Chapter Text
Leverage Consulting and Associates: Portland Branch
It was a late night at the Leverage HQ. The brewpub had been busy all day! Eliot Spencer had cleaned up the kitchen after sending the staff home for the night. Alec Hardison and Parker were upstairs, getting ready to get some rest after a long day of researching their next mark. Eliot’s wife Kaira Newton was cleaning the bar, getting everything ready for the morning staff to come in for prep. Eliot walked out of the kitchen to see Kaira wiping down the bar.
“Didn’t I tell you to head up to bed an hour ago?” Eliot’s gruff voice woke Kaira up from her daze.
She turned and leaned against the counter and chuckled.
“Maybe. But you weren’t gonna join me until you cleaned the kitchen.” Kaira teased Eliot as he walked up to her.
He put his hands on Kaira’s waist as she put her arms around his neck.
“Maybe.” Eliot had that shit eating grin on his face that make Kaira smile.
“I just gotta put a couple dishes away and put the towels in the laundry to be washed. Then I promise I will be upstairs.” Kaira kept sneaking kisses on Eliot’s face.
“I got the dishes, okay?” Eliot kissed Kaira’s lips.
“I got it, I’ll meet you upstairs okay?” Kaira moved her hands to Eliot’s shoulders and had puppy dog eyes.
And Eliot melted everytime she did them. He growled lightly, knowing he couldn’t resist.
“Fine. I’m gonna put the twins to bed. I’ll see you upstairs sweetheart.” Eliot kissed Kaira one last time before grabbing her hands.
“See you soon my love.” Kaira held onto Eliot’s hand as he walked away, then let go so he could go upstairs.
She went back to wiping down the last of the bar. She put the towel in the bucket to take it back to the bin with the other laundry that needed to be done in the morning.
Kaira then took a bin of glasses from the sink counter and took them to the bar to be put back. She put a few glasses back in the bar when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket.
She put the glass in her hand on the shelf and looked at the number on her screen. She didn’t recognize it as anyone she knew. She took a breath to calm her nerves and tapped the screen to answer and put the phone to her ear.
“Hello?” Kaira answered the phone.
“It’s been a long time, cousin.” A male voice with a slight New York accent, maybe from Manhattan, was on the other side of the call.
And it was a voice Kaira hadn’t heard from in a long time.
“Neal. It has been a long time indeed.” Kaira let out a smile and leaned on the bar.
“How’ve you been, Kaira?” Neal asked.
“I’ve been real good Neal. What about you? Haven’t heard from you since I went to the Army.” Kaira asked Neal.
“Well, I got a million dollar view of Manhattan, friends, and a good job so not bad for a con.” Neal chuckled slightly, causing Kaira to chuckle.
But they both stopped once the heaviness weighed in.
“Kaira, I didn’t call you just to catch up. I need your help.” Neal let out a breath.
“What is it, Neal? Please tell me you aren’t in jail.” Kaira stood straighter and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“No I don’t need you to bail me out of jail. But I do need help. You ever heard of the name Mario Bertelli?” Neal asked Kaira.
“Yeah, big hedge fund investment guy right?” Kaira recognized the name.
“Yeah. Well, the FBI’s trying to make a case on fraud against him for scamming folks with phony accounts.” Neal revealed.
Kaira then swore she heard him wince.
“Neal, how do you know that?” Kaira asked with that tone of voice that usually scared people who heard that.
“Cause I’m helping with the investigation.” Neal gritted through his teeth.
“Why?” Kaira asked.
“It’s part of the deal I made to get out of prison. When I got caught the second time, the agent who caught me offered me a deal that if I helped the FBI solve white collar crimes, I wouldn’t have to serve my sentence in prison.” Neal revealed.
“That’s a hell of a deal, Neal.” Kaira wasn't gonna lie, she was impressed he managed to pull that off.
“Yeah it is. But I can’t be out of my 2 mile radius.” Neal added.
“Wait, why do you need my help if you’ve got the Feds backing you?” Kaira was now confused.
Maybe more on why Neal needed her help than the fact he got a 2 mile radius.
“Cause my FBI handler Peter Burke and I were supposed to be undercover as brokers and the rest of the team are burned. We need someone to apply pressure on Bertelli to get him on fraud, but we got no one left on the team to do it.” Neal was sounding desperate to Kaira.
“So you want me to go down to Manhattan to apply pressure on Bertelli?” Kaira made sure she heard him right.
“Yeah.” Neal confirmed.
“So you decided to call me? Your cousin in Portland who’s a criminal?” Kaira was in disbelief at how stupid Neal sounded.
“Do you know anyone else that has the skills to do this?” Neal was being a little shit, and the two cousins knew it.
“Fine. Look, I need to talk to my team first. We all do it, or we don’t do it at all. I’ll call you from this number once I’ve talked with them to come up with some backstory.” Kaira was getting ready to hang up the phone.
“Backstory?” Neal seemed genuinely confused, baffling Kaira.
“What are you gonna tell Peter, Neal? That your cousin who is a criminal is helping you out? No, I’ve heard of Peter Burke before, he’s by the book. He finds out I’m a criminal, I’m done.” Kaira was now anxious, and when she’s anxious, she tends to be more sarcastic.
“So I won’t tell him. I’ll just tell him I got a cousin who’s willing to help.” Neal was still in little shit mode.
“And he won’t think I’m a criminal?” Kaira questioned.
“Not if he thinks you’re also a Fed.” Neal had the plan in his head.
And Kaira did too.
“I do have a pretty bulletproof FBI alias.” Kaira had a smirk on her face.
“How bulletproof?” Neal asked, getting the idea.
“I got the ear of Agent McSweeten and Agent Taggert. And I bet mine is as solid as yours.” Kaira couldn’t help but boast a little.
“Alright. You get your team on board, and I’ll get Peter on board. Call me once it’s done and send me your aliases.” Neal hung up the phone.
Kaira sat her phone on the bar and rubbed her face.
“They’re gonna hate this.” Kaira muttered to herself.
She then eyed the bottle of whiskey on the bar, tempted to take a shot for luck. But she decided against it. She went inside, trying to think of how to explain this to her team.
Manhattan
Neal Caffrey was in his apartment, sitting at his dining room table, staring at the black phone screen. His best friend Mozzie was on the opposite side of the table, giving him daggers. Neal just cocked his head.
“What Moz?” Neal was sarcastic cause he knew he was about to get an earful, and sipping on a glass of expensive wine Mozzie… acquired.
“Neal, do you think it’s a good idea to lie to the Suit about your cousin?” Mozzie asked with concern in his voice.
“Mozzie, do you have any other ideas?” Neal asked, and given the blank look he was getting from Mozzie, he didn’t.
“Kaira’s the best at this. I know you’ve heard the stories, Moz.” Neal knew better.
“I have, and word on the street is she’s ruthless. A Robin Hood, if you will and her merry men. You know, I heard from Gerry that her team framed a judge while a bank was being robbed.” Mozzie seemed now overly excited, which Neal couldn’t tell if it meant he appreciated the con or the skill.
“Gerry? C’mon Moz, he’s not the most honest storyteller out there, even for a conman.” Neal wasn’t buying it.
“Like con men are honest, Neal.” Moz retorted.
“Look, I know Kaira. She’ll go along with any story that we tell her, all we gotta do is sell the story to Peter.” Neal explained.
“The problem isn’t in the selling of the story, my friend, it’s whether or not the Suit will believe it. So tell me, what’s the story you’re gonna tell?” Mozzie was curious.
Neal lightly bit his tongue before thinking.
“Kaira says she’s got a bulletproof FBI cover that can be backed up by people higher up than Peter. So, once Kaira get me the information on her teams covers, I’ll introduce her to Peter alone as her cover. Peter questions it, we’ll steer him towards her contact, and he won’t have to know.” Neal realized a plan.
“I’ll admit, as far as plans go, there’s worse plans. But you’re gonna have to keep Peter from digging further than an initial call to your cousins contact. He does, then you’re gonna have to get Kaira out before the suits put her in a cell.” Moz warned Neal.
“I’ll handle it, Moz. And Kaira knows what she’s doing.” Neal assured his paranoid friend.
“I’m sure she does, Neal. All I’m saying is watch your back on this one.” Moz gave his last piece of advice before ending the conversation by leaving.
“Yeah.” Neal muttered to himself before taking a final sip of his wine.
He figured, given the time difference between New York and Portland, that Kaira would message him in the morning. He decided to send a quick text to Kaira, warning her to tell him the plan before he went into work so he could start selling his story to Peter. And he also had to make sure Peter wasn’t gonna throw his cousin in prison. Especially cause he called in a favor and was putting her at risk doing this.