Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Characters: Peter Burke, Elizabeth Burke

Genre: Episode Tag, One-shot, Short, Hurt/Comfort, Romance

Rating: T

Summary: Episode Tag to "Veiled Threat". Elizabeth and Peter's thoughts following what may have been an attempt on Peter's life after Peter gets involved with the black widow, Selena.

Author's Note: I've been hanging on to this story for a while, always thinking I would add more to it, but since the episode ends with a sort of vow renewal ceremony—the small ceremony Elizabeth says she would preferred to have—I don't know if I could make an ending more perfect than that.

Spoilers for Season Three's "Veiled Threat".

Reviews are appreciated. Happy reading. :)

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The First Time, The Last Time We Ever Met

A White Collar story

by silverluna

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Elizabeth

Elizabeth's heart, which had already pounded mercilessly during the entire "wedding planning meeting", was now lying, partially flattened, on the pavement beside her husband's fallen figure.

Was it supposed to go this far? She should have said no, should have forbid him to go through with it. But Peter was too good an agent and too faithful a husband for Elizabeth to convince herself that such a selfish course of action could benefit either of them.

And besides, she herself had liked the idea of showing her husband off. But that was before, when the game was no more than a bachelor auction, when the stakes weren't higher than the risk of a single flirtatious date to discover Selena's motives for killing her four other husbands. Before she knew Peter might be in danger.

He was unharmed, breathing and gasping, his knees having given out following the near miss with a close-skimming car. Elizabeth's pulse pounded; she had collapsed the moment the scream left her lips. It killed her she couldn't go closer; but Peter still had a cover to keep up. Instead, his fiancé was the one to comfort—rather lightly, for Elizabeth's taste—kissing Peter on the cheek.

"I'm fine," Peter wheezed, working his way up to his feet. His faux-fiancé gripped his arm as if to steady him; from this angle, it was hard for Elizabeth to tell if this woman was up to something. In spite of her visible shaking, she too got to her feet, wondering if it would be too late to see the woman's smirk—if it had been there at all.

"Are you okay?" someone was asking her. It was an absurd afterthought—not for these frayed moments; more for the past in which this entire facade was conceived—and that she'd had little say in Peter's involvement. It was done, and then he'd come to tell her, to beg for her understanding.

"Fine," Elizabeth lied, forcing a half smile. "I just tripped on the sidewalk—I was startled by the car's swerving." But had it been an accident—or had she witnessed an attempt on her husband's life? Elizabeth reached for a solid object to steady her—a parking meter, firmly stuck to the ground would do. Still, she trembled around the metal post.

In the office, Selena had appeared genuinely amorous towards Peter—who'd feigned a nervousness over a public display of affection. Still, he was a good actor—or she was—and it wouldn't be too hard for an outsider to guess that they could be in love. That they could be happy. Elizabeth clenched her teeth, though silently commended herself for keeping it together in that tight little office space with the two of them, the two of them so much in love. Years of being a federal agent's wife had taught her a few good things—and Neal's presence in their lives had given Elizabeth a better understanding of the games cons played to get whatever it was they wanted. Still, what they were playing at now was hardly a game. What Selena wanted from her husband was what El held most dear—his life.

As she had many other times before, Elizabeth conjured a silent prayer for Peter to come home to her, safe and sound. Please, she implored. I need him.

Peter

"Watch out!" Elizabeth's voice was still ringing in Peter's ears, twinged with panic and disbelief. It took him quite a while to regain his composure—to both speak and get behind the wheel. He kept his lips pressed together until he was certain he could form whole words.

His training as a federal agent had prepared him to dial back fear, to appear to feel nothing, or close to nothing, especially in a dangerous situation. But since he was playing the part of Peter Williams, US steel magnum, getting the wits scared out of him, he could seem a little vulnerable. It might even win him points in Selena's favor.

If she had a conscience, which was contestable.

Peter offered Selena a nervous smile. "I'm fine," he told her, looking scared and embarrassed as he got to his feet. "I wasn't expecting that."

"Who's expecting it?" Selena murmured, leaning in, her hand on his shoulder.

"If she hadn't warned me—"

"Let's not talk about that," Selena purred, smoothing his hair and his cheek.

The very worst part was that he had to keep hold of his persona, that he couldn't retreat, for even a few moments, to Elizabeth's arms—that the two of them had to maintain a respectable distance. Peter wanted so much to comfort her, and have her warm arms encircle him tightly. She had perfected the arts of both steadying his heart and making it race.

That's all he would have needed—just a few seconds or minutes next to El to feel all right. But he accepted the bottle of water and her look of longing as the best he could get for the moment. Secretly, he cringed at Selena's touch, at the lies rolling off her tongue. "I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you."

"But if it did?" Peter tightened his shoulders, and willed himself not to look in Elizabeth's direction.

If it was just another accident, could Selena really be blamed? She hadn't been blamed for her other husbands' deaths, the skydiving, heart attack, embolism, mugging gone deadly—now, car accident? With their wedding planner, a stranger, as the only witness. Peter remembered the large knife Selena had held to her thigh when he was in her apartment, as if she had then been preparing to stab him with it and blame it on a home invasion. Peter kept his face expressionless, and pulled out into traffic, the black widow in the passenger seat.

He watched El grow smaller in his rearview mirror, her mouth frozen, watching him. This was all too hard on her, and he was sorry to have put her through it. Still, this couldn't have been a real attempt on his life, not with witnesses around, but it was certainly enough to scare him.

"If something did happen, if worse came to worse," Selena said with false sincerity, "I wouldn't want your money. Instead, I like to see you make a contribution to charity. A non-profit. That's what I'm planning to do with all my money when I die."

"Really?" He smiled faintly in her direction.

"Really," she echoed. "Let me give you the names of the ones I support."

After dropping Selena off, Peter felt a little relief for the first time since the whole case had started. This was a good lead, and he had faith that Diana would have more for him when he reached the office.

Don't worry, Hon, Peter silently told Elizabeth, picturing her smiling face. I'm going to make this all up to you.