Title: And It Was Evening, And It Was Morning
Characters: Neal & Peter
Rating: PG
Length: 400
Summary: Neal gets an unexpected midnight guest
Notes: Prepared for the
fan_flashworks "Midnight" challenge. Originally
posted here.
Despite the lateness of the hour, Neal couldn't fall asleep. Tomorrow was the day he'd been waiting for all these years - the past few years working with Peter, but also before that, his days in prison, his days on the run. Tomorrow he would finally be free. His deal with the FBI would be officially over. No more anklet, no more being Peter's CI.
The agents planned a little party, Peter would say a little speech, and he would finally be free to go whever he wished, do whatever he wanted.
And so Neal stood by the patio railing, looking out towards the city lights and wondering what he was going to do tomorrow. Mozzie had plans, of course. But
Neal found that he didn't really want to jump straight back into the life. He had a chance to do things right for once and he didn't want to mess it up.
A knock on the door startled his reverie.
Neal glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a minute to midnight. Who could it possibly be at this late hour? As it wasn't Mozzie's metered knock, he assumed it was June.
But when he opened the door, he discovered Peter on the other side. "Peter."
"Hey." Peter looked about hesitantly. "I hope I didn't get you out of bed."
"Oh, no, no." They both stood there for a short minute, until Neal realized Peter wasn't going to say anything else. "Would you like to come in?"
Peter shook his head. "Um, no. I just... tomorrow's the big day."
"It is." Neal wasn't sure where Peter was going with this. Unless.... "Is everything okay? Did the DOJ-"
"No, no," Peter hurried to calm Neal down. How many times had Neal thought that this was it, only to be told that the DOJ or the FBI had changed their minds? "I mean, yeah. Everything's fine. I just..." Peter cleared his throat. "Well, tomorrow starts now."
"It does?"
Peter glanced at his watch. "Well, in fifteen seconds. But anyway, I came by to bring you this." He fished a key out of his pocket and handed it to Neal.
Neal hesitated for a second before he reached over to take it. "I-" he paused, unsure what to say. "Thank you."
Peter grinned at him. It wasn't every day that he got to see Neal Caffrey speechless. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Great." Peter let a few more seconds tick by. "So, uh, goodnight, Neal."
"Goodnight, Peter."
And so at the stroke of midnight, Neal was finally a free man.