Since I did Peter's view I had to do Neal's as well. It can be seen as stand-alone or sister one-shot. Any mistakes are my own. Please read and respond and thanks to those who loved the first one. :D Disclaimer: I don't own White Collar because if I did I wouldn't be doing this.
"Whether there's an anklet or not, come Monday morning I'm gonna be stepping off that elevator on the 21st floor to go to work."
He thought back to those words that he had said to Peter earlier that eventful day. Neal meant what he said and truly hoped it would come true. He felt like he finally had a home, something he never really felt he had in his life. Today was the day he would find out what his future held. Today he was going to find out if he was free or if he was to remain tethered for another two years. Inside he hoped that he would be able to wake up the next day and be able to answer to just himself. But the idea of another two years answering to Peter wasn't that much of a bad situation. There was just one problem that had crept in and turned this day into the usual chaotic mess that always followed Neal. Kramer.
He honestly thought when Peter slapped the cuffs on his wrists in the lobby at Sterling Bosch that he was done. That his time with Peter was over, but he was surprised to find himself in a matter of minutes being released by the same man, who caught him twice, became his handler and ultimately his friend. Neal felt upset at that time feeling like he let himself and Peter down for falling for Kramer's trap. He knew that Kramer felt he was a threat to Peter, a threat that had to be taken care of. A person who had to be confined and locked away in order to be watched and 'handled' in a way more up to the older agents' standards.
When he left Peter in that lobby he hoped that Kramer would admit defeat and leave him alone. For Peter's sake he hoped that the man wouldn't force Peter to choose between the two. Neal hoped that deep within Peter would choose him, but he knew he didn't deserve that from the man. After all he had put him through, did he honestly deserve to be picked over a man who was someone who Peter had admired and saw as a guiding force? In his heart he hoped they had reached that level of their partnership, but he didn't know. All Neal knew was that he wanted to stay and keep coming back to that office, to a place where he felt he could come to love even more. New York had grown on him.
So when he walked by the building and saw Kramer confronting Peter on the steps his heart stopped and he stood still. His feet were glued to the street as he gazed up to Peter, worry in his eyes. It was then that he knew that Kramer wasn't going to back down. He was too filled some sort of emotion and drive at putting Neal in a tight grasp, a cage. It was in that short moment that he realized that Kramer wasn't going to stop his mission of getting rid of Neal Caffrey, the conman, and save Peter from the hurt or let down Neal might cause. When Peter locked eyes with him and shook his head very small at him he understood the message completely. Peter had come to the same conclusion and was telling Neal to get out and get away because Kramer was the scorpion in the room, not Neal as Kramer had told Peter earlier that day. When the small group of people passed in front of him blocking Peter from his view he moved, disappearing and doing what he did best when put in a tight situation. He ran.
Neal ran away and hailed the nearest taxi and sped off to Junes his mind was going fast and he was already in his fleeing mode. It didn't take him long to reach Junes and he already had called Moz on the way. Thankfully Mozzie was way ahead of him completely and had decided to get plane tickets in the hopes that when he presented Lilanna in the abulance that Neal would run away with him right then and there. As he ran up the steps he grabbed his bag, stuffed his fake ID and a few other important things he held in the space behind the little picture by his bed. He looked in the mirror momentarily and paused. He knew this might be the last time he would ever be here for a while. Maybe it might even be a long time, possibly never. The New York he had fallen in love with was going to be nothing more than a memory. A memory filled with a family that he had grown to be a part of and who cared about him. With a snip of his anklet and letting it slide onto the table he left, leaving everything behind him.
As he stared out the window of the plane he didn't know what the future held. He could do anything he wanted now. He had freedom. He knew it would be nigh impossible now for anyone to find him. Kramer wouldn't be able to get to him. He had the chance to make his own choices like Peter had said he had earned the right to once in the past. He relished the idea to live a new life, but part of him missed the old one. One that was filled with people he had come to care about and on some levels trust. The con in him though relished the idea of the opportunities it would bring him and Mozzie. It was all up in the air as to what their next move would be; the choices and possibilities were endless. But unlike what he had told Peter what seemed now like a lifetime ago, Neal wouldn't be able to step onto the 21st floor on Monday. In the end was this really freedom or was it just another escape?
AN: Please press the button and feed me with the good and the bad or write me a prompt or drop a line. :D I don't bite.. promise.