Thank you so much to all who reviewed and added this story to your alerts and favorites!

Hope you enjoy...

"So, where do you want to start?" Peter asked standing with his hands on his hips in the bathroom. Neal stood next to him, far less enthusiastic about their renovation project. Neal silently wished Elizabeth would come back soon from the errands she had to run, so hopefully he could convince her to save him now.

"The coffee shop on 3rd." Neal answered and turned to walk out the door. But Peter wrapped a strong hand around his bicep to prevent him from moving.

"No." His order was one that Neal knew not to push. Reluctantly, Neal looked around the bathroom whose decor was admirable but definitely needed refurbished. With a heavy sigh and removing his arm from Peter's grasp, he replied "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

"Well, first I want you to quit sulking like a toddler otherwise I won't be able to put up with you."

"Does that mean if I don't you'll let me leave?" Neal asked more to annoy Peter than anything. One look from Peter told him he succeeded, but suddenly he didn't feel like that was such an accomplishment as the agent stared him down.

"Are you done trying out all your stalling tactics?" Peter questioned.

"Yep." Neal nodded not meeting Peter's eyes.

"Good. Let's start by fixing the sink." Peter walked over to the suggested starting place and knelt down. As he opened the cabinets to reveal the plumbing to the sink, Neal stood behind him with a curious eyebrow raised.

"What's wrong with the sink?" He questioned.

"I don't know." Peter replied while sticking his head in the cabinet to get a closer look.

"Peter, do you even know how to fix it?" Neal asked and in an instant the six year old boy who sat at his kitchen table minutes ago resurfaced with the impatience and short attention span to match.

Peter closed his eyes and swallowed the initial feeling of frustration but quickly had to run a hand over his mouth to hide his amused smile. He slowly ducked his head out from under the cabinet and looked back at Neal.

"Yes, Neal. I know how to fix a sink."

"But if you don't know what's wrong with it how do you know how to fix it?" Neal questioned. Whether it was to show his on going struggle to pay attention, yet another stalling tactic, or just to annoy him, Peter wasn't sure, but the agent guessed it was a bit of all three.

"I'm going to find what's wrong with it as I'm fixing it." Peter stated slowly as he turned back around towards the sink, trying to keep his anger from rising.

"Oh. But what if-"

"Neal!" Peter shouted loud enough to gain a slight twitch of surprise from his consultant. Neal didn't say anything else and for a moment Peter thought he should turn around and see if Neal was still there, but then he heard a shuffle behind him and then an idea struck him.

"You know what? Why don't you see if you can figure it out? You like puzzles." Peter prompted as he stood up and gave Neal a small shove towards the sink. Neal regained his footing and turned his shoulders back towards Peter.

"Peter, a con is not the same thing as fixing a sink."

"Oh you're smart, you can figure it out." But Peter regretted his choice of words as Neal beamed back at him.

"Just look at it." Peter ordered with far more annoyance than he felt. He watched Neal squat down and duck his head into the cabinet. Neal fumbled around with the piping, knocking over some cleaning supplies that Elizabeth had stored in there, in the process. Peter could hear clings and clangs, but nothing that sounded anything like improvement.

"How's it going under there?" The older man asked as he bent his knees to get a better look.

"Oh it's great!" Sarcasm laced Neal's voice. "One of these pipes doesn't look so good." The ex- conman brought his head out from under the cabinet to look at Peter.

"Here, let me see."

"Gladly." Neal mumbled as he stood and dusted off his slacks. He glanced back at Peter, who had started his the unstable pipe Neal was talking about.

"Uh... Peter, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Relax Neal. I know what I'm doing. You can't be married for as long as I have and not know how to do handiwork." Peter said with full confidence. Neal's eyes widened as he raised his eyebrows and mouthed a long "Okay". He turned his head to look at the bathroom door because he could hear Satchmo running down the stairs. He was wondering what had made the dog decide to get up from the hall all of a sudden to run down the stairs, when a loud bang came from Peter's direction followed by the sound of gushing liquid and a shouted curse from Peter. Neal didn't know what to do as he watched water with a brown, green tint to it, gush out onto the floor. He wanted to laugh at Peter but quickly decided against it as the soaked agent quickly stood from the floor. The water had no intention of slowing down and was almost covering the entire floor.

"Help me grab some towels!" Peter shouted as he ran to the closet to grab some towels. Both men started throwing the material on the floor to soak up the liquid, but it didn't help. Peter ran back over to the pipe and tried to stop the water but only ended up making it splash in his face. Neal made a disgusted face as the liquid had clearly sprayed in Peter's face and had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as the older man gagged. Peter turned around towards Neal to tell him something, but before he could say whatever it was both men heard a noise that made their hearts drop into the pit of their stomach. A car door being shut and Satchmo's barking from downstairs. Neal and Peter looked at each other in horror.

"Elizabeth's home." Peter said his tone voiced nothing but terror. Neal swallowed thickly.

"Stall her! I don't care what you have to do, but do not let her in this house!" Peter ordered Neal. "Go!"

Neal took off running down the stairs leaving Peter with the flooding bathroom which was now spilling out into the hallway.

Peter could hear Neal running down the stairs, but cringed when he heard a loud thump and a groan.

Neal heard Peter call his name as he painstakingly pulled himself up off the floor, careful not to slip in the water that had ran down the stairs.

" 'm good." He called back, unsure of his answer, before straightening out his clothes and opening the door to find Elizabeth standing on the porch.

AN: Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!