Hiya! For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a fantastic Turkey Day. I recommend that you see The Blindside; it's fantabulous.

Thank you for the reviews, they inspire me to write and write better and make me happy.

Guys. I need your help. For those of you who know law, I was wondering what would the ramifications of Neal Caffrey not existing and Neal Bomer being seventeen be? Thanks for the help and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Finding Neal

Chapter 4: Peter, the Parrishes, and Poker

Peter pulled into the St. Vincent's Hospital parking lot in a daze and, after finding an empty spot, turned off the engine, and allowed his head to slump tiredly onto the steering wheel, Letting his eyelids slip shut, he took a minute to prepare himself to face Neal…his son and Elizabeth. Trying his best to not think about what Lauren had told him twelve hours ago, Peter steeled himself and, after exiting the Taurus, started on the long trek to the hospital's side entrance.

His actions and Lauren's words haunted him with every step he took. Starting with the fact that he'd sent a seventeen-year-old kid, his kid, to prison, albeit said kid had only served one and a half month of his, now, eight year sentence before escaping the Supermax and talking Peter into letting him consult.

In all actuality, it wasn't this, but a more recent action that was eating away at him. To be specific, the fact that he'd manhandled his son after he'd been shot. And the worst part was that he'd done it because he'd thought that Neal had endangered Lauren and gotten her hurt, whereas the truth was the exact opposite: Neal had saved Lauren's life at a risk to his own life. Would – could Neal forgive him for this? Could Elizabeth? And even if they did, could Peter?

Peter honestly didn't know, but he was a firm believer of the saying, "When you choose the action, you choose the consequence," and being aware of the fact that he'd already done the first part, he knew that it was time to face the consequences: starting with telling Elizabeth everything.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by, "I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be vi-o-let sky, I could be hur…" and it took him a while before he figured out it was his phone and cursed Neal for changing his ringtone. It took a moment of digging before he found his phone and, once he did, a quick glance at the caller-id told him it was Elizabeth. Speaking of the Devil, he flipped open the phone and made to say, "Hey," but was cut off by his wife's worried voice.

"Peter, it…it's Neal, he's missing."

Peter's first instinct was that Neal ran, but quickly squishing that thought, he quickened his pace to a run and, after saying, "I'll be there in a minute," he hung up. True to his word, Peter was there with a second to spare and immediately pulled his sobbing wife into his arms, consoling her as he ran his expert eyes over the room. Finding no oddities except the abandoned IV and little drops the blood that lead out of the room, he let go of his wife and made a beeline for the drops near the door. It took him a second to realize that these spatters were smaller, maybe because of a decrease in the altitude from which they had fallen, and what had happened.

Beckoning his wife to follow his lead, Peter followed the little droplets of blood all the way to a set of doors that, according to the sign, led to the Pediatrics Cancer Ward. Peeking through the little plastic parts of the door, they spotted Neal sitting on his wheelchair and peering across a little table at a little boy, who could at most have been ten years old and had his little elbows placed on the table and was staring at Neal intently.

"All right, Joey," Neal declared after a moment of silent contemplation, "I match your Babe Ruth and raise you a Reese's." Then, fumbling around in a bucket that was placed in his lap, he dropped the pieces of the aforementioned bet on the table.

Joey evened it up by placing a Reese's on the table and, then, stared up at Neal challengingly.

Neal eyes flickered between his cards and Joey, before he said, "I fold," and placed his cards face down onto the table.

Joey jumped off of his little chair and, as he made a show of collecting his winnings, declared, "I knew you were bluffing."

A smile tugging at the corner of his lips, Neal opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by a familiar voice, "Oh, he's always bluffing, you're the first person who's caught him in a long time."

Neal's head turned to face Mozzie, who matter-of-factly tapped his watch, and his expression went sour before he faced Joey and said, "Hey, Buddy, I gotta go. My warden's here."

The smile that his victory had brought dropped from Joey's face when he heard those words and, chewing on his bottom lip, he asked, "You're leaving?"

Neal's expression effortlessly changed into a smile and he honestly answered, "Just for now, Kiddo. You'll see me again, I promise. They're only making me go, because I get really cranky if I don't get my beauty sleep."

Joey giggled and, after walking over to Neal, wrapped his arms around him, and said, "Bye, Neal. Wait…" He paused, keeping one arm wrapped around Neal's shoulder while he used the other to fumble around the table until he found what he was looking for. Offering his treasure…a Reese's to Neal, he said, "Here, it's your favorite."

Neal accepted the treat with a "thanks" and then offered it right back, "You know you don't need to give this to me to get me to come back, right?"

Joey didn't even think about it, he just answered, "Uh huh, but I want you to have it."

"All right, if you're sure," said Neal as he pocketed the little package of peanut-butter and chocolate-y goodness.

"I'm sure," confirmed Joey, then completing his hug once more, said, "See you, Neal."

"Later, Joey," responded Neal as Mozzie grabbed the handles of his wheelchair and began pushing toward the door, and, unknowingly, Elizabeth and Peter, who quickly hid behind a plant on the side of the door that was opposite the direction of Neal's room just in the nick of time. The door opened as soon as they'd moved and they heard Neal whining, "Mozz, come on!"

"Neal, you have to stay in the hospital; you just got shot," responding Mozzie, sounding tired as though as he'd had this conversation a million times.

"So? A bunch of people get shot everyday and some of them don't even go to hospitals," retorted Neal.

"That's because they probably don't have enough money to pay for a hospital stay," explained Mozzie as they rounded the corner to Neal's room.

"Lucky, frigging, poor people! Come on, Mozz, you know I hate hospitals," whinged Neal, his voice fading away as they moved farther away.

Thinking it was safe since they couldn't hear them anymore, Elizabeth and Peter came out of their hiding place. They sat in silence for a minute before Peter stuck his hand out to wipe the lone tear that was running down his wife's face, "What's wrong, El?"

Grabbing the hand that was on her face, Elizabeth adopted a teary smile and explained, "Nothing, I'm just…I'm so proud, Peter. I'm really proud of him."

Peter enveloped his wife in his arms once more and agreed, "Me too, El. Neal did good. He did real good."

Laughing, Elizabeth added, "I don't know what's wrong with me, I've been crying at the littlest things since yesterday."

They stayed in each other's arms until someone tapped Peter on the shoulder. They turned to face the teary-eyed couple, which consisted of a green-eyed man and a black-haired woman. "Um," started the man, "Are you guys Neal's parents?"

"Why do you ask?" inquired Elizabeth with an upraised eyebrow, thinking that there was something familiar about these people.

This time it was the woman who answered, "We're Nikki and Hunter Parrish, Joey's parents and we just wanted to thank you and your son."

"For what?" asked Peter, realizing that they were the parents of the boy who had given Neal a hug.

The woman…Nikki turned back toward the door and peered at her son through it. Waving back when he waved at her with a cheeky grin, "For that, my son…he hasn't laughed, smiled, or said anything since his brother died four months ago, not until your son met him today."

"I'm just…" she paused when her voice cracked and then gave Peter and Elizabeth each a long hug, "Thank you so much."

Then it was Hunter who spoke, handing Peter a business card, "I co-own the Parrish, Case, and Parker Law Firm at Rockefeller Plaza. So, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call."

With one last, "thank you," the Parrishes made their way back to their son and as Peter and Elizabeth stared at their receding backs, they wondered, Have any parents been as proud of their kid as we are of ours right now?

This was when something that had been nagging at Peter before Nikki and Hunter had showed up came back to him and with a, "Wait here," he headed into the Children's ward and made a beeline for the table where Neal and Joey had been playing and turned up Neal's cards.

Staring at the royal flush that was lying on the table, Peter wondered if the better question would be, Has there ever been a kid like Neal: an art thief who does the right thing?

…TBC…

I'm sorry if this chapter sucks, but I honestly had to right it to bring Peter in. Thoughts?

Please R&R. Constructive Crit is always appreciated.