Title: Teachings of the Father
Fandom: White Collar
Character: Neal
Rating: PG
Length: 300
Summary: Neal angsts about his dad.  Prepared for the fan_flashworks 'Teaching' challenge and for the whitecollar100 'Rough' challenge.



Peter's dad taught him to throw ball. Mr. Jeffries taught Mozzie the value of knowledge. Neal had no one. He learned to play pool on his way back from school.

For years Neal had ached for a father to teach him. His mother had provided him with a heroic example of a dad, and he would spend hours trying to live up to it. Even as he hustled the streets, he knew conning wasn't his destiny. It was just a necessity of the moment. Because his dad might not be there by Neal's side, but his example was always a shining beacon in the dark. Neal would be that heroic cop, just like his dad.

And then he'd learned his life had been a lie, his father a crook. Even his name wasn't his own. Everything suddenly made sense. His father didn't need to be there to teach him - every strand of DNA within him carried the teachings of his father, of who he was to become. The thrill of the con, that was his father's legacy. He was just like his dad, after all.

Now, many years later, his dreams had come true. His father was here, imparting his wisdom. And now he'd gotten his fill of fatherly teachings: he learned who his real friends were, who would stick up for him no matter how bad things go. He learned that he could be conned just like anybody else. He learned he'd been so busy wishing for a father to show him the way, he hadn't realized he already had one. He learned who he really wanted to be like. And he learned who he really was: A coward; who let a murderer walk out the door, knowing full well it would spell jail for Peter.