White Collar: At Heart

"Neal? Where the hell are you?"

'Look down.'

With his gun raised and on high alert for a threat Peter didn't really have time to be keeping track of Neal at the moment. Flicking his eyes down the only thing that caught his eye was a bright red ladybug that was clinging to the lapel of his jacket. Forgetting his situation for a moment Peter glared at the tiny bug in disbelief until it waved one of its tiny black legs at him.

"Damn it, Neal, can't you shift into something a *little* more useful?!"

'No, this is good.' Neal's voice rang in Peter's head with a touch of an echo. 'I am much less likely to get shot like this, not to mention I've got a great view from here. Don't worry, ladybugs are good luck. You'll be fine.'

"You're going to get yourself crushed." Peter pointed out.

'I didn't think of that.' The bug vanished, replaced by an emerald green lizard that raced up Peter's lapel. Jumping off Peter's shoulder Neal took flight as a Red-tailed Hawk. 'I'll take a look around, see if they are out here.'

"Don't go too far." Peter warned.

'I know.'

Deep out in the woods Peter kept his eye sharp as well even if he couldn't match the vision of Neal's hawk form. They had followed a desperate lead out here, but although the dilapidated cabin they'd found had recent signs of human habitation it was abandoned now. The men they were after were dangerous but due to the unusual nature of the case and Neal's new 'condition' Peter hadn't dared ask for back up. He was already fairly certain that he was insane, he didn't want anyone else confirming that for him.

Neal flew in a tight circle above the trees a few times before returning to the ground. Flying was easy, landing not so much, so rather than crash into the leaf litter in a pile of feathers Neal shifted at the last minute into the form he favored the most: a tuxedo colored house cat. Naturally landing on his feet Neal quickly switched into a white tail deer that any hunter would be proud to shoot and hang on the wall. The buck looked a little odd with Neal's bright blue eye color, something that never changed no matter what form he took. Flaring his nostrils he sniffed at the pine scented air.

'They're gone, Peter, the only one I smell around here is you.' Neal assured before he rubbed his antlers against a near by tree.

"Neal, what are you doing?"

'Sorry, instinct.' Neal stopped ruining the tree bark. 'You know, I can smell you in any form. You've got this whole gun powder mixed with Old Spice thing going on. Very manly.'

"Thanks." Peter said dryly. "You're sure they are gone?"

'I'm sure, deer are surprisingly good at smelling humans. Sorry, Peter, I thought we'd tracked them this time. They were here, but the high tailed out.'

"We'll get them." Peter assured as he holstered his weapon. "Let's just back to the car before it gets dark."

'The dark isn't a problem for me any more.' Neal said as he shrank back down into the black and white cat.

"It's still a problem for me."

'Right.' Holding his tail up high Neal started trotting back the way they'd come.

"You are not getting into my car like that." Peter warned as he followed after Neal. "The last time you sprayed."

'That wasn't my fault.'

"Maybe if I got you fixed…" Peter mused.

'Don't even think about it.' Neal hissed. 'I'm not broken, there will be no 'fixing'.'

"I still don't want you shedding fur all over my car."

'Fine.' Neal hissed again only as a serpent this time. 'How's thisssss?'

"No, no snakes."

'You're so hard to please.' Neal shook off the snake and ruffled his feathers as a small sparrow and flew up to land on Peter's shoulder. 'No scales, no fur. Happy?'

"Just don't make a mess on me."

'It is tempting.' Neal chirped.

Shaking his head Peter resisted the urge to reach up and wring Neal's tiny bird neck. Neal would probably just morph into a bear or something if he did anyway and that could quickly end badly. Between the spraying and now the antler rubbing Peter was starting to become more concerned about Neal's animal instincts. The animal behavior hadn't shown up at first, but the longer Neal stayed in any form the more like that creature he became. Neal had been avoiding any large predator shapes in fear that his first instinct might be to use his teeth and claws on Peter. As Peter walked back towards the car Neal caught himself starting to preen so he changed into a rat so that he could still easily ride on Peter's shoulder. Returning to the road Peter stared at the empty spot where his car should be.

"Where's my car?" Peter asked even though he knew the answer already.

Neal jumped down off Peter's shoulder and landed as a Bloodhound so he could sniff at the gravel where they had left the car. After a quick inspection Neal shifted into a German Pointer and pulled up one paw, straightened his tail, and stretched his neck out to point down the road with his nose.

'They went that way.'

"Thanks, Cujo, that's real helpful." Peter sighed sarcastically.

Neal shifted into a Saint Bernard and bared his teeth at Peter briefly. Unimpressed Peter reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to call for a ride home. Slinking back into the black and white cat form Neal circled behind Peter. Peter tried several times, but he couldn't get any calls to go through. Cursing at the low reception on his phone Peter froze as he suddenly felt a rush of hot air on his neck just before Neal shoved his shoulder. Closing his eyes Peter refrained from a frustrated sigh as Neal nickered at him.

"No." Peter said firmly. "Absolutely not."

'Come on, Peter, it will be fun.' Neal stamped his hooves. 'I know you know how to ride.'

"I know how to ride a horse, I'm not riding you."

'What?' Neal chuckled. 'You don't trust me enough to 'bare back'? I don't just let anyone ride me.'

"I can't even pretend I didn't hear that. You know the worst part about this is having your voice directly in my head," Peter said with a sour glare "I can't escape."

'The worst part about this is I can't be human again until we close this case and get those crazy gypsies or whatever they were their necklace back. So let's go. Giddy up!'

"I'm not riding you." Peter repeated.

'Fine.' Neal huffed with a snort before flicking into a magpie. 'I'll fly home, you can walk.'

"Neal, we both know you can't go more than two hundred yards from me."

'I hate my new radius.' Neal complained.

Neal turned around in mid air and started to fly back towards Peter when he suddenly fell from the sky and hit the ground as a heap of red fox. Having been a good eight feet up when he changed it took him a moment to get back to his paws. He shook his head to clear it but he still looked a little dazed.

"Why did you change like that?"

'I didn't…it just happened. I don't know why a fo…'

"Neal?"

Neal had frozen in mid sentence. His black ears twitched as he bunched up his muscles and sprang muzzle first into the leaf litter on the side of the road. Peter stared in horror as Neal lifted his head and turned back to reveal that he'd just killed a mouse. Tasting the blood Neal dropped the dead prey in horror. He scrambled back away from it as he briefly turned into a fluffy white rabbit. Reverting back into the tuxedo cat Neal had his hackles up as he stared at Peter with his blue eye wide in terror.

'Peter…' Neal mewled 'it's getting worse.'

"It's going to be okay, Neal. Just try to remember that you're still human at heart."

'...but for how long?'