Prompt:"Screams from across the hall"
"So why exactly is Neal staying the night when he has got a perfectly good apartment at the end of the city?" Elizabeth asks as she gets into bed, watching her husband get out of his suit to follow her soon,
"He seemed shaken up by something, I offered him to eat dinner with us, hoping to find out what is wrong" Peter tells her, "And as you witnessed, he didn't seem to be really eager about leaving so i offered him to stay"
"Do you know what has got to him like this?"
"I honestly have no idea, we worked this case like every other case but then again i didn't always have my eyes on him so he may have been exposed to something I was not or has seen a detail i haven't. I am sure tomorrow it will be fine" With a soft smile he gets into bed next to her, kissing her before laying down as she picks up her book, ready to read herself to sleep.
They get ripped out of sleep fairly quickly, Elizabeth had only driven off into a light sleep when there was a loud cry coming from the hallway, causing Peter to start fumbling for his nightstand drawer, trying to find his gun, "To the bathroom, to the bathroom" He whispers panicking as he gets a grip on his weapon, using his other hand to shake his wife awake, "Go, go, quick"
"Neal" She exclaims worried, covering her mouth afterwards, it would have probably been smarter to stay silent,
"I will get to him, go to the bathroom, lock the door. Loud sobs fill the hallway while Peter slowly approaches their bedroom door, waiting until he hears the lock protecting his wife now before facing whatever is happening out there. Whoever is out there with Neal.
Quietly he walks down the hall, gun in his hand, ready to defend himself and his family. Careful he checks the guest bathroom, followed by the little storage room before getting to the guest room. Neals room for the night.
There are still cries coming from the other side, but quieter now, more like whimpers as he slowly opens the door before with a quick movement checking the room for any signs of an intruder, of a threat, but nothing. Only Neal laying in the middle of the bed, cramped up as he cries, the blankets pushed aside.
"Neal, jesus christ" Quickly he places the gun down, realizing what is happening.
He had known this for some time, has known the nightmares. At least about it. It seems like it's the only moment where his brilliant mind stops comprehending the things he has seen, the things he has done, the things that have happened. The only time his perfect little facade crumbles. Sarah had told him about it once, never did Neal, refusing to even speak a word about it. Telling him it's nothing and that he ever since he was a child has been an intensive dreamer.
"Neal, wake up!" Worried Peter reaches for his head, stroking his hair back as Neal cries,
"Awake" He brings out between sobs, "Sorry" Desperate he turns his head to gain more physical contact, his nose pressing against Peters palm as he looks up, "I am sorry, I am sorry"
"It's alright, it's alright, it was just a dream you are okay"
"I am sorry" He sobs again, hitching for air as he looks up to his handler. Tears smearing the inside of Peter's palm as more are running down his cheek, dropping onto the sheets. From the looks of it, he must have been crying for quite a while now.
Quickly he sits down on the bed, providing Neal the opportunity to come closer and he does, pressing his face into his shoulder as he sobs, his hands holding onto the side of Peter's shirt, worrying Peter that he might pass out if he keeps going like this.
"What happened?" ELizabeth exclaims as she enters the room, seeing them like this,
"Nightmare" Peter answers quick, his hand moving up and down Neals back in order to soothe him and with patience and a lot of calming words he can eventually hear the sobs turning into whimpers, which turn into sniffles after some time, his breathing regaining a healthy rhythm before Peter dares to speak, "Let me get you a glass of water"
Ashamed Neal nods, sitting up on his own as he rubs his forhead, "I am coming back in just a second, I will send satchmo up to you in the meantime." There is not even a joke, or an attempt to justify why Satchmo should share the bed with him when he comes back upstairs and the dog is cuddled in next to him, his head placed on Neal's thigh as the man focuses entirely on the dog, ignoring Peter as he steps inside, shaking his head when he gets offered the water.
"Do you want to be alone?" Peter questions, even if he doesn't want to hear the answer. He knows he and Ell won't close an eye soon. Too big the worry about what has gotten him so upset, too big the worry what his head made him see. But Neal shakes his head, his facial expression crumbling again as his hand pets through the long fur of Satchmo, "Hey, hey, hey, you won't be alone tonight, it's okay, I am here and I am not leaving unless you say so."
Hesitant Peter sits down on the edge of the bed not daring to touch him or Satchmo as he watches them for a while, giving him a moment of quiet to sort his thoughts before Neal starts uncomfortably moving in his position and Peter takes over, grabbing the blanket from the corner of the bed and the pillow from the floor, adjusting it for him so he can lay down again.
"There you go"
"Stay" Neal tells him in a confident voice but his eyes are betraying him, begging Peter to be there, showing how terrified he is of Peter leaving the room. When the older man hesitates for a moment, at least that's what it looks like to Neal, he tabs the space on the bed, "Here, please"
"I am staying, I told you I am not leaving"
"I can't be alone" He whispers, his hand coming up to hold Peter's in a death grip, "Please"
"You wont be '' Slowly he picks up the blanket Neal is covered with, pushing his own legs under it as he wraps his other arm around Neal, pulling him close and finally, finally the trembling seems to slow down. "Do you want to try to sleep again?"
"But you can't leave"
"I am not leaving" He assures him again before reaching for his hand under the blanket, as Neal uses his other hand to keep petting Satchmo,
"You have to promise"
"I promise you, when you wake up tomorrow I will be here."
"Only you?"
"And Satchmo" Peter adds with a soft smile, "Elizabeth is in the house, but she won't step in here if you aren't comfortable with that"
"No"
"Okay then she won't"
"Your gun is still on the nightstand" Neal points out suddenly, "Will it stay there?"
"I will put it away if that's what you need"
"It can stay there" He concludes, surprising Peter. Neal has never been fond of guns, even seeming slightly scared. When in private settings it's something he eyes fairly critical, wanting Peter to leave it at home or work. It's a constant argument that Neal never wins.
"Do you think it will be needed?" He asks hesitant, his thumb rubbing over Neal's soft skin,
"I don't know"
"I am almost one hundred percent sure it won't" Peter tells him, "You are safe here"
"He always had a gun but he never kept me safe" Neals tells him, his eyes still fixated on the gun on the nightstand,
"Who had?"
"My dad" Neals tells him, "He would always put it into the drawer of the small desk in the hallway, this way he could reach it from every point in the house the fastest and it was always close to my room."
"Did that scare you?"
"He told me nothing could happen to me like that"
"I am sure he was just trying to keep you safe" Peter tries to assure him, he knows it's a wavy topic. A risky one. He doesn't like talking about his father much.
"He always said he would stay all night, but she always came back." Neal whispers, "He never used his gun even if it was so close by"
"Who always came back?" Peter asks, still unsure where this is going,
"His friend, she would always wake me up and bring me to school"
"And you didn't like that?"
"He always left me alone with her so she would keep quiet about what he is doing" WIth that Neal turns his head, looking Peter into the eyes as he asks, "Why would he keep a gun in the drawer next to my room, but let a pedophile into the house when he wasn't around?"