White Collar Fic - Privilege - Epilogue
Mar. 23rd, 2010 07:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elrhiarhodanTitle: Privilege
Author:
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elrhiarhodan Rating: R (for language and OT3 sex, not graphic but descriptive)
Fandom: White Collar
Spoilers: 101, 113, 114
Summary: Fifteen Seconds Really Shouldn’t Make That Much Difference
Warnings/Triggers: Some legal stuff (and what else is new?)
Word Count: ~8000 (Sum of all parts)
Disclaimer: Nope, own nothing - but if I did, there would be a continuing storyline requiring either Peter or Neal (or both of them) to wear jackboots. The kind that the Queen’s Horse Guard wear.
A/N: I really wanted to find a reason why Peter Burke, so obviously brilliant – would occasionally be such a dork or so unsure of himself, particularly when it comes to interpersonal things. I thought, maybe – something from childhood, but I didn’t want to go down paths already trodden. I wanted to stay with something I know all about – sibling rivalry. I flashed on Allison Janney as Peter’s twin sister. IRL she’s a few years older than Tim DeKay, but the coloring and bone structure sort of match, and the roles she’s played are consistent with the personality of the character I’m trying to create.
This is set in the same universe as Minutes and Hours, Neal Caffrey, (Wage) Slave, and probably How Long Did You Did You Think You Could Keep This Up (Before I Found Out). It's also the second entry on my "Five Things About Peter Burke" post.
The story takes place a year and some months after the Season 1 Finale.
Many, many thanks to the excellent beta work by the incomparable
gyzym. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone. In the end, the case was almost ridiculously easy to break. The next morning, when they were leaving to meet up with Elizabeth in Brooklyn, Peter picked up Neal’s discarded Kevlar vest and noticed the tag on the back, “ZeroPoint - an Aero-Dyne company.” Monday morning, Diana found the hook they needed. ZeroPoint, prior to its acquisition by Aero-Dyne, had entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Government following a bid-rigging investigation. The decree stipulated that the company and its successors (which meant Aero-Dyne) would be subject to full government audits without notice, for a minimum of ten years. Peter’s team coordinated with the San Francisco WCCD office, and within six months, uncovered evidence of massive fraud, ranging from price fixing, bid rigging, and intellectual property theft, to numerous financial and securities violations. The entire senior management of the company were indicted and stood trial before the end of the year. The verdicts were guilty, all the way around.
Isabelle Burke, as always, came out on top. While whistle-blowers are often subject to character assassination during the trial in an attempt to discredit their testimony, her reputation was so stellar and her reporting of the initial case so impeccable that any mud the defense threw at her just slid right off. When the trial was over, Isabelle was appointed to U.S. Court of Appeals.
Peter was surprised to learn that the body armor wasn’t a clue. His sister had watched “Michael Clayton” one too many times, and actually believed that her life was in danger. On a personal note, Isabelle ended up selling her lovely Craftsman-style bungalow in Half Moon Bay at a loss, when the property became infested with wild goats.
Neither Peter nor Neal have looked at the contents of the memory card. Yet.
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no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 12:11 am (UTC)BUT OH, LET ME COUNT THE WAYS.
Peter and Neal's interaction--gah. Gah. THE COMPLEXITY OF THE BACKSTORY, WHICH COULD TOTALLY BE ON THE SHOW, GAH. My mental image of Allison Janney and ISABELLY and gkdjgkdgkdlf.
Also? The deft hand with which you wove the backstory of the OT3 and the EMOTION between Peter and Neal which works with the SEPARATE BRILLIANT FIC PLOT AND.
Um. Okay. I LOVE THIS, THE END :D
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 02:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 05:46 am (UTC)*splorfle!*
"ZeroPoint - an Aero-Dyne company"
Hmm... "Zero Point" sends my brain off on tangents to "Stargate Atlantis" and ZPMs.
Being a Curious Feline type, I want to know what's on the photo-memory card...
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 01:38 pm (UTC)I hadn't even thought about ZPMs...I was thinking more about hollow point bullets. Gah - circles within circles.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 10:11 pm (UTC)Hollow-points make sense WRT Kevlar vests...
The other thing that bullet-proof vest had me wondering was if those were where the company's cheating came in... IIRC, one of the military contractors during the early part of the Iraq war was accused of skimping on armor they provided; troops DIED as a result. Later, one of the L&O shows used that "ripped from the headlines" idea and changed it to flak vests which weren't up to spec (in RL, I think it was Humvee armor).
As for the memory-card photos, I'm betting it's embarrassing childhood pics of Peter, but with info hidden in 'em (IIRC, "steganography"? Adding code to big files like photos & videos?). Big Sister seems the sort to hang onto things like naked-baby pics of Peter, or the school photos which showed him at the ugliest-duckling stages of braces-&-zits adolescence...
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 10:17 pm (UTC)Really enjoyed this story. Would love to see a further appearance by isabelly.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 12:50 pm (UTC)One of my favorite trips I ever took was to Monterey, drving from SF down US 1. I stopped in Half Moon Bay and spent an hour or so with the seals. I didn't see any wild goats there at the time, but I read about the feral goat and pig problem few years later.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 01:19 pm (UTC)I enjoyed this so much. Your Peter/Neal interactions are spot-on, oh my god, I feel like I've said this like a million times but the way you write Peter, guh, WANT. I loved the part where he was like "She's good. She's REALLY good" and even though she drives him crazy, he's kind of delighted because he's PETER and seeing people do clever things -- and figuring out what they're up to -- is his greatest pleasure in life. :D
I also really like the way you write post-"Out Of The Box" Neal. He's changed, but he's still pretty much irrepressible. And the way the danger has brought the team even closer together... love it. JEFF EASTIN, I KNOW YOU ARE LURKING IN FANDOM. PLEASE MAKE THIS CANON. Especially the threesome parts. *cough*
no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 12:51 pm (UTC)Thank you for your lovely feedback.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 03:39 pm (UTC)I liked Neal's changed yet not changed personality, and the kevlar vests and rules about post mentor safety really hit home the danger everyone is in!
no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 12:53 pm (UTC)Thank you for the feedback on "post-Mentor" safety, I didn't know if I was overdoing it.
I am delighted that you like this.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 04:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 12:54 pm (UTC)I really had fun writing the plot, and to hear that it was appreciated makes me all squishy.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 12:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 12:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 03:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 12:57 pm (UTC)I'm delighted at all the positive feedback I've gotten about Isabelle. I was worried that she would be too "Mary Sue" - a problem I find with a lot of non-canon characters.
I'm bringing her back for something cracktastic. Stay tuned.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-28 10:51 pm (UTC)It will be fascinating to see if the real life WC writers make Kate the bad guy all along.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-28 11:09 pm (UTC)Can you tell me, though - what is "PWP" - I'm pretty new to fandom writing, and there are just some acronyms I can't figure out.
Elr.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-29 02:02 am (UTC)"PWP"?
Date: 2010-05-10 09:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-15 02:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-15 02:32 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for taking the time to read my writing, and I am so glad you like it.
You may have read Part I only because I had delayed the posting of the subsequent parts by a day or so (stupid me).
Isabelle coming back...there's that memory card to deal with...and a few surprises along the way.
And yes, being old is a bitch...if you let it.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-15 02:40 pm (UTC)Naw, just making excuses for myself, and maybe a little more aware of age than usual because I have a birthday coming up. In my head I'm still about 19.
Looking forward to Isabelle returning. Cracktastic, did someone say?
Rebecca (Elaina is my niece)
no subject
Date: 2010-04-15 02:51 pm (UTC)Elianasaunt = Eliana's Aunt
I though "Saunt" was just a lovely French surname.
>GRIN
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Date: 2010-04-16 01:28 pm (UTC)I love Alison Janney, and I love the idea of her as a bossy, overly competitive big sister. I really like the mystery she presents to the WC team, and Neal's perceptions of her interactions with Peter.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-16 01:32 pm (UTC)I'll be putting up a master post list this weekend, which will have all my fics in chronological order.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 07:36 am (UTC)They're adorable together here, this was such an entertaining and amusing read. Thankyou. ^__^
no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 08:55 pm (UTC)I've been reading my way through your WC fic in the past two days and I enjoyed it immensly. I love how most of them tie together to form a verse. I am such a sucker for looooong stories. :D
Thanks a lot for sharing!
no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 08:59 pm (UTC)I love that you're taking the time to comment too...
Elr.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-07 12:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-07 12:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-04 05:03 pm (UTC)I loved that you gave us Alison Janney for the sister (I loved her SFM on West Wing) - perfect. And Neal holding his own with her - LOL! And Neal getting Peter to realise that he had nothing to envy about his sister's life, and how much he and El love him. And, and, and...
Fabulous Peter/Neal interaction as always.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-04 05:08 pm (UTC)Just so you know, Isabelle's coming back to torment Peter...and gets the tables turned on her in a very surprising way.
I've got so much fic on the brain lately, it's surprising I get anything done!
Thank you again, so very, very much.
Elr.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-04 07:08 pm (UTC)And I am continually impressed by your bountiful stash of ideas, and excited to see what you bring us next.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-24 10:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-24 11:19 pm (UTC)Isabelle will return, in the most surprising way.
The boys still need to look at that memory card.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-18 02:31 am (UTC)Want to see Peter get the upper hand if Isabelle returns, especially if (as she did in the beginning of this story) "Isa-belly" is still doing the one-upsmanship, gotta-score-on-baby-brother thing.
Story's just as good on re-reading, BTW... and now on to the NEXT chapter of the Paladin'Verse!