A/N: Thank you for your patience! I know that it took me long to update, but real life is crazy! Plus, my eyesight is getting worse and I'm not allowed to write as much as I would like. No way I'm abandoning this story, so don't worry! Anyway, thank you for your support and fantastic reviews! I was working hard on this chapter, so hope you'll enjoy it!

I don't own 'White Collar'. Reviews and all of the readers are loved!

There is no punishment in life, but consequences

While Neal was on his way to the safe place with the painting, the house was surrounded by police cars. Federal agents were storming into the building.

Peter was almost happy. Finally they got enough evidence to arrest Hound and his band. They were suspects in many cases, but at least FBI could get them for possession of stolen property. The only thing which was bothering the agent was Neal. Peter knew he snuck out of the window and...

That moment Peter saw a familiar short guy in glasses leaving the territory of the building. Wait a minute... That was Neal's friend, the one who called Peter. What was his name again? Haversham.

Peter wanted to follow that guy, but, unfortunately, there were more important things to do. A little more than half an hour later, Hound and his band were taken into police custody and agent Burke was free to do his own business. Peter wasn't sure if he would be able to find Haversham, or whatever his name was, but still went the direction he saw the bold guy retreated. A few minutes later Peter saw the door of one of the houses opening and two men coming out. The agent stopped and listened carefully. Soon he was able to hear the voices and figured out that they were coming his way. As soon as Peter heard Neal's voice, he wanted to jump out of the corner, grad the teenager's ear and drag him home. But he forced himself to calm down just in time to hear Haversham's voice.

'You know the Chinese curse. May you live in interesting times.'

'You know that's the first of two curses.' said Neal. That second Peter was struggling to stay calm.

'What's the other one?'

'May you find what you're looking for.' replied Neal. That was when Peter decided that he heard enough.

'You forgot the most important part.' he said, walking from around the corner. 'May you come to the attention of those in authority.'

Neal quickly turned around to see Peter standing right in front of him with hands on hips, his face turning the dangerously dark shade of red, which could only meant one thing. Trouble. Mozzie also understood what was about to happen and was deciding on whether he should run right that second, or at least try and help Neal, if that was possible.

'Peter! It's a nice evening for a walk, don't you think?' said Neal, putting a charming smile on his face. Which was a wrong thing to do, as Peter's face turned terracotta red.

'Evening? Have you seen what time is it, Neal? You were supposed to be in bed three hours ago!' said Peter, trying his best not to shout.

'Peter...'

'No. Save it, Neal. You'll have enough time to explain.' said the agent and made a move to grad Neal's arm.

'OW! OW! OW! Peter, you're hurting me!' cried the teenager.

Peter's hand stopped in midair. He glanced at the young con disbelievingly.

'I haven't even touched you yet!' exclaimed Peter.

'He hasn't touched you, Neal.' said Mozzie, who was standing frozen the whole time. 'I'm the witness here.'

Neal stopped his cries and glanced at Mozzie. Peter put his hand on Neal's shoulder and turned around.

'Don't think I'm done with you!' he said, pointing at Mozzie.

'I can't say that it was nice to see you again, suit. But I have to go.' answered Mozzie and went away.

Peter walked Neal to the car, which was parked a couple of blocks away. When he opened the door, Neal quickly sat down, making the right decision not to irritate the agent further. The ride to the Burkes' house was silent. Neal wasn't making any attempts to speak, because he saw how angry Peter was. His face was still red, his jaw was clenched and he was gripping the steering wheel like it was some sort of a gym apparatus.

Finally Peter stopped the car and went out. He made his way to the house with Neal following, when he remembered that he left some packages in the car.

'Neal, I left the vegetables El asked for in the car. Could you get them?' he asked, still gritting his teeth.

The teenager nodded and bent down to take the packages. Peter saw a ball on the ground and deciding to let some steam out, he kicked it. The ball hit the gates and bounced back, flying directly at Neal.

'Ouch! Peter! This time you did hit me! And with a ball!' shouted Neal. 'Right in the ass!'

'I... it wasn't... I'm sorry. I was so angry and this ball... It wasn't intentional.' said Peter, feeling much better and not sorry at all. Peter knew that he could never actually hit the kid, but thought about practicing that kick.

Elizabeth was waiting for them and saw the whole scene from the window. She never saw her husband that angry and wondered what was it all about. Surely it wasn't only because Neal decided to go for a walk in the middle of the night.

A few minutes after the 'ball accident' the front door opened. It was evident that Neal still had a grudge against Peter as it was written all over his face. And Peter was still angry. He ordered Neal to sit down and stormed into the kitchen to put the packages.

Neal reluctantly sat down, praying that there weren't any more balls in the house.

'Sweetie, what happened?' asked Elizabeth, sitting beside the teenager.

'Peter is just being over dramatic, Elizabeth.' said Neal, looking her in the eyes. 'It wasn't a big deal...'

'Wasn't a big deal?!' roared Peter, coming from the kitchen. 'What were you doing there, Neal?'

'I was just...' started the young con.

'Don't you dare lie to me saying that you were just walking!' shouted the agent. 'I know you were in that mansion!'

Elizabeth saw that Peter was out of control and decided to stop him before it became too late. She glanced at Neal, who was staring at Peter, and stood up.

'Honey, I think your discussion can wait till the morning. You are both tired and need to calm down.' said El, putting her gentle hand on Peter's back. Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

'You.' he said, pointing at Neal. 'Bed. Now.'

The teenager didn't wait to be told twice. And hurried to his room. He was grateful that El stopped that volcano from eruption. And did Peter really know that he was a that house? If so, he wouldn't have let him get away...

As soon as Peter heard the bedroom door shut, he sat down on the coach and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Elizabeth brought him a cup of tea and silently sat down. She waited until Peter relaxed a bit and was ready to talk.

'What did he do?' asked El.

Peter took a deep breath again and told his wife everything that happened. When he finished the story, he was angry again.

'And did you see him, El? No regret! Maybe he is sorry, but not for what he did, but because he was caught! I swear, El, I will tear his ears off!' at this point Peter was close to shouting.

'Peter! Calm down.' said Elizabeth. This time they heard the steps on the stairs.

'Neal! Come here!' barked Peter. When there was no movement, the agent began counting.

'One. Two. Don't make me come to three.' At that moment Neal decided to leave the mystery of what would happen at "three" unsolved, and came down to face the music. He half expected Peter to carry out his threat of tearing Neal's ears off, but much to the teenager's relief he didn't. Instead he was sitting with one of his slippers in his hand. When Neal came near enough, Peter pulled him closer and took his hands. Peter looked Neal in the eyes. The next phrase that came out of the agent's mouth was said calmly, but rather sternly.

'If I ever catch you eavesdropping again, I will not hesitate to use it.' said Peter, shaking the slipper in front of Neal's nose. 'Am I clear?'

'Yes.' replied the teenager, wondering if it was just an empty threat.

'Good. Go to bed.' answered Peter. He didn't want to admit it, but he was tired and in no shape or mood to argue and shout. All he needed right now was some sleep. And more of El's tea.

Morning came too quickly, much to Neal's disappointment. He really hoped that Peter had enough time to calm down. Not that he was afraid of the man, but last night he was a little bit... intimidating, to say at least. When Neal came down he hear Elizabeth's soft laugh. At least she was in a good mood. Then the teenager went into the kitchen. Peter was talking with El and also seemed to be in better spirits than the previous night. It was a few seconds later when Neal noticed that Peter was wearing his suit.

'Good morning.' said Neal, sitting down at the table.

'Good morning, sweetie!' replied El.

'Morning.' grumbled Peter.

'Peter, I thought we didn't have to go to work on Saturday.' began Neal.

'I have some business to take care of in the office.' said the agent, drinking his coffee. 'And you are not going anywhere. You're grounded for a long time. But we'll talk about it when I get back.'

'WHAT? You can't...'

'Oh, don't tell me what I can and can't do, Neal! You knew what would happen if you broke the rules, but you decided to ignore that. We'll talk about that as well. But now eat your breakfast.'

After that Peter left and Neal was sent to his room. He tried talking El out of his punishment, but she was on Peter's side. Neal sat down and started thinking. What should he say to Peter? How much does the agent know?

A couple of hours passed rather peacefully with Neal sitting in his room and Elizabeth working. Then Satchmo ran to the door and started barking. Elizabeth stood up and went to the window. Near their house was standing a short guy. He went up the stairs and raised his hand to knock, but hesitated and lowered his hand. Then he raised the hand again, but didn't knock. Instead, he turned around and started coming down the stairs. Elizabeth was amused by the whole scene and opened the door.

'Did you want anything?' she asked.

'Um, no... I think I got the wrong address...' said the bold guy. Elizabeth looked at him skeptically.

'I can tell that you are one of those people who doesn't get wrong addresses.' replied Elizabeth. 'Come on in.'

Finally the visitor decided to come in. El closed the door and gestured to sit down.

'I guess you're one of Neal's friends, right? What's your name?'

'Haversham.' El raised her eyebrow. 'Mozzie. You can call me Mozzie, Mrs Suit.'

'And you can call me El.' answered the woman and smiled.

Neal heard that someone came and decided to check who it was. As he was making his way to the door, he remembered Peter's slipper. So he went to the stairs and asked.

'El?'

'Neal, go to your room. It's just one of my clients.' was the reply. Neal decided wisely not to get in hot water with Elizabeth and did as he was told. Besides, he had enough things to worry about... One of his concerns was Peter and their unfinished conversation. But there was also Adler and the forgery. How much Neal wanted to get his hands on that painting!

Meanwhile Elizabeth and Mozzie had a nice chat, and El's new acquaintance began talking about the purpose of his visit. Neal.

'Don't worry about him.' said Elizabeth. 'But, Mozzie, I want to ask you for something.'

'Go ahead, Mrs Suit. If it's in my power, I'll do it.'

'You're Neal's friend and you have to understand. We can't allow him to get involved into any criminal activity. Mozzie, please, do what you can to stop him.'

'You know what they say, Mrs Suit. It's not about what you can do, it's about what you will do.' said Mozzie, standing up and heading to the door.

'Then do it, Mozzie. Do it for Neal. He needs our help. He needs his friends and family.'

At those words Mozzie stopped but didn't turn around and kept silent. He stood there for a few seconds, said good-bye and left.

An hour later after Mozzie's departure, Peter arrived home. He was interrogating Hound and his men, and one of them mentioned that there was one painting missing. It was a forgery with no particular value...

After a brief conversation with El, Peter called Neal downstairs. Neal took his place on the coach, expecting lightening and thunder. But Peter was calm and focused.

'Neal, what were you doing in the middle of the night walking down the street?' asked the agent.

'Me and my friend, we were just wa...'

'Don't even start.'

'Peter, what do you expect me to say?'

'I want the truth and you know it. I know you were in the Hound's mansion. What in the world were you doing there?!' asked Peter, trying his best to remain calm. 'Think well about your answer, Neal. You'll find yourself in deep trouble if the next thing coming from your mouth is another huge fat lie.'

'Fine. Some people asked us to observe.' said Neal.

'To observe?' asked the agent.

'Yeah. You know... They wanted to know if there were any cameras, when the Hound left the house, how many guards he had... That kind of stuff.' was Neal's reply, which wasn't a direct lie, because they really observed at first.

'Who asked you to "observe"?'

'I don't know them. My friend...'

'Mozzie?'

'Yes. How did you know his name?' asked Neal, surprised.

'It's my job to know. Why did you agree?'

'I... well, I needed some money.' lied the young con.

'And you couldn't ask me for money?'

'You wouldn't give me that much...' was Neal's answer.

'How much did you need?'

'Three hundred bucks...'

'Three hundred? What for? Neal?' asked Peter, close to shouting.

'Um... you see... there is this girl. Kate. I like her and her birthday is soon. I wanted to give her something special...' began explaining Neal.

'She has expensive tastes, your Kate! But she's the last of my concerns for now. Did you take anything from the Hound's mansion, Neal?;

'No.' answered the teenager.

'Neal, if you're lying...'

'I didn't take anything, agent Burke!' snapped Neal.

'Fine. Let's pretend that I believe you. I'm sure it wasn't the only night you spent "observing". Am I right?'

'Yes.' replied Neal, not daring to look Peter in the eyes.

'How many times?'

'This whole week...' said Neal.

Peter sighed. How could he miss it? And what was he supposed to do?

'Neal, what did I say about your shenanigans?' Peter asked after a few minutes.

'That I would be in huge trouble if you found out about any of them.' mumbled Neal with his eyes still glued to the floor.

'Right. Any other rules you've broken lately?'

'Not going anywhere without telling you...'

'And what about lying, Neal?'

'Peter, I didn't...'

'So that wasn't a lie when you pretended that you spent all night in your room, when in fact you were pulling out of your criminal stunts?' asked Peter in a calm but rather stern voice. When he got silence in reply Peter took a deep breath, for what it seemed the hundredth time in the last ten minutes.

'That's what I thought, Neal. Have you any idea how worried we were when we opened the door and saw that you were gone? Elizabeth had a break down. I almost had a heart attack!' said Peter.

That moment Neal decided to glance at the agent, and immediately regretted, as the sudden wave of guilt washed over him. Peter wasn't angry any more. He was worried, concerned and disappointed. Since when did Neal care about what other people thought? And when has he started to worry about disappointing the fed? The teenager wished the earth would swallow him right that second.

'Neal, look at me, please.' when the teenager looked up, Peter continued. 'You leave me no choice, Neal. You are grounded for three weeks. That means no TV, no computer, no going out anywhere. And give me your phone.'

'Peter, please...' started the young con.

'Neal.'

One word. How could one word change things? Neal looked at the floor, defeated. Then he reached for his phone and handed it to Peter.

'This is serious, Neal. It's not only about me and my rules. Those people are dangerous. If you have anything else to add to your story, I will hear you out.' said Peter and went closer to Neal. He looked him in the eyes and said almost in a whisper. 'I know that you're hiding something and I will dig until I find what it is.'