AN: Good news, this story is officially finished! I'll post the final 4 chapters in the following days. Once more, thank you so much for reading and leaving such wonderful reviews! :)

Disclaimer: White Collar belongs to USA Network and Jeff Eastin.

CHAPTER 16

To everyone's surprise, Mozzie consented to staying with the Burkes while he recuperated. Elizabeth had made the offer, Neal hadn't made an objection, and Peter took one look at his wife and shut his mouth about the subject. He figured that Mozzie had no one else to take care of him, and he'd rather have him under constant supervision.

They put a mattress in Neal's room and he slept on it, insisting that Mozzie should take his bed. The whole situation was strange, to say the least. The first few days after the hospital, Peter had been acting like a jerk around everyone, still angry about what he had let happen. He was angry at himself for almost letting Neal get hurt and for allowing someone else hurt Neal's only friend. He didn't want to make that same mistake again. Hurting Mozzie was almost the same as hurting Neal. So, he was angry and grumpy and exponentially sarcastic. He really didn't like the idea of a criminal in his home, and he trusted Mozzie even less than Neal, but it was important to Neal. He had promised to help him, and keeping his promises was something he always did. Making sure promises were kept, with little things as well as big things, was important, especially to someone like Neal.

Neal was angry too. He was angry at Peter, angry at the FBI, angry at Adler, but most of all he was angry at himself. So, he naturally acted like nothing whatsoever had happened. He did his homework and chores. He talked to Mozzie, Elizabeth, and Peter. He went to the Bureau after school, and he went home afterwards. He complained accordingly when he was grounded, although he knew he deserved it. His masks were in place.

Elizabeth wasn't angry. She was mostly worried. She worried about Peter and Neal's anger towards themselves. She worried about Neal and his lack of normal response at everything that had happened. So, she concentrated on being the best house host possible, and dedicated herself to getting Mozzie back on his feet.

Mozzie, apparently, decided to dedicate himself to unashamed adoration of "Mrs. Suit".

After the first few days post hospital, things started to get better. Peter eased up on his guilt, Elizabeth calmed down, and Mozzie started feeling less like an invalid, which lifted his mood considerably. Being conscious and able to say awake for more than an hour at a time meant that he was able to pay attention to Neal.

Neal and his never-ending pretend show. He was having nightmares again. They weren't as bad as Mozzie remembered, but they usually woke him up and left him short of breath for a while.

Seven days into Mozzie's stay with them, Peter woke up with a start. There was a soft shout of Mom!, this time followed by Mozzie. Elizabeth stirred beside him, and was starting to get up when he put his hand on her arm and told her that he had it. She nodded back uncertainly and stayed.

Peter made his way to Neal's room, but he stopped at the half opened door. He peaked in to see that Mozzie had
somehow lowered himself to the floor and was in Neal's mattress trying to hold on to his friend.

"Mozz, no. Don't touch me!" Neal's voice had a desperate streak in it. He was breathing hard, trying not to panic. He tried to push Mozzie away, but he stopped when he heard Mozzie's painful gasp at the contact. "Please Moz, just let me go."

"That doesn't work with me, Neal," Mozzie responded.

"Just let me go, you know why…" Neal whispered back.

Mozzie sighed. "I thought we were over this, Neal."

Neal didn't try to push him away again. He didn't want to hurt him. "Look at what happened to you. You could've died," Neal said.

"But I didn't."

Neal shook his head. "No thanks to me. Just… stay away, okay?"

"Neal," something in Mozzie's tone of voice must have meant something to Neal, because he finally stopped fighting the situation and very carefully rested his head against Mozzie's shoulder. Mozzie released a breath and held him.

Peter tried to move back to go to his room unnoticed, but he met Mozzie's eyes as he retreated. They shared a look that let him know that his presence had been known from the start. He nodded and left as quietly as possible. He wasn't needed tonight. After what he had witnessed, a big part of his anger left him. It was as if Peter finally accepted Mozzie's place in their lives. If he wanted to keep Neal, he had to keep Mozzie as well.

Neal finally calmed down, lifted his head, and spoke in a whisper. "I don't know if I can do this Mozz."

Mozzie wondered for a second what he was referring to. Then he asked, "The whole reformed criminal slash perfect son act?"

Neal nodded. "I don't think I can do this to the Burkes." Neal clarified. "I'll probably just end up screwing it up. I don't think Peter will ever trust me, not after what I did…"

"Do youtrust him?" Mozzie asked seriously.

It wasn't a hard question. "Yes," Neal admitted.

Mozzie nodded.

Neal stayed quiet for a while before asking, "Hey Mozz, do you remember your dad?"

"Hey man, don't go there again. You really don't need this," he said putting a hand on Neal's shoulder.

"I don't remember my dad… I hardly remember my mom," Neal looked away. "The one thing I do remember is what I wish I could forget."

"As memory might be a paradise from which we cannot be driven, it may also be a hell from which we cannot escape," Mozzie recited. They were silent for a few minutes before Neal spoke again.

"Maybe I'm just one of those persons who don't get to have a family. Maybe I don't need one... Probably better this way," he finished.

"Don't be stupid Neal," Mozzie said forcibly, trying to look at him in the eyes. "Everyone needs a family. The Burkes know what you're worth, and if they don't then they're the ones that are not worth it."

Neal looked back at him startled. Mozzie hardly ever talked about family, and he never talked to him like that. He wasn't sure he agreed, but he nodded anyway. He picked himself up, helped Mozzie into bed, and stayed up staring at the ceiling for two hours before he drifted to sleep again.

Mozzie left after exactly 8 days with the Burkes. They got home one day and he was simply gone, no note or anything. He called later and told Neal that he was okay and eloquently thanked Mrs. Suit for her hospitality.

Neal met Mozzie in the park a month later. He rushed over to their designated bench from behind and tapped him in the shoulder.

"Hey, Moz. Sorry I'm late," he was short of breath after jogging the last block.

"So, they conscripted your Saturdays. Go, FBI," Mozzie replied sarcastically.

"Not now Mozz. Something happened yesterday." Mozzie put down his newspaper and gave Neal his full attention. "Alex called. Adler has her," Neal said.

"Alex?" Mozzie always wondered why she seemed to know so much about that damn music box. He had hoped things would cool down after the last fiasco involving the music box, but it seemed like this was far from over. Now Alex was involved and that meant that Neal was bound to get sucked in as well.

Neal nodded absentmindedly. "I don't think Adler will stop," he answered, echoing Mozzie's thoughts. "He's hurt too many people because of this, Mozz."

Adler wouldn't stop. Neal didn't know what to think, what to do, but he knew that he couldn't let anyone else get hurt because of him. Now he had Alex, and he wasn't sure what the plan behind all of this was. He just knew he had to stop him, somehow, and if he got killed… so be it. At least he'd make sure to take Adler with him.

Mozzie recognized the determined look on Neal's face and frowned. "Neal, promise me you won't go looking for trouble. Alex knows how to take care of herself. Just let this be man."

Neal smiled. Peter could help, Neal thought, not paying attention to Mozzie. He'd help and then he'd get hurt or worse. Elizabeth would never forgive him. No. He had to do this alone.He'd dealt with Adler before. It was suddenly clear that he was the only one that could put an end to this.

Mozzie's next words pulled him from his thoughts.

"Neal, how often do I say thank you?" Mozzie asked earnestly.

"Sarcastically?"

"No."

"Rhetorically?"

"Genuinely," Mozzie answered.

Neal shrugged. "I can't recall. Why?"

"You're done a lot for me. I wanted to say thank you. You know, for making the Suit go get me, and for taking care of me afterwards."

"Mozz, you don't really have to do this." Neal sounded a bit embarrassed, if that was even possible. "Plus, I think you've done a lot more for me…" Neal trailed of. He owed a lot to Mozzie.

"Well, for whatever it's worth. I appreciate it," Mozzie finished.

"No problem Mozz," Neal answered fondly. "Look, I have to go, but I'll see you for Wednesday dinner?" he asked as he got up to leave.

"Yeah, I'll be there. Tell Mrs. Suit that I'll bring the wine."

Neal left and made his way back home. The weekly dinner with Mozzie had been strange at first, but not anymore. Elizabeth and Mozzie had become friends and even Peter seemed to like talking to his friend.

Neal's break presented itself within a day. He'd found out from Peter's team that Adler would be in a gala at the Russian Consulate on Saturday. Elizabeth had an event that day and would be gone all day. Peter was obviously working in surveillance. He'd had to be slick and slip by, but it was the perfect plan, his only chance to get this over with once and for all. There really wasn't time to waste, more so if Adler still had Alex.

It was simple, really. On Friday, he make a copy of Peter's safe key and stole his electronic anklet key from Peter's key chain. At 5 pm on Saturday, he entered the Burke's room for the first time. He'd been home alone plenty of times, but although he'd stood at the doorstep and looked in, he couldn't really violate their trust by looking through their stuff. It felt wrong. This time, he went straight to the safe he'd seen Peter open a couple of times before. Satchmo sat down at the door looking at him curiously and Neal couldn't help but feel the guilt escalating in proportion. He opened the safe with the key and the equipment he bought the day before. He looked in and found papers, passports, some pictures, and Peter's backup gun. Neal started at it, frozen for a minute, and then grabbed it. It had the safety on, but it was loaded. He shook his head, to try to snap out of the trance, and put it away in his trousers.

She hated this part. The waiting and looking for something that probably wasn't even there. She looked at the feed and suddenly straightened up in her chair. Diana stared attentively at something in the monitor. It couldn't be. She looked closer.

It was.

Neal was there, and he'd just slipped through security after creating a distraction at the door. Why would Neal be here of all places?

She grabbed her phone and spoke hurriedly. "Boss, you're not gonna like this."

"What is it?" Peter asked in an annoyed voice. He was already inside the Consulate. It was crowded and he hated things like this. The Russians claimed to have anonymously received an amber music box from Catherine The Great's Amber Room in St. Petersburg. It was supposed to be priceless. The FBI had good reasons to believe that Adler had something to do with the whole thing. Did he have it before? If so, why give it back? If he didn't have it before, then they had plenty of evidence to sugest that he'd be there to steal it.

Diana's voice sounded urgent. "Caffrey just walked inside."

"Neal's here?" Peter asked, turning his body around trying to look for him. He stopped when he spotted Adler making his way upstairs.

"Yes. Should I go in after him?" Diana asked, already getting out of the car.

"Diana, make sure he doesn't get anywhere near Adler." Peter turned off his phone and followed the men upstairs, but was stopped by one of the Consulate's guards.

Neal had already made his way upstairs on the other side. He'd seen Adler as soon as he'd come inside. He heard Peter's voice arguing with a guard downstairs, and he hurried and slipped into the room he'd seen Adler go in, locking it behind him.

Diana was beside Peter, gesticulating and all but bashing her badge in the guard's face. Peter stepped away and fumbled with his phone and answered. "Suit, we have a code red."

Peter cursed. He did not need this right now. "Now is not the time, Mozzie."

He made his way upstairs with Diana beside him.

"It's a dark day when I turn towards the system instead of recoiling," Mozzie said.

"Just spit it out!" Peter yelled.

"Remember when you asked me to tell you if Neal was gonna do something stupid? Well, I regretfully report that he's out of his anklet."

"Damn it." Peter knew that already. He was here, somewhere, he was here without an anklet doing something stupid.

"But that's not the stupid part." Mozzie paused for a second. "He's got a gun."

They heard a gunshot from the room at the end of the corridor, and Peter thought his heart must have stopped. Neal. He shoved the phone into his pants and drew his gun. They reached the door and tried to open it, but it was jammed. He could hear voices behind the door. Neal was in there, with a gun. He slammed his shoulder against the door frantically trying to get it open.

"Neal!" Peter called desperately. "Neal!"

Neal was shaking. His whole body was shaking. His eyes were wide open, shinning and red. He had to blink a lot, blink just so the tears he could feel gathering wouldn't spill in front of the man he hated. He opened his mouth to take a calming breath.

He'd just fired Peter's gun. It blasted a hole on the wall, right beside Adler's head. They were alone in the room, but he had to do this fast. They were pounding on the door. Someone. Peter.

"Tell me why you killed Kate." He hated the sound of his voice. It was filled with hatred and fear. He was sure Adler sensed it as well.

"What are you doing Neal? I thought violence wasn't really your thing." Vincent Adler was cool and collected as always. He held his hands up in the air.

"You killed her. You almost killed Mozzie. You got Alex. Tell me one reason why I shouldn't put a bullet in your brain right now," Neal spitted out.

"Neal, you all knew what you were getting into. You were cheap investments, easy to manipulate, and no one would miss any of you when time came to dispose of your services." Adler lowered his arms and laughed. "I needed to set an example with Kate. Mozzie got what he deserved, and Alex had the key to the music box. Remember that small misunderstanding I had with the Russians a couple of years ago? Well, they wanted it, and I only wanted the code inside, hence this gala…"

"Shut up Adler. Just shut up. What do you want from us, from me?" Neal pointed the gun at him.

"I need one more job from you-," Suddenly the door finally burst open, and Peter, Diana and half a dozen FBI agents waltzed into the room.

Neal glanced sideways and raised his gun again. He pointed it straight at Adler and tried to ignore the rest of the people. He had to end this now. Just a small squeeze and it would all be over. They would all be safe. He'd get the son of bitch that had killed Kate and hurt his friends. He hated him.

Peter was there. He was talking to him. Neal tried to ignore him and focus on shooting Adler, but he couldn't. It was Peter.

"Neal," Peter said carefully. He had felt relieved for a second after coming in. He felt relieved that Neal wasn't shot and bleeding to death like his twisted mind had imagined. The relief didn't last long. Not after looking at the teenager before him, gun in his hand, ready to kill someone. Neal, who would never hurt anyone, was going to kill the man before him, and he instantly wished he himself could kill Adler for making Neal this desperate.

"Neal. Neal, look at me." He lowered his gun and tried to get closer to him. "Neal, look at me."

"He killed Kate," Neal said painfully. "I'll kill him, for hurting Mozzie and Alex… He killed Kate." He stepped closer to Adler and never broke eye contact with the man he was about to shoot. "I want him to hurt. I want him to know how she felt," Neal's voice broke.

"We'll stop him, but not like this. Never like this. Trust me." Peter willed his voice to sound confident and reassuring.

"A conman never trusts, Neal. I taught you that," Adler said in a calm voice.

Peter wanted to strangle the man. "For God's sake, shut up Adler. You're not helping." He addressed the boy again. "Neal, you're not a conman; you're not even a man. You're a fifteen year old kid."

Neal was shaking again, this wasn't working. "Neal!" Peter's voice was quivering, but it held no room for dispute. It was a command. "Neal, look at me. Look at me, Neal. Neal, come on. Look at me."

Neal finally turned his head to look at Peter, but didn't lower his gun. Peter sighed. Neal looked so lost. Lost, alone, and in pain. He was shaking, his hair messy, and he had tears in his eyes. He was trying to take big breaths and was looking at Peter pleadingly.

Neal's whole body was begging Peter to stop him.

"Neal, this isn't you, put the gun down," Peter coaxed. "This isn't who you are."

Neal looked one more time at Adler and lowered the gun. He walked away and gave it to Peter while the rest of the agents moved in and Diana cuffed him.