The Adventures of Neal and Mozzie

By Peppe1951

Summary: New adventures greet Neal with the arrival of an old friend along with the arrival of new classmates. Warning: The story contains punishing of children; if you don't like, don't read. Disclaimer: White Collar belongs to USA; I only write about it.

The third in the Burke Family AU series

Chapter 1

The weather was just starting to get cool when Mozzie appeared that Monday morning carrying his worldly possessions in a battered old valise and squinting at everything interesting. He had been travelling ever since he learned of Jake's arrest. It had taken him months of searching but he had finally found his friend Neal in this backward part of civilization, as he had named it and now was waiting for school to get out so he could surprise Neal.

When Neal had been adopted he hadn't minded much about his old home except for Mozzie. Mozzie had been his friend ever since his folks had died and he had to depend on others for his very survival. When he had been recruited into Jake's pickpockets Neal had been assured that they would return to New York after this last caper and he would be reunited with Mozzie. Jake hadn't liked Mozzie; he said that he was too smart for his own good and would get them arrested. But that hadn't been the case this time it was through Jake's greed that got them arrested and for the most part Neal had been happy at the end results although there had been times when he seemed to be always sporting a warm bottom.

Mozzie looked up as the school seemed to erupt as a mass of children came boiling out. "Ah, school must be out," he concluded as he peeked around the tree he was hiding behind to see a small boy he recognized immediately run towards the very pasture he was in and whistle loudly.

Mozzie watched with amazement as a spotted horse ran up and Neal tightened something on the saddle before pulling himself up. Neal was about to ride away when Mozzie came to his senses and stepped from behind the tree and call, "NEAL"

The reaction was instantaneous as Neal turned around and when he saw who it was hopped from the saddle and ran to Mozzie's side.

"Mozzie…where did you come from?" he asked excitedly as he looked his friend over. He was much thinner now and missing his glasses.

"What happened to your glasses?" he finally asked as he went to his saddlebags and pulled out an apple which he offered to his friend.

"They finally fell apart down the road…they were barely there anyhow," Mozzie replied as he took a big bite of apple. "Thanks!"

"Come with me and Mamma will give you something better to eat," babbled Neal as he watched his friend consume the apple quickly.

"Mamma?"

"Oh, yeah…I was adopted by Peter and Elizabeth Burke. They are nice Moz and they love me and I love them too."

"Did they give you him?" Mozzie asked as he pointed to the horse.

"Yeah, for my birthday…his name is Shiloh. I also have a dog and his name is Satchmo…Satch for short," explained Neal as he noted Mozzie's dejected look. "What's wrong Moz?"

"I was hoping that you would want to come back home with me?" Mozzie said sadly, "but after seeing you and all of your things I don't see that as a possibility."

"I can't leave Mozzie; I love the Burkes and my life here. Why don't you stay and we can be together again," pleaded Neal, "and until you decide you can come home with me," he invited and after a moment's thought Mozzie agreed.

Neal grabbed Mozzie's bag and tied it to his saddle and then instructed his friend to climb the pasture fence as he led Shiloh next the fence Mozzie was able to scramble aboard. It didn't take Neal long to climb up behind him or turn Shiloh towards home.

El looked at the clock and wondered what was keeping her son. School was out nearly fifteen minutes ago and he should have been here by now. "He must have stopped to talk," she thought when she heard the front door open and close and called out, "Is that you Neal?"

"Yes, ma'am and I brought home an old friend," he added as he dropped his books in a nearby chair and walked towards the kitchen with Mozzie close behind.

El came out to meet them and stopped as she took in the dusty appearance of Neal's friend but seeing the joyful look on Neal's face greeted the newcomer with a warm smile.

"I'm Elizabeth Burke and you are?"

"M-Mozzie…you c-can just call m-me Mozzie," stammered Mozzie shyly. He was overwhelmed with Elizabeth's beauty and smile.

"You look tired…have you been travelling far?" she asked as she motioned for him to come forward. Mozzie followed Neal into the kitchen and was rewarded with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk alongside of Neal who had already started.

"Mom, Mozzie is a friend from New York City," introduced Neal. "We are friends; he took care of me after my folks died and before Jake took me. He's been looking for me ever since…and he found me today. Can he stay?"

"Of course, he can; anyone who helped you survive will always be welcomed in this household. He can even sleep with you tonight but not in your present condition. After you finish your snack Neal will show you where you can bathe and Mozzie when I return you had better be squeaky clean," ordered El as she gave Mozzie the once over calculating his size and with that she grabbed up her handbag, fixed her hat upon her head and walked out calling,

"I'll be back soon, boys."

"Wow…Neal she is beautiful. You are so lucky to get a mother like her. What's your father like?" he asked curiously.

"He nice too…although you don't want to get on his bad side when you have done some sort of mischief," Neal explained as his hand absently rubbed his bottom.

As soon as they had finished eating Neal led Mozzie out to the shower and explaining what he was supposed to do left him there while he went in search of towels; there was always a bar of soap and a washcloth waiting to be used but noticed they didn't have any towels available. He also thought he had better find something clean for his friend his mom wouldn't be happy to find a clean body in dirty clothes. By the time he had returned Mozzie was still washing so he sat down to wait…he had grabbed one of his father's older shirts since all of his were too small for his friend.

El had made a hurried trip to the Mercantile and bought some underwear, shirts, socks, nightshirts and jeans for her newest guest and soon was on her way back home when she ran into her husband, Peter.

"Shopping this late in the day?" asked Peter curious on what his wife had to buy so late in the afternoon.

"We have a guest staying over and he had nothing clean to wear. He had just arrived after spending several days on the road," El explained and seeing her husband's puzzled expression added, "he's a friend of Neal's from NYC; and from what I can gather this boy acted as his protector after Neal folks died and they are as close as brothers…I couldn't tell him that he couldn't stay…it would have broken our son's heart."

Peter nodded sympathetically," what's the boy's name?"

"Mozzie."

"Mozzie what?"

"I'm sorry Peter that is the only name I was given. He looks to be about a year older than Neal and he has that street wise look. He's about an inch taller and a few pounds heavier. So I told Neal he could stay but he had to have a shower before he got in between the sheets of Neal's bed and left them to handle that while I hurried out to get him some clean clothes," El hasten to explain.

Peter nodded and after giving his wife a kiss on the cheek he watched her hurry away. "Why do I have this sinking feeling that my family is about to increase by one," he thought as he shrugged off the thought and returned to making his rounds.

By the time El returned she wasn't surprised to see the boys, both clean and Neal a pair of clean clothes and Mozzie in an old, way too big shirt of Peter's and playing with Satch. Neal was trying to teach his puppy new tricks and this time it was to shake hands. Satch had already mastered sit so Neal thought that teaching him to shake hands would be no trouble…but as she watched she easily saw that the puppy thought it was play time every time Neal lifted one of his front paws.

"Mozzie, I bought you some clothes…that shirt of Peter's is way too big for you…try one of these instead," she said as she showed him the shirts and jeans she had bought.

"If they aren't the right size, we can return them tomorrow and find some that are," she added as she saw Mozzie's face lit up as he saw the new clothing. He had always had nothing but hand me downs and now seeing brand new clothes was overwhelming as he only nodded as he made his selection and looked at El in awe.

"Thanks so very much Mrs. Burke; you didn't have to I would have waited until my old ones got washed," the boy said humbly.

"Nonsense, everyone deserves something new in their lives. Neal will show you to his room so you can change for dinner," El instructed the two and watched as Mozzie and Neal gathered the new clothing and made their way upstairs. El was already considering Mozzie as her boy as she watched the two together. She wouldn't separate them; they had been apart too long and after Mozzie had just found his friend El wouldn't be the one that told the boys they couldn't stay together now. All she would have to do is convince Peter. "Hmmm…a nice pot roast might just do the trick," she thought as she hurried to put one in for dinner.

After the boys were but to bed and El had Peter to herself she broached on the subject of Mozzie. "Dear, what are we going to do about Mozzie?"

Peter got that funny feeling again…the one where his household was going to increase. "What do you have in mind?"

"He needs a home."

"I agree, but where or who did you have in mind on taking him?"

"Well…if we couldn't find anyone that wanted him we could take him," she said timidly.

"El, we already have a son; let me look around town and see if anyone would want to take him in before we go and look into adopting him. I need to talk with him about his family…and a last name might be nice to know," replied Peter.

"But if you can't find someone; we can take him!"

"We'll see," replied Peter as he kissed his wife.

Tuesday morning found Neal arguing about going to school when Mozzie wasn't. "But Mozzie will get lonely if I'm not here," he had argued.

"Neal, you are going to school and that is that; Mozzie won't be lonely because he is coming to work with me. I have some questions I need answers to and I hope you can help me, young fellow," Peter had said firmly giving him that glare that promised a warm bottom if he didn't desist.

As soon as Neal left for school Mozzie accompanied Peter back to his office and

learned for the first time that his buddy's father was the Marshall of this town; on the whole he didn't care too much for the law but he would give this man a chance for his friend's sake.

"Have a seat, so we can talk," began Peter as Mozzie scooted to the nearest chair and sat waiting for Peter to begin.

"Let's begin with an easy question…what's your last name Mozzie?"

Mozzie stared at Peter suspiciously for a moment before replying, "Why do you want to know?"

"I want to check and see if you have any family willing to take you in for starters; or to see if anyone is searching for you to give them closure about where you are?" replied Peter honestly.

"Oh, where none of that is necessary…my folks are dead and Neal is all the family I have left…we bonded on the streets of New York City years ago," Mozzie replied.

"How old are you?" Peter asked deciding to chance tactics.

"Eleven…or I will be soon," replied Mozzie and at Peter's relentless stare reluctantly gave him the stare of his birth. "I was born on June 30, 1860."

"And your full name is Mozzie_?" Peter asked again.

"If you must know, it's Moz Dreiser," snapped Mozzie who earned him a frown from Peter.

"Why was it so important that you know?" asked the boy.

"Because starting tomorrow you will be joining Neal at school and they want a first and last name," replied Peter as he watched Mozzie's expression. It wasn't what he thought. The boy looked overjoyed at going to school. "You're happy about attending school?"

"Yes, there wasn't a choice in New York…for Neal or me. If we had stepped into a school the authorities would have been called and we would have ended up in an orphanage. Orphanages were not a good place to be," confided Mozzie with a whisper.

"You will stay with El, Neal and I until we can decide what to do about you and you will be govern by the same set of rules that Neal is; I'm sure that he will be more than happy to tell you about them…but here is the major one…no stealing or lying…no excuse will be recognized for you if you steal or lie and if you care to try me I will tan your hide like I have Neal's. Understand?"

Mozzie nodded his understanding and ran from the Marshall's Office as soon as Peter gave his approval. He ran to the schoolhouse to await Neal for recess and tell him his good news.

As soon as Mozzie left Peter fashioned a letter to New York City to inquire about a boy named Moz Dreiser and if he had any family left. He had told the boy that he would look into finding him a home but deep inside he knew exactly where the boy would be…with him, El and Neal as part of their family. He hadn't missed the way Neal had looked when his friend had arrived and he couldn't separate them so he was inquiring to rather he had any family left before he could continue with adoption procedures.