Back then…
Danny breathed a sigh of relief as he reached Ellen's place. He wished not for the first time that his mom accepted Ellen's offer of help renting a place close to her instead of the trailer park they were living in now. He limped up to the door. Her car wasn't there, he hadn't really expected it to be since he knew she had gone out of town this morning to see a big client and wasn't due back until tomorrow. It only took a few minutes for him to disable the security system and let himself in.
He cleaned himself up, avoiding his reflection in the mirror and made himself a peanut butter sandwich, thankful that there was bread. Ellen wasn't the most domestic of people and she often gave money for Danny to cook something for them both when he came over.
Ellen must have expected him to drop by soon as she had left him the plans for two new clients security systems to review. They had an agreement that Ellen paid Danny 50 bucks for every security system he was able to crack and an additional 10 bucks for each additional weakness. He had a natural talent for picking locks and seeing the weak links in the security. Occasionally Ellen even took him along to demonstrate to clients how even a junior high student could break their existing security systems. It took him about an hour to find three ways through the first one. He was just reading through the second company's plans when a car pulled up outside. Damn, Ellen was home early. He stood up to try and sneak out the back before she saw him, but he had stiffened up from sitting too long.
"Danny?" she called out as she opened the door. He was caught halfway from the table as she came in and dropped her handbag on the counter. Her eyes widened as she saw his face, the swelling around his eye, the bruise on his jaw.
"What happened?" She asked coming over, gripping his chin gently and tipping his face towards the light. He tried to avoid her eyes which was difficult when she was holding his face.
"Dirk said I needed to be taught a lesson." Danny told her. Dirk was Mom's latest beau. He wasn't as bad as some of the others, but he was heavy handed and not too bright. Unfortunately he also felt it was his duty to teach Danny in the ways of manliness and that being smart was not manly.
"I'll make up your bed." Ellen said simply.
They ordered Pizza and Danny showed her his work while they waited for it.
Ellen shook her head in amazement smiling at Danny, who glowed with pride.
"If you change your mind about joining the police force when you graduate you could have a future in crime." Ellen joked as they sat next to each other on the soda and ate their pizza in front of the tv, making Danny laugh.
"You could move in here if you want." Ellen offered casually.
Neal didn't say anything for a minute. He loved Ellen and he didn't know what he would do if she was around. This was the only place he could relax and let his guard down. If he lived here, life would be much simpler, he could have a more normal home life, maybe even make real friends at school, people he could bring back here to his home. He thought about it seriously for a minute before shaking his head. Despite everything he loved his mom. He could never do that to her.
He looked at Ellen, trying to find the words to say how grateful he was for the offer, how he wished he could accept and the reasons why he couldn't accept but he couldn't find the words. He found his eyes tearing up. Ellen smiled at him.
"It's okay Danny I understand." She told him putting an arm around him and giving him a hug and he thought she did.
"Just know if you ever change your mind just let me know. The offer stays open, I am on your side." Ellen told him.
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Present…
Neal woke up with a pain in his head, his chest and in his arm. He opened up his eyes to see what was wrong to find a needle and drip attached to his right arm pumping some colourless liquid into his veins. He was slightly surprised to find he was not in his bed at June's but in a hospital bed as his last clear memory was of being dropped off by Peter and going to bed. His chest was aching and moving caused him to cough wetly. Peter was sat by his bed with his eyes shut, he was pale with dark shadows under his eyes. Neal thought he was asleep but he opened his eyes as Neal coughed and sat up straight.
"You're awake." He said sleepily.
"Good morning Peter." Neal acknowledged.
"I'll go find someone" Peter told him, getting up to go and find a nurse or Doctor.
The Nurse came back and took Neal's temperature and blood pressure and checked the drip, pleased with the results, before getting him settled more comfortably. She explained that he had been admitted last night with a high fever and that a chest x-ray had determined that he had contracted a bad case of pneumonia, but they had him on antibiotics and she was sure he would be better in no time. The Doctor would be around in a few hours and might even be able to discharge him today since his temperature and blood pressure were almost back to normal.
Peter didn't say much and excused himself to call Elizabeth and June and let them know that Neal was doing better.
"I'm sorry about disturbing your sleep Peter" Neal told him, embarrassed by all the fuss he had caused.
"You gave Elizabeth and June quite a fright." Peter told him. Neal heard the unspoken 'and me' in the sentence.
"I'll have to make it up to them." Neal nodded feeling awkward and exposed lying there. He felt vulnerable lying there in front of Peter, in a ward full of sick people wearing nothing but a hospital gown. The fact someone had been able to undress him without him even knowing and inject drugs into him made him feel really uncomfortable. He would be glad to get out of there and get home.
"I appreciate you waiting until I woke up, but you don't have to stay. I'll let you know what the Doctor says I can get back to work." Neal told Peter who was still more grim faced than Neal would have expected considering Neal was clearly on the mend. Surely Peter wasn't angry with him for getting sick?
"No Neal, I'll be staying to hear what the Doctor has to say." Peter told him. Something about the way Peter spoke so matter of factly, on top of the dream he had, reminded him of Ellen. His chest ached more at the thought that she was gone.
Neal opened his mouth to ask if Peter didn't trust him to tell him what the Doctor said, but closed it again at Peter's glare. He was definitely angry about something. He tried to think of a reason Peter would be upset.
"So how did I end up here anyway?" Neal asked fishing for clues.
Peter's lip thinned into a line. "You don't remember?" he asked incredulously.
Neal shook his head. He did sort of remember, in bits and pieces but he needed Peter's take on it if he was going to work out what was wrong.
The Doctor came by an hour later, he was pleased with Neal's progress and agreed to discharge him as long as there was someone at home to look after him. Neal opened his mouth to assure the doctor he'd be well looked after but Peter spoke first.
"He's coming home with me." Peter told the Doctor calmly. Neal nodded as if this wasn't news to him, figuring anything that got him signed out of here faster the better. He could talk to Peter later about going home. There were forms to be signed by the Doctor, Neal and Peter and then he was finally free.
He got dressed in the sweats and a t-shirt he had been wearing when he was admitted. He was looking forward to going home, showering and getting changed. He felt a little shaky and weak but otherwise pretty normal. It was strange to think he had been so out of it yesterday. Peter was acting very strange so Neal decided to go along with whatever he wanted for now, until he could work out what the problem was.
They got Neal checked out of the hospital and after a brief argument with the orderly about whether Neal needed a wheelchair they walked slowly out to the car in silence.
"El said to tell you she's making her chicken noodle soup for you tonight. It's delicious." Peter told Neal as they drove back, trying to improve the mood between them. Neal just nodded and rested his head against the car window. The silence broken only by a coughing fit. Neal noticed Peter's knuckles were white on the steering wheel but he didn't say anything until the coughing fit stopped and Neal was able to sit back more comfortbly.
"Do you want me to pick up anything from your apartment, clothes, books?" Peter asked as a peace offering glancing across at him, but Neal just shrugged without speaking and then shut his eyes only opening them as Peter pulled up at his house. He showed Neal into the house and told him, he would be doing some work in the kitchen, Elizabeth would be home for dinner around 7 and that he should rest until then. He turned to go to the kitchen.
Neal stood awkwardly in the living room feeling like an intruder. He'd had enough.
"Peter I appreciate you putting me up, but I'm going back to Junes. I don't want to impose." He said as He turned to leave, but Peter stormed back to the living room and grabbed Neal's arm.
"You aren't going anywhere except back to bed" He told Neal firmly.
"You worried you might lose the FBI's 'asset'" Neal asked bitterly.
"No Neal, I'm worried about you." Peter told Neal frustrated. Neal rarely showed his emotions, even when Kate died Neal didn't give much evidence of how it affected him, though Peter knew him well enough to see through the cracks. Now Ellen was gone too. Peter didn't know much about Neal's past but he could tell she was very important to Neal. It wasn't healthy to bottle up all that grief. No wonder he was sick. Why couldn't Neal open up to him? He supposed he wasn't exactly the most open of people himself, though with El's help he did try.
"I'm a grown man Peter, I think I can take care of myself." Neal told Peter coldly.
"The evidence would suggest otherwise." Peter said back snarkily, his temper rising. He took a deep breath to calm down.
"You are still a ward of the FBI in my custody and I say you are staying here until the Doctor says you are better. That's final." Peter told him.
"and if I refuse?" Neal asked curiously.
"Then I'll have to send you back to prison until you are declared fit to return to work." Peter told him trying to stay calm. There was silence between them and Peter almost wished he could have taken the threat back.
"Fine." Neal said curtly glaring at Peter. The fierce expression only slightly dulled by the fact his hair was mussed and curling over his forehead and he was still wearing his sweats and t shirt which made him look much younger than he was. Neal went up to the spare room, trying to not to feel like a sulky teenager being sent to his room. Despite everything he fell asleep while thinking about what he was going to do.