Hey guys I'm back.
I apologize for the absence, I've just been struggling a lot with my depression lately so it's been hard to find the motivation to write.
That being said I can't say that this is the best I've ever written but I did my best and hopefully you'll like it.

CHAPTER 29

The steady rise and fall of the man's chest was the only indication that Mozzie was still alive, apart from that he looked way too pale and way too much like a corpse.
Neal was sitting in a chair next to the bed, as if his mere presence would bring his friend back to them.
He had been visiting almost everyday for a week now, but no matter how much he begged Mozzie to please wake up, the man stayed asleep.
Neal yawned before he looked around the room that was eerily quiet, he wasn't sure where Peter and Elizabeth had gone or where the nurses were.
Maybe he should go look for them, or at least find a nurse and ask about the adults' whereabouts.
Just as he got out of the chair, he heard coughing from the bed and he completely froze.

"Mozzie?"

He asked and the man turned his head to look at him, he still looked way too pale but he was awake at last.

"You're awake!"

He exclaimed, but the man didn't answer instead he just started to cough again, and this time Neal could see blood. Mozzie was coughing blood.
Luckily a nurse had been showing him some different buttons, and he remembered which one to press to get one of them here.
He pressed it, while he watched Mozzie cough and cough and cough.
The coughing didn't end, and no nurse was coming.

"I'm gonna get help!"

He told Mozzie and sprinted towards the door but was stopped by Mozzie saying his name.

"Come here, Neal."
"But-"
"COME HERE!"

The aggressive command sounded exactly like James and by pure instinct he started to walk back to the bed, even if he should be getting help instead.
Mozzie patted the edge of the bed, indicating that Neal should sit down and he did.

"I regret meeting you."

Mozzie said, his voice low and menacing and it managed to take Neal by surprise.

"W-what?"
"I'm going to die because you were stupid enough to get kidnapped."

Tears started to burn in his eyes and he tried desperately to blink them away, was Mozzie really dying?
The nurses had said that he was getting better, did they lie to him?
Suddenly the coughing started again, more violently than before and then suddenly Mozzie's whole body jerked before the man went still.
Neal sat silent, waiting for his friend to move again but nothing happened.
He carefully shook his shoulder but Mozzie didn't react so Neal shook him harder but still no reaction.
Mozzie's chest was no longer moving and Neal was just about to scream for help when the door opened and a nurse walked in.
He turned around and looked at the nurse, who shook her head and sighed.

"Looks like you killed him sweetie."

The tears started to roll down his cheeks as the nurse started to walk closer.

"Sweetie."

She repeated while she got closer.

"Sweetie."

Her voice was suddenly distorted, she sounded more like a robot than a human being.

"Sweeeeetie."

She dragged out the word at the same time that her face started to distort as well, making her look like a woman from a Picasso painting.
She reached for him, and Neal noticed that the nurse had long, sharp claws instead of nails and as she grabbed him, they dug into his skin.
He closed his eyes and screamed, hoping that someone would hear him and come to help.

"Sweetie."

The word was repeated, but this time it sounded much friendlier, and definitely more human.
He opened his eyes and saw the nurse from his dream crouching in front of him, but she looked normal.

"Your daddy is just outside talking to a doctor, do you want me to get him?"

For a second, Neal was gripped by fear as he imagined his dad being free and ready to hurt him again, but then he realized that the nurse was talking about Peter.
He didn't bother correcting her, instead he just nodded his head and the nurse left him.
Seconds later, Peter came into the room and Neal flew up from the chair and threw himself at Peter, who immediately picked him up.

"I'm sorry."

Neal said as he threw his arms around Peter's neck.

"What are you sorry for?"

Peter asked in confusion and Neal let out a sob as he thought back to what had just happened.

"It's my fault that Mozzie's dead."

The agent was quiet for a couple of seconds before he with a gentle voice asked Neal to look at him.
When he did, the man gave him a small smile.

"Mozzie isn't dead, buddy."
"But I saw him die."

Neal protested and turned his head to look at the bed, but instead of seeing Mozzie with his lips and hands covered in blood, he saw a sleeping Mozzie with a still moving chest.
Suddenly Elizabeth was there with two cups of coffee and a sympathetic look on her face.

"The nurse said you had a pretty bad dream, honey."

She said and it dawned on him that it had all been a dream and that Mozzie was still alive.

"But none of this is your fault, Neal."
"Mozzie got shot because of me."
"No he was shot because Keller chose to shoot him. It's Keller's fault, not yours."
He wanted to believe them, but fact is that Keller wouldn't have shot Mozzie if he had never been kidnapped in the first place.

It was his constant worry about Mozzie that caused the adults to decide that it was time for Neal to start school, since he had more or less recovered from his concussion.
They hoped that it would work as a distraction for him, and it would be the start to living a normal life.
At first Neal was excited about the idea, not only because school could distract him from the anxious thoughts and make time go by faster but he was also looking forward to become more like a normal kid.
When Monday came along however, he wasn't that excited anymore.
His excitement had been replaced with fear, what if something happened to Mozzie and he wasn't there?
Neal just picked at his breakfast while he tried his hardest to look like he was feeling absolutely miserable.

"You okay, sweetie?"

Elizabeth asked, and Neal looked up at her, with tears in his eyes.

"I don't feel so good, I don't think I can go to school today."

Neal answered and the adults shared a look that he couldn't quite read.

"Well you don't have to go if you feel that bad, but if you don't feel well enough for school I don't think it would be a good idea to visit Mozzie this afternoon either. It's better if you stay at home and rest, don't you think?"

Peter's words made Neal sit up straighter and grab his spoon, ready to actually eat the cereal.
He'd rather spend a few hours in school and then see Mozzie than not see him at all.

"I don't feel that bad actually."

He said and the adults looked at each other again, this time wearing amused smiles and Neal frowned as he realized that they had seen right through his lie.

"You tricked me!"

He exclaimed, looking at them in disbelief but they just started to laugh.

"You tried to trick us first."

Neal crossed his arms with a huff. Apparently, he wasn't as good of a liar as he thought he was, or the adults were smarter than he thought they were.

"Finish your breakfast or you'll be late for school, you little rascal."
Peter said and ruffled his hair.
Neal reluctantly continued to eat his cereal, making a mental note that when Mozzie woke up, he would ask him how to become a better liar.

The school seemed so much bigger, and much scarier than it had been when he went to visit it.
The last time he had only been there for a short time, and Elizabeth had been right inside but now he would be there for hours and he would be all alone, surrounded by strangers.

"You ready, kid?"

Neal adverted his eyes from the school and looked at Peter and Elizabeth, they looked way more excited about this than he felt.
He shook his head but the adults just insisted that it would be fine before they all got out of the car.
Neal grabbed Peter's hand and then Elizabeth's, walking between the adults.
There were several kids out playing and he could already recognize some of them from when he was at the school last.
Despite the fact that the others kids seemed friendly, Neal had been more or less isolated from other kids his entire life and the thought of spending hours with them felt absolutely terrifying.
He stopped abruptly, causing the adults to stop as well and look down at him.

"What if you forget to pick me up after school?"

They both just laughed at that and promised they wouldn't forget, but their words did nothing to calm him down.

"What if something happens to Mozzie and you forget to tell me?"

Peter let go of his hand and instead crouched down in front of him.

"If something happens to Mozzie, you will be the first one to know."

Neal felt that he should be comforted by his words, but it didn't help at all.

"What if they don't like me?"

He then asked, his voice much quieter this time.

"Oh sweetie, they will love you."

Elizabeth said and Peter immediately agreed with her.

"I'm still scared."

He admitted, hanging his head in shame.
He didn't want anyone to think of him as a little crybaby, he wanted to be strong and brave.

"Honey, it's okay to be scared, they were all scared their first days as well."
"I remember that I was really scared my first day of school."

Peter added and Neal looked up at him in disbelief.

"You were?
Peter nodded and Neal felt slightly more confident, knowing that even a strong, brave FBI agent had been scared.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Peter and Elizabeth kept their brave faces on, and appeared as confident as they possibly could, even if they were just as scared as Neal was.
Even if they had been the ones to decide that it was time for Neal to start school, it was hard leaving the child for several hours.
They feared for his safety, even if they knew that both Keller and James were safely locked up and wouldn't be out for a very long time.
They were also afraid that that Neal would accidently hit his head again or something, so they told him probably a million times to be careful when he was playing on the playground.
They kept smiling when they hugged the six-year-old for the last time before he walked into the classroom, and it wasn't until they were back in the car that they let their smiles drop.
Even if they had been the ones to decide that it was time for Neal to go to school, it was really hard for them to actually let him go.

Peter dropped Elizabeth off before going to the bureau, they had decided to drive together today so that they both could be there to drop Neal off and then both come and pick him up.
It was hard to focus on his work, since every time the phone rang he automatically thought that it was the school calling to say that Neal was missing or sick or something but they never called, which led to them believing that the kid had actually had a good day, at least until they came to the school and actually saw the kid.
Neal was standing with some other kids and a teacher, and it was clear to everyone that he was in a really bad mood, it was like the anger radiated off him.
Elizabeth got out of the car, and gave the boy a big smile that wasn't returned.

"Hi sweetie."

Neal ignored her greeting, instead he just passed her and jumped into the car, throwing his backpack on the seat before allowing Elizabeth to strap him in before crossing his arms.
Elizabeth gave the teacher a questioning look but the teacher just shrugged, she didn't seem to know why Neal was in a bad mood either.
Elizabeth got back into the car and Peter shared a look with her before he turned and looked at Neal in the rearview mirror and decided to try his luck.

"How was your day, bud?"
"I hate school, it's stupid and I'm never going back."

Neal answered and both of the adults had to hold back a groan.
They had hoped that Neal would have a good time at a school, but apparently it had been the complete opposite and they didn't even want to imagine the struggle they would have to get Neal to school tomorrow, if he was serious about not wanting to go back.
They stayed silent for the rest of the ride, hoping that Neal would cool off but no such luck.
He was still angry when they got out of the car and when they made it inside the boy threw his backpack, just narrowly missing Satchmo, who gave the youngest human a confused look.
Peter grabbed the angry boy before he got the chance to storm off and forced eye contact.

"Listen, I don't care how angry you are, you do not throw things like that. Did you see how close you were to hitting Satchmo?"

Neal at least had the decency to look a little guilty about almost hurting the dog.

"Now, do you want to tell us what's bothering you?"

Peter tried with a calm voice but was yet again met by anger from Neal as he grumbled a no.

"Well if you won't talk to us, then maybe you should go and do your homework."

Peter could sense that the kid was about to protest, so he decided to use his leverage while he still could.

"How about you go do your homework and then we'll go see Mozzie, alright?"

Neal spent a few seconds weighing his options before he reluctantly grabbed his backpack and went to the kitchen table to sit and do the homework.
The adults barely had the time to breathe before they heard Neal groan in frustration and they had just walked into the room when a notebook came flying, landing by their feet.
Peter picked it up and walked over to the boy while he silently wonder where in the world this anger came from.
He placed the book on the table before crouching down next to Neal's chair.

"I told you not to throw things."

Peter said but Neal ignored him completely, instead he just crossed his arms and pouted.

"I think we shouldn't visit Mozzie today after all."

At least that got a reaction out of the boy who suddenly made his best to look like an innocent little puppy.

"I'm sorry, I wanna visit Mozzie, please."
"I'm sorry Neal but I just told you not to throw things, and then you went ahead and did it anyway. There's consequences for your actions, kiddo."

Peter had expected Neal to get upset over not being allowed to visit his friend, but he hadn't at all expected for the kid to actually get aggressive.
Neal reached out and gave Peter a hard shove, almost sending him off balance, before calling him stupid.
Elizabeth, who had been watching the scene quietly, walked over to the table and grabbed one of the kitchen chairs and placed it in the corner before lifting the boy and plopping him down on the chair in the corner.

"You're going to quietly sit here and you're not going to move until you're ready to behave, understood?"

Elizabeth used that voice that could scare the living daylights out of anyone, even Peter.
Neal made the smart choice of nodding and Elizabeth walked over to Peter, who was still crouching by the chair, too shocked by the unexpected aggressiveness to move.

"You okay, hon?"
Peter nodded and got up before Elizabeth gently stroke his arm.

Neal sat quietly on the chair and it wasn't until one hour later, when Elizabeth and Peter had started to cook dinner, that the kid finally felt that he could leave the chair.
He quietly apologized to both Peter and Satchmo before he walked over to the couch.
Since Neal had calmed down they tried to ask him what had made him so angry but he refused to answer their questions.
The adults felt completely helpless, and they couldn't stop wondering what had happened in school that upset the boy so much