CHAPTER 9

Neal swung his legs back and forth as he drew a dog on the paper that one of the agents had provided for him. The agent, named Jones, had thought it was a good idea to give him the paper and a pen so that he would be occupied while they talked to each other. Neal could see them through the glass, talking to each other. He wished he knew what they were saying, but they were talking too fast for him to even try to read their lips.

The door opened and one of the agents stepped in. The one that had found him in his prison. Neal had been clinging on to the man all the way to the bureau, he hadn't even let go of the man in the agent had tried to put the child down but Neal had cried and screamed until the man relunctantly sat down in the backseat with the boy still clinging to him. He hadn't let go of the agent until they reached the conference room and Neal was absolutely sure that he was safe.
The man sat down opposite him and looked at the boy, that hadn't said a word since he was found.
"My name is Peter, what's yours?"
He tried but received no answer from Neal, who just continued to draw his dog. He heard Peter sigh tiredly before checking his watch. Neal didn't know what time it was but it was pitch black outside and he guessed that it was late evening or even the middle of the night.
"That's a nice dog you've got there, what's his name?"
Neal had a hard time ignoring that. His mother always used to love his drawings and ask questions like that, she was always interested in what he created. It had been a long time since someone cared about his drawings, of course Mozzie did but he had only cared about how good it was and not about what exactly he created or why.
"Sacchmo"
He mumbled, not really being able to pronounce the name, while continuing adding the finishing touches to the dog's face. Once he was finished he looked up at Peter and he saw that the man looked slightly confused.
"Did you say Satchmo?"
He asked and Neal nodded.
"Well that's funny 'cause I've got a dog named Satchmo. Wanna see him?"
Neal nodded again, more eagerly this time. He had always loved dogs.
The man reached into his pocket and retrieved a wallet and opened it. He picked up a picture and handed it to Neal.
Neal grabbed it and looked down at the picture closely. It wasn't the dog that got his attention though but the dark haired woman sitting beside the dog.
He remembered her, the woman he had met that chilly evening, the woman who reminded him so much of his mother.
He dragged his thumb over the woman's face, something Peter seemed to notice.
"That's my wife, Elizabeth, she's beautiful isn't she?"
Neal looked up at the agent, for a second he had gotten completely lost in the photograph and forgotten that he was even there.
"I met her"
"What?"
"I met them"
He picked up his drawing and held it next to the picture
"It's the same Sacchmo"

Peter placed his hands on his hips as he walked towards Jones and Diana. Their conversation ended as they saw their boss and Jones was quick to get an update.
"So how did it go?"
Peter shook his head slightly
"The kid won't even tell me his name. Although he was happy to talk about my dog"
His colleagues looked amused at this
"Apparently he met both my dog and my wife before"
"Really?"
"A while ago El talked about meeting a boy that said his father was in our neighbour's house. El couldn't sleep that night, said she had a gut feeling that something was wrong. She talked to the neighbours the next day and they had never even heard of the boy"
Jones peered over Peter's shoulder and looked at the boy who was staring at them with curious blue eyes.
"You think it's the same kid?"
"Well there's only one way to find out"

Neal quickly lowered his head when Peter walked into the room, he didn't want to make it obvious that he was watching them. He had learned the hard way that adults didn't like it when kids eavesdropped or put their noses where it didn't belong.
"You're sure you don't want to give me your parents names?"
Peter asked but Neal remained quiet. He couldn't tell Peter that he didn't have any parents because then he would be sent back to the foster system and he couldn't take that.
"Well it's getting late and I'm guessing it's way past your bedtime. So I'm going to take you with me for the night, because we can't leave you here alone now can we?"
Neal wanted to disagree, this office was very nice compared to what he was used to but yet again he couldn't voice his thoughts, it would only cause alarm for Peter and he would understand that he was an unwanted child, that needed to go back to the system.
"So you will be staying at my house tonight and then tomorrow a nice lady will come and talk to you alright?"
Neal knew exactly what Peter meant by that, he had been told the same thing by one of the police officers that day when his mom left him. The nice lady hadn't been nice, she had faked her smile, she had been very boring, she had smelled really bad and she had taken him away from his home.
The lady would recognize him and take him back and place him in another awful home.
He wanted to protest, to cry, scream or just run away but instead he just nodded. He couldn't escape, not now but he couldn't go back either, not after he ran away to avoid getting hurt.
Peter looked satisfied with his nod, unaware of what was going on inside the child's head. When Peter grabbed his hand Neal didn't protest.

Neal was quiet the entire car ride, his young mind was busy trying to form a plan to avoid going back. He didn't even notice that the car stopped until he heard Peter clear his throat and when he looked up he recognized the neighbourhood.
Neal followed Peter into the house and was immediately greeted by the golden dog. The dog practically threw himself at the young boy who fell to the floor.
Peter groaned at the dog tipping the child over, not wanting to deal with a crying child in the middle of the night but luckily seconds after falling down the boy started to giggle as the dog licked his face.
Soft footsteps could be heard descending the stairs and as Neal looked up he saw the dark haired woman standing at the bottom of the stairs dressed in a white robe and fluffy slippers.
Their blue eyes met and she looked at her husband and then at the boy again.
"It's you."
Was all she said and Neal nodded slowly.
"Peter…what?"
Peter shook his head
"I'll explain later hun, but for now could you make the guest room ready?"
He asked and Elizabeth nodded and ascended the stairs again.
Neal got up from the floor and patted Satchmo's head while he awaited instructions. Peter turned around and activated the alarm, unaware of the child watching him closely and memorizing the numbers.
"Are you hungry?"
Neal shook his head at the same time his stomach growled. Peter gave the boy an amused smile before beckoning Neal to follow him. Peter got to the fridge while Neal climbed up on one of the chairs placed by the kitchen island.
"So what do you want? Devilled ham?"
The smell travelled across the room and Neal scrunched up his nose at the disgusting smell.
"I guess not"
Peter chuckled before making a basic sandwich with cheese and cucumber for him. Neal didn't care too much about what was on the sandwich , as long as it didn't smell like that ham.

Once the child was fed the pair went upstairs where Elizabeth was waiting for them.
"You need to get washed up before you sleep honey"
Neal looked down at himself, the room he'd been kept in was far from clean and it had been over a week since he showered at Mozzie's.
"I can help you"
She offered but Neal shook his head
"I can do it myself"
He could see that Elizabeth was struggling to accept his answer but eventually she nodded.
"We'll be just outside, honey"
Neal showered as quickly as possible and when he stepped out he saw a t-shirt next to the towel. It was a simple black t-shirt, one of Elizabeth's shirts judging by it's size.
He put his old t-shirt on instead, not wanting to abandon his only connection to Mozzie.
Elizabeth didn't look too happy with his choice to wear the dirty shirt but she let it go and instead showed him to guest room.
Elizabeth said good night and gave him a soft kiss on the forehead while Peter was satisfied with saying good night from the hallway.
The door was left ajar before the couple disappeared into their own room. Neal felt an ache in his heart. Their house was so nice and Elizabeth was such a gentle soul and even Peter, despite his awkwardness, took care of him. In another world, in another life they could've been his parents and he could experience their kindness every single day of his life. Neal knew that it was impossible to change life like that but he still decided to wish really hard for it.

Neal could hear them talking, low and soft as to not disturb him. He couldn't make out the words but he knew that they were talking about him. Despite the warm feelings he felt for the couple, his insecurities appeared. Peter was probably apologizing for bringing a stray child home.
They had been really nice to Neal but they hadn't asked for him, they probably didn't want to deal with him. Peter was going to ditch him tomorrow anyways and this was just a place to stay over the night. They most likely felt like they had to be nice to him, instead of actually wanting to be nice to Neal. He had believed their kindness, even wished for them to be his parents. He got way too attached way too quickly and he was so stupid to think that they would ever want him. He was just a nuisance and who in their right mind would ever want him? Well luckily for them he had already formed a plan and he wouldn't bother them anymore.
He was struggling to stay awake, listening closely to all the sounds. After a while he could hear Peter beginning to snore lightly but still he waited a little longer.
Finally he felt that enough time had passed and he sneaked out of the room and down the stairs.
Once downstairs he walked towards the purse he had seen before. He put his hand in it and found what he was looking for, Elizabeth's wallet.
He felt really bad when he took all the bills that she had, but he needed the money.
Neal put in the numbers he had seen earlier and the little light indicating that the alarm was activated changed it's colour. Just as he opened the door he could hear the sound of paws coming towards him. Neal petted the dog and gave him a big kiss.
"I'm sorry Sacchmo I have to go."
He whispered to the dog before unlocking the door and walking outside into the cold New York night.