Let Your Heart Hold Fast

Chapter 19

Elizabeth's legs buckled and she suddenly found herself sitting on the kitchen floor when she heard Neal's voice. She hadn't heard from Peter in over six hours, so when her phone rang she was expecting to hear that there was nothing new to report. Instead, she heard the sweetest sound she had ever heard.

"Hi, Lizbef. It's me, Neal! Peter found me!"

"Neal? Oh, thank God! Is it really you, sweetie?"

Neal giggled. "Of course, it's me, Lizbef. Don't you remember what I sound like?"

"Of course I remember what you sound like, sweetie. I just thought I might be dreaming."

"Nope, it's awake me, not dream me," he giggled again. "And guess what? I made a new friend, Lizbef! His name is Mozzie and he's really nice and he doesn't have any hair. He gave me lots of cheese to eat and he helped Peter find me. Do you want to meet him?"

"I'd love to meet him, Neal. He sounds like a great friend."

"He is, Lizbef. But, don't ask him how old he is, okay? He doesn't like that. And you wanna know something else? He had this really smelly cheese and he didn't even get mad at me when I tried it and spit it back out. I don't ever want to eat that smelly cheese again!"

Elizabeth laughed at that. "Oh, Neal….I've missed you so much! Is Peter bringing you home?"

"I don't know, Lizbef, but I'm riding in a ambulance. Peter? Lizbef wants to know if we're coming home."

Seconds later, Peter was back on the phone. "El? He's fine. We're on our way to the hospital to get him checked out. We'll be home right after that, okay?"

"Are you insane, Peter?! Do you really think I'm just going to wait here until you get home?! I'll meet you at the hospital." Elizabeth hung up the phone and ran to tell Richard and Nancy the good news. Within fifteen minutes, they were on their way to the hospital.

Peter was sitting in the emergency room waiting room when his wife and parents arrived. He moved quickly to his wife, pulling her into his arms. "The doctor wanted to do a CT scan to make sure his chest and head is okay. He has a large bruise across his chest from the seat belt, just like you and mom. Other than that, and a few bumps and scratches, he looked fine, El. The doctor said he's probably a little dehydrated, so they're going to give him some IV fluids."

"I need to see him, Peter!" Elizabeth said, impatiently. "I need to hold him!"

"I know, hon. The nurse said she'd come and get us as soon as they were done with the CT."

Just as Peter finished his sentence, the door opened and a young woman called his name. Peter grabbed his wife's hand and led her through the doors, following the nurse into Neal's room. Elizabeth immediately ran to Neal, pulling him into her arms.

"Lizbef!" Neal cried. "See? I told you it was really me!"

Elizabeth cried as she held onto Neal. All of the desperation, fear, and anxiety she had been feeling over the last several days finally caught up with her and she couldn't control the sobs that escaped her. Feeling Neal's body in her arms soothed the ache she had been feeling for so many days. Feeling his back rising with each breath he took and feeling his heart beat against her chest allowed her to let go of every emotion she had held inside since he had been taken.

Peter didn't know what to do as he watched his wife cling to Neal. He was surprised that the boy just stayed there, allowing Elizabeth to do what she needed to do, but then he realized that Neal was holding on to Elizabeth just as tightly as she was holding onto him.

The nurse arrived a few minutes later and explained to Peter and Elizabeth that she was going to have to put an IV into Neal in order to rehydrate him. Once she explained it to Neal, he looked up nervously at Peter. "I don't want it, Peter, okay? Can you tell the doctor that? Please?"

Peter sat down on the gurney next to Neal. "I know you don't want it, bud, but the doctor thinks you need it. You haven't had very much to eat or drink in a few days, remember? Your body is thirsty."

"But, I did, Peter. Mozzie gave me some cheese. He was going to give me a drink, too, but all he had was stuff that looked like grape juice. He said it was grown-up grape juice and that I couldn't have any."

"Neal, you've been so brave the last few days and Elizabeth and I are so proud of you, but I'm going to ask you to cowboy up one more time, okay? Let the nice nurse do what needs to be done, so we can go home. Papa and Nana Nan are waiting to see you and I know for a fact that Satchmo really misses you."

Neal gave Peter a sad look, but nodded his head. "Okay, Peter."

Instead of letting go of Elizabeth, he just turned around in her lap and looked at the nurse, who was smiling at him. "Neal, I'm not going to lie to you, okay? This might hurt just a little bit, but only for a few seconds. If you can try to hold really still for me, I'll be done super fast."

The nurse explained everything that she was doing, step by step, and before Neal even knew it, she was done. "Wow! You did great, Neal. You sure are a tough little guy."

"That's because I'm five," Neal answered as he watched the nurse wrap up the IV.

After Neal received some IV fluids to rehydrate him, the doctor came back in to talk to Peter and Elizabeth. They were relieved to hear that the CT scan was normal and that the pain Neal felt in his chest was just from the bruising the seat belt had given him. The doctor told them that they could take Neal home, but that they should make sure that he took it easy for a few days. That would be easier said than done, Peter thought.

Once they left the treatment area of the emergency room, Neal was happy to see Richard and Nancy waiting for him. He told them all about how the nurse put a needle in his arm and he didn't even cry. Then he told them all about his new friend, Mozzie. Nana Nan smothered him with kisses and Papa Richard kept hugging him. Before too long, though, he found himself being held by Elizabeth again, not that he minded at all.

The ride home was filled with Neal's excited chatter, although it was interrupted by frequent yawns. He seemed to steer clear of talking about anything that happened before he met Mozzie, although he did mention something about sleeping in someone's garden shed. The four adults in the car were amazed at how smart and brave Neal had been in the last few days.

By the time they reached home, Neal had fallen asleep against Elizabeth's side, one of his hands grasping a clump of her hair. Peter picked him up and carried him in the house, with Richard, Nancy, and Elizabeth following close behind. Once inside, he started up the stairs to Neal's room, but was stopped by his wife's voice.

"Peter, can't he stay down here for a little while? I'm not ready to take my eyes off of him yet."

Peter sat down on the sofa, feeling Elizabeth sit down next to him. Richard and Nancy sat down in the armchairs across from them and for the longest time the four of them just looked at the sleeping boy and listened to his gentle breathing.

Once they were ready to go to bed, Elizabeth insisted on Neal sleeping in their bed. The boy was in desperate need of a bath, but the hospital staff had at least cleaned him up a little. Peter wouldn't admit it, but he knew he would prefer Neal to sleep with them, too. It seemed he wasn't ready to take his eyes off of him, either.

As Neal slept between them, Peter and Elizabeth watched him for hours, each holding one of his hands. Eventually, they both fell asleep and for the first time in days, all three of them slept well.

Elizabeth and Peter woke up early the next morning, not surprised to find Neal in his customary almost upside down position. Peter lifted him to straighten him up in the bed and then the two of them watched him sleep again. They had come so close to losing him .

Elizabeth listened as her husband explained what little they knew about Neal's kidnapping. Shawn Clayton had lawyered up so quickly that they really didn't get anything important out of him. Elizabeth wasn't happy to hear that Peter was going to have to take Neal in to the FBI building for questioning, but she knew it was important. They both knew that Shawn Clayton definitely wasn't the mastermind behind any of it, which meant that there was still someone out there who wanted Neal, for some reason.

As Peter continued to explain what they had pieced together, Elizabeth's concern for Neal grew. The poor child must have been so scared and she wondered at the resilience he had shown. Other than the way he clung to her while they were at the hospital, he really didn't seem that worse for wear. Elizabeth wasn't stupid, though. She knew that he would have some post-traumatic stress and anxiety from everything and knew that she should call Dr. Lennox as soon as her office opened.

Eventually, Neal started showing signs of waking up and finally he opened his tired eyes to find Peter and Elizabeth staring at him. They waited patiently to see what he would say and then they both laughed at his first words. "Lizbef? Do we have any cookies?"

Elizabeth gathered Neal up into her arms, smothering his face with kisses until he started giggling. "Lizbef! You're gonna kiss all my face off! Peter, help!"

Peter snatched Neal from his wife's arms. "Don't worry, Neal….I'm here to save you!" With that, Peter started kissing Neal's face, too, causing the boy to giggle even harder.

"Peter, stop! I have to go to the bathroom!"

Peter immediately stopped, not wanting to cause the boy to have an accident. "Up you go, kid. And while you're in there, I think it's time for a bath, okay?"

Neal rolled his eyes. "I knew you were gonna say that, Peter."

Peter followed Neal into the bathroom, starting the bath water while Neal used the toilet. Once Neal was done, Peter helped him undress, pausing to take a good look at the large bruise on the boy's chest. Other than a few small abrasions on his arms and a small scratch on the left side of his neck, Peter didn't notice anything else.

Neal played with his toys for a while until Peter suggested they finish up so they could go get breakfast. He gently washed Neal's hair and then took a washcloth to his dirty face.

"Ow!" Neal cried when Peter was washing his left cheek.

"What's wrong, Neal? Is your cheek sore?"

Neal nodded, bringing his hand up to cover his cheek. Peter turned the boy's head, trying to see if there was a scratch or something that would cause him pain. Instead, he saw a faint bruise. "Neal? Do you know what happened to your cheek? You've got a bruise there, bud."

Neal's eyes filled with tears and a frown settled on his face. "Rhianna hit me!" he cried. "And it really hurt, Peter!"

Peter's face reddened and he could feel his blood pressure rising. Someone slapped Neal? "Who is Rhianna, Neal?"

Neal's face clouded over again. "She's the lady that took me away from you, Peter, remember?"

Peter was confused. Evidence showed that it had been Shawn Clayton that had taken Neal out of the car, but Neal was telling him that it had been a woman named Rhianna. None of it made sense.

"Neal, are you sure it was her? I thought that Shawn took you from the car."

"Shawn did take me from the car, Peter. And then he took me to his house and she was there."

Peter was even more confused. "Okay, buddy…..but you just said that she was the lady that took you away. What did you mean by that?"

"She took me away from you that day that William went away. You said I had to cowboy up, remember? And then she took me to stay at that house that had the big tree."

Peter couldn't completely wrap his mind around what Neal was saying. "Are you saying that Rhianna is Ms. Barnett, buddy? The lady from Child Protective Services?"

Neal nodded. "It was her, Peter. I remembered. I don't like her anymore, either. She's mean."

Peter felt his anger explode and couldn't stop the expletives that escaped him. Neal looked at him with wide eyes, having never heard such words come out of Peter's mouth. In his defense, Peter didn't even realize that he had said them out loud. All he knew was that he needed to let Agent Dawson know this new bit of information, as soon as possible. He quickly finished washing Neal and then gently toweled him off before taking him into his room to get some clean clothes. Minutes later, he headed downstairs, still holding Neal in his arms. He wasn't surprised to see that his parents were awake and waiting somewhat impatiently for Neal. He also wasn't surprised to see Neal run immediately to his mother once he put him down.

"Nana Nan, guess what? Peter said a lot of bad words, but you probably shouldn't tell Lizbef. She doesn't like it when he says bad words in front of me. If you tell her, she might make Peter go to bed early or sit in the time-out chair. I don't think Peter would like that, do you? "

Neal smiled innocently up at his new grandmother, who immediately scowled at her son. "Peter Timothy Burke! What were you thinking using foul language in front of Neal? I have half a mind to wash your mouth out with soap like I did when you were twelve!"

Peter groaned at that memory. "Neal, don't you ever repeat any of those words I said, do you hear me?"

Neal just looked up at his foster dad with concern. "Did you really have to eat soap, Peter? I bet that tasted worse than the smelly cheese Mozzie gave me!"

"You have no idea, little man!"

That afternoon Peter took Neal in to be questioned by Agent Dawson. What they discovered was that Rhianna Barnett and Shawn Clayton had obviously kidnapped Neal for someone else. Neal could recall the fact that they were planning on taking him away to hand him over to someone else, but he couldn't remember where they were going to take him. Peter couldn't help but be a little frustrated, knowing that if they knew where he was going to be taken, they would have at least had a place to start looking.

Rhianna Barnett had been taken into custody earlier that day, but she, of course, hadn't been very forthcoming about anything. Shawn Clayton had cracked a little bit during questioning, but the only information he had given up was the fact that the man they were working for was somehow related to Neal. This, too, had frustrated Peter, because they had been searching for information on Neal's family for months already, without finding anything.

Neal was excited to be back at the FBI building. He was even more excited that Peter let him ride the elevator all the way to the top and back down again, pushing as many buttons as he wanted to. Once they were up at the top, Neal asked Peter if they could visit his friend, Agent Rob. Peter promised him that they would find him after the questioning was all done.

Neal had handled the questioning fairly well for a five year old. Peter had to tell him a few times to sit still and to pay attention, but for the most part, he did well. Peter could tell that the boy was scared at remembering everything that had happened to him, but with a few encouraging looks from him, he muddled through. When he had told them everything he could remember, Peter had Diana take him to get a snack, while he talked with Agent Dawson.

Finally, it was time for Neal to find Agent Rob and he excitedly led Peter into the elevator. Luckily, Peter knew what floor to go to and minutes later they were standing in the ERT unit asking for Rob Davidson. Agent Davidson walked out of an office, happy to see Neal.

"Agent Rob!" Neal cried as he ran to the man. "Peter told me you helped him find me!"

Agent Davidson picked Neal up and gently swung him around, making him laugh. "I did, Neal. When Agent Burke told me they were looking for you, I worked as hard as I could to find you. I'm glad it helped."

"Me, too, Agent Rob. And you know what? When I grow up I'm going to work with you. Lizbef said that I'm good at finding things that are lost when I found her earring under the bed this morning."

"Well, we can sure use someone like you, then, kid. There are a lot of lost things in this world."

"I have to finish kindergarten first, okay? And Lizbef probably won't let me do it until I'm old like Peter."

"Hey, little man," Peter said. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not old? Would an old man be able to do this?" Peter picked Neal up and tossed him over his shoulder, forgetting that his chest was still bruised and sore. When Neal cried out, Peter quickly brought him back around to the front and looked at him. "Neal, I'm sorry, bud. I forgot about your bruise. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Peter. Just don't forget again, okay? That hurt!"

"Do you need some medicine, Neal? It seems to help with the pain, doesn't it?" Peter asked.

"I don't like that medicine. It tastes yucky." He looked up at Peter with a mischievous expression on his face. "I think if we rode the elevator more, I'd feel better, Peter."

When they got home, Peter, Elizabeth and Neal said goodbye to Richard and Nancy. Neal was sad to see them go, but Elizabeth reassured him that they would visit soon. Once they had left, Elizabeth sent Neal up to take a bath. Neal wasn't happy about that, at all.

"Lizbef, I already took a bath today, remember? I don't want to take another one. What if I turn into a prune? Peter said that happens if you take too many baths."

"That's not what I said, Neal, but nice try. And do you really want to argue with Elizabeth when she's making your favorite dinner? Let's just get it over with."

Elizabeth smiled at the adorable pout on Neal's face. The kid always argued about taking a bath, but once he was in the tub, he played happily with his toys. Peter followed Neal up the stairs and into the bathroom, starting the water while Neal got undressed. Neal climbed in the tub, but instead of grabbing his toys and playing, he looked up at Peter.

"Peter? Shawn and Rhianna won't take me again, will they? I want to stay here with you."

"Shawn and Rhianna are going away for a long time, Neal. You don't have to worry about them anymore." Peter reassured Neal that he was safe, but he really didn't feel reassured himself. How was he supposed to protect Neal when he didn't know who he had to protect him from? He couldn't keep the boy in his sight every second of every day, even though that was exactly what he wanted to do. Eventually, Neal would have to go back to school. Eventually, they would have to allow him to go out into the backyard to play with Satchmo. Eventually, he would have to be able to sleep in his own bed.

"Peter? Are you mad at me?"

Peter looked at Neal in confusion, wondering what the boy was thinking. "Why would I be mad at you, buddy?"

"Because I was disbedient, Peter. I talked to a stranger and I know I'm not supposed to do that. I tried not to, but I was tired and Mozzie was really nice, and I really wanted to come home. I climbed a tree, too, when Shawn was looking for me. I was really careful, though, I promise. I tried really hard to not be disbedient, Peter, and I don't want you to be mad at me."

Peter, who had been sitting on the edge of the tub, sat down on the floor and looked Neal in the eye. "Listen to me, Neal. I am absolutely not mad at you! I am extremely proud of you, little man. You were so brave and so smart, and because of that, we were able to find you. Do you understand?"

Neal gave Peter a huge smile. "Does that mean you'll read me a story tonight?" he asked hopefully.

"I think I'll read you three stories, bud. We're a little behind, aren't we?"

"Okay, Peter…..I'll let you read me three stories, if you want. I know how much you missed it."

Peter laughed as Neal picked up his favorite boat and started playing in the water. He wasn't sure how he was going to protect Neal, but for now the little boy was safe at home. Right where he belonged…..

Author's note: Still not a lot of answers on who is actually behind the kidnapping, but you know what they say…Good things come to those who wait. For now, we can all revel in the fact that our little family has been reunited, right?

There were a few reviews that brought to my attention a few things that might need to be clarified. One reviewer thought that Neal's recovery from everything was unrealistic, but I hope that this chapter cleared that up a little. In the last chapter, Peter's assessment of Neal being fine was that of someone only looking at the outward signs of injury. Peter knew, though, that Neal needed to be checked out more thoroughly, which is what happened in this chapter.

Another reviewer commented on the fact that it was sad to see that Neal didn't really trust Peter and that their bond wasn't that strong. In my mind, Neal's trust in anyone is clouded by the uncertainty of what he went through with Jenna and William. I think that Neal trusts Peter more than anyone else, but it is still a very fragile trust. I ask that you all give him time. That bond will eventually be strong, I promise.

Thank you all so much for your honest reviews. I appreciate it when a reviewer tells me things that aren't working for them or doesn't make sense in a story. It gives me a chance to either fix it or explain my reasoning for it. If you feel like you want more explanation, feel free to pm me. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. There is more to come soon.