Spreading the tales of a con man

Title: Living Proof
Author: Deastar
Spoilers: none (AU)
Characters: Peter, Neal, also a bit of Elizabeth
Pairings: Peter/Neal, Peter/Elizabeth, Neal/OMCs
Rating: NC-17
Warning: Non-con/rape, sex between a minor and adult(s) (not Peter/Neal, however)
Summary: Peter is a vice cop. Neal is a teenage prostitute who works in Peter's beat. AU.

Why rec'd? You may note from the warnings and summary that this is not my usual sort of reccing fare. "Teen hooker AU" is not my usual sort of reading fare, either.

But this story is really, really good. I think what makes it work for me is that the author is acutely aware of, and careful with, the power dynamics in their situation. This story doesn't romanticize prostitution (as the author's notes say, this story is not "Pretty Woman"), and it's more of a subversion of the teen-hooker AU story type than a straightforward angstfest. Peter is completely believable as a young (early 20s) vice cop who wants to break Neal out of his downward spiral while still maintaining a professional distance between them, and Neal is also believable as a runaway teenager who's so messed up at this point that he doesn't believe any adult would want anything from him other than sex. Without giving away plot spoilers, I'll just say that the story avoids most of the usual tropes that make this kind of AU generally not work for me, and made me love the characters even more than I already do.

(Also, this icon is awesomely appropriate! *g*)