Title: White Lies
Fandom: White Collar
Author: tigerlily0
Rating: K (a.k.a. G)
Genre and/or Pairing: gen
Spoilers: 1.8 Hard Sell
Warnings: none
Word Count: 500
Disclaimer: White Collar and its characters are property of its copyright owners. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is taken from this story.
Summary: Peter has a few thoughts about Neal. Kind of a missing scene for Hard Sell.
After Peter saw Neal off at the elevator, he headed back to his office to start setting things up to monitor Neal's "interview" at the boiler-room scam the next day. He tried, and got some work done, but he just couldn't concentrate. He finally sighed in frustration, threw the paperwork down, and swiveled his chair around to stare out the windows. He leaned back and shook his head, laughing a bit at himself. He knew what was occupying his mind, and it was stupid. He was stupid.
He kept going over and over in his mind what they'd talked about at the briefing earlier. About how people were losing their homes over this scam. That one guy that was out on the streets with his three kids after losing fifty grand. Peter frowned. Heart-breaking. It kicked in every instinct that he had to help these people, and bring the perpetrators to justice. Which brought him to Neal. He felt the same exact way when he was chasing Neal. The bond forgeries, the counterfeiting, the securities frauds. All of these scams had victims. Multiple victims for multiple thousands of dollars. Neal was the bad guy. Unquestionably.
Peter sighed, again. But what about now, he asked himself, what about now? He had watched Neal during the briefing. He showed all the right reactions, shaking his head at the misfortune of the scam's victims and so on. But Peter wondered if it was all for show, if Neal really felt bad about these victims. And what about his own victims? Did he feel for them, now? Did he feel guilty about all the cons he'd pulled, all the people he'd swindled out of their homes, their life savings?
Peter shrugged. It was so hard to tell with Neal, what was real and what was an act. In these last months, since he'd been working with him, Neal had done some good things. Even if he at times had gone about it the wrong way (such as temporarily stealing the bible so that the homeless vet could have a chance to heal his dog). But did that make Neal a good guy now?
Earlier, Agent Landry had reminded Peter that Neal was a criminal. As if Peter needed to be reminded. But, then again, maybe he did, maybe he did. It was easy to forget that Neal was supposed to be the bad guy. He was so friendly and personable, it was hard not to like him. Spending time with him, working with him to solve cases, it was easy to forget everything he'd done in his past. Or to think that he was truly rehabilitated, repentant, retired.
Ah, the white lies one tells oneself to get through the day.
Peter turned back around to continue working on the case, vowing to be more vigilant in the future, not let himself get fooled by Neal's charm. Landry had also asked earlier if he trusted Neal, and he hadn't answered. Maybe someday he should decide.
The End