Teenage Proteges - CleverFox n Jade

[KingCrowley]

"I still have this old thing?" Alec asked himself, looking down at the remote control airplane he got when he was very young. He hadn't played with it in years. The fourteen year old continued to rummage through a trunk in his bedroom until he found what he was looking for -- his phone. "I need to get a permanent holder for this..." he sighed, putting it in his pocket and then making his way downstairs. "Hey Dad." he smiled over to Peter. A few years ago, calling the man Dad had been a little weird since up until the age of ten he'd always called him Uncle. That was until he found out the man was indeed his Dad anyway. "What's in the fridge, I'm starved." he flopped down on Peter on the sofa and grinned, "Can we get take out, please Dad? Please dad? Please dad?" he pestered. He adored his Dad more than anything, even at his teenage age.

"I hate Peter." Neal groaned, "He always dumps all the work on me." the man looked down at the papers on the table and sighed. He didn't look a day over twenty eight even if that wasn't the case, the man being now about thirty three or something. Ah well, at least he wasn't pushing forty like Peter was. He looked up at the clock, wondering when his boy was going to get home. The man smiled at the many photos of him and Trace on the wall. His son was his life and he would do anything for the boy, sometimes forgetting his age and still playing around and tickling the kid when he got the chance. "Maybe I should call him." he wondered, taking out his phone.

[CleverFox]

Peter was downstairs going over some files that he hadn't managed to finish at the office before though the man looked up when he heard first the footsteps of his son coming down the stairs and then the kid appeared in the room. "Hey pal, how are you?" he asked, looking over at the kid and no longer thinking that it was strange to hear the teen call him dad since it had been several years since he had dropped that particular bombshell on Alec. That had been one awkward conversation but at the same time Peter thought that the boy had the right to know and so he had managed to tough it out. He watched as the kid plopped down beside him, first asking what was in the fridge and then begging for takeout. "I guess we can," he said after listening to the kid's begging for a minute. "You just do that to get me to relent to make you be quiet," he teased the kid, not meaning it of course.

Thirteen, almost fourteen, year old Trace was making his way carefully to one of the many art museums that were littered throughout this city. As a little boy he had been captivated by the tales of his dad's previous life of being a conman and art forger, told to him by his Uncle Mozzie of course, and as he got older Trace discovered that he had the same talent. And he was currently in the market for a painting that he could forge and then replace the original with the forgery, hence his trip to the museum. Trace knew that it wasn't something he should be doing but that just added to the thrill of it, the boy's blue eyes focused on a painting that he thought would be simple enough to copy.

[KingCrowley]

"Aww you figured out my strategy." Alec laughed, hugging his Dad's arm and grinning when the man mentioned that they could more or less. "Yes! Thanks Dad, you're the best!" he said, getting up and running off to get his shoes and coat on. Their favorite take out place was about two miles away, and it was going to be dark soon, but Alec didn't mind that. "I'll be about an hour Dad." he informed, zipping up his coat and before Peter could protest, he flashed his phone. "Don't worry, if anything happens I'll do what you taught me." he grinned.

Neal glanced out the window, noticing it was going to be dark soon and he really didn't like the fact he didn't know where his baby boy was. Maybe he was at Peter's playing video games with Alec? He really didn't know, but he wanted to give Trace some space and trust him. But Trace being his only son, Neal couldn't contain his worry and he rang his boy's phone, pleading for him to answer.

[CleverFox]

"I've known you long enough to be able to peg you pretty well at this point kiddo," Peter said when Alec accused him of having figured out the kid's strategy. Of course it was all in good fun and he wasn't upset with the boy by any measure. He watched as the kid got his shoes and coat and was about to grab his own when Aelc suddenly made to go to the door. That wasn't what he had expected, he'd expected that the two of them would go together. "Wait Alec..." he started to protest however before he got the words out the kid flashed his phone and said if anything happened he would do as the man had taught him. Peter was torn but in the end he nodded his head and said, "Alright pal, just be careful." He did trust his son and he knew that the kid had a good head on his shoulders so he kept himself from stopping Alec from going off on his own.

Because he was planning on slipping into the art museum, or breaking into it to be more precise, Trace had turned his phone off so that it wouldn't ring and alert security to his presence. It really wasn't all that hard to sneak into the building and Trace made short work of getting the painting that he had his eyes on, the kid planning on forging one to replace it with before the night was even up. And since he knew that the security guards were particularly lazy he actually thought that he could pull it off. Perhaps it was a bit ambitious but he was his father's son after all. Once he had stolen the painting Trace made his way back toward his house, planning on sneaking in and hiding the painting before acting as though nothing had happened. And he was a very accomplished actor to say the least.

[KingCrowley]

Alec saw the look of concern on his Dad's face and he softened his grin into a genuine smile. "You know I will Dad." he answered, walking over and hugging him. "Love ya, and don't worry I'll get your favorite." he said softly before heading out the door and starting to walk to where he needed to go, the best Chinese place in the city. He then stopped and frowned, noticing something...or someone sneak away from the Art museum. At a second glance, Alec's eyes widened, seeing it was his best friend, Trace Caffrey. He caught up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Stop right there!" he said before whirling him round. "Damnit Trace....why'd you do this? I'm gonna have to cover your ass now!" he sighed but then his tone softened. "...Your my pal Trace...I don't wanna see you get in trouble for this."

Neal frowned when it turned out the phone was switched off and he began to worry about his boy. Instead, he called Peter and took a deep breath when the man answered. "No I'm not calling to say I finished the work, you gave me a mountain!" he said before calming down, "Is Trace at your house, I can't get a hold of him on his phone, I'm hoping he's with Alec and not out on his own at least...."

[CleverFox]

Peter really was a worrier and he realized that fact but unfortunately there was nothing that he could do about it, he would die if something happened to Alec so naturally he worried. "Yea I know you will," he said, returning the hug and then he said, "Love you too pal." He watched the kid leave and then sighed, going back to his work but that didn't last long before his cell rang, the man answering and discovering that it was Neal. "So Caffrey, calling to..." he was going to ask if Neal was calling to say that he'd finished his work but before he even finished the sentence Neal snapped that he hadn't. Peter was going to say something to him for that but then Neal went on to say that he couldn't get in touch with Trace and that was concerning. "Alec just left to get take out and I haven't seen Trace today," he told the man, frowning. "Do you think maybe we should look for him?" He thought that the younger Caffrey was a good kid even if he did seem to take after Neal way too much.

Trace was keeping an eye out as he walked away from the art museum but doing so in a way that would not make him look suspicious to anyone that might happen to see him. Or at least anyone that he was expecting to run into, Alec was another matter entirely. The younger boy actually tensed as he heard Alec's voice telling him to hold it, the teen's blue eyes focusing on his friend as he was whirled around to face the older and taller teen. "I, uh...don't have an excuse," he said, looking at his friend as Alec said that he was going to have to cover for him now. "Well you don't have to...I don't plan on getting caught."

[KingCrowley]

"I would really appreciate that, and you know it's dark? I didn't think you'd let Alec out the house at this time." Neal said, frowning a little but not making a big deal about it. "I'll pick you up." he said, hanging up the phone and then getting into the car before driving to Peter's house and parking up at the curb. Seeing the man standing ready on the porch, Neal's expression reflected worry. "Come on, times getting on." he said, tone impatient as he thought about all the things that could have possibly happened to his baby.

"Are you being serious? Your Dad always catches you, Trace!" Alec said and bit his lip. "And if my Dad ever caught you...you could end up in juvy and I don't wanna see that happen to you." he paused and sighed, wondering what he could do. "Come on." he pulled the man's arm and lead him down an alley way. "We gotta hide that painting no one will think to look." he pushed aside a dumpster where there was a hole and a chest. A place where the two boys hid certain things. "You're gonna hide that there while he think more on this, then you're coming with me to the take out place."

[CleverFox]

Peter hadn't expected that Neal would decline the offer of helping to look for the kid so it didn't come as any sort of surprise when the man said that he would appreciate it. Neal went on to tell him that it was dark and made the comment about him not letting Alec out of the house, the man sighing as he said, "He's getting older and I can't baby him forever Neal, besides he was only going two miles." He hung up his phone and waited for Neal to come to his house, going to meet with him and then saying, "Calm down Neal, just because he didn't answer the phone doesn't mean that something is wrong, he's thirteen after all. Even good kids hit that rebellious stage more often than not."

Trace looked at his friend when Alec pointed out that his dad always caught him, the smaller teen shaking his head as he said, "Not always, just...most of the time." The bit about Peter catching him and him ending up in juvie was something that gave him pause but after a moment Trace just shook his head as he said, "I don't think your dad would do that." He didn't protest as Alec took charge and told him that they were going to hide the painting, the boy used to his slightly older friend being the leader. "I was going to make a copy and take that tonight...no one will ever know I took it," Trace told him, thinking that might help to calm his friend and get him to stop worrying.

[KingCrowley]

"I can't help it Peter, Trace is my only family!" Neal answered, frowning at him as he got into the car. "And just because you think Alec is Mr. goody two shoes, don't mean he wont wander off and find himself trouble at some point you know!" he huffed, "Your no better a parent than I am." he said before starting the engine and driving toward the city. "I just hope he's okay Peter....I can't go on without my boy..."

Alec looked over at his friend and rolled his eyes. "Look I know about this stuff, just put it here and leave it off your person for a while, especially when this ends up all over the news." he explained, taking the painting from him and putting it in the chest, locking it and then pushing the dumpster over the hole. "Come on we gotta go." he said, taking his arm and pulling him out of the alleyway. "You've probably worried your Dad sick and-" he paused, seeing Neal's car pull up. "M-Mr. Caffrey..." he said and then his eyes widened, "Dad? What's going on?"

[CleverFox]

It was Peter's turn to frown when Neal sort of ranted at him and actually insulted his son, or at least that was the way that he took it, and once Neal had finished speaking he said, "First off I don't appreciate you saying things like that about Alec, I wouldn't say it about Trace. And second I never said that I was a better parent than you Neal, stop putting words into my mouth. I simply said that I can't baby him forever and if I don't trust him to go out then he'll just end up sneaking out and that would be worse. I get that you're worried but we're going to find him."

Trace shook his head when Alec seemed to scold him for what he had done. "But if I put a copy back it won't be in the news, are you even listening to me?" the brown haired kid protested, but it was fighting a losing battle since Alec took the painting from him and shoved it into the chest before locking that and pushing the dumpster back into place. Trace was about to protest the order to come on but then Alec mentioned him worrying his dad and that caused Trace to remember that he hadn't turned his cell back on. "Shit," he said, the word slipping out as he slapped his forehead. "I left my phone off and..." As they came around the corner he saw his dad's car and when it was revealed to have not just his dad but Alec's as well Trace sort of paled. "Dad, what are you doing here?" he asked, trying not to look guilty.