MZZB - Mozzie's Boys

From AiLE on AO3:

What do you think about a prompt where Mozzie raises the twins after he finds them on the street? It would be adorable and I would love to see Mozzie try to threaten Chuck or Peter on "taking care of his boys"/

Bryce wasn't from Connecticut. It was just another lie. He was really from Detroit. Or at least, his first memories were of warehouses in Detroit.

He had been four or five when the man who had been known as 'The Dentist' had picked him and his brother off the streets. Neal, who had been all too trusting, had called the man 'Uncle Mozzie'.

It was a habit he grew out of. Bryce was thankful for it but he knew Mozzie didn't like it.

Mozzie raised them. He insisted on school, reading and learning everything they could. He was really impressed when Neal revealed forged bus passes in order to get to school on time. He came to parent-teacher conferences and was the 'cool uncle' in almost every sense of the word.

Neither Neal nor Bryce cared that he didn't share his blood. Moz was family.

Bryce and Mozzie grew apart when the CIA had recruited him. Neal had hid as the argument reached yelling proportions.

"YOU HAVE A FUTURE! YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!"

"I CAN HELP PEOPLE!"

"IS THAT WHAT THEY TOLD YOU? WHAT ABOUT YOUR DREAMS?"

"YOU'RE JUST MAD BECAUSE YOU WANT ME TO BE A CRIMINAL!" Bryce knew that it wasn't true. But, he had been so angry that he said it and stormed out.

Bryce proceeded to lie, steal and frame his best friend for cheating. Chuck left and he was alone. For the first time in his life, he was alone.

A knock as his door, a visit from a man in a ridiculous blond wig and moustache and reassurance that while he didn't understand why Bryce chose this path, he would support him made Bryce feel so much better about it all.

"You protected your friend in the end," Mozzie said, sounding proud. "And now you'll protect as many people as you can."

Bryce was alive. It was a high-level government secret but Chuck didn't care.

"Hmm... hacking the CIA. I approve."

Chuck jolted at the voice, jumping up from the couch and clutching his laptop to his chest.

"Who are you?" he demanded to know. The little bald man didn't look like a threat but, he sort of reminded Chuck of a FULCRUM scientist.

"I'm Bryce's uncle."

"Bryce doesn't have an uncle."

"We're not related by blood," Mozzie explained with a shrug. Somehow, this didn't lighten Chuck's suspicion. Also, Casey should have been charging in here by now. "If you're wondering where your NSA guard dog is, I requested that Sarah keep him busy. She owes me a favour, you see?"

"Not really," Chuck responded. He did relax a little as Sarah wouldn't have let this guy near him if he presented a danger. "So, why are you here?"

"I came to speak to you." The man placed a card on his dining room table before taking a seat there. Chuck shuffled around the couch and took a seat across from him.

The card only had a number on it.

"What is this?"

"Bryce's contact number. The only one which will work. Completely secure."

"How did you arrange this?"

The man smiled mysteriously.

"You will be able to call him whenever you need. However, in return for this number," he continued, "you will take care of Bryce. Do not let him end up shot and dying again. If Bryce's brother gets another 'died in the line of duty' message and spy will sent to him, I will know. And I will destroy everything and everyone connected to his death."

That sounded crazy. But, Chuck looked at this man and knew he was serious.

The first question he asked Bryce when he called was;

"Who was the guy who gave me this number?"

"Oh, him?" Bryce laughed and Chuck's heart leapt at the sound. He had thought his friend dead and hearing him again was magical. "He's Mozzie."

"He threatened me." Chuck could hear the baffled tone in his voice. It had felt odd to be threatened into protecting Bryce when Bryce was normally protecting him.

"Yeah. He does that. Moz is like my dad. Taught me everything I know."

"He said you have a brother?"

"Huh. Not like Moz to let something like that slip."

"That's not an answer."

"I know."

When Neal made the deal with the FBI, Mozzie wondered where he went wrong. Somehow, he ended up with two children in law enforcement. A suit and a spy.

Peter was not surprised when he had an intruder on his weekend run.

"What do you want, Mozzie?" he asked. Neal's quirky little friend sat down and took his glasses off.

"It's simple, Suit. I've already given this warning to one before and I never thought I would have to do it again." He sighed. "Neal's mine. Whether he calls me 'uncle' or not, he's mine. My family. And I will protect him with everything I am. You better take care of him.

"Our little makeshift family can't handle any more losses at the hands of faceless G-men."

"Wow. I'm going to tell Casey you think he's faceless," a humoured voice piped up from behind them. Peter jumped up and stared at the man in a sweatshirt and slacks, his fringe damp with sweat and a smile on his face.

"Neal?" Peter questioned. But, they were outside of Neal's radius!

"No. Bryce," Mozzie corrected him, standing up slowly and facing the younger of his twins. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the same reason you are," Bryce responded. His smile dropped and he glared at Peter. "Nice to meet you, Agent Burke. I have only one thing to say; do not screw with Neal. Keep to the deal and keep him safe or you may just have to deal with me." Bryce smiled. "And I think I have enough clout to have most of your agents reassigned. Bancroft owes a friend of mine a favour and I'm sure he'd be okay using it to keep my brother safe."

Peter's mouth dropped open. Suddenly, he was very, very glad that Neal was a conman. A nice conman. A nice conman who didn't like guns or threatening people.

Because Bryce's face went dark. It was an expression of someone who had lost things, of an agent who spent too long undercover and away from his family.

Peter swore to himself that he wouldn't let Neal make the same expression ever.

"Okay," he said, "I will look after Neal. I agreed to the deal, didn't I?"

"After putting him in prison," Mozzie pointed out.

Peter looked to Bryce, who had disappeared when he looked at Mozzie.

"Neal can't do that, can he?" he asked Mozzie.

Mozzie's smile didn't put Peter at ease.

Peter also swore that he wouldn't take his eyes off Neal during the times he would be off anklet.

Peter didn't know, but he would end up breaking both of those swears. But, he stayed by Neal's side and did his best to keep Neal whole and healthy. It was more than Mozzie expected.