Thank you to all who have been reading this story and it's long, long journey! This is the last chapter for this story, but I do have a sequel in the works. However, it may take a while before anything is posted. With that said, please enjoy!

Neal and Peter continued to meet in secret, although they chose different meeting spots each time. Together they schemed late into the night, then went to their respective jobs in the morning with no one the wiser.

Neal knew that Mozzie was helping in his own way, but he never met with Neal. Neal suspected that he was still hurt from the way Neal had treated him, and he couldn't blame the man. He hadn't been a good friend to anyone recently.

With Peter by Neal's side, and Mozzie working in the background, Neal felt capable enough to take down Dmitry. They just had to come up with a plan that wouldn't put anyone in anymore danger than they already were.

After several weeks of creating plans, then discarding them, Neal was given an opportunity to finally catch Dmitry.

Despite Neal's previous botched undercover assignment, he was able to get within the folds of a terrorist cell that was close to Dmitry. Neal put an ear to the ground to find out what Dmitry's target was this time.

Neal applied his finely honed skills to stay under the radar of any person that would tell Dmitry that he'd been sniffing around. The conman used subtle questions and smart tactics to undercover Dmitry's plot. No one would be able to trace it back to Neal, not even Dmitry.

After some careful listening, Neal finally heard what he'd been waiting for. It turned out that Dmitry had set his sights on New York's City Hall where an assembly was going to be held with dozens of high ranking government officials from all over the country. Some very important people, who Dmitry considered enemies to him and his father's organization.

Opting for a much less complicated plan this time around, Dmitry was planning to take the whole room of government officials hostage and execute them, one by one, on live television. Simple but effective.

Now that Neal knew, he had the opportunity to contact the police and warn them about the oncoming attack. He couldn't have the CTD arrest the man since Dmitry would definitely know it was Neal who ratted him out, but there were still plenty of people that Neal could contact.

It seemed like it had been so long since Neal had run a con, persuaded a gullible mark, or planned heist. Too long had he been the weak and vulnerable one prayed upon. Too long he'd been lost underneath the shadow of Dmitry's threats. Neal was taking back the control he'd lost months ago to the ruthless man.

WCWCWC

After 9/11, Americans took terrorist threats very seriously, so when a compelling anonymous tip was sent to the appropriate people, the response was immediate. Neal wasn't able to warn them in time to set up a trap or even cancel the assembly, but they were able to come prepared.

After all of the struggles and suffering that it took to reach this point, Neal felt that he had to see this to the end. With high-powered binoculars in hand - borrowed from the CTD - Neal watch from afar as a SWAT team surrounded City Hall.

Flash-bang grenades were thrown in the windows, and the team breached the building. After a long pause with no visible movement from Neal's position, the conman was starting to think that the enemy surrendered.

Not a moment later did Neal hear gunshots - a lot of them. Muzzle flashes could be seem from the window, but nothing else as a full-blown firefight broke out.

The gunfire lasted several minutes as Neal watched, powerless to help. Finally all sound ceased, leaving an eerie silence behind.

At long last, the main doors opened and officers, dragging along would-be terrorists behind them, headed for their vehicles to take the criminals to jail. But Dmitry wasn't among them.

At first, Neal had thought that the mad Russian had somehow escaped during the chaos, but when they started rolling out gurneys with body bags, Neal watched closely for one man in particular.

As they hauled out their third dead body, Neal saw that the bag was still open enough to see inside. Before they had the chance to zip the bag completely, Neal saw the face that had haunted his every nightmare.

Dmitry was dead. Neal had waited until that moment to release the breath that he'd been holding for what felt like so long.

"It's finally over, isn't it?" Neal said to the shadow behind him.

Knowing that he'd been seen, Peter move to stand next to Neal. "Yeah, I think it really is." Like Neal, Peter obviously felt that he had to watch Dmitry's takedown as well. Neal wasn't surprised in the least.

"Maybe we can finally start to move on," Neal said as he felt a kind of peacefulness wash over him. He hadn't felt this relaxed in months.

Peter turned his head to look at Neal, a warm smile gracing his face. "That sounds good," he said, then placed a slightly unsure hand on Neal's shoulder as they watched the scene unfold in front of them. "That sounds really good."

There were still many wounds left to heal, and time would help most of them, but it would take much more than that to mend some that were inflicted so rashly. Perhaps the bond that Neal and Peter always had would be enough to heal the rift. Time would only tell.

The End

I am planning on making a sequel to this story, but don't expect quick updates, or anything for a while. I have daily headaches and looking at screens or reading makes them worse, so it's been hard to focus on writing.

Thanks again for reading!