A/N: Sorry for taking so long with the update. but, you know, life happens. In my case, my exams are next week so I've been spending most of my time studying. I hope you enjoy! Thank you, Fierce Queen for the amazing beta, as usual. I don't know what I'd do without you!

Elizabeth Burke was well known for her motherly nature. When she learned from her doctor eight years ago that she would never be able to have children she was devastated. There was always the option of adoption but she worried that she might not treat an adopted child the way he or she deserved because she would always have an intrinsic desire for her own child, a genetic and physical part of her. So the Burkes had settled for adopting a puppy, and she directed all her mothering instincts towards raising Satchmo.

Elizabeth found another outlet for directing her mothering instincts towards when Neal Caffrey entered into their lives, though she had not realized it at first. Her fondness for the con-man became rather pronounced when Peter entered the house nearly a year ago half carrying, half dragging a semi lucid Neal. She had been really worried when she found out that the con-man had been drugged, but Peter said that the hospital was out of the question because Neal had been skirting on the edge of the line distinguishing between legal and illegal and he might have stumbled a bit onto the illegal side.

So Elizabeth fussed over the young man, helping Peter take him to the couch and laying him down. She channeled her inner mother hen as she covered him with a blanket and placed an ice pack on his head. She felt a fond smile curve the corners of her lips upwards as the young man belted out a love song in a surprisingly good voice.

So to El, Neal had been like a son she never had. True, he was too old to actually be her son, adopted or otherwise, but the young man had a very boyish personality. Neal's childish antics frustrated her husband to no end, but she knew for a fact that no matter how exasperated Peter acted, he loved the young ball of energy that was Neal Caffrey. Even if it got him into trouble more often than not.

She could read Neal pretty well. Not as well as her husband, perhaps. Peter was good at staying one step ahead of the con-man and figuring out his motives. El was better at reading his emotions. She could tell when he was upset about something that he wouldn't talk to anyone about, so she would distract him from those thoughts by engaging him in a conversation or borrowing his palette to test 'some of that fancy stuff' as Peter referred to delicacies. The months following Kate's death, she had visited Neal often by herself, and he talked to her about his lost love in a way that she doubted he could with Peter. She could often see the flash of pain behind his eyes when someone tried to get him to talk about his past. He hid it behind an almost instantaneously placed poker face, and being the master of manipulation that he was, he would smoothly changed the topic. But she still managed to notice.

Elizabeth Burke was good at reading people, especially Neal Caffrey. So she had read the momentary panic in Neal's eyes as he had looked up to see Peter when her husband made his presence known in the hospital room. That in and of itself surprised her. She could not fathom why Neal would be scared of her husband. But when Neal had actually flinched upon making eye contact, alarm bells started going inside her head. There was something seriously wrong between the two men and it needed to be fixed as soon as possible.

So the smart woman had placed a comforting hand on Neal's, gave him a quick peck on his cheek and made an excuse to get coffee. She had shot a warning look to her husband and then left the room, hoping that the two men could talk and praying that everything would go back to normal soon.

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Neal felt slightly embarrassed at flinching when he saw Peter. He was a con-man, and he prided himself on being the master of his emotions. He could put on any mask he wanted to, fool any mark. But having such an obvious physical reaction to show his fear of the man who he had not long ago considered to be his best friend was rather damaging for his ego.

So Neal stared at his hands as El squeezed his hand and to his surprise, kissed his cheek. When she said that she was leaving to get coffee, Neal felt his stomach coil in dread. He didn't want her to leave! He nearly told her not to leave him alone and had an overwhelming desire to grab her hand, but he managed to suppress it. He was a con-man damn it! He did not go displaying his emotions for everyone to see. Not to mention it wouldn't help the awkwardness between the two men.

Peter cleared his throat, trying to break the ice now that El had abandoned him. Neal continued to stare resolutely at his hands.

"How are you feeling?" Peter started cautiously.

Neal finally looked up from his hands to stare a point beyond Peter's shoulders as he replied in a voice not giving anything away. "I'm fine. The doctors say that I can go home in a few days."

"Good, that's good." Peter wasn't good at this sort of thing. He felt like face palming himself.

"Yeah."

"Well, I've got to go back to the office. Those mortgage frauds aren't going to solve themselves!" Peter made a rather failed attempt at humour.

"Bye," came the soft reply.

God, I'm terrible at this, Peter thought to himself as he left Neal's room, shutting the door behind him. And El was going to kill him. He wondered whether the friendship between him and Neal would ever go back to normal as he left the hospital's parking lot.

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