Author's note: Alright, to the rude guest: 1. you're probably 12 yourself. I'm 16, I know it's murderer. I'm not stupid. I was busy and wrote it during school and didn't have time to read it. 2. don't you call me 12. Do you have a life besides going on here and posting rude reviews? Guess not. 3. Why not write your own story and then, if it sucks, I'll say the same thing. 4. if you're older than 12, then you're being such a...I really don't want to cuss on here... for posting that on here. I don't care what you think, but I have a very short temper for people like you. And I'll immediately flip off.

Anyways, to the other wonderful reviewers, here's chapter 6! And to my favs and followers. :)

Chapter 6

NPOV

Weeks had passed as Neal got stronger. He was allowed to leave the hospital, but the doctor didn't want him being alone at home. Sophia agreed with Peter, that Neal could stay with him and El.

"I have to be working at the prison everyday. I used my sick days already. I'll constantly worry and I don't El needing to drive all the way to my house to check on him. I'll call you guys and ask how he's doing. Alright?" Sophia smiled.

"Sure." Peter replied.

After Neal's papers were signed and he was dressed, they left. Sophia hugged him goodbye and gave him a kiss on the cheek. After she left, Peter walked Neal to his car. The ex con was quiet the whole time. He had fallen asleep for half the car ride, then just stared out the window for the other half. Peter could see that Neal was exhausted. Once they arrived at the Burks' house, El met them outside.

"Neal, it's great to see you out of the hospital finally!" El beamed.

Neal grinned as he returned her hug. "It's nice to be out of that hospital." he replied.

Peter grabbed Neal's bags as they walked inside. When they got inside, Neal lied down on the couch and started to fall asleep.

Peter put the bags down before meeting El in the kitchen. "He's really tired huh?" El asked.

"Yeah, the doctor gave him some pain medication before we left. He said Neal will probably be asleep for an hour or so."

"Well, I'll cook dinner during that time. He's prone to an infection?" she asked.

"Yeah, we have to change his bandages every three hours. And make sure he's hydrated, I don't want him getting an arrhythmia again."

El chuckled, "You act as if he's your son."

"He is my CI." Peter replied, smiling.

"Yes, but, usually handlers don't care this much for their CI. They just do their job and drop them off. Not worry about them as if they were their fathers or mothers."

"Alright, he's my friend."

"He's more than a friend to me, he's like my own son to me. I can never have a child, and it's far to much to adopt. I was talking with Sophia and she agreed. She said that I'm more of a mother to Neal than she ever was. She said she was always panicking and worrying that James would come back, that she never took him outside for long. She even stopped taking him to the doctors, she regretted that. It scared her when he got those arrhythmias. Even more when he ran away."

"I guess you could say Neal had a tough childhood."

"Yeah, I bet he did. I really want to know why though. Why he turned into a con?"

Peter had wondered the same thing. Neal had told him his father set him down that path, but he knew Neal had a choice. He knew the kid could stay in school and get a job. He could be a cop if wanted to, but with his record...it would be hard now.

~2 hours later~

"Neal, do you want something to eat? I can make you soup." El asked.

Neal shook his head, "No, I'm not hungry."

"Well, alright. But drink your water. I want to see that whole cup empty in an hour and no pouring it out somewhere. Or it will be back to the hospital if you have another arrhythmia." El said.

"Another? I didn't have one here." Neal replied.

"You did at the hospital. I don't want you getting another one and nor does Peter."

"Alright."

El walked back into the kitchen to finish cooking dinner. She was making Shepard's pie, one of Peter's favorites. She knew Peter would be home earlier today, since their case was closed early. He had called her thirty minutes ago. Saying he'll be home around seven. Once she got the pie out of the oven, she placed it on the stove to cool off. Questions about Neal's childhood and why he went down the criminal path kept swimming in her mind. She wanted to ask him, but she knew how much it would probably upset him. She didn't want that for him.

Peter walked into the house to see Neal staring at the ceiling. His cup of water was almost empty. He was glad about that but couldn't get rid of his concern for the young man. El walked in to the family room and hugged Peter before bringing her attention to Neal.

"Neal, are you alright?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." Neal replied, yawning.

"I have to change your bandages in an hour." she told him as she walked back into the kitchen. "You're sure you want nothing to eat?"

"Yeah, I'm really not that hungry."

"What about a few crackers?"

Neal sighed, knowing he would need to say yes to calm El down. "I'll have a few." he replied.

In less than a minute El walked back in with four crackers. "Here, lets try this much. I don't want you puking." she said.

Neal grabbed the crackers and nibbled on the first one. El frowned, but didn't say a word as she walked back into the kitchen.

While Peter and El ate dinner, Neal had fallen asleep again. "I have to change his bandages in a few minutes." El whispered.

"Yeah, do you need help?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, what injuries did he exactly get?"

"A few cuts that needed stitches, we don't need to change those bandages. A gun shot wound, and three stab wounds. He had a little infection in them, so they had to keep reapplying ointment and changing the bandages. We'll need to do this for at least two weeks. If there's a sign of the infection coming back we have to take him to the emergency room." Peter explained.

"Alright, I'm not looking forward to seeing his wounds."

"Me neither. Saw them once."

After they were finished, El grabbed the bandages and medicine the doctor gave her. She walked into the family room and gently nudged a sleeping Neal. His eyes fluttered open, "Yes?"

"I need to change your bandages." El explained.

Neal frowned, "You have to put that ointment on too, don't you?"

El nodded sadly.

"It burns though." he whined.

"I know, but it'll help the wounds heal. Plus, that infection won't come back."

"I hope." Neal whispered.

El nodded as Neal sat up. She took of his shirt and started to change the first set of bandages. Not feeling happy about needing to see the wounds that had almost killed him.

Author's note: Sorry this is a short chapter. I can't remember every single injury. I think I had three stab wounds and one bullet wound, and a very broken ankle. Oh and when I said Peter walked Neal to his car. I meant he was pushing Neal in a wheel chair to his car. Just to clear that up, in case the idiot reviewer doesn't know that. He really made me angry by calling me a 12 year old when he's probably 12 himself. And has nothing better to do but pick on my story. Would love to see him write one of his own. Again, I don't have time to re-read my chapters. I tend to write them at the worst of times. So, if people point out mistakes then I'll re-write the chapter and then re post it. :)

Here's an explanation for a few mistakes:

Mona Lisa worth more than 200 thousand dollars: Yes, I know that. But if you read my story you would actually see that Hagen had said he wanted something worth way more than 200 thousand dollars. That way, he would only give the Russians 200 thousand dollars of the money and have the rest for himself.

Spelling errors, including Murderer: I'm sorry I didn't have time to go through this thoroughly and check out all my errors. I'm not perfect and nor are you. Everyone makes spelling mistakes, even actual Authors. I've seen mistakes in the Twilight series and many other series. I bet you would have spelling errors too.

Rushing: I tend to write during the worst of times and have to hurry up and write it. I hate to keep people waiting on a chapter. Sometimes, I get excited to write a part in that chapter or story that I tend to rush it.

Sorry if I sounded rude in the beginning towards that person who called me a 12 year old and told me how to spell. I was ticked off and have such a short temper it's not even funny. Funny thing is, I was laughing so hard when I saw his/her review! Really made my day! It shows that they're blind, ignorant, and such an idiot that they can't just say it nicely and they don't think about whether or not I had time to review my own story. or if I accidently skipped over that when using spell checker. Sometimes my computer thinks murderer is not spelled right and will change it automatically. I most of the time write these on my phone and email them to myself. I wrote my last 2-3 chapters on my phone because my king soft word wasn't working during that time. Now it is. So, sorry for being mean but I'm not in the mood for people like that reviewer.