Hey everyone, this here is a fic that I've had brewing for some time. Since The Sorcerer's Apprentice was on the other day, this story just kinda zoomed back into my head, not letting go of me until I was to post it. So here ya go.

Notes to know: this story is an AU of the movie. Balthazar and Veronica are Dave's adoptive parents, and Dave is in 3rd grade. They adopted him as a baby, but raise him as their own, and Dave knows no different. On his past birthday, Balthazar and Veronica discovered that Dave is the Prime Merlinian when they gave him the dragon, and it became the dragon ring. Horvath does not exist in the storyline but he exists as a whole.

Well, hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Sorcerer's Apprentice or any of its characters, only this plot bunny.

Show and Tell

Little Dave Stutler smiled widely to himself as he rode the bus home.

Flashback

"Okay everyone, we're done with the lesson for today!" Mrs. Brent closed her book and flashed a warm grin at the kids.

"Yaaaaaaaaaay!" the class shouted in reply, boys and girls alike automatically running to their cubbies to grab lunchboxes and lockers to grab backpacks.

"Oh and don't forget, children, tomorrow is Parent's Day!" the teacher added. "Remember to remind your moms and dads to come in and show us all what they do."

"Okay!" they all replied in scattered unison.

All of the kids chattered to each other while walking down the hallway about their parents. Dave snugly gripped the straps of his backpack, lips closed tightly in a smirk. While other children were speaking in hushed voices, talking about how their parents were doctors or firefighters or police, he kept his parents' occupations securely secret. Giddiness practically surged through him; he couldn't wait to see the surprised looks on his classmates' faces when his parents showed them because his parents had the coolest job in the world.

They were sorcerers.

Present

The bus pulled up to a stop in front of Dave's apartment building. The young boy cheerily skipped off the bus, and he ran into the building. Dave took the elevator up to his floor and hurriedly went to the door of his home and unlocked the door.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" he called as he dropped his backpack and shoes in the front hall.

"Dave, welcome home," Veronica greeted from the kitchenette, wiping her hands with a towel before holding her arms out to her son. Dave ran into Veronica's arms, hugging her, and she picked him up in a large hug of her own. "Hello my dear little boy," she cooed, nuzzling against him. "How was school today?"

"Good!" he chirped in reply, kissing his mom on the cheek as she put him down. He looked around for a moment, and then frowned. "Where's Dad?"

"Oh, he went out for a while, but he should be back soon," she remarked softly. Dave's face lit up.

"When he gets home, can I practice with him?"

"Well…"

"Please Mom pleaaaassseee?" Dave begged with a puppy dog face. Veronica paused.

Dave had been waiting to practice his magic with Balthazar for weeks ever since his birthday, and just last night the man had promised that they'd do it soon. All Veronica had to do was give permission to barrier Dave's bedroom so that no magic could get out, nor could a misfire blow up the wall. The female sorcerer sighed, and nodded her head with a smile.

"Yeaaaahh!" Dave cheered, running and jumping, pumping his fists in the air.

"Sorry I'm late, traffic was horrible." At that moment, the door opened to reveal a grinning Balthazar, carrying a large black bag. Veronica smiled warmly.

"Well, look who it is," she greeted, walking over and kissing him.

"Dad's home, Dad's home!" the little boy cried with joy, running and hugging Balthazar.

"Hey kiddo!" Balthazar said, ruffling Dave's hair. He shot a glance at his wife and grinned. "So, did she say it was OK?"

"Yup!" he laughed. "What do you have in the bag?"

Balthazar frowned in mock confusion. "This?" he gestured to the large bag on his shoulder. Dave nodded eagerly. His dad's grin returned once again, and he put the bag on the table near him. "Well, let's see what I've got in here, shall we?"

Balthazar unzipped the bag and pulled out catcher's equipment and a child's size football helmet. Dave's eyes lit up as he oohed.

"Is that for me?" he asked curiously. Balthazar nodded.

"Uh-huh, they're for practice," he explained as Dave giggled with excitement. "As are these." The sorcerer pulled out of the bag last a pair of black leather shoes with rubber soles that looked strikingly similar to his own, except they were in Dave's shoe size.

"Wow those are like yours, Dad!" Dave remarked with a smile.

"Yeah they are. Do you know why I wear these shoes?"

Dave shook his head.

"They're special shoes, you see," Balthazar began, crouching down to Dave's eye level. "When you're a sorcerer and you're using your powers, you become a very good conductor. Do you know what that means?"

Dave scrunched his face up in thought, before he smiled. "That means that electricity flows through really easily!" Balthazar laughed and patted Dave on the head.

"That's right, little smarty pants you!" he praised. "Now, these shoes have rubber in them and rubber is an insulator which means-"

"-Electricity doesn't go through it-"

"-yes, and when you wear the shoes, you are protected from becoming a conductor when using magic," Balthazar finished. Dave's eyes went wide with excitement and his face lit up like a Christmas tree as Balthazar handed him the shoes.

"Oh boy, thanks Dad!" Dave said gratefully, putting on his new shoes. "Does this mean we get to practice magic now?" Balthazar laughed.

"Of course! Let's go Dave!" Balthazar shouted with zeal, turning his head back to wink at Veronica, who shook her head with a smirk on her face.

The duo entered Dave's room and Balthazar shut the door, allowing Veronica to put up the magical barriers. Balthazar set the child on the bed and they locked eyes with intensity.

"Now, what I am about to teach you is very, very powerful and extremely dangerous, but it's the essential for any sorcerer to know," he explained to the boy, who took in each word. "I need you to promise me though, never to use this on anything or anyone without my or your mom's permission, alright?"

Dave blinked owlishly, and then nodded his head. "I promise Dad."

Balthazar smiled warmly at his son and patted his head. Dave was a good kid, and Balthazar knew he was ready. He helped Dave put on the gear and the helmet and set up a Merlin's circle.

"Alright, now put on your dragon ring," Balthazar instructed. Dave nodded and did so.

"Ready!"

"I am going to teach you…the plasma bolt."

Dave's eyes widened significantly. "Sweet…"

It took some time to get started. For a while, Dave could barely conjure anything, and he was beginning to get dejected.

"I can't do it!" he protested, crossing his arms and sitting down in the middle of the circle. Balthazar thought something like this might happen, and he got down on his knees and put his hand under Dave's chin, lifting it up.

"You can do anything, Dave," he whispered gently. "Remember what I told you? You just have to use that big brain of yours, and imagine, visualize. See the bolts of energy forming in your hands, feel them. You can do it."

Dave sniffed and stood back up, a determined fire in his eyes. Balthazar stood up in front of him and nodded his head. Dave took a deep breath.

"Visualize it," he murmured, and he closed his eyes.

He pictured a surge of electricity flowing to his outstretched hands and forming into a sphere, crackling and humming. He felt a tug in his hand and he opened his eyes and gaped. Just like magic, no pun intended, the very bolt he imagined was hovering between his hands. Dave's mouth widened into a large smile and Balthazar could not have looked prouder.

"I did it! I did it! I did it- Whoa!" Without meaning to, he shot the plasma bolt at his lamp and it blew up, surprising the boy. "Oops…"

Balthazar chuckled to himself, before using his own magic to repair the lamp. "Why don't you try it one more time?" Dave nodded sheepishly.

Once again, he concentrated and created a plasma bolt, and his lips tugged upward into a confident grin. Balthazar held out his own hands and smirked.

"Now, pass it to me," the sorcerer challenged. Dave took a breath, and then jutted his arms out in a throwing motion, pushing the bolt towards his dad, who caught it in his hands with ease. "Very good, Dave. Very good."

"Boys, it's time for dinner!" Veronica called from the other room. Dave groaned disappointedly and took off the helmet. Balthazar laughed and ruffled Dave's hair.

"Don't worry, tomorrow's Friday, right? We'll get to do more after school," he promised. Dave suddenly remembered.

"Hey Dad," he began, taking off the ring and the other gear.

"Yes Dave?" Balthazar answered with a smile, removing the barriers and opening Dave's door.

"Tomorrow's Parents Day at school, and I was hoping that you and Mom could come this year."

Balthazar froze, his heart clenching tightly in his chest. For the past two years, he and Veronica had always been too busy to come to Dave's school's Parents Day, and this year they were not…but…

Veronica walked over, having overheard, and nodded at Balthazar. The sorcerer looked down at Dave, who was again using the puppy dog eyes.

"Sure, of course Dave," he said finally. Dave smiled and ran to the dinner table.

"Thanks Mom! Thanks Dad!" he chirped eagerly.

The two parents glanced at each other. It would certainly be interesting… they both thought.

The next morning, Dave was up and awake, excited for the day to come. He hurried through breakfast, and practically dragged Balthazar and Veronica to the bus stop. The bus ride felt longer to Dave this morning, and Veronica had to put her hand on his shoulder to keep him from bouncing up and down. By the time they got to school, someone passing by would have thought Dave was having a seizure.

When the trio finally got into the school building, Dave managed to compose himself, albeit not by much, like putting a lid on top of an erupting volcano. He led Balthazar and Veronica to his classroom where they waited for the day to begin. Once all of the students and parents arrived, Mrs. Brent started teaching. Regular lessons had to be completed first; it wasn't until after recess that the parents got to be shown off. Dave could barely stand sitting through lessons, but he knew that Balthazar and Veronica were watching him, and like all of his other eager classmates, paid attention studiously.

After what seemed like ages, Parents Day finally got under way. Dave's parents were last on the list to go, and the boy did not want it any other way. He wanted his parents to be the grand finale, because he knew they were the best. He stole a glance over to the prettiest girl in his class, Becky. With a silent vow, he pledged to impress her as well.

Unbeknownst to the little sorcerer-to-be, Balthazar picked up on his son's intentions, and chuckled. Veronica raised her eyebrow, and her husband slyly whispered something into her ear, which made her smile as well.

Each of the children's parents brought something with them, or gave demonstrations of their work. The firefighter passed around his helmet and explained the fire truck protocol, the electrician demonstrated fixing a circuit board, the ice cream worker brought samples, the policeman showed off badges and a safety Taser, and so on. Becky's parents owned a record company and gave out little souvenir record disks as well as explaining what their job was like.

Finally, after no further ado, Balthazar and Veronica stood at the front of the classroom in front of everyone.

"Now what is it that you two do for a living?" Mrs. Brent asked them, as she had asked all of the others. Unable to keep himself quiet, Dave answered for them.

"My Mom and Dad are sorcerers!"

The entire room went quiet and Balthazar almost fainted with shock. Keeping calm, Veronica laughed.

"What he means, is, we're professional magicians," she reworded in explanation. The entire class responded with unison "Oooohhhhh." She winked at Dave. Balthazar caught on and joined in on her smile.

"Yes, but we're much more talented than any old stage magician pulling rabbits out of hats," he boasted. "Wait- hold on a minute." He took off the fedora he was wearing and stuck his hand inside it comically, pulling out a fluffy white rabbit that was not there before. The students and parents laughed.

Balthazar took a small bow before pulling a bouquet out of seemingly thin air and presenting it to Veronica. She took them and inhaled deeply, spun around slowly, and shot out a handful of doves when she faced front again.

The class let out cheers and yells and this time Veronica bowed gracefully. Balthazar shot a grin at Dave.

"Now for out final trick, we'll have our son join us, and we'll need to turn out the lights," Balthazar explained, and Dave, who didn't expect this, swallowed a large lump of sudden anxiety as he walked up front with his parents. Veronica hit the light switch and Balthazar turned Dave away from his classmates, handing him the dragon ring. "Let's give your friends a real show, shall we?"

Dave, finally caught on, nodded. They turned back around and dramatically, Dave stepped forward and clapped his hands together. He closed his eyes tightly and thought hard, and when he opened his hands, he held a small plasma bolt in his hand, and the crowd was awed into silence. The light from the bolt illuminated his grin and looking over to Balthazar he tossed the bolt over to him, and Balthazar created a second plasma bolt of his own, passed Dave's on to Veronica, who created a third, then gave Dave's back to him.

Once the three all possessed their own they threw them together which made an explosion of light, and everyone gave roaring applause as Mrs. Brent turned the lights back on.

Veronica, Balthazar, and Dave bowed deeply, and Dave caught the eye of Becky, whose eyes were filled with wonder, practically glittering.

"Thank you all for such a marvelous performance!" Mrs. Brent praised. "Now, with that, we are done for today."

The children cheered and ran to get their things together, all of them clapping Dave on the back or telling him that he was awesome. Balthazar patted his son on the head.

"You did well, Dave," he said lowly. "We really knocked it out of the park there." The boy nodded and grinned widely. Becky walked over shyly and Balthazar turned away for a moment, nudging his son encouragingly.

"That was really cool Dave," she admired softly. Dave rubbed the back of his head.

"t-Thanks Becky," he replied just as softly, face beginning to turn red.

"You really have cool parents, huh?"

Dave looked back at Balthazar and Veronica and his chest swelled with pride.

"Yeah, I do."

I have the best parents in the world.

THE END

Fluffy fluff is fluffy!

I figured since Becky runs a college radio show and says all that stuff about music, she had to have gotten it somewhere.

This might spur a series of "Little Dave" oneshots in this AUverse...who knows? I really loved writing Balthazar and Veronica as Dave's parents...what do you guys think?

Please review and let me know what you thought of the story!

-DMRA