Warning: This fic contains spanking so if it's not your thing, please hit the back space now.
BY ANY OTHER NAME
El pulled the chocolate coloured cotton sheets from the bed in Neal's room. It had been a long time since she'd referred to it as the guest room. Neal's drawings on the wall, Neal's clothes in the cupboard, Neal's book on the side table. Neal still lived at June's but at some point during the past year, and El couldn't exactly remember when, the Burke Residence had also become the young con's home. El did however, remember fondly when the guest room had officially become Neal's room. Peter had been the first to refer to it as 'Neal's room' one night when Neal had been invited, along with June, for dinner. After a couple of glasses of wine, Neal had accidently let it slip that he had acquired a duplicate key for his tracking anklet. Peter had almost blown his top but before he reached boiling point he had barked at Neal, "Go to your room!" The two women had laughed as Neal rose from the table and headed up the stairs. And ever since, it had been the case that whenever Peter needed time to cool his heals over a Neal infraction, he would send the young man to 'his room'.
As El tossed the sheets into the hamper she heard someone opening the front door. It was a little late for lunch. Perhaps Peter needed some files he'd brought home. She walked to the top of the stairs and was surprised to see Neal coming through the inner door. "Hi Neal," she called down.
"Oh. Hi, Elizabeth. Didn't know you'd be home."
Wow. That sounded awfully suspicious. "I'm treating myself to a Friday off," El said proudly as she stepped down the stairs. She was about to give Neal a kiss when she noticed the beginnings of a bruise on Neal's left cheek. "What happened, Sweetie? Are you alright?"
"Of course. I'm fine thank you." Neal brushed it off.
El took in Neal's appearance. Far from it young man. "Come with me."
-W-C-
El pulled the jaquard sateen sheets off the queen bed in the master bedroom. Neal sat on the dresser stool holding an ice pack to his cheek - El had insisted. "How did you get here Neal? I hope you didn't catch a bus in your condition." El turned to give Neal a stern look with her eyes.
"No. Don't be silly. Peter had Jones drop me off," Neal replied matter-of-factly.
"So Peter had you brought here?" Interesting. Peter didn't know I was taking the day off.
-W-C-
El shoved the sheets into the front-loader and set the machine for the time-saver cycle. "How did the case go this morning? You were down at the docks working a case with Organized Crime right?"
Neal was sitting up on the laundry bench. He had ditched the ice-pack before coming down to the basement. "That's right. Well it all went according to plan and it looks like the agency will have no trouble at all getting a conviction based on the evidence we've been able to put together in the last couple of weeks."
"Peter must be happy?" El went to pull some clean sheets down from the cupboard but was stopped by Neal who'd leapt off the bench.
"Here, let me get those for you."
"Thank you Sweetie." Why wouldn't Peter be happy?
-W-C-
El flung the sheet out across the queen bed towards Neal who was positioned on the opposite side. "Ruiz still heading the Organized Crime Division?"
Neal missed the catch and El had to pull the sheet back and toss it again. "Yes, Ruiz is in charge." El didn't miss Neal's distasteful tone when he spoke the name.
"Did he give you a hard time, Honey?" If El remembered correctly, Ruiz was a jerk.
Neal began to tuck the sheet under the mattress. "He really pissed me off Elizabeth. Peter told me to ignore him but for two weeks, two weeks I had to listen to one derogatory snide remark after another. Peter told him to back off but every time he wasn't around I'd cop a crappy pet convict statement and you'd have to be a saint not to have some type of reaction to that."
El had stopped tucking to listen to Neal's rant. It was out of character for Neal to lose his cool over something that he normally would have easily brushed off. What's going on?
-W-C-
El sprayed the bathroom basin with the Bath'nTile. She always held her breath and would stand in the hallway for a few moments while the potency of the smell subsided. "Did Ruiz say anything to you at the docks this morning?"
Neal was leaning on the door frame. He kicked at the bathmat in the doorway. "Peter was loading a suspect into the car and he sent me to grab one of the surveillance cameras I'd set up. Ruiz followed me into the shed and shoved me against the wall."
"Oh Sweetie. What did Peter do?"
"He didn't see it. Nobody did. It's okay Elizabeth. I get it that there will always be people who have a hang-up about me working for the Bureau. I actually understand that. I wouldn't be that way myself given a reversal of positions but I don't take it personally."
El believed Neal. She wiped away at the bench top now that it was safe to re-enter the bathroom. "So how did you react?" After all Neal, a saint you are not!
Neal removed the bath towels from the towel rack. "I'll take these down to the laundry and check on the load in the dryer."
"Thanks, Honey." And then you can explain to me what two weeks of bullying cost Ruiz.
-W-C-
El squeezed the mop before sloshing the antibacterial water across the kitchen floor. "When Ruiz pushed you up against the wall, he also hit your face?"
Neal leaned up against the kitchen bench at the opposite end. "No."
"So how did you get that bruise on your cheek?"
Neal picked up the bucket. "I'll change the water."
"Neal…?"
"Ruiz hit me. But it wasn't at the dock. It was back at the office." Neal stepped out the backdoor to toss the dirty water. El held the mop waiting. And so the plot thickens.
-W-C-
El sprayed the Windex onto the front feature windows. "Did you tell Peter that Ruiz had been bullying you?" She rubbed at a grotty mark that one of the boys had left on the glass pane – most likely Peter.
"A couple of times."
"But not this morning?"
"No." Neal was sitting sideways on the arm chair with his feet dangling over one of the arms. "I had it all covered. I don't need Peter to protect me Elizabeth." Neal spoke in a voice that tried to sound convincing but fell short. "I can take care of myself. Peter thinks he has to follow me around like I'm a toddler, fixing up all my mistakes. But you know what?" It was rhetorical. "I don't need a babysitter!"
"No, of course not Neal." Elizabeth's reply was also short of convincing. "So why did Ruiz hit you at the office?"
Neal spun his legs off the arm chair and stood up. "I'll put those sheets in the dryer."
El had also heard the seven dings indicating the end of the washing cycle coming up from the basement. She pulled the curtains back across the freshly wiped windows while at the same time watching the young man trot off downstairs. What am I missing here?
-W-C-
El had taken all the photos off the fireplace mantle and had already begun dusting when Neal returned from the basement.
"Peter must have been livid that Ruiz hit you."
Neal sat at the dining table nursing an ice-water. He'd poured one for Elizabeth. Hers sat untouched. "Peter was very angry." This much was certain, Neal thought back.
"I imagine Ruiz will be suspended. They'll be no excuse he could possibly offer. There would have been a number of witnesses?"
"He did it in full view of half the White Collar Unit. About twenty agents saw it. He made a scene first so it wasn't like people weren't already watching." Neal polished off his water. He was going to need something stronger. Much stronger!
"Well if anything good is to come of this, at least you won't have to work with him again. A blessing in disguise, perhaps." El placed all the photos back onto the mantle.
"Peter will see to it that we won't ever work together again." Neal spoke this more to himself. He got up to refill his glass. "Ruiz won't be suspended," the young man shot over his shoulder as he entered the kitchen. Why the hell not!
-W-C-
El pulled the warm sheets from the dryer and passed them to Neal who was beginning to fold. "Did Peter send you home because you were injured?" Neal's face didn't look too bad considering.
"No."
Neal took another sheet from the pile and continued folding. El rested up against the bench. "Peter would never send you home to be by yourself if he considered a knock to head to be serious."
"No.
"And if he thought of it as a minor injury, he'd sit you in his office and stick an ice-pack on it or send you back home to June's… He wouldn't have had you dropped off here."
"No.
El took the folded sheets off Neal and stored them neatly in the cupboard. She returned to lean against the laundry bench. There were no more sheets to be folded, floors to be moped or benches to be cleaned. Nothing left to do but to answer the question. "Neal?" The young man fiddled with his shirt cuffs until braving a sideways look in El's direction. "Neal. Why was Peter so angry with you, even after Ruiz hit you, that he literally sent you to your room? You're supposed to be waiting in your room right?"
"Yes."
"What did you do to Ruiz?"
Neal crossed his arms and leaned back against the bench so he was standing side by side with Elizabeth. After taking a deep breath he answered," I may have taken Ruiz wallet when he shoved me at the dock."
"Oh Neal! El shook her head trying to hold back a frustrated sigh. What are we going to do with you?
-W-C-
El placed two mugs on the coffee table and joined Neal on the couch. "Neal? What's got you so worked up sweetie?" Neal shrugged so El took a stab in the dark - although she felt she knew Neal so well by now it was more like a stab in broad daylight under fluorescent lighting. "You're upset about how Peter is going to handle your… transgression?"
"I know how he's going to handle it Elizabeth." Neal declared. "He was very clear at the office. Before he put me in the elevator with Jones, he reminded me to enjoy the car ride home as it would be a while before I'd be sitting comfortably again… As if I needed to hear that!" Neal looked down at his lap.
El placed a caring arm around Neal's shoulder. "You've been spanked by Peter, ….before." El wanted to say 'he smacks your backside every other month' but that would have been tactless and El had more class than that. "It hasn't bothered you like this so why is it different this time?"
Neal sunk further into the couch and looked away from Elizabeth. "The last time I got in trouble, Peter said that if I put myself in danger again, he would …"
"Would what Sweetie?"
"He would take his belt to me." Neal turned back but his eyes remained downcast.
"Oh." Elizabeth could only imagine how upset Peter must have been to threaten Neal with that. "But you didn't put your life in danger did you."
"No I didn't Elizabeth!"
"Then there's not that much to worry about is there?" Elizabeth patted Neal's thighs.
"Actually…he also said if I did anything to risk my going back to prison then it's the same deal."
"I see. Well, I know you absolutely should not have taken Ruiz wallet but maybe that can be taken care of ….somehow." She wanted to say swept under the carpet but Neal didn't need any encouragement.
"Yeah…I may have done something that made it a little difficult to keep it on the quiet." It was as if Neal had read her thoughts.
"What did you do Neal?" Her tone was quite firm this time.
Reluctantly Neal confessed. "I used Ruiz's credit card to order 15 pizzas to be delivered to the White Collar Unit, courtesy of Ruiz himself to thank us all for our hard work in wrapping up the case together." Neal finished with a small smile that Elizabeth did not return.
"YOU WHAT?"
"Okay so that may be the part that Peter is going to have a little difficulty overlooking."
"Oh Neal." Elizabeth rose from the couch shaking her head at the young man seated before her. "Wait till your father gets home."
"He's not my father Elizabeth!"
"Oh Honey, he's sent you home to your room, and when he gets here he's going to spank you and send you to bed early…You know what they say… A rose by any other name…"
"Doesn't smell sweet to me, Elizabeth..."
"…Smells like trouble with a capital T?" El finished the young con's thought.
Wait till your father gets home indeed! And El left Neal sitting on the couch doing exactly that.
TBC