I Need Your Help
A White Collar drabble
by mew-tsubaki
Note: The White Collar cast doesn't belong to me. Even though I wish Neal did… T-T Well, read, review, and enjoy!
- ^-^3
Mozzie was sitting outside a tiny café, having coffee, when his cellphone rang. He answered it, knowing who it was without even needing to glance at the caller ID.
"Hey, Moz—"
"Neal, stop right there. I am not taking any requests today. I've set a little me-time aside for once—"
"Mozzie, I need your help."
Mozzie internally groaned. He removed his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose, and replaced his glasses. "Neal… Do you even know how many times you've said that to me?"
He could hear shuffling around on Neal's end. "I have an idea, but I'm sure you're willing to give me a hard number."
"Not today, my friend. But I take it that the Suit is in trouble, yet again?"
"See? You know me so well, Mozzie. So please, just listen. Peter—"
"Before I commit to any kind of listening, may I point something out to you, Neal?"
The other end of the line went quite. "All right. Shoot," Neal slowly agreed.
"When I asked you if you knew how many times you had requested my help, I was only beginning to point something out. You see, you rarely ask me to help you."
"What? I ask all the time—too much, in fact—"
"No, Neal, you don't need my help. You want Peter to have my help."
"Well, yeah, Moz…"
Mozzie sipped his coffee. "Therefore, you do not need my help. The Suit needs my help."
"Mozzie, quit playing around. So my syntax is a little funny…"
"And your context is way off." Mozzie searched for the right words. "Neal, you're a man who doesn't want to see his loved ones get hurt. You worry about me, you worry about Sarah, you worry about June and her granddaughter, you worry about Mrs. Suit and Satchmo—"
"I get it, I worry about everyone. But now's not a good time to be pointing out how big a worrywart I can be, Moz."
"My point is that you don't just worry about the Suit. When Peter's in trouble, you drop everything and try to rush to his side. When Peter's in trouble, you panic and go crazy. When Peter's in trouble and it's because of you, the person you hate the most in those moments is yourself, because it's in those times that you wish you had run away from him again. That way, he might stay safe."
"What's your real point, Moz?" Neal asked, and it sounded as though he was talking through gritted teeth. Ah, he was irritated. Maybe Mozzie had found the right words after all.
"My point, Neal, is that you cease to be the world's greatest conman, Neal Caffrey," Mozzie said quietly into the receiver, "when the average FBI agent Peter Burke gets into even a fender-bender."
"What, are you saying I care too much?"
Mozzie smiled. "I'm just saying that you need to figure out why. It's as plain to me as the sky is blue as to why."
Another silent moment. "So you're going to turn this into another one of your puzzles, Moz?"
"You're a smart man, Neal. You'll figure it out."
An even longer pause. "You know, I still need your help. Peter's walking right into a trap and I want—we should help him."
Mozzie rolled his eyes; this was like trying to get Satchmo to do a trick! "Of course, Neal. Give me an address and I should see you in twenty."
- ^-^3
XD Not bad for my 1st WC fic! :333 I'm pretty proud of it… I've been a fan of the show from the beginning, I just delayed writing for it for no reason, really. But seeing the previews for season 4 really pushed home this idea that's been bugging me—Neal really does call Mozzie and ask for help whenever he's worried about Peter, doesn't he?
Here's to hoping for more WC fics from me. Thanks for reading and please review!
-mew-tsubaki :]