Whatever It Takes

Chapter 29


It took all that Neal had in him to get out of the car and walk up to Mara's front door. Peter was beside him every step of the way, his hand planted on the back of Neal's neck. Before they were up the steps, the door opened to reveal Neal's mother standing there, a tall man standing behind her. His mother smiled at him and stepped forward, holding her arms out to him.

"Neal! You're here!" She wrapped her arms around his neck, not seeming to notice that he tried to pull away from her. "Honey, this is my husband, Rick Steele. Rick, this is Neal and Peter Burke."

Neal eyed the man closely, getting a strange feeling at the way the man was staring at him. Peter and Rick shook hands before all eyes were back on him.

"It's good to meet you, Neal. Your mom's told me all about you." The man gave Neal a smile, but Neal could tell it was forced. He really didn't think he was going to like this man at all.

When Neal didn't answer, Peter spoke up, asking Mara if they could go inside and talk over a few things. Minutes later, they were all seated around the living room, Neal sitting as close to Peter and as far away from Rick and Mara as he possibly could. Neal looked around the room, noticing that it was decorated with some very nice pieces of art and furniture. Obviously, the Steeles were fairly well off.

Peter turned to address Mara right away, cutting directly to the point. "Elizabeth and I have come to care about Neal a great deal these last few months and would like to keep seeing him. I'm sure Neal would like that, too. We can pick him up and bring him back, so you won't have to go out of your way."

Mara passed a look to her husband before answering. "I don't know if that's a good idea, Mr. Burke. I think that maybe Neal needs to stay home and get to know me and my husband. I appreciate all that you did for him, but I think it's best if you just cut your ties with him. He has his own family now."

"No!" Neal yelled. "You can't do that! I want to see Peter and Elizabeth and you can't stop me."

Peter placed his hand on Neal's knee, trying to calm him down. "Neal, calm down, okay? Let's talk about this calmly." Turning back to Mara, Peter looked her dead in the eye. "I understand that you're trying to rebuild your relationship with your son, but you can't do that by taking away everything he's come to rely on. He'll resent you every step of the way, I can promise you. All I'm asking is that you let us spend some time together."

"I'll think about it, Mr. Burke." Mara's eyes had a cold look in them that made Neal recoil slightly. He remembered his mother looking at him with that same look when he was younger and it chilled him to the bone.

"Neal's tuition has already been paid at the Madison Academy and he's doing really well there. He's on the swim team and has an art exhibit coming up soon. Please allow him to continue his education there. It's a great school."

"I'll think about that, as well, although I don't know if I agree with Neal needing such a pretentious education. Public school was good enough for him before, so it's good enough for him now. For now, I just want to get to know my son again, so I would appreciate it if you and your wife would hold off on contacting him for awhile."

This time, Neal stood up in his anger. "Don't I get a say in anything? Who are you to dictate whether or not I get to talk to Peter and Beth? You think by keeping them away that I'm going to suddenly bond with you? I can already tell you that's not going to happen!"

"Sit down, Neal! Don't talk to your mother that way." Rick yelled, angrily. "You will show her the respect she deserves."

"I was showing her the respect she deserves," Neal answered.

Before the furious looking Rick could say or do anything, Peter pulled Neal down to sit next to him. "I think we all need to calm down. Neal, we've had this discussion before about respect. Please, remember what we discussed." Looking at Mara and Rick, Peter continued. "I don't think we're going to settle anything today with everyone's emotions being so ramped up, so I'll take that as my cue to leave. Elizabeth and I will be in touch with you and we will be keeping an eye on Neal."

Peter stood up and headed to the front door, with Neal following closely. Mara moved to block Neal, but stopped herself. Once out on the front porch, Peter turned back to Neal.

"Listen, bud, take care of yourself, okay? Watch your mouth and do as you're told. Keep your head down and stay out of trouble. Hopefully, it's only for a little while. Elizabeth and I will be doing everything we can to get you back, okay?"

Neal looked like a lost little boy, standing on that porch, saying goodbye to the man he was starting to think of as a father. "I don't know if I can do this, Peter."

Peter ruffled his hair and gave him a smile. "Of course, you can do this, son. You're Neal Caffrey."

With that, Peter turned and walked to his car, every step consuming a piece of his heart.


Once Peter had left, Neal nearly shut down. Mara showed him around the house, ending at the room that was to be his. Once there, Neal told his mother that he wasn't feeling well and wanted to lie down. Mara reluctantly left him and within minutes an exhausted Neal fell asleep.

Waking up hours later, Neal stayed in bed with his eyes closed; wishing with all his might that when he opened them he would be in his bedroom at the Burke's. Finally he opened them, his heart sinking as he looked around the unfamiliar room. He stayed in his room for quite awhile, until his mother finally came back up.

Dinner was a painful affair for the three of them. What little conversation there was had an underlying current of animosity that had everyone unsettled. Neal picked at his food, finding it unpalatable. It was obvious that his mother wasn't much of a cook and Neal couldn't help but compare her to Elizabeth.

Eventually, the torturous affair was over and after asking to be excused, Neal ran back up to the safety of his bedroom. No one bothered him for the rest of the night.

As he lay in bed, he wondered about how everything would turn out. He was supposed to go to school the next day, but so far Mara hadn't said anything about it. What about the swim meet they had Tuesday? What about his art exhibit scheduled for Friday night? Neal's art teacher was excited to showcase the paintings Neal had done. Rolling over on his side, he clutched the stuffed monkey Elizabeth had given him and stared at the sketch she had given him as he left. If he were still at the Burke's, Elizabeth would have already come into his room to wish him a goodnight. He would miss that.


Neal woke up the next morning, showered and put on his school uniform. Grabbing his book bag, he found his way down to the kitchen. He was surprised to find Mara already dressed for the day, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Oh, Neal, I thought you could stay home from school today, maybe come with me to the art gallery. We could grab some lunch and then maybe check out some of the schools nearby."

Neal poured himself a cup of coffee, expecting Mara to tell him that coffee wasn't good for him, like Elizabeth would have. When she didn't stop him, he leaned against the counter and slowly took a drink. "I'd rather go to school, Mara. I have a lot of stuff due this week and we have a swim meet tomorrow. If I miss class, I don't get to swim."

Mara looked disappointed at his answer, but gave him a small smile. "Okay, well, then I guess we'd better go soon. Madison is way across town, right?"

A few minutes later, they were in Mara's car, heading to school. Neal was surprised to see that she drove a brand new silver BMW. It was a beautiful car, but Neal would have given anything to be riding in Peter's Ford Taurus.


When they finally arrived at Madison, Neal was relieved to be able to get out of the car. The ride had been long and uncomfortable, with Mara chatting incessantly about everything. Once they arrived, Mara told Neal she would be there to pick him up after swim practice.

The rest of the day, Neal walked around as if he were in a fog. He was called out several times in class for not paying attention and even made Coach Tanner mad when he kept diving off the starting block too late. All in all, the day was horrible.

Once back at his mother's house, Neal's attitude quickly became a problem for Rick. It wasn't that Neal was being disrespectful; really, he was just growing tired of the kid's indifference to everything.

This routine went on day after day, causing the tension to build unbearably. Neal's swim meet on Tuesday had been a disaster, mostly because Neal had expected to see Peter and Elizabeth there, but they never showed up. Realizing this, Neal dove off the starting block too early, causing him to be disqualified. He also swam poorly during the relay, causing his team to take second place. Coach Tanner chewed him out in front of the whole team, something that Neal never wanted to happen again.

His art exhibit was much the same for him. He showed up with Mara and Rick, but kept his eyes peeled for Peter and Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been looking forward to his exhibit for weeks, so Neal knew she wouldn't miss it. As the evening wore on without any sign of them, though, Neal grew more and more depressed. No matter how well received his art was, Neal was miserable and wanted nothing more than to leave.

By Sunday, things had come to a head. Neal had wanted to call Elizabeth, but Mara told him he couldn't. They had gotten into a fairly heated argument, with neither one of them backing down, until finally, Neal lost it completely.

"I hate you," he yelled, not caring how he made Mara feel. "I hate you and I don't want to be here with you. Why did you have to come back?!"

Mara looked at him in shock, before letting her anger consume her. "How dare you talk to me that way, you ungrateful brat!" She yelled, her face turning a scary shade of purple.

Neal couldn't believe this woman. "Why wouldn't I be ungrateful? You left me, remember? You made your choice years ago. You left me and never bothered to make sure I was okay. For the longest time I thought you were dead, so exactly what am I supposed to be grateful for? That you showed up years later, ruining the one good thing I've ever had? I wish you were dead.

Neal wasn't expecting what happened next, so when his mother's hand slapped him across his face, he stumbled backward, crashing into the wall. Hitting his head on the wall, he slowly sank to the ground, shock covering his face as he looked up at his mother.

"Damn it, Neal! Look what you made me do!" Mara stepped forward and pulled Neal to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"Just leave me alone, Mara. Please!" Neal turned from his mother and escaped to his room, his cheek throbbing painfully.


If things were strained before, they were beyond strained by the time Rick came home that evening. Neal had spent most of the afternoon in his room, only seeing Mara again when he ran into her on the way to the bathroom. She tried to apologize, but Neal ignored her.

Neal heard the front door open around six o'clock and figured it had to be Rick. He and the man had had several arguments through the week, usually ending with Rick yelling furiously and Neal retreating to his room, hoping that the man wasn't following. He wondered if Mara would share the events of the afternoon with her husband, and if she did, he was scared of Rick's reaction. The man seemed unpredictable, to say the least.

Opening his bedroom door slightly, Neal was surprised to hear another male voice besides Rick's. As he listened, he couldn't help but think that there was something familiar about the voice he was hearing. Making sure he was treading lightly, Neal made his way to the top of the staircase, listening to make sure no one had heard him. The more he listened, the more he was convinced that he knew the man downstairs.

Curiosity getting the best of him, he made his way to the first floor landing and followed the voices to the living room. Making sure to stay out of sight, he peeked around a tall plant, peering into the room. Neal's stomach lurched when he saw who the familiar voice belonged to, panic settling it's fingers into him immediately. His head was swimming in shock, his heart beating frantically in his chest. What was he doing here? How did he know his mother? What did that mean for Neal?


Author's note: Well, that seems like a good place to leave off, right? Any ideas on who the mystery man is? Things aren't looking to good for our Neal, are they? The poor boy just can't get a break. So, what are your thoughts on Mara? Is she up to something or is she just not ready to be a mother yet?

I sure hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was a tough one to write, for some reason. I promise that the angst will end eventually, lol. There should be more Peter and Elizabeth in the next chapter. And maybe even some Mozzie. Thanks for reading.