Neal versus Boredom… otherwise known as Satchmo and the Hose versus Peter


Bored, Neal wasn't sure what to do with himself.

They'd been working on nothing but mortgage frauds and cold cases which meant that work had him ready to take a nap on his desk. However, Peter used checking in on him as a means of alleviating his own boredom so even if the team didn't notice; there was no way he would get away with it for long.

Then at home, he'd been painting and reading, and those were enjoyable pleasures, but even they got dull after a while.

Too bad Mozzie was away on a mission and June was visiting her daughter.

Looking for a distraction, he decided to drop in on the Burkes to see how they were faring.

Arriving at the townhouse, he knocked expecting to hear Satchmo's barks, but when it was quiet, he decided to try the doorbell.

This got a response as Elizabeth showed up to let him in.

She was wearing some old clothes and had her hair pulled up so he guessed that they were doing some kind of work.

Following her through to the kitchen as they made general conversation, she confirmed that she and Peter had been doing lawn work for their weekend chores.

Helping her finish getting the drinks, Neal figured he could at least hang out with them a little while they took their break for a bit.

When they walked out the back door, they could see Peter busily watering a section that he'd finished weeding.

They didn't think much of it until they noticed Satchmo sneaking up behind him and grabbing the hose. It didn't take long for him to wrestle it away and then bite the end where the water was gushing out.

Picking the drinks back up in preparation, Elizabeth predicted what followed which was Satchmo running about the lawn with the hose and spraying everything unfortunate enough to be in his path.

Retreating right behind her, Neal closed the door just in time for the water to hit the window.

Safely in the kitchen, the two stood at the window and watched the show as Satchmo ran from Peter spraying him each time he turned to see if he was being followed. Then when Peter ducked away from him trying to dodge the water, Satchmo would turn and chase him spraying him periodically in his play.

Laughing away while Elizabeth giggled beside him, Neal enjoyed the show and decided to pull his phone out to snap a few shots of the agent being thoroughly defeated by his dog with a garden hose.

After a while, Peter was pretty much soaked anyway so he decided to end the situation by walking straight into the spray and catching the hose.

However, that didn't prevent Satchmo from thinking that the game had changed from tag to tug of war.

Struggling against the dog throwing his full weight into pulling while turning his head which caused the water to spray Peter directly in the face.

With closed eyes and growing frustration, Peter finally managed to pull enough to get the greater force, but that only caused him to fall backward and land on the lawn as Satchmo climbed into his lap still holding onto the hose.

A little more struggle and the battle was finally won with Peter succeeding at regaining his feet and maintaining a solid grip on the hose as he stalked across the lawn to the spigot.

While he turned the water off, Elizabeth directed Neal to retrieve the drinks as she fetched a couple of towels for Peter to dry off.

Heading out the back door, Neal began setting the drinks up on the table since he knew the basic drill of how that went.

After a few moments, Elizabeth followed and laid the towels by the chair that had been hit with the most water.

"Hon?" She glanced over to where Peter was finishing up the task of wrapping the hose and putting it away.

There was no answer and the reason was apparent a few moments later when Peter squished his way across the deck to join them. He didn't look happy! Frowning, he dried his face off, took a seat, and began sipping his drink.

Fighting her smile, Elizabeth apologized for not shutting the water off for him, but her laughter at the memory of watching him fight Satchmo had her giggling through it. "I saved the drinks for my hero." She tried to soften the blow with a kiss as he sat his drink down.

Getting his revenge, Peter pulled her into his lap and hugged her close causing her to get wet from the proximity to his soaked clothes.

His frown couldn't hold for long and soon Peter was laughing as well.

Enjoying the show, Neal appreciated their romance and was grateful to have such friends in his life. However, he was not involved so he settled in a dry seat and sipped on his drink while he waited for things to settle down.

It didn't go his way as that's when Satchmo decided to join them on the patio, but he had a good shake to dry himself off. That caused a spray of water to shower everyone at the table.

Peter and Elizabeth were already wet and wearing work clothes, but Neal was dismayed to see his sweater splattered. It was dry clean and not intended to get wet, but he decided that it would have to be managed later as the damage had already been done.

"That's what happens when you wear fancy sweaters around dogs. Things happen to them." Peter wasn't apologetic at all.

"Hey, I wasn't shutting the water off. If a little water isn't good for this sweater, why would a whole lot be?" He defended himself.

"And you didn't want to miss out on watching me get soaked by my dog. If you show whatever photos you took around at the office, I will chain you to that desk and give you mortgage fraud cases until you cry." Peter threatened as he got another kiss from Elizabeth before releasing her.

"You mean it can get worse than it already has been lately?" Neal deadpanned.

"I'm sure I can find a way. Besides, don't think I don't know that you haven't been trying to sneak naps in. You haven't heard me whistle, and I'm a mean whistler. I can just wait until you fall asleep and then wake you up." Peter was enjoying thoughts of revenge as he drip-dried in the sun and continued to enjoy his drink.

"Don't think I haven't seen you nodding off up in your office and then deciding to come to check on me to get your blood pumping. I could always bring you a cup of bad coffee to help you wake up instead." Neal knew he had to walk a fine line. He couldn't annoy Peter too much or else the agent could make his life difficult.

"Worse than the office brew that you refer to as mud? I expected better creativity from you." Peter grinned over at him.

"And what, risk being sent back to prison for pushing a prank too far?" Neal pointed out his inhibition. "It's not that I can't be creative while remaining within the law, it's that someone I know doesn't tend to appreciate things and therefore tends to overreact at even the little things."

Smirking, Elizabeth drew attention to herself so Peter raised a brow at her in question.

"He does have a point. I recall you getting upset with him for simply letting himself in and interrupting our breakfast before stealing a toy sheriff's badge from the cereal box. That was to bring you a case that was ultimately life or death. What could he look forward to if he did something more irritating with less reason?" She, fortunately, came to his defense by stating a known incident where Peter had reacted strongly to a minor invasion.

Huffing, Peter couldn't deny her point. "Fine. I'll concede that you have a point that I may have overreacted at times. How would you feel if I just barged in on your breakfast?"

"Do you mean that thing you do at least once a week?" Neal returned the gesture of raising his brow at Peter as he pointed out the hypocrisy.

Sighing, Peter didn't appreciate it, but he couldn't argue. "Fine, point taken. But, you've got to admit that you have a pension for doing things that could risk you going back to jail and that endanger my career."

Turning her head towards him, Elizabeth directed her raised eyebrow at him. "He does have a point. We know you did something with that painting 'Girl with Locket' and there's no telling how many other things you've managed to slip past without too much getting noticed."

Giving in, Neal couldn't argue with that. However, he was a little surprised to learn that Peter picked up on there being something wrong with the painting, but he hadn't figured out what or confronted him about it. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ha, cut the crap, Neal. I watched as it was assessed and something was wrong with it, but you also managed to get away with it as the museum never pressed charges. What did you do anyway?" Peter wasn't allowing him to misdirect them and he chose to push the subject since it had come up anyway.

Thinking, Neal decided on how to approach revealing what he'd done. He'd always been honest with Peter; at least, he'd never lied to him before. With that in mind, he decided that he might as well go ahead and tell them the truth. "Well, allegedly, the painting may have had a will written on the back of it that declared the legal owner of it as the artist's illegitimate daughter. The museum would have disregarded his wishes and stolen it first causing the daughter to steal it back. To end the feud, I may have allegedly painted another copy and given that to the museum. Since it would be a huge legal issue and a massive public embarrassment, I'm not surprised that he protected his career by hiding it."

"Really? There's a secret will on the back of the painting?" Elizabeth was intrigued and Peter also looked interested.

Getting an idea, Neal started formulating his plan for a way to alleviate the sheer boredom. That would be something for later though, so he decided to keep it a secret. "Yep, it was painted on the back of the canvas." He lifted his drink towards them with a mischievous smirk.

Rolling his eyes, Peter was caught between appreciating the justice of the original owner having their painting back and not appreciating how he resolved the situation. "You do know that eventually the curator will be replaced and everything will come out? All you did was add detail to the explosive revelations that are inevitable."

"Please tell me that you didn't do anything that will bring the case back to you?" Elizabeth asked in concern.

"Mmm…" He couldn't say that in all honesty. His initials were on the back, he had a reputation as a forger, and he'd been connected to the case. It wouldn't be an issue since he'd had official government backing for his actions, but the Burkes didn't know that.

"You did, didn't you? What is wrong with you?" Elizabeth exclaimed and Peter's expression echoed her sentiment.

Shrugging, Neal enjoyed messing with them. "Eh, it just paints me as a witness to what the curator already knew."

When they both reared back to let him have it, he raised his hands to forestall them. "It's alright, it's not like I didn't make sure that it wouldn't be okay. I went to school with an agent and his boss is completely aware of what transpired with official documentation and at least another agent or two besides have it covered." Counting Mozzie and himself just added to the intrigue on their faces while reinforcing the lack of repercussions that would be expected.

Blinking, Peter wasn't sure what to do with that. "You went to school with an agent, and you still keep in touch with him?"

This was getting tricky, but he'd opened his big mouth. "I'm not in contact with him at present, but I'm sure you'll know who he is if we were to cross paths." That was an understatement; Chuck would be very reactive if they crossed paths again since he thought he was dead!

"Did something happen between you and this friend?" Elizabeth was the one to pick up on the subcontext.

"Perceptive. Yeah, his girlfriend, possibly his wife by now, and I used to date, I got him expelled from school for cheating when he didn't, and after his father contacted me, I got him pulled into government work in his family legacy. As far as he's concerned, I'm dead, but I still know people connected to him… I'm just not connected to him or his immediate team anymore." It was risky to be so open, but he was keeping to his honesty policy.

"He fell for one of your fake deaths?" Peter was concerned.

Going with it, Neal knew he was telling the truth, in a way. "Yeah, and at present, I have no intention of disillusioning him. I'm safer and so is everyone around me if there is some distance." This was also true, but, again, he wouldn't be going into detail. "Don't push it, I mean it when I say that chapter is closed and it's safer if it remains that way."

"Do you ever miss your friend?" Elizabeth once again took the emotional support approach to keep the conversation going.

Feeling somewhat saddened by the memories as several great times with Chuck passed through his mind, he still knew it wasn't a good idea. He wasn't sure how to convey that though. "It helps that nothing in my present life has any association with him so he doesn't cross my mind much. But, now that you ask, there is plenty to miss if I let myself. It's like not being able to be around Mozzie or Peter for the risk of all of our lives."

"Well, you know that we're still here, and if you ever try to fake your death on me, I will still find you." Peter raised his glass at him but the promise of friendship was greater than the threat.

Dropping the subject, for the moment anyway, Elizabeth extended an invitation for him to join them for dinner. "Peter has about dried and I think we've made good progress for the day. It wouldn't hurt to clean up and settled in for dinner and a relaxing evening."

Accepting the invitation, Neal figured he could work on his plan throughout the rest of his weekend.


Sitting at his desk on Monday, Neal was amused when Peter walked into the office and generally eyed the room hoping someone would show a sign of something more interesting than the dull cases that they'd been working on.

"Nothing interesting is going on. If you start to nod off, you know where to find me." Neal raised his cup of mud to him in amusement.

He was rewarded with Peter's groan as he rolled his eyes and muttered something before heading for the break area for his own cup.

Biding his time, Neal knew that it wouldn't be long before Peter would reach his desk, begin going through the pile in his inbox, and then at some point in the morning he'd find the case that he'd hidden in the mix. It would be obvious that it wasn't an official case which wouldn't upset Peter, but it would be a mystery so he'd be intrigued.

After a while, he glanced toward Peter's office and noticed him looking at a file with keen interest. He'd found it!

Keeping an eye on Peter's office as he worked, Neal waited while his friend worked on solving the puzzle that he'd left for him. Then he started moving around the office as he followed the clues trying to discern where they were going to take him.

It took him a few hours, but eventually, Peter found his way to the backroom where Neal had stashed a painting as a gift for him and Elizabeth.

Coming back to his desk carrying it, Peter stood looking down at it for a moment. "Thanks, Neal. Not just for the painting, but for the puzzle as something to make things more interesting. I promise I won't throw you in jail for this." He raised his head with a smirk.

"Ha-ha, you're making me regret giving you the painting." Neal played the game back.

"Don't, I really do appreciate it, and so will Elizabeth," Peter reassured him with a genuine smile. Then he glanced at his office and sighed. "How about we take a break to get a real cup of coffee?"

"I could go for that. Thanks, Peter." Neal knew his friend was reciprocating by giving him a break from the office and some good coffee to wake him up.

Taking a few minutes to shut and lock their computers and put their cases away, they then met at the doors.

Initiating conversation, Neal asked, "Have any more battles with Satchmo? All it took was him stealing the hose and you were utterly defeated there for a while."

Entering the elevator, Peter grumbled. "You're making me rethink my anti-prison stance."

"You'd be bored without me." Neal grinned.

Grumbling some more, Peter allowed it, but it wasn't without protest. "You're lucky there's paperwork involved."

Laughing, Neal knew that was just Peter's excuse. "You can argue, but you've called me your partner and your friend. I know you care."

After a moment, Peter confirmed. "And don't you forget it or make me regret it."

"I won't."

They exited the car into the lobby and headed outside. It was always great to have a friend around to help alleviate the boredom.


Thank you, everyone, for reading, leaving kudos, commenting/reviewing, and following :D

The vet figures that the mass is aggressive cancer and there is nothing that she can do about it except perhaps remove some liquid buildup from around it from time to time. So, at present, we've got a couple of medications, particularly for pain, that we're giving him along with love and TLC. However, a friend has had some homeopathic approaches that might help if nothing else so we're going to give them a try once we get the supplies together. After all, Wyoming has already lived more than the week and is heading for the two weeks she figured would be his maximum life expectancy so we continue to have hope.

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