Title: The Stranger in the Mirror
Fandom: White Collar
Rating: Gen
Length: 271
Content notes: Mentions of past injury and surgery
Warnings: None
Summary: Victor Moreau doesn't recognize the man in the mirror


Victor Moreau glanced at the mirror over the mantle on his way out of the house. It was a habit, really, and he'd never been caught doing it, but still he felt self-conscious. He still had to make sure that his face was his own.

After the flight to Bermuda, after the crash… Victor had never liked disguises, but he had gotten one whether he liked it or not. Bob too, though his was less obvious. A bit of work to the nose, the brows, and he was all patched up. Victor's face, though, had been another matter entirely. The cuts across his brow and cheek had been deep, and jagged, and it had taken numerous follow up surgeries in the best hospital the Bahamas had to offer before he had begun to look more like a human and less like a mummy.

By the time he had recuperated and they had whisked off to Japan, Victor could honestly say that he didn't recognize the man in the mirror. Every day he checked, and every day the same stranger stared back at him.

He knew it was a tell, and he worked diligently at it; he no longer started at the image, and he no longer sought out his reflection in windows and chrome detailing. The single glance before he left the house was the one concession he gave to his anxiety, and Bob, bless him, never called him on it.

Satisfied that nothing had changed since yesterday, Victor sighed and turned his back on the mirror. Changing his name had never bothered him. But somehow, changing his reflection… that hurt.