Author's Note:
I'm sorry that this update took so long.
I wanted to update this much sooner but unfortunately life got in the way.
I've been forced to use all my writing inspo for my uni course,which is pretty boring at the moment.
My brother also had a baby, which sadly for many reasons isn't directly a positive thing for me.
My best friend more or less abandoned me and my mental health has been at an all time low, my depression has made me sleep for 15-18 hours a day or to have completely insomniac nights.

Warning, I did both write and edit this chapter while I was severly sleep deprived so I do apologize if there are more errors than usual or if the "quality" is lower than usual.

As always, thank you for reading :)

CHAPTER 20

There was one thing that Elizabeth made very clear in her note and it was that he wasn't going to go after her, instead she wanted him to stay and make sure that the kid was safe.
Despite these very clear instructions, Peter wasn't going to just sit at home and hope that the woman he loved was going to make it back in one piece.
For all he knew Scarface or one of his men could've just been waiting to get to Elizabeth again and she had given them a perfect opportunity.
He looked down at Neal, the wobbling of his lower lip revealing how close he was to bursting into tears.

"I'm sure that your mother is fine."

He tried to reassure him but it was evident by the look that Neal gave him that the boy didn't believe him.
Neal was smart enough to understand that his mom could possibly be in danger.

"I'm going after her, alright. I'm going to see if Diana or Jones can watch you."
"I wanna come with!"

Neal protested and Peter immediately shook his head.
It was one thing to go after her despite her telling him not to, but if he brought Neal along she would be furious.

"Sorry kiddo, you're staying here where you're safe."

Peter answered and ruffled the boy's hair before he started to walk towards the stairs to get his cellphone from upstairs.

"You don't know where to look."

He stopped dead in his tracks at Neal's words, realizing that the kid was right, Peter had no idea where Mozzie used to go.
Peter turned around and saw the smug look on the child's face, he was very aware that he had the upper hand here, and he sighed in defeat.
"Fine, go and get dressed but you're explaining this to your mother."

Peter checked out place after place, while Neal waited in the car, losing his hope more and more for every place that turned out to be empty.
By the time Peter walked out of the last place, that Neal knew of, emptyhanded, they were both worried, agitated and feeling hopeless.

"Are you sure that you don't know any other place?"

Peter asked as he got into the car again but Neal didn't know anywhere else.
Defeated, they were forced to return back to the house where there was still no sign of Elizabeth.
Neal was clearly not happy with the result of the search because the first thing he did was to angrily kick the couch.

"Neal, I'm sure she's alright."

Peter repeated, even if he knew that the kid wouldn't believe him.

"I don't care. I don't care if she's alright or not!"
"You don't mean that."

Neal turned around and faced him, big tears were rolling down his red cheeks.

"She left me! She said that we don't leave each other but she left!"

He yelled before pushing past Peter and running up the stairs.
Peter sighed and sat down on the couch, feeling just as angry at Elizabeth as Neal was.
He fully understood that she cared a lot for Mozzie and that it was important for her to know the truth about him, but he could come up with a lot better options to reach Mozzie than to just leave. Even if he was a little honored that Elizabeth had trusted him enough to leave her most precious thing in the world with him, her son, he also couldn't help to be angry at her for leaving all the responsibility with him.

The two of them didn't have a good day, they spent most of the time just waiting for Elizabeth, unable to distract themselves from the worry.
They ate dinner in silence, none of them having an appetite and just ate because they had to.
Eventually it was time for Neal to go to bed and there was still no sign of Elizabeth, which made them fear the worst.

"I'll wait up for her and I'll wake you if she comes home, alright?"

Peter told Neal as he tucked the worried six-year-old into the bed and promised that if she wasn't back by tomorrow, he would get all the backup he could and look for her again.
He walked downstairs and sat down on the couch, wiping the tears away from his cheeks.
The last time he had at least known that she was alive but now he had no idea where she was or if she was still breathing and that scared him.
It didn't help that he was an FBI agent because that just made him assume the worst.
He turned on the TV, even if it was more of a backgrund noise than something that he was actively watching.

Peter jumped when he felt something touch his shoulder and he opened his eyes, realizing that he must have fallen asleep.
He looked to his side, expecting to see Elizabeth or even some bad guy pointing a gun at him but instead he saw Neal standing next to the couch.
It was obvious by the kid's shaking that he was scared and upset.

"Hey buddy, you okay?"

He greeted in a soft voice but the kid didn't answer, instead he just climbed up on his lap and leaned against his chest.
Peter put his arm around the small body and hugged him.

"I didn't mean it. I do want mommy to be alright."

The child said with a sniffle and Peter hugged him even tighter.

"I know."

Neal seemed unable to fight the tears for any longer and his sniffling quickly turned to sobs.
Peter didn't know what else to do than to just hug him and rub his hand over his back, trying not to start crying himself.
Once Neal's crying died down, the child looked up at him again.

"I'm sorry Peter, I don't hate you."

Peter gave him a small smile, he had almost forgot that it hadn't been that long since the kid had yelled at him.
At this point it was almost comical how often the kid seemed to change his mind about him.

"I'm not like them, Neal."

He said, unsure if Neal would know who he was referring to but judged by the way the kid adverted his eyes he knew.
Neal tensed up and it was clear that he was not comfortable with talking about the men that had come into their life and hurt both him and his mother.

"And I will spend the rest of my days proving it if I have to."

Peter continued and he wasn't lying, he was willing to do that, spend every day proving to Neal that he didn't need to be afraid of him, proving that he would never ever hurt him.

He must have fallen asleep again because he suddenly he was awoken yet again but this time it was by a kiss on his forhead.
He opened his eyes and saw Elizabeth standing there, looking down at him with a big smile.
Peter opened his mouth but before he had the chance to say something she hushed him and pointed next to him where Neal was lying down,fast asleep with his head on Peter's lap.
He looked around and realized that it was morning, meaning that Elizabeth had been gone for 24 hours.
It was a little tricky to get up and replace his lap with a pillow but eventually he did it and could go to the kitchen where Elizabeth was making coffee.
Before he could talk her, he had to throw his arms around her and hug her tight, just as a way to prove to himself that this was real and that she was really there.

"I'm sorry."

She said as the hug ended.

"I know it was stupid to leave but I've been talking to Mozzie and if he gets full immunity, he will tell you everything you need to know about Scarface."