I do not own but I do ask for reviews very nicely pretty please with cherries ontop of half naked neal I love all my fans and I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you Peppe for betaing yet again your a big help.
Chapter 2: Healing
After dinner Neal picked up the plates and walked over to the sink and began to wash the dishes when he finished he dried them and put them on the drying rack. Walking over to the couch he looked at Peter and found him asleep after a long day of driving. Crouching down Neal brushed his fingertips against Peter's features for a moment before he stood up and made his way into his room to change for the night, while in his room Neal opened the bottle of sedatives and dry swallowed one since he knew they made him drowsy. Once he was in his silk pants for the night Neal walked back out to the living room and covered Peter with the blanket and bent over and kissed him on the temple.
Since I slept in the car I'm still not that tired, maybe I'll sit up for a while and just watch the world go by… Neal thought as he walked out onto the deck and sat down on the lounge chair again to look at the gold and orange and red leaves that were starting to appear in the vast ocean of green. As the sun slowly sank lower behind the cabin Neal shifted on the lounge chair and watched as the sky darkened and stars began to dot the sky.
Peter woke up shivering a few hours later as he looked around the pitch black cabin when he saw the silver moonlight bathing the woods in its eerie glow the FBI agent grumbled and put his arms over his chest and rubbed his arms to warm up as he walked to the doors to close them. When he walked out onto the deck Peter noticed that there was someone lying on the lounge chair. "Neal… what the hell are you doing out here in the cold," Peter remarked as he went over to the younger man and put a hand on Neal's shoulder.
The skin under his hand was icy cold; Peter felt his heart stop for a moment until he saw a small cloud of breath float from Neal's nose as he slept. Giving a small sigh of relief he shook Neal until he opened his eyes "Pe…pe…ter…how… how did it… get so cold out here?" Neal asked as he began to shiver, the agent chuckled and put a comforting arm around Neal as he stood up, Peter led him back inside and shut the double doors behind them. "Let's get you upstairs where it's warmer… the fireplace heats up the entire room better then down here," Peter said as he led Neal up the spiral staircase. Neal continued to shake as Peter quickly got a small fire started in the wood stove in the corner of the room.
Neal walked over to the large master bed and crawled under the goose down comforter to warm up, and when the fire had taken hold of the wood Peter went to the dresser and grabbed his clothes to change. He then went into the bathroom and changed before he slipped under the covers beside Neal who was still shaking. "Neal you're still shaking, come here and let me warm you up," Peter said as he held his arms open to Neal. The ex con slipped closer and nuzzled against Peter for warmth.
"It's getting warmer now; I guess I shouldn't have taken that sedative they kind of make me sleepy," Neal mumbled as he nuzzled against Peter's shoulder and neck. Peter rolled his eyes as he let Neal snuggle up close for warmth. "But then again…I couldn't sleep without it," Neal added as he began to drift away into the dream world. Peter stayed awake to watch Neal as he slept and when he was sure Neal was truly asleep he traced the scars on Neal's chest after a couple minutes he stopped on the one over Neal's heart it was the only scar that scared him. It was a marring reminder at how close he came to losing the younger man. Pulling Neal closer Peter felt safer that he knew Neal wasn't going anywhere that night which comforted him and allowed him to fall asleep as well.
Neal groaned as he raised his arm to shield his eyes from the glaring sun that had risen high enough in the sky to reach him on the second floor. As he sat up to stretch the kinks out of his back Neal noticed something large and warm beside him. Looking beside him Neal found Peter with his arm around his waist. At first Neal was upset that Peter had ignored his request to stay in separate rooms, and then it dawned on him he couldn't remember how he ended up sharing a bed with Peter.
Not wanting to stay there any longer Neal got out bed and walked to his room on the first floor, once he crossed the threshold he made a beeline for the bag he packed, he dug around in his duffel bag for some fresh clothes. After putting on a pair of pants and some thick socks Neal walked out of his room and walked into the kitchen and began to look around for something to make for breakfast, as he looked around in the cabinet for a frying pan Neal stood up and turned around only to come face to face with Peter.
Peter ran his fingers through his hair trying to flatten it as he looked Neal over. "Is there a reason you decided to walk around shirtless when it's cold down here?" Peter asked as he made his way to the fireplace to make a fire. Neal walked away from the stove, "I distinctly remember saying I wanted to sleep in a separate room last night, but when I woke up this morning I was in bed with you…so how did you get me up to your room?" Neal asked as he pointed the frying pan at Peter.
The older man walked back over and yanked the pan out of Neal's hand before putting it on the counter. "You took one of your pills last night and ended up falling asleep on the lounge chair in the cold where you nearly gave yourself hypothermia so I brought you upstairs to warm up since it wasn't necessary to heat the whole cabin to warm you up. Besides you were the one who was pretty clingy last night not me. All I did was keep you warm so you wouldn't get sick, so you shouldn't jump to conclusions," Peter said as he walked over to the stove and placed the pan on the coil and turned the heat on.
"I…I don't remember doing any of that, I guess those pills really do make me loopy… sorry for getting so defensive Peter, I know your trying to help me," Neal said sheepishly as he looked down at the floor. Peter chuckled at Neal's reaction. "Just go put a shirt on and I'll make breakfast," Peter said as he pulled eggs and bacon out of the fridge. Neal smirked "Why should I put a shirt on…is it because I distract you with my hauntingly good looks?" Neal asked as he moved closer. "No, its cold out and you should be wearing a shirt," Peter remarked as he turned his attention to breakfast knowing that the other man disliked being ignored very much.
Neal moved closer to Peter and looked over his shoulder to see what he was preparing for breakfast and from the looks of it he realized that it was only a simple breakfast, scrambled eggs and bacon. After a couple minutes of trying to get Peter's attention Neal gave up and walked over to where he had left his new art supplies and began to look them over again. Curious to see where Neal had run off to Peter looked over his shoulder and found Neal still shirtless. "Damn it I'm not kidding Neal it's in the low forties and it's going to stay there all day so put a shirt on or I will put you over my knee and it will not be pretty," Peter warned as he watched Neal quickly get up and return to his room before returning in a few minutes wearing a black turtleneck. Peter smiled when he saw that Neal had finally obeyed him. The ex con parked himself at the small kitchen table "So what are we going to do today? Unless you are planning on keeping me locked in doors all day?" Neal asked as he crossed his legs and sat back against the chair.
Peter put a helping of eggs on both plates and some bacon besides the eggs before placing a plate in front of the other man before putting the other down at his place. He then sat down across the table from him and reached for the pepper at the same time as Neal did, the ex con smirked as he pulled away the victor with the pepper. Peter looked down at his hand and saw that his fingers were wrapped around the salt shaker. It took less than a millisecond to realize that Neal had switched the shakers just as they both reached for it. When Neal finished he handed the shaker over to Peter.
"I was thinking that maybe we would go for a walk after we go to the market to get some things for dinner tonight, and maybe you'll find something you'll want to cook for dinner tonight," Peter said as he began to eat his breakfast. Neal thought it over for a moment as he picked up a strip of bacon and took a large bite out of the hickory smoked meat strip, with a smirk finished it off quickly before digging into his scrambled eggs when he was done he grabbed his last strip of bacon and finished it quickly. It was so good that Neal couldn't help but lick his fingers seductively of all of the flavoring from the bacon, he looked at Peter and gave a small smirk at his reaction "Peter your eggs are getting cold, and your drooling a bit," Neal said with a small laugh as he got up from the table with his plate and as he walked past Peter's plate he quickly grabbed the last piece of his bacon eating it before Peter could object.
Peter got up from the table and carried his empty plate to the sink. "Since I made breakfast you can wash all the dishes, I'm going to lounge on the couch for a while," he said as he walked over to the couch and stretched out on it. Neal huffed as he grabbed the rest of the dishes and put them into the sink and proceed to do just that, Neal rolled up his sleeves and blocked the drain before filling the sink with water and began to scrub the frying pan, Peter watched Neal from the couch as he washed the dishes. After a moment of scrubbing Neal realized he had been conned. "Wait a second I did the dishes after dinner last night, and I was going to make breakfast which would have given you dish duty and you knew that, you didn't take the frying pan so I wouldn't hit you, you took it knowing I would make breakfast." Neal remarked.
As Peter sat up and put a hand on his chest "I'm appalled you would accuse me of such a thing," Peter remarked as he began to lie back down, but before his head hit the pillow a wet sponge hit him in the face with a loud squelching sound. Neal started to laugh when Peter sat there in shock the blue sponge still stuck to his face. After the initial shock passed Peter peeled the sopping wet sponge off his face. "You're going to get it now," Peter said when he looked up only to see Neal was gone and the front door was swinging shut.
Jumping up from the couch Peter ran out the door after Neal and after a quick sprint he successfully caught up to Neal and pinned him against a tree. Neal laughed as he was forcibly spun around; Neal had to bite his lip to keep himself from smiling which he failed miserably at. Peter tried to look angry but he stopped when he saw the real Neal again breaking from the depressed shell that he had grown so used to seeing. After a few minutes Neal slowly got laughter under control before he spoke. "You know I haven't laughed this much in a long time, I forgot how much fun it is," Neal said his chest rising and falling quickly as he caught his breath after a moment he reached up to rub the remainder of the laughter induced tears from the corners of his eyes. Peter grabbed Neal's wrist and pulled his hand away before reaching up and using his own thumb to wipe the tears away.
Neal smiled and pulled Peter into a fiery kiss that set his skin on fire, he couldn't understand why every time he kissed Peter that he felt he had been electrocuted by a million electric eels that sent his nerves into overdrive. The kiss ended abruptly when Neal pulled away. "Peter your phone in vibrating," Neal said as he felt his head clear slowly from the kiss induced haze. Peter reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out, not recognizing the number as he opened the phone "This is Burke, that's good news thanks for the update and yes he's right here…" Peter said handing the phone over to the other man. Neal took the phone and held it up to his ear. "Hello, oh hey Dante…things are going good, we're going to be up here for a while. I'll call you when we plan on leaving…no Dante we haven't had sex yet…almost… okay later," Neal said before hanging up and handing the phone back to Peter.
"Don't ask, but I would like to know why you thanked him… what's going on, is it something I should know about?"Neal asked as he shifted from side to side. Pocking the phone Peter thought in silence for a moment. "He was telling me that we finally have a lead on Jordan Wilson, apparently he's hiding out somewhere in Russia, he was spotted near a small village just outside Moscow two days ago," Peter said relaying the information to his partner.
Neal felt an unwelcome shiver shoot up his spine at the name, right away Peter regretted saying it, "Neal he's over five thousand miles away from this spot he's not coming after you and if he even thinks about it I'll shoot him," Peter promised as he tried to keep Neal calm. Giving a small smirk Neal bit his bottom lip for a moment "I know that Peter and I also know you owe me another kiss since Dante interrupted our last one," Neal remarked grabbed Peter and pulled him up against his body keeping himself pinned between Peter and the rough bark of the tree behind him.
Just as their lips met a second time Neal felt the familiar vibration of Peter's phone, as he growled in anger Neal shoved his hand into Peter's pocket before Peter could even react. "Dante is that you…oh hello sir…no Peter just got into the shower but I will tell him to call you when he gets out," Neal lied as he hung up and held the power button down until the phone was off. Neal shoved the phone in his back pocket
"Hughes wants you to call him about something important I guess but not right now; right now you're busy," Neal remarked with a smirk as he moved past Peter although he made sure to keep out of reach so the other man couldn't get his phone back too soon. Peter walked after Neal and grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back into his arms. "You are giving me my phone back right now or you're going to get a spanking and I'm not kidding when I say you won't be able to sit down for a month," Peter warned as he held his hand out. Neal looked down and defeated but reluctantly handed the phone over; Peter ignored the kicked puppy dog look Neal was giving him as he called Hughes back Peter waved Neal off.
While the phone rang Peter watched Neal slink away in dejected silence to a large rock formation and lay out in the sun. "Sir it's Burke… I see, well it was only a matter of time before they tried this… it was inevitable. How bad are the charges? I see… can you postpone it until we get back, about two weeks sir. Neal just isn't ready yet he'll crack under the stress of an interrogation right now, uh huh no of course I understand, I'll figure out a way to tell him. Thank you again sir," Peter said before hanging up and after he pocketed the phone he walked over to where Neal was laying on the large flat stone with his shirt off.
Neal sat up and grabbed the other man's wrist and pulled him to sit down on the rock beside him, Peter felt his eyes go right to the scars on Neal's chest, his hand automatically moving up to touch the scars "Peter can I ask why you always look at my scars?" Neal asked softly as he felt his pulse rise from the soft touch. "I don't mean to but I blame myself for those scars… if I had just insisted that you leave the club… if I hadn't listened to you then you wouldn't have them," Peter replied as he traced the longest scar that ran from Neal's collar bone to the second scar over his heart and across his sternum.
Right away Neal felt a pang of guilt hit him hard in the gut when he realized that he had been blind to Peter's suffering. Sitting up slowly Neal looked at his partner, "I'm the one who should be the one to blame, I stayed to protect you from having your life ruined… if I had just left then I wouldn't have been shot and we could have taken care of Jack on our own…"Neal remarked as he felt Peter's hand move back up to his shoulder.
The moment Peter heard the name his mind flew back to the conversation he just had with Hughes, not wanting to add to Neal's stress Peter slid his hand up Neal's shoulder and neck before gently cradling the back of his head and pulling him into a comforting hug. Right away Neal attempted to wrap his brain around the suddenly clingy FBI agent's actions. "Peter what's wrong? You're starting to scare me, what did you talk to Hughes about?" Neal asked fear filling his voice.
Peter held Neal close as he lay down slowly against the warm stone, Neal sat up a look of worry on his face "Peter tell me what's wrong…you're really freaking me out," Neal remarked as he searched Peter's face for the truth. Letting out a sigh Peter sat up and looked into Neal's eyes. "The DEA is attempting to file murder charges against you for Jack's death… they want to interrogate you but I've asked Hughes to convince them to wait to question you. Don't worry Neal you have our protection and I'm not going to let anything happen to you at all," Peter promised as he pulled Neal back down into his arms. Neal nodded awkwardly as he buried his face against Peter's shoulder. "I don't want to go back to jail Peter…"Neal said softly as he felt his stomach knotting in worry.
Right away Peter realized that he needed to take Neal's mind off of the future problem. "I'll do everything in my power to keep you from going to jail Neal, so don't worry about it," he said held Neal close, "I have an idea… why don't you put your shirt back on and we'll go to the market get some food. Then when we get back we'll take that walk and then you can cook dinner. I'll even wash the dishes myself," Peter offered in hopes it would work.
"That sounds like a great idea; I'll make sure that there are plenty of dishes for you to wash, too. I wonder what kind of selection a store this far north will have, hopefully it will have enough because I will not lower myself to eating freeze dried noodles in broth," Neal remarked as he scrunched his nose a bit like a finicky cat making Peter laugh. "Well come on, put your shirt back on and let's go," Peter said as he got to his feet and waited for Neal to shake the dirt off his turtleneck.
After dressing Neal got into the car and right away began to play with the radio before they even pulled out of the long driveway. Peter resisted the urge to slap Neal's hand as they drove the thirteen miles into town. Neal chewed his lip as he watched the trees passed by. When they got to the market Peter killed the engine and got out of the car. "Are we on a budget?" Neal asked as he followed Peter into the market.
"I would like not to spend a hundred dollars on food for just dinner," Peter replied as he followed Neal as the younger man wandered around looking for something to buy. Neal picked up a few things and read the ingredients before putting them back down on the shelf; Peter sighed and continued to follow Neal around. As they walked by the produce section Peter grabbed a tub of green paste "I wonder who needs a tub of avocado paste?" Peter mused as he looked at Neal.
Grabbing the tub Neal put it back on the refrigerated shelf and looked at Peter. "People who make food with them and before you ask no I don't eat avocados because I'm allergic to them," Neal responded as he grabbed a couple red peppers from the shelf and placed it into a plastic bag. Peter watched as Neal walked away "I didn't know you were allergic to anything, I thought the great Neal Caffrey was immune to everything," Peter chided as he reached for the deviled ham on sale.
Neal grabbed Peter by the wrist before his fingers could even touch the rim of the can. "You have more than enough of that at the cabin and even then I'm not going to let you eat it," Neal remarked as he slowly pulled Peter's hand away before he walked over to the meat department. After smiling and a few charming words he got the young woman behind the counter to hand him what he needed at a fifty percent mark down. Peter looked at the younger man. "Conning your way to get food, I guess your skills are good for something for once," Peter joked as he took the meat and looked it over before putting it in the basket.
Giving a little smirk of knowing Neal pretended not to hear Peter as he walked over to the dairy section and began looking the cheeses over, after three minutes he found that Peter's growing annoyance at him was starting to get worse, so Neal grabbed the American cheese off the shelf that he had been looking at the whole time. Once he made one more sweep around the store Neal walked up to the register and paid for the food and walked out to the car with Peter.
When they got back to the cabin Neal made his way inside, and as he put the food away he thought about Peter and where they would go on their walk. When he was done he walked back outside and over to where Peter was waiting for him. "We're going to work up a large appetite today so I hope what you make for dinner is filling," Peter remarked as he began to lead Neal up the trail.
As they walked up hill Peter decided he danced around the question he had been holding in for some time. "Neal you're a smart guy can I ask why you never finished high school or got a GED or even went to college?" Peter asked as he stepped over a large rock and reached back with an open hand to help Neal up the trail.