This is a sample of a little story I've been working on as part of a request from another site. I hope I'm forgiven for sharing a slightly revised version of it here too. It's a silly little fantasy about Neal and Mozzie 'magically' becoming younger. Many questions will go unanswered for several chapters, so please don't become frustrated.

FAIR WARNING: If I keep this story going, it will eventually contain spanking of little boys who were once men. I won't warn you again.

At the end please review and let me know if I should continue or not. It really does depend on your response.

***I claim no ownership in, around, on, (enter your own preposition here) White Collar***

XOXOXOXO

There were only flashes of memory.

*An empty lot*

*A dark warehouse*

*Something big hitting hard from behind*

*Wrists and ankles bound tightly*

*The flash of a full syringe in the dim light*

*Peter carrying him?*

Neal slowly came awake through the thick fog. He was in a huge bed. Something was beeping annoyingly above him. "Peter?" His voice sounded strange.

Comfortingly, the older man was right beside him, "You're okay, buddy. Can you open your eyes for me?" He gently brushed his fingertips across Neal's forehead pushing a stray hair out of the way.

Neal tried to focus on Peter's face. "Wh-what's going on?" He cleared his throat trying to make his voice sound normal again.

"Listen to me, kid. Something's happened, but you're going to be fine."

"Mozzie? Is he . . .?"

"He's right here, next to you. He'll be fine too." Peter moved aside to let Neal see his friend.

All he saw though was a little kid sleeping in the bed beside him. He scanned the room looking for Mozzie, his confused eyes finally returning to Peter's.

Wiping a hand over his face, Peter said, "I don't know how to tell you this, but you're, umm, well . . . here." He held up the mirror he had requested from the nursing staff knowing Neal and Mozzie would never believe what had happened to them without seeing it for themselves.

Neal's jaw dropped. For once in his life he had no idea what to say. After inspecting his face and as much of his body as he could see in the mirror, he pulled back the blankets and gazed down at his diminutive limbs. He turned his disbelieving gawk on Peter who simply gazed back. Slowly, he turned to stare at the kid in the next bed, "Mozzie?" He asked Peter.

The older man simply nodded his head.

XOXOXOXO

Peter patiently went through the same exercise with Mozzie when he awoke. When the nurses came to wheel the boys away for medical and psychological tests, Mozzie was not pleased.

"What? I don't think so! I did not give my consent for this!" To the adults in the room, the adult-sounding words coming out of this little boy's mouth seemed very odd.

Sternly, Peter said, "Mischa!" He smiled with satisfaction at the immediate reaction. Mozzie froze and turned wide, stunned eyes up to him. "That's right. I know your real name young man, and I expect you to behave for the doctors and nurses while you are here. Am I understood?"

Shaken by Peter's surprise attack, he simply nodded his assent. The nurses quickly escorted the subdued little boy away.

It was the large, sad eyes and quivering lower lip of the other little boy that made Peter stop in his tracks. Neal didn't say anything or complain, but it was clear he was terrified. Kneeling down in front of the tiny wheelchair, Peter asked, "What's the matter, buddy?"

Sniffling, he answered, "I'm sc-scared. Will you come with me?"

Gently, Peter asked, "What are you scared of?"

Neal opened his mouth to answer, but snapped it shut again and looked down at his lap, "Never mind." He was certain Peter would just tell him to cowboy up if he told him the truth.

Peter placed a hand on the boy's cheek, then slipped his fingers under his chin and gently pushed up, "Tell me what's frightening you, kiddo."

Neal sighed, and then admitted, "I don't like needles," and quickly added, "b-but it's okay. I'll be fine, Peter."

Peter considered the boy and his request only a moment before agreeing, "I'll be right beside you the entire time, okay?"

Neal's eyes lit up as he smiled. Peter looked at the nurse and asked, "Do you mind if I drive?" She gracefully stepped aside and allowed him to push the chair.

XOXOXOXO

Though the blood tests had not yet returned from the lab, Peter decided to get the boys out of the hospital. The psychological and initial physical tests indicated that Neal was about 5 and Mozzie about 7. They were both healthy and retained their memories and knowledge, but emotionally they were more likely to react like their new ages. Considering the implications of this, Peter wanted to get them into more familiar surroundings before they started acting up.

Besides, it was getting late and Peter still needed to get a few things cleared up.

The boys found themselves sitting on Peter's living room couch while the older man paced the floor, hands on his hips.

Hovering over the two little boys, Peter demanded, "How exactly did you two get yourselves into this mess?"

Sheepishly, they looked at each other before popping out of their seats and simultaneously launching into an explanation.

"It wasn't our fault!"

"We're the victims!"

"It was just research! Really!"

"We were just trying to help!"

They were cut off by Peter's frustrated, but very familiar, flip of the hand telling them to stop.

The older man gazed down at the two innocent-looking faces. Neal's impossibly engaging eyes in the body of a 5-year-old made Peter want to protect him all the more. Mozzie, at the age of 7, and with a shaggy mop of dark hair, was nearly as disarming. Renewing his resolve to get to the bottom of this, Peter said, "One at a time. Neal, go."

"Well, Peter, we – we – uh – that is, Mozzie and I, umm." He looked up to see Peter roll his eyes. Realizing he was giving away far more uncertainty than he was comfortable with, Neal cleared his throat, stood a little straighter and started again, "Mozzie and I were going to find out about a new process that makes paper that's utterly indistinguishable from the paper used to make dollar bills, but it was a set up."

Flatly, Peter restated, "So, you two were going to learn how to make paper that would enable you to print money."

"Not us," Mozzie quickly interjected, "I-I thought Neal could use the information to help you."

Peter was more skeptical now than ever, "Uh-huh. Sure you did."

Mozzie nervously looked sideways at Neal, and then tried to maintain eye contact with Peter. When he realized 'The Suit' could see right through him, he jammed his hands in his pockets and dropped his eyes to the floor.

Giving his friend a hard look, Neal jumped in to smooth things over, "It doesn't matter why we were going because it wasn't what we thought anyway. Peter, we were ambushed! Why aren't we out there looking for this guy? We need to find a cure!"

"First of all, you two aren't going anywhere looking like that. Second, we're still waiting on the report from the doctor. And third, we don't have any leads yet. Dianna and Jones are collecting any evidence they can find in the warehouse where we found you two. Until I hear from them, we won't be able to do anything more."

Elizabeth walking through the door forestalled any further argument from the boys. Peter had called to fill her in, and though she had been shocked at the time, her motherly instincts kicked in before she had even hung up the phone. She dropped her shopping bags in the foyer and approached the boys, "Look at you two." Kneeling in front of them she simultaneously hugged them both and gave her husband a reproachful look, "Still in hospital scrubs? Peter! Come help me with the bags, boys. I have a few things for you."

Having predicted Peter's inability to consider the boys' basic needs, Elizabeth had gone shopping in a grand fashion. While Peter looked on, she and the boys pulled item after item out of the bags. There were socks, underwear, shoes, all kinds of clothing, pajamas, slippers, a couple of teddy bears and soft cotton sheets.

Mozzie regarded the stuffed animals with distaste. He could hardly believe Elizabeth would buy these. They were adults after all. Neal, however, eagerly hugged his teddy, and then ran to Elizabeth, wrapped his arms around her neck and hugged her tightly, "Thank you, Elizabeth! I love it!" He completely missed Mozzie's eye roll.

It was the last item out of the bag that caught Peter's attention. They were clearly too tiny for the already small guest bed, "What're those for?"

As though this were the most natural thing in the world, Elizabeth answered, "For the beds I ordered." Catching the incredulous look Peter flashed her, she finished in her most exasperated tone, "You don't expect them to sleep together in that tiny bed, do you? Don't worry, Peter. I rented them, and you'll be able to expense them at work anyway." Quickly changing the subject, she turned to the boys, "Are you two hungry?" As they had not eaten since the Change, they were famished. Taking in their energetic nods, Elizabeth ordered, "Okay then, you three take these things up to the guest room. Peter will help you take that old bed apart and out to the garage. The new beds should be here soon. I'll go get dinner started."

Peter knew there was no changing El's mind at this point. They had never had children, and now was her chance to be a mommy. He re-loaded the bags and handed the two smallest to the boys. Leading the way upstairs, he lugged the rest of the bags himself.

Once inside the small guest room, he put the bags to one side, opened a couple of dresser drawers, emptied out the few contents, then turned back to the waiting boys, "Well, start putting your things away. I'll get this bed taken apart."

As soon as Peter's back was turned, the boys looked at each other and shrugged. Peter had no sooner pulled the sheets off when Mozzie crowed, "We're done!"

Incredulous, the older man turned. What he found made him chuckle. Mozzie stood beside the dresser, arms crossed, with an extremely pleased smile on his face. Neal sat on the floor cuddling with his teddy. The dresser drawers were hanging open, spilling over with unfolded clothing. "Good job, boys!" They smiled brightly. "But I don't know how pleased El's going to be with not being able to close the drawers." They looked back at what they had done and quickly lost their smiles. "Why don't you two straighten that up a bit before we show her?"

Mozzie obediently went back to work trying to make it look a bit neater. The last thing he ever wanted to do was to make 'Mrs. Suit' angry with him.

Running the old bed clothes down to the laundry and picking up the tools he would need to disassemble the bed, Peter missed the fact that Neal was still sitting on the floor having a quiet chat with his teddy. As he climbed the stairs back to the top floor he could hear the angry scuffle long before he arrived. Taking the last set of stairs two at a time, he dashed back into the bedroom.

Though physiologically younger, Neal was still comparable in size to Mozzie. They were locked together, rolling around more than hitting or kicking.

Mozzie yelled, "You have to help too!"

"I already did!" Came from Neal.

"No you didn't! I did it all!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Mozzie was on top now pinning Neal beneath him. Peter stepped in just as Neal attempted to bite Mozzie's arm, "That's enough!" He dragged Mozzie off of Neal and set him on the floor. Then, he picked Neal up and brushed both boys off. "What's going on here?" He demanded.

Pointing accusatorily at Neal, Mozzie started, "He's not helping me fix the dresser!"

"Am too!" Neal insisted.

"Nu-uh. All you did was play with that stupid teddy bear." He petulantly kicked the toy into the corner just to prove his point.

Neal erupted, "Stop it!" Before Peter could stop him, he kicked Mozzie in the shin and ran to retrieve his new stuffed friend.

Mozzie's cry started off as a whimper, but as he thought about the unfairness of it all, he started to bawl.

Peter watched this spiral out of control with growing panic. Picking Mozzie up, he sat on the bed, put the boy on his lap and ordered, "Neal. Come here." Waiting for the younger boy to approach, he soothed, "You're okay, Mozzie. Calm down kiddo. Neal! I said, come here now, young man." The little boy was looming just out of Peter's reach tightly hugging the bear to his chest. Peter could see that he felt badly for hurting Mozzie, so he simply helped things along. Drawing Neal in beside him, he asked, "Is there something you want to say to Mozzie?"

Resting his chin on the teddy's head, he sincerely apologized, "I'm sorry I kicked you, Mozz."

Mozzie sniffled and wiped at the tears on his face, but said nothing.

"Anything else, Neal?" Peter prodded.

Tearing his eyes away from the growing welt he'd given his friend, he looked up at Peter. Thinking for a moment, he figured out what Peter was fishing for, "I-I'll help you put the clothes away – if you want."

Mozzie slowly nodded his head, broke into a grin, hopped off Peter's lap, and the two boys went back to work straightening the dresser drawers. Peter shook his head in disbelief. The fight was over just like that, as if nothing had even happened. He wished adults could settle their differences so easily.

XOXOXOXO

Thank you for reading! Please, let me know what you think, and if I should keep it going or not.