After Digging Deeper, I almost cried when Neal told Peter that Rebecca looked at him the way Elle looked at him... Oh God! Damn you WC writers, why are you so damn good?! ANyway, this is just a scene that in my wildest dreams could happen next... I kinda liked Rebecca, but then again, I never trusted her... plus, we all know that Neal's weakness are women and after he confessed to Dr Summers that the word "women" was related to "Hope", well... it was bound to end badly... (sad for Neal) And being a Sara fan, I'm throwing a bit of spice in this story too ;)

"She looks at me the way Elle looks at you" were words that had been haunting Peter Burke since that night at the Clifton. He never imagined Neal to feel like this, he suddenly felt a whole new responsibility as a role model to Neal and understood a whole new meaning to their relationship. Neal had definitely changed a lot since he arrested him for the first time, he had grown but mostly, Peter had a feeling that Neal was beginning to accept his need for a normal life, the life which he ran from at age eighteen. Peter realized that Neal never had a true father figure and it dawned on him that maybe he was beginning to see Peter as one. But who was Peter Burke? And what was it that Elle saw in him that Neal wanted to have or be as well?

"Hon, what do you see when you look at me?" asked Peter startling Elle from her book. It was a Sunday morning and they were just going over their routine, Peter watching the NFL pre-game analysis while Elle read and Satchmo just played with something on the floor.

"Huh? What do you mean?" said Elle peeking briefly from her book

Peter muted the TV and turned to look at his lovely wife. He stared at her analyzing her and trying to decipher something in her eyes

"Peter?" said Elle now frowning

"Oh, just curious about it, you know? Like, I'm always reading people but I never know how I look or how is people reading me" said Peter shrugging and rambling

Elle tilted her head amused and smiled with sparkling eyes "If you were a book, you'd be something written by Saramago. That's how you read to me"

Peter raised his eyebrows in surprise "Saramago? Wow, what does that mean?"

"Well…" said Elle caressing softly Peter's arm "You're smart, complex yet concrete, but at the same time you have this ability of exposing the truth in a careful way, no matter how hard it is. And you have the perfect balance between a good heart and a good mind, which comes in handy when making decisions, not impulsive but thoughtful and kind, yet fair and wise. And I feel safe with you, I know that no matter what happens, as long as I'm with you I will be fine"

"You see all that?!" asked Peter overwhelmed with so many compliments and having a hard time seeing how this could be possible

"Yes, just to put it mildly. Why do you ask?" stated Elizabeth confidently

"It's just that, ah… Neal told me that the reason he was hiding the truth to Rebecca about who he really is, was because she looked at him the way you looked at me and not just like a criminal, but I just…" said Peter having a hard time expressing all the emotion he saw in Neal's eyes

Elizabeth responded with pursed lips and a sniff "Aw Neal…"

Peter looked at her frowning "Yeah, but still, it is wrong that he's lying so don't encourage him please"

"Honey, you have to talk to him and I don't mean as an interrogation performed by SAC Burke, but really talk as his friend. Do you see how big of an interpersonal development this is for Neal?" asked Elizabeth getting all worked-up emotionally

Peter sighed "I know. I guess I've known for a long time that Neal is really trying hard to settle down and find his own place. When Keller kidnapped you, he told me that he had a fight with Mozzie because he didn't want to go with him and the treasure and do you know why?"

"Why?" prodded Elle

"He told me: Because of you, Elizabeth, Sara…" recalled Peter wistfully

Elle smiled "Neal is a good man, he is just finding his way again and you, Peter Burke, are his main compass" – she kissed his cheek and added "Go talk to him, hon"

Peter hated emotional confrontations but he knew he had to, he owed it to Neal. He grabbed his car keys and headed to Riverside Drive.

In the meantime…

Neal was still very shaken by his recent encounter with Hagen chit-chatting with June casually on the sidewalk. He was terrified that, once again, his loved ones were being threatened by his criminal world.

"Neal!" he heard Rebecca hollering at him from inside his room. He was at the terrace sipping his coffee, waiting for her to finish showering

"Hi, everything ok?" he said turning around with a smile

"Um, apparently not, I've been talking at you for the past 5 minutes with no answer, you seem miles away. What's wrong?" she asked concerned

"Nothing! I just have a lot on my mind. Did you get a nice shower?" he asked with a perfectly masked face and smile

"Yeah, thanks, not so nice all by myself though" she said smiling mischievously and blushing at the same time. Neal just smiled; seeing Rebecca's attempts at flirting were just too cute.

"Someone brought that envelope while you went to get coffee" she said signaling the table

Neal walked there and read that the zip code was from London… he immediately got excited and opened the envelope taking out a postcard from a British soldier at Buckingham palace. He turned it around and started reading…

"Caffrey, stop laughing: Yes I'm sending a postcard, still don't expect 700! My team just recovered a stolen painting from the National Gallery, mid Renaissance, Marco del Buono's Birth Tray: The Triumph of Love… made me think of you… Miss you. Sara"

Neal took a sharp intake of air in his lungs and couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. She hadn't forgotten about him, he thought… He read again the postcard…

"What is it?" he felt Rebecca's small hand on his shoulder interrupting his moment. He immediately pressed the postcard to his chest.

"Um, nothing, a letter from an old friend" he said nervously and put the postcard inside the envelope again "So, you had a nice shower then? I'll have to see that for myself next time" he said smiling sweetly and putting a strand of wet red hair behind her ear, succeeding on making her blush and distracting her from the postcard

There was a knock on the door. "You expecting someone?" asked Rebecca

Neal shook his head and went to the door "Who is it?"

"It's me" came Peter's voice

Rebecca instantly panicked "Oh my God! He can't see me here! This is soooo embarrassing!"

Neal chuckled "Relax" he said with a smirk – "Hi Peter!"

"Hi Neal, hope this isn't a bad time but I needed to talk to you…" stopped Peter when he saw that it was indeed a bad time. Rebecca freshly showered, bed unmade… "Oh, I'm sorry, I'll come back later"

"No! Please Agent Burke, I was just leaving. Nice seeing you again, please say hello to your lovely wife. Bye Neal" said Rebecca all in one sentence running for the door while picking up her belongings

"Rebecca, wait, you don't have to go" tried Neal and then sighed in defeat when he saw her practically at the door "I'll call you later"

Once she was out, Neal turned to look at Peter with an annoyed look "Again? Crashing a friend's date is not nice, Peter"

Hands in pockets, shifting his weight sheepishly, Peter just smiled "Had a nice evening yesterday?"

"As a matter of fact I did and I was also having a very nice morning, mind you" answered Neal arms crossed

Peter nodded "I'm sorry… so did you tell her everything?"

Neal sighed "Want some orange juice? Yes I did"

"Yes please. That's great because from what I can see, she didn't bolt for the door" said Peter smiling truly happy for his friend

Neal poured and sat down at the table "She was upset at first but then, well…" he said not being able to hide his little smile anymore

Peter laughed "That's great. I'm really happy for you, Neal"

Neal just looked at him with a little shy smile and Peter noticed. He remembered his conversation with Elle… "You know, I've always known that is just a matter of time for you to settle down and find your way. You deserve to be happy, Neal. You're a great man"

Neal stared at him with an unreadable expression "Thanks, Peter. It means a lot coming from you"

"So, you think this might be it? That you can fall for Rebecca I mean" asked Peter as if he was a 15 year old girl

Neal frowned shaking his head "Whoa, slow down. It's too soon to tell, Peter. I do like her but I just think that maybe love is not for me…" said Neal with an air of nostalgia

"Oh come on, if you say it because of Kate, you can't…" started Peter but Neal interrupted

"Because of Kate, because of Sara… I can't seem to hold on to them" said Neal getting a little frustrated "It's ok, not everyone can be Byron"

Peter frowned trying to understand what that last statement meant "You mean that with Sara, you really wanted to…"

"Yes Peter, I think… I think I was falling for Sara but who am I to hold her down. She has so much to live for and be happy for… and I'm happy for her but…" said Neal with an unusual openness

"You miss her" Peter finished the sentence for him and Neal just nodded "But, what about this whole Rebecca looks at me like Elle looks at you? I thought this was a first for you?"

Neal sighed "Sara was just in a whole different level. She didn't look at me, she looked through me. She always knew what I was and yet, she was willing to get to know and care for the real me. She never took any of my bullshit. She didn't care that I was a criminal, she even encouraged mischief as long as it was being used with a good heart, she said. And she just, she was always willing to put herself in the line for me. I mean, she went to friking Argentina to track down Adler for God's sake!" he said gesticulating with his hands

"Why didn't you ask her to stay then?" asked Peter tentatively after a while

"I can't do that to her, Peter. I owe her so much, if it hadn't been for her, I'd be in DC with Kramer and then with my father and how she helped me with Kate…" he sighed and ran a hand through his hair "The last thing that I could do was condemning her to this" he said signaling to his anklet "when she has so much ahead of her"

Peter was speechless and could do nothing but listen intently to his friend. It was such a rare thing to have Neal opening up like this and so Peter was not going to ruin this moment.

"And just when I was beginning to move on and actually feel happy with someone else, this happens" said Neal throwing the postcard towards Peter

Peter took the envelope and read the postcard. He didn't quite understand, he imagined they shared some sort of private joke with the 700 but he understood the broad meaning of it… "What do you want to do about it?"

"I don't know… what if she's waiting for me to finish my sentence and then go look for her?" he said with hope in his eyes

"Um, I honestly don't know what to tell you, Neal… maybe you can talk to her?" said Peter feeling a little uncomfortable; he wished Elle was here, she was so good at these types of conversations "I mean, it's possible, you have only one year's sentence left. You'll have to behave really well now" said Peter attempting at humor

Neal felt stabbed in the stomach… what he was currently doing with Hagen was not exactly behaving and it was jeopardizing his possibility of being free in one year and it was all to help Peter… He tightened his jaw in frustration. It was a lose-lose situation.

How Neal managed to get himself in these predicaments was beyond him; he only knew that he had to rush into cutting the strings with Hagen before it all blows-up in his face hurting everyone around him.

TBC