A/N- I don't know. I just felt like it. I do have another White Collar I have been working on, but I seem to have lost my muse on that one. At least for now. I have to re - think where was I going with it. I will work on it though. In the mean time - RANDOM SHORT-ISH-NESS! YEAH!
"People don't change." ~ Gregory House, Episode 4-12 (Don't Ever Change)
"It's a choice you have to make for yourself, Neal. What are you going to do?" Peter Burke said. His eyes locked on the con-man's. What he saw there scared him. Fear. Insecurity.
Neal was a man who always hid his feelings. Never did he wear his heart on his sleeve.
Not for the first time in the past few minutes, Peter wondered how they got here. And he wondered what choice Neal was going to make. Was he going to run, he had the chance, or was he going to stay?
Frustrated, Neal slammed his hand against a near-by wall. Dust rained down on him. He looked wildly around, as if the answer might be written in the air.
"You can't ask me to do this, Peter." Caffery said after a long minute. He was torn between heart and mind. His heart was telling him to go, to run and save Alex. His mind was saying that Peter would save her. Not for the first time Neal wondered if either choice was correct. Or was there bound to be pain either way?
"What do you want me to do Neal? You haven't done anything wrong, I can't arrest you. And I can't make this choice for you!" Burke answered, his anger flaring.
"Then tell me what you want me to do!" Neal demanded. He didn't want to disappoint Peter, but it was Mozzie and Alex on the line. They were the close he would ever get to family. But Peter was part of that. Peter, and Elizabeth, and June, they were family too. Or at least close to it.
"Do you love her Neal?" Peter asked quietly. Caffery thought about this for a moment. He had loved Kate, and look at what had happened. But with Alex it was more complicated. There was passion, certainly. And sex. But could a relationship survive on lust? He felt a pull toward her, the urge to protect her. Was it more than lust, that he was feeling? Did he love her?
"Yes. I always have." Neal answered. It felt good to say it. Burke nodded, and tossed him a small, black, electronic key.
"Then go. But they agency is going to come after you for all it's worth. I will try to hold them off, but there isn't going to be much I can do." Peter looked around nervously as Caffery removed the anklet and threw it and the key to Peter.
"I can't come back, Peter." He said.
"I know Neal." Both men nodded their goodbyes to each other, and Neal started toward the parking garage that had served as a backdrop for their conversation. But he came to a stop and turned back.
"Why?" He asked, convaying so much in the single word.
"Because people don't change, Neal. They may want to, or they may need to, but they won't. You will always be a con. You would have made this choice anyway. I'm just making sure you do it right." Peter explained. Then he opened the door to his standard blue car. Neal nodded.
"Thank you Peter."
"Do what's right, Neal." The con nodded 'yes.' And turned away. He called over his shoulder,
"Oh, and Peter? You totally ripped that line off from 'House.'