A/N Hey, so this is a continuation of Troublesome Children and is about the Burkes in the future. I will continue to update the other story, but this plot line was in my mind and as it turns out, once I write it down, it frees up my mind for new story lines =) This story will be one/two shots about random points in their lives.

Neal: 15 years old

Mozzie: 18 years old, off at college

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"I swear to God El, when he comes back home, we are slapping a tracking anklet back on him." Peter ranted. "I don't care if he is fifteen. If he can't stay where he is supposed to be, we need some way to track him." Peter had been saying similar things for half an hour now. Ever since he had woken up to use the bathroom and checked in on Neal and found that he was not there. The worst part for Peter was that they had been through this same situation two weeks ago.

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Two weeks earlier:

"Hey Dad," Neal said with a grin as he shut the door quietly and walked into the house. "What are you doing up?" He continued, trying to play that sneaking in at three in the morning was no big deal.

Unfortunetly for Neal, Peter had the last two hours to worry about Neal and now that he saw that his son was safe and sound all that worry had turned into anger.

"Don't "hey dad" me young man!" Peter yelled. "Where the hell have you been?" Peter was pacing back and forth by now, trying to walk off his anger.

Neal apparently was looking for a death wish and responded with a short "Out."

Peter immediately stopped pacing and glared at his son. He could not believe that Neal was so dismissive of this.

"I would think long and hard about what you say to me right now young man. I am this close" Peter said holding his fingers an inch apart "to grounding you for life." Peter finished deadly serious.

"Yeah, right." Neal said, calling Peter's bluff, while he hung up his coat.

"You're absolutely right Neal, I won't ground you for life. I can ground you from the concert at the end of the month though" Peter said as he put his hands on his hip and giving his son an angry look.

Neal turned quickly with a look of disbelief. "You can't do that!" he cried out.

"Then I suggest you change your attitude." Peter told him. And Neal took him up on it, not willing to risk his dad following through on his threat.

"Oh thank God!" Elizabeth exclaimed as she rushed down stairs to hug Neal. "I am so glad you are okay, you had us both worried sick!" She said and tightened her hold on her boy.

"I'm sorry" Neal whispered with meaning. He could hear the relief in her voice and felt slightly guilty.

"No you're not." Peter said.

"What?" Neal asked as he pulled out of El's grasp.

"Take out your phone." Peter ordered,

"Why?" Neal asked as he placed a hand protectively over his sweatshirt pocket where his cell phone was.

"You know why. Now take it out." In response Neal shook his head and took a step backwards thinking that his dad was going to take his phone away. He wasn't quick enough for Peter though and the older man quickly pulled his son's phone out of his pocket and handed it to the teen.

"Read it." Peter demanded. Neal just looked down at his phone and did not respond. "How many missed calls are there?" Peter asked. When Neal still did not say anything Peter lost his patience. "Neal!" Peter shouted loudly causing Neal to jump.

"Eight." Was the quiet response.

"And how many texts?" Peter prodded.

"Twelve." This time Neal spoke even less audibly.

"So we tried to get ahold of you at least twenty times and you claim you are sorry." Peter asked with incredulity.

"At least?" Neal asked, confused by what Peter meant by that. He had easily read it was 20 times.

"We tried calling your friends as well Sweetie" Elizabeth chimed in.

"Why would you do that?" Neal cried in mortification. He did not understand how his parents could not see how embarrassing it would be to have them call his friends.

"Excuse me?" Peter asked angrily. "You do not get to be mad at us for calling your friends after you refused to answer our calls. We had no idea where you were or if anything happened to you." Peter explained.

"I was fine!" Neal shouted. "Just because you're and FBI agent doesn't mean you have to be such a worry wart! I can't believe you embarrassed me like that!" Neal continued to yell.

"That gives me a damn good reason to worry Neal. You have no idea the worries that crossed through my mind specifically because I am an agent." Peter yelled back. He had quickly lost his patience with Neal.

"Boys, calm down." Elizabeth interceded. She had to get this situation under control before it escalated. "Why don't we all go to bed and sleep it off and then we can continue this conversation in the morning once we have all had time to cool down." Elizabeth said calmly.

"I don't need to calm down, 'cause Agent Burke isn't going to see reason anyways!" Neal huffed. At least he had stopped yelling. Peter threw his hands up in the air in anger before walking into the kitchen to get out of the situation before he would say something he would regret.

Elizabeth crossed her arms and stood in front of Neal with an air of authority. She was trying to help Neal by giving him and her husband time to cool off. When Neal continued to be rude even after her help, it was El's time to become angry.

"No, Neal, I think you do need some time to cool off so that you can see reason. You are damn lucky that Peter has not already grounded you from that concert because if it were up to me, you wouldn't be going to any concert for a very long time." Elizabeth said exasperatedly. "Now go upstairs and we will talk about this tomorrow" Elizabeth ordered.

Tears of frustration and guilt were streaming down his cheeks as he realized he lost the only ally he would have in facing Peter. Very rarely did Elizabeth swear and only one other time had she sworn at him. It went to show at just how much trouble Neal was actually in.

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Present Time:

"You would think that he wouldn't pull such bone headed shenanigans like that since he is still grounded." Peter continued as he worked himself into a right state. "But does that boy think? No, he-" The rest of what Peter was going to say got cut off as his cell phone started to ring. Peter picked it up at the second ring after he saw it was Neal calling.

"Where are you?" Peter asked angrily.

"Dad?" Neal asked hesitantly. Immediately Peter was on high alert. He could hear loud music in the background but was able to discern the fear in his son's voice.

"Neal, where are you?" Peter asked significantly more calmly. Elizabeth looked at Peter as she heard her husband's tone change.

"I-I need help Dad" Neal stuttered out.

Peter who was already dressed put his shoes on as he talked to Neal. "What's up kiddo? Are you hurt?" At that El tried to grab the phone from Peter, but he shook his head.

"No, it's not me" Peter could feel the anxiety leave his body. Not entirely though, because that meant someone else was in trouble. Elizabeth had also put her shoes on and motioned for Peter to go outside. Obviously, she was not going to be left behind.

"D-dad, I'm scared." Neal told Peter.

"What's going on bud? Where are you?"

There was a minute's pause before Neal spoke softly. "I'm at Adam's"

Peter had to hold himself back from commenting on that. He had told Neal a million times that the Adam boy was trouble and to stay away from him. Now was not the time to lecture Neal. He had told Neal several times that if there was any trouble at any time of day that he could call Elizabeth or himself and that there would be no questions asked that night. But boy would there be questioning tomorrow.

"Okay Neal, we are on our way. We should be there in ten minutes. Stay on the line okay?" Peter said calmly and thanked his FBI training for that. "Why'd you call?" Peter asked knowing the kid would need a very good reason to call him at 3 in the morning.

"It's Laura" Peter knew Neal was smitten on the pretty blonde. "Sh-she's not waking up Dad!" Tears were streaming down Neal's face by now.

With the combination of no traffic and Elizabeth's crazy driving they got to the house in 7 minutes. Peter instantly spotted Neal on the front porch and ran to him with El closely behind him. When he was close he could see that Laura's breathing was slow. He was glad that Neal had been smart enough to tip her on her side in the event that she threw up.

"We need to call an ambulance" Peter told El.

"No!" Neal shouted. Peter raised an eyebrow. "Dad, this is a teen party and if you call the ambulance then the cops are going to come to!" Neal said. He knew the situation was bad, which is why he had called Peter to bring her to the hospital. Neal did not want to be the reason this party got crashed though.

"Neal, right now I don't give a damn about your social life. Laura's life is at risk, and I am not going to put her in jeopardy because you're scared of your image." Peter told his son with disbelief. The fear in Peter's voice struck a chord in Neal who began to tear up and nodded. Not that they need his permission as El was already on the phone with dispatch.

Four minutes later and the flashing lights of both ambulance and cops could be seen. Someone inside yelled "cops" and the flurry of teens trying to escape could be heard inside. Not everyone was lucky though, and the cops caught about four, one being Adam himself. If looks could kill the look Adam was giving Neal would have had him dead on the spot.

"Neal!" Peter shouted a second time finally grabbing his son's attention. Neal looked at Peter who tilted his head in the direction of the EMT.

"What happened here?" he asked. Neal read his name was Max.

Neal looked at Peter who gave him a nod to answer the man's question.

"We were dancing and then someone offered us a drink, and she said no, saying that she really shouldn't drink with the meds she was on. I told her it was a party and that one drink wouldn't hurt" He heard Peter sigh loudly. "I-I didn't know! I didn't know this would happen!" Neal cried out. "I didn't know this would happen, honest. I just wanted to have some fun!" By now Neal was full out sobbing as his role in this was brought to life. Elizabeth was upset with the boy for his actions but could see quite clearly that he was in pain so she wrapped her arms around him and held him as he cried into her shoulder.

"How many drinks did she have?" Max asked Neal, needing as much information as possible. By now Laura was loaded into the back with an oxygen mask on. She could not afford to wait any longer.

"Two" Neal said "That I saw. She might have had more, but I don't know. I don't know!" He ended with shouting.

"Okay, thanks for your help. We will get her to St. Anne's Medical right away and she will likely be okay. You did the right thing by calling us." This time he spoke directly to Neal. "I know it wasn't easy for you to do this, so thank you. I have seen to many teenagers die because their friends were scared to get in trouble. Your decision to act likely saved this girls life." And with that, he hopped into the back of the ambulance. Before he could shut the door Elizabeth called out.

"Wait!" she shouted. "Can I come with? I can call her parents and want to be there for them when they arrive. This won't be easy on them." She asked. When she got a nod she let go of Neal and addressed Peter by giving him a quick hug and whispered in his ear. "Take it easy on Neal. The EMT was right, this was not easy for Neal. He was wrong in sneaking out, but praise him for calling us." And with that she also hopped into the ambulance and they were off with the sirens ringing.

Neal stood there not saying anything. His tears had stopped but he still had a hallow look in his face. One of the officer's pulled Peter to the side.

"Were you the one who made the call?"

"Yes Sir. I am FBI agent Peter Burke. My son called me after his friend was unresponsive, so we came and decided we needed and ambulance." Peter told the young officer. He pointed to Neal. "That's my son over there. Can I ask what you intend to do with the boys?" Peter asked politely.

"We are inclined to just call their parents. There is no sense in risking their futures because of some stupid teenage party." The officer informed Peter. Peter nodded his head in approval.

"I think that is probably the best solution. If you don't have any questions for Neal, I would like to take him home now." Peter said.

"We got everything we need from the others. Now we are waiting for the parents to show up. Thank you for calling and have a great night."

With that Peter walked back to Neal and ushered him into the car and they headed home.

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The ride home was silent as Neal looked contemplatively out the window. Peter spared him a few glances and he could see that his son was still obviously upset. When Peter parked Neal immediately hopped out of the car and rushed to the house. He searched for his house keys but realized they were still inside. He waited at the front door for Peter and once he opened the door tried to rush up the stairs.

"Neal, hold up!" Peter told the teen as hung up his coat.

"You said there would be no questions asked." Neal reminded his father.

"I said there would be no questions at the time. We are home now and I would like to talk about this. Sit down." Peter said indicating for Neal to sit on the couch.

"It's three in the morning Dad, I just want to go to bed." Neal said.

"You made the choice to go out at this hour, so you can handle staying up a little longer. Sit down." Peter said more firmly. Neal crossed his arms and glared at his father. "Neal I am very quickly losing my patience with you. Sit down. Now." At the impatient tone Peter was using Neal sat down.

Peter sat on the coffee table directly across from Neal. Neal was staring at Peter's knee and was not willing to make eye contact.

"You made a lot of mistakes tonight Neal, of which you will pay for. I am extremely proud of you though Neal." Neal gave a miniscule nod of his head. "Look at me Neal." Neal did not make any movements to do so. "Come on, look at me Neal." When Neal looked up, Peter could see tears in his eyes.

"I know how hard it was for you to call me. I know that when you are fifteen your whole world revolves around your social life, and you risked that tonight to help out a friend. You did the right thing by calling us for help. Neal, she would have died without medical treatment. I am so proud of what you did." Peter told his son while looking in his eyes.

"She would have died" Neal repeated Peter's words. "She would have died!" He said between choked sobs. Peter who could not stand to see his son hurting so much pulled Neal up from the couch and gave him a tight hug. He could feel the sobs raking through the teen's body and began to rub a hand up and down his back.

"Yeah, Neal, she would have" Peter said not willing to sugar coat it for his son. "But you got her the medical attention she needed and she will be okay" Peter soothed.

"It was my fault though! I told her to have a drink after she said no!" Neal yelled, trying to pull out of Peter's hold. He did not think he deserved the comfort after what he did. He deserved to suffer. Peter allowed him to pull out only so far that Peter could grab his upper arms and look him in the eyes.

"Neal stop it." Peter demanded with no effect. "Stop. This isn't your fault. Yeah, you should have respected her choice to not drink, and we will talk about that later, but you do NOT control her actions. She is old enough to make her own decisions and she chose to drink. You didn't force her. It's not your fault" Peter said sternly. It was clear Neal did not believe him. "It's not your fault" Peter repeated meaningfully.

The way Peter said it managed to get to Neal. It was not his fault that she chose to drink. Then Neal broke down with relief. He allowed Peter to hold him as he cried out the guilt he was feeling. It took nearly ten minutes for Neal to calm down, but Peter was not going to rush it. He missed the days when Neal was not embarrassed to just let Peter hold him. On the rare occasions where Neal instigated physical contact Peter was always reluctant to let him go.

Once Peter heard Neal yawn he decided to call it a night. The rest of the conversation could wait until morning.

"Why don't you head on up to bed. I will be up shortly." Peter told him.

Neal headed up the stairs and did not even balk at the implied Peter tucking him in. Instead he went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and then went to his room to change. He was so exhausted he was just going to sleep in his boxers and when he got to his room, Peter had the blankets pulled back for him to slip into. Once Peter pulled the blankets to his shoulders and Neal was lying comfortably Neal spoke.

"Dad?"

"Yeah kiddo?" Peter asked as tucked the blankets in more firmly.

"I'm in a lot of trouble aren't I?" Neal asked softly, not making eye contact.

Peter sighed and brushed some hair out of his son's forehead before responding. "Yeah, bud, you are. Nothing we can't get over though. We will talk in the morning, but for now I want you to sleep, okay?"

Neal nodded. He knew Peter meant it when he said they could fix it. He wasn't looking forward to tomorrow in the least, but he knew he would feel better once he knew his punishment.

"Alright then, sleep well" Peter said as he gave Neal a paternal kiss on the forehead. Neal was asleep by the time Peter reached the door. Peter took a few minutes to watch his son sleep and was thankful that his boy was okay. Peter was not looking forward to tomorrow's conversation either. Sometimes being a parent was hard work.

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A/N I hope it turned out okay! There might be a part 2 with the punishment, but am not sure yet, because this was not intended to be a full story line. I guess it depends on how well this chapter was received. Please read and review because I am an attention hog and all your comments keep me going =)