What He Does Best

Chapter 2

Peter Burke hadn't always wanted to be an FBI agent. Truthfully, in fact, his heart's desire had always been to be a professional baseball player. He made his way through college, eventually finishing with a degree in accounting, and playing college baseball all four years. Upon graduating, he was drafted onto a minor league baseball team, and it seemed that all of his dreams were coming true. Unfortunately, that particular dream had an expiration date, and only two weeks into spring training he suffered an injury that was potentially career-threatening.

Under pressure to make a decision that would affect the rest of his life, Peter returned home and had a much needed conversation with his father. Peter Burke's father was the greatest man he had ever known. His code of ethics and morals was something that Peter always strived to live up to, wanting nothing more than to be the type of man that his father would be resolutely proud of. It wasn't always easy to live up to those expectations, but Richard Burke's approval meant more to Peter than anything.

After much consideration, where the doctor's concern of his recent injury leading to irreparable damage in the future was greatly discussed, Peter decided that it was time to give up his dream of playing professional baseball. Realizing that he was now faced with the prospect of sitting behind a desk crunching numbers for the rest of his life, Peter quickly decided that he needed another option. He spent the next several months talking with his friends and with his father's friends, hoping that something would spark his interest.

It wasn't until he went to a career fair at his alma mater that inspiration struck him. He sat through several different recruiting presentations, hoping that he would find his true calling. Teaching? That was a definite no, as kids usually made Peter rather nervous. Nursing? Another definite no! The thought of dealing with bodily fluids for the rest of his life made his stomach turn. How about becoming a Lineman? Nope, he was afraid of heights. Fireman? That was a possibility, but he didn't think it was really the thing for him. The last presentation he went to seemed unlikely, as well, but it wasn't too long before Peter realized that his interest was definitely stirred. Could he see himself as an FBI agent? As he listened to the agent speak of all the possibilities and opportunities within the Bureau, he could feel a spark of excitement ignite within him. By the time Peter left the career fair, he knew exactly what he was going to do with his life.

To say that Peter Burke was good at his job was a complete and total understatement. From the moment he stepped foot inside the training grounds at Quantico to the present time, Peter had excelled at whatever was expected of him. That this excellence had been accomplished with a quiet humbleness wasn't unexpected by those who knew Peter. He went about his business with the least amount of fanfare he could manage, electing to fly under the radar and get the job done as quickly and quietly as possible.

During his training at Quantico, Peter had been leaning toward working with the Organized Crime unit, but it quickly became apparent that this work was much too violent for him. Instead, he set his eyes on the White Collar division, drawn in by the fact that these crimes were mostly non-violent and the individuals carrying out these crimes were much more intelligent than the common criminal. In Peter's mind, they were much more exciting to catch because of their intelligence and he found that he loved nothing more than to delve into the minds of these intelligent criminals. Had he known that that particular appeal would lead him on the greatest chase of his career, he might have had second thoughts. On the other hand, chasing Neal Caffrey was exactly the sort of thing he loved the most. And, as it turned out, chasing Neal Caffrey was what he did best.

He had spent more than three years of his life chasing the young criminal they had, unfortunately, dubbed James Bonds. If he had known at the time how much that moniker would delight Neal, he would have come up with something far less flattering. In those three years, he had learned as much as he could about the young man, but there was so much that he never understood. His team couldn't find any information on the man before he turned eighteen. It was like he never even existed, which only served to fuel Peter's obsessive search even more.

Eventually, his obsession started to interfere with his marriage, but Elizabeth was fairly understanding about the situation. Something about the young man was endearing to her. Maybe it was the way he would send birthday and anniversary cards to everyone on the team, especially to Peter. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he would send cookies to the agents when they were on a stakeout. He had even sent an expensive bottle of wine once, frustrating Peter with his audacity. Sure, he was a criminal, but Peter and Elizabeth both knew that he wasn't a bad person, really. More than likely, he was just a very misguided young man, in need of proper role models.

All in all, the day that Peter arrested Neal Caffrey was a day of mixed emotions for the agent. Peter knew that the young man deserved to be punished. After all, he was a criminal. But the thought of such a brilliant, creative mind being locked up in a jail cell seemed such a waste. He often found his mind wandering to thoughts of what Neal could have accomplished if he had taken a different path. The kid would have excelled at whatever he put his mind to and his potential was limitless.

As Neal served his time in prison, Peter often found himself thinking of him. Of course, the monthly cards from the kid made sure that he was never far from Peter's thoughts. Peter, of course, didn't reply to the letters, thinking that that wasn't befitting of a senior FBI agent.

The months before Neal escaped from prison, the letters had stopped. Peter had been involved in another high profile case involving a man they had dubbed The Dutchman and he barely had time to think about his wife, much less the fact that a criminal he had put behind bars more than three years before had stopped writing to him. He had been completely taken aback when he learned that Neal had escaped with only four months left on his sentence. What was the kid thinking?

Of course, he quickly found out exactly what Neal had been thinking, because the minute it was figured out that Neal had escaped, they had called him. It hadn't taken him long to track the kid down, really. Peter figured that anything Neal was up to had to do with Kate, so taking that into consideration, he found Neal sitting in an empty apartment, staring at an empty bottle of Bordeaux. He had never seen the kid looking so lost and lonely, and his heart broke for the young man.

What happened next still perplexed Peter. Suddenly, he found himself listening to the kid's crazy plan to have Peter slap a tracking anklet on him, so that he could help catch the Dutchman. What was even crazier was the fact that Peter was considering it. They had come to a complete standstill in their investigation of the Dutchman, and Peter was desperate enough to try anything. And Elizabeth had so nicely reminded him that Neal was smart. "You like smart, remember?" she had asked him. And, of course, he really did like smart.

Now, it had been almost four years since that fateful day. Neal had helped Peter and his team catch the Dutchman, cementing Neal's deal to become a confidential informant for the FBI. Of course, that deal included a tracking anklet with a two mile radius, but it was a deal that seemed to work for both of them.

They had quickly discovered that they worked really well together, and everyone watched as Peter's closure rate skyrocketed. They had a few snags in their relationship, of course. After all, Peter was a by-the-book kind of guy and Neal was a color-outside-the-lines kind of guy. Peter often had to rein Neal in, and for the most part, the kid listened to him. Neal, on the other hand, had taught Peter that not everything was black and white.

Through the course of their time together, their relationship had gone through many changes. They often didn't trust each other, but like Peter had once said to a room full of FBI agents, even if there wasn't trust, there was always faith. Nothing had proven this more clearly than the whole situation with Peter's mentor, Agent Kramer.

When Agent Kramer let his true colors shine through, revealing his plan to either see Neal back in prison or take him back to DC to work with him, Peter had realized just how far he was willing to go to protect Neal. He had given the young man the signal to run. He had allowed Neal to escape an undeserved sentence, even if it meant that his own career was put in severe jeopardy. For the first time, he had truly realized how important Neal was to him, and that had been a life-changing moment for the agent.

While Neal was gone, Peter spent a lot of his time analyzing their relationship. He couldn't put a definite label on it, because there were just too many facets to consider. They were, of course, partners and friends, but, he knew that they were much more than that, too. Somewhere along the line, Peter had come to think of Neal as family. At first, it was a big brother/little brother kind of thing, but if Peter were honest with himself, he would admit that he usually saw Neal as much more than even that. Somewhere along the way, Neal had become like a son to him.

He knew that the age difference between them really didn't support that, but the feelings he had for Neal had nothing to do with age. Peter had always been rather mature for his age, and Neal was obviously, despite his intelligence, much more child-like. Well, maybe he was closer to being an impulsive, hormonal, rebellious teenager who knew exactly which of Peter's buttons to push on a daily basis.

This realization had rocked Peter's whole world. He suddenly felt an immense, soul crushing sense of responsibility for Neal and knew that nothing was more important than bringing the boy home where he belonged. Again, Peter had jeopardized his whole career for Neal and he had paid dearly for his decision to do whatever it took to bring him home. Once Neal had returned, a little worse for wear after being shot by Peter's fellow agent, Peter found himself demoted down to the Evidence Warehouse, otherwise known as the basement level of the FBI. He didn't regret his decision, though. In his mind he knew that he had done the only thing he could have done. Somewhere along the line, Neal had become more important to him than his career. He would gladly go back to crunching numbers behind a desk if it meant that Neal was safe and sound. He would gladly sell hot dogs in the park if meant that Neal was treated fairly.

Of course, this realization didn't fix everything. Peter still found Neal to be frustratingly irresponsible and impulsive at times. He still found himself lecturing the kid time and time again on his choices. And boy, were those lectures exasperating. Neal would sit in front of him, looking completely unruffled except for a small blush that usually crept up his neck, while Peter yelled and lectured relentlessly. By the time he was done, Peter usually felt like crawling over to the corner and banging his head against the wall in frustration. He knew that Neal probably tuned out at least half of what he had said and the other half he would completely disregard the next time around. Peter suddenly found himself feeling bad about every bit of trouble he had gotten himself into when he was a teenager. He knew now how frustrated his father must have felt at times.

At the moment, Peter was trying to keep his frustration level under control. He had received a call from Jones a few minutes earlier, telling him that Neal was currently outside of his two-mile radius and that his anklet seemed to be malfunctioning. Peter had no idea what was going on. Neal had left work early, claiming that he wasn't feeling well, or so he had said. Peter had wanted to pry a little, but he knew that Neal deserved some privacy. Now, he found himself wishing that he had pried, at least a little bit.

After several calls to Neal's phone, which hadn't been answered, Peter sent Jones over to check out Neal's apartment, hoping that the kid had just fallen asleep. He also sent Diana to track Mozzie down, just in case Neal wasn't at home. Once they were on their way, he sat down at his computer to try to track Neal's anklet. To his complete horror, Neal's tracking anklet had been completely deactivated. The thought of Neal being out there all alone and with no way to track him was almost too much for Peter to handle. What was going on?!

Author's note: Wow! For some reason, the desire to continue this story was completely overwhelming. I really have no idea where it's going, but it's demanding to be written. Please don't expect daily updates, but I couldn't resist posting this one as soon as I finished. I know these first two chapters aren't as long as my usual ones, but I'm sure they will get longer as we go along.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I would love to hear your thoughts on the story so far. Thank you so much for giving another one of my stories a try. I hope I can live up to your expectations. Thanks for reading!