A very short, but emotional one this time. :)
"You're taking me to a safe house? Just the two of us?", Neal sat in front of Peter at the breakfast table.
The agent leaned on the back of the chair in front of him.
The boy's hair was unkempt, he was still in his pyjamas. Peter recognized once more how young and skinny he looked.
He nodded and smiled.
The kid frowned.
"What about Elizabeth? As long as you are with me, she won't be safe either, no matter where we are."
"Don't worry. She'll be safe, too. The guards in front of our house will stay as long as she stays here and she'll visit her parents for the extended weekend.", Peter sat down, pushed a bowl and a packet of cereals in Neal's direction, who reluctantly helped himself, but then pushed the dish aside and met Peter's eyes.
"What do we do there? In the safe house, I mean." Peter hesitated, cleared his throat.
"You know I have to ask a lot of questions."
Neal nodded. "And you thought in a surrounding like that, without the possibility to escape you, I am more accessible.", he stated dryly.
Peter started to speak, but Neal raised his hands and interrupted him.
"Just kidding, Peter. I know you have to and it's part of the deal. It's all right. And I don't really like your interrogation rooms, so that's fine.", he managed a smile. "But I really don't think you should leave your wife behind. You both would be so much safer without me around."
Peter raised his brows. "Who's in charge?", he said mockingly and was rewarded with a half-smile.
Peter pushed the bowl back in Neal's direction. "The one in charge now decides that you have to eat something first. After that I would suggest a shower. Can you do that on your own?"
Neal laughed out loud. "Yeah, thanks. I feel way better than yesterday. And I would like to use the bathroom without an agent watching me. I promise, I won't steal your soap."
Peter grinned. "All right. I'll take all necessary precautions and we'll leave the house by noon, I guess. And Neal, before we go, I would like to call a doctor for a proper check-up…"
Neal straightened up and was about to protest. Peter raised his hands to calm him down.
"I just don't trust this prison doctor. I know you don't want anybody to come too close, but it's necessary in this case. I will not be argued with on that point, kiddo."
Neal glanced over, a flicker of betrayal visible again, then lowered his eyes, with a strained expression and nodded.
Later that morning, Neal went down the stairs after the doorbell rang.
He felt exhausted after the shower but tried to hide that as best as he could.
When he reached the living-room doorstep, he stopped indecisively. He could see a gray-haired stocky man in a plaid jacket, making conversation with Peter.
The agent recognized his presence and smiled.
"Come on in, Neal. This is Dr. Archer."
Neal tried to hide his mistrust and smiled. He went inside slowly and willingly shook the older man's hand.
"Hello Neal, it's nice to meet you! Let's take a seat."
Neal sat down on the sofa with Peter, while Dr. Archer took a seat on the armchair in front of him. He watched the boy in front of him closely.
"No need to be nervous, young man. Just try to relax. I do not bite!", he said with a warm smile.
"No offense, I'm just getting tired of doctors.", Neal said with a sideway glance towards Peter. "And I don't really like being touched.", he added quietly.
The doctor continued to smile. "I will keep that in mind. I just try to explain what I'm about to do, and we'll see if that's okay for you. Deal?"
Neal nodded with another sideway glance in Peter's direction.
"So, let's just get it over with. Do you want Agent Burke to leave the room?"
Neal hesitated, then shook his head and took a deep breath.
"No, it's fine."
Dr. Archer nodded again.
"Well, then, how are you feeling right now, Neal?"
The kid shrugged.
"I'm all right."
Peter cleared his throat and their eyes met for a moment. He looked at his charge promptly. Neal sighted.
"A bit tired… they gave me a strong sedative in prison. And my chest is a bit sore. But over all I'm fine!", he affirmed.
Dr. Archer nodded again.
"I would like to examine a few basics first. Maybe you could take a step back, Agent Burke?"
Neal felt his body tensing up while Peter sat down in another armchair. Dr. Archer went over and sat down right in front of Neal.
"May I touch your face?", he asked.
Neal nodded reluctantly and the doctor checked his eyes, ears and mouth.
"All right, would you take of your shirt now?" Neal hesitated.
"Come on, kiddo. We've been over this.", Peter said, trying to hide his eagerness.
The doctor raised his index finger in his direction to stop him, but his look remained on Neal.
"It's all right, young man. I won't do anything you don't want me to do.", he said soothingly.
Neal reluctantly began to take off his shirt. He shivered slightly, receded a little. Dr. Archer remained calm and just considered the wounds from a distance.
"These scars look pretty nasty. I suppose they're infected. I'll prescribe an antibiotic. Do your ribs hurt?"
"A bit. When I breathe.", Neal admitted quietly.
"Anything else?"
"I just feel a little stiff and tired. Nothing too bad.", Neal avoided both men's eyes now.
"All right then, I'll prescribe a few pain killers, too. And I would like to see you next week for another check-up.", Dr. Archer smiled again.
Neal looked stunned.
"That was all?"
The older man chuckled.
"Yes, we're done for today. But I would like to talk to Agent Burke in private. Maybe you could leave the room for a minute, Neal?"
The boy nodded eagerly, more than happy to escape the situation.
"Thanks, Dr. Archer. I'll go upstairs, Peter. With your permission?", he said mockingly.
Peter smiled and nodded. "Off you go!"
When Neal had left, the expression on the doctor's face became serious.
"Agent Burke…I don't know what this kid went through, but I'm pretty sure that we're dealing with serious psychological issues. I suppose you noticed how he tenses up at the very thought of being touched, he almost looked like a trapped animal. He is incredibly strained and obviously traumatized and as long as he's not able to process what happened to him, every time we force him to go through something he can barely endure, we run the risk to retraumatize him. I'm fully aware that there are situations in which you, as an agent, are not in the position to preserve his boundaries, but you should do that as often as possible. Especially if you're interested in earning his trust. And if it's not possible, you should ask him how to do it, so that it doesn't feel like a complete loss of control. Right now, there's no need to examine him further, because what he really does need are some medics, sleep, good food and positive attention. But as I said, I would like to see him again next week, to see what else may do him some good. Make sure he gains some weight. And maybe you can manage to take a look at his chest. The wounds don't look good."
Now Peter was stunned.
"You were able to see all these things in such a short time?"
"Well, it's pretty obvious in this case and I could take a look at some of his files. What we have here is a severely disturbed teen. You can almost see the walls he has built up around himself."
Peter rubbed his eyes. "My wife said something almost similar this morning. Gosh, it makes sense. All these things he couldn't control. The prison doctor even fixed him to his bed. And he used to live like a prisoner in his former life, too."
Dr. Archer nodded and stood up. "Inner wounds, like the ones we have here, tend to heal very slowly. But they do. With much patience and even more stamina. He needs a stable person in his life right now."
Peter, still bewildered, shook his hand, thanked him and accompanied him outside.
After that, he just sat down on the sofa to think for a while.
How should he treat the kid? How would it be possible to keep his boundaries but still question him, like he had to do?
A few hours later, he sat in an inconspicuous car, that wasn't his own. Not that his taurus was in any way conspicuous, but it was part of the safety concept, so they swapped cars in a backyard and a police officer would drive his taurus back home.
They were accompanied by Jones in another car and took a complicated route to reach the safe house.
Neal sat next to him on the passenger seat, without saying a word.
"I'm sorry.", Peter suddenly said. Neal, obviously deep in thoughts, turned around and blinked a few times.
"What?"
"I said: I'm sorry!", Peter repeated.
"Sorry for what?", Neal frowned.
"What happened in the last few months. What the doctors did to you. What I did to you."
Neal seemed even more confused now.
"It wasn't your fault.", he simply said.
"Well, not all of it, but after all you went through, you definitely deserved something better.", Peter replied.
"You did nothing wrong, Peter.", Neal insisted.
"Oh yes, I did, kiddo. But I didn't know any better."
Neal frantically shook his head now.
"I suppose I would be dead if it wasn't for you." He seemed annoyed now. "Is this because of something Dr. Archer said to you?"
Peter hesitated.
"He pointed some things out, yes. And I think he's right."
Neal leaned back in his seat and sighted.
"I don't want to be treated like that, Peter. I'm responsible for what I did and well… my former life wasn't ideal, but you always have a choice. I don't want to be handled with kid gloves. Please, I want to be myself again. I want to be done with these things.", the kid had angry tears in his eyes by now.
"It's important to process the things that happened to you, kiddo.", Peter answered gently.
"That's my business, isn't it? You're the FBI Agent and I'm the criminal. All you have to do is interrogate me, arrest Keller and after that I will be punished. You'll be able to go on with your life and I'll just disappear. It's as easy as that."
Peter sighted again. "Do you really think that, kiddo?"
"Think what?", Neal fired back frantically.
"That I could just leave you behind, after all we both went through."
The kid didn't answer for a few minutes, staring out of his window.
"I wish you could.", he then whispered.
"I don't.", Peter replied.
Neal turned to face him, his features harsh now.
"I don't want to deal with my past and stuff anymore, Peter. Before all this … mess, I felt strong and independent. I don't like myself right now. That's not me. I'll do whatever necessary to get out of here. I'll help you with what I know. I'll do whatever it takes to arrest Keller. But that's all. Not even Agent Burke can force me to deal with my demons. I'm sorry."
Peter knew instantly that, right now, unintentionally, he went too far again.