Holidays

Summary: Dave goes home for the holidays. Unfortunately, Prime Merlinians, it seems, do not get vacations.

Disclaimer: All Publicly Recognizable Characters, Settings, Ideas, etc. are the Property of Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Productions. The Original Characters and Plot are the Property of the Author. The Author is in no way Associated with the Owners, Creators, or Producers of Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Productions. No Copyright Infringement is intended.

Chapter V - Abandoned

"Dave?"

"I'm here!" shouted Dave with a wave from behind his Tesla coil, drawing his master's attention.

"How do you think you're doing with levitation?" asked Balthazar as he descended the stairs.

"You kidding? Do you not remember the exercises you made me do for hours after the trashcan incident? And why do you have mice?" asked Dave, noticing the clear plastic container which carried two white mice inside.

"I've only ever made you levitate objects. Do you remember why?"

"Because levitating living things is dangerous. You have to levitate all the organs perfectly or you'll strangle, hurt or kill the thing. That's why when you want to levitate someone, you usually levitate their clothes. Well, I do," replied Dave, realizing why Balthazar had brought mice.

"Exactly. So, how confident are you?"

"Not as confident as I was five seconds ago."

Balthazar smiled. "That's exactly what I said when Merlin taught me." He walked over to the desk, gently laid down the mice and pulled out a small white bag of flour, then poured the flour onto the desk and drew a smiley face with his finger. "Levitate that without damaging the image. Once you can do that, we'll move on to more complicated designs until I think you're ready for the mice."

Dave nodded and started levitating.

"This can take a while to master, Dave," said Balthazar two hours later as the smile in the flour grew crooked yet again. At least the eyes remained intact this time.

Dave sighed and let the flour fall. "Yeah, I'm getting that," he said redrawing the symbol before attempting the feat once more. A sheen of sweat coated the apprentice's face, his breath coming in gasps.

Balthazar smiled. "Take five and try again." He tossed his student a water bottle, and an hour later, Dave had managed to levitate the flour without disturbing the smiley face a few times. Balthazar decided to call it quits for the day and invited the apprentice over for dinner again, but Dave refused, claiming he wanted to work on his project some more.

A couple of hours later, Dave let out a yawn and, taking his new mice, started home. He quickly dropped off the mice, who he named Thing One and Thing Two, Dr Seuss was one of his favourite authors, and fed them using the food Balthazar had bought before darting out the door again to buy some food for himself. He had been too caught up in work and hadn't eaten since breakfast.

Dave was in a pretty good mood despite his new situation. He bought some pasta, a can of tomato sauce, some veggies and chicken to mix up with the sauce.

"Twenty-two dollars and sixty-seven cents," said the cashier. Dave checked his wallet to find he only had a twenty. Making a mental note to go to a machine to get more cash, he took out his debit card.

"Insufficient funds," said the cashier a few moments later.

Dave frowned and pulled out his credit card, which also didn't work. It had been cancelled. "Ummm, I'll go put this stuff back," said Dave, his face turning beet red.

Dave checked with an ATM machine on the way back to his apartment. He couldn't believe it. He knew he had at least three hundred. The only way it could be gone was if…

Dave withdrew his card, ran back to his apartment, pulled out his laptop and checked his accounts online. There had been a large withdrawal. His father had set up a joint account so that he could easily transfer funds to his son, but it also meant that the man could take those funds away and cancel the credit card.

Dave felt numb. He hadn't expected this. He hadn't expected his father to take back the money he had already given his son. Dave reached over to his dresser and checked his cell—no messages. He checked his email and found one from his father.

'If your master is so eager to support you, I see no reason he can't start right away.

oo0oo

Balthazar stood on the overhead walkway frowning at his apprentice while the boy practiced maintaining a shield while his master made plasma shoot out from the youth's tesla coils. Dave had become withdrawn the past few days, refusing all invitations to join Balthazar and Veronica for dinner and rarely stringing more then a few words together. Balthazar was considering upping the intensity of the plasma shooting attacking the apprentice, in hopes the boy would ask for a break during which the master sorcerer could interrogate him, when the apprentice collapsed. "Dave!" shouted Balthazar's panic-stricken voice as he darted towards his apprentice's unconscious form. "Dave!" the elder man knelt and placed his ear above his student's mouth. Relief flooded him when he felt warm air. In addition to been withdrawn Dave had also been looking sickly the past couple of days. Balthazar thought it was due to the stress of the fight with his father, but now he wasn't so sure.

"Errr," moaned Dave as he started sitting up. Balthazar gently placed a hand on his back and helped him.

"What's wrong?" asked Balthazar placing his hand on his students forehead. He frowned when he didn't detect an elevated temperature. If Dave wasn't sick what was wrong?

Dave blinked. "Ummm, what just happened?"

"You fainted."

"Oh…"

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Ummm…"

"Dave," warned Balthazar.

"I had a snickers yesterday."

"Before that?"

"Bag of Doritos."

"Dave, when was the last time you had real food?"

"When I had breakfast at your place."

"Dave," said Balthazar through gritted teeth. "That was five days ago."

"Yeah."

Dave had managed to avoid joining Balthazar and Veronica for dinner or any other meal despite invitations, and had lived off the cheapest food he could find using his last twenty. He knew that if he sat down with them, the conversation would turn towards his finances and then to the fact that his father had taken back the money he had given his son.

It was a conversation he didn't want to have.

In retrospect, it was a dumb move.

"Dave, why haven't you eaten?" asked Balthazar with forced calm.

"Dad took back the three hundred dollars that was in my account."

Dave felt the hand on his back stiffen, and Balthazar took three deep breaths. When he spoke, the calm tone to his voice outright scared Dave.

"You are an idiot. You should have told me. Come on." Balthazar helped Dave to his feet and towards the couch. Once Dave was seated comfortably, Balthazar spoke again. "I'm going to get some food. We'll discuss this when I get back. Do not move from this couch."

Balthazar returned twenty minutes later with Chinese. He handed Dave the chopsticks and chicken chow mein.

"From now on, you'll come to me when you need money, especially when it's for things like food. Now, did your father already pay for tuition? He hasn't taken that back?"

"Yeah, he took care of that already. Tuition-wise I'm okay, just rent and food."

"And spending money."

"Bal—"

The master held up his hand. "You need spending money, Dave. We'll go with a hundred and twenty five dollars a month. You'll be able to eat out on occasion and take Becky out on a few dates."

Dave looked down at the food. "Thank you," he whispered.

"No problem."

Balthazar sighed when he saw Dave shrink in on himself a little as the youth pulled in his legs and brought the box of takeout closer to his chest.

"I can get student loans."

"Bit late for this term, Dave. Besides, debt can be a distracting thing. I'd rather not have you working yourself too hard trying to pay it off. I have enough trouble getting you to focus."

"I'll still look into them."

Balthazar's shoulders sagged and his face softened as he looked at his apprentice directly in the eyes. "Will it really kill you to let me help you?"

Dave turned away from the man, choosing to focus on a stone on the floor. "You've got your own family to worry about. You and Veronica want kids, right?"

"I have plenty of money, Dave. Fifteen hundred years traveling the world and using only what I needed to get by. I can cover your expenses no problem."

"I'd still rather stand on my own two feet."

Balthazar sighed. "Fine, look into them, but Veronica and I will cover you for this term. It will take time to sort out the loans."

"Thanks."

Balthazar stood from the couch. "I'm going to get some groceries," he announced suddenly before turning to stare down at the apprentice, who shrank slightly at the man's glower. "Do. Not. Move. From. This. Couch. You do, and you will not want to move for a month. Am I clear?"

Dave nodded.

oo0oo

Balthazar walked quickly back to the lab, his arms full of groceries. He had cast a small spell to prevent the frozen diners from melting, they weren't the best but they were quick and easy, Balthazar could heat then up quickly with magic, and the master was all too happy to forcefully shove the food down the imbecilic youth's throat, literally if needed. Balthazar shook his head. How could Dave not tell him? Had he not made it clear to the youth that he was willing to help? Still, Dave had effectively been abandoned by his father. He supposed he couldn't blame the physics nerd for not wanting to talk about it. Balthazar could not remember the last time he had been so tempted to hunt someone down to beat them to a pulp. Well okay, there were the pedophiles and rapists he had dealt with, but he always resisted the temptation to beat them to within an inch of their lives and settled for castration, and put them in a wheelchair, just to make sure they would have difficulty becoming a real physical threat ever again.

Still, that wouldn't do for this situation.

Of all the bitter and vindictive acts! Cutting Dave off was one thing, but taking back the few hundred he had already given his son to help with food and other expenses was just… petty and cruel.

Balthazar hoped the boy hadn't disobeyed his order not to move from the couch. If Dave had, Balthazar would make certain the boy would soon regret it. The master sorcerer smiled at the thought of some of the punishments he would inflict on his student if the youth dared disregard the order.

Thus Balthazar was understandably upset when he returned and saw that Dave was not, in fact, on the couch.

"Hey, Balthazar," greeted Dave with a sheepish smile when he saw his master.

Balthazar turned. "What did I say about leaving the couch?"

Dave took a step back and raised his arm in defence. "I just went to the washroom, nothing strenuous." His master continued to glare, and Dave added, "I really had to go."

Balthazar relaxed slightly, continuing to stare at the boy for a few moments, debating whether of not to punish him. Finally, he just sighed and said, "I'm going to put these away. Hope you like chicken fettuccini alfredo."

Dave nodded, knowing that any argument would be dangerous. He sighed and collapsed onto the couch. He was so tired. Stress and hunger pains had led to little sleep coupled with magic training and school. It was no wonder he had fainted, especially when one considered how skinny he was to begin with.

He looked up when a plate of food was held out in front of him. Smiling, he gingerly took the offering.

"Needless to say, you're spending New Year's Eve with Veronica and me."

Dave looked up at his master. New Year's Eve was tomorrow. "I am?"

"You'll be joining us for dinner. We'll train in the afternoon, and you can have the morning for school work."

Dave knew better then to argue. He stared at his food for a few moments before taking a bite.

Balthazar frowned at his apprentice. Normally, Dave made a bit more of a fuss at being ordered around so much. It seemed the thing with his father, lack of sleep and food had really taken their toll on the youth. He hoped it wouldn't last.

"I think I'll get a fridge for this place," said Balthazar casually. Dave continued to eat, saying nothing.

"You'll be coming over for dinner tonight."

"Umm, Balthazar?"

"Yes, Dave?"

"I don't want to be rude, but… I kinda want to be alone."

Balthazar cocked his head, pondering the wisdom of leaving his apprentice. "Want a ride home first?"

Dave shook his head.

"Then you're planning on spending the night here?"

Dave shook his head.

Balthazar crossed his arms as he stared down at his student. "Then how are you planning to get back to your apartment?"

"Walk to the subway."

"Dave, you are not walking home or using public transportation. If you want to be alone, I can take you home and leave."

"I still have some work I want to do." He sensed his master's glare and quickly added, "Once I'm done eating and resting."

"Fine, have it your way. I'll leave you alone," said Balthazar curtly as he walked quickly to the desk. Dave looked up at the tone, afraid he had upset his master. Balthazar threw on his coat, which had been draped on the chair next to the desk, and reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. He took out a handful of bills and placed them on the desk.

"This is cab money. When you're ready to go, you will use this to get a cab home. If I find out you walked, and I will find out, then I will train you so hard that you won't be walking anywhere for a month. And I will know if you try to shove the money back in my wallet or coat pocket, so don't bother. Are we understood?"

Dave nodded.

Balthazar smiled, trying to alleviate the boy's concern that his master was angry at him. "I'll bring the groceries over to your place for you, but I'll leave a few instant meals. Call if you need anything."

"Sure thing."

"I mean it, Dave."

"I know."

"I don't think you do," said Balthazar, an edge to his voice as he stared down at the boy. "What do you think will happen if next time you collapse, we're in the middle of a fight?"

Dave stiffened. Balthazar counted on him to watch his back during fights. If Dave suddenly collapsed… "I'll call."

oo0oo

Dave leaned back in his chair and smiled as he let out a quiet sigh. He had been looking into student loans for the past three hours online, ever since he got back from the lab, and he found out enough to know he would be okay. He qualified for loans and didn't foresee a problem getting them. Dave knew they could avoid them entirely if he applied for a TAship, but that would take too many hours out of his week and leave no time for sorcery. He needed to keep up his training and he really didn't like the idea of Balthazar getting hurt because his shields weren't up to scratch. If he just used the loan money to pay for rent, he could use his leftover scholarship money for food and expenses.

According to his calculations, he could finish up his master's in eighteen months. His PhD would take another three years, so his student debt wouldn't be too bad so long as he could get a good scholarship for his PhD.

Debt was annoying, but it would be better then accepting help from Balthazar.

He would pay Balthazar and Veronica back. He would donate to the children's hospital in their name if they were so insistent on refusing.

Balthazar wasn't his father. He didn't need one.

oo0oo

Dave grunted as he barely blocked the blow from the padded staff. He had gotten a lot of rest last night and despite sleeping in a fair amount of work done since Balthazar hadn't dropped by until fairly late in the afternoon. After making sure Dave had recovered well enough from his collapse the previous day Balthazar had decided to start with a little combat training, "Just fifteen minutes." The master had assured "to get the blood pumping." Balthazar hadn't mentioned that another reason he wanted to do physical training was because it was the easiest way to gauge how Dave was doing. They'd only been at it for ten minutes, and Dave could tell his master was going easy on him. Balthazar's movements were a lot slower then usual. Still Dave was hardly a warrior and soon failed to properly block.

"Ah!" shouted Dave as he fell unceremoniously on his ass.

Balthazar dropped the bo staff as Dave bent forward and clutched his arm. He had missed the padding when he tried to block the attack.

Balthazar darted forward and gently took the injured limb in hand. Dave flinched slightly. Gently, Balthazar applied light pressure to the injured area, watching Dave's reaction. "Not broken, but it may be fractured. An x-ray may be in order."

"Wait, you want to go to the hospital?"

"Yes."

"Can't you just heal it? I saw a spell for broken bones in my Encantus."

"Didn't read it, though, did you? Yes, I can heal it if it's as slightly damaged as I think. It would only take seconds to heal, but they would be very, very painful seconds, Dave. Bones take time to heal. If magic is used to speed that up, then… all that healing taking place at once hurts. It's generally only used on the battlefield or as torture."

"I really hate hospitals."

"And I really hate the idea of torturing my apprentice."

"Taking me to the hospital when it's bound to be full of doctors who really don't want to be there on New Year's Eve and making me wait in a waiting room for hours having to fill out forms and stuff could be considered torture."

"Dave."

"There's gotta be something you can do."

Balthazar sighed. "I can cast the spell if it's weak enough and if it is just a hairline fracture like I think. I could heal it in a few hours relatively painlessly. It would sting a bit and itch, but not much."

"And it would take hours to get it treated in the hospital, so we'll go with that plan."

"Fine, take a seat," said Balthazar gesturing to the chair. Dave sat down, still cradling his injured arm, and Balthazar turned and looked around the room. He spotted a strip of metal and levitated it over, duplicated it, then placed the two strips on the table. He levitated over some wire and used the materials to form a splint. Balthazar then left and returned a few moments later with the first aid kit. He removed a triangle bandage and used it to make Dave a sling. Once the arm was immobilized, he held out his hands and a white light emitted from them. Dave grimaced slightly at the stinging feeling in his arm. When Balthazar was done, the apprentice frowned at the slight itch, but as promised it wasn't that bad.

Balthazar smiled and picked up the bag of flour that had been resting on the desk, poured some out and used his finger to form the image of a tree.

"Might as well practice levitation since we're done with combat for the day."

Dave sighed, but using his left hand started levitating the flour.

"You know, Dave," said Balthazar. "You've got a few days left of vacation. I could set up a portal so you can visit friends."

"I'm not ready to meet Becky's family. And Bennet's is big, and very noisy. I don't think they'd have room for me."

"Couldn't hurt to ask. Anyone else?"

"No, there's no one."

"No friend from high school?" prodded the elder man.

"There's no one, Balthazar," replied Dave curtly. The flour fell in a heap, the image destroyed.

"Sorry," said Balthazar so quietly Dave almost didn't hear.

"Not your fault. I shouldn't have shouted."

Balthazar hesitated. Still, this was as good an opportunity as any. "You sure it's not my fault?"

Startled, Dave looked up at his master.

"You were ostracized because of the Arcana Cabana incident."

"What?"

"You said as much after I rescued you from Horvath."

Dave frowned, why was Balthazar bringing this up? "It's not your fault."

The master sorcerer raised an eyebrow. "As I recall, one of the first things you said was, 'you are not doing this to me again.' "

Dave opened his mouth to speak, but Balthazar cut him off. "I know I played a large part in the ridicule you put up with as a kid and I'm sorry."

"Wait, are you paying for my stuff out of guilt?" asked Dave.

Surprise broke out on the master sorcerer's face, not only at the thought, but the accusatory tone of voice. "No, I'm doing it because I'm your master. I care about you and I want to help."

Dave looked at the floor. He hadn't expected Balthazar to flat out say hecared. He shook his head before leaning back in his chair and looking up once more at his master. "…Like you told me before, we don't know what could have happened. If you had been around to train me, I might have tried to go up against Morgana sooner, before I was ready. I mean, I had to drain the power from half of Manhattan, Balthazar. I wouldn't have been able to do what I did until my last year of high school. If I had tried to beat Morgana before that, I might have lost. Besides, you're the one who told me not to touch anything. I disobeyed, and it's not your fault that jar fell on me.

"What happened, happened. At least I wasn't stuck in an urn for ten years bored out of my skull with only Horvath for company. Morgana's dead, Veronica's free, you two are happily married and I have Becky.

"I think it's safe to say things worked out pretty well, in the end." He turned back to the flour, using his left index finger to carve another tree image.

"Besides, I really like magic, now that I know it's not always going to result in humiliation."

Balthazar smiled and grabbed a book that was resting on the desk. "Keep practicing, then." He walked towards the couch to read.

oo0oo

Dave clenched and unclenched his hand. The bone had healed but the muscles were sore, the flesh tender, and man was his arm black. He was looking forward to a relaxing night of dinner, drinking the Champagne Balthazar and he had picked up on the way home, and shouting 'Happy New Year!' at the top of his lungs.

The pair made their way into the kitchen to see Veronica placing steamed carrots in a serving bowl.

"Dinner will be ready shortly. Dave, would you mind setting the table?"

"Sure thing." The apprentice was about half way done with the table when Veronica spoke again.

"Dave?"

"Yes?"

"Next time, tell us when something is wrong. Balthazar was upset with himself for not preventing your collapse yesterday. And he was very worried about whether or not it had been a good idea to leave you alone, he blamed himself for it."

Dave stiffened at the news but shook it off. "I'm sorry I worried you guys, I just… really didn't want to talk about it."

"I understand," he felt her hand on his shoulder. "And I want you to understand that we care about you and want to help you as much as we can."

Dave stiffened and said nothing, mulling over the words in his head. Eventually, Veronica withdrew and started setting the food on the table.

"Where's Balthazar?" asked the apprentice.

"In his study, preparing a painkiller potion to help with your arm. Will you tell him dinner is ready?"

"Right, sure thing," said Dave darting out of the kitchen.

Balthazar's study had two desks, one for potions and chemistry work and one for everything else. Naturally, when the youth arrived Balthazar was at his potions desk. Dave had just reached the doorway when Balthazar raised his hand, palm up and curled his fingers, gesturing the youth over. He hadn't even looked up. He was bent over his desk grinding a green powder. Next to him was a white mug with a clear brown liquid.

"Veronica says dinner's ready."

"Almost done," said Balthazar as he lifted the bowl and dumped its contents into the mug. He reached over and took a glass stirring stick from one of the beakers on the desk. After stirring the contents, he handed the mug over to Dave. "Pain killer potion. I'll show you how to make it tomorrow. Let's eat."

Dinner was fun. Dave and Balthazar both explained how the ball worked and that there was a huge party in the square. Once everyone was done with their plates, Dave and Balthazar cleaned up before joining Veronica in front of the television.

The three sat around the fire as they watched the television they talked amiably while they watched as midnight came to different parts of the world and saw each area celebrate the fresh start.

Dave could see why Balthazar had insisted on finding a home where he could have a real wooden fire. The apprentice had asked the man why a fireplace was so important after Balthazar had said 'no' to the fifth nice prospect. Balthazar had simply replied that he hated gas fires and changed the topic. Dave had later asked Veronica who told him that some of her happiest memories consisted of her, Merlin, Horvath and Balthazar sitting by a roaring fire in the Keep. The ancient sorcerer had told them stories in their younger days and when they had grown older they used to enjoy sitting around a camp fire swapping war stories with the knights before battle in those dark cold nights before battle a roaring fire had been a source of comfort, and Dave could see why there really was something wonderful about the warmth and crackling of a wooden fire that he found lacking in the modern gas ones. For one thing wooden fire was much hotter.

Eventually it became their turn to celebrate the new year. Ten… Nine…Eight…" the three chanted in unison. Seven… Six… Five… Four… Three… Two… One… Happy New Year!"

Balthazar and Veronica kissed and Dave focused on the T.V, a huge grin on his face. He had a good feeling about the year ahead of him.

And he was right—the year was full of wonderful things and events. Unfortunately, it was also full of horrors, but that's for another story.

And that's it. I'd like to thank my betas T'kirr and Siriusfan13 take a bow ladies! You are awesome!

I hope you all enjoyed this fic and review please!

Seriously I spent a lot of time on this thing reviews help me write more fics. Good news I have the first 12 chaps of the next fic done bad news they haven't been betaed and will not be posted until they have been. Seriously you guys do not want to be subjected to my horrible grammar.