Title: saunter vaguely downwards

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: AUish

Pairings: implied Peter/Neal

Rating: PG

Wordcount:390

Point of view: third

Prompt: Peter/Neal, 7 Sins

Notes: the seven sins in italics are "six things the Lord hateth, and the seventh His soul detesteth."

A proud look

Neal always dresses like he's going to a high-society party, and he always acts like someone is watching and judging, and Peter wants to look away, but never quite manages it.

A lying tongue

Almost every word out of Neal's mouth is a lie, or a half-truth, or the truth nestled in a lie. Peter knows that. He tries to forget that he's already started twisting the truth to keep Neal safe and out of prison.

Hands that shed innocent blood

Neal doesn't talk about his life before he named himself Neal Caffrey. Neal Caffrey has records dating back to his birth, but Peter knows those are fabricated. He's managed to trace Neal back to his high-school, but there's only vague rumors before that. (His name was Jacob Connors back then, but Peter has never let Neal know he figured it out. And he never mentions the grave he's visited or the police report about the guy who'd skipped his parole and wound up dead far from any town.)

A heart that devises wicked plots

Neal only ever targeted people who deserved it, but he broke the law. That makes him a criminal. And Peter catches criminals. He can't just let them go because he might sometimes agree with them.

Feet that are swift to run into mischief

Neal really should mind his own business, but he keeps butting in where he's neither needed nor wanted. And then he ends up in trouble or danger and needs Peter to save him. Peter's shot at more people in the months since Neal joined than he had in all the years before Neal.

A deceitful witness that uttereth lies

Neal's a liar. Case closed. He fabricates things and he twists things and even when Peter knows something's a lie, he still wants to believe because Neal is just that goddamned good.

Him that soweth discord among brethren

The office is divided over Neal, and then there's the Fowler thing and Hughes questioning every decision since Peter walked out of that prison and called him to request Caffrey's release. And Peter knows that the day they send Neal back, he'll leave, too. Neal's already proven how easy it is for him to escape, and Peter (and Elizabeth) will help him, if they think it's the right thing.

And it probably will be.