Monday came and went. And much to Jones' disappointment, no prank from Neal yet. The rest of the week was filled with piles of mortgage fraud and bond forgery cases. They weren't the type of cases Neal hoped to finish his sentence out with, but he'll take what he can get.
Before any of them knew it, it was Friday. Today was the day.
The night before, Neal joined Elizabeth and Peter for a final goodbye dinner, though no goodbyes were actually spoken. It seemed like they were all putting it off until the very last moment.
Neal stood in Peter's office. The anklet was about to come off for good.
Peter looked down at the small key in his hands. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be." Neal lifted his left foot and placed it on the chair in front of Peter's desk. Peter stepped over and inserted the key into the anklet. There was a soft beep and then it unlocked. Peter pulled the anklet away from Neal and put it on his desk.
"Congratulations," Peter smiled. "You feel any different?" he joked.
Neal laughed. "Nope. Probably not until I get out of the office. Have I ever told you that it feels like a giant fishbowl in here with all these glass walls?"
Peter laughed too. "As a matter of fact, you have. But I can see where you're coming from."
Their laughing died down and they both avoided each other's eyes. It was then that Neal knew this was the proper time to say bye.
"I guess this is goodbye." Neal finally looked up at Peter, who caught his eyes too. His mind flashed back to that day on the hanger. Gosh, it seemed so long ago; so much has changed.
Peter looked up at Neal. Just like that day at the hanger, he was finding it hard to let Neal go. "Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away—"
"And going away means forgetting," Neal finished. "Peter Pan," he had a wistful smile on his face.
Peter nodded. "I can quote, just like the little guy." He winced inside, realizing he brought up Mozzie. After Mozzie left, Neal and Peter made an unspoken agreement not to talk about him. But the reference flew over Neal.
Neal held out a hand. "Thank you, Peter. These have been the best four years of my life." Even if I didn't realize it at first.
Peter took hold of Neal's hand and they shook. "I can honestly say the same."
What happened next, surprised Peter, and probably even Neal himself. Neal pulled Peter in for a brotherly hug, hoping that would express the words he couldn't manage to say. When they pulled apart, it was obvious both were obviously trying to hold themselves together. But being the men that they are, they tried to ignore it. Neal self-consciously wiped his eyes a couple of times and Peter let him while he did the same.
After a moment, Neal spoke. "Walk me out?"
"Of course."
Peter and Neal left the small office and traveled down into the bullpen. Right as Neal pushed the door open, someone started clapping. Turning around, they saw Jones standing up, clapping. Diana stood up next and did the same. The surrounding agents and clerks all looked around at each other and nodded in agreement. They started clapping too. Even Hughes came out of his office and joined in.
Neal couldn't believe what he was seeing. The whole FBI White Collar office was clapping—for him. He turned to Peter, and saw that he had a big smile on his face and was also clapping.
Soon the clapping slowed down and eventually stopped. Neal gave a nod to Jones and Diana and mouthed Thank you. Peter pushed open the doors and they walked over to the elevator. Neal pushed the button and waited for the elevator to reach the 21st floor.
"Wow, that was…"
"Something?" Peter cut off.
Neal laughed. "Well, I was going to say nice, but yeah, it was something."
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Neal stepped inside and faced Peter.
"I'll keep you up to date. You know, send some postcards."
"That'd be great," Peter nodded.
"I'll see you around, Peter." Neal pushed the ground floor button inside the elevator.
"Yeah," Peter smiled, mostly because he didn't know what else to say. He turned to walk away when he realized something was missing. "Wait, Neal!" he called out, maybe a bit too loudly.
Neal stopped the elevator doors from closing and stepped out halfway from the elevator. "What's wrong?"
"Your hat. You left it in my office." Peter gestured inside. "I can go run in and get—"
"No, no, it's fine." Neal smiled, "You can hold on to it for me. I trust you."
"Oh…okay." Peter was shocked.
Neal stepped inside the elevator, still smiling, and let the doors close.
Peter stood there, alone. Neal was gone, but he'd come back soon.
(A/N): Since these are much shorter than what I usually do, I decided to post the one's I've already written up! I'll be working on more and get them up soon. Thanks for reading!