Soteriophobia – fear of dependence on others

Even the most mediocre of con artists know the three most important rules of conning.

1. Never get caught. And certainly never get caught a second time.

2. Don't tempt fate. (A.K.A. never underestimate your mark.)

3. And never, ever become emotionally attached.

A good con man can sweet-talk his way into people's lives and get what he wants. A great con man can sweet-talk his way into people's hearts and get them to give him what he wants. The challenge is not letting them into your heart, as well. Which, to some degree, is impossible.

Neal Caffrey is a great con artist. Arguably the best con man (thief, forger, counterfeiter, escape artist, pick-pocket, safe-cracker, lock-picker, and non-violent white collar criminal elitist) of his time. Arguably one of the best that ever lived.

But, despite his best efforts, Neal has broken every single one of those rules.

And, despite his best efforts, Neal just can't seem to make himself care as much as he knows he should.

~WC~TheFearOfFear~WC~

Elizabeth is the one to open the door after he knocks, buried in his coat to hide from the frosty January wind.

"Neal! I'm so glad you could make it!" she beams brightly at him.

"Of course! It's a very special occasion."

"Here, come in before you catch your death out there." She steps aside to let him in. He eagerly obeys, stomping the ice off his shoes on the welcome mat. She takes his coat to hang on the rack.

He feels a small smile curl his lips as the warmth of the house envelopes him. "I brought our favorite guy a gift," Neal says, indicating the bag held in his left hand.

"Oh! That's so sweet of you! Put it in the kitchen, you can give it to him in a minute. Dinner is almost ready."

Again, Neal obeys, carrying the bag into the kitchen, the smell of homemade meatloaf wafting through the room. Upon spotting his favorite FBI agent, Neal lets out a cheery, "Hiya Peter!"

"Hey Neal, glad you could make it," Peter smiles warmly at his CI-turned-friend.

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world." He deposits the bag on the counter, then turns to face both the Burkes. "Mozzie sends his best, but won't be attending. He and the Vulture are finally getting that date they've been planning."

"Aw, well good for him," El replies, taking the wine Neal hands her.

While 'send my best' usually refers to 'regards', in Mozzie's case, it means 'send Neal's best bottle of wine'. Not that Neal is complaining. Much.

"I guess it's just us than," Peter comments with not a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Guess so." Neal takes a seat at the table beside Peter. "So where is the guest of honor?"

Right on cue, the 'guest' struts through the back door El has just opened and into the room, shaking off a layer of slush that had collected on his golden coat, tail wagging happily.

"Hey ya, Satch!" Neal greets, crouching down on one knee to scratch the dog's head. "Happy Birthday, boy."

"Adoption Day," El corrects.

Peter explains. "He's a rescue, a few months old when we got him, so no one knows his actual birthday. We could guess, but. . ." he shrugs.

"We just celebrate his adoption day," El supplies, stepping around the younger man, now on both knees and rubbing luxuriously at the lounging dog's exposed belly, to stand beside her husband.

Pausing in his attention giving, Neal reaches into the bag he set on the counter and pulls out a fake metal badge with the words 'World's Greatest FBI Dog' etched on its surface. He flashes it at husband and wife, eliciting a chuckle from Peter and a coo from El, then clips the badge to Satchmo's collar and continues showering the pooch with affection. "Well, birthdays are one thing, but not everyone gets a day to celebrate becoming part of the Burke family."

Elizabeth wraps her arms around Peter to speak in his ear, voice soft so he would be the only one to hear. "When are we going to celebrate the day Neal became a part of our family?" She questions with an affectionate, maternal smile at the man and dog sprawled lazily on the dining room floor and a knowing wink at her husband, who lets his own fond smile at the sight be his answer.

~WC~TheFearOfFear~WC~

Neal Caffrey, arguably the best con artist (thief, forger, counterfeiter, escape artist, pick-pocket, safe-cracker, lock-picker, and non-violent white collar criminal elitist) that ever lived, has broken all three of the most important rules of conning.

1. He has been caught. Twice. By the same man.

2. Underestimating his mark was one of the first mistakes he ever made in becoming the best of con men (etc.). And he makes it a point to tempt fate at every possible opportunity. Simply on principle.

And lastly, 3. Neal has become inexplicably, and irrevocably, emotionally attached to one Peter Burke. The very same man that caught him. Both times. And his wife. And their dog.

And despite knowing that he shouldn't, that he should never have let this happen in the first place, that this hasn't been brought about by one of his cons and is real and more than likely dangerous, he just can't seem to make himself care about that.

And that is perfectly okay with Neal.

Rules are really more like just guidelines, anyway.

Word Count:910

Disclaimer: If I owned Neal Caffrey *cough* I mean, White Collar, I would be a very happy person. ;)

Author's Notes: This was fluffy, right? Well, I thought it was sweet. I'd categorize that as family/friendship, at least. This is a better El then the one I've been seeing on TV as of late. I can't remember the Vulture's name, and just figured everyone would forgive that for the knowledge of who that actually is instead. After having written most of this story earlier in the week, today I read a fic that had a Mozzie/Sarah ship, but only background. At first, that frightened me a little. I mean, Sarah Elis and Mozzie, a couple?! *shudders* But the story was good so now I'm open minded of it. Don't be expecting any Moz/Sarah shipage from me any time soon (or any non-canon ships or any romance pieces at all, because I don't really do romance, author-wise anyways), just saying I'm open minded.

Now, the next chapter will have, if not action, then at least Neal whump and angst, no matter which of the three ideas I currently have is written first and fastest, and an appearance from either Moz, Di, or Jones (or some combination of the three). Mind you, I'm writing this when I should be studying for my Spanish test. Yo podría fallar en esta prueba. No me gustan las tareas de la casa. Estar bien, mis amigos. ¡Me encantan! ¡Adiós!

-TheOneThatGotAway99