Disclaimer: I do not own I do not make money I just survive on reviews, Warning slash, abuse, language, please read and review if I get 5 reviews I will post chapter 3 before the new White Collar ep on Tuesday. I would like to thank Peppe for betaing my story and keeping me interested in writing.
Chapter 2: Waking the Dragon
Peter looked over at Neal before looking at June "I was speaking with Dante this morning and he told me that you told him that I only see you as another Satchmo; he said that he told you that I only see you as a stray. He just kept egging me on until I snapped and I said that I can't stand you sometimes, which is the truth but that only happens when you decide to do stupid things," Peter said reaching over and trying to patting Neal's knee.
Neal slid his knee away and looked away from Peter's hand "That's all well and good but that's not going to fix anything between us… this time," Neal said feeling a shiver go up his spine. June clapped her hands together a bit as she looked over at the younger man "Neal… now it's your turn to let out anything you want to talk about," June said with a smile.
"First of all just because you said Dante egged you on doesn't mean a thing; you still said those horrible things and you keep turning me down when I tell you how I feel. You have no idea what it was like with Colin in Italy. I was gone for a month and his abuse was so intense but I always had hope that you were working yourself to death to find me. When you finally saved me from that hell hole it rekindled the old crush I used to have on you when you were chasing me," Neal said as fresh tears started to spill down his cheeks from the memories of the abuse he suffered.
June looked at Peter for a moment before motioning to him to comfort Neal, Peter uneasily moved over to Neal but before he could even react, Neal had hugged Peter tightly around his neck and held on for dear life as he cried. Taking her leave June slipped out of the apartment to give Peter and Neal some time alone. Peter rubbed small circles on Neal's back 'til he slowly began to let go.
With a smirk Neal sat up so he could look into Peter's eyes "I'll make you a deal, I'll even let you discuss it first with Elizabeth. In exchange for being with me I'll tell you about ever con and theft I ever did in my entire life and where you can find everything but not all at once I'll give to you a bit at a time, and also my personal life… no secrets at all," Neal offered. "Also we'll keep it discrete between you, me and Elizabeth," he added already sure that Peter couldn't pass up such an opportunity to learn so much.
Dante grumbled as he got out of the last cab he had taken from the three stores he had gone to and as he walked down the sidewalk to June's front door as he noticed a familiar car parked out front. "Burke… I had a feeling he would show up just not this soon," Dante said to himself as he went inside and dropped the bags off in the kitchen. When he was sure he wasn't needed he took the stairs to the second floor two at a time. When he got to Neal's door he slowly opened it to listen for anything and when he didn't hear any strange sounds he opened the door.
"Neal I'm back… oh Burke… I didn't know you were here," Dante remarked with a faked tone of surprise as he saw Peter sitting beside Neal on the couch. Peter looked up with a winning smirk. "We were just about to start talking about a new case; you're welcome to join us in the planning" Peter offered as he got up from the couch and retrieved the case file from the dining room table.
Neal looked at his cousin as Dante walked around the coffee table and sat in the empty chair. Peter spread out some of the surveillance photos out on the table. Dante watched his cousin like a hawk. "I have to know… is this some under cover mission?" he asked as his eyes locked on Peter's for a moment before adding. "Let me guess you want to use Neal again… because he's the only one who can do it." Dante said hitting the nail on the head.
Peter looked at the ex con with a worried look "It's true, the guy we're after has put an ad out for a singer at his club and we took the initiative to set up an interview in two weeks; it's crucial that you nail the interview," Peter said as he looked at Neal who he could tell was worried about going undercover again. "
The man your will be after is Jordan Wilson he's twenty –seven and he's making a name for himself in the smuggling business. He has already sent six large one-of-a kind sculptures all over the world, and it's believed that he secretly buying the originals and selling the fakes for six times the original price for some reason and we need someone on the inside," Peter added.
Looking over at his cousin for a moment Neal glanced at Peter "I don't know if I can do this Peter… the last time I went undercover I ended up being sold as a pet," Neal stated as he felt his hand shake a bit. Peter reached over and took Neal's hand in his "I wouldn't be asking this if we didn't need you, and we've set up extra precautions this time around. The club is a good size one in Chinatown and there are some apartments across the street where we've got surveillance set up right across the street on the club and the apartments above. This guy owns the whole building and he's up to something in those apartments… everyone that works for him lives above the club," Peter said as he pointed the pictures out on the table.
Neal tried to keep his worries inside although he knew they were plastered on his face. "Can I make a small request?" he asked as his voice dropped a couple octaves before he tore his gaze away from the pictures and turning his eyes back to Peter. "I want undercover agents in the club, ones that I know and that I trust or no deal," Neal said as he put his foot down on the issue of his safety. Peter chuckled softly "I'll send in the whole department if it makes you feel any better, and just so you know I requested a back-up in the club and we could only get cleared on ones in the audience, it would be too suspicious to have another person go for a job at the same time as you," Peter remarked.
Dante cleared his throat "Are you insane Burke; what makes you think I'll let you send him into another situation that could get him in any trouble," he said as he grabbed the surveillance photo of the man in question. "What a little punk," Dante remarked as he threw the photo back on the table. "And why does it have to be Neal? There must be other agents who can sing in your department, does it have to be a male singer?" Dante asked keeping his gaze on Peter.
"The ad asked for a male singer and Neal is the only one in the department that can sing well enough to get the job, but I promise I will watch Neal like a hawk, El gave me a hard time concerning Neal's last world trip and she swore I would sleep on the couch if something ever happened to Neal again. Hughes wants us to cut your tracker and give you something to wear… although you know how that turned out last time, so they were thinking of giving you an implanted chip under your skin this time," Peter said with a smirk. Neal frowned
"Pet con low jack you mean…no thank you I'll go with the cheap watch or necklace thank you very much; I do have some standards," Neal said as he put his foot up on the table showing the government issued tracking anklet.
Neal yawned as he stood up and bent back to stretch his spine out, they had been sitting there for an hour talking about the case, he looked over at Dante who had fallen asleep after running around for June. After looking at his cousin Neal glances over at Peter, he smiled at the drowsy agent who had zoned out while staring at the paperwork. It was then that Neal got a mischievous look on his face and leaned over to wake the agent up with the excuse of wanting to talk about the case when he really just wanted to mess with Peter.
Instead of waking Peter by more normal means Neal whispered into Peter's ear. "Peter… Peter… it's time to wake up…" but when he couldn't get the agent to wake up he gave a small chuckle before licking the shell of Peter's ear causing the man to yell out in surprise loud enough to wake Dante. Neal laughed softly as he jumped back out of Peter's reach when he made a grab for the younger man. "Is there a reason you went to such lengths to wake me?" growled Peter as he wiped his ear a few times.
"You were both asleep and I was getting bored so I decided to wake you up," Neal said in his most logical tone and juvenile tone. "And just giving me a light shake on the shoulder never crossed your mind?" Peter asked as he got to his feet and started to collect the papers on the table. Dante chuckled "Well he couldn't exactly do that to me, it would be too weird so he had to do it to you Burke," Dante remarked as he put his head back down on the chair to get some more sleep.
Peter looked at Neal "Don't speak of this to anyone ever," Peter said as he put the rest of the papers away in his folder. Neal smirked at the agent and joked "I wouldn't dare: you might be tempted to spank me if I did. Now let's get back to work; you know I get bored easy, if I don't have something to occupy my time," Neal said wrapping his arms around Peter's arm. Rolling his eyes a bit Peter let Neal hang off him but only until they reached the car. When they got back to work Peter kept his distance in the elevator and as they walked into the bullpen where Neal looked at Diana and smiled at her.
Neal grabbed his phone from his pocket and called Elizabeth and waited for her to pick up so when she did he smiled "Elizabeth, he I was wondering if you could plan an event for me this weekend, for twenty three people and I would love for you and Peter like to come join me there. It's my family reunion because you two, along with Mozzie and June your all my family now," Neal said in his most charming tone.
Elizabeth smiled and pulled her planner out of her bag "I have a free weekend, now could you come over tonight to talk about this so I can get everything set up before the weekend. Now is there any place in particular you would like to have this party?" she asked as she started to write down a few notes on her computer knowing Neal's style "Well everyone is staying at The Plaza so something in that area would be nice since there will children with Dante's family," Elizabeth scribbled down the information as Neal talked.
"Neal the Plaza is out of your radius so you'll have to clear the travel with Peter as you know, and can we talk more at dinner I need to start dinner and pick a few things up before you two come home. I'll talk to you tonight Neal," Elizabeth said before hanging up the phone to go start dinner. Neal put his phone away and started to look at the folders that had piled up on his desk.
Diana followed her boss into his office "You must have really apologized through the nose to get him to come back with you. So what went on?" She asked with a smile as she took the seat across from Peter. "Neal gave me the perfect ultimatum in his favor; he'll let me choose how I want any relationship between us to happen…if I agree he'll tell me everything about him, every little thing he's stolen and forged and everything in general. The offer seems legit, but I'm confused on what to do…I'm married and it doesn't seem click in his mind," he said chewing on his lip.
With a small smile Diana raised her eye brows up a bit. "You chased Neal for three years and you only caught him on bond forgery… think about it you could learn about every little detail of his life while giving him what he wants," Diana said as she turned and looked down at the bull pen where Neal had taken to goofing off with a paper flower.
By six the division was nearly empty leaving Peter and Neal alone; Neal snuck up the stairs when he saw Peter had his head looking down at the folder open on his desk. He slipped through the conference room and through the back door in Peter's office as he got closer he put his hands on Peter's shoulders startling the agent.
"You're too tense, you can't sit hunched over like this for hours," Neal remarked as he pressed down on a couple tense muscles instantly loosening them. "See now you feel a lot better and I'm not going past any limits since you haven't set any for me yet. I'm not trying to seduce you, but if you do fall for me then I'm all right with that," Neal remarked as he rubbed Peter's shoulders to get rid of knots under his hands.
Peter groaned at the feeling of all his tension disappearing, Neal smirked as he kept rubbing Peter's shoulders. "You know we should head home soon or we'll be late for dinner, unless you want to be late," Neal teased as he moved his hands a little lower. Peter looked up at the clock it was nearly six and traffic was going to be hell and Neal fidgeting in the car would be no picnic, so he ignored the good feeling as an idea popped into his head on how to control Neal.
He stood up quickly and faced Neal, "I'll give you an ultimatum, if you stay quiet from now until we walk into my house I will give you one kiss but if you make a single sound you have to tell me the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you," Peter said. "You have to stand as still as a statue and if you move that counts as a sound," he added with a chuckle. Neal stood there as if he were made of marble; he held the air in his lungs for fear that Peter would take breathing as movement.
The FBI agent moved swiftly and so gracefully that Neal thought he imagined the brief kiss feather light kiss on his lips; he bit his tongue hard to keep from speaking. Peter cleared his throat as he grabbed his coat "We should go now," he said as turned the small table lamp off. Neal nodded and rushed out of the office to grabs his things.
This not making a sound is harder than it sounds, I don't think I could make it the whole way, Neal thought as he grabbed his copy of the Wilson case and his hat. When they had got to Peter's car Neal had nearly gnawed his lip off tying to keep quite. Peter smirked at the attempt Neal was making to keep silent.
"It's only been three minutes Neal we still have a twenty minute car ride not counting any traffic, I don't know if you can make it," he commented. Neal looked at Peter with a determined look in his eyes, after a second he turned away from Peter as he looked out the window his phone beeped with a text message. Neal opened his phone and saw the text was from Dante asking about what they were going to do for dinner.
Neal shot back a quick reply saying he was having dinner at the Burke's and that he would be home late and to eat without him. When they arrived at the Burke's Neal bounded out of the car and ran inside and let out the biggest sigh he could muster. Peter walked into the living room with a smirk on his face "I'm proud of you Neal you managed to stay quite the whole time," Peter remarked in a surprised tone.
Elizabeth walked out of the kitchen with a smile on her face "I was wondering when you two were going to get here, dinner is just about to come out of the oven, Neal took a seat at the table and watched as Peter walked into the kitchen with Elizabeth.
"Honey before we go back in there I have to tell you that I kissed Neal and if you want to get mad at me and make sleep on the couch while you get the divorce papers I'm fine with that," Peter said being completely honest with his wife. Elizabeth smiled and bit her lip "It's about time, I was wondering when it was going to happen," She said as she pulled dinner out of the oven and brought it into the dining room leaving Peter looking like a gaping fish in the kitchen. Peter walked out of the kitchen and looked at Elizabeth "This is a test isn't it…you mean your fine with this…how can you be fine with this?" Peter asked astonished that his wife would be taking the news so well.
With a smile Elizabeth began to cut the roast "Well that's an easy question, Neal is insanely handsome and he's not a cheap tramp. I know he's not out for money or anything of the sort. So of course I approve besides every marriage needs a little spice up once in awhile and also you could use it… it would help you keep Neal from getting in trouble," Elizabeth said as she served dinner.
As dinner ended Neal helped Elizabeth put the leftovers away and while they were doing they talked about the plans for the reunion. "I assume that you want some classy stuff but not too expensive, also since there will be children there we have to take that into account and have some stuff for them to eat and do," Elizabeth said as she took notes. Neal smiled "They will eat just about anything except seafood and caviar," he remarked with chuckle.
After the dishes were washed Neal made his way into the living room where Peter was flipping between two games on the television. Neal shifted from one foot to the other as he tried not to bother Peter.
"Neal you know where the bathroom is," Peter said with a smirk as Neal stopped moving and smiled "No, I wanted to know if I could watch TV with you, I promise not to talk during the games," Neal said keeping his voice down as the commercial ended.
Peter barely looked away from the television as he patted the couch beside him. Neal smiled and made himself comfortable on the couch; he knew he would have to head home get some sleep before work. "Peter, about the new case…I trust in you, and I know you'll protect me," Neal said as he put his head down on the pillow in Peter's lap. Elizabeth looked up with from her computer and smiled at the scene of Peter's playing Neal's hair as they watched the game.
"Neal any allergies I should know about?" she asked, Neal looked up and thought for a moment. "None that I can think of, as long as we tell everyone what's in the food we should be fine," Neal said letting his eyes close.
Dante grumbled as he walked down the final sidewalk to the Burke's house and when he arrived at their door he began to bang on it. "Neal… Neal, get out here!" he yelled as he kept banging nearly splintering the wood door frame. Neal quickly got up from the couch and went to the front door to find out why Dante was banging on the door. As he pulled the door open Neal looked at his cousin.
"You're drunk…I'm taking you back to my place," Neal said with a sigh as he helped his cousin inside. "It looks like I have to cut the night short," Neal added as he walked over to Elizabeth and kissed her on the cheek. "Have a good night and I'll call you tomorrow, and Peter I'll be ready in the morning why don't you pick me up early so we can have coffee," Neal said as he gave Peter a quick kiss good night not noticing that Dante was watching him like a hawk.
Neal grabbed Dante by the arm as he dragged him out of Peter's house. "You had to show up drunk…I was watching sports with Peter and he was playing with my hair it was perfect and you had to ruin it," Neal grumbled as he waved down a empty cab, and after giving the driver June's address both of them sat in silence until the cab arrived at June's. Neal pulled out Dante's wallet from his pocket and paid the driver and before dragging Dante out of the back seat and up to his apartment. Once the door closed Dante walked over to his cousin and shoved him against the door "So I guess you finally got what you wanted; now you're Burke's whore on the side... is this what you wanted from him?" Dante asked cruelly as he slammed Neal against the door causing his head to bounce a bit.
Neal felt himself start to black out when a sharp pain ripped through his neck waking him back up to find Dante biting his neck. "Get off your drunk…you're hurting me;" Neal said as he tried to struggle away from the other man who had begun to suck on his neck. Trying keep from having flashbacks of his first time with Colin he started to claw at Dante's neck and when he couldn't get him off he settled on the last resort and closed his eyes as he kneed the other man in the groin and forced him away.
Not bothering to look back Neal made his way into the bathroom and locked the door behind him before looking at his bloody black and blue neck. "What the hell is wrong with you Dante…?" he mumbled lightly touching the bleeding bite mark. Knowing that his cousin was still out there Neal sat on the cold tiled floor his back resting against the tub, reaching up to the rack he pulled down the towels and balled them up to use as pillows. Neal kept one towel and used it as a blanket as he tried to get comfortable.
"Neal, are you all right in there? Neal… can you open the door?" June asked knocking on the door as hard as she could as she tried to get the younger man's attention. Neal groaned in pain as he got up from the uncomfortable position he had slept in the night before. When he finally opened the door he peeked out through the crack "Is Dante still out there?" Neal asked as he opened the door slowly.
June gasped "What happened to your neck Neal?" she asked moving closer and forcibly turning Neal's head to get a better look. "I would like to know that as well" Peter said as he walked in the open door. Neal looked over June's shoulder as best he could craning his neck to show off the wound more. "Dante… he bit me last night so I hid in the bathroom and I fell asleep in there," Neal said as he was lightly prodded in the neck.
"I'll go get the first aid kit… Neal why don't you sit down," June said with a smile as she pushed Neal into a chair. Peter stood before Neal and looked at the clearly infected wound and with a worried look he saw the clear teeth marks left in Neal's skin. What the hell could have made him attack his own cousin, Peter thought as he looked the wound over "Neal…did he say anything to you before he attacked you?" Peter asked.
Neal closed his eyes for a moment and turned his head away showing the bruise even more. "He said I finally got what I wanted… that I was your whore on the side…then he asked if this was what I wanted and then he gave me this," Neal said softly as June walked back in and began to clean and patch the wound. "You can be sure I won't be letting that hooligan back in my house; I know you keep some strange company Neal but for your own cousin to do it is just wrong," June remarked as she finished up. Just as June closed the first aid kit she turned at the approaching footsteps to see Dante standing there "What a hangover…" he mumbled as he looked up and saw Peter and June looking at him. "Um good morning… is there a reason you're both looking at me?" he asked feeling uneasy at the stares he was getting.
"You really expect us to believe that you don't remember attacking your own cousin?" Peter asked moving forward and grabbing Dante by the front of his shirt. "Peter stop, it's a good chance he blacked out and he really doesn't remember what he said or did," Neal said as he put a hand on Peter's forearm and giving it a light squeeze. "Let's just have some coffee; I really need it after the night I had," Neal remarked as he slowly let Peter's arm go and walked out to the table on the terrace. Peter looked at Dante "I don't care if you had a black out or not but know this if you ever lay a hand on Neal again you can trust me when I say it will not end well for you," Peter warned as he walked away from Dante to join Neal at the table.
"How are you feeling?" he asked with a worried tone as he sat down. Neal looked up and gave Peter a charming smile "I'm feeling much better, I was going to ask you if you had plans this Saturday…because I wanted to invite you to my family reunion" Neal said with a smile as he leaned in closer to Peter, neither one noticing Dante standing in the doorway or listening in on their conversation.
Dante walked away from the doorway as June came back upstairs with the coffee; he pulled his cell phone out and dialed another long distance number and waited until the other line picked up as he walked out of June's and leaned against Peter's car "Grandfather it's Dante…we need to talk about Neal," Dante said as he kept an eye on the door. The older man on the other end sighed signaling to the other man to continue "He's bringing his FBI handler to the reunion on Saturday," Dante informed. "Thank you Dante, I will take it from here and I will see you this weekend," the older Caffarelli said before hanging up and dialing another number. "Victor, we need to talk about that boy of yours. It seems that his time with the FBI is making him forget who he's loyal to, it looks we'll have to show him," he said before hanging up on his son.
