(I found this fic of mine in my Avengers stuff so I changed it to White Collar... I have no regrets)
Peter gripped the handles tightly, lying on his stomach with his legs trailing in the water behind. Next to him, Jones did the same, grinning in anticipation.
In the boat, Diana sat behind the wheel, the only one really trusted to be there, and Elizabeth sat in the back with Neal, both smirking as they waited for the show to begin.
"Ready?" Diana called back and Jones gave her the thumbs up.
As they started moving forward, the tube dipped down under the water slightly, then started moving along the surface as the boat picked up speed.
Peter exchanged a grin with Jones, then water sprayed in his face and he had to hold on tight as the tube bounced in the wake of the speedboat.
Elizabeth's friend had a lake house and she had invited the team over for some tubing, jetskiing, and swimming after they'd helped her husband out. Peter reminded himself to thank them if he survived the trip.
Jones' hands suddenly slipped as the boat took a sharp turn and the tube skidded sideways, over the edge of the wake at breakneck speed. The agent disappeared with a bark of laughter and the boat slowed to a stop, circling back around to pick him up.
"Nice flop," Neal commented with a broad smirk as Jones pulled himself up onto the back of the boat, dripping wet.
"Yeah?" Jones panted, "Lets see you do it."
Neal narrowed his eyes, considering, then slipped his sunglasses off and handed them to Elizabeth. "Hold those, please. Diana, how long did he go?"
"About two minutes," came the reply, "Why? You think you can beat that?"
"She drives rough," Jones warned, grabbing his towel and sitting beside Elizabeth.
"Ha!" Neal laughed shortly, "That's nothing. Hey, Peter, scoot over, I'm coming aboard."
Peter just smiled pleasantly and Neal hopped on beside him, situating his lifejacket for a moment before signaling to Diana. "Floor it!"
Peter groaned. "What did you get me into?" he had time to say before they were jerked forward and the ride began again.
Neal held on so tight, Peter thought he would rip the handles off and even he was struggling to keep his grip. Diana seemed to be trying to knock them off and when Peter saw the speedboat take a turn towards the wake of some other tubers, he knew it wasn't going to be pretty.
The waves made the tube fly up into the air and they both screamed, laughing at the same time. Peter felt his legs hanging off the side and he tried to hold on, but the water pulled too hard and when the tube launched into the air again, he let go.
Instantly, water flooded his nose and mouth, but he surfaced quickly, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes.
He spotted the boat turning around and the tube trailing behind, upside down. He smirked, realizing Neal had fallen off too, then wondered if he'd beaten Jones' two minutes.
They were all hysterical when Peter pulled himself onto the boat.
"Oh my god!" Jones shrieked, "Peter, that was priceless!"
Peter blinked as Diana pulled around to pick up Neal. "What?"
"You flipped the tube!" Elizabeth chuckled, one hand over her face.
Peter glanced at the three of them. "One of you got that on tape, right?"
Jones pointed up and Peter noticed the GoPro strapped to the bar where the rope for the tube was attached. "I wanna see that when we get back for sure," Diana said eagerly while Neal clambered out of the water. He looked at Peter, holding a hand to a red mark on the side of his face.
"Peter, you are a dick."
"Would it make you feel better if I said it was an accident? Because it was," Peter said, fighting to hold back a smile. "You okay?"
"Aside from having faceplanted the tube and then the lake, yeah, I'm fantastic," came the reply.
"Alright, who's next?" Diana asked and they pulled the tube in so Neal and Jones could get on.
"Hey, Diana," Neal said, "Go slow. I wanna stand up."
That went about as well as expected.
Neal stood on the tube, arms outstretched for balance as they cruised along and eventually, Jones joined him and it turned into a competition to see who could stay standing the longest. Of course, neither of them won because Diana suddenly jerked the boat forward, pitching them off while Peter and Elizabeth whooped from their spots.
After a few more loops around the lake and a few more flips and flops, they decided to head back in and grab some lunch.
"Sarah should be here by now," Neal said, checking his watch as he hopped onto the dock.
"Maybe she can come out on the next round," Diana suggested, "But Jones, you're driving. I wanna have a go."
They headed back inside and were met with Sarah's voice welcoming them back.
"Sarah!" Peter grinned, "When did you get here?"
"Five minutes ago," she replied. "I was gonna start helping out in the kitchen. But if you're still tubing, I'd like to come along and ride in the boat."
"Well good news," Diana said, "We're definitely going out again. There's plenty of room and you'd save me from all these crazy men."
"Absolutely," Sarah agreed.
Lunch was fantastic and no one wanted to move for a good hour afterwards, so eventually, Neal practically dragged them out to the boat in his excitement to have a turn with Sarah, even though she specifically stated she wasn't getting on a tube.
Diana and Peter went first.
The day went by and Neal was finally able to convince Sarah to go with him. "It'll be fun! Jones promises to go slow." He shot a firm look at the agent behind the wheel, making his message clear.
Sarah slipped on a lifejacket and settled down on the middle of the tube while Neal tried to squeeze in on the side. "Move over, you've got plenty of room on that side. You're not gonna fall."
Sarah reluctantly made space and once they were all set, Neal gave Jones the go-ahead and they started forward.
At first, Sarah clung to the handles tightly and screamed, pushing against Neal and away from the side. But Jones made it easy on them and soon, she was smiling.
Then Neal had a perfect and evil idea. He held his thumb up so Elizabeth could see it, her being the official spotter, and when he saw her relay the message to Jones, he grinned.
"What does that mean?" Sarah shouted over the rushing of air and water.
"Hold on tight!" Neal called back, "This is gonna be fun!"
He felt them pick up speed and Jones started doing sharp turns, forcing the tube over the wake and out onto smooth water, then back again. Sarah screamed and Neal thought he heard a few insults and his name, but he couldn't be sure.
Then, abruptly, Sarah was no longer beside him and before he could think, he let go, tumbling after her.
He swam over to her and she shot him her most evil glare. "You pushed me off!"
"I did no such thing. I just told Jones to go faster. You okay?"
She sniffled and rubbed her face. "Half the lake went up my nose."
Neal gave her a quick kiss. "Aw."
She immediately shoved his head underwater and he came up sputtering. "What was that for?!"
She just smirked. "Now we're even."
"Hey! Love Doves!" Jones called, bringing the boat around, "You gonna stay in there forever?"
By that time, it was getting dark, and they headed back in to eat.
"Hey," Elizabeth suggested as they were finishing up, "Why don't we go out on the lake and watch the sunset? I'm sure it's beautiful out here."
It was an instant thing and everyone piled onto the boat once again. Neal stole the very front for he and Sarah, and Diana took the wheel this time, guiding them to the middle of the lake.
There was a light breeze and the evening was getting cooler, so Neal pulled Sarah close and they started up a quiet conversation until the sun began to set and everyone stopped talking to watch it and enjoy the bright colors that stretched across the sky.
"This is perfect," Sarah whispered, and Neal smiled, whispering back, "I'm getting us a lake."