So quick updates, I think I have been doing well to catch up after all the months of absence. Plus Justfireheart13 needs to be annoyed so just send her messages so I can piss her off. If you do this I can guarantee at least a chapter a day for three days once she texts me about how annoyed she is.
"Did you get the pictures?" A woman's voice seeped into Neal's subconscious.
"You know it." A man said. "Should we wake them up?"
"And ruin the family moment? This is too great to pass up!" The woman responded.
Neal, who wasn't fully awake yet, had registered several things. The first was that there were two people inside the Burke's house that weren't the Burkes. The next was that he was leaning on someone's shoulder and someone had their hand resting on his back. He could tell a blanket covered them all. The final thing he realized was that he felt completely safe and at ease. It was a foreign feeling to him; Neal had never felt this way.
"But they need to know!" The man protested. The voices sounded familiar, almost like…
"Jones? Diana?" A tired Peter voice came from Neal's left. Neal could feel Peter move slightly next to him, and the hand fell away from Neal's back. "What are you doing here?"
"We tried calling when you didn't come in on time, and you weren't answering." Diana responded. "Then school called the office to say Neal didn't come in this morning, so Hughes sent us down here. The people at the school are really rude when they talk about Neal. They kept saying that Neal was a delinquent who should-"
Neal had made a small noise and shifted slightly in his now pretend sleep. He really didn't want to hear what the school though of hi. Neal heard the room freeze, Peter had even held his breath.
"Lets take this into the kitchen, we've had a rough night. He needs his sleep." Neal felt Peter get up as quietly as possible. The blanket pulled ever so slightly, letting a bit of cold air in, but it was still warm and comforting. He heard Peter and the others walk quietly into the kitchen, but couldn't make out their whispered conversations. But Neal was still tired from last night. The kind of tired someone gets when they cried for everything that was bugging them, from the littlest things to the things that would set normal people off.
He fell asleep listening to whispered conversations slowly, then all at once.
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"So how did you end up on the couch with the kid? A month ago you could barely stand the kid, now I see a perfect family picture moment." Diana said once they were in the kitchen.
"It was a rough night." Peter said simply.
Diana and Jones exchanged a quick look, then opened up the file they had brought with them.
"We caught movement at that warehouse. Hughes wanted Neal to go back tonight, if he's up for it." Diana said.
Peter sighed. He really didn't think Neal would be up for anything emotionally, but Neal had the choice. Peter started fixing himself a glass of orange juice so he could think.
"Hey Peter mind if I use your restroom?" Jones asked.
"Go for it. Do you mind grabbing my cell while you're up there? I think I left it in Neal's room." Peter said. Jones nodded.
Once he had left, Diana sat down on the kitchen stool and gave Peter a look.
"What?" Peter asked after a moment.
"What? You wouldn't pick up your phone, we come over here, slightly worried because its way past the usual time your at the office, Neal didn't come in for school, half the office thought you were being held up at your house." Diana said. "Hughes sent Jones and I over, luckily I know where your spare key is, with the promise to call if something was wrong. We walk in to see asleep on the couch cuddling with the kid. What happened?"
"Did you call Hughes?" Peter asked quickly. He didn't want the SWAT team barging into his house because of a misunderstanding.
"Nope, but I did text him this adorable picture of the new Burke family." Diana said, pulling out her phone to show Peter a picture of the three of them on the couch, fast asleep. Neal was between Elizabeth and Peter, and he looked peaceful. He looked younger when he was asleep, like everything he had been through and was going through had been erased. "Hughes texted back saying he would like an answer from you ASAP."
"Great, lets just hope Jones-" Peter cut off as he looked at the clock on the stove. It was past 10 in the morning. Diana caught his glance.
"Yeah, you can tell why we were a little worried." Diana said.
The sound of frantic footsteps, attempting to be quiet but failing abysmally, announced Jones returning.
"Peter, I don't want to alarm you, but Neal's room looks like it was raided last night. Everything is trashed like someone was looking for something." Jones said, slightly out of breath. "We should call forensics to see if we can find a print."
Peter swore slightly. "Nah Jones I forgot to clean up last night." Peter glanced to the living room, where he could hear snores that weren't his wife's, indicating Neal was asleep. "Neal kind of broke down last night."
Diana and Jones worried looks were replaced with looks of concern. They had actually become fond of the boy over the month, after he had apologized for being a jerk in interrogation. Not that either of them would admit it to Neal's face of course.
"I don't know what's going on, but I'm guessing with his friend being kidnapped, and some school stuff that I don't know about, it all just got to him. He broke down last night, so El and I brought him down here where we all fell asleep." Peter disclosed. He sighed again, and looked at his agents. He could trust them. "I don't think Neal is up to going back to the warehouse, not tonight at least. We can't sent a team in, just in case Keller is watching the building. Do you mind going back into the office, I'll call Hughes and get into the office as soon as I can."
"Boss, if you need to stay home for a day, we can cover for you." Diana told him. Peter nodded with a smile on his face.
" I know, thanks guys. Jones, did you happen to grab my phone? Peter asked.
Jones nodded and pulled the phone out from a pocket. Peter unlocked it to see 27 missed calls from varying FBI agents, and a new text message. He opened the text to see the picture that Diana had shown him.
"How many people did you send this to?" Peter asked.
Jones and Diana exchanged grins. "Entire office and Kristy. Kristy says you have to bring Neal over so she can meet the latest addition to the Burke family. She always said you would make a great father."
"Neal is not my son." Peter said, though not with as much force as he had in the month Neal had been living with them.
"Family doesn't have to be blood Peter." Jones said, and he and Diana headed towards the door.