So, nobody has written one of these yet (and frankly, I'm surprised. Guess this isn't THAT fandom that writes reaction fics), so I took it upon myself! This fic features Elizabeth, June, Sara, Alex, and James and all their reactions to Neal's "death".

Also, this serves as the prequel to my story "C'est La Vie". Check it out if you have time!

Elizabeth doesn't worry about Peter too much. After all, if something happened within a day of one of his FBI missions, she would hear about it. But it had been over 24 hours since she heard from her husband. She finally called Diana, and got even more worried at the sound of her voice.

"Hey, Diana. I haven't heard from Peter in a while. What's going on?" Elizabeth asked.

Diana took a deep breath. "He's at the morgue. Elizabeth…it's Neal. He's been shot. They couldn't save him."

Elizabeth felt her stomach drop and her throat tighten. "You-you mean…he died?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Oh my God…oh my God! Oh, Peter…which morgue is he at?"

XX

Elizabeth got to the morgue as fast as she could. She saw Peter sitting on a bench crying into a bag of Neal's personal effects. She sighed, sat down next to him, and pulled him into her arms. She choked up, and felt tears in her eyes. While she felt sad for Peter and everyone who knew Neal…she was kind of glad he's gone. Now Peter can focus more on their family and less on dangerous FBI excursions and late-night stakeouts. She felt guilty for not grieving Neal, and hoped to high heaven Peter and Mozzie do not find out.

XXX

"He's dead."

June stared at Mozzie, slightly puzzled. "What? I'm sorry, I don't understand. Who died?"

"Neal." Mozzie swallowed a lump in his throat. "Keller killed him."

June gasped quietly and put a hand to her heart. "No…oh, God, no." She started crying, and she and Mozzie held each other. Neal was like the son she never had. He reminded her so much of Byron.

'Byron…please watch over him.' June prayed silently.

XXX

Alex Hunter poured herself a drink from her hotel room minibar. She was somewhere in Illinois planning her next heist. Her phone rang.

"Chad. You have the schematics?"

"Not yet. I have some bad news."

Alex scoffed lightly. "Seriously?"

"It's about your friend, Neal Caffrey."

Alex stiffened. She and Neal weren't on the best of terms at the moment, but…he was still fun to be around and nice to look at. "Is he okay?"

"He's dead, Alex. He was murdered the other day."

Alex felt her stomach drop, and a lump rise to her throat. "Mother…" She threw her glass aside. Sadness, then anger bubbled up inside her. "All right, who is this murderer so I can go all Zero Dark Thirty on his ass?"

"My sources tell me it was Keller. He's dead, too." The caller answered.

Alex exhaled sharply. "Damn. FBI agents have all the fun."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks." She hung up and sighed. "Hmm. I wonder if he has anything valuable in his apartment..."

XXX

James sat in a hotel room somewhere in Italy. He couldn't believe his son planted credible false evidence of his murder of Pratt! Neal was officially dead to him. He still kept tabs on the FBI to make sure they weren't coming after him.

He looked up New York Times articles and froze when he saw the article about Neal being murdered after bringing down the Pink Panthers. He shuddered and a lump rose in his throat. He couldn't understand this feeling of grief. Sure, Neal was dead to him, but...he didn't want him dead. He wept softly into his hands. "My son...my son."

XXX

Peter stood quietly in front of the wall of plaques of deceased FBI agents who lost their lives in the line of duty. He hoped he would never had to put Neal's plaque up there, but...well...

The elevator dinged behind him. Peter turned around to see Sara step off the elevator. "Sara. Hey."

"Hey, Peter." Sara smiled politely. She was dressed in one of her famous black cutout dresses. Her hair was straighter and more blonde than red. "I missed you after the funeral. I didn't get a chance to express my condolences."

Peter nodded. "I'm sorry we missed each other."

Sara nodded. "You know, my last memory of him was talking over Skype about how he was being released early. He was so happy. I asked him to visit me in London and he tried not to show it, but he was really excited about that."

"My, how things have changed." Peter said sadly.

"Yeah." She swallowed. "I, um...you know when I heard he died...I..." She sniffed and gave a teary chuckle. "I realized that I was still in love with him. He...we completed each other. Balanced each other out, you know? I had it all planned out. He was going to be released and he would show up at my office in London. I would ask what he's doing there, and he'd say 'I'm home'. And we'd live happily ever after."

Peter smiled and blinked away a tear. "That definitely sounds better than the alternative."

Sara chuckled softly. "I can still hear his voice. Do you think I'll ever forget it? 'Cause I'm afraid I will." Peter didn't reply. Sara sniffed again and pulled out a picture from her purse, stared at it for a few seconds and then showed Peter. It was a picture of a baby boy. "This is Connor. He's Neal's. The first week I was in London, I wasn't feeling well. I found out I was pregnant. Neal was the only guy I've been with in the six months before I left for London. And I ran a DNA test."

Peter stared in shock and exhaled slowly. "When were you planning on telling Neal?"

"When he visited me in London. I wanted to tell him in person." Sara shrugged. "Now, I wish I told him over Skype. Maybe things would have turned out differently."

"You don't know that." Peter said softly.

"Can I ask you something?" Peter nodded. "Did he die a hero? I don't want to be like those moms who tell their kids their daddy died a hero when it couldn't be further from the truth."

Peter sighed and closed his eyes. "He helped bring down the most notorious crime organization in the world. But, no. He didn't die a heroic death. Tell you what," He held up Neal's plaque. "Why don't you tell your little boy what's on this plaque?" He hung it next to David Segal's plaque.

"Neal Caffrey was our Criminal Informant from 2009 to 2013. He helped bring down several criminals and crime organizations. In 2013, he helped bring down the most notorious crime organization in the world: the Pink Panthers. His death, though tragic, lead to the death of one of America's most dangerous criminals: Matthew Keller. He will be greatly missed.

Neal Caffrey

1979-2013

'If you want a happy ending, it depends on where you stop the story.'"

Sara smiled. "Did he really say that?"

Peter chuckled. "He can be profound when the occasion demands it."

They stared sadly at the plaque. Peter put an arm around Sara's, and she cried softly against his shoulder.

Unbeknownst to them all, Neal was alive and well, humming to himself as he decorated his new apartment in Paris.