out_there | White Collar Rec: Taking Liberties by Astolat

astolat. Go. Read it now.

Seriously.

It's White Collar, set after the s1 finale (ETA: Okay, after 1.07, since I'm not sure if the new episode is part of this season or not), it's Peter/Neal/Elizabeth and it's perfect. And hot.

But mostly perfect.

There's a moment in a new fandom, that first time you read a story that perfectly captures the characters as you see them, that works so well with canon that everything just slots into place inside your head, and you go from thinking that a pairing could be a possibility to knowing that this is how it will (or at least should) work out. And this is it.

This captures all three of them perfectly. It captures how they see themselves and how they see each other, and there are so many wonderful nuances.

I love that it explains Kate, because I never felt her distress and more than that, I never saw *why* Neal felt so strongly for her. It was clear that Neal's head-over-heels for her but I never got *why*. This gives a reason for Peter masterminding her "disappearance" (it's so like him to be devious and sneaky to make sure the right thing gets done) and I love that Peter's motivation, the entire time, would be Neal himself. (And that he wouldn't recognise it as sexual or emotional. Luckily, both Neal and Elizabeth can recognise it as love.)

The three different POVs are deftly handled so everyone feels like themselves. We see how utterly awesome Elizabeth is, accepting and supportive, and how she's confident and knows she's awesome. We get a Neal who's brilliant and passionate, but surprisingly sweet beneath that. And Peter, who manages to be a ~~law-enforcing badass mastermind~~ excellent FBI agent and devoted, deeply-loving husband but still be the guy who doesn't quite understand relationships and the process of falling in love, who thinks ordering surveillance is as appropriate as saying, "Do you have a boyfriend? If not, how about dinner on Friday?"

They're *them*. And this is perfect.