The Color of Rust
By: RavenHeart101
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: A series of one shots about a world where Neal Caffery lived next door to the Burke's his whole life that is NOT in chronological order.
A: N – Takes place when Neal is 6. He's lived next door to the Burkes for around two years.
Elizabeth was never a fan of Rebecca Caffrey. She didn't like the way the woman talked, for one, and she really didn't like the way the woman looked. Elizabeth wasn't a person who judged others on looks (or she tried not to be), but Rebecca sure didn't take care of herself in the looks department. Elizabeth could have let the ratty hair and blotchy skin slide, though, if it wasn't for the way the woman treated her son.
There was a care from Rebecca when it came to Neal, Elizabeth knew better than to get in the way between a mother and her child. But sometimes… well sometimes Elizabeth was pretty sure Neal was more of the parent than Rebecca was. Neal cleaned up after her and made sure the house was in some sort of order. He brought himself to school and sometimes he even made his own meals. He dragged her out of bed each day to take a shower and sometimes Elizabeth had heard stories from the little boy about how he had brushed his mother's hair (as Elizabeth was brushing his own because the curls on that boy's head were a mess sometimes).
But this… Elizabeth could not let this slide.
It was the first time Neal had won anything and the little boy was bursting with excitement. His little legs kicked out from under the island in Elizabeth's kitchen and he was nibbling on the corner of a cookie and doing his math homework as best he could. Satchimo was laying out under his feet, his head resting on his paws and his eyes mournfully staring at the waning day outside. Elizabeth had taken him out for a walk when they picked Neal up from the bus stop but it seemed the young dog just wanted more. Maybe she would let him out in the yard later, he had grown attached to Neal anyway and there was no way he was moving if Neal wasn't.
Elizabeth wished, not for the first time that day, that Peter was home so she could leave Neal to go have a word with Rebecca. But from the little boy's mouth Elizabeth had learned that Rebecca wasn't going to be home until very late. Rebecca hadn't even looked for a babysitter.
Elizabeth was silently fuming and she hoped Peter wouldn't mind their guest for the night. Or the fact that Neal wanted nothing more than to visit the school for the art show tonight, since his piece (that he won first place for, Ellie!) was being put on the "biggest display ever"! She couldn't say no to those eyes and that tone of voice even if she wanted to. Neal wanted his mother to be there, he had said so himself, but he had fully prepared himself to not be able to go. He hadn't asked Elizabeth to bring him, he hadn't even uttered the words, but Elizabeth could tell.
She was pretty sure a parent was supposed to be able to tell these sorts of things. Neal had been so nervous about submitting his art work earlier that week and Elizabeth had baked him cookies to make it better but nothing had seemed to calm the little boy down.
But here he was. Excited rather than nervous because Elizabeth had said they could go to his own art show at his elementary school. Something like this… it shouldn't be a rarity to a child his age. It should be normal and something to be expected.
Neal deserved better than Rebecca.
That was rude, she told herself, but that didn't stop her from believing it.
"Hey hon," Elizabeth answered her phone with a smile over at Neal as the little boy looked up at her in question. He smiled back, his little pink tongue sticking out from the corner of his mouth as he concentrated and counted out the numbers on his fingers.
"Hey Elle." Peter answered and Elizabeth could hear the smile in his voice as well. Must be a good day in the White Collar Division. "I'm thinking of calling it an early day today, you up for lunch?"
"I'm always up for lunch." She assured, a small burst of excitement of her own in her stomach. "You want to go out for lunch, Neal?" She asked the boy as a way of telling Peter he was there.
Peter should have known anyway, Elizabeth had picked Neal up after school since he had started a year ago. And it had been a half day today. "Where are we goin'?" Neal still had the habit of not ending his "ing"s when he talked and quickly scribbled down a number before erasing it and starting again.
"Well I don't know little man." Elizabeth answered with a small laugh. "Peter can tell us when he gets home, how about that?"
Neal's eyes lit up at the mention of his favorite man. Elizabeth wasn't sure if Peter knew how much the little boy loved him but she was absolutely sure the hero worship was mutual. "Peter's comin'!" He bounced up and down in his seat as he said it and Elizabeth knew her husband would have to come once he heard that.
"I'll be home in twenty, hon." Peter answered and they hung up after saying their goodbyes. Elizabeth sat down in front of Neal, taking in the little boy for all that he was. Curly black hair that fell into his eyes. His eyes bright blue and sparkling and his cheeks red from happiness. His Superman t-shirt and blue jeans that fell over Batman sneakers. He was an almost typical boy, if it wasn't for his fascination with all things artistic. Elizabeth knew he had been getting teased because of it in school, but she knew Neal hadn't taken any of it to heart.
The boy was spectacularly good at ignoring everything around him if he wanted to.
Suddenly an idea struck Elizabeth and she smiled to herself victoriously at the thought. "Do you want to go to McDonald's, Neal?"
"What's McDonal's?" He asked curiously with a look up at her through his eyelashes.
Neal was a beautiful child and sometimes Elizabeth really wished he was hers.
Moments like these, however, cemented her hatred of Rebecca Caffrey more than almost anything else. What child hadn't been to McDonalds? "It's a restaurant, baby." The term of endearment slipped out but Neal didn't try to correct her, even though Elizabeth flushed a bit at the words. There was nothing to stop Rebecca from leaving with Neal, and the woman had said so herself quite a few times, if she saw that Elizabeth and Peter were getting "too close" to her little boy.
"Oh." Neal shrugged. "Sure."
Most kids would have been almost vibrating with joy and excitement at the prospect, but Neal, having never been before, was simply carrying on as though everything was normal. In fact, the little boy didn't even seem excited until Peter and Elizabeth had pulled into the brightly colored restaurant's parking lot. Peter had grumbled the whole way, muttering something about the place being a mess of fat and grease before shutting up at Elizabeth's look. He didn't grumble anymore, however, when he saw Neal's awed face. There was the play-place, kids yelling and running and chasing after one another and Neal pressed himself closer to Elizabeth's legs when he saw it, as though he were afraid of joining. He was a naturally shy child, Elizabeth reminded herself as they ordered.
But he started to become more animated the more time they spent there, his hand clutched in Peter's larger one and his head resting against the older man's leg as they waited for their food. Elizabeth didn't miss the woman at the front counter cooing at him or the looks the managers were sending their way when Peter tickled his neck to get him to laugh.
The two of them looked like father and son, Elizabeth decided, as she brought over the tray to the table Neal had picked out. Peter had picked him up to help him onto the seat and Neal was now swinging in legs happily again and munching on the tip of his straw. "How was work, hon?" Elizabeth asked before sliding into her own seat, placing Neal's bright red Happy Meal box in front of him.
The little boy cautiously dug in, taking a tiny bite from his cheeseburger as though unsure if he would like it. Elizabeth knew he had had cheeseburgers before – he had tried them when Peter had a cookout for the Forth of July the year before and had liked them. He had also grown a liking to Reese and their peculiar relationship was one of Elizabeth's favorites. "A nice and easy day for once." Peter took a bite of his own sandwich and Neal looked up at him in question.
Neal was incredibly fascinated with Peter's job. Elizabeth was sure it had something to do with Peter being a police officer and Neal's actual father having been one himself before something happened that Rebecca wouldn't speak of. Elizabeth knew Peter had looked into it and she was pretty sure he had found out, but she had asked him if it was bad and the look on his face when he had said yes was enough to convince Elizabeth that she didn't want to know.
"I won the art com'tition!" Neal said excitedly and bit into his little bag of apple slices.
"Really? That's great, bud." Peter ruffled his hair and promised, when Neal asked, that they could go to the art show later that night.
Neal was a bundle of nervous energy after that. He was excited, he said, but his excitement was mixing with the butterflies in his tummy and was making him feel sick. So he didn't finish his Happy Meal, but he had eaten a great deal of it, and was clutching his toy as tight as he was clutching Peter's hand as they walked into the school. Elizabeth had her camera ready, for sure, and she laughed at Peter's face when he saw all the kids walking with parents.
They were stopped by Neal's teacher and talked a bit. Elizabeth made sure to keep an eye on the six year old as he ran up to what looked to be a fourteen year old boy and started talking to him excitedly. The ten year old Elizabeth knew in passing as Benjamin Cole, the older brother to one of the girls in Neal's class, Alicia, and the boy had walked them home a few times when Neal had stayed over their house after school. Elizabeth always felt guilty when she couldn't watch after him but Mrs. Cole sure stepped up when Elizabeth couldn't. It was a plus that Benjamin Cole didn't seem like the kind of teenager to want to do anything else but spend time with a kid.
"Ellie, Ellie, look!" Neal grabbed her hand and tugged her forward to the artwork placed in the spot of honor. It was a gorgeous piece, filled with flowers and sunshine and a darkened corner where there sat a bear. But the bear, while being in the darkened corner, was decorating his cave with the bright flowers and lights was streaming in. It was a crude painting, obviously done by someone with skill but with little practice or expertise. A craft that needed to be nurtured into growth. Elizabeth was floored. Especially when she saw the neat words in the corner proclaiming that the art belonged to a Mister Neal Caffrey in Miss Parson's Kindergarten Day Class.
Elizabeth leaned down and picked the little boy up, resting him on her hip and a wide smile on her face. "This is gorgeous, Neal." She tickled his side and he laughed, resting his head on her shoulder. "What does it mean?"
Peter came up behind them, speechless and his eyes flitting back and forth from the boy in Elizabeth's arms to the painting. "It doesn't have to mean anything." Peter assured the boy when he pursed his lips and tilted his head as though to figure it out himself.
"It means," Neal trailed off on the last syllable, drawing it out long.
"It means there can be light with the dark, yeah?" Elizabeth startled at the voice next to her. Standing beside her was Benjamin, looking at Neal over Elizabeth's shoulder with a smile.
"If you're sad you can a'ways be happy!" Neal explained happily and nodded at the other boy before looking at Peter and Elizabeth. "Like I was sad an' then I was ha'py cuz I met you an' Pet'r!"
Elizabeth held the boy closer and wished she didn't have to drop him off to go to Rebecca later that night.
A: N – The reviews stunned me. Like whoa! But thank you so much guys! I'm glad you like it so far.
