A/N: Hey guys! So, new story. This is just something I started abruptly without a clue as to where it was going, so you know just about as much as I do at this point. I've got at least two more chapters typed up so far , so I should be able to update once-a-day until Sunday at least. I have a vague idea as to where this is going, but we'll see if anything changes. This IS a case fic, though. At least in part.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone!

Disclaimer: All I want for Christmas are the rights to this show. And considering that I'm asking for them means I obviously don't have them. Darn.

"Oh come on, Peter. It's the holiday season!"

Peter and Neal had been wandering around downtown all day, through the hustle and bustle of last-minute Christmas shoppers; all the eager masses of sale-happy, shop-frenzy maniacs that came out in abundance during the holiday season.

"Exactly." he deadpanned. They were still on the clock, but the trail they had been following had gone cold hours ago and he didn't think they would be catching a break anytime soon.

Neal gasped dramatically. "And here I thought we were friends!"

Peter shook his head, grumbling, and stuck his hands deeper into his pockets, hunching his shoulders to ward off the cold. "How can you possibly be so cheerful at..." he moved to check his watch before realizing that doing so would require him to remove his hands from the warmth of his coat pockets and amended "- this hour? And in this weather?" He shifted in his coat, trying to keep off the invading cold. "I hate the cold."

Neal shook his head sadly and muttered something that Peter couldn't hear, but it sounded suspiciously like "grinch".

"What was that?"

"Do you steal presents from little kids, too?" Neal asked. He shot Peter a charming smile that the FBI agent didn't buy for a second, and he looked entirely too warm in that ridiculous black wool jacket of his, and that stupid hat. Neal looked over at him with a grin and pulled his hands out of his coat pockets to reveal matching black gloves.

Peter groaned internally. Of course he didn't think of gloves when he left this morning, but Caffrey, Caffrey thought of everything.

Neal stretched nonchalantly and clasped his fingers behind his head, turning to observe the scenery as they walked, everything dusted in a fine, cold sheet of snow.

Peter mentally counted down the seconds in his head. Three, two, one...

"So," Neal began, right on cue. Peter almost smiled. "Have you picked out a Christmas gift for Elizabeth yet?"

Peter's lips immediately pulled down into a frown. Neal caught the expression and gave him a look that was part disappointment and part astonishment. "Don't tell me you haven't?" His blue eyes were wide with frustrated disbelief. "Come on, Peter! It's almost Christmas Eve and you're telling me you haven't found a Christmas present for your wife yet?" He raised his eyebrows and his blue eyes sparked in thought. "Come to think of it, what are you still doing here? You should be home with her, right now."

Peter leveled his younger partner with a warning look and pointed a finger at him scoldingly. "Don't you tell me where I should be, Caffrey. Do you really want to go the comparison route again?" Neal went quiet. Peter smirked. "I didn't think so. And we've been working this case, that's why I'm still here walking around in the cold with you, instead of home having dinner with my wife. And what has all this gotten us? Nothing but a waste of time! Our trail has gone cold and our guy could be hundreds of miles away by now with a priceless collection of bond stamps."

The con man stopped suddenly and looked over at his partner with wide eyes. "Relax, Peter. I don't think he's even left the city."

"Why? What makes you say that?"

Neal smiled and tapped the side of his head. "Just trust me."

Peter gave him a sour look and Neal's eyes widened, all innocence and honesty. He shrugged his shoulders and lifted a gloved hand to point at something through the light mist of falling snow. "Or trust the van carrying our very own bond forging fugitive," he said cheekily. "Take your pick."

Peter followed Neal's pointing finger to the nondescript teal-green van caught knee-deep in a snowdrift. The break lights were on and the tires were screeching desperately, spraying streams of wet slush and snow into the air as the driver tried to peel away from the bank. It had out-dated New Jersey plates and the only thing that told the FBI agent it was the same van their wittiness had reported seeing their man take off in was the tell-tale dent on the left rear side, just behind the gas cap where the van had side-swiped a taxi cab when peeling out of the crime scene.

Neal was still grinning at him.

Peter returned the con man's grin with one of his own. "Well I'll be damned," he breathed. "It's a Christmas miracle." He walked forward briskly now, cold forgotten, hand reaching into his coat to withdraw his gun.

"I thought you didn't believe in miracles," Neal took a quick step up behind him and then stopped short.

"Peter!" He shouted in warning.

Peter turned towards his partner and saw Neal standing at the curb looking at him with horrified blue eyes. He looked like a deer in headlights.

Too later Peter Burke realized that he was the deer in headlights. He had reached the back of the teal van just as the wheels slipped free of their icy prison, only the car wasn't trying to go forward, it was going in reverse.

"Peter, watch out!"

The call came too late as the van barreled backward into the FBI agent with a sickening thud and Neal heard a sharp crack that could only be Peter's head hitting the pavement before the van peeled away and disappeared into the night.

Peter heard Neal shouting as everything went black.

A/N: Sorry it's short! The next chapters are longer, I just figured this would be a good place to end it. (: Tell me if you're interested in seeing more, the next chapter should be up sometime tomorrow!

Happy Holidays,

Agni