Title: White Collar Chrismtas

Summary: Neal doesn't want to spend the holidays alone. WARNING: story will contain non-sexual discipline of adults in later chapters, if that's not your cup of tea, don't read!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The following story is for fan entertainment only.

A/N-Story takes place sometime before the mid-season finally. I couldn't really work out the exact time line, so for that sake of the story, I'm assuming episode six is sometime after the holiday season.

Chapter One: Dreaming of a White Christmas

Neal Caffrey had never really liked Christmas when he was younger. Too many bad memories and disappointments had left him bitter towards the whole experience. Until he met Kate. She loved it. She made cookies while listening to corny Christmas music and insisted that she and Neal get a real Christmas tree and decorate it with homemade ornaments. After a few years of Christmas Eve's snuggled under blankets with the woman he loved, drinking cheap wine from their treasured Bordeaux bottle and snacking on sugar cookies, Christmas took on a new meaning to Neal. He looked forward to it. And even after he was arrested and put away, Kate would visit him on Christmas Eve. He would press his hand against the glass and feel the warmth of her hand on the other side and he could almost imagine that they were back in their crappy apartment, White Christmas playing softly in the background as they watched the fire flicker and dance. But this year was different. It was the first Christmas since he met Kate that they weren't together and the first Christmas since he met her that he had felt completely alone. At least when he was in prison he had their brief visit to hold onto, yearning for the day that he would hold her in his arms again.

June and her granddaughter had left to spend Christmas with her sister early that morning. Neal had figured he spend his time with Moz continuing their search for Kate, but his friend had been out of town for over a week and was dodging his calls. Neal had a feeling it had something to do with a girl of his own. No Moz and no June and no work meant Neal was alone, and being alone left Neal to loose himself in his own thoughts. He was trying not to think about Kate. Thinking about her and all of the happy times they had during the Christmas holiday was hurting too much. He tried reading and working on some of the less urgent cases he had Peter were assigned, but his mind kept wandering back to Kate. He should be with her right now, not sitting alone in a house that wasn't his in clothes he didn't buy, clutching his Bordeaux bottle, trying to hold onto his happy memories.

He ran his fingers over the fading label of the wine bottle. All he wanted to do was run out the door and find her, but there was no way that was happening, not that night anyway. He was essentially trapped in his two mile radius filled with last minute shoppers and twinkling lights that did noting but remind him of what was missing. He wanted to get away. He pulled out his cell and traced the numbers on screen with his thumb, reassuring himself he didn't have any other options. He took a deep breathe before hitting send. The line rang once, twice. Neal was having second thoughts, but before he could hang up, Peter answered.

"What is it Caffrey?" Peter sounded annoyed by the mere fact that Neal was calling. He and Elizabeth were in the kitchen cooking dinner, or rather Peter was watching her cook dinner.

"Hey, Peter. Merry Christmas" Neal didn't sound like his usual confident self.

"Yeah. You too. What's up?" He had a feeling he wasn't going to like where the conversation was heading.

"Ah, I have a small problem. I need a place to stay" Neal didn't like lying, well, maybe he did, but he felt a twinge of guilt at what he was about to do. Things had been getting better between him and Peter and he didn't want to screw it up, but he didn't want to be alone on Christmas and he didn't think Peter would understand if he was honest and just asked if he could stay with him. Even if Peter was that understanding, Neal didn't think he could bring himself to be that vulnerable. While Peter did know a whole hell of a lot about Neal, he didn't know everything.

"June have a change of heart?" Peter almost sounded amused, but his mind was already reeling, trying to stay one step ahead of Neal. He couldn't help himself, it was habit.

"She had some family visiting that aren't comfortable with me being there. She tried to tell them they had no say in the matter, but I told her a could leave for a few days. She's already done enough for me. She should be with her family. I didn't want to interfere" Neal said, hoping his self sacrificing story would convince Peter to invite him over.

"So you'll be going back to that nice hotel then?" Peter asked, knowing full well that was the last place Neal would want to be. He wondered what Neal was playing at.

"I thought maybe I could stay at a friend's place, it's on the other side of town, but--"

"No, Neal. It's too late to make arrangements. The hotel will have to do" Peter said. He did feel a little bad that Neal was going to be stuck at the hotel, but Neal couldn't always get what he wanted. Maybe it would be good for him to not live above his means for once.

"Peter, it's only five miles away, and that hotel is really shady. Can't you just make a few phone calls?" Neal asked. He knew it was more complicated than that, but he had to make Peter feel somewhat guilty.

"Neal" Peter sighed, "My hands are tied. Anyone who isn't working on a hot case is at home with their families. They can't spare people to approve a new location tonight. A few nights in a bad hotel isn't going to kill you. You spent almost four years in prison. Cowboy up" Neal really hated when Peter told him to 'cowboy up'. He had a sinking feeling that he was going to be alone after all.

El cast her husband a disapproving look before snatching the phone away. She had heard enough of the conversation to know the jist of what was going on.

"Neal?" She said brightly, "do you need a place to stay?" Peter was shaking his head and waving his hands.

"Oh, hi Elizabeth. June has some family over that don't really approve of my track record. I was going to ask Peter if I could crash at a friends place, he's out of town. It's outside my radius and I was just wondering if maybe Peter could give me the okay, but I don't want to be any trouble. I'll just go to the hotel." Neal didn't like lying to Elizabeth, but he wasn't meaning any harm. He just didn't want to be alone.

"You're not spending Christmas alone" Elizabeth insisted, a frown settling on her features at the thought of Neal alone in that dark, rundown hotel. She cast her husband a glare.

"No, really it's fine. Merry Christmas, Elizabeth"

"Hold on one second Neal" Elizabeth held the phone to her chest, but Neal could hear their muffled voices.

"El, he can stay at the hotel he supposed to be staying at in the first place. I'm not going to call my people and disrupt their holiday because Neal wants to live in luxury" Peter said, knowing that if Neal was going to be staying somewhere new there would be phone calls to make, locations to check, and a whole bunch more security protocols to go through before Neal would have the OK. Plus he had no desire to call his boss on Christmas eve.

"Peter, it's Christmas. You can't make him stay at the nasty hotel all by himself. We have plenty of room"

"So I'm supposed to let him ruin my holiday instead?" Peter frowned.

"It's not like we had any big plans anyway"

"Well what little plans we do have don't include Neal" Peter had learned long ago to take advantage of holidays that he didn't have to work. Being a federal agent meant sacrificing nights, weekends, and major holidays. It had been five years since he last spent the entire holiday with his wife, a few of those missed occasions had been Neal's fault when he was still on the run. Peter spent countless nights chasing him, trying to ignore the Christmas music on the radio and the lights sparkling on the trees. He finally had Christmas to himself and he wasn't going to let Neal ruin it again.

"He's not staying in that hotel by himself on Christmas" Elizabeth said with a look that Peter couldn't ignore, and Peter knew the argument was over. El had a big heart and a soft spot for Caffrey. Neal might as well have been a lost puppy out in the cold, and Peter didn't want to be the heartless bastard that ignored it's cries.

"Fine, but consider this your Christmas gift" Peter said, motioning for the phone. El handed over the phone and pecked him on the cheek.

"Be here in an hour" Peter growled into his cell, "And you better behave yourself" Peter knew it wasn't necessary to add the last part, but he had to vent a little. He hadn't planned on spending his holiday with a con.

"Will do" Neal said, trying to hide his smile, even though there was no one there to see it, "So what's for dinner?"

Peter huffed and ended the call, leaving Neal beaming at the other end. It was going to be an interesting few days.