Allie & Natalie in the FBI

Allie and Natalie are stuck going to work with their foster dad, who enlists in the help of a fellow FBI agent to watch over them while he's busy with a case.  The only problem is that waiting for him becomes excruciatingly boring and the girls need a new form of entertainment.  Their creativity and wits can help pass the time, but won't keep them out of trouble.

Allie & Natalie in the FBI

by Lenore and Breanna

The warm rays of sunshine stirred Natalie, and for a minute she wondered if yesterday had all been a dream.  Silently praying that it had, she allowed her eyes to peel open and gaze out at the unfamiliar bedroom.  Of course it hadn’t been a dream… nothing ever worked out the way she wanted.  But at least she was alone.  At least she could figure out an escape plan without being interrupted.

Except her stomach growled, signaling that she’d have to eat before getting any thinking done.  So she staggered out of the bedroom towards the kitchen, shielding her eyes from the blinding sunlight that spilled in from all seven curtainless windows.  Allie was already up and about, tossing a tennis ball to Sachmo, her loud giggles ringing through the air.  She was so happy that she was even carrying on a one-sided conversation with Peter.  The realization that Allie had already made this her home made a sick feeling creep into Natalie’s stomach.

"Good morning sleepyhead," Peter said with a smile as he flipped a pancake into the air. "Are you hungry?”

Natalie groaned and plopped down at the table.

"That's a yes," Allie translated, continuing to babble to Peter like she had been before her big sister barged in. "And Sachmo and I are gonna be best friends! We had a long talk about it...  Natty, Sachmo slept in my bed last night!  Can you believe it?"

Natalie responded with a grunt, staring at the pancakes and wishing that she could be a little kid again.  Then she wouldn’t have so much pressure from everyone to always do things right and always take care of everyone. Allie had no idea how lucky she was… she didn’t have to worry about being responsible or anything yet.  And even though Peter would supposedly be taking care of them, Natalie couldn’t help but feel suspicious that he’d end up like all the rest of the adults in her life -- selfish and absent.

She was about to offer to make coffee when Neal burst through the back door uninvited, wearing a big smile that was way too happy for it to be so early in the morning.  

"Neal!!!!!" Allie shouted excitedly as she ran for her father, arms wide open.

Neal knelt down and scooped her up in a hug. "Did you sleep well?"

"Sachmo kept me safe!" Allie enthused as she wrapped her arms about his neck. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too Kid," Neal replied as he glanced at Natalie. "Morning."

Natalie gave a nod of acknowledgement, trying to ignore the little pang of jealousy that ripped through her at the sight of the two of them together.  Instead she turned back to Peter.  “Where do you keep the coffee?”

Peter glanced at Natalie as he flopped a couple of pancakes onto a plate. "You're a little young for coffee."

Natalie rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. "Ugh! I hate this place!" she roared and thrust her chair back almost knocking it to the floor, then bolted out the back door, tears brimming her eyes.

Allie frowned. It made her nervous when her sister said she didn't like their new home. Even if it was better than what they’d had before, she was still uneasy at times and her sister wasn't helping her to feel any better.  Fortunately, Neal caught onto her negative feelings and distracted her by asking questions about Sachmo, who’d followed Natalie outside.  Any conversation about Sachmo would be a sufficient distraction.

In the meantime, Peter finished up the last few pancakes and contemplated what he was going to do with Natalie. She wasn't even a teenager yet, and already had an attitude!  Sure, she’d had a rough life, but that didn’t justify her outbursts and rebellion.  

Peter solicited the help of Neal and Allie to set the table, then called out to Natalie to come eat. Of course she didn't come -- she was too busy pouting on the tire swing as Sachmo wagged his tail trying to convince her to play with him. "Go away stupid dog," she muttered, taking the ball from him and throwing it as hard as she could.

Peter glanced at her through the window, sighing. "Neal, you should go talk to her.”

"Are you sure that’s a good idea?" Neal asked, peering out at Natalie.  

“Yes. Go,” Peter ordered, sitting down beside Allie, who was digging eagerly into her pancakes, too distracted by the food to pay attention to Peter and her father.

Neal trudged outside, not looking forward to this conversation.  He knew she wanted nothing to do with him, and couldn’t really blame her... He’d been a really crappy dad, and didn’t really deserve for her to give him the time of day.  But Peter had insisted, and he also couldn’t blame him.  Somebody had to talk to the errant preteen… and Peter had dealt with her all night, so it was his turn.  

He leaned against the tree, looking down at her for a minute before speaking. "You know, it's really not so bad here. Peter may be a little rough on the edges, but he’s a good guy.  And you’ll always have a nice, safe place with people who care about you."

Sachmo came galloping back with the ball, wagging his tail happily.

Natalie snatched the ball from Sachmo and narrowed her eyes at Neal, turning away from him and throwing the ball for Sachmo again.  She didn’t feel like talking to her father at all.  She’d rather deal with Peter than her sperm donor.

"You know, eventually you’re going to have to talk to me," Neal reminded her. When she didn’t answer, he added, "Natalie… I didn't plan on staying away so long."

She continued to ignore him, swinging back and forth. Sachmo came back with the tennis ball and Natalie entertained him for a few minutes, begging for tears not to fall. She wasn't going to let Neal think he could get the best of her.

Peter looked on from inside, worried at how this was going. He glanced down at the happy 6 year old, stuffing her face full of pancakes. He felt like he should make conversation, but wasn't quite sure how to start it.

Allie felt Peter looking at her, so she glanced up at him curiously. "Are we doing something fun today?"

"What would you like to do?"  He was better at asking questions than answering them.

"I like going to the park," Allie told him. "And going to the toy store… and I wanna go to the zoo and..."

He nodded, making a mental note of her favorite places to go.  "The park sounds like a great idea, there's a nice one around..." He was interrupted by the loud shrill of his cell phone.  Groaning, he glanced at it to see he was being called from the office.  How frustrating -- he'd already taken the day off!

Neal was also quite frustrated as he continued trying to reason with Natalie:  "When I left that day I had intended to come back..."

"Yeah, but you didn't," Natalie interrupted with an icy glare.

Neal went towards the preteen, now standing in front of her and holding onto the rope so she couldn't turn.  "Natalie, I'm…” but he, too, was cut off.

"Neal," Peter called from the doorway.  "We have work to do."

"I thought we were free today?" he asked, slightly annoyed.  

But Peter just shook his head, muttering something they couldn’t understand.  

"What about the kids?"

*****

An hour later, Peter arrived at the office, two kids and Neal in tow.  Allie was fascinated with the rows and rows of computers, and almost wandered away when she spotted a couple of lonely FBI dogs sitting obediently in an empty open office.  Natalie, on the other hand, was still pouting.  She was now avoiding both Neal and Peter, angry that they didn't trust her enough to stay home alone.  She was 12 years old for goodness sake!  Not a baby!

Peter found an unsuspecting newbie agent, and pawned the children off on him.  Before leaving to solve his case, he stooped down to Allie's level, and eyed both girls. “If you two are good for Agent Smith, we’ll go to the park as soon as we're finished here."  Glancing at Natalie he added, "and something special for you, too."  He had no idea what she’d want, but hoped it would be enough incentive for her to behave.

Allie's eyes lit up with excitement. "I'll be super good!" she gushed. "I haven't been to the park in forever!"

Natalie was happy that at least Peter remembered she existed, which is more than her actual dad seemed to do.  But this was going to be suuuuper boring.

The girls and Agent Smith were locked away in a plain grey room with nothing but a lonely table and a half-dozen ugly chairs that didn’t even squiggle or have wheels for them to use as entertainment. Natalie looked at her little sis, feeling like a criminal. What were they supposed to do for the next few hours?  Neal had left them with a deck of cards and nothing else, not even a phone.  This was torture!!  

Allie glanced around the small room then nudged her big sister. "We should explore,” she whispered.  “This place is huge!  And they’ve got doggies!"  Her voice squeaked with excitement as she struggled to contain herself.

Natalie looked at Agent Smith. "Can we play with the dogs?"

The rookie agent didn't bother answering, just laughed and looked back to his phone.

Natalie sighed and tried to distract Allie. "Show me the trick Neal taught you."

Allie grinned widely and began passing out cards for her trick.  "You think I can be a magician some day Natty?  I love magic so much."

"Sure," Natalie said, only half paying attention. She was really trying to figure out an escape plan. This day was becoming excruciatingly boring. How could they distract Agent Smith?

"I have to go pee!" Allie announced suddenly. "I gotta go bad! Where are the bathrooms!?!?!"

Natalie smirked slightly, wondering if Allie could read her mind. She bolted up and shouted, "I'll take her!"

Agent Smith was unimpressed and didn't allow them to go alone, but Natalie knew they could figure out how to escape without him noticing, especially since he seemed to be addicted to his phone.  So she paid close attention to her surroundings, scoping out the best escape route as Agent Smith led them to the bathroom.

"So how are we getting away from him?" Allie asked after doing her business.

Natalie shrugged and peeked through the door to see that Agent Smith had his back towards them and was busy looking at his phone. She motioned for Allie, mouthing "shhhh" so she'd scamper quietly. On the count of three the two of them shot out of the bathroom as fast as their little legs could carry them.

Allie stifled her giggles as she raced down the hallway. She so enjoyed sister adventures when they weren’t scary.

Agent Smith heard them running and looked up startled. He cursed under his breath and gave chase but soon lost sight of them, embarrassed and confused at how they’d managed to get rid of him so easily.  It was because of Natalie’s impressive memory:  she’d remembered every sharp turn she’d have to make and held tightly to Allie's hand until they approached the office where they'd seen the dogs earlier.

"Doggies!" Allie squealed when she spotted a couple. "Can we play with them Natty? They look like they need some friends!"

One dog wagged her tail, but now there was an old bald man behind the desk that looked pretty evil, so Natalie figured it probably wasn't a good idea.  "Better if we find somewhere else to go," Natalie said.

Allie frowned, giving her sister a pout. "But I like doggies... and she wants to play!"  Allie was an animal lover and wished she could play with animals all the time. She also wished she could go to a zoo, but her mom had never had time to take her.  But maybe Peter and Neal would take her one day!... if she behaved.

"That guy though," Natalie said, and Allie realized her sister was right -- it was best not to anger the scary man.  He’d definitely tell Neal and Peter, and then they absolutely wouldn’t take her to the park or zoo.

The girls continued walking and were soon distracted by what could be deemed the hidden treasure of the FBI:  the evidence room.  There was a line of boxes in front of a lone agent sitting behind a desk, counting what looked to be fake gucci bags.  Natalie gasped, stopping and holding her sister back.  "Look!" she whispered, pointing at the goods.

"Oooh. Pretty!" Allie whispered in awe. "Do they have a store here? I like shopping!"

Natalie shushed her. "We have to get past that guy. Any ideas?" She always asked Allie for ideas because her childlike creativity sparked Natalie's older-child intuition.

"What if the doggies got loose?" Allie asked. "I got a ball in my pocket."

Natalie stifled a giggle. "Great idea!"

Allie beamed. "I bet they like to play ball like Sachmo. I can toss it for them to chase."

Natalie nudged her. "Do it," she whispered.

Allie nodded and went back to where the dogs were. She secretly got their attention with the ball and tossed it. She scampered back to her sister just as the dogs barked and gave chase like two maniacs.

As soon as the commotion began, the evidence room guard moved from his post, happy for a change of pace. Natalie grabbed her little sister and they snuck in. The room was much larger than she'd expected, with rows and rows of evidence boxes. They could spend hours snooping around in there! Though it may not be a great idea to stay too long.

"Ooooh!" Allie said in awe as she twirled in a circle to take it all in. "Where should we start? I want a new bracelet!"

Natalie smiled and picked a box to dig through. "Ooh! Air Jordan's!" She nearly shrieked. They were even her favorite color – purple! Too bad she couldn't sneak them out without being caught.

Allie eagerly began rooting through the boxes she could reach. "Bracelets! Look Natty!" She held them up for her sister to see, feeling like she’d hit the jackpot.

Natalie continued to sift through boxes until she found the Rolex watches... probably they were fake but looked legit. She ran her fingers over them, finally deciding on two that she really liked. She looked back over to Allie.

Allie had bracelets all down her arm and she was admiring the way they sparkled in the light. "I want these."

"Not all of them," Natalie snapped. "Remember what happened at Macy's that time?" Allie had taken too many things and set off the alarms. The big scary security guards detained them for hours. It was probably one of the worst days of Allie's life.

"Oh... right," Allie nodded as she put a couple back. "Four is good."

She stuffed them into her pockets and put the rest back in the boxes.

Natalie decided to keep both watches and also stuffed them in her pockets. It was too risky to wear the jewelry out.

They replaced the boxes as they'd found them and headed out. Except the stupid guy was back at his desk... how would they get out?

Allie crouched down low and pressed up against the wall. She stayed low and inched her way out easily... Being small had its advantages sometimes. Natalie just hoped Allie would cause a commotion again because she wasn't so small to sneak out that silently.

Of course Allie saved the day -- she’d learned from the best.  As before, she went to distract the dogs, then hid herself while giggling softly and waiting for Natty.

Once Natalie found her sister, the two of them fell over in the hallway giggling until they were caught by Agent Smith. He was not pleased. But Natalie knew he wouldn't tell Peter -- because if he told on them, they would tell on him. After all, he was the one who hadn't been watching them.

*****

The girls behaved the rest of the afternoon, Natalie trying to build a house of cards with half the deck while Allie used the other half to make up her own magic tricks. It was really boring to say the least, so both girls literally jumped with joy when Peter and Neal came back after having solved their case.

"Are we going to the park now?!” Natalie shouted at Peter, a little too happily.

"Can we, please please please?” Allie begged after cramming the cards back into their box and sprinting towards her family. “I love parks! I get to be a monkey and climb everywhere and swing!" She was bouncing gleefully at the prospect of finally being able to let out all her pent up energy.

“And can I get some new Jordan's? Everyone has them 'cept me!”

Peter smiled, happy to see the change in Natalie’s attitude, and also happy to see they'd behaved. "Yes, we'll go to the park now, and we'll see about the Jordan's."

Neal tossed Allie onto his shoulders as they waved goodbye and thanked Agent Smith. Natalie looked on jealously, but decided to busy herself with Peter. At least he was going to get her new shoes. And he seemed to care about them equally... for now anyway.

Once they reached the park, Allie dashed away towards the slides, shouting for Natalie to join her. The preteen wasn't a huge fan of parks, and didn't feel much like playing, but had to admit that she also had an abundance of energy after sitting around all day. So she allowed herself to play with Allie, sliding, swinging, climbing, and running.  It was great fun!

Then a boy started teasing Allie, to which she responded by smacking him on the arm so hard that the sound echoed through the playground. He promptly started crying and tried to hit her back, but Allie shielded herself with her tiny arms, threatening: "Don't you hit me! My sister will beat you up!"

Natalie towered over the boy, trying to be as intimidating as possible and demanding that he leave her kid sister alone. Neal saw the commotion and went over just in time to notice something drop from Natalie’s back pocket: it was the watch. Half suspicious, he glanced at Allie whose arms were still blocking her face. She was also bouncing around aggressively; so much that Neal could see a gold bracelet peeking out above where Sachmo’s ball rested in her front pocket.

"Hey hey, what's going on?" Neal asked, grabbing ahold of Natalie's wrist right before she punched the kid.

"Let go of me!" she shouted a little too loudly, and everyone (including Peter) turned to stare. Natalie blushed and muttered "sorry," then, seeing the watch, snatched it up.

Everyone stopped gawking and the girls explained that the other kid had started it. "He was mean! I don't like him!” Allie cried. “I HATE him!” She pressed her body against her father's, burying her face into his stomach.

"No more hitting," Neal stated. "You’re lucky Peter didn't see you or you'd both be in big trouble right now.” He felt Allie shiver with fear, and felt it was an appropriate time to ask, "Where did you girls get that watch and bracelet?"

Allie shrugged. "Around."

"Yeah, it's not like you'd know anyway since you've been gone the last 6 years," Natalie snapped.

The words punched Neal in the stomach, but Peter came up suddenly so he didn't have time to respond. "Everything okay? Are you girls ready to go home?"

"I guess so," Allie sighed dramatically. "I was having fun.... but I am hungry!"

*****

Neal tried to forget about the jewelry, reassuring himself that the girls weren't thieves like him. And he was almost successful at believing their innocence until a couple of days later when he overheard Peter with a colleague talking about watches and bracelets missing from evidence. He felt a pang in his chest realizing that both kids had lied to him.

Shortly after the news of the missing jewelry, Peter appointed Neal as babysitter for the evening as he would be working late to review surveillance and figure out what happened to the missing items. Neal nodded and headed back home where the girls had stayed with his friend, Mozzie, all day. 

Mozzie was the type of person that worried Peter, and even Neal had hesitated a bit before suggesting him as a babysitter; neither wanted to imagine the kind of trouble the three trouble-makers could cause together.  But there were only a couple of weeks left of summer and they didn’t know anyone else who could help out on such short notice.  The only other option would be leaving the girls in the FBI office every day, which they would only do as a last resort.

Allie was out in the backyard swinging on the tire swing and shouting like Tarzan. She was quite content to be playing in the yard as she enjoyed being outside.

"Hey Moz, how's it going?" Neal asked, also waving at Allie.

"Baby suit has too much energy,” he said, referring to Allie, “and middle suit has locked herself in her room all day. And I still can't believe you have children."

Neal nodded.  "I'll take it from here -- thanks for your help."

Mozzie held out his hand, "My services are not free."

Neal cut him a glare, but handed him a couple of 20s anyway. He really was grateful for the help.  "Allie, let's go inside, I need to talk to you and Natalie."

"But I'm in the middle of rescuing Jane!" Allie protested as she kept swinging. "The bad guys got her and she needs to be rescued!"

"You can rescue her later, come on," Neal said firmly.  He was rarely strict with her, but was under pressure to get the jewelry back before Peter found out who took it. He was worried because he didn't want his boss to change his mind about taking care of the kids -- who else would let him see the girls on a daily basis? Who else could he trust like Peter and Elizabeth?

Allie pouted as she hopped down from the tire swing. "You're no fun," she told him as she came to stand next to him. "You better show me more magic tricks Mister."

"First we have to talk."  He took her little hand in his and walked her inside and upstairs where Natalie lay on her bed reading a book.  Instead of knocking, Neal barged inside and asked Allie to sit next to her sister.

"What do you want?" Natalie sneered.

Allie climbed up onto the bed next to her sister. "He's not fun today," she informed. "He wouldn't let me finish rescuing Jane."

"You two stole from the FBI," Neal said, taking the book from Natalie and tossing it aside.

Allie cocked her head to the side and looked at him innocently. "No we didn't. We went shopping." She was still convinced the room was a store.

"Yeah, in an actual store.  But thanks for thinking of us as criminals."  Natalie's heart skipped a beat though, knowing deep down she'd been caught.

"Peter knows that 2 watches and 4 bracelets are missing from our evidence boxes... jewelry that looks exactly like what I saw fall from your pocket the other day.  Do you want Peter to look at the video footage and catch you? Or do you want to tell me the truth?"

Allie wasn’t sure what “evidence” meant, but figured it was something important for the FBI.  "So that wasn't a store we were in?" she asked innocently. "I thought the FBI store people just liked to put things in boxes." She didn't realize she had just spilled the beans.

Natalie smacked her little sister.  "Allie!  Shush!  Don't rat us out," she said, giving her a death glare.

"OW!" Allie yelped, tears filling her eyes. "What did I do? I only asked a question!" She swatted at her sister in retaliation.

"Girls..." Neal said, trying to get their attention, but they kept swatting at each other until he shouted: "GIRLS!  That's enough!"

Both of them stopped upon hearing him yell -- Neal rarely raised his voice, so he had to be at wits end to become so loud.

"Don't you realize how much trouble you could get into for stealing from the FBI?"  His blue eyes danced in flames, steam rising from his head. Didn't they know how close they were to losing each other all over again?

Allie’s eyes widened in fear as she brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them, her lower lip quivering. She didn't like it when adults were mad at her.

"It's not that big of a deal," Natalie said. "It's stuff that the FBI stole from other people so we're just stealing it back."

Neal glared at her, now on the verge of losing his patience. "It is a big deal! People go to prison for that sort of thing… Is that what you want?" He shook his head, anxiously pacing in front of them and trying to figure out how to handle this situation.

Allie started to cry a little. “But I don't wanna go to jail!” she said. The thought scared her... in fact, just being detained at the mall by security that one time had been terrifying enough.

Natalie was torn between apologizing to her dad, or hugging Allie and calling him a big meanie for making her cry.  Instead she opted for sneering, "It's not like you've never stolen anything before.”

"Yeah and you see where I ended up?!"

Natalie now hugged Allie and allowed a few tears to fall, too, the realization that she was turning into her dad hitting her. She didn't want to end up like him.

Neal sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He wanted to help them but also felt like they needed consequences for this. He usually played the role of good cop, so it was in his nature to let this go.  But this was different; these were his daughters.  He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if they turned out like him.  And they'd already been in trouble for stealing before... if they didn't get punished for this, they'd likely continue down the same path as he. Neal really hated to hurt them but felt he had no other options. "You're both getting a spanking for this," he stated firmly.  

"NOOOOO!" Allie shrieked, clinging to Natalie a little tighter. "I don't want one!!!! I thought it was a store!"

Neal had to take a deep breath to calm himself. "When you're in the FBI building, you are not to touch anything, let alone take it from there... and... how did you get into the evidence room anyway? When did this happen?"

Allie explained their scheme and Neal couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the their creativity and wits. Then he put his serious face back on and stooped down to her level. "You mean that you distracted Agent Smith and snuck into some place that was being guarded by someone?  And you’re saying you didn’t know you were doing something wrong?" He looked from Allie to Natalie.

"We were bored," Natalie said. “You should've just let us stay home.”

"He was on his phone," Allie replied referring to Agent Smith. "Natty said we couldn't ask 'cause people were scary looking."

"Those are just excuses. You both know better than to sneak away from your babysitter and take something that doesn't belong to you. You're both getting a spanking. Who's first?"

Allie let go of her sister to scramble away. She was not getting spanked! No way no how! "NO!" She shouted tearfully as she scurried away. "NO! NO! NO!"

Neal caught her before she could escape. "No running, Allie," he scolded. He held her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Allie, you did something wrong and are going to be punished. You can't go around stealing things."

Allie gave him her best puppy dog look with tear filled eyes. "I won't do it again...." She really didn't want to be spanked. He was supposed to be her magic buddy, not someone who punished her.

"Good, then I won't have to spank you for it again," Neal replied.

Natalie was starting to feel annoyed again, so through her own tears she said, "You don't have the right to spank us... you're not our dad!"

Neal sighed. This was turning into a bigger challenge than he'd hoped. "I'll give you a choice: we can keep this between us and I'll return the missing items so Peter doesn't find out. Or, you can keep them and I can tell Peter. Your choice."

Natalie huffed. Some choice it was.

Allie started to cry again as she stood there. "I don't want Peter to know! He'll lock us up with the bad guys!" She wailed and threw her arms about Neal.

He patted her on the back, hugging her tightly. "Natalie, your sister has made her choice... what is yours?"

Natalie growled but agreed that she would accept Neal's punishment over Peter knowing. "You'll really return the stuff without Peter finding out?" She wanted to know.

"Yes," Neal nodded. "I will. Once you've been spanked you'll have nothing to worry about."

Allie tightened her grip on him, still crying some as she was pretty upset.  "Can't you just make us stay in our rooms all day instead? That would be awful." Especially to her since she loved to be outside playing.

Neal shook his head. "Allie, I gave you the choice… either I deal with it or Peter." He waited for a moment and she didn't respond, so he sat down and pulled her over his lap, ignoring the cries and also the look on Natalie's face.

Allie squirmed not liking this position at all. "But it's gonna hurt!" She complained through her tears. "I don't want my bum to hurt!”

"I know you don't, little one. And hopefully this won't happen again, but you have to learn the difference between right and wrong." With that Neal tugged her shorts down to her knees and rested a hand on her bottom. "What are you getting spanked for Allie?"

"For taking stuff that's not mine," Allie whined through her tears. She was upset too as her pants hadn't come down for a spanking yet and she bet this was gonna hurt more than last time.

"And what else?" He asked, planting a firm swat to her backside.

Allie let out a yelp. "No more lying!" She wailed. "Owwwww!"

That swat had hurt much more than last time.

"Anything else?" He asked as he delivered another swat.

Allie yelped again, her crying increasing a little. "I don't rememberrrrr!"

"Tricking someone to get inside the evidence room, running off from Agent Smith..." Neal reminded, landing a few more mild swats.

Allie cried more, throwing a small hand back. "No more! It hurts!" She wasn't sure she was sorry for tricking people as that was one of her favorite things to do.

Neal grabbed her hand and held it away from her bottom as he pulled her panties down now. "Allie, you have to stop with all the tricking and stealing or you may end up in jail -- is that what you want?" He asked, raining down a few more spanks to her now-bare bottom.

Allie wailed loudly. "Nooooo! I don't wanna be with bad guys! Cops are scaryyyyy!" She hiccupped then spoke again.  "But I like tricks! They're funny!"

"Some tricks are okay, and some are not. If you want to make sure you don't get in trouble then you need to ask me or Peter or Elizabeth," Neal warned then delivered a couple of more swats to her sit spots.

Allie kicked and squirmed but wasn't able to go far. "What if you're not there????" She was having a hard time getting her words out as she was crying more than before.

"Then find another adult to ask -- not Natalie," he said now eyeing his oldest. He gave her a final spank and lifted her up for a hug, helping dry her tears.

Allie buried herself into him sobbing. She clung to him tightly as she tried to catch her breath and get her crying under control.

Neal rubbed her back gently and stroked her hair. "It's okay, little one, it's all over now," he said, rocking her back and forth until her eyes dried. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and lifted her, as she scrambled to pull up her shorts and panties. Then she climbed back up onto the bed and lay down far enough away from Neal that she could curl up and rest.

He then turned to Natalie who was crying, too, anticipating her own punishment. She'd seen the way Neal spanked her little sister on the bare bottom and wasn't looking forward to the same thing happening to her. In fact, she was contemplating running out like Allie had tried... but knew it'd be useless. She could run away from Agent Smith because he'd underestimated her abilities. But her dad was always one step ahead, and he'd certainly be alert enough to not let her get away.

Neal eyed the preteen warily as he motioned for her to come to him. As if reading her mind he warned, "don't even think about running… you won't get far at all."

Natalie's brain tried to think of a million reasons why he shouldn't spank her, but she knew that she was going to get it anyway -- he'd already spanked Allie, and it wouldn't be fair to just spank one of them. So Natalie trudged towards Neal, looking at the floor.

Once she was close enough Neal spoke.  "You know the difference between right and wrong Natalie. You should be keeping your sister out of trouble, not getting her into it." He reached over and tugged her pants down so she was standing there in her panties. "I'm going to keep you two from going down the path I did no matter what it takes. I don't want for either of you to end up like I did. Got it?"

Natalie just nodded, feeling a little awkward and embarrassed to be standing there with her pants down... the only thing more awkward than that would be when she was over his lap!

Neal looked into her eyes. "I'm doing this because I care," he told her before he carefully laid her over his lap. He immediately landed a hearty smack.  "Why are you being spanked Natalie?"

Natalie winced with the first swat, trying to act like a big girl and not cry out.  She could do this... there was no way Neal could spank as hard as Peter had a few days ago!  

"For taking things that aren't mine and sneaking away from Agent Smith," she said softly, biting on her lower lip and squeezing her eyes shut as she braced for more spanks.

"And?" Neal asked as he landed another swat.

"I dunno... everything?"  She didn't even want to think about it, just wanted to get this over with already.

Neal gave her a harder swat. "No more convincing your sister to trick people."

"Ow!" she whined.  "Okay okay, I'll try to be a better influence..."

"You better," Neal replied as he landed four swats to her sit spots. "I don't want to have to do this again."

Natalie squirmed, almost forgetting about her efforts to stay strong and not cry.  But it was really starting to hurt!! "Ouchh, you don't have to do this you know..."

"Yes I do," Neal stated firmly.  "You're good kids and I intend to keep it that way." He landed a few more swats then peeled her panties down to her knees. "I don't enjoy doing this but will when it's necessary." He landed six hard smacks to her backside quickly. He wanted this over as much as his daughter did.

Natalie gave up all hope of not making a scene and started crying out more, tears now falling as she kicked and squirmed.  Her bottom felt like it was on fire! Maybe Peter spanked a little harder... but this bare bottom stuff was no joke!

Neal kept spanking, making each smack count as he wanted this lesson to stick for a long while. "If I have to do this again it will be much worse," he stated as he glanced over at Allie. "That goes for the both of you." He began to focus on Natalie’s sit spots to drive the message home.

Natalie kicked and squirmed and howled in pain.  "Okay Neal, okayyyy, pleaseee no moreee," she whined.  "I'm sorry!"

Neal ignored her cries and landed another six painful swats to her backside. "I'm going to make sure you two quit stealing even if it's the last thing I do."

"We willllll," Natalie cried, reaching her hand back to block the barrage of hard swats.  She couldn't handle anymore!

Neal grabbed her hand with ease and gently pinned it to her back. He landed another six extra hard swats to her sit spots

Natalie shrieked with the last flurry, and began sobbing.  She didn't like that he was restraining her... it made her feel so powerless.  She felt like a little kid again, and just wanted to shout at everyone so they understood her -- she was 12 years old already!  She'd been taking care of herself and Allie most of the last 2 years since their mom was always off paying more attention to her con operations than her own children.

It took a moment for Natalie to realize that he'd finally stopped and she wiped her eyes and pushed herself up. She hurriedly returned her pants and panties to their proper position and made a sour face at her dad and Allie.

Allie gave her sister a confused look. Now what did she do? She crawled over to Neal and climbed back into his lap and snuggled in, still a little upset by the spanking and wanting more cuddles.

Neal brought both girls in for a hug, even if Natalie was a bit reluctant, and held his two girls together.  "Now to figure out how to return the jewelry without Peter seeing..." he pondered and noticed Allie fast asleep.

"I can help you figure it out,” Natalie said, seizing the opportunity to bond with her dad.

Neal smiled.  "C'mon, let's tuck Allie in, then we can plan downstairs."  

And they did just that.

To be continued....