Title: The End is the Beginning is the End.

Summary: It's Peter's birthday and just like every year since their lives first crossed paths, Neal is going to share his best wishes.

Characters: Peter Burke & Elizabeth Burke.

Warnings: None.

Notes: Set pre-canon.

...

Peter entered the house through the back door with Satchmo trotting happily behind him. He put the leash aside and headed straight to the kitchen where Elizabeth was already busy making breakfast. She was wrapped in her favorite terrycloth robe, her dark hair done up in a messy bun, and her face still make-up free.

It was a sight that never failed to make Peter question how he got so damn lucky.

"Hey honey," El called over her shoulder, keeping part of her attention on the stove. "Breakfast isn't ready yet, but there's coffee."

Peter ignored the enticing smile of fresh coffee and walked toward his wife. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek.

"Hi, hon."

"Hey yourself," El murmured, one of her warm hands coming up to cup his cheek as she turned her head slightly to let their lips meet. He could feel the curve of her smile against his lips.

A soft whine made them break the kiss and look down at Satchmo, standing by their side with his tail wagging slowly as he looked up at them with huge dark eyes.

"Really?" Peter asked him. The dog kept staring at them, pink tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"You want a bit of love too, don't you, Satch?"

The dog barked twice in answer, the attention making his wagging tail pick up speed until it was but a blur.

Peter let his wife go with one more kiss and then moved to take care of the pancakes on the pan. He pushed down an irrational feeling of jealousy as he watched his wife turn away from him and knelt down to give their dog the greeting he was demanding.

Elizabeth gently shooed Satch out of the kitchen after a minute or two of petting and then proceeded to do the same with Peter once she washed her hands- though she did send him off with a quick kiss and a smile.

He grabbed a mug from the cupboard on his way out and filled it to the brim with hot coffee before moving to sit on one of the stools on the kitchen counter.

Peter took a moment to enjoy the moment as he sipped his coffee. Between both their busy jobs, they didn't get to enjoy many quiet mornings like this. He eventually pulled his attention away, focusing on the pile of mail Elizabeth left on the counter. Sorting the mail wasn't something Peter particularly enjoyed, but it was something to do while breakfast was ready. They were mostly bills, but he found a few letters and stuff from El's business mixed in with the junk mail.

Peter froze as soon as he saw the envelope. He probably made a noise or something because Elizabeth's attention was on him only a second later.

"What is it, hon?"

"I got mail from Sing Sing," he announced absentmindedly, his gaze focused on the envelope in his hands.

Elizabeth's frown slid off her face only half a second later. "Caffrey," she said with a nod.

It wasn't a question, but Peter answered anyway as he met her gaze. "Yeah."

She turned her attention back to the stove just long enough to turn it off before walking around the kitchen counter, squeezing his shoulder gently as she sat on the stool at his side.

"Well?" El prompted, blue eyes gleaming softly as she looked at him. "Are you going to open it?"

Peter met his wife's eager expression for a moment before tearing the envelope open. There was no use pretending he wasn't just as eager to see what Caffrey sent him this time.

He would never admit that a part of him had been missing the conman ever since the chase ended, but then again, El didn't need him to say the words to know that.

Peter blinked down at the small, generic card he pulled out of the envelope. There was a picture of a rather plain cupcake on the front and the phrase 'Happy Birthday' printed above in yellow lettering.

It was a perfectly nice birthday card, of course, but didn't quite live up to Caffrey's high, luxurious standards. Peter still remembered every detail of the gorgeous, handmade card he received last year. Every card from Caffrey was like a little work of art all on its own right, fitting perfectly with everything he knew about Caffrey's life style and tastes- unlike the card currently in his hands.

Ever since that green sucker Caffrey handed him at the start of the chase, everything else the con man had sent or left for him had been tasteful or expensive or both. Then again, the guy had been in prison for less than a month now, so this may be the best he could do at the moment. Or maybe he didn't care all that much for the agent that put him there now that the game was over.

Peter wasn't sure how he felt about the latter. Caffrey acted graciously when he arrested him, shaking his hand and even thanking him for helping him find Kate Moreau. Hell, even during the trial the conman had acted nice and friendly. Still, all that could have easily changed now that he was getting a taste of what life behind bars was really like.

"That's sweet," Elizabeth commented as she looked down at the card, her head resting on his shoulder.

The words were enough to pull Peter out of his thoughts, and he was left frowning at the top of her head.

"You did send him to prison not too long ago, hon." El reminded him gently in an echo of his own thoughts. "And yet, he's sending you good wishes for your birthday. That's sweet."

"He's a criminal," Peter countered, his tone just a touch defensive. He wouldn't feel bad or guilty for putting a criminal in prison. He wouldn't.

"I know that, hon." She pulled away, letting him see the reassuring smile on her face. "He broke the law and you had to catch him. That was the right thing to do. What I meant is that most criminals would resent the person who put them in prison, but Neal sent you a birthday card instead."

Peter looked back at the card in his hands, his frown returning.

Neal Caffrey had been different from the start. Always. It wasn't just that he was smart or non-violent, or that he sometimes acted like he and Peter were friends playing a game instead of a criminal and the FBI Agent set out to catch him. It wasn't the calls at midnight to chat rather than taunt, or the champagne and food sent to the van on more than one occasion. It wasn't even the fact Peter was almost sure Caffrey was behind leads that had inexplicably turned up on a couple of cases in the past.

Peter didn't think he could put into words what set Caffrey apart from the dozens of criminals he had chased during his career, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. Their relationship had been strange enough as it was.

He met his wife's expectant gaze for a second before finally opening the card to look for a message inside. There was one, of course, and written in fancy penmanship that looked somewhat familiar but was nothing like Caffrey's. Or what he thought was Caffrey's anyway.

Happy Birthday Peter!

I'm sorry this year your birthday can't be as thrilling or special as the last one. Or the one before that. Maybe next year? ; )

P.S. Say hi to Elizabeth and Satchmo for me.

xoxo Neal.

"Oh," Elizabeth breathed, a smile coming to her lips as she remembered what happened last year. "He's talking about the cake and wine he left for you last year. They were both delicious."

It was more than that. With Caffrey, it always was.

Last year, Peter spent the week before his birthday investigating and chasing leads after he heard the whisper of a rumor that said Caffrey was back in the country. Peter and his team were able to confirm he was in New York and not only that, but all information pointed to the fact he was casing the Met. From there on, it was a race to find the elusive conman before he struck.

The chase ended on the day of Peter's birthday when they broke into the hotel room Caffrey was supposedly staying in. They were greeted with a large, fancy cake with a single candle lit, three bottles of expensive dessert wine, and a stunning handmade card wishing him a happy birthday. The room had been otherwise empty, and there had been no sight of Caffrey even after they searched the area.

Nothing was stolen from the Met or anywhere else- at least not by Caffrey. All of it had been a cleverly elaborate farce. Caffrey had sent him on a wild goose chase as a birthday present.

Peter had been furious as soon as he realized he had been played, but it hadn't taken Elizabeth long to get him to admit he had enjoyed every second of the chase, especially after months of mortgage fraud and boring cases, and even longer with no new leads on the elusive conman.

Maybe Reese was right when he expressed his concerns about how involved he was with Caffrey.

If nothing else, the fact Caffrey bothered to send him a card now meant he wasn't doing too bad in prison. Against his better judgment, Peter felt worried about the no-violent white collar conman being put in a high-security prison. Peter requested to be notified if something happened to Caffrey, but he wasn't very optimistic he would be unless it was something really serious. He hoped that wouldn't happen.

"Honey?" Elizabeth prompted gently, once again pulling him out of his thoughts.

"So this is sweet, huh?"

"It is," El confirmed with a bright smile as she took the card from his hands. "We should thank him somehow."

"No. No, we shouldn't. That will only encourage Caffrey to keep doing things like this."

Elizabeth stayed silent for a moment as she stared down at the card. When she looked up again Peter could do nothing but brace himself for what was about to come. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like it.

"You told me you never found anything about his family."

"We never found anything on Neal Caffrey before he was eighteen." Peter was almost sure it was nothing more than another alias, but El already knew that, and he doubted she wanted to hear it again.

"So, even if he has any family, what do you think are the chances he will contact them now that he's in prison?"

Peter didn't answer. He didn't need to.

Elizabeth bit her lip as she looked down at the card. "Do you really think it would be such a bad idea for him to know there is someone out here willing to listen if he needs it? You like him too, honey," she reminded him.

And he did like the conman, even against his better judgment. Damn it.

Peter thought about Caffrey's brilliant brain and his uncanny ability to excel at any role he played and whatever scheme he cooked. He wondered not for the first time if, with some encouragement and a lot of pushing, he could learn to put those talents to good and legal use. He never believed Caffrey to be a bad kid, but there was no denying he was far from being good.

Maybe all he needed was something or someone to show him the way.

Peter pushed the thought away as fast as it came. The last thing he needed was to try to get involved in Neal Caffrey's rehabilitation. That was not in his job description.

"He has his girlfriend," he said instead.

"Kate, right?" Elizabeth waited for Peter's nod, looking pensive. "Do you think she will stay with him?"

"I hope so."

Her expression turned surprised.

Peter shrugged a little self-consciously. "Caffrey did let himself get arrested just to find her. It would be cruel if she abandoned him after that."

In the silence that followed, Peter tried to pretend he didn't feel at least a little bit guilty for using Kate and the love Caffrey felt for her to catch him. He usually had no problem brushing it off, but having physical proof of Caffrey's less criminal side made it harder.

Elizabeth didn't press the issue further. She handed the card back without a word and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to his lips before walking back to the kitchen, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Peter stared at the card for a moment before putting it back in its envelope. Now that the chase was finally over he needed to take a step back rather than get even more entangled with Neal Caffrey.

He did his job and did it well, and whatever happened now was out of his hands.

...

a/n: The rest, as they say, is history. We always knew El was the smart one in this relationship. 😉

I'm so sorry it took me so long to add another story here, but for once, I was actually busy writing new WC fics. 😁😁 If you're interested you can find them in my profile. So, I have no idea when I wrote this story exactly, but I do remember that the inspiration for it was explaining why someone as talented and cocky as Neal Caffrey would send Peter the boring birthday card we saw in the pilot episode. Yep, I'm that crazy. And yes, I realize now that the Burkes didn't have a kitchen island back then, but I needed it so I kept it.

Thank you for comments and favorites, and I hope you continue to enjoy my works!