The Bureau Family Christmas Party was traditionally held on the last weekend in November. Peter usually loathed the event. Having no family, he was all but required to attend regardless because he was a senior agent. This year was different. For the very first time, Peter couldn't wait. He brought the three of them matching Christmas shirts - it's what all the families did and he stuck the invite on the fridge in the kitchen at home so no one would double book the night.

Peter walked in proudly with El on his arm and Neal trailing miserably behind. The kid had put up quite a fight over his attire until Peter assured him it was non-negotiable. The trio made their way over to some familiar faces. El had met Agent David Watson and his wife Sally at a function mid-way through the year. The adults were chatting amongst themselves when Agent Watson's son returned with a sausage roll shoved in his mouth. Peter turned to his son, "Neal. This is Agent David Watson, Mrs Watson and their son, Jerry."

"Please to meet you." Neal acknowledged each person in turn.

"Jerry is your age Neal." Agent Watson indicated his son. "Jerry, why don't you show Neal to the food table. You obviously know where it is."

The boy self-consciously brushed the sausage roll crumbs off the front of his shirt and nodded his head in a sideway direction, "Let's go."

As soon as the two boys were out of ear shot of the oldies, Jerry couldn't help but tease, "Love your shirt man."

Neal shot back, "Yeah, yours is pretty hot too!" Both kids chuckled.

They stood looking at the selection of party food for a few moments before Jerry commented, "This is so lame."

"Yeah. How about I get us some champagne to knock the edge off?"

"Really. How?"

"Easy man. You want one?"

"Ah…no you go ahead. I can't. My dad would kick my butt if he found out."

Neal reconsidered, "Yeah, mine too. You're right."

"Hey look, the Enricoh twins are here."

"The Enricoh twins?" Neal looked around and spotted the two beautiful teenage girls Jerry was pointing out.

"Yeah. They go to my school. At last years Christmas party I teamed up with them for the scavenger hunt. They're pretty cool. You want to go and get a drink with them?" Jerry clarified, "A soda."

"Awesome plan."

Neal's opinion of the night improved out of sight with his introduction to the young ladies. The twin girls, Eleana and Emmy were really very sweet. They were interested to find out all about Neal and which school he went to and were suitably impressed in finding out that he had a 'job'. Before long, a small crowd of teenagers had gathered as Neal showed off a number of sleight of hand tricks. Everyone was amazed, especially Jerry who took credit for the latest attraction.

Neal got right into the swing of the party after that. He teamed up with Jerry and the twins for the scavenger hunt, which unbelievably they did pretty poorly at, but only because the boys were far more interested in entertaining the girls than looking for the items on their list.

Peter joined Neal for the parent/child three legged race. They made it halfway before the Peter took a tumble, bringing the kid to the floor with him. The agent claimed Neal sabotaged the race as pay back for the shirt but Neal maintained that the old man was uncoordinated and he could prove it if necessary.

El and Neal were the outright winners of the trivia doubles contest. There may have been some contention that an internet phone was used to cheat on the questions but that rumour most likely was started by Peter and his partner, Agent Watson when they didn't even make it to the second round.

As the evening drew to a close, the children were invited to 'gather round' as Santa made a grand entrance. Each and every kiddo was rounded up, even the reluctant participants, and asked to sit at the Big Guy's feet. The parents all stood forming a circle around the back of the children, possibly to stand guard in case a child tried to escape. Not that Neal did!

Santa began to announce names and each child took a turn to head up to collect a present from the man in red. Neal had Jerry on one side and Emmy on the other. Eleana sat on the far side of Jerry. Somehow, Neal acquired a napkin and pen and while he 'eagerly' awaited his name to be called, he sketched an awesome little drawing of Emmy and signed it, NC. He handed it to her and she gave him a gorgeous smile in return. Yep, Neal was already looking forward to next year's party.

"Neal Caffrey." Oh man, here we go. Neal looked back to where El and Peter were standing. It was almost like a last minute check to make sure he absolutely had to go up to collect his gift. Yeah, that's affirmative.

Neal took his place beside 'Santa.' "Have you been a good boy this year, Neal?"

Oh you've got to be kidding me! "Ah…" What type of a loaded question was that anyway? Neal could no more lie to 'Santa Clause' than he could to his mom or Peter. "Ah…I'd have to look up the definition of 'good.'" Neal hoped that would be enough.

It was. Santa gave Neal his present, "Merry Christmas, Neal."

Neal had seen enough kids collecting presents to know the drill. After receiving the present from Santa, the child opened the present and showed the little crowd of faces the contents of the gift earning them a cheer from the crowd. Too bad if the kid unwrapped a handkerchief or a home-made scarf. Not that it happened. The kids all seemed pretty happy with their gifts. Neal cautiously pulled on the bow. What could it possibly be? He remembered a month or so ago, Peter bringing home a Christmas Party information form to be filled out. It went something along the lines of 'What do you like to eat? What do you like to drink? What are you hopping Santa might bring you for Christmas?' And there was a space to write down at least three ideas. Neal had initially thrown it into the bin but retrieved it when Peter gave him 'that disappointed look.' Peter explained patiently that every child who attended the Christmas party received a present, regardless of their age and Neal had wanted to scream at the top of his voice that he wasn't a child. But he didn't, instead rationalizing that there should be some acceptable cut off age like maybe three! In the end, Peter won and Neal reluctantly filled out the form.

What do you like to eat? :- chopped onion, sour cream and a side of caviar;

What do you like to drink? :- A fine glass of Pinot Noir;

What are you hoping Santa might bring you for Christmas? :- I don't need anything from 'Santa'. I already have everything I could ever want. Please give my gift to someone less fortunate.

As Neal began to remove the lid from his present he suddenly realised his error in judgment in not filling out the form correctly. He could still hear Peter's voice in his head, "If you don't put down a suggestion, someone picks something for you anyway." The gift felt a little heavy for a handkerchief, but not for a set of silk boxers and a matching puppy t-shirt. He looked over at Emmy, Jerry and Eleana. Why, oh why didn't he put down something safe like a Greatest Hits CD. Neal you always do everything the hard way! Neal pulled off the lid and was relieved to find a baseball glove looking up from inside. He let out the breath he'd been holding and held up the glove. While he was getting his cheer, Santa instructed, "Try it on. It's a long way to return it if it doesn't fit."

Almost over, Neal. "Okay Big Guy." Neal slid his fingers into the glove but pulled them out to investigate when some type of blockage stopped his fingers from going all the way in. After making a visual inspection, he removed the obstruction that turned out to be a neatly folded sheet of crisp white paper. Neal forgot for a moment that there were many sets of eyes on him and proceeded to carefully unfold the mystery letter. He gave the single sheet a quick scan - 'New York Sate Adoption Office.' It was his adoption certificate – well it looked like a photocopy of his adoption certificate. Neal suspected the original was in a very safe place back at home. The young boy looked thankfully over to Peter and El while the crowd gave him a second cheer, even though most were just cheering on autopilot. "Thank you Santa." Neal said sincerely.

"You're most welcome, Neal. Don't forget to be a good boy for your dad next year." He'd been about to head away with his gift but Santa's comment gave him pause. He narrowed his eyes at the Big Guy but all he got in return was a "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

Neal made his way back to where his mum and dad were waiting patiently. "Look what I got for Christmas." He held up the certificate. "A new dad." Neal wrapped his arms around Peter's waist and lay his head against the older man's chest. "You know now I'm going to have pretty high expectations on Christmas morning when I open my presents. I got a new dad at the pre-Christmas party. What do I get for the real event?" The joke brought chuckles and El joined in the hug. Neal pulled away and looked up at his dad, "I guess I'm all yours now, Peter."

Peter crouched down so he was at eye level. "You've been mine for a very long time, Neal." Peter pulled him into a bear hug and when he stood, Neal came with him. The young boy's feet, lifting off the ground. "Nothing's going to change."

Peter, eventually returned Neal's feet to the floor. "Let me see that glove."

"It looks pretty…" Neal didn't really know what type of word was appropriate for describing a glove but fortunately he was saved by his new friend.

"Hey mean glove man!"

"Yeah… real mean?" Neal passed his gift to Jerry for a closer inspection.

"I got my glove and ball here, you want to try it out?" Amazingly, from out of nowhere, Jerry produced a well worn baseball mitt and one very used baseball.

"Ah…I'd like to but…I'm not sure how." Neal looked a little embarrassed.

"Nonsense." Peter's voice butted into the conversation. "Come on, I'll teach you." Peter began walking towards the far end of the hall, away from the end where the celebration was taking place and the two boys trailed closely behind.

Just before they were out of ear shot, El called out, "Nobody better smash a window Peter or you'll be answering to Santa."

Peter turned back and smiled, "Warning dully noted, Mom!"

El watched as off in the distance, Peter stood directly behind his son, helping him to position his arm correctly for catching and instructing on how to manipulate the mitt through the fingers. Neal caught on real fast and in no time, was into the full swing of tossing and catching. Peter stayed close, possibly to rein in wild throws before they came close to the windows but more likely to just be near his son and revel in the experience of teaching him something for the first time.

-W-C-

"What are we doing here? What is this building?" Neal scanned the alley for signs of anyone approaching but the coast was clear.

Mozzie looked over the top of his glasses while he twisted his little wire tools and made quick work of unlocking the fire escape exit. "For real? You don't recognise the building." The older kid looked insulted. "Let me refresh your memory. It's the one you always stop at on our walks. Every single time for the last three months we've been out for a stroll we just happen to walk by this building and you just happen to gaze up at it longingly before moving on. Ring any bells?" Moz raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah." Of course he knew it. "So what are we doing here?"

"Wait." Mozzie held out his hand to stop the boy from stepping any further into the room. Using a card scanner to decode the security set-up he easily disabled the alarm system.

Neal followed his friend through after being given the all clear signal. "Moz if I knew we were going out for a session of B&E I wouldn't have brought my dog!" Neal was beginning to lose his patience, fast. He held the puppy up into Mozzie's face as a not so subtle reminder that he was totally unprepared. He'd been at June's since lunch and Mozzie had swung by unexpectedly to walk him back. It was getting late and the kid was already overdue at home.

"We won't be long." Mozzie led the way into a large room filled with easels, paints, smocks, brushes and a varied collection of paintings in various stages of development. Clearly an art studio.

"Moz," Neal took a deep breath and sighed, "Why am I here?"

"I guess the real question, my young friend is, why are you not here?"

Neal put the puppy on the floor but held on tight to his lead. "Mozzie, you of all people should understand. I can't believe you're not on my side with this. Don't you see, I'd be like admitting defeat. Once I'm here I'm in the system. You'd be the first to rub it in. First this, then what? Uni? A job. That's not what we want. It's not for guys like you and I!"

"Neal, who are you trying to kid?" Mozzie sounded exasperated. "This is exactly what you want. Don't even bother telling me differently."

Neal picked up Satchmo and began to head for the door when he was pulled up by his friend. "Look Neal. It appears I haven't done the right thing by you and…I'm sorry. I do understand." The younger boy looked slightly less offended with that semi-apology but unfortunately he had taken Mozzie's confession the wrong way.

Moz put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Take a good look around man. If I'd been offered a placement here, I'd fly at the chance. But I wouldn't be offered one. I don't have the talent. I'm not you. You have an amazing gift, my young friend. It's incredible what you have and I believe one day you'll be a renowned artist. You're already a great artist. Just no one knows it yet." Mozzie shook his head. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you this already. I should have encouraged you earlier but it's just that you're a hard act to give up."

"I don't know Moz. I feel so unsure about it all." Neal seemed to take Mozzie's advice onboard and looked around at the paintings as he spoke. "Doing what I do with you guys, I know I'm good at it and I know where I stand. I don't know man, it's in my bl…."

Mozzie cut him off, "I swear if you tell me it's in your blood, I'm going to roll you in the paint and glue you to a canvas."

"Okay then. I wasn't going to say anything like that. Nothing even remotely in that vicinity." He smiled at his friend. "Are you still walking me home?"

"If you need me to." Mozzie reactivated the alarm and locked the fire escape as they made their way back out to the alley.

"No, I don't need you to." Neal looked slightly outraged.

"Fine. I'll catch you tomorrow."

"Thanks, Moz."

"Anytime." Mozzie headed off further down the alley and Neal made his way back out onto the main street to have a final look at the building.

After staring at 'Bayside Art College' for a long moment, he gently lowered his puppy to the ground. "Come on Satch, let's head." Neal proceeded to turn and make tracks in the direction of the subway but his path was blocked.

Shit! The creep!

"You let me down last night, Neal." The larger man shoved a finger into his chest. "You promised me you'd be there and then you were a no show. I went to a lot of trouble for nothing." The thug put a heavy hand on Neal's shoulder and began to squeeze. The young boy tried to pull away but the hold was like a vice grip. He could have screamed out but then there'd be too many questions to answer long after the episode was over. "Perhaps I didn't make myself clear." Tears began to escape from the corners of the young boy's eyes as he felt the pressure in his shoulder increase to an almost unbearable level. "The next time you pull out of one of our agreements, I'm going to pay your mommy and daddy a visit. Mom is doing so well in that little shop of hers on the Upper East Side. I'd hate for there to be any kind of fire although you can't be too sure with the unstable heating systems in some of those older buildings. And wouldn't it be a shame if Peter Piper didn't look both ways before crossing the road. What's his knock off time again? Five Thirty? No, don't worry your pretty little face. I'll work it out." Neal felt great relief as his shoulder was released but the respite was short lived. "I'll be seeing you again real soon, Neal." And with that, the young boy was left, with his puppy to ponder his future, standing in front of the art school while watching the retreating figure of a very different destiny.