Title: I don't know the city (but it isn't home)
Author: emms14
Fandom/Pairing: White Collar, Peter/Neal and Peter/Neal/Elizabeth
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
My mistakes are all my own.

I don't know the city (but it isn't home)

Of two things in the world Neal Caffrey was sure: He would always run. Peter would always catch him.

It was as inevitable as the rise and set of the sun, the change of the tides. There was no way to avoid it. You could pretend and pretend and pretend that it wasn't coming but when it did, it would break everything.

Neal spent the entirety of his youth and early adulthood running. It was almost a relief when Peter caught him. It saved him from having to pick another city. Another name.

Sometimes he gets tired of running, tired of starting fresh. But it's all he knows. It's as much a part of him as conning is. It isn't a phase to be grown out of or a desire to be overcome. Running is as much a part of Neal as chasing is a part of Peter.

After the first few times, Neal is sure. Peter is the only one who will ever catch him. It doesn't matter how far he runs or how hard he tries. Peter will always catch him. It feels right that way. Peter will always bring him home.

As the years continue and the running doesn't stop, Neal wishes Peter would stop chasing. Stop catching. Peter deserves better. He can't spend his life chasing a lost con of a man around the world. Because it will never stop. Neal will never learn to stay and Peter will never learn to stop trying to make him.

Neal can't imagine Peter not catching him. As much as he wants Peter to stop, another part of him prays his wish is never answered.

Peter grounds him. Has since before they met. Knowing an FBI agent was personally chasing him made Neal run less. Cut things closer than ever before. It turned into a game that Neal desperately wanted to lose.

Now he runs less. He even makes a full year in New York before hopping on a plane to Argentina on a rainy Sunday morning. He's gone for three weeks before Peter catches him.

Peter has stopped being angry every time he has to catch Neal. He just gives him the same hard look of disapproval. It makes Neal want to tell him to just stop. Because Peter deserves people who are willing to stay for him and Elizabeth deserves a husband on the right side of the world.

Neal Caffrey knows he's a lost cause. He always has been. As much as he's been reformed and reintroduced into society, there's some parts of him that will never go away. He'll never learn to stay in one place.

The last time Neal runs, he doesn't regret it for a week. But after a week in a cramped apartment in eastern Europe he feels like he's going to explode. The apartment is too crowded. There isn't enough space for life. Not enough space for Peter and Elizabeth and everything they come with. It's so small but it's so empty and Neal suffocates in the darkness.

He spends a week there before deciding that he won't wait for Peter to catch him. He'll come home on his own. He's getting older. They all are. He isn't sure how much longer he can do this. Isn't sure how much longer he wants to do this.

Neal takes a plane home that night under his own name and he's never been more nervous.

It's 4:18 when he arrives at the Burke's home. Neal stands in their driveway just looking at the house for a few minutes before moving. He picks the lock on their front door quickly and let's himself in quietly.

He isn't a quiet enough and he sees Peter emerging from his bedroom as Neal crosses the threshold. The house is silent as the men survey each other.

Peter takes Neal by the bicep and leads him into the bedroom without a word. Elizabeth is curled up under blankets and all that can be seen of her is some dark hair splayed on a pillow. She stirs a little as they enter but doesn't seem to wake.

Peter strips Neal down to his boxers before nudging him towards the bed. Neal just stares, motionless.

After finishing folding Neal's clothes, Peter find that Neal still hasn't moved. He nudges Neal again and this time Neal moves, gently and stiffly laying on the bed. Peter follows him, sandwiching him between the Burkes.

Peter drops a kiss on the foreheads of both Elizabeth and Neal before settling back into the pillows. Neal thinks that maybe he could learn to stop running.