Fic: Another Way

[csi_sanders1129]

Title: Another Way
Chapters: 1/1 (?)
Author: csi_sanders1129
Genre: AU, Drama
Ratings: M (Language)
Word Count: 1327
Pairings/Characters: Leo Caruso, Vincent Moretti
Synopsis: In which Vincent tells Leo the truth after they escape the hospital.
Comments: First try at fic for A Way Out. Might continue it at some point, but for now it's standalone. Comments and kudos are awesome. Thank you for reading!

After their daring escape from the hospital, they're quick to put a considerable distance between themselves and their near miss, they find a quiet spot to pull off the road for a while – to patch themselves up and catch some sleep before they head off to meet Vincent's pilot contact in the morning for their suicide run to Mexico. They wrap up the shredding Leo's arms took from the elevator cable and they pull an alarmingly large shard of glass out of Vincent's knee after his fall through the glass roof. Leo settles on the backseat, sprawled out as much as he can, while Vincent stretches across the bench seat up front, both trying hard to get some rest.

It almost works, too, Leo is on the edges of sleep when Vincent breaks the silence.

"I have to tell you something."

Leo sits up and catches Vincent's eye in the rear view mirror and he knows that this isn't going to be good. Nothing good ever comes after a statement like that, full of hesitation and guilt. "What?"

"Hear me out, okay? Let me explain everything before you do anything. You're not going to like it."

Leo makes no promises.

"I've lied to you about some things," Vincent starts and this isn't exactly news – Leo's had suspicions because Vincent is a surprisingly proficient criminal for someone claiming to be a banker. Too good with lock-picking and guns and daring escapes. "Some things were true – Harvey really did kill my brother, and I do very much want the bastard dead, but…" Here, Leo braces himself, not sure he's ready for whatever comes next. "I'm not a banker and he didn't frame me for Gary's murder. I got myself sent to prison, I got myself put in the cell next to yours. I'm a cop, Leo, undercover."

He says nothing, he can feel the anger building as the world tilts off its axis.

Vincent keeps talking and it only gets worse. "My brother was your buyer for the Black Orlov. He was a cop, too. We were outside, in a van, ready to bust you and Harvey for the heist, but things went sideways."

Leo is more than familiar with just how sideways that meeting went. Harvey betrayed him and tried to shoot him in the fucking head and nearly ran him over with his car and yet somehow this betrayal hurts more. He'd trusted Vincent with his plans, with his life, with his family and it was all a fucking lie? "Fuck you, Vincent," he spits, gets out of the car. He slams the door shut behind him and snaps out a vicious "Stay the fuck away from me!" at Vincent when he makes to get out, too. Furious, Leo stalks off into the forest until he's out of sight. If he sees Vincent right now, he's liable to punch him in his stupid fucking face. He punches a tree, instead.

He doesn't know how much time passes as he paces an endless back and forth, he only comes back to reality when a branch snaps behind him, and the crunch of boots on dry leaves announces Vincent's approach. He glares over his shoulder at the advancing figure, "Thought I told you to fuck off."

"Leo, just-" Vincent tries, his hand settling on Leo's shoulder, but Leo jerks away from him.

"You're a piece of shit, Vincent!" Leo shouts, shoving the other man as far away from him as he can manage. "You motherfucking pig! I trusted you and you betrayed me! Just like Harvey did. You're no better than him!" He swings a wild punch, it connects hard with Vincent's jaw, splits his lip. "What? You were just gonna throw me back in prison after I helped you get revenge on Harvey and go back to your old life?"

Vincent doesn't fight back, he puts his hands up, like Leo's some kind of skittish animal he's trying not to provoke. "I'm sorry," he says, "I'm sorry I broke your trust - but it's not like that. I'm telling you now for your own good, not to screw you over."

Leo doesn't seem convinced. "You mean you're telling me before your secret got blown."

Vincent ignores the comment and continues on, "They won't move in until we come back from Mexico. My boss expects me to hand over Harvey and the diamond and… you… when this is over, but he's not getting any of that. Harvey'll be dead. You'll have the diamond and if you listen to me I promise I'll get you someplace safe, that I'll get Linda and Alex out, too."

"Don't talk about them!" Leo snaps, "you don't get to talk about them."

"Okay," Vincent concedes. "I won't. I trust you, Leo, even if you can't trust me after what I did. Why would I tell you all this if I didn't?"

Leo hates this. Back on the other side of this conversation, things had been so easy. He'd trusted Vincent implicitly after everything they'd been through since the escape. Now there's all this doubt and suspicion. Can he really still trust him? Vincent really could send him back to prison in a second, could get Linda, too, with what he knows – and Alex would be taken away from them. Vincent could do all of that and then go back to his wife and his baby and never think about Leo again.

But Vincent says "I'm sorry," again. "How do you want to do this?" Vincent asks. "It's up to you how things play out from here. I'll follow your lead, whatever you want."

What Leo wants is for Vincent to not be a cop, he wants things to be like they were before dropped he this bomb on him. The two of them on the run together, ready to face down the bastard who royally fucked both of their lives. Hell, he'd been thinking about asking Vincent to join him after they dealt with Harvey, wherever he ended up going to hide out. Linda and Alex wouldn't have minded. It would be too hot for him to go back to Carol right away – he'd have to convince her to flee the country with the baby at some point – there was no returning to civilian life after the prison break, after their faces were plastered all over the papers, all over the news.

"I don't know."

"I'm a cop, Leo, but we're in this together. You've saved my life; I've saved yours. Harvey's fucked up both of our lives and now they're fucked up together. Work with me and we'll get out of it together, too." A pause, "we work too well together to stop now."

Leo frowns, can't believe that he's considering going along with this, but he doesn't really have an alternative. He could leave now, sure, Vincent would probably let him get away clean, but Harvey would still have the diamond, would still be gunning for Leo, would still be a threat to his family, would still be breathing. Vincent might be a cop, and a fucking asshole for lying to him, but he's blindly trusted Vincent multiple times and he's come through every time. They've had each other's backs at every turn - the fights at the prison, the zip line from the guard tower, the cliff jump during their escape, the waterfall, the hit at the theater, the hospital – and he's willing to do it again.

"Okay," Leo heaves an exhausted sigh, sits down hard on the forest floor and holds out a hand as a peace offering. "Okay, what do we do?"

Vincent takes his hand, sits down beside him, and Leo's surprised by the relief in the other man's voice when he responds, "Thank you. I wouldn't want to do it without you, Leo."

Whatever plans come after that – fake hostage situations, fake deaths, escape routes and stashed supplies, safe places and contingencies – they'll get through it together.