[Ficlet] Keep me Safe with your Love

[aragarna]

Title: Keep me Safe with your Love
Author: aragarna
Characters, pairing: Peter, Elizabeth (canon Peter/El)
Genre, rating: angst and comfort, episode tag, general audience.
word count: ~540
Spoilers: 5x09 No Good Deeds
Summary: tag to episode 5x09, or why Peter was late that morning.
Author's Notes: This was written for veleda_k as part of the Fandom_Stocking. This can be read as a follow-up to Who Will Fix My Broken Heart, or as a stand alone.

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Keep Me Safe with your Love

Peter was standing at the kitchen island, staring at his phone lying still next to his forgotten and cold coffee. When Elizabeth went down and joined him for breakfast, he barely acknowledged her, absentmindedly kissing her back as she greeted him.

“Who was it?” Elizabeth asked, pointing at the phone as she retrieved the bottle of milk from the fridge.

Peter startled and shook himself out of his torpor. “hmm? Dawson. He resigned,” he said in a hollow voice.

“Oh. This is good, right?”

Peter shrugged and remained silent, his gaze lost in the distance. Elizabeth put the milk down on the counter, and wrapping her arms around Peter’s waist, she forced him to turn around and look at her.

“I know how much this solution –“

“Compromise.”

Elizabeth simply nodded, “this compromise costs you.”

“Hon, don’t. Please,” Peter whispered as he buried his face in her hair.

Elizabeth withdrew her head and instead she seized Peter’s into her two hands.

“Peter, listen to me. I know you did this for me. And I am immensely grateful. You’re a good man Peter, and I love you for this. You care and you protect the people you love. But I do want you to know that I realize how much it costs you. I won’t try to convince you you did the right thing. I know that if it was only you, you would have made a different choice, one that would have felt right for you. I know that you still made that choice, for me, and for Neal.” A sad smile brushed Peter’s lips at the mention of his friend’s name and he nodded slowly. “But I want you to know that choosing that compromise, for us, and despite your own believes, is what makes you a good man, Peter. I can’t make the situation right for you. All I can tell you is that I love you. I know it wasn’t an easy decision for you. I know how your conscience is important for you. You sacrificed it for us, and I love you all the more for this.”

Peter sighed. “I know this is what I had to do. Given the situation, it was the right thing to do. But I can’t help feeling, you know, compromised. Dirty.”

Elizabeth put her finger on his lips to stop him. “That guilt you feel, it is enough to tell me you’re still very much the good agent you’ve always been. You’re nothing like a corrupted cop. You didn’t have a choice, Peter. This is not your fault. Don’t undermine your feelings about this. You took the less of two evil, but that decision doesn’t change who you are, here.” She put her hand on his heart. “Deep down, Special Agent Peter Burke.”

Peter took Elizabeth’s hand and put a delicate kiss on the palm.

“Thank you, honey,” he whispered in her ear. “It makes me feel a little better.”

He drew her closer and kissed her, passionately. He slid his hands under her robe, looking for the comfort and love he so desperately needed. Elizabeth reached for his ear.

“Bedroom homeruns?” she whispered.

Peter smiled. “Never heard of that technical term, but it sounds like an interesting move.”

FIN.