White Collar Fic - We Rise Where Shadows Fall - Part One of Five

Title: We Rise Where Shadows Fall – Part One
Artist: Nioell
Author: elrhiarhodan
Fandom: White Collar
Rating: R
Characters/Pairings: Peter Burke, Neal Caffrey, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mozzie, Clinton Jones, Lauren Cruz, Kyle Bancroft, Original Characters; Peter/Neal, past Neal/Adler, past Peter/Elizabeth (marriage of convenience), Peter-Elizabeth friendship
Spoilers: None
Warnings/Enticements/Triggers: None
Word Count: ~41,000
Beta Credit: coffeethyme4me, miri_thompson, theatregirl7299
Summary: Neal, a former employee of Vincent Adler – and the only person from Adler’s organization to serve jail time – has agreed to help the FBI find Adler, who disappeared over half a decade ago. Peter Burke, the case agent assigned to the Adler case, is worried about Neal’s safety and doesn’t trust the Marshals, so he’s keeping him close at hand. The attraction between the two men grows as they learn about each other and everything comes to a head when Neal finally shares a devastating secret.

A/N: Continues the story that began in Nothing Will Remain, the near-canon A/U, where Peter is an FBI agent assigned to locate Vincent Adler. He had discovered that a former employee of Adler’s, Neal Caffrey, is his ex-wife’s book keeper. Neal had been reluctant to assist the FBI, but eventually agrees to help them. This story picks up immediately after the prior story ends, but you don’t have to read that story to understand what’s going on here.

Title from the Oysterband song, “Rise Above”.

Written for Round One of the wc_reverse_bb.


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(  “I’ll help you.” Neal said the words – he hadn’t thought about them before speaking, but now that he’d spoken, it felt right. Like the first right thing he’d done in a very long time.  )