Title: Loose Lips

Author: Ursula

Rating: rating: T

Genre and/or Pairing: Implied Peter/Elizabeth/Neal

Notes: Spoilers: not many except for series general facts, Dedicated to Grim Lupine, because she writes the best feedback and really good stories.

Warnings: Implied threesome

Word Count:

Summary: Neal sometimes has help filing from a friendly clerk

1. Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Loose lips may sink ships, but the FBI wasn't the navy and gossip was an Olympic sport around here. It made sense to Caroline. You couldn't talk to anyone outside of work so office gossip was the only way you could vent. Well, you weren't supposed to talk to family or friends about your work here. Caroline was reasonably sure that Agent Peter Burke talked to the fabulous El.

That was what people called Elizabeth Burke. She visited frequently. Even Reese Hughes, the stern section chief, loved the vivacious and beautiful party planner. She made the office fun when she visited, often bringing treats, teasing her husband into a helpless crooked smile that Caroline admired, and leaving him in a good mood. Peter was a great guy, but you did not want to get in his way when he was having a bad day. El made the days better.

Then there's Neal Caffrey, the guy that Ruiz had everyone calling Burke's other wife. Ruiz ran Organized Crimes. He had been insufferable as a young agent and, since being promoted, was worse. He always thought his work was more important than anyone else's. He was never satisfied with how quickly Caroline could find information from a file and bring it back to him. It really irked her. Her job might be humble but she took pride in how well she did it. She worked just as hard for Ruiz who was an asshole as she did for Peter Burke who was generally a doll. Caroline was a professional.

Neal Caffrey was the constant subject of gossip. He was Peter Burke's project, actually a felon that Burke had sent to prison. Everyone thought it was so peculiar but Caroline knew from her files that Neal was the second convicted con man to consult with the FBI. There was not much that went on around here that Caroline didn't know. She knew her files in and out, even the ones with a little dust on them, bent corners, and that seriously should have been transferred to electronic form and retired from the file archive in the basement.

Neal Caffrey was a cutie. No doubt of that. He was good looking enough to make Caroline's friends swoon with his thick, wavy hair, his bright blue eyes, and his fine and lively features. Neal was slim, well built, and very graceful. Caroline is not long on swoon, but she admits that Neal is easy on the eyes.

What Caroline notices is kindness. She married her husband, Bill, because he was kind, gentle, respectful, and loving. He might be a little chubby and nothing another gal would write home about, but Caroline thought her husband was beautiful. Bill thought Caroline was beautiful right back. They had one son, one daughter, and the smartest Australian Shepherd dog on the planet. They were happy.

Neal Caffrey was stunning to look at, but Caroline liked his sweetness. She was a sucker for sweethearts and Neal was definitely one. She spent a fair amount of time with Neal because the files were hers and Neal was frequently sent to fetch for Peter Burke. The first time she really met him, he was waltzing around the stacks, a disgruntled expression on his face, poking at the binders as if they would divulge what they contained if he bothered them enough. If it was one of those insufferable junior agents, she would have left him to fumble around her files.

However Caroline may not have really met Neal at that point in time, but she was observant. When Aggie Howard came in crying because her old Border Collie finally passed, Neal borrowed several of her snapshots, sketched a scene of Aggie's Sissy changing from the very old dog she has been to a beautiful young dog, full of life and happiness as she danced in a land lit by rainbows.

When Koko Shelton in accounting had no baby sitter and had to go to a meeting, Neal took care of her three year old girl, Tika, all the time avoiding the wrath of Peter Burke by hiding out in the file room, the cafeteria, and once even in the lady's room. Peter scolded Neal for an hour when he finally located him. Koko had finally found one of her relatives to care for the three year old and Neal reported to Peter after accepting a last sticky kiss from Tika. Neal didn't even explain that he had been looking after Tika, just stood there, head down, but eyes dancing with mischief as his keeper lectured him about being responsible.

Poor Agent Jones Jones….Caroline was one of the few people who knew that Jones had his last name twice because his mother had a bad reaction to anesthesia and kept telling the nurse that his names was Jones when they asked what to put on the certificate for his first name. Anyway, Jones broke his ankle chasing a suspect and Neal fetched and carried for him without a complaint. Jones was also a favorite of Caroline's. He often brought her dumplings from his favorite Chinese restaurant and he always put files back in the correct spot. So that Neal was so darling with Jones wrote him a free pass in Caroline's files.

After that first meeting, Neal always asked for her help with his folder finding duties, but he was very sweet about, grateful and polite. Last week, when Caroline could not find her file cart, Neal helped her carry a thick stack of folders to Reese Hughes. (Ruiz had her cart and tried to sneak it back before she caught him.)

Yes, Neal was sweet. Caroline noticed that Agent Burke was happier with him around, liking him so much better than the Harvard men and women with whom he was saddled. Caroline also gave the young man credit for the strong dislike Ruiz had for him. Anyone Ruiz hated had to be a good guy.

Neal was a flirt. In another man, it might have been obnoxious or sexist. It wasn't with Neal as it seemed just part of his character. He genuinely seemed to flirt to see a smile or a laugh. Caroline noticed that Neal was coquettish with men as well, seeming to scope out how far he could go with them before they realized what he was doing.

The way he flirted with Peter Burke was different. Caroline thought that Neal was serious about his pursuit. That would have irritated her normally. Marriage was sacred although Caroline had a different view of the sacrament than most people. She has a little brother who was gay. Caroline had left home when she was sixteen, finishing her high school and college education on her own. Home had not been a safe haven for her or for any of her siblings. It was a place of ugly words, terrible fights between her parents, and her mother's violent temper.

Caroline's little brother came out to her parents when he was fourteen, right after his first kiss. It wasn't so much her father, who spent his days in a drunken haze that hurt him. It was her tiny beautiful mother who took a broom to Mark as if she could beat the gay out of him. Mark had not defended himself and ended up with a concussion and a broken collar bone. Caroline was twenty two, old enough to get custody of her baby brother and she had collected him, raised him, and was proud of him. She had to drop out of college to support him, but she had never complained. Caroline had planned Mark's commitment ceremony with him and cried for happy as sincerely as any mother would when he and Jesse, his partner, took their vows.

So it was not that the object of Neal's affection was another guy. It was the married part. Caroline felt she should talk to Neal, set him on a better path. If he won Peter, he would break El's heart. If he lost, he would break his own. Neal reminded Caroline of Mark and she felt it was her duty as his friend to give him the advice an older sister would give.

Caroline was already for the discussion. She packed an extra lunch for him frequently as sometimes Peter Burke would work through lunch - and dinner. She asked Neal if he wanted to eat with her tomorrow and he agreed, giving her a kiss on her cheek. He was such a darling; she felt terrible that she needed to help him make such a difficult decision.

OooOooO

When Caroline was troubled, she always went to the dog park with Rose, her red merle Australian Shepherd, who was had white markings surrounding a mottled tan and strawberry coat. Watching Rose play, circling back to touch her hand, her mouth grinning, her one blue eye and her one brown eye sparkling, could take away any worry.

Rose was onto something. She looked back at Caroline, stub of tail wagging, and dashed down the trail. There was a spot along the pond where someone had dedicated a bench carved from a log to their bridge dogs. It was an unwritten rule that if someone was already sitting there that you left them to their thoughts. There was a dip in the trail and the trees almost concealed the worn path. You couldn't see until you passed through the trees.

Caroline followed Rose who moved silently despite the reputation herding dogs for being barkers. Oh, someone was there. There was a splash and a yellow Labrador Retriever jumped in the water to fetch a stick. Caroline was about to turn away when she recognized the laugh and heard Neal say, "Oh, no! No, Satchmo! Don't shake on me!"

Satchmo was the Burke's slightly overfed dog, a big lovable yellow lab that Caroline had met with Agent Burke and El previously. This was the best dog park in New York. Most of them were just concrete runways and this one was natural and beautiful. Dog lovers made reservations to play here and the Burkes adored Satchmo as much as Caroline loved Rose.

It was not dog park etiquette to step closer until she could see the small alcove by the pond without being seen, but Caroline could not help being curious about what Neal was doing here with Satchmo. Caroline hand signaled for Rose to move into a quiet sit by her side. Rose was a great obedience dog as well as one of the best red merles that her breeder had ever whelped. Caroline smiled, as she mentally thanked Jesse, her brother's husband, for begging his mother for the pup. It was the best birthday present she had ever received.

Peter Burke stepped into Caroline's limited sight. He walked over to Neal, tipped Neal's face up, his palm lightly caressing Neal's chin. His kiss was long, tender, stinting nothing in its claiming passion. It was a lovely kiss, but Caroline felt such grief. She was fond of Neal, but this was so wrong. She couldn't help but to think that this would lead to disaster. Poor Neal, Poor Peter, but mostly poor…

Someone else was there. El was there with her husband and her husband's lover, but Caroline was soon corrected. El threw her arms around Neal and he twisted around to seek her lips for a kiss. Peter grinned, spun Neal around so he could capture El's lips in a kiss as deep as the one Neal shared with Peter. Peter's back was now turned to Caroline, but she can tell that he was embracing both El and Neal.

Now Caroline was delighted for Neal and, for herself. Tomorrow others will gossip, but Caroline will know. She will not speak of this to anyone, not even Neal, but she will be happy for Neal, for Peter, and for El.

Caroline was a fan of marriage, but it comes in many forms.

One thing she knows.

The heart will have its way.

The end