Ficlet: White Collar
Title: By S. Morgenstern
Author: Alone Dreaming
Rating: PG
Characters: Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke
Warnings: Extreme spoilers for Out of the Box (Season One Finale)
Words: A little under 500
He feels the need to let the pair of them down gently, as though finding his own life is wrong, shameful and hurtful. Helping Elizabeth into an exclusive and high-end gig helps mitigate the damage he's done to her, and calling her, just to hear her unbiased opinions, gives him the strength to toss the phone in the trashcan. The easiest thing to do, he decides, as he heads towards the hanger and his new life, involves leaving immediately and not talking to Peter at all. His own fragile will wouldn't hold up against Peter's logic and disappointment; even his love for Kate, so strong that it's painful, wavers in the face of Peter's sincerity.
His evil fate cackles at him as he stands between the plane and Peter, his new life and his old life, telling him that he must make a decision. Gently, he wanted to let Peter down gently; Mozzie knew that he would jump on a chance to run away into the American Dream, June never expected he would stay and he left her a very special gift and a note with a simple, "Thank you. For everything. You only need to call", the other agents would not miss him; but Peter, Peter he'd never discovered how to handle in the case of his disappearance because Peter refused to take his excuses.
The confusion causes him to turn at the last second, his mouth open in apology, only Peter's name escaping his lips before a staggering force takes him down. It hurts, burns, and he knows what it is, long before he gains his feet again and tries to rush to the flames and melted metal. His lips part in a chant, "No, no, no" with "Kate" interspersed within until it comes out in a horrible rush. He wants to go to her, to pull her out, to apologize for not being there with her and giving her one last kiss, but something holds him back. A pair of strong arms, far stronger than his frantic struggles and his need to cause his own doom keep him in place. A voice whispers in his ear, the words meaningless as he continues to twist and turn and yell. Even as the cops and firemen and paramedics arrive, tailed closely by the FBI no doubt, he's still whimpering at the ever collapsing wreckage of his new life.
"No, no," he mumbles though his struggles have dipped to nothing. "No...no..."
"I've got you, Neal," Peter says softly. "I've got you."
And, in the end, amidst the chaos, the questions and the smell of burning gas, it’s Peter that gently lets Neal down to the ground and doesn't let go.
Author: Alone Dreaming
Rating: PG
Characters: Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke
Warnings: Extreme spoilers for Out of the Box (Season One Finale)
Words: A little under 500
He feels the need to let the pair of them down gently, as though finding his own life is wrong, shameful and hurtful. Helping Elizabeth into an exclusive and high-end gig helps mitigate the damage he's done to her, and calling her, just to hear her unbiased opinions, gives him the strength to toss the phone in the trashcan. The easiest thing to do, he decides, as he heads towards the hanger and his new life, involves leaving immediately and not talking to Peter at all. His own fragile will wouldn't hold up against Peter's logic and disappointment; even his love for Kate, so strong that it's painful, wavers in the face of Peter's sincerity.
His evil fate cackles at him as he stands between the plane and Peter, his new life and his old life, telling him that he must make a decision. Gently, he wanted to let Peter down gently; Mozzie knew that he would jump on a chance to run away into the American Dream, June never expected he would stay and he left her a very special gift and a note with a simple, "Thank you. For everything. You only need to call", the other agents would not miss him; but Peter, Peter he'd never discovered how to handle in the case of his disappearance because Peter refused to take his excuses.
The confusion causes him to turn at the last second, his mouth open in apology, only Peter's name escaping his lips before a staggering force takes him down. It hurts, burns, and he knows what it is, long before he gains his feet again and tries to rush to the flames and melted metal. His lips part in a chant, "No, no, no" with "Kate" interspersed within until it comes out in a horrible rush. He wants to go to her, to pull her out, to apologize for not being there with her and giving her one last kiss, but something holds him back. A pair of strong arms, far stronger than his frantic struggles and his need to cause his own doom keep him in place. A voice whispers in his ear, the words meaningless as he continues to twist and turn and yell. Even as the cops and firemen and paramedics arrive, tailed closely by the FBI no doubt, he's still whimpering at the ever collapsing wreckage of his new life.
"No, no," he mumbles though his struggles have dipped to nothing. "No...no..."
"I've got you, Neal," Peter says softly. "I've got you."
And, in the end, amidst the chaos, the questions and the smell of burning gas, it’s Peter that gently lets Neal down to the ground and doesn't let go.