Peter loved this time of year, he liked the cold weather, and he liked the snow, and he liked the lights and the trees and the hot chocolate. It meant time off, time with El, time they spent wrapped up in each other in a way they didn't normally get to during the rest of the year. He loved the way she pressed her cold feet against him at night and tucked herself in even closer at his side while they slept, and the way she always kept herself close when they went out together.
It was his favorite time of year for many reasons, all of which seemed to be missing this year.
He went out with the others, mostly to keep an eye on Neal. God only knew the kind of trouble he could get himself into if given half a chance. Neal had been on his best behavior since they'd arrived (perhaps the threat of Guantanamo had helped with that), but they were still working on their own trust issues here after everything they'd been through.
He never did much of this tourist stuff, after all New York was his city. He saw the tree and all of this every year because it was hard not to, but he didn't take field trips to go ice skating. He stayed on the sidelines; he was too old to be trying to balance himself on a pair of skates - he hadn't been skating in years - and just watched the others, mostly Neal admittedly, but if they were stuck here he wanted to get an idea of the others as well.