Full Circle

Chapter 14 - Moon River

Chapter Description: It's the final showdown between James and Pratt! In canon this ended with Pratt dead and Peter in prison for murder. But I wouldn't do that to you, right?

Pratt campaign headquarters. August 8, 2006. Tuesday afternoon.

Hughes, Peter, and Neal walked into a conference room that looked more modern than the ones in the Federal Building but not as interesting as the ones at Winston-Winslow. Peter did an internal eye roll at the fact that he was starting to assess conference rooms by the Win-Win standard.

Pratt joined them a few minutes later, and after the introductions he shut the door. "I was surprised and relieved to get your call," he told them. "I'd heard from James Bennett before you contacted me, and I was trying to decide how to handle the situation."

"He moved faster than we expected," Peter lied. "Our intention was to reach out to you before he did, to inform you of our case and how it impacted you."

"But I believe you're already aware of the case," Hughes said in his usual dry tones. "I had a long conversation this morning with an old friend of yours." He named a senior FBI director in D.C. "It seems he was under the impression we were investigating you. We wanted to rectify that misunderstanding in person."

"I appreciate it," Pratt said. "He's been kind enough to keep an eye out for people who want to stir up old troubles from my days on the police force. No matter how many times I've addressed that situation and tried to leave it in the past, it's still a favorite topic for people who want to stand in the way of my vision for the future."

"I can see how you'd be concerned," Peter said. "Our focus was on Bennett, and the fact that he might have friends in a position to feed him information. We updated our case file with an eye toward convincing him that we'd fallen for his story, and we didn't realize you'd also be aware. Given the direction the case has taken, that's particularly unfortunate, because we need your cooperation."

"Can we start at the beginning?" Pratt requested. "I'm a big-picture person, and so far I've only had glimpses into what you're doing."

They started with Neal, of course. He had the skill to spin this story as they wanted, while pretending to be the weak link. He mentioned growing up in WITSEC due to the actions of James, having been warned not to use Bureau resources to look up information about his father, and then encountering James a few weeks ago.

"Curiosity get the best of you?" Pratt asked, sounding judgmental.

Neal agreed. His job was to make Pratt feel like the smartest guy in the room. "The more I learn about my dad, the more I realize that being impetuous is something we have in common."

Pratt's expression was annoyingly smug.

"At first he seemed harmless," Neal explained. "It was hard to imagine that anyone would care about him after all of this time." He shrugged. "And then I learned what he'd done. I found out about the mob ties and the murder charge. My mom had kept all of that from me. She told me he was a hero."

"I'm sure she meant well," Pratt said, sounding patronizing.

"The truth came as a shock, and when I realized how dangerous he was, I confessed to Peter." Neal's smile was sheepish. "Something I need to do too frequently, especially when it comes to this case."

"At that point my priority was damage control," Peter said. "I had Neal stay in touch with Bennett to learn what he wanted, and it became apparent that he blamed you for his troubles and wanted revenge."

"You didn't believe his claims about me?" Pratt asked.

Neal stepped in, taking the scapegoat role. "I wasn't sure what to believe," he admitted. "The hero-worshipping kid I'd been hoped that my dad's stories were at least partially true. He said that Kathryn Hill had collected evidence that could exonerate him."