A Family
Walking through the office with Peter as they headed out for lunch, Neal was surprised to see the general get off of the elevator and enter the room.
With a quick move, Beckman tossed Neal his badge as she walked past them with a simple order.
"Bring your father, we're writing his team into your operation," then she headed up toward Hughes' office.
Pausing in surprise, Neal hadn't expected any of this when he'd reported his change in circumstances.
"Neal?" Peter questioned while the entire office followed his example of turning to Neal for an explanation.
Tapping his badge against his hand, Neal smirked at his father. "I might be more trouble than you expected when you originally took on my contract." With a nod toward his boss, he added, "My boss can attest to that."
Unsure of what he was about to learn, Peter still knew where he stood in general. "You were always worth it," he clapped a hand on his shoulder to guide him toward the stairs while reaching for his badge with his other hand out of curiosity.
Passing the badge to his father, Neal watched as he flipped it open and fingered the shield while he read the information.
Simply nodding and squeezing his shoulder, Peter passed the badge back as they reached the stairs and separated slightly for the walk up.
Once they reached the landing, Neal quietly spoke, "I hope I'm finally able to show you who I actually grew up to be."
"You've been showing me pieces all along, but I look forward to learning more about you." Peter patted his back before they entered Hughes' office to join the meeting.
Taking their seats, Neal generally listened while Beckman introduced herself, updated the FBI on his operation, and then she posed a question.
"We are allowing you to change your legal name due to your change in personal records. Would you like to publically acknowledge your family, and if so, what would you like your name to be?"
Smiling at his father, Neal knew exactly what his answer would be, "Yes, I would like my personal files to reflect Peter as my father and El as my stepmother. As for my name, I'd like it to return to a form of my birth name, Peter Jack Burke, in honor of my dad."
Beaming, Peter liked his answer, but he didn't say anything as the meeting continued.
"That's what I expected, but we needed an official answer before the paperwork could go forward."
The general continued to lead the conversation as she described what they could expect as the team would be written into the operation. When she finished, she left the office with the promise to be in touch as the paperwork came together.
Once she'd left, Neal remained in his seat while he waited for their reactions.
Giving Hughes the lead, Peter continued to sit by quietly and enjoy his thoughts on the subject.
Looking at his desk, Hughes took a few moments to absorb the information, but he seemed to accept the change easily enough. "Would you like to make the announcement to the team?"
"I think it would be accepted better coming from you. My cover role hasn't made me the most trusted person in the office." Neal acknowledged the reality of his position with the team at large.
"You might be surprised," Hughes encouraged. "The team did witness the general's entrance and reaction to you."
"Besides, you've earned at least some trust in your work with us, even if you weren't an undercover agent. At least some of the team generally trusts you, but we also know that you've appeared to pull shenanigans on us in addition to the alleged crimes that we've caught you on or suspected you of so complete trust hasn't been easy." Peter contributed to the conversation, but he was nice enough to soften his statement.
"Appeared or alleged are good word choices. I technically did the bonds by order and some of the 'shenanigans,' but I have a puffed-up reputation for many of my crimes." Neal didn't fully open up about his work history, but it felt good to remove some of his reputations.
Getting up from his seat, Hughes led the way to the landing. "I look forward to reading those official files."
"Me too," Peter clapped him on the shoulder as he got up with him to follow Hughes.
Convening on the landing, Hughes called to get the office's attention.
While everyone changed their focus, Elizabeth got off of the elevator so they waited for her to join in on the reveal.
Moving toward the stairs, she asked if she was interrupting something official.
"No, we just learned some interesting information about Neal and were about to announce it to the team," Peter informed as he motioned her to join them as a family unit.
Once Elizabeth was standing with Peter, Hughes began the announcement. "As many of you witnessed, the director of the NSA was just here to update us on Caffrey's actual government association. The short of it is that he is a ranking taskforce agent from Washington playing an alternate version of himself. Although he is involved in other operations that are beyond our clearance and need to know, we are being written into the operation for his role as Caffrey. In conjunction with that, his personal files are being moved to a form of his birth name, officially announcing Peter and Elizabeth as his parents. Due to all of this, expect there to be confidentiality forms in your imminent future, a new case will be added to our workload tomorrow, and Neal's file may be shuffling in the background as all of this occurs."
Some of the team had questions, but Hughes diverted the work-related ones until the next day. They'd be spending the day learning what had really been going on and questions would be addressed then.
As for the question about his birth name, all eyes turned to Neal.
Clearing his throat and smiling at his parents, Neal answered, "I'll be Peter Jack Burke, after my dad but with my own middle name that my mom chose. Peter called me Junior in the year he got to be around before my mom left with me, and he's resumed the nickname some since learning that I'm his son. Professionally, I'll remain as Neal George Caffrey for as long as the operation takes, but personally, I figure I can go by Junior or Jack to avoid confusion."
Then Hughes dismissed the team back to work to finish their loads for the day and to prepare for the new load that they'd be receiving next.
Going back down to the floor, they were going to take a late lunch but got stopped along the way.
"How about a picture, Junior?" Diana teased as she held up her camera.
When Elizabeth's eyes lit up, Neal knew he might as well give in. "Alright, Peter you stand to the right of El and put your hand on your hip to show your badge." Then Neal stood to the left and put his hand in his pocket to hold his jacket back and reveal his badge on his belt.
Approving how the pose had father and son mirroring on either side of Elizabeth to show their badges in a posture that was comfortable to them Diana took her photo. Then she took a few of Neal and Peter showing their badges in the same pose, but with their arms across each other's shoulders. A few with Peter and Elizabeth and Neal and Elizabeth finished her collection.
"I want copies!"
Elizabeth insisted and noted how she looked forward to seeing them.
Finally released to go to lunch, Neal teased Peter as he got distracted by a case he found on Neal's desk while he waited for the last photos to be taken. "Come on, old man. That can wait; we've got lunch to get to."
"Old man," Peter questioned as he got up, "I'm not even twenty years older than you!"
Smirking as he held the door, Neal knew the office was enjoying the situation. "One, you are close to twenty years older than I am which definitely makes you older than I am. Two, old man is a term used for one's paternal parent."
Elizabeth bit her lip in a failed effort to avoid smiling as Peter huffed and grumped a little good-naturedly. When he turned to her she just carried the tease, "He is your son." Then she kissed Peter and patted his chest where she'd braced herself to lean up to reach before she moved to lead the way through the door.
Calming, Peter still didn't like being called old, but he appreciated the family teasing.
"Nothing? Still working on a new response to me and my 'shenanigans?'" Neal teased as Peter caught up to him. He'd never heard the word used so much as he had since his early days of working with his father.
"Don't worry; I'm working on a list." Peter threw his own smirk at him as he passed.
"Oh, really?" Neal wondered what that entailed. "Is grounding on there?" He asked as they joined Elizabeth on the elevator.
"It could be, but I was thinking about mortgage fraud cases, fetching files…" Peter worked through his list of work-related disciplines before Elizabeth piped in.
"Don't forget, there are always chores too," she tried to keep a straight face, but Neal could see her reflection on the door that she was failing.
"Oh, no, neither of you are pawning Peter's chores off on me!" Neal shook his head as he exited the elevator ahead of them but he could hear their laughter behind him.
Thank you, everyone, for reading, leaving kudos, and reviewing/commenting :D
Well, this story hasn't taken long so we are back around to the end. Next week I'll post the last chapter which means that it's time to see what will come after. Since my goal is still to get through my older postings, I've copied the list of stories to choose from below. Please tag your vote in a comment/review or PM :D
-"Triple Trouble" (White Collar X Chuck) 34 chs
This is a collection of one-shots and short stories depicting the triplets James/Junior, Neal/Danny, and Bryce. It is inspired by Quinis and her stories. (Chapter/Story Titles in posting order: Clue (4 Chapters of Murder Mystery), Proud Papa and Fatherly Pride, Prison Pals and Office Buddies, Familiar Shame and Oh Brothers and Reactions, Repercussions Reappearance (3 Chapters of newly discovered triplets and tortured Neal in his brothers' stead), Chaos and Subsiding, Inspection and Inspected, The Face and Unmasked, Headache through The Party (5 chapters of deaged triplets), Mistaken Identity and Identity Revealed, Consoling The Con and Confusing The Enemy and Concluding Reunion, Files, Murder Misconception, Protection, Telepathy Troubles)
-"Cute Creative Concepts" (White Collar X Chuck) 7 chs
Per the title, these short stories are a collection of concept ideas that are explored in one-shots. (Chapter Titles: B is for Best Friends, Just A Day, Pictures, Safety's Sake, Shadowed, Sleeping, The Pizza Order)
-"Twins versus Twins" (White Collar X Chuck) - 1 chs
My series of one-shots with the twin sets Kieran and Peter with Neal and Bryce. Inspired by Quinis and her series. (Chapter Title: The Test Mix Up)