Author's Note: I finally got a chapter up woop!
I'm currently reading 2 very intense university courses at once and that paired with my mental health issues has lead to me being completely burned out.
I've been wanting to update for a long time now but I've just not had the energy or mental capacity but I finally managed to do it so I'm proud of myself.

I unfortunately don't have the time to spend editing it, so I apologize for any mistakes that I've missed.

CHAPTER 20

Peter muttered quietly to himself as he failed to locate the specific brand of cookies that Elizabeth had asked for.
He could swear that the employees were moving things around just to mess with him.
After minutes of searching he finally found them and he was just about to walk back to Elizabeth when he heard a child screaming loudly a couple of meters away.
Peter wasn't sure if it was his FBI instinct or his father instinct that caused him to drop the cookies and run as fast as he could towards the screaming.
All he could think about was that something had happened to Mozzie and Neal.
His fears were confirmed when he arrived and recognized the screaming boy, who had by now been surrounded by confused adults.
An employee sat crouched by him and tried to get Neal to stop but for some reason Neal continued.
Peter pushed past the people and hurried over to the kid.

"Neal, what's going on?"

The screaming immediately ceased when Neal heard him.

"Mozzie!"

Neal said and pointed towards a door marked with STAFF ONLY.

"Did Mozzie go in there?"

Peter asked, confused on why that would make Neal scream like that.

"Bad guy."

Neal said and Peter instantly understood what has happened.

"Call the police!"

He said to the employee before he took off towards the door, mentally cursing himself for letting the kids leaving his sight.
He opened the door and rushed in only to find an empty breakroom.
Scanning the room, he saw another door which he continued through and this time he found himself on a loading dock.
He looked around but saw no sign of either the man or Mozzie.
Peter was just about to give up and go back inside when a blue Volvo, without license plates, came speeding from behind a big container, where it had probably been parked.
Peter ran down the stairs and after the car, even if he knew that there were no way he would be able to catch up.
The car quickly disappeared and Peter stopped running, swearing loudly.
He stood there for a minute, mentally berating himself for letting this happen and also dreading to go back inside and tell the four-year-old that his big brother was gone.
Eventually he had to go back inside though.
When he came back most of the people had disappeared but two employees and Elizabeth was still waiting with Neal.
Elizabeth was chewing on her lip, something she tended to do when she was anxious.
Their eyes met for just a second and she instantly understood what had happened and her blue eyes watered.
She turned around and walked away, probably to not break down in front of Neal.

"Mozzie?"

Neal asked hopefully while looking behind the agent as if his brother would emerge any second now.

"I'm sorry, Neal. They got away but-"
"NO!"

Neal interrupted before taking off towards the door but he was caught by Peter.
The agent crouched down in front of the child, who was struggling to get free from his grip.

"Neal, listen to me."

He said but Neal didn't listen, instead he continued to struggle and even tried to bite Peter but he saw it coming and could easily avoid it.

"Let go!"

Peter didn't let him go, instead he pulled the child closer to him, forcing the struggling child into a hug.

"The police is on their way, okay? They're going to help."

Neal continued to struggle for a minute or two before he finally realized that there was nothing he could do and that his brother was gone.
The boy put his arms around Peter's neck and buried his head as he started to cry.
Peter stood up, holding the child tightly with one arm before holding his other arm out for Elizabeth, who had returned by now.
He put his arm around his wife's waist as she leaned against his shoulder and sniffled quietly while she rubbed Neal's back.
It didn't take long before the store was filled with cops.
He felt like he was in a daze as the police officers swarmed around them, looking for any evidence that could help them.
An officer asked him some questions and he did his best to answer them.
It all felt so surreal and he realized that even if his job was hard sometimes, he definitely preferred being on that side of a case.
The officer tried to talk to Neal, since he was the only one who had actually seen the kidnapper, but the kid was unreachable.
Not even Peter or Elizabeth could reach him.
Eventually it was decided that they would try to get a description of the kidnapper from the kid when he was less upset.
It felt like they had stood there for hours when a hand was placed on his shoulder, causing him to jump.
He turned around and saw that Jones and Diana had arrived at the scene, both looking at him with sad, sympathetic faces.
Jones informed him that they could leave the store and that the two of them would stay and make sure to update Peter later.
He was incredibly thankful for his friends who came here on their day off and for his wife who had decided to contact them.
Peter took one last at the aisle where Mozzie had been just not too long ago, before he left together with his wife and a still crying four-year-old.

By the time they arrived home, Neal's tears had run out and his eyes were both red and swollen.
The kid just looked absolutely miserable.
The Burkes thought that they would be able to, at the very least, distract the boy but it turned out to be an impossible task.
Neal just sat on the couch, refusing to do anything else.
He even refused to eat dinner and they knew it was bad when Neal not only turned down his favourite ice cream but also when he didn't even react to Satchmo licking his hand.
Peter put on some cartoons, hoping to get Neal's attention, but as expected the kid wouldn't even look at the TV.
He sighed and ruffled the kid's hair before he went into the kitchen where he found Elizabeth silently crying.
Peter enveloped her in a hug and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"It's going to be okay, hon."

He whispered, even if he couldn't really believe his own words.
Being in the white collar department meant that he didn't have to deal with that many kidnapping cases, but he had heard several stories from other departments and he rarely heard stories with good endings.

"How are we supposed to handle this for days, maybe weeks?"

She asked before she quietly added

"What are we supposed to do if Mozzie doesn't come back?"
"Hey, don't think like that."
"Mozzie said Neal stopped talking after their mom died. What will losing Mozzie do to him?"

Peter hugged her tighter as she began crying even harder.
She had a point, the kid seemed to have a habit of retreat into himself when something bad happened.
Considering how close the brothers were, losing Mozzie would definitely change Neal forever.

When evening came they joined Neal on the couch and put on a movie, even if none of them really watched it.
The adults didn't even want to try to put Neal to bed when Mozzie wasn't here, so instead they let the kid stay up.
By the time it was late enough for the adults to go to bed, Neal had already been asleep on the couch for hours.
Peter carefully carried the child upstairs while his wife and dog followed behind him.

"Let's put him in our bed."

Elizabeth whispered when they made it upstairs and Peter didn't object.
Peter continued to their bedroom while Elizabeth went into the kids' room.
Neal was placed in the middle of the bed before Peter started to get ready for bed.
His wife soon returned with Neal's teddy and the pyjama shirt that Mozzie had worn last night, it was still carrying Mozzie's scent and she hoped that it would calm Neal.
She placed both the shirt and the teddy next to Neal before she got ready for bed as well.
Both Peter and Elizabeth struggled to fall asleep, the events of today was eating them up inside.
Peter was just staring at the sleeping child, scared that if he took his eyes off of him for even a second then he would disappear too.
It took almost an hour before his exhaustion won over the worry and he finally drifted off to sleep, but he was only allowed to sleep for a couple of minutes before he jolted awake again.
A nightmare had caused the kid to awake with a scream and now he was sitting up, sobbing loudly.
Peter tried to calm him down while Elizabeth turned on the lamp on the bedside table, none of them had thought about Neal's fear of the dark.

"Mozzie. Want Mozzie."

Neal said in between his sobs and the adults looked at each other, both of them at a loss of what to do.
Elizabeth suddenly remembered the shirt and gave it to Neal.
It took a couple of seconds for the boy to recognize it but once he did he grabbed it and hugged it tightly to his chest.
It was a combination of the shirt and Elizabeth's singing that eventually got Neal to drift back to sleep.

The next the Burkes were absolutely exhausted and they imagined that this is what parents of newborns felt like.
Neal had continued to have nightmares and every single one of them had led to him waking up with a scream and him begging for his brother.
It had taken them around half an hour to get him to sleep again only for him to awake again a while later.
Even Satchmo seemed to be sleep deprived since he didn't even react to the squirrel that ran just in front of them on their morning walk.
When they arrived inside Satchmo immediately walked up the stairs, probably to go to his dog bed and sleep.
Neal was sprawled out on the couch, fast asleep, while he heard Elizabeth in the kitchen.
The smell of fresh coffee was in that moment the loveliest smell in the world and he hurried towards the coffeepot.
None of them had the energy to make a more advanced breakfast so they settled on just having some cereal.
They had just finished eating, and was enjoying their second cup of coffee, when Neal woke up, for once not screaming.

"It's breakfast time, honey."

Elizabeth said but the kid stubbornly shook his head, yet again refusing food.
The Burkes looked at each other, not sure what to do, they couldn't let the boy go without food for much longer but they didn't want to force him either.
After a few minutes of thinking, Elizabeth came up with something that would help.

"You need to eat, sweetie. You want to be strong and full of energy when Mozzie comes back, right?"

Neal seemed to consider this for a second before he finally got off the couch and walked over to the table.
As Elizabeth poured some cereal for Neal, the child looked up at Peter.

"When?"

He asked and Peter didn't need any further clarification to understand what he was asking.

"We're going to find him soon, I promise."

Peter answered before he glanced over at his wife who gave him a sad look, both of them knowing that there was a chance he couldn't keep that promise.

After eating a whole bowl of cereal, Neal grabbed his drawing pad and a box of coloured pencils and sat down to draw.
The adults smiled at each other, relieved that the kid was no longer just sitting on the couch and refusing to do anything.
While Elizabeth sat down to go through something for a client, Peter walked outside to call Jones.
It had been decided that they were allowed to help the police with the case but unfortunately the other agent didn't have anything to come with.

There had been no other witnesses, the man had been caught on the cameras but had been able to hide his face in every single frame and there was no evidence on the scene.
The only thing they really had right now was a four-year-old witness who barely talked.
Peter ended the call and walked inside again, by now Satchmo had joined them downstairs and was practically inhaling the wet food that Elizabeth had served him.
The agent walked over to the couch and sat down before turning the TV on.

He found a game that ended up being more of a background noise while he got lost in his thoughts.
Suddenly small fingers tapped his leg and his thoughts were abruptly interrupted.
He had no idea how long he had been lost in his thoughts but he needed a second to orient himself before he looked at the one who had disturbed him.
Neal was standing there, patiently, while he had a paper clutched to his chest.

"Do you want to show me your drawing?"

Peter asked while being reminded of the drawing he had received the first time he had met the brothers.
Neal nodded and handed him the drawing.
This time he wasn't met by a portrait of him but instead an angry looking man who had his arms around a smaller figure.

"Who's that, buddy?"

Peter asked, even if he already knew the answer.
There was no doubt that the smaller figure was his older brother.

"Bad man."
"Is this the man who took Mozzie?"

He asked just to be certain and Neal nodded while Peter sat up straighter before examining the drawing closer.
Despite Neal's art skills, it was still a child's drawing and nowhere near a police sketch but the drawing still gave him some information like the fact that the man had green eyes, blonde hair and a stubble.
Peter got his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text to Jones and Diana before he got up.
He told his wife that he was going to the bureau, going through every single potential suspect to see if anyone matched.
Elizabeth gave him a kiss and wished him good luck before he went to put his jacket on.
When he grabbed his keys, he noticed that Neal was standing in the doorway, anxiously looking at him.

"Helped?"

He asked and Peter walked over to the kid and crouched down in front of him.

"Yes, you did a great job with this drawing and it's going to help us find your brother."