A White Collar Valentine
By RascalFlattsS
Disclaimer: Do not own White Collar or Valentine's Day. I do however own the title of "Best Chocolate Chip cookies".
Summary: Peter forgets something major and it's up to Neal and the team to set it right. One-shot.
Spoiler: some little spoilers for Bad Judgment and Home Invasion
Neal Caffrey was sitting in the conference room. His feet were propped up on the table with the fedora on his head. He was reading through the case files to discover the link between the latest rash of art thefts. Or at least that's how it had started out anyway. Now this guy had moved to murder and the FBI was desperate to catch him before he killed again.
FBI Agent Peter Burke was sitting at the table across from him. Peter was focused on the case file in front of him.
Neal glanced at his watch. It was Saturday afternoon at four o'clock.
"No." Neal looked up to see Peter glaring at him.
"What?" asked Neal confused.
"No," repeated Peter, "the answer is no."
"I didn't even ask anything!" said Neal.
"I saw you glancing at your watch," said Peter, smiling. "And no, you cannot go home."
Neal groaned. "Aw, c'mon Peter! It's Saturday afternoon."
"I don't care Neal!" snapped Peter. "We are going to stay here until we catch this guy! I don't care if we have to stay here until Doomsday! Understand?"
"What about tomorrow?" asked Neal.
"What about tomorrow?" asked Peter.
Neal looked at Peter surprised. "You don't know what tomorrow is?"
"Sunday," said Peter simply. "If you actually spent some time working instead of glancing at your watch every five seconds, you might get out of here sooner."
"But Peter-"
"Find my killer," said Peter "And then you can go home." He sighed and stood up. "I need some more coffee." He got up and walked out of the room.
Neal sighed. Peter apparently had completed forgotten that tomorrow was Valentine's Day. He couldn't believe that Peter had forgotten that. Normally, Neal wouldn't care. Heck, he'd even find it entertaining that Peter had forgotten. Normally, Neal would be falling his butt off at Peter's careless mistake. Except there was one small problem.
Elizabeth.
Neal liked Elizabeth-he considered her a friend. And as her friend, he wanted her to have a nice Valentine's Day with her idiot husband who clearly forgot. But it was more than just wanting Elizabeth to have a nice Valentine's Day. Elizabeth would be mad at Peter and would thus lead to Peter being mostly likely kicked out. This would then mean that Peter would have to crash at Neal's place. Again.
No way in hell is that happening! Thought Neal. He reflected back to the last time Peter crashed at his apartment. Towards the end, Peter had worn down Neal's patience so much that Neal wanted to strangle him (and Neal doesn't consider himself a violent person).
"Time for a little intervention," said Neal softly.
Peter was worn out. He had been staring at the same page for what felt like the past three hours. He and Neal had been working nonstop searching through case files and reports on this new art theft and now murderer. He had already killed one person-a fellow FBI agent-and they were still no closer to finding him then were two days ago.
"Peter! PETER!"
"What?" said Peter, jumping up in his chair at the startled voice. As a force of habit, he also drew his weapon.
"Whoa!" said Neal, putting his hands up in the air. His deep blue eyes widen in shock. "Take it easy, Peter!"
Peter immediately lowered his gun and holstered it. "Jesus Neal! What were you trying to do? Get yourself shot?"
"You fell asleep. Again," said Neal.
"Oh," said Peter. "Sorry."
"Peter," said Neal. "Go home."
"What?" said Peter. "No, I can't."
"Sure you can," said Neal. "You just get in your car, buckle your seatbelt and then just driving."
Peter shook his head. "No, Neal. I can't. I have to find this guy."
Neal sighed. "Look, Peter, I promise you we are going to get this guy. But killing yourself isn't going to help."
"I'm fine," lied Peter.
Yeah right, thought Neal. He took a deep breath. "Peter, I need your help on something."
"Okay," said Peter. He was digging through papers, not even really paying attention to what Neal was saying.
"I don't even know if I should be telling you this," said Neal slowly. "I mean-I was sworn to secretary in all."
Peter was still digging through papers, only glancing up at Neal. He could see the worry and concern in Neal's eyes. "Well, c'mon Neal. Spit it out. I don't have all day." Peter continued digging through papers.
Neal took another deep breath. "It's about Elizabeth."
At the mention of his wife's name, Peter's head shot up. "What about Elizabeth?"
"She's very upset," said Neal.
"Upset?" asked Peter. "Why is she upset?"
"It's the case," said Neal. "She's really worried about you. She's worried that you're overworking yourself. Or that you're going to get hurt." Neal took another deep breath. "I tried to reassure her but I don't think I did any good because she started to cry."
"You made my wife cried!" yelled Peter. He stood up quickly.
"To be fair, she was already crying," said Neal. "I just made the crying worse. She didn't seem to believe me when I said that you were fine. I mean, of course you're fine! You're Agent Peter Burke for crying out loud! But that didn't seem to help."
"Damn it Neal!" said Peter. He reached for his phone. "I need to call her."
"NO!" said Neal. Peter looked up at him confused.
"Why exactly can't I call my wife?" asked Peter.
"I don't think that calling her will help," said Neal. "What I think Elizabeth needs is to see you in person so that she knows that you are okay."
"Yeah," agreed Peter. "That makes more sense I guess." He grabbed his coats, car keys and cell phone and headed towards the door.
"Wait!" Neal grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Where do you think you are going?"
Peter raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm going home to see my wife Caffrey."
"Not dressed like that!" exclaimed Neal. He continued when he saw the puzzled look on Peter's face. "You're wearing the same clothes you were wearing when you left your house two days ago. Plus, they are wrinkled and whatnot. You go home wearing that, she's going to know that something is wrong and that's not going to help-it will just make everything worse. Honestly, Peter. Don't you know anything about women?"
"What do you suggest?" asked Peter.
Neal looked around the office until he spotted Jones. Neal broke out into his Chester cat grin. "I have a plan."
"Oh crap," mumbled Peter. "This can't be good."
Neal ignored him and ran over to Jones. "Hey Jones! Peter needs to run home and he's got nothing to wear. Do you have anything he can borrow?"
Jones paused for a moment, thinking. Then his face lit up with recognition. "Wait! I think I might have something." He walked over to the closet and pulled out a large hanger and plastic cover from a dry cleaner's. He handed it to Peter.
Peter unzipped the bag and groaned when he saw what was inside. "A tux?"
Jones shrugged. "I was supposed to go to a charity event for the children's museum the other day. It's all I got."
Peter looked between Neal and Jones before sighing. "Fine," he said. He headed off to the men's room to change.
Neal turned to Jones. "Thanks for getting the tux."
"No problem," said Jones. "Do you think he has any idea yet?"
"Nope," said Neal, grinning wider. "Did you put the box in the pocket?"
"Yep," said Jones.
Neal nodded. "And did Lauren 'the package' gets dropped off?"
Jones nodded. "Yes."
Neal grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Excellent. Stage one of our evil plan is complete. Now stage two!"
"I look like an idiot," mumbled Peter as he walked out of the men's bathroom, wearing the tux.
"Nonsense," said Neal. "You look fine."
Peter rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Give me my car keys."
"Um," said Neal. "I don't have them."
"What?!" said Peter. "What do you mean 'you don't have them'?!"
"I gave them to Jones!" said Neal, "So he could get your car!"
On cue, Jones came running up. "Jones," said Peter. "Where's my car?"
Jones shook his head. "Bad news Peter," said Jones. "I went to start your car but the battery's dead."
"Great!" said Peter. "Now what am I going to do?"
"Don't worry," said Jones, "I managed to flag down a car for you. It's waiting outside."
"Thanks," said Peter. He ran down the stairs and out the front door. Neal and Jones followed, trying to hide their grins.
Peter went out the door and stopped when he saw the car. He turned around to face Jones and Neal. "You got me a limo?"
Jones shrugged. "The driver was just passing by. Turns out his last fare cancelled."
Peter looked at the two, almost like he couldn't believe it.
"What are you waiting for?" asked Neal. "For it to turn it into a damn pumpkin? Get in already!"
Peter turned and nodded. He opened the door and got in.
Jones and Neal watched as the limo drove away. They bumped fists.
"You know, Caffrey," said Jones. "You're downright evil sometimes."
"I know," said Neal. He smiled. "C'mon. Let's go. We've still got one more thing left to do."
As soon as the limo stopped, Peter jumped out and ran up the steps. He opened the door and went in. "El? El, where are you?"
"In here," came Elizabeth's voice. Peter turned and walked towards the kitchen.
"El?" asked Peter. As he walked into the kitchen, Elizabeth flew into his arms and gave him a long kiss.
After a few minutes, they broke apart. "Oh Peter! They're beautiful! I can't believe you remembered!" Elizabeth hugged him again. Peter looked over her shoulder and saw a large bouquet of calla lilies-Elizabeth's favorite flower.
Elizabeth stepped back and Peter saw that she was wearing a new formal black dress which Peter noticed seem to perfectly match the tux he borrowed from Jones.
Peter smiled. "You look beautiful, El."
Elizabeth smiled. "Thank you, Peter. I must say that my husband also looks ineradicably handsome." Her smiled grew even larger. "I must admit Peter; I was really surprised when I got the flowers. I figured with the case, you wouldn't remember that today was Valentine's Day."
Peter mentally groaned. Valentine's Day! He had completely forgotten with the case! But he had a funny feeling that Neal and Jones hadn't.
Elizabeth continued. "Not only were you sweet enough to send me flowers but the card was wonderful! And reservations at Le Cirque! On Valentine's Day! Oh Peter! How on earth did you get them?"
Figures that Caffrey would pick the most expensive restaurant in New York. Peter smiled. "I made the reservations months ago. I wanted it to be a surprise. Did you like it?"
"I love it!" said Elizabeth. She kissed him again. "I love you."
"I love you too," said Peter. He smiled. "You ready?"
Elizabeth nodded. "Just let me grab my coat."
Peter watched his wife walk back into the living room, when he felt his cell phone vibrate. He pulled out of his pocket and saw a text message from Neal. Check your coat pocket.
Peter felt the pockets of the jacket and on the inside pocket, he found a long narrow box. On the box, he saw a little post-it note with Neal's handwriting on it that said "For Elizabeth."
Elizabeth came walking back into the room with her coat on. Peter quickly pulled off the post-it note. "What's that?" she asked.
"A little Valentine's Day present for my beautiful wife," said Peter as he handed her the small box.
Elizabeth smiled. "Oh Peter, you shouldn't have!" Elizabeth opened the box to reveal a beautiful diamond necklace. "Oh Peter, it's beautiful! I love it!"
Peter smiled. "I'm glad." He helped her put on the necklace. Peter stepped back. "It's looks beautiful on you."
She kissed him. "Let's go." She walked down the hall and opened the door. She gasped. "Peter! A limo! You've really undone yourself!"
Peter smiled. I'm going to kill Neal. Tomorrow. Tonight, however he was going to have a lovely evening with his beautiful wife.
It was a beautiful Monday morning when Peter strolled into the FBI office. Truth be told, Peter had a great Valentine's Day. Elizabeth had loved the flowers and had a great time at the restaurant-even though the food was tiny and was EXTREMELY overpriced; it was worth it to see her smile. She had also loved the diamond necklace and was so pleased that Peter had been paying attention when she pointed out that she loved the style (Peter was still scratching his head on how Neal knew that one).
Peter looked around the office, looking for Neal and Jones. He assumed that Jones had been in on Neal's scheme as well. He was surprised to see that his whole team-Jones, Lauren and Neal-nowhere to be found.
"Aw, Peter," said Hughes. "How are you?"
"Fine," said Peter. "Where is everyone?"
"What? Oh you mean Jones, Cruz and Caffrey?" said Hughes. "No idea. I gave them a week off."
"What?!" exclaimed Peter. "Why?"
"They brought in Ramos," said Hughes.
"Ramos?" repeated Peter puzzled.
Hughes handed him a case file. "Alfred Ramos. He's the art theft that you've been chasing for the past few weeks. He's the one who killed Agent Carlson. Your team discovered his MO, managed to track him down and bring him this morning. You should be proud of them Peter."
"Something like that," said Peter, as he reviewed the file.
"Anyway, they all looked dead on their feet, so I gave them a week to recover," said Hughes. He smiled. "I asked Caffrey were you where and he said something about another case or something. Anyway, you gave a week off yourself."
Peter nodded. "Yep, I just need to finish up some paper work." Hughes nodded and left. Peter went and walked into his office.
Sitting on his desk was a stack of invoices. He flipped through them. He saw the invoice for the florist, the jeweler and the limo company. On all the invoices, he saw his signature written nice and neat on the forms.
Peter sighed. He picked up the phone and was about to call Neal and rip him a new one for forging his signature-after he specially told him not to-when he noticed another post-it on his desk.
Glad to hear Elizabeth liked the necklace. And the flowers. And the restaurant. And the limo. You're welcome by the way. Also you're welcome for capturing Ramos for you as well. He didn't go down easy-punched me in the face and gave me a black eye! Not cool. Jones, Lauren & I are going for breakfast and then into hiding for a week so you can't kill us for saving your neck. See you on the 22nd.
P.S. You're welcome. Again. But next year, you're on your own.
Peter clucked. He grabbed the invoices and his coat, walked out the door and headed home. He could kill Neal next Monday.
THE END
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