Disclaimer: White Collar belongs to Jeff Eastin, USA Network et al. This is for fun, no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's note: Vague, very unspecific spoiler for 4.16 – "In the Wind" (and doubtlessly not compliant with season 5).
The first time Neal is allowed to visit Peter in prison the older man seems fine. They talk about things to do, leads to follow and Peter is focused, concentrated, himself. Orange will never be his color but otherwise he's pretty much the Peter Neal is used to: the determined special agent who always gets him man. Planning their next steps, bouncing ideas and conclusions back and forth actually feels eerily normal– if one doesn't count that they are separated by thick glass and communicating via phone. Nevertheless Neal leaves with a new sense of confidence and purpose and – even knowing that at least part of it must have been a brave mask the other man put on for him – oddly reassured that even prison can not bring Peter Burke to his knees.
The second time Neal is allowed to visit Peter in prison there is a hint of strain around the other man's mouth. His face has become thinner and paler due to lack of sunlight and there is a wariness in his eyes he's trying to hide. It doesn't help that there isn't much progress to talk about. What seemed like promising leads had led them nowhere. Sources had suddenly clammed up or not been able to contribute anything useful. Neal brings to bear all his optimism and smiles of encouragement and he can tell Peter is trying to respond in kind but they both know how difficult it will be to make any headway from now on. Chance may help them but until then they can only soldier on and wait with forensics what they are and word standing against facts. And on leaving Neal realizes painfully how much simply knowing there is a definite end makes a difference. How much easier it had been for him to keep his spirits up no matter how long four years had seemed sometimes.
The third time Neal is allowed to visit Peter the other man is in the prison infirmary; just transferred back from the hospital where they repaired the damage a sharpened toothbrush had done to his guts. And even then Neal's only there because because Hughes pulled some strings to get Diana in and he wordlessly tagged along. Peter is a bit wan and gray but manages to smile reassuringly and look apologetic at the same time and the goddamn irony of it is that the improvised knife wasn't meant for him at all; he only happened to see the attack coming and pushed the intended target out of the way. Thinking about it Neal is too furious to say much about anything those few minutes they are allowed to stay because, darn it, there are things you just didn't do in prison if you wanted to survive … and also too scared because he simply knows that this is what Peter is and will always be no matter the circumstances.
Sometimes Neal allows himself to visit Peter's grave. Allows himself to stand there and look at the silent headstone and feel all the regret and sorrow and pain of not doing more or doing it faster or better. Allows himself to feel this abyss of loss and darkness and grief, as he did with Kate, with Ellen. With the father of his childhood dreams. Then he blinks and takes a cab to Brooklyn and when Peter opens his door he simply steps forward and hugs the older man. Short, hart, reminding his brain and hands and heart that this particular nightmare did not happen – that this time, this time, he managed to make things right. Letting go slowly he never explains his actions. And Peter never asks.