Chapter 3- The Promise

Disclaimer: Do not own White Collar:( making no money. Spoilers and spoilers from previews will be mentioned. Thanks for all the reviews but signed and unsigned ( whom I could not give a personal thank you to:) You guys are awesome! I didn't get as many reviews for the last chapter though and want to make sure everyone was still interested. Drop me a line and let me know. Love to hear what you think! Words in italics are once again the character's thoughts.

Peter felt his heart constrict at the words he had just heard. Memories of full immunity flitted through his head causing short puffs of anger to race through his blood. He shut his eyes for a moment willing himself to calm down. Damn it, Burke. This is Neal we're talking about. Nothing is ever what it seems with Neal. Don't do anything rash. Trust him.

"You are not a killer, Neal."

Neal's voice came out raw and bitter.

"I didn't save her."

Suddenly it all clicked for Peter.

"They came for you, didn't they? They found you..."

Neal remained silent.

Peter licked his lips caught up in the revelation, his heard racing with a sick sense of fear.

"You tried to stop them, didn't you?"

Neal gritted his teeth, his blood turning to ice at Peter's lie.

"I had the gun, Peter, and I couldn't pull the trigger."

Neal heard Peter release the breath he had been holding. The moment of truth...

"How many were there, Neal?"

Neal gripped his knees tightly until his knuckles whitened.

"Doesn't matter."

Peter asked softly, "How many, Neal?"

Neal swayed slightly, a moment peter caught from the corner of his eye.

"5...6...don't you get it? I couldn't do it."

The two sat perfectly still, each lost in despair for another.

"They killed her and I watched."

Peter shut his eyes tightly afraid to see the young con's face, but needing to get out the graphic images swirling in his mind.

"That's why you left, dropped out of school, wasn't it?"

Neal barely registered the whispered words of his friend trapped in a waking nightmare.

"I was 16."

"Were they ever caught, " Peter wondered.

Neal shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't know for sure. I left clues for the police of who I thought they could be , but I didn't stick around to find out." Peter desperately wanted to know how Neal escaped 6 gunmen, but figured that was a story for another time.

Peter wiped his sweaty palms on his knees.

"Jesus, Neal..."

Neal held up a hand, his voice the strength of steel.

"Don't, Peter."

He paused keeping his hand steady before him.

"I shouldn't have run, I know..."

Peter's features softened.

"That's not what I meant, Neal. God, where did you go?"

Peter stared hard at the beautiful man before him. What did you have to do, Neal?

Peter stopped that train of thought as quickly as it arose. He didn't want to know.

"I did what I had to do, Peter. I conned, I stole...I survived."

Neal's eyes were pure fire, but his voice lacked something...confidence, perhaps. So unsure. Peter wondered. Haunted years later. Aren't we all haunted by something?

I"I swore I would never let anything else happen to anyone I loved..."

Peter eyes read Neal's. Kate. of course he is thinking of Kate...

Neal knew what Peter was thinking and recoiled from him just a bit. His body relaxed as if he was utterly spent, the once possessed , now without his demon, an empty shell. Nothing to hold onto anymore. He had broken his own cardinal rule: he admitted to his crimes outright with no deal on the proverbial table. Peter wouldn't let that go. Admitting to conning and stealing and God knows what else Peter felt he implied...there were repercussions for things like this. Further questioning his past mistakes now brought to light.

Just as Neal was about to accept his fate, his eyes caught a glint of something shining at Peter's feet. Neal's eyes narrowed, adjusting to the darkness. On the floor lying bear was a worn wallet opened to reveal an FBI badge. Full immunity. Why? He had never asked Peter for this and never would. He had decided to grant Neal a gift, one without asking. That was Peter.

Neal felt as if something else was being born this night. Maybe it was a new sense of trust. A different kind of bond, perhaps. Neal and Peter's eyes met. Peter...

Silence was all that was needed to be said.

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