Disclaimer: White Collar is owned by Jeff Eastin and USA Network. I just borrowed the characters for a bit.

A/N: I originally wrote this for a friend who has Labs. Then I forgot all about it. Recently two things happened: I watched As You Were again and my friend asked why I never published her story, so here it is.

Satchmo was just settling down for a nap when he heard the back door open with that funny chirping noise it makes when no one is at home. He jumped up and hurried into the kitchen,wondering who it could be. Mommy and the funny, hairless little man had just said goodbye and gone out the front door so he didn't think it was them. It wasn't Daddy, either. He wasn't going to be home tonight; he was spending the night in the van. He wouldn't be home until morning, and he would smell funny. Daddy always smelled funny after he spent time in the van; Satchmo couldn't figure out why.

The big yellow dog wagged his tail happily when he saw who was coming in. It was Neal! He liked Neal a lot; he always scratched his ears in just the right place and he took him for walks. Sometimes he even sneaked him treats when Mommy and Daddy couldn't see. He was always happy to see Neal.

Satchmo watched his friend hurry across the room to stop the box by the door from making the horrible screeching noise it makes when you ignore it. Satchmo didn't like the box at all, but Mommy was happy it was there so he was happy too. Neal stopped and bent over to scratch his ears, and that's when the Lab figured out something wasn't right.

His friend scratched him in just the right place, like always, but it just wasn't right. Neal always did it right. Neal didn't seem happy to see him, Satchmo thought, and he smelled funny. He smelled like he was nervous, maybe even scared. Then Neal ran up the stairs, and that was really strange because Neal always stayed downstairs and had a drink of something. Not water, which is what he liked, but some of that other stuff humans always drink.

The yellow Lab watched his friend disappear up the stairs. He waited a minute and tried to puzzle out what Neal was doing. Then he jumped up and followed. He figured it out; Neal was chasing something! Satchmo loved to chase things, even things he wasn't supposed to chase like the neighbors little poodle. Or bunnies. He really liked to chase bunnies, too, but Mommy always got mad at him when he did. Neal must be chasing something he wasn't supposed to. Satchmo understood that was why Neal smelled funny. Well, he was going to go help his friend.

The dog stopped in the hallway and listened. He heard noise coming from the room where Mommy and Daddy had their bed. There was Neal, and he had something in his hand. It was a piece of paper. Neal chased a piece of paper? Satchmo did that sometimes and he never got in trouble. Mommy and Daddy just laughed. Well, humans did odd things, so maybe they weren't supposed to chase paper. It must be that because Neal was sure acting like he did something bad. Really bad.

"Don't look at me like that," Neal said to the Lab.

Neal sat down on the edge of the bed. Yup, Satchmo thought, he did something really bad. The dog recognized the signs; he was sitting with his head down, he wouldn't look Satchmo in the eye, and he still had the piece of paper in his hand. If Neal didn't feel so bad, he would have just dropped the paper. The Lab did the exact same thing when he was bad.

Before Satchmo could decide what to do for his friend, Neal's phone thing made that annoying noise. All humans had those phone things; he couldn't understand why, they never seemed happy when they played with them. Neal talked to his phone toy for a few minutes, then just held it in his hand. It made that annoying noise again, so Neal talked to it again. When his friend was through Satchmo thought he had never seen him look so sad.

As he watched his friend from the doorway, the dog thought hard. Neal must have done a very bad thing and now he was very sad. Satchmo understood. It was like when he took Daddy's shiny key, a handcuff key they called it. Daddy was very mad, and Mommy wasn't too happy. Then they took him to the vet, so he hadn't been very happy either. Satchmo knew he shouldn't touch the key. It was Daddy's. But it had been sitting right there in front of him for such a long time and it was so shiny! The dog just couldn't stop himself, even though he felt really bad for taking it. Really, really bad. But after it was all over and they were back from the vet's it was okay. Daddy wasn't mad anymore and Mommy even said it wasn't his fault because dogs like shiny things. Even then, though, Satchmo knew that it really was his fault.

The Lab padded across the room to where Neal still sat on Mommy and Daddy's bed. He rested his big head in his friend's lap, applying just the right pressure to let Neal know that he understood how he felt and that it would be alright. He was sure Mommy and Daddy would forgive Neal, too, when they weren't mad anymore. Satchmo figured Neal probably liked shiny things too, and sometimes he just couldn't help himself. He was just going to have to admit he was a bad human and accept his punishment. Then it would be all alright again.