White Collar Ficlet - A Correction (WC100 - #013 - Unit)

Title: A Correction
Prompt: White Collar 100 - #013 - Unit
Author: elrhiarhodan
Rating: G
Fandom: White Collar
Spoilers: None
Warnings/Enticements/Triggers:None
Word Count: Exactly 300
Summary: Blake, Jones and Diana have a little lunch, and a misunderstanding is corrected
This immediately follows Things Aren’t Quite As They Seem.

_____________________________

( UNIT )

White Collar Ficlet - A Correction (WC100 - #013 - Unit)

Title: A Correction
Prompt: White Collar 100 - #013 - Unit
Author: elrhiarhodan
Rating: G
Fandom: White Collar
Spoilers: None
Warnings/Enticements/Triggers:None
Word Count: Exactly 300
Summary: Blake, Jones and Diana have a little lunch, and a misunderstanding is corrected
This immediately follows Things Aren’t Quite As They Seem.

_____________________________

( UNIT )

White Collar Ficlet - I Followed Your Breadcrumbs/They Led To The Sea

A fill for yet another prompt from gyzym .  This one's staying just on my journal.  And put on your slash goggles!

___________________________________________

Peter chased Neal for three years, across the country, across oceans, across continents.

The day he finally caught and arrested Neal, it was the finest moment of his career. When the bailiffs took Neal away after the guilty verdict, Peter felt a sense of vindication; it had all been worth it. All the hours and days and weeks spent away from his wife and his home. Yet, as he heard the judge pronounce the sentence, he felt sick and sad. This smart, beautiful young man was about to lose the rest of his youth, and possibly his sanity, to a maximum security facility. He doggedly tried to put that out of his head, but that became impossible. As the bailiffs were locking the cuffs on Neal, he turned to Peter and smiled. There was nothing threatening in that grin, and when he said “Be seeing you, Peter” the words held no menace.

The second time Peter chased Neal, it took him less than four hours to catch him. It wasn’t hard this time. Caffrey’s cell was full of clues, and given what he knew about Neal and his blind spots and weaknesses, it wasn’t hard to find him. Seeing him sitting on the floor in that abandoned apartment, holding onto the empty wine bottle, he didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone more broken, more lost.

The third time Peter chased Neal, he had assistance in the form of the GPS tracker that was strapped to Caffrey’s ankle. It also helped that Neal wasn’t running as much as leading them on a merry chase. When Peter walked into that box of an office, with the open safe, the aroma of a contraband cigar and the ridiculous pedal harp in the corner, he knew that the next four years weren’t going to be easy, but they were going to be interesting (and maybe even a little fun).

The fourth time, well… that one was different. Peter actually needed to shoot someone to get Caffrey’s whereabouts. He’s oddly proud of that, though the aftermath was devastating.

The fifth time that Neal left, Peter had no reason to chase him and he had no choice but to let him go. He remembers one of their first conversations, when Neal was trying to explain how he felt about Kate running out on him.  How did he put it? … “I know there's more to our story.”. And how arrogant, how cruel he was in his response “We've all been there. But it gets easier.”

Would Neal laugh if he could see him now, longing for the chase, for the capture, for the closeness? Or would he just look at him, smile and say “game on?”

FIN

White Collar Ficlet - I Followed Your Breadcrumbs/They Led To The Sea

A fill for yet another prompt from gyzym .  This one's staying just on my journal.  And put on your slash goggles!

___________________________________________

Peter chased Neal for three years, across the country, across oceans, across continents.

The day he finally caught and arrested Neal, it was the finest moment of his career. When the bailiffs took Neal away after the guilty verdict, Peter felt a sense of vindication; it had all been worth it. All the hours and days and weeks spent away from his wife and his home. Yet, as he heard the judge pronounce the sentence, he felt sick and sad. This smart, beautiful young man was about to lose the rest of his youth, and possibly his sanity, to a maximum security facility. He doggedly tried to put that out of his head, but that became impossible. As the bailiffs were locking the cuffs on Neal, he turned to Peter and smiled. There was nothing threatening in that grin, and when he said “Be seeing you, Peter” the words held no menace.

The second time Peter chased Neal, it took him less than four hours to catch him. It wasn’t hard this time. Caffrey’s cell was full of clues, and given what he knew about Neal and his blind spots and weaknesses, it wasn’t hard to find him. Seeing him sitting on the floor in that abandoned apartment, holding onto the empty wine bottle, he didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone more broken, more lost.

The third time Peter chased Neal, he had assistance in the form of the GPS tracker that was strapped to Caffrey’s ankle. It also helped that Neal wasn’t running as much as leading them on a merry chase. When Peter walked into that box of an office, with the open safe, the aroma of a contraband cigar and the ridiculous pedal harp in the corner, he knew that the next four years weren’t going to be easy, but they were going to be interesting (and maybe even a little fun).

The fourth time, well… that one was different. Peter actually needed to shoot someone to get Caffrey’s whereabouts. He’s oddly proud of that, though the aftermath was devastating.

The fifth time that Neal left, Peter had no reason to chase him and he had no choice but to let him go. He remembers one of their first conversations, when Neal was trying to explain how he felt about Kate running out on him.  How did he put it? … “I know there's more to our story.”. And how arrogant, how cruel he was in his response “We've all been there. But it gets easier.”

Would Neal laugh if he could see him now, longing for the chase, for the capture, for the closeness? Or would he just look at him, smile and say “game on?”

FIN