#neal and peter

[altankatt]

Neal and Peter after the plane exploded

Peter's focus was to get Neal inside the hangar, away from the blazing fire.

"Neal! There's nothing you can do! Listen to me!"

He never thought he would have to fight Neal. The kid had never, ever made resistance. Until now. As flames went from explosion to burning fuel and material they also became less chaotic and more real. Diana had joined them and she got the picture fast enough.

Sirens were heard and Peter managed at last to guide a stunned and chocked Neal back inside the hangar. Firetrucks arrived in plenty, together with an ambulance. Diana took charge as the communication center. A police car came last.

"Can you just stand still and stay here?" Peter asked Neal. "Just stand still, okay?"

Neal stared at the burning plane, leaning against one of the airplanes in the hangar.

"You know when the last time I touched her was?" the kid asked, tears running down his cheeks.

"No." It was not true. He did. Or at least he thought so. But he did not want to think about it.

"When you arrested me. Four years and six months ago. I just wanted to pick it up where we left off then. Like those years never happened."

Peter noted that Neal did not blame him. There was no hate or bitterness in his voice. Just sorrow. Like when he told about the wine bottle, just a hundred times worse.

"Just stand there, will you? I'll be here. I just need to call Hughes, okay?"

Neal nodded. Peter got eye-contact with Diana and she nodded. She would keep an eye on the kid. Peter walked away a bit. He called his boss and told him what happened.

"Is Caffrey unharmed?" Hughes asked.

"Physically, yes."

"And he's without anklet because he cut it?"

Peter sighed.

"Yes."

"You know what that means, Peter," he heard Hughes' voice of reason in the other end.

It made sense. And yet not. Because he knew Neal and knew about the deal with Fowler.

"Hughes, he wasn't running. It was legal."

"Perhaps. And he may not have anything to do with the bomb on that plane either. But until we know…"

"We have to see him as a fleeing felon and a murder suspect," Peter filled in. He glanced back at Neal. "As soon as he's ready for it, I'll take him back to prison."

"I'm sorry, Peter, but you're still under suspension, and Caffrey is an inmate of a maximum-security prison. I'll call the marshals. Let them handle it. They're no animals."

"Reese…" Peter began, "I…" He was about to tell he gave the kid a promise. But it would not help. He searched for words for a protest he knew would be in vain. He would not even need to put ordinary handcuffs on Neal. No one would need more than that as long as they treated him fair. Diana? No, for her Neal was just another villain. And she would never agree to transport him in just cuffs, and Peter could not blame her.

"I'll keep an eye on him until they arrive." He ended the call.

He watched Neal where he stood, like a wreck. Peter felt helpless. The kid was going through the worst moment of his life right then, and would soon be taken away in chains as if he was the cause of the disaster.

He returned to Neal's side, wondering how he would be able to tell him.

The kid watched him.

"What aren't you telling me, Peter?" Observant as always.

"I wish this could be done differently," Peter started. "I made you a promise. But as it is, I don't have a badge."

"I'm going back to prison, aren't I?"

"While all this is investigated, yes. I'm sorry, Neal."

The kid nodded in acceptance.

Peter's eyes wandered away.

"Neal... " He forced himself to meet the kid's eyes. "You're considered a high-risk transport."

"Leg-irons and black-box, I know the drill, Peter."

Neal's assurance sent a shiver through Peter. He had always seen them as something needed in extreme cases for violent people. Neal had faced them as standard procedure in prison without being violent. When he had arrested Neal for that necklace he did not steal, Fowler had called the marshals for the transport. Then he had seen it as a provocative gesture from Fowler, but it was standard procedure.

"You can stay here as long as you need to. There's no one who wishes to drag you away in chains until you're capable of handling it."

"Could you put them on me?" Neal asked. Peter stared. "Please?"

What was it with this guy?

"Why?"

"I'll be having them on for quite a while before I'm back in prison. Believe it or not, but those things aren't very comfortable in the first place. I know you wouldn't pull them tighter than needed."

Peter sighed. Putting him in restraints of that kind was nothing he wanted to do at any time but Neal would be far more uncomfortable than him, no matter who put them on. And it was as close as keeping his promise as he could.

"Alright, I'll talk to them, see what I can do. But it's not my call."

Neal nodded.

They both saw the marshals coming. Four men, one holding the chains. They pinpointed Neal quickly enough and approached. Diana sent him an eye as if to ask what to do. He shook his head.

"I'll talk to them," Peter said. "And tell them to wait until your ready."

"I'm ready." Neal looked far from ready.

"Are you sure?"

"A distraction would suit me fine right now. This will at least be familiar grounds. Yes, Peter, I'm ready." He even sent Peter an assuring smile. "Go ahead."

Peter walked to meet them.

"Agent Burke, FBI," he introduced himself. He still was, even if he was suspended.

"U.S. Marshal Sam North," their leader said. They shook hands. "Does he know?" He nodded in Neal's direction.

"Yes. He'll follow with you without any fuss, but he has one request."

"Which is?" asked North.

"That I pat him down and put those restraints on."

The man's eyebrows went up in surprise.

"I've no problem with that, but you're a civilian at the moment, Agent Burke. I'll have to supervise it."

Peter nodded. He was not going to argue against it.

The marshal followed him back to Neal with a handful of chains in his hand. Neal stood as a composed wreck, leaning against the airplane, exposed and harmless.

"Neal Caffrey, I'm U.S. Marshal Sam North. I'm going to supervise your transport back to Sing Sing. Agent Burke here tells me you want him to restrain you. Is that correct?"

Neal nodded. The marshal explained to Neal why he had to supervise it. Neal nodded again.

"Well then, Mr. Caffrey, I think you know the drill."

The marshal said it gently and gave a safe impression. Yet, Peter saw Neal's shoulders tense as he stepped away from the plane with a blank face. He took off his shoulder-bag and his jacket and held out his arms. The Marshal gave Peter a nod that the kid was all his.

Peter started with Neal's hair, dusty from the explosion. The collar, the sleeves. Since he had no jacket, there were few places to hide anything. Peter did not expect to find anything, but he did it correctly. Neal did not expect him to do anything less.

The marshal handed him the restrains.

Neal continued to hold his arms out until Peter had locked the belly-chain around his waist. The cuffs around the ankles were not uncomfortable in themselves at least. It was the chain that restricted the length of the step that constituted the restraint. Peter rose to lock the final cuffs around his friend's wrists. He knew he was supposed to do this before the legs, but no matter how correct he was with this, it would be unpleasant for Neal.

Neal already stood with his hands in position.

"Want to put your jacket on?" Peter asked. Neal shook his head.

The cuffs were directly linked to the belly-chain which forced the hands and arms in a fixed position which in the long run could become painful. The black box on top of that removed every option to move the hands. Neal did not flinch once. Not even when Peter put that box on top of it all.

Peter remembered when he had cuffed Neal in the interview room for the transport to the detonation center four and a half years ago. Neal had tried not to flinch when the cuffs closed around his wrists. Peter had cuffed him front with ordinary cuffs. More of a psychological restraint. What he put on Neal now was the opposite, and his CI had not moved a muscle in his face. Prison-time had made its mark, and Peter was not sure if that system created better citizens. It felt healthier to flinch than be used to leg-irons and black boxes.

Neal was restrained, and there was nothing more for Peter to do.

"See you, Peter?"

A question? Did he have to ask?

"Any time, kiddo" he assured Neal. "And I'll do my best to get you out as soon as I can, alright."

Neal nodded.

"Ready to go?" the marshal asked. Peter watched Neal's face transform into one of smiles and playfulness. An imitation of his normal state. Neal turned to face the marshal.

"Can't wait" he replied with a grin.

Peter picked up Neal's jacket and searched its pockets. He hung it over his friend's shoulders. It was December and cold outside. Then he stepped aside, and the marshal took over. With a grip around Neal's upper arm, he led him out of the hangar in the pace the chains allowed, followed by the other three.

Like this? Read more at https://archiveofourown.org/users/AltanKatt/works

[fictionaltrvlr]

Neal: Peter, we tried things your way.

Peter: No, we didn't.

Neal: Well, we did in my head and it didn't work.

[penna-nomen]

December 7 - Happy anniversary of the day Peter arrested Neal!

[penna-nomen]

I love this! And I wonder if any of my more gif-oriented White Collar fans have something similar with Peter and Neal side-by-side, crossing the supposed lines between them?

We are on opposite sides!

Crowley and Aziraphale: Crossing that divide

[gonnadosomethingwmylife]

peter burke is so funny bc he’s a completely normal guy except he’s been obsessed with two people to a point of stalking (his wife and the conman he chased for years) but it’s fine bc they’re just as obsessed with him 😭???

[myfairkatiecat]

I believe there are two morals to white collar. 1) if you’re too good of a liar no one will trust you, and 2) if you never trust someone they’ll have no reason to be truthful.

[jackharkness]

| WHITE COLLAR | 2.13 “Countermeasures”

[nowjumpinthewater]

@myfairkatiecat

"I did it for you" has gotta be my favorite form of betrayal. You gave me a gift I never asked for, and now I have to look around at the world you destroyed with the knowledge that it was gift wrapped and addressed to me.

[matt-murdockk]

absolutely diabolical that a fic will have the most beautiful summary ever and have you think that you're going to read some really good fluff or angst and the first content warning is anal fisting

[writeitinsharpie]

Neal: I know a guy who can help us

Peter: you can just say Mozzie. We all know it's Mozzie.

[wasted-and-ready]

Me: "Wow, this White Collar show is so much fun. What a great premise. Love the dynamic between this total square G-man and the smooth-talking conman." White Collar Canon: "We're all having fun here! Lookit the silly way they pulled off this con. Watch the G-man and the conman stretch and bend around each other. What's this? Pandora's box? Okay, we'll take a peek, but then we're on to the next." White Collar Fanfics: "Isn't every human interaction a tiny con? Is the law a just arbiter of morality? Is a good man still good if he does an evil act? Can sinners ever truly be redeemed? What is the nature of addiction? Is loyalty caused by affection or fear? Can love exist without trust?"

Me: "This is the best show ever."

[crimsonbreeze]

#i mean he would have died with kate but isnt that better then peter's#emotional manipulation

White Collar would have ended so much differently if Neal didn't have daddy issues

[thefriendlypigeon]

Hot men in suits and different positions of power, intimately dominating each other in public spaces—where the risk of being caught is always dangerously high? Who would draw such thing! 👀😇 Oh boy, I have so many kinky things planned with these two :3

Patreon

👉COMMISSIONS ARE OPEN👈

[my social media links]

[penna-nomen]

Flufftober Days 7 & 8

For Flufftober I've started a story titled Across the Street in the White Collar fandom. It's a fluffy pre-series AU in which Neal grows up across the street from Peter's family.

The plan is to write a total of 17 chapters, each inspired by one of the Flufftober prompts. I've posted the first 2 chapters, for the prompts Porch Swing and Rainy Day.

Across the Street

@flufftober

[dusty-cobweb]

my favorite dynamic is a wife and husband who love each other very much and their boy toy

[gonnadosomethingwmylife]

I’m obsessed with the fact that Neal goes over to Peter and Elizabeth’s house so often the marshals gave up and just made it a part of his ankle radius 😭?? he gets 2 miles + their house???