A/N Wow. Thank you guys for all the comments! I completely understand where all of you are coming from when you say they are not really in character, so I will try and up the ante of that in this chapter. It is hard because I have a progression of the story that you all don't know but rest assured that they will not all have Neal crying in them!
WARNING: This chapter contains minimal amounts of SPANKING! (Two swats)
^^^White Collar^^^
Once the boys had finished their milk and cookies, they headed off to the living room to play, while El and Peter remained at the table.
"I have to go into work tomorrow El." Peter told her. "Will you be okay here by yourself with the boys?"
"Oh, I think I will manage" She replied with a sly smile. "I have some work I need to get done for the gala on Tuesday, but I can do that from here. I am more concerned about what you are going to tell your team." She voiced.
Peter sighed. He had been wondering about that himself all day. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Neal and Mozzie would protest heavily. He also knew the only way people would believe him was if he brought the boys in himself. After all, people do not get de-aged every day.
"I can't keep this from Jones and Diana" Peter told El. "I will need their help to figure this out and they are close enough to me and Neal that they will begin to question where he is." He clarified. "I was going to wait until Neal and Mozzie returned to normal, but I don't think that is going to happen." Peter confessed.
Elizabeth had been thinking the same thing. It had been a full 24 hours since they had become little and Elizabeth did not think it was going to change. She was more than capable of handling this new situation though.
"I think you should invite them over for dinner tomorrow. They won't believe it unless they see it." Elizabeth told her husband.
"That is exactly what I was thinking, hon. How does seven sound?"
"Perfect" She said as she gave Peter a peck on the lips. "I'll make Cornish Hens to butter Neal and Mozzie up" She said with a smile.
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Meanwhile in the living room Mozzie was hiding behind the bookshelf listening to everything Peter and Elizabeth were saying.
"Whatta doing Moz?" Neal asked innocently as he walked up to his friend.
"Shh!" Mozzie whispered loudly. "I am listening to Peter and El and they think we aren't going to turn back to normal. They are inviting the suits over for dinner tomorrow!" He told Neal quietly.
That stopped Neal in his tracks.
"Dinner." He repeated softly to himself, not really intending for Mozzie to hear him. There was no way he wanted anyone to know what position he was in. And the fact that Peter was not going to tell him that they were coming over just added fuel to the fire.
"Yeah, but Neal, if we can just get back to the warehouse and get a hold of that ink we can figure out what it is that shrunk us." Mozzie whispered loudly as his excitement grew.
"How are we going to get there though, Moz?" Neal said. He had no false ideas that a child wandering the street in the middle of the day or night would raise attention.
"It is only nine blocks from here Neal. We can walk there tonight when no one can see us. The Mikelson brother's will be gone. We will be there and back before anyone will notice." He told Neal.
"I dunno, Moz. If P'ter finds out we-"
"Didn't you hear me Neal? No one is going to find out!" Mozzie said fully confident is plan. "You aren't seriously going to make me do this alone are you?" Mozzie turned to guilt, knowing Neal would cave.
"Fine." Neal huffed. "But we do it after P'ter and Lizbeth go to bed. I am not going to get caught!" Neal said empathetically.
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"Hey boys, how about we go outside." Elizabeth said as she walked into the living room. She had finished her cup of coffee and by then the boys were back to sitting on the couch. "We have some yard work to finish up before the end of the season and this might be one of the last warm days of the year."
"Yeah!" Mozzie chirped before hopping of the couch. Neal on the other hand remained seated.
"Neal?" Elizabeth asked softly.
"Yeah" Neal responded unenthusiastically before following Mozzie to the back yard. Elizabeth stopped him with a gentle grab to the shoulder.
"Are you still hurting, baby? You are kind of quiet" El asked with concern.
"No, Lizbeth. I'm just a little tired still." He said as he plastered a fake smile on his face, though he was still able to convince the woman.
"Okay, sweetie. Maybe it is a good thing then that you are going to be early tonight then, huh?" El asked.
"Yeah, I guess you are right." Neal said as he walked away to the back door.
Elizabeth frowned. Neal would not acquiesce that easily to a punishment. She chalked it up to him still being uncertain and uncomfortable with his new body. She was going to have to keep a closer eye on him today.
^^^White Collar^^^
The four of them and Satchmo spent the rest of the afternoon outside doing odd jobs but effectively cleaning up the yard for the change of the season ready to come. Neal helped pick-up sticks and Mozzie raked so that Peter could mow the yard while Elizabeth got her flower garden sorted out for the coming freezes.
The afternoon was spent with pleasant conversations and some goofing off. Occasionally Neal would look towards Mozzie and then to Peter and he would have a strange look on his face, none of which went unnoticed by Elizabeth. She thought it might be because he thought he was having to decide between his old life and this new one having a child's body, and she was not far off.
When the sun went down it became a lot cooler and Elizabeth noticed that both the boys were shivering but not saying anything. Peter kept doing his yard work oblivious to what was happening around him.
"Alright Neal and Mozzie, how about we head inside? I need to start on supper and you guys look like you need to get cleaned up." Elizabeth told them.
Since both boys were not too excited at the prospect of staying outside anymore they easily agreed to her offer. Besides, Neal and Mozzie were not too accustomed to being this dirty as they very rarely engaged in gardening or outside work.
"Peter, why don't you come in to? You are looking a little rough around the edges as well" El said with a smile. She really just wanted his help with the boys cleaning up, but she knew Neal would object to that.
"Yeah, I will be in, in just a minute. I need to put a few things away first." Peter told her as he walked towards the small shed.
When the three of them went inside she sent each boy upstairs with a small pile of clothes they had bought earlier that day. She told Mozzie to head upstairs and to hop in the shower but told Neal he needed to wait for Peter to take a bath. When he did not argue, El just thought he was accepting that he needed help.
Neal had no intentions of waiting for Peter. Once he got upstairs and Mozzie was in the other bathroom taking a shower, Neal prepared himself for one too. The first thing he did when he got into the bathroom was lock the door.
He then grabbed the stool El must have brought upstairs and placed it in the bathtub so he could reach the handle for the shower. He cautiously stood on the stepstool and pulled out on the handle and got sprayed with cold water. Neal nearly fell of the stool but caught himself in time. He crawled over the edge of the tub and took off his now cold and wet clothes.
Once undressed he felt the temperature of the water and felt it was still too cold. Neal pulled the stool over again and stepped up on it and was about to stand on the edge of the tub when there was a frantic knocking on the door.
"Neal, open the door." Peter called out much more calmly than he felt.
"Go away, P'ter!" Neal told him. "I am trying to take a shower." He explained to the older man.
"Neal! Open the door right now!" Peter repeated sternly. Neal heard him yell out to El to grab the keys to the bathroom door.
When Neal did not respond to his stern voice he turned to begging. He knew how dangerous it could be for Neal to be in a slippery tub at his physical age.
"Neal, please" Peter implored. "I don't want you to get hurt! If you come out now I promise I won't be upset with you" he told the young man.
"P'ter, I'm fine. There is nothing to worry about." Neal said as he took a step up in the tub's ledge. He grabbed the shower's handle for stability and was focused on what he was doing that he did not hear Peter unlocking the bathroom door.
When Peter entered the room and saw Neal wobbling on the ledge his heart nearly stopped with fear. He took two quick steps and grabbed the slippery boy before he fell.
"Hey!" Neal yelled as he was unceremoniously lifted away from the shower. "What the Hell, man. I was fine!" he cried out.
Peter who was furious at the fact that Neal did not recognize what he had done was wrong, quickly pulled the boy towards himself and tipped him to the side before placing two solid, but controlled, swats to Neal's naked backside.
Neal's eyes immediately filled with tears at the pain, humiliation and anger at what had just occurred.
"You hit me!" Neal yelled out, clearly outraged.
"I spanked you Neal. There is a difference. You were being very disobedient and you risked your safety. That can't happen again."
"I don't care what you call it, you still hit me!" He said not mollified by Peter's explanation.
"And you deserved both swats." Peter said calmly, looking Neal in the eyes.
"Elizabeth!" Neal whined as he rubbed his bottom.
"Peter's right Neal." She said, agreeing with her husband. "It was two swats, so you can stop giving me those hurt Bambi eyes." Elizabeth said as she crossed her arms. She did not mess around when it came to her loved ones endangering themselves.
When he realized El was not on his side he let out an annoyed huff. He did not like this new turn of events but saw he was not going to change their minds at this point. And once he had calmed down a little bit he remembered that he was naked. He quickly grabbed a towel before telling them to both leave. El let out a smile before leaving the bathroom.
"You too, P'ter." Neal ordered.
"After what just went down?" Peter asked with disbelief. "I don't think so." He said as he turned off the shower and started filling up the tub.
Neal remained standing with an angry look at his face and holding a towel around his waist. Once the tub was filled up Peter easily picked Neal up and plopped him in the water. Peter then sat on the toilette seat while Neal washed himself. When Neal went to wash his hair some of it got into his eyes and they immediately started to water. The stinging made then water excessively and he was unable to prevent the tears flowing down his face.
Peter, unaware of what was causing it, panicked. He got up and kneeled by the tub and placed a hand on the boy's back.
"Hey, Neal, what's wrong?" Peter asked with concern.
Neal in response wiped at his eyes angrily.
"It's this stupid shampoo. What do they put in this stuff anyways? Acid?" He muttered as he continued to wash his eyes.
At least this is something concrete, Peter thought to himself. He could help with shampoo in the eyes. Peter walked over to the cupboard and grabbed a small wash cloth. He then used it to gently wash Neal's eyes with. Peter made sure to note that on their next shopping trip they would need to get no tear shampoo.
Wanting to prevent further pain, Peter quickly helped Neal wash the rest of his hair. He then used the same wash cloth to wash the rest of Neal despite the boy's protesting that he could do it himself. Within five minutes Neal was dressed and wrapped in a towel before being carried to the shared room and selecting clothes for the rest of the night.