Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I guess I'd better post this before anyone else jumps down my throat…I try to stick as closely to the original characters as possible when writing, so if someone's seeming a little out of character, there's usually a reason why. I almost added this chapter to chapter 3, but I figured it would be too long. Oops! Note to self: don't end a chapter with a character's over reaction :) …I think you guys will like this chapter much more than the last one! But seriously, I really appreciate the picky comments, it's nice to know you guys are enough into this story that you can call me out when something seems out of place. Anyway…here it goes…

The lavish apartment which Neal was renting had never seemed so unwelcoming. He had left the office without question after Peter's outburst. He wasn't mad. Not at Peter, at least. He understood his partner's anger. That was why he hadn't told him in the first place. He knew this would happen. His head was starting to hurt, so he collapsed onto the couch. Now what? Were the marshals going to come? Peter wouldn't want to continue working with him anymore. Not after this. He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on top of them. He couldn't think straight. Everything was falling apart around him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He was more than grateful when he heard a soft knock at his door. He took a moment to compose himself and then swiftly went to answer it. Of all the people that could have been standing before him, Peter Burke was the last person he expected to see.

"Hey," Neal said, trying to figure out if this was going to be a good visit or a bad one.

"Hey," Peter help up a case of beer sheepishly. "Can I come in?" Neal opened the door wide enough for him to come in and followed him to the table. He didn't make any complaints about the choice of alcohol. He welcomed it graciously in fact and quickly uncapped a beer and took a much appreciated sip. "So, do I have to start calling you Nick now?" Peter said with a small smile.

Neal laughed. "Funny," he replied dryly.

"I'm sorry," Peter's smile faded. "That was…completely uncalled for. It was just…a lot to take in."

"I should have told you," Neal agreed.

"How many times is this going to happen before 'no more secrets' actually means 'no more secrets'?" Peter downed his first beer. Working with Neal Caffrey had become more of a headache than he had ever imagined.

"This is the last time," Neal said confidently, but Peter didn't seem as sure. "I swear."

"Alright," Peter nodded, and he reached for a second drink. "Want to talk about the accident?"

"Not really," but he knew Peter was only asking to be polite. Like it or not, he would have to tell him everything. He sighed. "I blacked out for a minute or so after we went off the bridge. When I woke up I got myself out and went up for air. I went back down to try to help them. One of them was awake. He was stuck in his seat belt. I tried to get him out, but he kept pushing me away so I could help the other one. He was unconscious. He had passed out in the back seat before the accident. He was already dead when I got to him. I had to go back up for air, and by the time I came back Neal was almost gone."

"Neal?"

"Neal Andrews and Tyler Caffrey," he smiled for a moment, but then his face wavered and the smile turned to a frown. "Like I said, I watched my two best friends die that night."

"I really am sorry," Peter said. There really wasn't anything else to say. He should have known. If he had known all things Neal Caffrey, shouldn't he have known this?

"Thanks Peter, but I'm fine. Really," Neal brushed it off. "It was a long time ago."

"But still…"

"Don't worry about it."

They didn't talk for a long time after that. They went through several bottles of beer before Neal brought the hard liquor out. Neither was one to drink like this, but this seemed to be the proper occasion for it. Neal couldn't help thinking about his mother and having to face her tomorrow. Part of him wanted nothing more than for her to forgive him and be able to start fresh, but another part of him was actually hoping that she would reject him. He had two very separate lives. Neal Caffrey and Nick Halden were two entirely different people. Thinking about mixing them made his head hurt.

"What are you going to tell Kathryn tomorrow?" Peter finally asked, as if he was reading Neal's thoughts.

"The truth, I guess."

"What about your sister?" it was such a strange thing to be saying. All of a sudden Neal, or Nick rather, had a family.

"I don't want her to know about any of this," Neal said forcefully, although Peter was pretty sure he was aching to see the young girl.

"They really thought you were dead?" Peter shuddered at the thought of getting that phone call, someone informing him of his partner's death.

"Yeah. I looked up the crash a while ago. They just assumed they never found my body."

"Why didn't you go back?"

"I don't know," Neal said, as if it caused him physical pain. To this day, he regretted that day under the bridge. He should have saved them. He should have stayed with them. He shouldn't have left. "I was a kid. I was scared. What was I supposed to do? I kept telling myself I would go back, eventually. But I kept putting it off, and one day I realized I had turned to this completely different person. If I stayed away from them, they would always remember me as Nick Halden. I don't think I want them to know Neal Caffrey."

Peter sighed "Look, Neal," he never was good at this kind of thing. "I can't imagine what I would do if anything happened to you. Thinking you were dead…" he trailed off.

"But it's different for you. You met me when I was criminal. Compared to the Neal Caffrey I was when we met, I'm a saint," Peter rolled his eyes, "They still think of me as the straight-A student, captain of the soccer team, student council president that I was ten years ago. They're expecting Nick Halden, and, let's face it, he might as well have died under that bridge."

"Did you know that Elizabeth and I almost had a baby?" Neal turned to Peter in surprise. Where was this coming from? He shook his head 'no'. "She got pregnant three years ago. It was a boy, but he died 6 months into the pregnancy, completely out of the blue. It killed Elizabeth. Losing a child, Neal, that's something people don't recover from."

"Peter, I'm sorry. I had no idea," the thought of Peter and Elizabeth having children had crossed his mind once or twice, but he had never asked about it. "You never tried again?"

"Elizabeth didn't want to rush anything too soon. We didn't want to go through that again. And then you came along. I think we've had our hands full enough as it is dealing with your antics," Peter smiled playfully at him. Neal laughed. "Anyway, my point is, they're not going to care if you've become a world renowned art thief—"

"Who said I was an art thief?" Neal interrupted quickly, but Peter shot him an angry look.

"They just want to see you. Your sister especially. It sounds like you were some brother."

"I'll think about it," Neal agreed finishing his last drink.

"So, Nicholas Halden…" Peter said dramatically. Neal rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Don't call me that," he whined. Peter laughed and got up from the table.

"I should get going."

"Get a cab," Neal noted with a laugh as Peter stumbled towards the door.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Neal grimaced. He would have to face her for real tomorrow. She would see who he really was. He wasn't so sure either of them could handle it.

Alright, my wonderfully critical readers, let's hear it!