Yeah, this came to me randomly when Peter put David's picture up on the Wall of Honor. Anyway, I do not own any characters of White Collar.
Peter felt like his world had come crashing down. One case. One gunshot. One shove. That's all it took for everything to fall apart.
Sitting in his office, he stared down at the agents he was responsible for blankly. Of course, the one he was most responsible for wasn't there. There was no laughter, no spinning fedora, no anklet-wearing legs propped up unprofessionally on a desk.
Without anyone ever realizing it, Neal Caffrey had burrowed his way into all of their lives, and took a chunk of that with him when he left. The CI had his flaws, but he usually found a way to brighten at least one person's day. Be it his relaxed smile or humorous remarks, he was always there.
Peter knew that they would need to make up for their losses, now that the greatest asset of the White Collar New York division was gone. That barely registered. Instead, he knew that they had all lost a great friend.
He closed his eyes, hating himself for the last words he had said to Neal before the case.
"Come on, Peter, don't you trust me?"
"Not as far as I can throw you."
His last words before the con was gone.
"Neal, I told you to wait! Can't you ever just follow orders for once?"
Those were his last words to his best friend. The last thing he said to Neal Caffrey was about his insubordination.
A light, hesitant knock on the door caused Peter to steel himself and look up. Jones was leaning in the doorway.
"Sorry to bother you, Peter, but… since Caffrey's anklet is broken… They wanted to know if we should bury him with it."
"No," the ASAC said immediately. "He wasn't a free man before, the least we can do is give him this."
"I'll let them know," Jones said with a soft nod and left.
God, why did they even have to ask that? There had been a small electric malfunction in the factory that had caused Neal's anklet to short out, despite its usual standards. It must have been getting old… They would have needed a new one…
Peter placed his hand over his face, trying to fight down the tears threatening to spill. He could see a few of the agents, Diana included, now that she was back from maternity leave, already crying. He had to stay strong for them. The death of one man wouldn't stop the world from turning. Criminals wouldn't take a day off because the FBI needed to grieve.
June had paid for the funeral, so it fit the standard Neal would have wanted. Big and fancy. However, the turnout only consisted of the White Collar division, Elizabeth, June, and Sarah, though Peter could see Mozzie hanging near the back, keeping out of sight.
Peter took a shaky breath. He'd been asked to speak, and so speak he would, but he couldn't crack. Not now. "When I first met Neal Caffrey, I had no idea he was a criminal. No clue. The guy is just worried about his stocks and hands me a lollipop." He let out a hollow chuckle. "Then I spent years of my life tracking him, the elusive Neal Caffrey. Chasing him helped me get to know him. Maybe that was why I gave him the deal he got. Neal is—was—insufferable sometimes, with a huge ego, but his heart was in the right place, even when he was stealing from evidence and going behind our backs. Hell, sometimes he saved us and we didn't even know it, all we knew was the illegal things he did to get it done. But whether it was stealing a music box to find a missing U-Boat, or just swiping your favorite mug, Neal never meant any harm. And I think it's safe to say he grew on all of us." He paused, swallowing down a sob. "I would say that he wouldn't want us to grieve, but we all know that's a lie." He gave a shaky smile. "He'd want us to cry our hearts out for a few days to make our point that we missed him and then celebrate his life. And that's what we'll do." He paused. "Neal was the best CI I could ever ask for. I just wish he was still with us."
To say Peter was surprised to see Mozzie walked straight to his office, through a group of FBI agents would be an understatement.
"Mozzie, what… what are you doing here?" he asked.
The short man looked a bit uncomfortable before placing a box on the desk. "Neal would have wanted you to have it," he said, sincerity and grief in his voice, before turning on his heel and leaving.
Curious, the agent slowly opened the box.
In it sat a black fedora.
After everyone had gone, Peter looked down at the picture in his hands, a familiar winning smile that made you question if you were being conned greeting him. The fedora sat on his head, and though it felt out of place, he knew this was important. To both of them.
He lifted his gaze to the wall in front of him. Pictures of agents were placed in a row. He lifted the picture of his CI, but hesitated in putting it up.
"Neal, you shouldn't be on this wall. You should be sitting in June's apartment, drinking wine with Mozzie and plotting some kind of scheme. You should have been able to live out the rest of your sentence and become a free man. I don't know if you would have left, or if you would've stayed with the FBI. We would have been glad to keep you. You were important to this team, Caffrey." He let out a small chuckle. "Who's going to keep me on my toes now? With you gone, Neal… It's like a hole was just ripped here in the office, in our lives. Mozzie called Alex to tell her the news. From what he told me, she didn't take it well. I don't know if that was because of what happened to you, or if it happened because of me." He paused. "God dammit Caffrey… Even when you're gone, you're still a pain in my ass." A shaky smile spread to his lips, abating the pain for now. He could openly grieve when he was at home with Elizabeth, who probably missed Neal just as much as he did.
He placed the frame on the wall, sighing at how out of place it looked. Not because the picture was of a CI instead of an agent, but because his picture was so full of life that it didn't seem to belong.
Peter began to leave, but stopped for a moment, glancing back at the Wall of Honor before leaving the building for the night.
Yeah, I know that might seem weird, but… It's late at night and my tragedies tend to wind up like this. (See Broken Toys as another example.)
Anyway, the premise is basically, Peter and Neal were working a case and something happens where Neal's anklet basically gets zapped, Peter gets confronted by a killer, Neal tries to stop said killer, who attempts to shoot Peter, but Neal shoves Peter out of the way and takes the bullet instead.