Neal Caffrey one shots | White Collar

Blood binds us all

Today was the day of the blood tests at the FBI, which Neal didn't know about. He entered the bureau and frowned at all the commotion. 

'What's going on?' Neal asked Jones, as he looked at the lines of agents who were waiting in front of empty offices. 

'Blood tests. We have them every two years.' the agent explained, taking a sip from his coffee. Neal nodded and walked to Peter's office. 

'Hey, Peter. Do I have to take a blood test too?' he asked his handler, looking back at the growing line of agents. 

'Yes,' Peter said. 

Neal sighed and was about to protest but Peter shushed him. 

'No, it's just a blood sample. No complaining' he stated firmly. 

Neal looked down. He didn't like needles, and he didn't like the thought of the government having his blood in the system. But luckily he and Peter had work to do before they could get in the line so Neal didn't worry too much. 

'Where are we with Miller?' Neal asked, changing the subject. 

'Nothing yet. I ran his name and face through every agency there is but so far we have nothing. What about you?' Peter sighed. 

'Streets are quiet. He's gone completely to the ground.' Neal answered, looking out of the window, over Manhattan.

At the end of the day, Neal found himself sitting on a chair. There was a doctor next to him. He had a needle in his arm and did his best not to vomit as he watched his blood fill the plastic tube. 

'Alright, you're good to go.' the doctor said as he took the needle out of the consultant's arm and handed him a bandaid. 

'Thanks.' Neal mumbled, leaving the room quickly. He was a little bit dizzy as he stumbled back to his desk. 

'Easy there Neal.' Peter said, placing his hand on Neal's back to keep him steady. 

Neal leaned on his desk as Peter held his hand in place. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he stood up straight. 'Thanks.' he sighed, turning around to look at his handler. 

'Go home, get some rest.' the man suggested. 

Neal nodded with a small smile. 'See you tomorrow.' he said, placing his hat on his head. He walked to the elevator and glanced at Peter once more before he stepped in, heading home.

*

'Peter, you need to see this.' Diana said two days later. 

Peter looked up as the agent entered his office, closing the door behind her. 'What is it?' he asked. 

Diana handed him a file. 'Something strange popped up when they ran Caffrey's blood. Peter, he has your DNA. He's your son.' she said as her boss read the file. 

'That-that's not possible.' Peter mumbled in shock, looking up at her. She smiled softly, then he glanced at the desk of his CI, where Neal was concentrating on some papers. 

'Are you going to tell him?' Diana asked, her tone soft and understanding. 

'No, not yet. Not until I figure this out myself.' Peter sighed, placing the papers on his desk and rubbing his head. How could Neal be his son? He hadn't had sex with anyone- wait a minute. 'Crap' he muttered once he remembered that one night back in high school. 

'What about Elizabeth?' Diana asked. 

'I'll tell her tonight. Thank you, Diana.' Peter sighed. Diana left him alone, closing the door behind her. Peter got up and paced around. One hand in his hair and the other on his hip. How did he not know that girl was pregnant? Well, she did move to a different state two weeks after but still. He should've known. He let out a laugh, shaking his head. He had a son, and he was his best friend. How strange is that to find out.

For the rest of the day, Peter found himself glancing at Neal from time to time, looking for resemblances between them. He noticed that if he looked good enough he could see Neal's birthmother in him. They had the same shade of blue in their eyes and his hair was as soft as hers. And his smile, Peter didn't know why he never saw it before, but it was exactly the same.

'Alright, what's up with you?' Neal asked as the two were about to head home. 

'What do you mean?' Peter asked, playing dumb. 

Neal stopped walking and just looked at him. 'You've been looking at me all day with this weird look on your face. Did I do something wrong?' Neal asked. 

'No, no you didn't do anything wrong. I was just observing the effort you put into working with us, for your hearing you know.' Peter lied easily. 

Neal looked at him for a few seconds before he nodded. 'Alright then. See you tomorrow.' he eventually said. 

'See you.' Peter smiled as they parted ways. Peter got in his car and sighed. How was he going to tell his wife?

Later that evening in bed, he thought of what he was going to do next. Elizabeth surprisingly took it very well and encouraged him, she told him that whatever he ended up doing she would support him, but not after she made him tell her everything about Neal's mother and their relationship. Peter sighed and stared at the ceiling. He didn't know what he should do. He wanted to tell Neal but also didn't. Because he knew it would change everything, it'd change their friendship, it'd change Peter's behaviour whenever Neal went undercover somewhere because it meant that Neal put his life at risk. But he also knew that if he didn't tell Neal, the sooner or later the truth would unfold and Neal would be mad at him for not telling him. 

'Hon, I can hear you thinking.' his wife suddenly spoke up. 

'I just- I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose him El.' Peter mumbled, turning on his side to look at Elizabeth. 

She smiled. 'You won't lose him, honey. He'll be surprised, maybe a bit mad, but once you explain he'll understand. You two have a friendship that I'll never understand. It's not something that breaks easily.' she said. 

Peter stayed quiet for a while, overthinking what Elizabeth said. She had a point. After everything they went through, they trusted each other enough to know that whatever the other was doing, it'd be for the right thing.

So the first thing Peter did when he entered the bureau was going to his office and reading the file containing his and Neal'sblood results over and over again until his CI made himself present. 

'Morning Peter. New case?' Neal asked as he sat down in one of the chairs. 

'Kind of.'Peter said, absentmindedly. 

'Kind of?' Neal asked, confused.

 Peter looked up and sighed. 'Some results came back from the blood lab. Neal, this is serious.'Peter said, looking up at his son with a blank face as he handed him the file. 

Neal's eyes scanned over the papers quickly, then his eyes widened in shock and he read it again, this time carefully. 'So what does this mean?' he eventually asked, not fully understanding the formal language of government agencies. 

'I'm your father Neal' Peter said, his tone soft. 

Normally Neal would say something like: "are you quoting Star wars now?" But seeing how serious it was he didn't. All he did was stare at Peter with a puzzled look on his face. 

'I met your mother in high school and we had a fling before she moved to another state. She never told me she was pregnant,' Peter started explaining but Neal held up his hand. 

'I don't want to know okay? She gave me up for adoption. I don't care about her. What I do care about is, what's going to happen to us now.' the conman said, his voice drifting away at the end.

'I was hoping we stay as we are now. I don't want this to ruin our friendship.' Peter said. 

Neal smiled.'Nothing could ever break this Peter, you know that.' he assured the older man. 

Peter smiled and nodded. 

'So should I start calling you dad now or?' Neal asked with a smile. 

A short one, I know, but I'm working on a few longer ones! Please be patient with me :) Let me know what you think and don't be shy to leave behind prompts!