(Author's Note: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I'm really glad you like it, so here's chapter 2. Neal isn't really thinking straight today…I'm going to try to add a new chapter every day. Please read and review! And once again, I don't own White Collar. So please don't sue me Jeff Eastin! Hope you like this chapter everyone!)
"Neal?" FBI Agent Peter Burke crossed over to where his younger consultant sat sobbing quietly in the rain, and crouched down next to him.
"Peter. Wh-what are you doing here?" The older man gently lay a hand on Neal's shoulder. "I think I'm the one who should be asking you that. What's wrong? I saw your location from the anklet, and I wanted to check on you."
For the first time, Neal looked up, blue eyes, although slightly dead looking, staring at Peter distraughtly. "Today was- was her birthday. I told her that today…we'd fly to Paris. See the Louvre…" No one had to tell Peter he was talking about Kate. Silence followed, with both ignoring the rain, and Peter's hand still resting comfortingly on Neal's shoulder. "I'm- I'm tired of living with the guilt, Peter. Every day I think about it…I want it all to end." Shocked, Peter didn't say anything, not even knowing what to say. The silence continued for a few minutes, both men ignoring the rain. Neal spoke again. "It's all my fault." A tear slowly rolled down his face, followed by more.
Peter had never seen Neal so upset and distraught. He was trembling, not just from grief, but also cold. Somehow without Peter realizing it, he had lost weight and become paler. Seeing all of this shook Peter's heart and he took off his own jacket and gently placed it around Neal's thin frame. Then, he tried to console him. "Listen Neal, it's not your fault. Nobody knew what was going to happen to the plane, okay? Don't blame yourself. Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me you want your life to end?" He knew his voice sounded just a bit too harsh, but then again, Peter was never good at the whole comforting thing. He tried to be a little kinder. "You've got so many people here who care about you Neal. There's me, El, June, Mozzie…You're not alone. So why don't we get you inside and dried off, alright?"
He wasn't prepared to see the anger flashing in the younger man's eyes as he leapt to his feet, shaking off Peter's hand from his shoulder. He wasn't prepared for Neal to sprint back to the edge of the building, then spin around and face him. He wasn't prepared to hear the harsh words soon to be thrown at him.
"What the hell do you know, Burke? You don't know a single damn thing about me, you got that? Kate got me through everything: my mom's suicide, my dad's cancer. You've had everything perfectly planned out in your life. College, your job, Elizabeth. You don't know what it's like to always be on the run. Kate understood. She's the only one who did. But now…I'm just a criminal with nowhere to go." For a minute or two, Peter was just shocked to silence by Neal's furious outburst, to see the venom in his eyes. At first, he had only felt sadness, not realizing how Neal had been living with Kate's death, how he had envied Peter's happy life. This was quickly followed by a burst of anger. What about their friendship? After all, it was Peter who'd gotten Neal out of prison! "Neal, aren't you forgetting our friendship?" He spoke softly and advanced towards him slowly, not wanting to anger him further, seeing as he was right on the edge of the roof. "You're my best friend and I don't want you to kill yourself. We've worked on so many cases together. And June's like a mother to you. She would be so upset if you died, not to mention Mozzie and Elizabeth." Peter was desperate to get Neal away from the rooftop, out of the rain, and into safety. "I'm your…best friend?" Neal looked slightly surprised. "Of course!" replied Peter, relieved that some of his words had gotten through. "And…June would be sad if I…died?" Suddenly, Neal was realizing what Peter had been trying to tell him. "Hell yeah! So come on buddy, let's get out of the rain okay?" At last, the former conman looked convinced.
During the conversation, Neal had been standing with the backs of his shoes protruding off of the rooftop, his front facing Peter. But when he tried to take a step forwards, towards safety, his foot slipped and he went…backwards. It must have been the slippery surface from the rain but he went flying off the rooftop crying "Peter!" while all the agent could do was sprint to the edge of the roof calling desperately "Neal!" and stretching out a hand too late.