Summary: "It had to be done. For El, for Peter, for the people that he loved." El is sick, and Neal does the only thing he can to make her feel better.

Rated: T

Prompt: "It had to be done."

It had to be done.

For El, for Peter, for the people that he loved more than anything on this Earth.

El was sick. It wasn't too severe; she would get better with treatment and time. But that didn't mean it wasn't hard for her. She was still trying to run her catering business despite how sick she had gotten since starting her treatment; it was her passion, her dream, and she wasn't ready to give that up. But it was becoming harder and harder for her.

Mozzie and Neal helping out as much as they could, picking up the things she needed, keeping an eye out on her suspicious clients, etc. Peter stayed less and less at the office, choosing instead to spend more time with El, and took over most of Satchmo's care, though there were many days he would come home and find El curled up on the couch with Satchmo between her legs. The dog stayed closer to her now than ever before.

Even Sara helped out where she could. If she wasn't helping El with the catering business or at work, she could sometimes be found in the Burke's home, sitting next to El and chatting about small, laughable, ridiculous things.

Neal still felt useless, though. He gave Peter a shoulder when he needed it, a hug when his head was hanging much too low, but he felt like he wasn't doing enough.

El became self-conscious when she started losing her hair. She knew it would happen eventually, but she wouldn't let herself think about it. She spent a good amount of time telling herself she wasn't as sick as the doctors made her out to be. The loss of her hair seemed to remind her exactly what was wrong with her, and it wasn't an easy realization.

She would be fine, in time. But she wasn't fine right now.

It was that knowledge that made Neal jump up from his chair two hours before he was supposed to have dinner with the Burkes on a Friday night, the same knowledge that had him digging through his bathroom supplies for a pair of clippers and a few others things. He didn't even think about it; he just did it.

Mozzie smiled the entire time, a soft smile, and a proud glint in his eyes. Afterward, he handed Neal his hat and the two left for their dinner night.

Peter froze when Neal took off his hat, revealing his bald head. After all, Neal had always had beautiful hair and had been quite fond of it. After the shock wore off, the younger man received a bear hug from his partner.

Neal got six hugs from El that night and a big, bright smile that he hadn't seen in weeks. She would be okay in time, but for now he was going to do everything in his power to support her.

I actually intended this to be very dark and depressing, but then I though "there's enough depressing White Collar fiction out there already!" so I changed it a bit and made it less sad. Please review!