((Do not own, slight slashy slash and cool action and face to face Colin Neal action))

Chapter 3: If I Had You

Peter looked across the table at Neal as the ex con twirled the fork in his fingers. "I can't believe we're actually going out on a date," Neal said as he watched Peter choke on his orange juice. "It's not a date," Peter said as Elizabeth walked into the dining room.

"I'm so glad you decided to stay the night Neal especially with everything going on recently and honey it's a date no matter how much you deny it," she laughed as she kissed Peter on the cheek before grabbing her bag "I'll be back later tonight so have fun at the museum and don't let him keep you from having fun today Neal," Elizabeth added as she ran out the door.

Neal smirked and raised his eyebrows suggestively at Peter with a chuckle. The agent rolled his eyes "Just eat your French toast and let's get going there is a basketball game on at three and I don't plan on missing it." Peter said as he grabbed the newspaper off the table so he could check the times once again on the games for the weekend.

The ex con looked up from his food with a devilish smirk. "You need to tape it then; we're not going to be home 'til after dinner tonight," Neal said as he quickly finished his breakfast and put his fork and knife down on the plate. "I'll tape it then since I know you're going to make sure I miss it," Peter said as he walked over to the coffee table and picked up the television remote and began to run through the steps to program the cable box to record his game before they left.

After cleaning the table and washing the dishes Neal ran upstairs and got changed so when he came back down he was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a forest green tee shirt. "I didn't know you even owned a pair of jeans," Peter commented as he looked Neal over. Neal smirked and looked down at himself.

"I am a normal man sometimes Peter I do have comfort clothes that I wear on the weekend when you're at home," Neal said as he grabbed his jacket from the banister. Peter grabbed his keys and shoved them into his pocket. "Neal before we go I thought you should know that Doctor Parker wanted to watch us interact today, but he canceled this morning," Peter said looking at his friend.

Neal smirked as he opened the front door "Oh I know I overheard you on the phone this morning, now let's go I want to get there before it gets too crowded the crowds get there." Neal said as he grabbed Peter by the hand and dragged him out to the car.


Colin tapped on the steering wheel as he watched Neal and Peter climb into Peter's car. "It looks like they're off; I wonder where they're going this early?" Colin asked as he looked at Dante in the passenger seat. "I don't know I'm not a mind reader," Dante said in a sarcastic tone. As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted it. Colin smirked "I don't expect you to read his mind Sweetie, I expect you to read his actions," Colin reprimanded as he started the car and followed behind Peter's car.

Dante fidgeted in his seat as they drove he looked out the window and saw the museum as they pulled into the parking lot. "I hate museums they're so boring," Dante whined as he was dragged inside by Colin.

He shut his mouth as Colin left his side to pay for tickets and when the other man returned Dante motioned his head over to the direction he saw Peter and Neal go. "Can't you go alone; I know that if it came down to it you would leave me behind to get him. I know you very well," Dante said as he went off toward the direction his cousin went.

Colin kept a close eye out as he walked beside Dante, and saw Neal having fun with his partner. "Just remember once we get my Baby back you won't have to worry about a thing. I won't get rid of you like I did with the rest of my pets," Colin said with another smirk.

The former agent looked away "That would be a blessing, I've been under your thumb for years," he said walking away to look at a couple paintings while he kept watch on Neal as he showed Peter around the hall.


Neal looked beside him at Peter as they stood before a painting "I can't believe you don't see the beauty in this work, it's a little dark of course but there is a lot of beauty in this painting," Neal said trying to get Peter to enjoy the artwork.

"I know what will get a reaction out of you that even you won't be able to deny," Neal said as he led Peter down another hallway unaware he was being followed. "This is a new exhibit called Rave art; it's where local artists use bright neon paint to create works of art and then the paintings are put in a gallery under black light to glow. I sent in a painting, Mozzie dropped it off for me since this is just out of my range," Neal said pulling Peter through a doorway into a darkroom.

Peter looked around the brightly colored paintings on the wall. He saw the usual common art work of the basic art student hoping for a big break. Neal smiled and grabbed Peter by the shoulder and turned him around on his heel to look at the painting behind him.

Behind Peter on a square column was a five foot tall four foot wide painting of Kate. Peter was stunned at the beauty that Neal had captured with the bright colored paint. "Neal this is amazing, I know if Kate were still alive she would have loved this," Peter said as he tore his eyes away from the painting.

"I know I did this in her memory, it just felt right as a way to pay tribute to her after all this time," Neal remarked as he looked over the glowing painting of his girlfriend. "I don't miss her as much as I used to, is it wrong that I've moved away from her memory so quickly?" he asked his friend. Peter thought for a moment "It's not wrong at all, it's time you healed Neal, and it's been months since it happened," Peter said examining the artwork.

He was amazed at just how beautiful the artwork was Peter knew that if Neal had gone legit with his artwork he could have been famous for that instead of being a criminal.

"Neal, I think this is a wonderful tribute to Kate I think this is your best work of art because it's not a forgery it's the real things and it shows your talent as an artist… a real artist," Peter complemented as he put his hand on Neal's shoulder before he walked around the back end of the room leaving Neal to look into the painted eyes looking out at the world from the dark canvas.

Colin walked up to the door to the exhibit hall and slipped into the dark room with Dante and made his way silently across the room keeping to the shadows in the room that would let him get close to Neal 'til he was standing right beside him. "You do very good work Baby, if I knew you painted so well I would have forced you to paint some things for me," Colin said as Neal spun toward him.

Keeping a level head Neal locked eyes with Colin "I was wondering when you would meet with me in person instead of hiding in the shadows like the rat you are," Neal hissed he swore he would never be taken so easily. Colin chuckled and put his hand on Dante's waist and held him close. Dante looked away ashamed at the hand on his waist he hated the affection Colin gave to him. He looked up at the painting that Neal had done.

"Now Baby it's time to come home, I miss you very much… now unless you want your friends to suffer you'll listen to me," Colin warned as he tightened his hand against Dante's waist causing him to squirm.

Neal looked over his shoulder before looking back at Colin "No, I'm not going with you I'm not afraid of you anymore. You don't scare me Colin," Neal said bravely as he tried to keep his voice from wavering. Colin chuckled "You're still scared I can hear it in your voice Baby," Colin remarked walking forward and pulling Dante with him.

Peter looked over at Neal and saw him cornered by two men, as he walked over he recognized the men right away. "Neal, come over here right now," Peter ordered waving Neal over to his side. Neal moved over to the agent's side and stood close to him. "If you come any closer to him I'll take care of you myself."Peter warned as he walked Neal away from Colin and Dante.

"Baby if you walk away you'll be condemning all your friends to death and you can't protect him forever Burke. I'll get my pet back from you someday," Colin threatened as he walked away with Dante by his side. Dante looked behind him and saw his cousin standing beside the FBI agent.

Colin smirked as he walked away "I'll be leaving you alone tonight Sweetie and while I'm gone I want you to make your way to our designated safe house in the city and get it ready for my pet who has a tendency to run off so make sure the digital locks are all online," Colin said as he let Dante go.

Nodding his head Dante walked off and made his way out of the museum and down the sidewalk. The first thing I'm going to do when I get there is shower then I'll check his stupid locks on the doors. Dante thought as he pulled his jacket tighter and walked down the sidewalk to the luxurious safe house.


Peter looked at Neal "He's wrong I can protect you for as long as it's needed, now forget about him. I'll rush the paperwork on so that the FBI can keep an eye on you when you're not at work. We'll catch him and this time the charges will stick." Peter promised he led Neal out of the exhibit and down another hall.

Neal looked and when he saw that Colin wasn't around he lowered his guard and smiled "I've always loved this museum it's so peaceful," Neal said as he walked over and looked at a few paintings. "Tonight can we get Italian take out and just watch TV at your place?" Neal asked with a smile.

"I thought you would like to go out to dinner but I like your idea about just watching TV; if we hurry we can catch the tail end of the game," Peter said as the made their way toward the exit.

Shaking his head Neal smiled "We're going to watch a movie with dinner, Elizabeth told me to enjoy today and I am," he said as he wrapped his arms around Peter's arm and walked back to the car with him.

Rolling his eyes Peter managed to pull his arm free from Neal's grip "As long as it isn't a cheesy romance movie then I'm fine with that. It has to have a little action in it to keep my interest," the agent said as he fished his keys out of his coat pocket.

"I promise it will be a good movie and to your liking," Neal promised as he got in the car. "If I don't have fun today I'll tell Elizabeth," Neal warned in a joking tone.

They rolled away from the museum and made their way back to the Burke's house, Neal walked inside and grabbed Satchmo's leash and hooked it to the dog's collar."Let's walk first to build up an appetite," he added as he began to walk down the sidewalk forcing Peter to catch up to him.

The walk took them around the park, while Neal watched everyone walking by. "Watching everyone being so happy with their lovers hurts, but it's not a terrible pain it's more of a karmic reminder that no one can be truly happy. But I am happy despite the fact I should be miserable, with all the pain in my life. If it wasn't for you and Elizabeth during the last eight months I don't know what would have happened to me," Neal said as he made a U-turn around the fountain and started to head back the way they came.

Finding the outburst odd Peter still didn't miss a beat as he walked up beside Neal and grabbed him by the forearm and forced Neal to look him in the eyes. "I don't want to hear that kind of talk again. If you ever start talking like that again I'll march you straight to Doctor Parker's office and force you talk to him," Peter warned as he searched Neal's face and eyes for a reaction.

"Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound so serious. I just meant I had no idea if I could be the pet…con everyone thinks I am or go back to my old life of alleged art thefts," Neal admitted as he let Satchmo lead him down the sidewalk and out of the park, toward the Burke's home. Once they got inside Neal removed the dog's leash and hung it up on empty hook on the coat rack.

Peter kicked his shoes off at the door and collapsed onto the couch he grabbed the remote and checked for the game, when he found it was over he sighed and watched as Neal sauntered over with a smirk. "We agreed on a movie of my choice and take out, I'll look for a movie on TV first while you get the take out menu," Neal said as he grabbed the remote and began flipping through the guide on the screen while looking at each movie channel closely. When couldn't find anything he began to look through the DVD's on the shelf till he found the movie he wanted to watch.

"Neal what do you want for dinner?" Peter asked as he brought out one of the take out menus to the living room. The ex con smiled and grabbed the menu and pointed out a few things that he wanted. Peter grabbed the cordless phone and walked into the kitchen and placed the order.

When he was done ordering he felt for his wallet as he saw Neal waving it in the air "Ho…when did you lift it?"He asked in an annoyed tone as he grabbed the wallet out of Neal's hand. Neal smirked "At the park when you grabbed my arm I couldn't help myself you were just such an easy target," Neal said as he smirked and snuggled into the pillows on the couch.

Giving a loud sigh Peter took his spot on the couch against the arm as soon as his feet were on the coffee table he looked down to find a pillow on his lap and Neal's head resting on the pillow. "You realize you'll have to get up when the food comes right," Peter remarked as Neal shushed him as the movie started.

"Lord of the Rings?"Peter asked only to be shushed once again. Not wanting to be annoyed anymore Peter shifted 'til he was comfortable and began watching the movie. Grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch he draped it over Neal.

When the food arrived Neal paused the movie and sat up, his hair was matted and tangled. Peter got up from the couch wallet in hand. He returned to the couch with the bag of food, he looked at Neal "Go grab the forks and the wine and we can start the movie up again," Peter said as he unpacked the food from the bags.

Neal walked into the kitchen and grabbed two forks and a pair of wine glasses. He walked back into the living room and put the glasses and forks down before going to get the wine. Taking a couple minutes to find the cork screw Neal returned to the living room and uncorked the wine and poured it into the glasses before re-corking the bottle.

Peter took one of the forks off the table and ate his dinner. Neal sipped his wine as he turned the movie back on and cuddled against Peter to keep warm. "I can't believe you never saw this movie all the way through," Neal remarked with astonishment as he watched the movie.

"Well let's see, I would have but I was busy chasing around some cocky young con artist that had to prove himself numerous times in the art world as the best forger and art thief… excuse me alleged art thief," Peter said correcting himself. Neal smirked as he spun some angel haired pasta on his fork. "Maybe I was showing off for a certain FBI agent," Neal laughed as he turned his attention back to the movie.


Elizabeth unlocked the front door and walked into the living room smiling at the scene before her. Peter covered in a blanket asleep on the couch with Satchmo resting his head in his master's lap. Neal walked out of the kitchen with a smile on his face "He fell asleep halfway through the movie so I turned it off and I did the dishes. Now I was thinking I would take Satchmo for a walk so you can relax," Neal offered taking Elizabeth's coat and hanging it up for her.

"Neal that's very sweet of you, I guess you and Peter had a good day today," she said smiling as Neal hooked the leash to Satchmo's collar. "It was a great day, we went to a museum, then we walked Satchmo in the park and we had dinner together and watched Lord of the Rings, well until he fell asleep," Neal said with a smile as he felt Satchmo tug him towards the door.

With a smile Neal grabbed his coat and rushed out the front door as the door snapped shut behind him when Neal put his coat on and walked down the stairs looking down at Satchmo. "We won't go too far since it's so cold out," he added as he leaning down to pet the lovable dog, who wagged his tail until he began to snarl, alerting Neal to look behind him he felt a jolt of electricity shoot through his body which turned his vision dark.

"I'm sorry it came to that Baby," Colin said as he moved out of the shadows towards the unconscious man. Satchmo moved over Neal's unconscious form and started to bark and snap at the man moving closer. Colin bent down and grabbed Neal's arm, using all his strength to pull Neal free. Satchmo lunged and took a tight hold of Colin's thigh.

Colin growled in pain and pistol whipped the lovable lab till he let go. "Stupid mutt" he growled as he dragged Neal into the waiting car before getting behind the wheel and driving off ignoring the bloody gaping wound in his thigh.

"Damn that dog, but I can't deal with it now that I have my pet back. I'll have to destroy that anklet somehow," Colin said to himself as he pulled up to a stoplight. Turning to face the unconscious man he took a screwdriver and jammed it into the lock and twisted repeatedly until the delicate mechanics inside the keyhole broke forcing the latch to come undone. With the anklet off Colin rolled his window down as he drove back into the city and threw the ankle monitor out the window.

Peter woke to the barking and had made it out the door just as the car sped away. Not being able to catch the license plate he ran over to his dog to find him whimpering in pain. "Good boy Satch…" he said rubbing the dog's back. Elizabeth stood at the top of the stairs as Peter walked back inside leading Satchmo behind him.

"Here, why don't you patch Satchmo up I need to make some calls," Peter said pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and calling Jones. After two rings the other agent picked up. "Don't ask questions, just get to the office this is an emergency, and get the team together right now," Peter said as he rushed around to get his shoes and coat on.

Jones rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock it was ten at night on a Saturday he knew that Peter wouldn't call the team together unless it was an emergency. "Did he make his move?" Jones asked as he pulled his jeans on.

Sighing into his phone Peter responded. "Right outside my house, and the bastard hit my dog. I'm far beyond pissed now," Peter hissed as he hung up and looked at his wife tending to their dog that they treated like a son. "I'm going to get Neal back right away I promise," he said with a weak smile. "I know you will and I want you both back safely," Elizabeth said with and encouraging smile.