Fandom: White Collar & Inception
Pairing(s): Eames/Arthur, (future El/Neal/Peter)
Summary: After six months Eames and Arthur decide that they need to pay a visit to the man their son loves and that has been keeping him on a leash. Inspired by Skybird on LJ.
AN: As I said this is inspired by another fic that has been published on Livejournal by windswept_fic. The summary for this story was that Arthur and Eames adopt and raise a kid to be Neal Caffrey. This is my and Luciansalesia's take on how the first meeting between Peter and Neal's parent's went. The link to the masterpost for the story is http : / / windswept-fic . livejournal . com / 38329 . html just take out the spaces.
.o0o.
It had been a long and tiring day when Peter Burke got home that evening. He had dropped Neal off at June's after they had caught another thief. Elizabeth was out on a business trip for her catering. She wouldn't come home today and not for another few, so Peter felt safe to think about Neal and his feelings for the other man. He knew that he would never act on them. He just loved his wife too much and would never do that to her. He could never hurt her in that way.
His fascination for Neal Caffrey had started the moment he had taken over the case, and it had turned to love over the years he had to do with the man. He had forbidden himself all thoughts about this the moment he had acknowledged that he was in love with the other man.
Peter stripped out of his holster and put it on the table in the hallway. He made his way into the living room and switched on the light there.
"So you are the man who put our son into prison," one of the men who sat in his living room said. Peter froze. Both of them seemed relaxed and there were no weapons in sight, but that didn't have to count for anything. He was just glad that El wasn't at home. He wouldn't forgive himself if she got hurt because the parents of one of the thugs he had helped nail down wanted revenge.
Then Peter noticed that they were both men. That was unusual.
"Pardon?" he asked. He had no idea who they were talking about.
"And now you're keeping him on a leash like some kind of dog," the other man, the one wearing a suit, went on and now it dawned on Peter who these men were or better pretended to be.
"You mean Neal Caffrey?" he asked. "I'll have you know that it was his idea."
"I know," the suit said, "but I also know that you could get him out of this early if you wanted."
Peter shuddered. Not even Neal knew this or if he knew he had never said anything about it. That man was a bit scary.
"But you won't because would mean that you wouldn't be able to know where he is all the time," the other man went on. "And you don't want to do that. Not because you don't trust him and don't trust him not to run, but because you always want to be able to find him because you care for him."
Peter looked at the man dumbfounded. That was not what he had expected when he had seen that there were two men in his living room.
"So you don't want to take revenge and take your son with you?" he asked, really not sure what to make of this conversation at all.
"Please, do you really think we would come all this way just to kill you? And if Neal really wanted to run, he could, never doubt that, but he doesn't want to," the suit went on again. "No, we are here, because we wanted to meet the man that put our son behind bars and because he didn't call once since he got out. We're just here to check on him." The man's tone was amicably, as if they were old friends and as if those men had not just broken into his house.
Peter swallowed heavily. He had no idea what to do now. Maybe he should call Neal? But for that he had to get away from these men. Neal could also tell him if they really were who they pretended to be.
"Do you want a coffee?" he asked to have the chance to get into another room to call his colleague.
"Sure," the blonde man said and the thought shot through Peter's mind that he had no idea what their names were. However, right now he had no intention to ask them as long as he was alone with them.
Peter went over to the kitchen and closed the door behind him. He could only hope that he would be able to call Neal unhindered, either tell the other man to get his ass here or to leave the city as fast as humanly possible.
.o0o.
Neal was just about to go to bed when his mobile rang. He looked on the screen and saw that it was Peter. He sighed. What did the man want now? He could only hope that it wasn't a new case. He had no intention to go into the office again right now. He was a bit sick of always being on call for Peter, but that was what he had wanted. He knew that theoretically he could ask Peter to get him out of this contract early, but he didn't want to do that. He wanted that Peter did it without him asking. He wanted that Peter trusted him enough not to run and that he trusted him to stay and help even without that he was forced to by the contract. But he was pretty sure that that would never happen.
"Yes?" he said as he answered the call.
"You couldn't have warned me, could you?" Peter asked in a furious whisper. Neal frowned. Warn Peter about what?
"Huh?" he asked unintelligently. "Warn you about what?"
"There are two men sitting in my living room, telling me they are in the city to check on you and to meet me," Peter said, a bit confused at Neal's confusion.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Peter. What do they look like? Maybe I can tell you then," Neal asked as he took out new clothes from his cupboard and started to get into them, the phone between his ear and his shoulder.
"One is wearing a suit and has dark, slicked back hair. The other is wearing tweed and has blond hair. Ring any bells?" Peter asked and Neal's insides froze. Of course he knew who they were. He just hadn't thought they would come here. Or at least not to Peter.
"Oh no, they didn't," he mumbled and then heard another voice in the background behind Peter.
"Yes, we did, honey, and you better get your cute ass here, before our sweet little suit here gets a heart attack."
Neal could practically hear Peter jump and then the other man said, "don't come here. Get away as fast as possible," before the connection was ended.
Neal threw on his clothes and hurried to get to Peter's house.
.o0o.
Peter looked at the man in the doorway with wide eyes. It was the blonde. He hadn't even heard him coming. The man still had no weapon in hand, but something in his gaze told Peter that he didn't really need a gun to kill him.
"Why don't we make coffee together, Peter? That way you won't call any of your other friends who would just ruin the reunion we have planned here," he said as he snapped Peter's phone shut.
The FBI agent swallowed nervously.
"Neal won't come. I told him to leave the city. He'll just cut his tracer and then he'll be gone. You said that he could run if he wanted and even you won't be able to find him." Peter knew that he was lying even as the words left his mouth. Neal had recognized the men, and somehow Peter had the feeling that the other man was on the way here even in this very moment.
He had no idea how to explain it, but he knew.
"Oh, I'm sure he will come. He won't leave you alone with us longer than necessary," the blonde said, smiling, as he went over to the coffee machine and started working it. Peter frowned.
"Why would you say that?" Peter asked. Keep them talking and give Neal time to do whatever he was doing right now. He just had to hope that these people didn't want to kill one of them.
"Because we could tell you all kinds of embarrassing stories about him?" the man offered, grinning. Peter really doubted that.
.o0o.
It was twenty minutes later when Neal finally got to Peter's house. He silently opened the front door and made his way down the hall without a sound.
"Neal was so nervous on his first date," he heard one of his fathers say, Eames his mind supplied, "Arthur had to slip him some Valerian into his tea. Otherwise the poor boy would have fainted."
Neal blushed furiously and closed his eyes in embarrassment. They didn't.
"I really can't imagine Neal like that," he heard Peter's voice. The other man sounded more than uncomfortable.
"What?" Arthur asked and his son could hear the grin in his voice. "Did you think that Neal just came crawled out of the earth one day, the perfect con man and charmer? Oh no, he had to learn it all and who better to teach him than the best forger in the world and a CIA agent? By the way, Neal, you can come out now."
Neal swallowed. They had heard him?
He stepped into the living room and saw Peter's eyes widen.
"Why did you come here?" Peter asked. He really didn't want Neal here. He had no idea what these men wanted and who they really were, but he feared that they wanted to hurt the other man.
"I could ask them the same question," Neal said. "What are you doing here, Arthur, Eames?"
"As we already told you friend here, we just wanted to check on you, honey. After all, you didn't call once since you got out," Arthur said, smiling. They were sitting on the couch, one of them on Peter's right side and the other on the left, with Eames' arm thrown over Peter's shoulder in what could be called a friendly gesture, or their means to keep the man from running.
"And yes of course we knew that you got out six months ago," Eames went on. "Your father always knows what you are up to. He knows about every heist you did and every forgery you made. He even knows about the stuff you did in prison."
"What did you do in prison?" Peter asked immediately.
"Nothing," Neal said a little too fast with an angelic face. "What? I did nothing. Nothing special."
"Forged the Mona Lisa," Eames said, trying to disguise it as a cough. Peter however understood it clearly.
"You forged the Mona Lisa in Prison? How did you do that? You were always under surveillance. There was a CCTV camera into your cell! I would have known if you had painted," the FBI-agent said confidently.
"Not if someone hacked into your system and let old footage play," Arthur said, smirking. Somehow the man also was able to look angelic, despite the smirk.
"What?" Peter by now didn't care about the hand that Eames had on his shoulder. He just jumped up and rounded on the men. "You are able to hack into the CCTV feed of a prison?"
"Honey, he is able to do so much more," Eames smirked evilly. "That is child's play." He could practically see the wheels rotating in Peter's mind. "But now I understand what Neal meant when he said you were cute when you think you are onto something."
As soon as the words left Eames' mouth, Neal and Peter went red in embarrassment.
"Dad!" Neal exclaimed and Peter had the feeling that the other man feared that he would be sent back to prison now that Peter had been told he thought that.
"You know, Peter, even your wife can see that you have it for Neal. Lovely lady, by the way. We like her really much," Eames went on and the red left both Peter and Neal's faces as they went pale.
"You visited my wife?" Peter asked faintly.
"Well, of course! We like her really much. She even made us coffee without trying to call someone," Eames said and then his gaze grew pensive. "I hope she has a good time in DC."
"You know where El is?" Peter was by now frantic. Sure, Neal had referred to at least one of these men as his father, but he had no idea what else they were capable of.
"Arthur always knows where everyone is," Eames said. He seemed to be the one chosen to do the speaking. Then he shrugged. "It's what he does. It's what he's good at." The man seemed very proud of his partner.
"Don't worry," Arthur said to Peter, smiling. "We would never hurt someone our son loves. You know, your wife wouldn't be opposed to a threesome."
"What?" Peter wheezed. He really didn't want to know what else they had talked about. And if Neal's expression was anything to go by, then he didn't want to know either. In fact, the other man seemed to want the earth to open up and to swallow him whole.
For Neal what was happening right now was even worse than 'The Talk'. He just wanted to get away from here. But he knew that it wouldn't matter where he went, his parents would always find him. On the other hand, Peter would most likely send him back to prison sometime this night. His parents had just destroyed the best thing he had.
"Thanks, Dad," Neal said, barely able to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "I hope you are happy with yourself."
With that he left the living room and went to the door. Best he'd spent his last hours in freedom outside. He had really missed the sky when he had been in prison.
It was a few minutes later that Peter followed him outside.
"Came to tell me that you are sending me back?" Neal asked tonelessly. He was sitting on the front step of Peter's home and stared up in the sky.
Peter frowned. It seemed like Neal had already accepted his fate and it hurt Peter to see him this broken.
"I have a question for you. Well, several questions," Peter said as he sat down next to him. "Have your parents ever lied to you? Did they tell the truth earlier?"
"They never lied to me," Neal said quietly. "We promised each other that."
"So they really met El and talked to her?"
"I fear so."
"Do you really think I am cute?" Peter asked after a few moments of silence.
Neal didn't look at him. He couldn't bear to see the rejection in the face of the man he loved. But he answered nevertheless. It couldn't get any worse anyway.
"Yes."
"Good," Peter said, as he grabbed Neal's neck and turned the other man's face to him to seal his lips over the other man's.
They didn't notice the two men standing in the hallway beyond the open door.
"It doesn't look like he's sending him back to prison, does it?" Eames asked, smiling.
"No," Arthur said, smiling as well. They left through the back door. "I think we accomplished what we came here for."
As Neal and Peter came up for air, Peter smiled slightly at the other man. Then he remembered something that had been said.
"You forged the Mona Lisa?" Peter asked; they were barely a breath apart.
"I didn't forge it. I copied it. It's not illegal as long as I don't try to sell it and don't try to swap it for the real thing. And as long as I don't sign it with the other's name. I did none of this and I still have it," Neal defended himself. "It's mine, you can't have it. But you might be able to convince me to let you look at it."
Peter smiled at his friend and hopefully soon to be lover. Neal was cute as well when he was agitated.