Author's Notes~

Whew! I managed to get this up just in time. ^^' I typed this up this morning and I hope you guys get some enjoyment out of it! Happy Halloween everybody!

Haunted Peter

The place was quiet, his coffee was hot, he had his newspaper and the crossword hadn't been done. This morning was peaceful…and just perfect. And most of all, there was no Neal-

"Mornin' Peter!" a cheerful voice interrupted his thoughts.

Never mind.

Peter looked up from his paper, setting his coffee mug aside and raised his eyebrows at Neal, "You had my hopes up for a peaceful morning-" The FBI agent then cut himself off, staring blankly at Neal for a second, "Neal…" he began, "Why do you have long blonde hair?"

Coming from under the conman's fedora were long strands of blonde hair. Neal smiled and briskly took his fedora off, "Oh, this?" he said, running his hand once through the blonde wig, "I've been trying different costumes. Thought a Hannah Montana wig wouldn't hurt to try on,"

"Take it off," Peter told him gruffly, taking another sip of his coffee after a shake of his head.

"You're right," Neal replied, taking off the wig and throwing on the desk, "I'd be better off being someone more legendary like Michael Jackson."

Peter rolled his eyes in annoyance as the wig landed on his newspaper before looking up at Neal, "What do you want, Neal?"

"Come on, Peter! It's Halloween!" Neal smiled broadly, "You're sitting here doing absolutely nothing; why not get into the Halloween spirit?"

"I will," Peter promised, sliding the wig off his paper, "Tonight when I give candy out to trick-or-treaters."

"You mean when Elizabeth gives candy out to trick-or-treaters while you sneak in a kit-kat while watching the game," Neal corrected with a sly, knowing grin.

"Oh?" Peter leaned back in his chair, tossing the wig into Neal's hands, "Well what did you have in mind to 'get into the spirit'?"

"Alright," Neal rubbed his hands together, "You ready for this Peter?"

"Wait," Peter shifted himself slightly in the chair, tossing his feet up on the desk and leaning back again, "Alright, I'm ready. Amaze me."

"We…go…to….a haunted house!" Neal announced.

"No." Peter said as quickly as Neal had finished.

"Hey, if you're afraid-"

"No Neal, I'm not afraid!" Peter snapped defensively, though it didn't wipe the smirk off Neal's face, "I just don't want to waste my evening with ghosts and goblins popping out at me."

"It's for a charity, Peter," Neal protested, "Don't you want to be a good person?"

"First of all," Peter sat up, his feet back on the floor, "If it's for charity that means I have to pay. Second, I lock criminals – like you – up for a living. I think I'm covered to go to Heaven."

"Sorry Peter, you kind of have to go," Neal said with a small shrug.

"And why is that?" demanded Peter.

"I already told them you'd go. An FBI agent at their haunted house, they were so excited." Neal smiled.

Peter gapped at Neal for a small moment before questioning, "Who is 'them'?"

"The orphanage."

"The orphanage…." Peter placed his head in his hands, "Damn it, Neal…Now it's like I can't say no."

"Awesome," Neal said cheerfully, "I'll see you tonight then," he said, placing the wig on his fedora as he turned and left the office.

A little boy ran out crying from the large orphanage building, his mother soothingly rubbing his back to comfort him.

Peter watched the scene, looking around at Neal, "I don't want to go in there…"

"Come on Peter, it's a kid. He's like, three years old. Besides, you promised." Neal reminded him.

"Neal, I didn't pay twenty-five dollars to have a heart attack!" Peter argued, "And why the hell was a hunted house twenty-five dollars?"

"Oh yeah…I told them we'd pay an extra twenty dollars for the sake of charity," Neal added in, his tone kept casual even through Peter's glare.

"I hate you," Peter grumbled, looking back at the haunted house. "Well, let's get this done with…"

"That's the spirit Peter!" Neal said brightly, patting Peter lightly on the back.

Getting into the haunted house took a small bit of time. There was a line, but it went by quickly. When they reached the front, Neal looked back to Peter, "After you?"

"If one of us gets a heart attack, it's going to be you." Peter declined.

"Suite yourself," Neal grinned, heading through the entrance with Peter behind him.

The place was dark. All Peter could see was the pathway that was lit up for them by ghostly-looking purple lights. Eventually, Peter began hearing footsteps behind him and sighed in irritation, "Neal, you're supposed to be ahead of me."

"I am ahead of you Peter,"

"No you're-" but the agent was cut off when he felt a hand creep up on his shoulder. When he turned around, he found himself staring into the eyes of what must be a very, very well-done skeletal costume with pieces of flesh dangling from the skull.

"….I GET FRONT NEAL!" yelled Peter, bolting away from the skeleton and past Neal.

"You're bipolar tonight…" Neal said, confused and obviously unaware of the skeletal man.

"Just look behind you, and you deal with him…" Peter responded.

"I don't see anything," Neal commented as he looked over his shoulder.

Peter scowled to himself, "Lucky you…"

They continued along the path, though the purple lights suddenly went out which brought Peter to an immediate halt, causing Neal to nearly crash into him.

"Before you say anything Neal," Peter began, "I'm not walking around in the pitch-black."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the path suddenly turned red. Neal looked behind him, "Wow, nice technology set-up they have…."

While Neal was turned around, Peter looked back forward were, popping up from the ground, was bloody bride wielding an axe.

Boo! She shrieked.

Peter cried out in shock and surprise, nearly falling back. Neal just turned around and pouted, "Aw, did you see something? I missed it."

Then a green path lit up to the right, indicating where they needed to go next.

"Let's get this done with already!" Peter exclaimed, hurrying along the green-lit path with Neal behind him.

As they walked, they began to hear a door banging shut over and over again. Hello? They heard a woman's voice call in an echo. Hello? Anybody there?

Peter looked back at Neal, "Uh…you take front again." He insisted, shoving Neal in front of him. "Come on Peter, it's an orphanage, how bad can it be?"

"You missed the last two haunts there were." Peter retorted.

Then they heard children's laughter, causing them both to pause and look ahead. Silhouettes appeared, they were children sized and approached. When they got nearer, Peter could see that they wore only white sheets over their heads as if to be ghosts.

"Boo!" they called out, "Boo!"

Neal smiled, looking back to Peter, "Isn't that cute? Not scary at all, but let's not let them think that."

As the cloaked children grew nearer, Neal put on a frightened look for them and backed off, commenting on how scary they are with Peter following his lead.

Soon after that an orange path lit up and Neal and Peter bolted for it, running away from the children ghosts. Neal looked back at Peter, "That wasn't so bad, was it Peter? You just have to act scared when they try to scare you."

"Right…" Peter huffed, "Act,"

Moving along the orange path, rand ghosts and goblins began to light up around them, something Peter decided to be more fascinating than scary. Though when they reached the end, the path disappeared and they were in a medical-room setting. Lying around the room were bloody patients and to the side with a bloody knife in his hand was the doctor.

"You better get out of here!" the doctor's voice rang out, "Or you'll be next!"

Just then the patients began to moan and crawl towards them, reaching out to grasp their legs.

Peter looked to Neal, "I say we get the hell out of here right now,"

Neal shrugged, "Whatever you say Peter,"

Peter hurried through the aisle, trying to avoid all the patients that seemed to attack him and prevent his escape.

As he reached the exit, he heard the doctor again, "If you dare come back again, you just might lose your head!"

Finally, they had reached the end of the haunted house. Posted at the exit was a Halloween pumpkin. The sign read: Happy Halloween! Thanks for your spirit and kind charity!

Neal placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, grinning, "That wasn't that bad, was it?"

Peter sighed, "I suppose not…"

Just then, a familiar woman approached them and Neal smiled in greeting, "Evening Elizabeth!"

Peter's head snapped towards his wife, "El? What are you doing here?"

Elizabeth smiled at her husband, "Happy Halloween to you too." She was dressed as a witch, wearing a short purple witch-like dress with glitter and a pointed purple hat with black fuzz around the brim, "I'm here helping out with the haunted house," she said with a wink.

"And I've got to say, it is superb if I do say myself!" Mozzie then entered the conversation. He was dressed as none other than Frankenstein. Currently he was enjoying a Hershey bar and in his arms was a bucket of candy.

Neal eyed Mozzie curiously, "Where did you get the candy?"

"Hey, trick-or-treating isn't only for children you know!" Mozzie said in his defense, taking another bite of the chocolate.

Peter opened his mouth, about to say something to Mozzie, but then shook his head and looked back to his wife, "So…you're not giving out candy?"

"Oh, I wouldn't disappoint the children," Elizabeth assured with a smile, "One of Neal's friend Alex has it covered. She was very nice about it."

Peter stared at El for a long moment, "Alex…?" he rubbed his temple, looking over at Neal and Mozzie, "I'm just going to pretend this is all normal," he decided.

"Just enjoy the rest of the night Peter," urged Neal, offering him a kit-kat bar, "Chocolate?"

Peter couldn't help but smile, accepting the kit-kat bar, "I guess this wasn't too bad…possibly even fun,"

"Great! Then maybe next year-"

"Absolutely not," Peter cut him off, taking a bite of the kit-kat.

Neal grinned in amusement, taking a crunch bar for himself, "Suite yourself. And by the way Peter,"

"What?"

"Next year, we're dressing up and we're being pac-man!"

Author's Notes~

This was a last-minute idea. I have gained more ideas while typing it, but those will just have to wait until next year. :P I know there are probably mistakes, there are areas it could be better, but Halloween doesn't last forever.

By the way, I actually said FEDORA instead of TOP HAT for those of you who read my Thanksgiving fic last year. xD Aren't you proud of me?

I also recently got a fedora of my own. :D Jeeeeeeelous~

Reviews are loved! ;D Neal loves 'em, Peter loves 'em, El loves 'em, I love 'em.

-ahem- Anyway...

Have a Happy Halloween!