Little Proteges - CleverFox & Jade

[KingCrowley]

"And you thought I wouldn't be able to solve that riddle. Really Peter I told ya you should have more faith in me." Neal was feeling somewhat cocky at his little victory, but he didn't push anything, oh he knew exactly where that would get him but he'd actually managed only a couple of scolds from the man for the past year, his behavior had improved rapidly.

"I mean, come on, you gotta give me props for that one." Neal grinned but as he was about to turn back to the pile of paperwork at his own desk -which Peter had organized for him a while back now - Diana walked into the office, two adorable little boys at her side. Neal gaped, "I didn't know you had kids Diana, awww they're adorable!"

"Well these aren't my kids." Diana said and then ushered the young boy with light blonde hair and soft brown eyes over to Peter. "This is Alec Burke. Your brother's son." she said, smiling softly. "Well you already know about the..... D E A T H.... she spelled. Originally the young man was in his Grandma's custody but she's fallen ill. That leaves you as the only eligible guardian."

"Uncle Peter!" Alec grinned, looking up at the man adoringly. "I 'member you from Christmas!" Which was about four years ago and Alec would have been about two, but the little one remembered uncle Peter giving his small bottom one smack because he'd broken a tea light holder by accident.

Diana smiled and then looked down at the young boy who actually looked like a mini Neal Caffrey. "And this, this is little Trace Caffrey. Yeah Neal...turns out you have a son." she smiled and walked the little one over to Neal who was gawping still. "His Mother....well....the same as Alec's parents....the DNA shows the kid is yours, and your his legal guardian."

This was happening fast and Neal found it hard to believe this was all reality. But even he had to admit the little scallywag looked like him. Neal being an expert with kids, bent down to the little one's level and smiled. "Hello there Trace, I like your shirt, you already have better style than Daddy does." he chuckled softly. The man then opened his arms out, wanting to give the kid a hug but only if the kid would want to.

[CleverFox]

"Uh huh and I've heard that so many times only to have to take you to task for something so sorry if the faith isn't there," Peter said as he gazed at Neal, pretty much accustomed to the cocky attitude that he constantly got from the young man. Though he did have to admit that Neal was getting better behavior wise but that was thanks to some old fashioned methods that he had employed to sort of help him out with that. "Give you props? How about I give you a good sm...." His words trailed off before he could even make that threat, though it would have been in jest anyway, as Diana came into the office leading two small boys along with her.

Peter of course knew that Diana didn't have kids since he had her personnel file and he looked at the boys and recognized the little blond boy as his nephew though it had been years since he had seen him. "Alec, hey buddy," he said, trying to mask his shock as he knelt down to the child's level and scooped him up into his arms, balancing the child on his hip. His gaze went to the other small boy as Diana said that he was Trace Caffrey, that one getting a startled snort out of him.

"Oh...oh this is great," Peter said as he looked at Neal, practically beaming in response to that one. "Neal Caffrey just became a daddy, wait til Elizabeth hears about this one." He was having a lot of fun with it but even as he teased Neal he was sort of rattled at the realization that he was now the legal guardian of a little boy. He had wanted kids and had been acting as a sort of surrogate authority figure for Neal but this...this was different.

Trace followed the woman along willingly enough, his blue eyes shifting to fall on Neal as the woman lead him over to the man. The little guy tilted his head to the side as Neal bent down to talk to him and called himself daddy, that one getting a confused look out of the kid. "Mama sayed Trace's daddy ish a bastard," he told him in a matter of fact tone of voice, the little guy watching as Neal held his arms out and even though he didn't know the man the least bit he only hesitated for a few seconds before walking over and allowing himself to be embraced. "Ish nots, right?" he asked quietly, wanting to know if his mama had been telling the truth or not even if he didn't actually know what a bastard was.

[KingCrowley]

Neal rose a brow at Peter's almost threat, no time to really answer that one as Diana walked in and pretty much announced the two of them as legal guardians to adorable little boys. The once-con man had to grin, Alec looked quite a bit like Peter, he had his eyes for sure. The man smiled at the little mini version of himself, registering over and over that he had a son, since it was still pretty unbelievable. Still, he was over the moon about having his own kid. "Shut up Peter." Neal cut across, sticking his tongue out at the man and then opening his arms out to Trace to give him a hug.

But then his arms sort of locked and his face paled. Really? His mother (whoever she was) had cursed around his little one? "No...Daddy is not that, Daddy is nice." he answered and shot a warning look to Peter in case he jumped in with anything inappropriate to the situation. The brunette was pleased when the little one accepted the hug, the man wrapping his arms around him and then standing, placing the little on on his hip.

Alec beamed with happiness and giggled when Uncle Peter picked him up and settled him on his hip. "How come you stopped coming to see me?" he asked, his eyes so like Peter's on the man. "Can I see Satchy?!" he asked, his excitement evident, oh he remembered the dog from the Christmas dinner at Peter's house. "And Auntie El!"

[CleverFox]

Peter arched a brow when Neal looked over at him and told him to shut up, the man thinking that wasn't very nice and he gave his CI a reproachful look as he said, "Now Neal that's no way to talk around two impressionable little boys." His tone was scolding but he was more doing it to give Neal a hard time since they sort of traded that back and forth between the two of them and Peter thought that it was only fair considering that Neal had been giving him a hard time only minutes earlier, before their lives were literally turned upside down.

He looked down at Alec once again when the little one asked why he had stopped coming to visit and he didn't want to say that it was because he'd had a bit of a falling out with the child's father before he died so he just shook his head and said, "Uncle Peter was really busy but he's glad to see you now. And yes, we can go and see Satchmo and your Auntie El, I'm sure she'll be dying to spoil you rotten." He hadn't had much experience with children but he instinctively seemed to know what he was doing, or at least have a general idea for the moment.

Trace looked at his daddy when he said that he wasn't a bastard and that he was nice, that getting a soft little smile out of the child as he nestled his head against Neal's shoulder. "Trace ish glad," he told him, referring to himself in the third person which added with his childish lisp was quite adorable. "Trace wanna looks 'round..." he added as a sort of after thought, the child of an inquisitive nature and very smart for his age.

Which could translate into trouble for Neal sooner rather than later but at least he wasn't to the age where he could premeditate anything yet.

[KingCrowley]

Neal ignored Peter since he knew that the man was just out to give him a hard time, and it wouldn't look all that great for him to end up over Peter's knee now that he had his own child, so the con man didn't push it. He smiled at the little boy in his arms and wondered who his mother was, it couldn't be Kate...maybe Alex...some one night stand....he had no clue. At least he had his little son Trace with him now. He rubbed his son's back and chuckled when he mentioned wanting to go and look around. "I bet you do. But it's time for Daddy to head home, so you'll be coming with Daddy." he smiled at the small child.

The kid would have to sleep in his bed with him until he could sort out a room for the little one. He was still living with June and he knew she'd have no problem with his child. "Say bye bye to grumpy pants Peter, and Alec. Time for us to go home." he grinned.

The reason for the huge fall out between Peter and Alec's parents was actually because of the smack Peter gave Alec when he was two. Of course it was more like a tap but Alec had cried and his Dad had ranted at Peter, shouting that he had abused the kid and that he never wanted him near Alec again. His parents weren't big on spanking, and Alec was quite spoiled and a little bratty when he wanted to be, because of that.

"Yay!!! I wanna see Satchy!" Alec grinned, obviously he held no grudge against his beloved Uncle. "And I want to get lots of toys!!!" he said in a sort of demanding tone, "You have to get me lots and lots of toys Uncle Peter!" Of course, the small kid expected his demands to be carried out. "An I want Choc milk!"

"Have fun boys." Diana grinned, leaving the scene.

[CleverFox]

Considering he had already been told that this was the FBI and that was something that was fascinating to the small boy Trace was not happy when his daddy said that they had to go home and that he couldn't look around. That immediately caused a pout to appear on the child's face, the little guy sticking his bottom lip out while looking up at Neal with the classic 'puppy dog' eyes as he said, 'But Trace wanna looks 'round." He protested the whole thing in a sort of whiny voice, his mother never having really paid him much attention so discipline was pretty much a foreign concept to the child.

"No goings home," Trace said when he was told to say bye bye to grumpy pants Peter and Alec, the child shaking his head and crossing his small arms over his chest. "Nuh uh," he said again just to emphasize the fact that he didn't want to go right now and expected that his daddy would do what he wanted to. "Hasta does what Trace says," the child informed him quite matter of factly.

Peter wasn't happy that a single swat to his nephew's bottom, that hadn't even been all that hard, had cost him the relationship he had with his brother but then again their family hadn't ever really been all that close knit so it was just something he'd came to terms with. Which of course made it even stranger that he was now the one responsible for Alec know but he just shrugged off that thought and focused on the little boy, telling him that they would go and see Satchmo and Elizabeth.

He smiled at the enthusiasm the little guy showed in response to that but then frowned when Alec said that he had to get the child lots of toys and that he wanted chocolate milk. "We'll see about getting you some toys if you behave but within reason Alec," Peter told the child, a hint of sternness creeping into his voice since he wasn't the type to put up with bratty behavior be it from adults or from children so he was not going to tolerate that sort of thing from his nephew. "Say bye to Neal and Trace and we'll head out," he told the child, giving Neal a look at the 'grumpy pants' remark but not calling him on it.

[KingCrowley]

Neal tried not to chuckle at the pout on little Trace's face, since that was probably the most adorable thing he had ever seen. "Daddy said no, Trace." he answered, his voice a little bit stern and he was taking that from all the times Peter had scolded him, which had been way too many to count. When the kid said how it was going to be, the con man rose a brow and shook his head "No Trace. Trace has to do what Daddy says, because Daddy is the boss." he said softly, not wanting to scold the little boy but he knew he had to.

"Daddy needs to go home now, because June wants me to walk the dogs. Would you like to come with Daddy? We can go to the park." he said softly, thinking that if Trace wanted to play here, then he wouldn't have much to do. "And Daddy will bring you back here tomorrow, and we'll play together, and annoy Peter." he grinned and kissed the child's forehead. "How does that sound, kiddo?"

Alec huffed and shook his head, "Nooo! Uncle we gotta go now and get lots and lots of toys!!!" he answered, the kid's voice raising quite rapidly. "We gotta, gotta buy free hundred!" he said, trying to emulate the stern tone that Peter used. Seeing Trace kick up a fuss about staying and looking around, automatically made the kid forget about the toys and want to immediately copy.

"I don't wanna go eiver!" Alec said, squirming on Peter's hip. "Not saying bye! Not going!" he frowned and began kicking Peter in an attempt to get down. The kid also had a violent streak in him. "I'll bite you! You'll be bited!!!"

[CleverFox]

Being told by his daddy that he was the boss immediately caused the pout that Trace was already wearing to turn into a frown, the child shaking his head as he said, "Nuh uh, Trace ish teh boss! Gotta does what Trace wants... no goings home!" The child didn't want to go home and even the attempted bribe of going to the park wasn't enough to gain his cooperation, the little brunette squirming in Neal's arms as he tried to get down. "Put Trace downs...now," the child ordered when his squirming didn't really succeed in getting him what he wanted, the child pointing to the floor for good measure so that there could be no question of what it was that he wanted from the man right now.

Peter wasn't really happy with the tantrum that he was getting from Alec and he gave the child a stern look as he said, "Alec, you heard what Uncle Peter said to you. I told you that we would get some toys but that's it." This little tantrum wasn't helped along by Neal's little boy, Peter shaking his head when Alec said that he wasn't going before making the threat of biting him. That was the final straw as far as Peter was concerned since he drew the line at violence and even the threat was enough to get him aggravated.

"Alec, if you even try it then you'll be going over Uncle Peter's knee for a spanking little boy," Peter told the child in a stern voice, giving the little blond a look that matched the tone and continuing to hold the little boy on his hip. Alec wasn't heavy or large so it wasn't really hard to hold him, Peter hoping that the child would settle down since he didn't want to spank him but he would if that was necessary. "Now be a good little boy so we can go see Satchmo and Auntie El," Peter told the little boy that he was still holding.

[KingCrowley]

Neal sighed a little when the mention of going to the park didn't get his son's cooperation since he thought honestly that it would. Hearing the little boy say he was the boss with such a firmness to his tone, caused Neal to frown in response. "No, you will do what Daddy tells you, young man." he scolded and his voice deepened. "Yes you are going, home, right now." he confirmed.

"Daddy is not putting you down, we're going home, Trace." Neal said firmly and then glanced over to Peter when he made the threat about spanking him. Neal knew what that was like and then he turned his attention back to his small son. "Now, calm down and come home with Daddy, or else Daddy will have to smack your bottom." he warned.

Alec had no idea what a spanking was and he didn't think it could be all that bad. The kid wanted to get down and explore the large place now that Trace had wanted to. "Will! Gonna bite ya!" he answered and sunk his teeth deep into Peter's shoulder. "WANNA GET DOWN AND PLAY!!!!" He demanded, his voice loud enough to get the other agents to look over and stare. "PUT ME DOWN. NOW!" He growled, "I'll bite you 'gain!"

[CleverFox]

The fact that he was not getting his way in this matter was really just not sitting well with the little brunette, Trace shaking his head when he was once again told that he would do as his daddy told him. "Nuh uh, Trace don' has to," the child told him, trying to deepen his voice the same way that his daddy had but of course it didn't work out so well for the six year old though he thought that he had made his point. The threat of getting his bottom smacked got a quizzical look from the child since Trace had no idea what that was supposed to mean but after a moment he shook his head and started hitting his daddy's chest with his tiny fists.

"LEMME GO! LEMME GO! LEMME GO! NOW!" the child shouted at the top of his lungs, Trace continuing to hit his daddy's chest, thinking that was going to get Neal to cooperate with him, and he started kicking his little feet for good measure as well.

Peter hadn't expected that the child was actually going to bite him so he was startled when he felt the sudden pain but thankfully the kid let him go quickly, Alec shouting at him and getting a shake of the head from Peter as he frowned. "That just earned you a spanking young man," Peter told the child as he carried Alec over to his desk, the man taking a seat in the desk chair and immediately putting the child over his knee. He felt bad doing this to the little one and on the first day that he was with Peter but this attitude was something that he was not going to tolerate.

And he knew that if he let Alec get by with it then it was not only going to persist but it was going to get worse. So once he had the child over his knee he immediately bared Alec, pinning the child over his lap with one hand on the small of his back.