide all the "comfort" that he needed.

The morning after, Neal offered his apologies to her, as he always does, only this time he left a note written in an origami lily on the bed side table.

Dear Alex,

Last night was a mistake. I'm sorry if I took advantage of you in any way. But I love Kate and I'm willing to do everything to win her back. I would still love for us to stay as friends. Again, I'm so sorry, for everything.

Neal

Alex still couldn't believe it. She was carrying Neal's child. What the hell do I do now? How can she tell Neal?

Neal already said his goodbyes to her. He made it perfectly clear that he wanted a future with Kate. And Kate would probably think that this is just her last ditched effort to steal Neal away from her.

God, I know in my heart that Neal would love his own child and would never turn us away. But I can't ruin his chance of happiness with Kate, no matter how much I don't like her! Alex told herself.

Just then, her thoughts flash-forwarded into the future, when Neal and Kate have their own children. Alex just couldn't see where she and her child would fit into that picture. Alex grasped her head with both hands and sighed loudly. With thoughts still racing, she prayed for guidance and sleep that never came.

After hours upon hours of thinking, Alex still didn't know what to do, or where to start, that matter. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she is with child.

Then, it hit her. That's it! I'm with child! MY child! This isn't just Neal's child, it's mine too! She touched her belly and smiled. And I'm going to do my best to do right by you, kid!

Alex knew exactly what to do now. And it starts with one phone call. She took the phone and dialed a number she knew by heart.

A familiar friendly voice greeted her on the other end of the line, "Hello, Alex, my dear!" the voice said.

Alex replied, "Good to hear your voice again, Hale! I'm in trouble, and I need you help!"

~FINI~

*** Cliffhanger ending, I know! This started as a one-off, stand alone, kind of ficlet that just evolved into something more. Hopefully, if the muses inspire me, I can write what happened next. For now, I'll just let you imaginations work overtime! ***

*Repost of my fanfic Copenhagen, originally published in ffnet last 16 Dec 2010.