Disclaimer: White Collar belongs to USA Network and Jeff Eastin.

DAMON (4)

*** "That's a promise, kid." Peter wondered about this strange kid. He enters the offices crazy violent, and now is worried about the safety of his wife, whom Damon's never met. He excused himself and went back to work. ***

***WC***

Shortly before time to go home, Dianna came into his office. "Boss, you got a problem."

Peter had had his fill of problems that day, "Now what?"

Dianna proceeded to explain that if Peter took that filthy kid into Elizabeth's house, she would not be pleased. She offered to run by a department store and pick up a set of sweats that Damon could change into after a shower. That would free up his clothes for the washing machine. She said she would meet him in front of his house with the clothes, and that would make her available if Damon tried to make a run for it before getting him into the house. Peter thought that was a great idea, and gave her some cash. Dang kid was already costing him money!

Time came to leave and Peter went to collect his newest problem. He went to the conference room and sat down in front of the kid. "Damon, it's time to go home. Remember you're promise. Repeat it out loud."

Damon looked at him, this guy was slick; how was he going to get away from him? "I promise not to run away. You fuckin' happy?"

"As long as you keep your promise, I am. Oh yeah, and respect my wife. No cussing around her. I warn you, don't push me on that one!" The kid stared at him. "Okay, let's go, Damon."

Peter stood up and indicated Damon should rise also, when he did, Peter grabbed him firmly by his upper arm. Dang, his hand encircled the arm! Damon gave a test tug and knew he was held tight. He didn't know anything about this guy, and now he was in control of his life! How did he let that happen? There was nothing to do but go with him, like he had choice.

Peter guided Damon to the car and made him crawl across the driver's seat while he held him by the wrist, and followed in after him. He would not release the boy until his seat belt was fastened and given instructions not to touch the door or seat belt release. Damon glared at him. They drove to the house in silence. Damon felt Peter watching him the whole time, ready to take action if Damon even thought about touching the door handle. They pulled up in front of a yellow three story townhouse and Peter made Damon reverse the process as he grabbed his wrist to guide him out the driver's side.

Diana met Peter with a package and wished him luck. Peter made Damon turn his back while he entered the code then pulled him into the house and released his jailer's grip. Damon just stared. He thought it was three apartments but now he saw it was one house! A mansion!

Just then a huge yellow lab came running up, and Damon forgot the house and started petting the dog. He was friendly and Damon never met a dog he didn't like. Peter told him the dog's name was Satchmo or Satch for short.

Elizabeth stepped out from the kitchen, "Peter, you're home. Where is your guest?"

Peter looked back and saw the kid was behind him, and nervously pulled him forward, watching El's face. "Hon, meet Damon."

Elizabeth stared. Not at all what she had expected! "Hi Damon." She looked back at Peter, "He's… ah… filthy."

Peter remembered the package in his hands. "Got it covered El, got a clean outfit for him to shower and change into!"

She nodded her head, "Good, take him up to our shower and make sure he has what he needs. Then bring these clothes back down so I can put them in the washer. Don't forget his shoes. I want everything cleaned! Then you have some explaining to do, Peter." She turned and headed back to the kitchen. Was Peter bringing home strays now? That was not like him.

Peter turned to Damon, "Okay kid, you heard the lady. Upstairs!" He guided Damon to the bathroom and got him set up and gave him the package of new clothes. He told him to undress and hand all of his old clothes out the door to him, to include his sneakers. Damon did as he was told, he didn't have many options, and he did want a shower! How long had it been since he had a hot shower….

Peter took his dirty clothes to El, who promptly threw them in the washer, then realized she had to wait until Damon was done before she could start the load. She did not want Damon to run out of hot water. Peter told her the day's events and, of course, once explained she understood why Peter had dragged this stray home. She agreed he had no choice. And, of course, they discussed how they might handle Damon. That was an unknown.

Time passed. Too much time. Dinner was ready. Where was Damon? Surely he had run out of hot water a long time ago. Did he somehow get away? Peter went upstairs; the bathroom door was still closed. "Damon?"

"Yeah?"

Good he was still there. "Are you about done? Dinner's ready."

Damon replied in a small voice, "I can't wear these."

"Why not? Are they the wrong size?"

"No. I just can't"

"Damon, Are you dressed? I'm coming in." Peter opened the door slowly, and Damon scrambled to pull on the top, but not before Peter got a glance at him. There was no fat left on the boy, he could count every rib without trying. And he had a myriad of bruises, cuts, scrapes and sores in various stages of healing, some slightly infected.

Damon, shirt pulled down now, just stood there, dressed in bright pink sweats turned inside out. Peter forced himself not to smile, but he saw the kid's dilemma. "Why are you wearing them inside out?"

"Because they have Barbie logo on them! I can't go out in public wearing these! I'll get my ass kicked!"

Peter really had to fight back the laughter. Do not mess with Diana! He used his best 'no nonsense' voice, "Damon, you are not going out in public, it's just El and me. Now comb your hair and come downstairs. Dinner is ready." He had to get downstairs and tell El not to laugh, the kid was really embarrassed!

Elizabeth and Peter were in the dining room when he heard her suck in a sharp breath, "Peter, you don't need DNA. He is Neal's son." Peter looked up and saw Damon coming down the stairs, clean faced and hair combed back. Oh yeah, there was a good looking kid under all that dirt. And, he looked just like a mini-Neal.

Peter pulled out a chair for him, "Come on Damon. Are you hungry? Let's eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Good! 'Cause earlier, when you weren't hungry, you inhaled your food. Sit."

Damon sat it the chair indicated. He was reluctant to dish up his own food, so El grabbed his plate and, noticing his slight frame, served him healthy portions. Damon politely thanked her and ate submissively. Peter observed him. This was not the demon child that had stormed into his office earlier that day; this kid was quiet, shy? Even polite. He would not make eye contact, so Peter could not read him. The kid certainly was a mystery. How did he survive six months on his own? He didn't look strong enough to survive a day at the park.

After dinner, Peter decided to question him some more. Maybe he would be more open in this mood. So he asked him what he knew about Neal. And Damon quietly told him:

Cindy told her son as a toddler that Neal was his biological father, but no one else knew. Cindy was pregnant when she moved to Margon with her fake ID, fake marriage license and her 'husband's' fake death certificate. No one knew the truth. But she had never dated another man after Neal. She said that Neal was her life partner, and there could be no other. The small town respected the 'grieving' widow's fidelity. She followed all Neal's exploits that she could research online, and she was so proud of his achievements. Peter frowned at this, not a good example for the kid. Damon went on to explain that this was kind of confusing because she raised her kid to respect and follow the law. He thought it was kind of a double standard. Damon wondered that if her son followed in Neal's footsteps, would she be proud or pissed? Peter did not want to get into that right now.

At this point, Damon kind of glanced up at Peter and told him that Cindy hated him. Peter was surprised and asked why, she didn't even know him.

"Because you caged her Freebird!" Was that a smile on the kid's face? For just a second, Peter swore the kid smiled.

Then Peter asked how Damon traced Neal to New York and White Collar. Again, on-line research. Damon knew Neal's prison sentence was up about a year ago, so he kept watching, waiting for Neal to return to his old ways. Sure enough he did with a pink diamond heist, but, as usual, he got away with it. But it told him that Neal was in New York, and he figured Agent Burke would be looking for him again. So, when he left Texas and wanted to find him and/or Agent Burke, he came. Damon did not expect to find them in the same office. He said that was a surprise he discovered while staking out the building. That surprised Peter, staking out the FBI. But, Damon explained, he really thought it was Agent Burke that killed his mother since an agent was involved, but he didn't know what Agent Burke looked like. He watched everyone coming in and out and none were the killer. When he saw Neal and Burke together, he didn't know what to believe. That's when he decided Neal had gotten the FBI to go after him, he wanted custody or something.

Peter asked if he knew why Neal was at the FBI offices. Damon looked confused, he really had no idea.

Peter sighed, the kid needed to know and he guessed since he brought it up, he had to tell him. He explained about Neal's prison break, another 4 year sentence and how he works as a Criminal Consultant. And that he did not steal the pink diamond.

Damon was incredulous. Neal escaped with 3 months left on a 4 years sentence? He had thought Neal was smart, but that was really dumb. Now Neal was out of his cage, but had his wings clipped. Was that another slight smile Peter saw on Damon's face? And Damon thought Neal had conned Agent Burke, of course he stole the pink diamond, he got away with everything.

It was getting late. Peter was pleased that Damon had spoken openly, quietly, and politely. Maybe the next two weeks would be survivable. Elizabeth requested Peter show Damon where he would be sleeping, and Damon stood up and reached for the clean clothes she had folded neatly.

Peter stopped him, "No Damon. Those are staying in El's and my room tonight."

Damon's eyes flashed back to that cold dark look. "Why?"

Peter watched him, "It's just a precaution, Damon. To help you keep your promise."

Damon's eyes were sparking. "So this is a prison uniform I'm wearing?"

Peter couldn't help but smile, "Damon, you did commit a few felonies today. Let's go to bed." Boy, the kid's moods could change fast! He'd have to remember to thank Diana for her insight on Damon's wardrobe.

He led Damon on up to the 3rd floor guest room, the one right over their bedroom, so he could hear any movements in the night. Damon stood by the bed and glared at him hoping the agent didn't plan on tucking him in. Finally, Peter left; stating he'd leave the door open and hallway light on so Damon could orient himself in the night. Damon looked around his 'jail cell'; he walked over to check the windows to see if they were wired into the alarm system. No sign of wires. Good. He tested to see if they would open and found out they would only open a few inches. Damn safety features!

"Plan on going somewhere?"

Damon twirled around; Agent Burke was standing in the doorway! How'd he sneak back so quietly? "J…. just getting some fresh air."

"Yeah, right. Remember, we have a deal. Go to bed Damon." Peter left for the second time. Damon sat on the bed. It had been a long day, his stomach was fuller then it had been for a long time, and he was tired. He laid back and slept.

Peter joined El in their room. He was a little edgy. What had he allowed himself to be talked into? The kid had gone feral! El hugged him and reassured him he did all he could. He took off his gun and holster that he hadn't dare remove downstairs as he normally did and placed them on the night stand and got ready for bed. It took him a while to go to sleep, but he finally dozed off.

The scream woke him.