Author's Note: Okay I finally managed to update (woop)
Unfortunately I, yet again, did not have the time to edit this properly because I am very stressed right now but wanted to get this up before I have to focus on my next deadline.

CHAPTER 26

Elizabeth spent about half an hour talking to Mozzie and when she came inside she nodded, satisfied that Neal was already in the corner, before she walked into the kitchen and turned on the coffeemaker.
Drinking coffee usually managed to calm her down.

"So what did Mozzie say?"

Peter asked while getting two cups from the cupboard.
Elizabeth glared at her son, still very upset about the whole thing, and Neal seemed to notice because he quickly looked over his shoulder before he turned back to the corner, his shoulders slumping even more.

"He got Mozzie to teach him how to get the safe open, but he never told him that it was where you kept your gun. If he had known he never would have helped him."

It was at least a relief that not even Mozzie, who sometimes seemed to completely lack morals, hadn't been stupid enough to help a six-year-old get access to a gun.

"So he not only played with a weapon, he also lied to Mozzie to get it."

She said and shook her head, not at all happy with her son's behaviour.

"I told Mozzie that he's not allowed to teach Neal any more of his skills."

Elizabeth then added, raising her voice a little to make sure that the kid could hear her.
Neal turned around and pouted at her.

"That's not fair."

He muttered and Elizabeth gave him a stern look.
The two of them seemed to have a quiet face-off, both of them staring intensely at each other for quite a while before Neal finally caved and adverted his gaze.

After Neal had been in the corner for a while Elizabeth pulled him aside to have a conversation with him.
Peter was in the kitchen, drinking his second cup of coffee, but he could hear some snippets of the conversation.
Elizabeth was lecturing her son about playing with the gun, pointing out that the gun was a dangerous weapon and not a toy, while Neal tried to justify it all by saying that he knew that and therefore he had been careful when he was holding the gun.
Peter had to snort at that one because loaded or not, pointing a gun at your friend's chest was not being careful with it.
Finally he heard Neal apologize and the conversation ended but it was clear that they were still upset with each other.
Neal started to play with Satchmo while the adults started with dinner.
They eventually sat down to eat but the tension in the room was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.
Neal was upset about Mozzie not being allowed to teach him anymore of his skills, while his mother was still disappointed in him.
Peter tried his absolute best to get a conversation going but only received short, uninterested replies and they ended up eating in silence.

As evening came Neal tapped Peter's leg.
"Peter can you read me a story? I don't want mommy to do it."
Neal while giving his mother a pointed look but Elizabeth just rolled her eyes at the boy.
He looked over at Elizabeth who gave him a nod to say that it was okay before he answered.

"Sure, buddy."

Neal led the way upstairs, choosing a book before he crawled into his bed.
Peter sat down and started to read.
Halfway through a second book the boy was fast asleep and Peter tucked him in before he left the room.
Elizabeth was standing in the hallway and when Peter came out from the room, she quietly walked inside to give her child a quick kiss and whisper a good night.

"It's obvious that he's my kid."

She said as she closed the door, referring to the fact that they both were equally stubborn.

"Do you think I was too hard to forbid Mozzie from teaching him his skills?"

Elizabeth asked and Peter took a minute to think about it.
He did not approve of the skills being taught and he had questioned it several times but at the same time he had noticed how it had become something the two bonded over.
Mozzie wasn't around as much now that there were two adults taking care of Neal so he could see the importance of them still having something to do together.
He explained his thoughts to her and Elizabeth nodded, answering that she would have to think about it.

As soon as Peter walked through the door the following afternoon he knew something was wrong.
The air in the house seemed thick and Satchmo just quietly wagged his tail instead of his usual energetic greeting.
Peter walked into the living room and found Elizabeth pacing back and forth, mumbling to herself.

"Hey, everything okay?"

He asked, even if he could tell that it wasn't.
Elizabeth stopped pacing and it was clear that she was trying to control her frustration before she spoke.

"It's Neal."

She answered and Peter sighed, Elizabeth and Neal seemed to have gotten along at breakfast this morning so something must have happened between them since then.

"What happened?"

Elizabeth clenched her jaw and shook her head in disbelief before she answered.

"He stole money from his teacher and I'm not talking about a dollar or two. He took the wallet out of her pocket and took a hundred dollars."

Peter could understand her frustration.
He remembered that every time he had questioned the things Mozzie was teaching Neal, like pickpocketing and lockpicking, Elizabeth had always defended it by saying that Neal was well aware that he was not allowed to actually use these skills.
Now he had used said skills twice in the span of two days.

"And he refuses to tell me why he did it."

Elizabeth said, raising her voice.

"It might be because you're so worked up?"

He suggested while rubbing at his neck and Elizabeth glared at him for a second before she sighed, knowing that he was right.
Of course it would be hard to get the kid to talk when she was so frustrated.

"Do you mind if I talk to him?"

He asked and Elizabeth gestured towards the stairs.

"Go ahead."
She said before she turned around and walked to the kitchen, probably to grab a cup of coffee and calm herself down.

Neal was sitting on his bed, his body language witnessing about him feeling guilty.
"Hey, kid."
Peter greeted and Neal looked up and mumbled a greeting back.

"Mind if I sit down?"

He asked and Neal just shrugged his shoulders so he went ahead and sat down next to the kid.

"So let me guess, it's because of Kate, right?"

The kid didn't answer but his body tensing up while he looked down at his feet told him that he had guessed correctly.

"You want to impress her? That's why you showed her the gun and stole your teacher's money?"

Peter had quickly come to that conclusion when he thought about how Neal had chosen to show the gun off to Kate instead of playing with the gun alone.
The boy had lived in the house for a while now and had never shown even the slightest interest in the gun before but then he suddenly stole it when Kate was there.
Neal was quiet for a minute before he finally sighed and nodded.

"I want her to like me."

He mumbled and Peter smiled.
He could remember when he was around Neal's age and had a little crush on a girl in his class.
Peter had tried to impress her too, but he had tried to impress her by showing off his math skills which had actually worked until a kid named Wes had shown up and impressed her with even more advanced math skills.

"There are other ways to impress her, buddy. Ways that won't get you in trouble or make your mom."

Neal looked up at him, a skeptic look on his face.

"For example you're a great artist, you could draw a portrait of her."

He suggested and Neal let out a groan as he buried his head in his hands, frustrated that he hadn't thought of that himself.

"Of course."

He mumbled to himself before he looked up at Peter.

"I'm gonna do that. Thanks Peter."

Then the boy leaned over and put his arms around the agent, hugging him tightly.
Peter froze for a second, not at all expecting the hug, but then he smiled and put an arm around the kid and squeezed back.

"And don't forget to apologize to your teacher and your mom."

He added and Neal nodded.

"I will."

Neal got up from his bed and walked over to the desk where he had put his drawingpad and his box filled with pens, pencils and crayons.
Peter smiled at the kid before he got up and left the room.
He jumped slightly when he walked out of the room and almost collided with Elizabeth who had been eavesdropping.
She was much calmer now and even had a smile on her face.

"You make a great dad, you know?"

She said in a soft voice and gave him a quick kiss before she walked into Neal's room, ready to have a calmer talk with him.
Peter was left standing in the hallway, filled by a warm feeling caused by her words.