Title: Can't Be Trusted. Word Count: 840. Inspiration: TJ-TeeJay's story Scapegoat. Spoilers/Setting: Spoilers for Under The Radar and On Guard.

**This is not a follow up on Count For Something. I've decided that I do not like how the second chapter turned out so I am reworking it. For now, I am putting this in Hidden Jewels.

Disclaimer: Once again I own nothing.

Conmen can't be trusted. At least that's what Peter thought when he was chasing none other than Neal Caffrey.

But now, after getting to know the man behind the mirror, Peter can't be more wrong. They've become friends; a fact that Peter won't admit to anyone but himself.

He knows Neal won't tell him everything, knows that it will all come in time, but that doesn't stop him from wondering. Wondering just what he was into as a child in order for him to become a man of confidence.

There are those little things… little things that Neal has let slip, like saying he never graduated high school, or that Brittney Nicole rejected him. But Peter knows that because they're little things, Neal has let them slip. But Peter knows that soon, Neal will trust him enough to reveal his secrets.

Peter's waiting for the bomb to drop, for the truth to be finally revealed, but before any of that can happen, Neal betrays him. Betrays him, the Bureau…Betrayed everything he believed in. It was only a matter of time before it happened. And Peter can't be angrier.

He knows it in his gut that Neal has stolen the art. Who else could have taken the art? Who else could have replaced the paintings? Adler was dead, his agents were nowhere near the warehouse when it exploded, and Neal was the only one who knew where the art was. He walked right towards it, when he should have been far away in the van.

Peter thought that everything was going good between them. Neal was actually getting used to working for the Bureau, and Peter was helping him change along the way. But all of that went down the drain when Peter found a piece of the Chrysler painting Neal was working on. It floated down to his feet at the warehouse that day, singed at the edges. And Peter knew in his heart that Neal was the one who did this… that he had betrayed them.

Being a Federal Agent, Peter of course, confronted Neal about it. It hadn't gone well. Neal had stalked off, angry and annoyed. Peter didn't bother looking for him; Peter knew that Neal could take care of himself. He had other things to worry about, like what he was going to do next. There was no way he could go to the Bureau with the piece of the painting… They would surely put Neal back in jail. And no matter what happened between them, Peter would rather die than have Neal get put back behind bars.

Peter barked out a mirthless laugh. Neal stole millions of dollars in art, and Peter is still trying to protect him from the law. When is he going to learn that no matter what, Neal will always be a thieving conman, just waiting for the opportune moment? Apparently never, because Peter still hasn't decided if he's going to the Bureau with the singed painting.

All he can think about is Neal's face, his look of glee, when he saw all of the art, just waiting to be touched, to be appraised. It was the perfect challenge, the perfect heist… the perfect temptation. Peter understood it better than anyone else. He understood Neal's lack of impulse, his knack of getting into trouble… It all added up.

Neal had taken the art from right under their noses. And Peter let him do it. He knew that the art would be vulnerable, he knew that it was in the perfect shape to be stolen… and yet he didn't do anything about it. He had thought that Neal had changed enough to know that stealing the art would only get him in trouble. Trouble that Peter couldn't get him out of.

Peter pulled his car over to the side of the road, and rubbed a hand over his face. There were only two things he could do in his position. Two things that would lead to two very different outcomes. One: Peter proves that Neal stole the art, and he goes to prison for a lot more than four years. Two: Peter sweeps the painting under the rug, protecting Neal from harm but causing his own integrity to be questioned. There was no middle ground… No way to both protect Neal and prove that he did it.

He can't bear the thought of Neal suffering in prison… but he knows it in his heart that that is where Neal is headed. And Peter has no choice but to put him there. It's only a matter of time before Neal slips up and Peter will regretfully be there to arrest him.

Peter wants nothing more than to cover all of this up, but it isn't possible. There is no way. He wants to trust Neal, he really does… But he can't. Neal has proven him wrong too many times for that. Their trust had been shattered, shattered to the point of no return. And there was nothing Peter could do to fix it.