[Fic: White Collar] Know Me (Not) 1/6?
Fandom: White Collar
Title: Know Me (Not) [1/6?]
Genre: Drama, Angst
Word Count: 1,340
Rating: PG-13 for language
Spoilers/Warnings: Season 3 mid-season finale. Peter, understandably, at his worst.
Summary: There’s nothing like a crisis to bring out the truth. Five hints, and one time the Burkes didn’t realize they figured it out. (AU in which Neal is Peter’s son, but only Neal knows the truth.)
Freudian Slip
It hadn’t even been a minute since Peter sent Neal to the floor with a sore jaw and now he had to rely on that goddamn sonnova bitch to negotiate with the psychopath who had his wife. His WIFE.
Hughes had waved out everyone but Peter’s team and the NYPD detective when Neal’s phone rang, signaling for a trace while Neal put his cell on speaker-mode. Unnecessary, since the first thing Keller did was tut at Neal and ask to speak to him alone. “I mean it, Caffrey, just you and me,” he said, his greasy voice tinny and irritating over the speaker, “unless you want Peter to hear his pretty little wife scream.” It took Jones’ firm grip on his shoulder to keep Peter from reaching through the phone and tearing the weasel’s guts out his ears.
Neal made eye contact with Hughes, who gave the go-ahead with a tilt of his chin. He switched settings with a beep and lifted the phone to his ear.
What kind of game was he playing? Keller knew the FBI and NYPD were on hand, waiting to question Neal the moment they hung up, yet he still had something for Neal’s ears only. Give me the treasure; don’t involve the authorities, no doubt. Wanted to talk ransom and made a personal call to Peter as insurance because Keller knew he’d make his CI do whatever it took to get El back, playing him like a pawn by capturing his queen. Peter hated that Neal was in charge of the conversation deciding El’s fate. But even if Peter couldn’t trust Neal (never, ever again), he could rely on - needed to rely on - that silver tongue.
“Listen, Keller, we’ve got half of New York’s law force looking for you. There’s nowhere to run.” Neal went on to make a compelling case as to why Keller was very, very screwed, tempering Peter’s anxiety and rage down to a simmer, when suddenly Neal went very alarmingly quiet.
The stone in his stomach sank deeper as Peter watched Neal’s Adam’s Apple bob and his eyes widen, unblinking. Shit. Neal doesn’t have a plan. He doesn’t know his next move.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Neal finally said, his voice tight. He might have been going for a threatening tone, but from the guilt on his ashen face when he turned and stared at Peter, it was clear that Keller was holding something over him. Let it be guilt, Peter prayed darkly. Because if that was Neal was trying to mask panic…oh, God, El!
Neal was listening intently now, his head canted down and his eyes sweeping back and forth as if he were a machine processing information, running scenarios through his head. Keller was completely dominating the conversation. Not good. Not good at all. Then Neal pulled his shoulders back, a cornered animal on the offence, and his expression turned hard.
“If you touch her. If there is even one-” and there was a click. Neal lowered the cell from his ears slowly and stared at it, as if it were some alien device, as if he couldn’t understand what had just happened.
“What did he say?” Peter blurted out as Hughes ordered, “Caffrey, report.”
Still stunned, Neal looked up from the phone in his hands and found Peter, his eyes shining with distress, and swallowed.
“Caffrey, now.”
“Uh, yeah, gimme a sec.” Neal averted his gaze and Peter could almost hear the gears whirring behind Neal’s eyes.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Peter said as he shook his head in disbelief. “No thinking, no spinning, Neal. Just tell us what he said, verbatim!”
Neal didn’t react. It’s like his voice didn’t even register.
“Neal!”
“Peter!” Hughes warned sternly. Peter knew he shouldn’t even be here-he was too close to the case-so he held his tongue. “Caffrey, answer the question,” Hughes commanded.
Neal pulled himself together and picked his words carefully.
“He wants some information he thinks I have, asked me to meet him. No feds.” He glanced over at Peter again. “No trackers.” His voice was steady, but his eyes were missing its usual puckish glint. Instead, they silently pleaded for Peter to understand or else he’ll hurt El.
“Just information?” Hughes clarified.
“Just a trade. I give him what he wants, El goes free.”
It was killing Peter to not refer to the U-boat treasure, like a monster was trying to punch out of his chest, but the whole incident was still highly classified. So instead: “Oh, and you’ll give him what he wants?” Peter said scathingly.
“I don’t have what he wants.” Neal shot back. Peter didn’t even try to hide his disbelief. “But he doesn’t have to know.” Neal turned back to Hughes. “I’ll go in, lead him to a pre-determined location and you guys can take him down there.”
“Sorry, Mr. Caffrey,” the detective from the Major Case Squad interrupted and Neal and Peter both started, having forgotten all about him. Detective Butch? No, Cassidy. “We’re not sending in a civilian into a hostage situation with a dangerous fugitive.” He glanced over at Hughes who nodded in support. “You give us the location and you let the professionals take it from there.”
“I don’t have one, not yet.”
“But you will?”
“Yeah.”
Neal paused, considering.
“Look, it has to be me.” He brought his hands out in front of him before anyone could interrupt. “You’re right, he is dangerous, and he won’t hesitate to hurt El if he finds out I’m not following his instructions to the letter. Our best bet is to spring on him at the very last moment after El is safe. Let me meet him.” He looked at the faces around the room: Diana, Jones, his eyes resting on Peter’s mentor, Agent Kramer. “No trackers,” he reminded them, “He’ll know.”
“A little convenient for you, don’t you think?” Peter couldn’t help saying, his face growing dark.
Neal had the gall to look a little affronted. “You’re just going to have to trust me on this.”
And that was it. Peter exploded.
“Trust you?” Peter spat, breaking away from Jones’ hold and moved menacingly towards Neal, “Trusting you is how we got here. I gave you a chance at a better life, welcomed you into my home-”
“We’re going to get her back-”
“-And this is how you repay us?!”
Peter felt the tension in the room intensify, knew that his attack was counter-productive, but there was too much worry and hurt and anger and fear that had to go somewhere or he’d break.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to El!” Neal insisted.
“Stop! Stop.” Peter was yelling now, punctuating each word with his hands. “You don’t get to use her name, Caffrey! You’ve lost that right-”
“Gentlemen!” Hughes called out.
“-when you betrayed our trust-!”
“I know how this looks, Peter-”
Peter was vaguely aware of other voices in the room, but all he saw was red and Neal and hardly noticed the pull on his arm.
“-and now that psycho’s got her-”
“-believe me when I say getting her back is the only thing-”
“-and it’s all. Your. Damn. Fault!”
Neal turned, pacing with a hand on his hip and the other pulling at his hair, agitated and visibly flustered with Peter in his face, unrelenting with his tirade.
“If I’d trusted my gut instead-!”
“Peter, stand down!“
“WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME, DAD!?!”
The outburst echoed and hung pregnant in the air. Neal blinked hard and corrected himself: “Peter.”
The sound of their heavy breathing marked the uncomfortable lull.
Any other day Peter would have latched on to that Freudian slip with glee, wondered what it revealed about Neal’s past or headspace or implied about their relationship. Today, it felt like Neal punched the air out of his chest. Of all the times to be a smartass and belittle the situation, like this was just some inconvenience!
Peter’s expression pinched closed and his voice was hard-edged and cold:
“Nothing. I want my wife back.”
---
A/N: Inspired by the often recced and brilliant You Ruined Everything (In the Nicest Way) by jmtorres, the idea that there’s more to why Neal wants to stay wouldn’t leave my head. I haven’t worked out the whole collection yet, but I thought I’d post this part now before it become even more AU after the premiere next week.
Thanks for reading! Your comments are appreciated.