A/N: I got this prompt and had the idea, "Wouldn't it suck if Peter had a partner before Neal, and the partner died while getting on a plane, and Peter wished he had stopped the partner, and so he was stopping Neal and OMGeezums, the plane blew up and had Peter not stopped Neal, Neal would'a died too?" So yeah. Not my best one, and sad, but yeah.
I'm considering a longer pre-series story, but I don't know. Commitment's not my strongpoint story-wise and I don't have any ideas plot-wise. If I did the pre-series thing it'd be a series of interconnected oneshots with lots of jumping around. Blah. Well anyway. Thanks for all the reviews and support.
Prefigurement.
"Hey!"There was someone sitting in Peter's chair. Not only were they sitting in his chair, but this person had their shoes up on his desk. And this person's shoes weren't even dress shoes; they were black Converse and they were covered in mud.
"Get out of my seat!"
The young man put his feet down and stood, revealing that he was taller than even Peter. He was definitely an agent, but Peter couldn't imagine this guy out in the field—he had to be a probie.
"For that matter, get out of my office!"
The kid grinned at Peter, his green eyes closing cheekily with the expression. "But boss," he said in a heavy Brooklyn accent, "you told me to meet you here."
The older agent groaned. "Don't tell me you're Ari Cruikshanks."
"I'll tell you that I'm not," Ari said. "It's Cruikshank. Not 'Shanks."
Peter stared at the kid. He just knew that this wasn't going to work out. There was no way… Peter turned on his heel and nearly ran out of the office to Hughes. He didn't care that this Ari kid was laughing at him and hadn't followed.
"I don't think this is funny," Peter said upon entry.
Hughes gave him his customary glower. "Neither do I. I was in the middle of my sandwich, Burke. This better be good."
"Where's my partner?" Peter asked. "There's this joker in my office—"
"That joker's your new partner. Deal with it." Hughes pointed at the door. "Now, we've got that jewelry theft that needs taking care of."
"But—"
"Goodbye, Burke."
Realizing that he couldn't do anything about his situation, Peter sighed and walked out of Hughes' office. He went back to his own and found Ari leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. "Alright, kid. Jewelry heist on Water Street. Let's give you a test run."
Two years later and it was time to say goodbye to the partner Peter had grown to not only trust with his life, but love like a son. Ari had said goodbye to everyone in the office and taken a cab to the airport before Peter had even arrived, and though Peter technically had tons of work waiting for him, saying goodbye to his partner took top priority.
"Ari!" Peter shouted as he ran after the disappearing figure on the runway. "Hey, 'Shanks! Wait up!"
Ari turned and waited for Peter to catch up; the green-eyed agent was smiling gently at his out of breath ex-partner. "How come—how come you said goodbye to everyone but me?"
Ari's smile grew. "'Cause I know you were gonna cry, Boss," he said.
Peter gave his trademark bulldog scowl. "I'm not going to cry, 'Shanks! What's the real reason?" Ari bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair. Peter's gaze softened. "You can still say no to this assignment, buddy. Go back to busting criminals, 'stead of pushing papers in D.C.?"
Ari's fingers tightened into his scalp and he looked away. When he looked back, his eyes were shining. "Peter, 'm not gonna be a desk jockey. I'm going out of the country to infiltrate a terrorist cell."
Peter's jaw dropped open and his lips worked helplessly, trying and failing to form the words of a question. Ari waited patiently, though his face was growing increasingly flushed.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Peter finally managed to choke out.
"Because you're the only one who could change my mind." Ari took a deep breath and scrubbed his face, looking for all the world like a lost little kid. "Look, Peter, this is what I need to do. Please don't…"
"I won't," Peter said.
"I know," Ari sighed sheepishly. "Part of me wishes you would."
Peter clapped a hand on Ari's shoulder and looked deep into his partner's, his friend's eyes. "Let me tell you, kid, this is what you should do. You're going to have fun. You're going to do a lot of good. You're the best person for this job—I know you, and I know you'll do awesome."
Ari nodded and wiped his eyes again. "'m gonna miss ya, Pete."
They shook hands. "I'm gonna miss you too, kid."
Ari turned and began walking back to the plane; Peter watched, feeling his chest tighten painfully. Ari stopped in the door of the plane and was turning to wave at Peter when something went wrong. One second he was standing, smiling at Peter, and the next there was red splattered across the white side of the plane and Ari was on the ground. A split second later came the crack.
"NO!"
