Title: More to Him Than I'll Ever Know About. Word Count: 1,380. Inspiration: a number of things inspired me to write this. The title comes from the Pilot, when Peter says, "There's more to this. More to this than some lost love...some side angle he's playing." The actual plot was inspired by the first chapter of Miran Anders Collar Stays, so sorry if they are too similar for your liking. And finally, the last thing that inspired me was this quote (I wanted Mozzie to say it, but I couldn't find anywhere that it would fit.) "In the end we remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends"- Martin Luther King Jr. Spoilers: General spoilers for Payback. It can be considered a tag to Payback, a little mini-scene type of thing.

Disclaimer: I do not own White Collar, so please don't sue.

Peter understands that Neal won't tell him everything about his life. He doesn't expect him to. After all, what is life without a few secrets?

He knows there's more to Neal's relationship with Kate. He knows there is but he won't ask about it. Truth be told, the effect Kate's death had on Neal was still healing and Peter doesn't want it to reopen.

Peter doesn't know why he's musing about this now of all times, but it's been recurring a lot since he learned what Neal gave up to save him from his arch-rival, Matthew Keller. Keller had him kidnapped, right in front of his own partner, and demanded 2 million dollars in ransom so he could pay back the Russians. He had found out less than a week ago, when he found Mozzie crouched in his bushes muttering to someone over the phone.

WCWCWCWCWC

(One week earlier)

"There's no such thing as the moon landing Jim! I don't care if you have a voice recording from the man from the moon! It just did not happen. It couldn't happen! The sooner you learn that, the sooner we can move on." Mozzie said with a hint of annoyance, unaware of the Fed behind him.

"Haversham!" Peter didn't know what to think of the man anymore. It was impossible to have a normal conversation with him, absolutely impossible.

Mozzie instantly straightened up and turned to face Peter. "Suit… What are you doing here?"

"I live here." If they weren't talking about hypotheticals, they were talking about mockingbirds. Peter couldn't keep up with Mozzie's craziness and paranoia. Sometimes he wondered why Neal hung out with the man. The two of them were different in so many ways, but they understood each other. Trusted even.

"Noted."

"Now seriously, what are you doing here?" Peter expected to come home to his wife and enjoy a nice game of baseball later on in the day, not spend time trying to decipher the enigma of paranoia known as Mozzie.

"I came to retrieve something I had… "left" here last week." Peter could practically hear the air quotes in Mozzie's dialogue.

Peter rubbed a hand over his face and muttered, "Unbelievable." Elizabeth had told him what Mozzie had done for her and while he was immensely grateful for it, he couldn't help but feel astonished. First Mozzie bugs his own team's equipment, just to make his wife feel at ease, and then Neal gives Keller a ring that was last priced at 2 and a half million dollars for ransom money. It really says something when a con man gives up 2.5 million dollars in order to rescue a F.B.I agent.

"I never got to thank you or Neal properly you know." Peter says somewhat nonchalantly, as he unlocks the door and lets Mozzie into his house. He looks a bit wary of Peter's words, so he continues.

"Thank you…for everything. Really, if it wasn't for Neal, Elizabeth would probably be planning a funeral." Which was moderately true. If Keller had come when Peter was trying to escape…well things would have gone horribly wrong.

Mozzie wandered towards the table and fumbled with the underside of it before producing the bug he had left and placing it in a small plastic baggy. "Well… If there's nothing else you want to thank me for, I must be off. Places to go, things to steal."

He was about halfway to the front door when Peter called out, "Just one more thing." Mozzie turned his head as Peter continued, "Why did Neal give away that ring? I'm sure he would have fenced it if it didn't mean anything to him. You don't just hold on to something as valuable as that without a damn good reason."

That fact had been puzzling him ever since the museum got back to him about his great 'find'. He knew that Neal would do practically anything to save him, but to give up a ring that was last auctioned off at 2.5 million dollars… It seemed unreal for him to do that. Peter could think of many different things that Neal could do with that money and none of them included saving him from Keller.

Mozzie was hesitant before answering. "Peter… It was Kate's engagement ring."

"Are you sure?" Peter asked, obviously stunned. He should have known that it would have led to this. But once again, he was oblivious to the truth. He always knew that there was more to the two of them that he would never know about.

Mozzie gave him a look that clearly said, 'do I look like I'm kidding?' before saying, "Do you think he would have held onto something that valuable if it wasn't for something special?"

Peter sighed and shook his head. "No… thanks again Mozzie. I'll be sure to tell Elle you stopped by."

And with that, Mozzie left. Peter just couldn't get over the fact that Neal gave up Kate's engagement ring to save him. Had this happened when she was still alive, he knew that Neal would have never given it up. If he had held onto it for this long, just in case some miracle happened and she had survived, Peter had no idea why he had given it up. Or why he didn't want it back.

Maybe it was a sign that he was moving on, that he was finally ready to go on in his life. But who knows? Peter sure doesn't.

WCWCWCWCWC

"Peter…?" Neal's voice calls out, breaking Peter from his reverie. He wasn't aware that he was spacing out, or that he was inadvertently staring at Neal. Somewhat flustered, Peter breaks his eye contact with Neal and looks at the blue folder in his hands.

"What's going on with you Peter? Not getting enough sleep?" While he knew Neal was just trying to show that he cared, he also knew a distraction when he heard one. The case was mortgage fraud, the most boring of the cases.

"No, no. It's nothing. Let's just focus on the case." He tries to put all of his attention on the case in his hands, but he feels Neal's eyes on him.

"Peter, you've been staring at me like that for the past week. What's on your mind?"

He looked into Neal's curious blue orbs and caved. He wasn't sure how to thank Neal properly so he didn't say anything. Elizabeth was the one who sent all of the thank you cards, Peter was told to stay far away from anything that had to do with comforting.

"The little guy came over about a week ago, wanting something that he had left the other day." He didn't mention the bug directly because well nobody really knew it was there except for himself, Elizabeth, and Neal.

"I'm still surprised that he went in your house when there were agents there. But hey, miracles happen." Peter cracked a smile; Neal always knew how to make him smile, even at the most dangerous times.

"He told me who that ring was meant for Neal."

A long silence passed between the two. Neal's gaze dropped and he only looked up when Peter continued, "Why didn't you tell me it was for Kate? I would have…" He let the sentence linger in the air and sighed. What would have he done if he knew that the ring was meant for Kate? It was Neal's decision to use it for the ransom money… It was Neal's decision not to tell him the importance of the ring.

"You would have done what Peter? Kate's gone. I understand that now." Neal's voice was even and his eyes were clear, but Peter couldn't help but think that something was wrong. It was strange to think that Neal Caffrey, a man who would do anything for the woman he loves, is actually moving on.

Neal goes back to the case, quietly thinking about something. About the case or Kate, Peter isn't sure. Peter knows that there will always be more to Neal that he'll never know about, a side of him that will always be unseen, but he wouldn't have it any other way. It's more fun to move the pieces around, than to memorize where they go for a later time.