"Do I have to?"

"Yes." Neal groaned as Peter dragged him up to the conference room where, for the time being, was transformed into a station to give blood. "Everyone from the office has already given blood and you are the last to go."

Diana laughed. "Or are you just scared of a little needle Caffrey? Need Peter to hold your hand through it?" She teased.

Neal scoffed. "No I'm not." He said a little too defensively. "I'm just, not a big fan of them."

Peter sighed. "No one likes getting blood drawn Neal. Now come on, you even get a cookie at the end."

"Fine." Peter followed Neal into the room. "You know you don't actually have to hold my hand through it."

"I know. But I do have to make sure you don't con your way out of this so I'm just going to sit right here and make sure you fill out the paper correctly." Peter sat down at the head of the table to prove his point.

"Have it your way then." Neal said as he sat down and took off his hat.

"Here you go sir. Just fill this out and then I'll look it over and if everything checks out we'll get started." The nurse said as she handed Neal the clipboard.

"Thank you." Neal settled in to fill out the paper, truthfully since Peter was going to check it over. A couple minutes later he handed the paper to Peter while rolling his eyes.

Peter raised his eyebrows in surprise at one of the answers. Neal sighed, assuming Peter thought he lied about one of the answers. "I swear I didn't lie Peter."

Peter waved his hand. "No it's not that, I was just surprised by one of the answers. Apparently we have the same blood type." He handed the paper over to the nurse who looked it over.

She filed the paper away and got the tube set up. She then spoke to Peter as Neal was taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves. "So what's it like working with your son?"

They both looked up in shock and confusion.

"He's not my son."

"Peter is not my father."

They both said at the same time.

"Sorry." She apologized as she put the needle in Neal's arm. When she was finished she looked up. "I just assumed you were related since you both have the same rare blood type."

After a couple minutes of silence Peter spoke up first. "Hey Neal, where were you born?"

Neal looked up from the needle in his arm. "Upstate. But I was adopted right afterwards and moved when I was only a couple days old. Why? Did you have a fling as a teenager or something?" He joked but stopped laughing when Peter kept a straight face. "You didn't, did you?" He asked seriously.

After a minute of Peter thinking he finally asked. "Did you move to DC?"

Neal looked Peter up and down. "Yes."

The nurse took the needle out of Neal's arm and put a bandaid on. She then handed Neal the plate with cookies on it to get his blood sugar back up. "If you'd like, I can take a sample of each of your blood and run a paternity test."

Peter nodded. "Sure, that would be great. Can you have the results sent to my office?"

"Sure." Neal and Peter both rolled up the opposite sleeve than they used to donate blood. The nurse took a small sample and then put away the rest of her equipment. "So the results should be mailed back within a week. Have a good day."

Peter shook her hand on her way out of the conference room. "You too." He then closed the door and turned around to see Neal reach for his second cookie to munch on. Peter sat back down with a sigh. "What's on your mind?"

Neal leaned back and shrugged. He swallowed his bite of cookie then finally spoke. "I don't know. I always knew I was adopted but I never had a big urge to meet my biological parents. What about you? How old were you when you had a kid?"

Peter sighed and rubbed his hand down his face, knowing this was coming. "Seventeen. My parents were out of town and I went to a party, got drunk and the rest is history. She almost got rid of the kid but decided against it. She saw how so many people want kids but can never have them so she told me she was planning to put the kid up for adoption." Peter took out his wallet and pulled out a small, warn picture and handed it to Neal. "After the baby was born we were allowed to hold him and take a picture before adoption services took the baby."

Neal looked at it and saw a young Peter smiling down at the little bundle in a blue blanket. "So there's a chance this could be me?" He asked as he handed the picture back.

Peter nodded and put it back in his wallet. "Slim, but yeah. We have the same blood type, you were adopted, I gave up a boy for adoption, and you moved down to DC where I know the baby moved to. That's an awful lot of coincidences."

"Yeah." Neal agreed as he put his hat and jacket back on.

*line break*

The next week moved slowly for Neal and Peter as they avoided talking about the chance that they may be related. Jones and Diana could feel the tension in the office but didn't say anything. One afternoon Neal was working at his desk when Peter showed up with an envelope.

"Is that the results?" Neal asked.

"Yep. We can open it at my place over dinner." Neal nodded and Peter went back to his office with the envelope. Diana went to Neal after Peter left.

"So what's in the envelope? Did you get in trouble?"

"Why do you assume it's me in trouble?"

"Because you got the ankle jewelry and Peter has the badge. Now spill, is it why you and Peter have been acting weird all week?"

"Have we really been that obvious?" Neal asked.

"About as subtle as a gun. It must be pretty big to get you shaken off your game like this." Diana pointed out.

Neal started to fiddle with the rubber band ball on his desk as he thought about what to say next. "It's just a hunch Peter and I have. I can't really say much more than that for the time being. Don't want to ruin the surprise." Neal said the last part sarcastically.

Diana nodded in understanding and went back to her desk. "But if anything is wrong or you need to talk you will come to see me right?" She gave him a concerned look.

"Of course. And then afterwards can we talk about boys and braid each other's hair?" Diana gave him her signature 'cut the crap Caffrey' look and Neal sighed. "Alright, I will." He said more seriously this time. Diana smiled and got back to work.

*line break*

A couple hours later Peter walked up to Neal's desk just as Neal was shutting off his computer. "Ready to go?"

Neal flipped on his hat. "Yup."

The two made their way down to the parking garage and drove to the Burke's in silence.

"So does El know?"

"That you're coming for dinner? Of course. I called her right after I spoke to you." Peter smirked.

Neal rolled his eyes but smiled regardless. "I was thinking more along the lines of her knowing you had a kid at seventeen and the possibility that I'm that kid."

"Yes and yes. I told her that I put a kid up for adoption when we were still dating and she knows all about the paternity test."

"And she's cool with the fact she might be my stepmother?" Neal looked at Peter skeptically as he parked the car.

"She's hoping for it. It means she can get help from you for her business without having to pay you." Peter got out and got his brief case from the back seat.

Neal sat there thinking for a second then got out. "Wait, she could have been paying me?"

Peter walked around the car and patted Neal on the back. "She said you never asked." He then laughed at Neal's confused face and unlocked the door.

El heard Peter laugh and then the front door unlock. She walked out of the kitchen and saw Neal and her husband taking off their shoes. "Hey honey, hi Neal."

"Hi honey." Peter kissed his wife in greeting while Neal tipped his hat with a smile.

"Hi El." El gave Neal a quick hug and the three went to the kitchen. Satchmo ran right past Peter and straight to Neal. Peter rolled his eyes and went to the sink to wash his hands while El put some lasagna on the table.

They all sat down after Neal washed up and had a quiet dinner. They chatted about what has been going on at their respective workplaces'. After they finished eating Neal and El put the dishes in the sink and cleared the table as Peter got the envelope out of his brief case. They all sat back down and Peter set it on the center of the table.

"What will happen if this is positive?" Neal asked Peter.

"Well first thing in the morning we would have to go straight to Hughes with this. This isn't something we can keep a secret from him."

"Will you still be able to be my handler?"

"I have no idea. This hasn't ever been an issue before." The three stared at the envelope.

"Well if you two aren't going to open it than I am." El finally spoke. "At the rate you two are going we're going to be sitting here all night." She snatched the envelope up and ripped it open. She peaked at the results but kept a straight face.

"Well, am I able to write Neal off as a tax break this year?"

El just smiled and set the paper down between them. They both craned their necks to see the paper.

Neal looked up at Peter as a smile started to grow on his face. "So does this mean I can start calling you 'dad' in the office?"

So this is the first chapter of my new White Collar fic. Don't worry people who are reading my other story Boredom, it has not been abandoned. I've just been stuck on the same chapter forever now. But I will try to get it done before the year is over.