Your portrayal of NeL, of Peter, even of June and Mozzie and Hughes and Diana and El, all of it was so absolutely perfect. You’ve hit the core of each character perfectly, the trauma, the angst, everything they all feel, and yet you haven’t made it too emotional!

The banter between Neal and Peter, the little references to episodes, the not-so-little references too... I loved that, too. Neal referencing Frank Abagnale, his apparent distaste of being so unoriginal as to use one of his cons, that was brilliant. Very in-character for him, even in this dark place he’s in.

I also enjoyed the fact that you didn’t make this at all rushed. Neal isn’t healed, he maybe never will be- as Peter thinks, he may never be anything except Neal Before and Neal after, no matter how much he changes in other ways.

Once again, a thoroughly enjoyable story- and you may be sure that I was very pleasantly surprised to see that you’ve written White Collar as well as Avengers.

This is very good. The characters are excellent. Neal is particularly well defined based on what we know of him during a period of time the series didn't detail. Peter was accurate also, slow to change, slow to consider Neal's true emotion, slow to accept his role in using Neal as a tool of the FBI. Reviewers called Peter hypocritical and I don't disagree, but I see him more as dishonest with himself. He considered Neal a friend while patting himself on the back for having a criminal as a friend.

I could have cried when Peter went to the prison on Tuesday and June explained the significance of Neal's pain.

Thanks for writing, and thank you for the notes too.

Hurray for June !
She told Peter exactly what I thought someone should have told him. June and Mozzie are Neal's real friend, not Peter. And you're absolutely right : the way he dealt with Kate's situation was shocking and was one of the causes of the final disaster. But the following seasons had shown that Peter wasn't a real friend to Neal. he's rather obsessed with him. He wants him under his thumb, at any cost, and wrecks any attempt from him to find a like of his own. He has a controlling and demeaning behavior with him, even in S1, and he's always meddling with his date : Sara is good influence, Alex is not…
I think he was somehow jealous of Kate, that's why he wanted to believe that she wasn't on Neal's side. Peter's hypocritical side was perfectly shown later as well when he called Neal to tell him that he "deserved to be happy" whereas he was investigating him with Kramer, who'd never have allowed to protect Neal instead of locking him up if they could have incriminated him.
And above all, that hypocritical side appeared when he didn't tell Neal that he had led Collins to the island with his blunder with the map, thus appearing as the selfless savior. And again, when he accepted the positive consequences for him of Neal's illegal actions in S5 but told him that he hadn't done it for him, but because he was a criminal and couldn't help himself. He told this to a "friend" who had once said him how important for him it was to discover the truth about his father in order to know who he was himself, and has just found out that James was a murderer.
Peter has the insight and empathy of a teaspoon. He has an inflated ego and his obsession with Neal is just creepy.
I like very much all your fics. Too bad you don't seem to write anymore. Please make us another story.

I enjoyed this lots. It was a great explanation for the missing time.

June's tirade was exactly on point. Peter has been, is, and probably always will be, a consummate hypocrite. Your writing is superb!

This was absolutely perfect and expressed a lot of the things I felt over the Kate situation.

Frankly, I still don't know what to think about Kate. She might have been a great person genuinely in love with Neal (as written by florastuart's stories), or she might have been just an average girl getting mixed up in something far bigger than her, or she might have been conning Neal for her own goals (I don't really believe that, but the show hasn't given us much to go on). But the point is, as you said, for Neal, she was the one, and I really, really wish that Peter would acknowledge that at least once on the show, beyond the usual "Neal does stupid things for Kate". When Elizabeth was kidnapped in Countdown, it was horrible and I really wanted her to be safe, but although I completely understood Peter's fear and rage, there was this tiny part of me that just whispered: "and how does that feel now, huh?"

Anyway, amazing story, and I'm truly looking forward to read more from you :)

This was a very good story and a good handling of the missing scenes between the seasons. Also, I felt that June's tirade was appropriate, because sometimes Peter is clueless and someone needed to make him see the importance of Tuesday. I am looking forward to more stories!

That was amazing. I loved your take on it to fill this missing months that the show didn't tackle. I remember reading or viewing an interview that said that the writers/producers didn't want to show Neal grieving and skipped 2 months because they wanted to keep the atmosphere light, as in season 1. So of course, we were left with quite a gap and a character that, for my taste, recovered way too easily.
Your story really fit the characters and what could have happened (maybe except for June, but I liked what you did with her character). Anyway, all that just to say that I really enjoyed, and congratulations and thank you :)

Wow! This is great work! You gotta love June! She's, like Neal or Mozzie, one of a kind. And yes, they left a lot off between the seasons. Not only between S1 and S2, but also S2 and S3. And you said it right, Peter sometimes has a different view on Neal's actions (in general, not only for Kate) than on his own. Anyway, love this oneshot, hope we get to see more from you. Keep going!

Peace out, Huntress

That was great and I agree with you (and June) about Peter completely. Don't get me wrong, I think he loves Neal a lot (in a platonic way, I mean), but I also think he can be an hypocrite sometimes. If he had believed Neal when Neal told him Kate was in danger, if he had helped him to save her, Kate would probably be still alive. And when Peter or Elizabeth are in danger, it's all "Neal, do what you have to do"; but later it's "Neal, you're a criminal".

Your Neal was awesome. I loved that you wrote about that hint of darkness inside him, because while I think he's got a heart of gold, I've never seen him as a harmless kid who only needs a hug. Like he says, the fact that he doesn't like guns doesn't mean he doesn't know how to use them. Loved the line about grace turning into power.

And I agree with you about Kate. I didn't like the character just because the actress was awful, imo, but Neal loved her with all his heart and I think that her death changed him too. I see a difference between Neal Before and Neal After. It's subtle, but it's there.

That was great, I really enjoyed it!

I really love your stories. Unlike many you have Neal pegged correctly. He is not submissive just polite and brilliant. I like this portrayal and I think your dialog between June and Peter was fine. Peter does not respect Neal's emotions and thinks it is fine if Neal loses his girlfriend but not if he loses his. He is very hypocritical. Neal got screwed by Fowler and the FBI.

Wow, this is without a doubt, by far, the best post explosion story I've read. And I've read a lot of them!

this is so brilliant, so gut wrenching and driving up my nostalgia for white collar season 1, when things were simple and happy and the end of the show wasnt anywhere near ;(
I dont believe it applies to the realityy of the show but nonetheless its a striking presentation of what he may have gone through in that post traumatic state of mind.
Cheers and please write more for white collar!

I was cheering June on shee made Peter feel 3 feet tall

Wow. Just - wow. I loved this story. I've also wondered about those two months, and this really works. I don't think you went overboard at all with June's tirade. I've always seen her as fiercely protective of Neal, so this would not surprise me at all. I love how Diana swapped the music box, her updates on Neal's doings in prison, and especially that it was Neal who brought the Architect to the attention of the FBI.

Thanks so much for posting this.