Neal Caffrey one shots | White Collar

These wings are made to fly (wings part one)

So sorry for the wait guys! Life has been hectic with everything going on in the world and I honestly could not find the motivation to write until a few weeks back. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy while social distancing!

Now, to make up for the long wait, here's a long one! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Neal Caffrey had a secret. A big secret nobody knew. He was what people called a Seraph, a Human with wings similar to those of an Angel. Neal's wings were big, each wing almost two metres and as white as snow, the tips of the feathers were almost silver and the wings itself were incredibly strong. But Neal hated them. Because he had to hide them, he could luckily make them disappear into his skin but that was very uncomfortable.

He wasn't always like this, no, for most of his life he didn't even know he was a Seraph. The wings just suddenly grew out of his back, they were small at first but within a month they were fully grown. Neal didn't know what triggered their appearance but all he knew was that his life would never be the same again. He had to lie to his best friend, to everyone he loved why on some days he wouldn't leave his apartment. Even his landlady, June, didn't know about the extra limbs on his back which had made things really awkward in the past.

He was glad that his four-year sentence was almost over and he couldn't wait to disappear, to finally be able to fly as far as his wings could carry him. He used to stretch his wings on his terrace when he knew June was out, but soon his wings became to big, they were too impractical for the small place in Manhattan. He was too scared to fly out, stretch them as he flew over New York so he opted for sneaking off to an abandoned dock where he could fly along the riverside, joined with the seagulls and other birds. He loved flying, the way the wind blew through his hair and how his feathers flexed, he could relax and forget every dark thought he had since Ellen's death. He could be stress free for only a few minutes, but it was enough for him. It helped him cope with all the losses and sacrifices he'd made.

He had to be careful though, because if he came too close to civilization he could get spotted, luckily his vision had become incredibly good and so was his hearing, he could see things more clearly, could spot every inch of a room without so much as narrowing his eyes, he could hear every whisper inside a building, and at night if he concentrated he could hear the waves of the river close by his apartment so good that it was as if he was standing next to the water. And when he was cold at night, or when the loneliness became too much his wings served as warmth, a blanket of safety.

A shrill sound of an alarm going off rang through the silent apartment. Neal groaned as he shut it off, hitting the device with such strength that it was destroyed the second he hit it, silence filling the room. Neal grunted and closed his eyes again, slowly unfolding his wings from underneath him. That was the third alarm clock he'd broken this week. He stretched his arms as well as his wings, stretching every feather until the wings touched the roof. He relaxed them and they hung behind him, half folded against his back and the tips sticking out from behind his shoulders. He climbed out of the bed and checked his phone for any messages but found out he had missed nothing.

He and Peter had worked the entire week on a loan scandal case that had been extremely boring. All Neal could do was fill out paperwork as Peter went undercover, him having a fitting alias for the case. Yesterday they arrested the suspect and Neal had expected Peter to update him about the progress but figured he was busy with paperwork when he hadn't. The conman let out a sigh as he made himself a cup of coffee, Italian roast of course. He sat down on the terrace with his coffee and some toast, unfolding his wings and letting the early morning sun kiss the white feathers. He closed his eyes and felt himself relax once more, breathing in the fresh air.