Disclaimer: I don't own the Sorcerer's Apprentice, although I sure wish I did!

A/N: I have fallen madly in love with Balthazar Blake, expect Sorcerer's Apprentice fic from me in the coming months. Especially since I have created the Balthy 100. It is located in my forum, The Sorcerer's Lair, so you can go check it out there. This story is my compilation of stories written for the Balthy 100 and I hope you enjoy! Please review!

Sorcerers' Tales

Chapter 1: Arcana Cabana

It took a little more time than Dave had wanted, putting his plan into action, but it was a delicate operation. It had to be handled with finesse or else there was a risk that Balthazar would figure out what he was doing. And that Becky and Veronica were helping him. He couldn't risk the possibility of his master finding out what was going on, and so he took his time and did everything in secret.

Starting off, Dave took jobs with various independent labs throughout New York City, helping them with projects. At the beginning, he didn't make too much, but once he did a few projects, and the other scientists saw how talented he was, they were practically beating down the door to get him to work in their labs. He would also help out his professors here and there, but now that he was almost out of school, it was a paid job rather than being for credit. Selling his equipment helped to stock up his funds, and some of the technology was long past its prime anyway and was ready to be sold for scrap metal.

Becky, once Dave had brought her into the plan, had been more than happy to help him. She had been getting paid for extra shifts at the radio station and some of that money went into the fund, as did some of the money that her parents sent to her for her college stay. It wasn't much, but it helped.

The one who made a lot of it possible though was Veronica. After she and Balthazar had wed, she had been able to gain access to the money that he had been accumulating over the past 1300 years. There was plenty, and he so rarely went into his accounts that he didn't notice a couple hundred dollars being transferred here and there.

Through those months, Dave was not only doing his schoolwork, side jobs, and dating Becky, but he was also continuing his training with Balthazar. Their sessions ranged anywhere from five hours to twelve hours, depending on how much time Dave had that day and if the excuse he could come up with to leave early was good enough to convince his master. One thing he noticed was that the man seemed to spend a majority of his time in the lair, sometimes with Veronica, sometimes without. Both his apprentice and the boy's girlfriend noticed and were a little confused by this. The lovers had been separated for so many lifetimes and he wasn't spending every moment he could with her. The main reason was because Balthazar didn't know what to do.

"She's been locked up for over a thousand years!" he tried to explain one night when Dave and Becky had taken it upon themselves to make him go home under the pretenses of having the lair for the night. "Everything was just fine at first but now…now I'm a little lost." Dave's eyebrows shot up in surprise that his master was admitting he needed help.

"You're also a little crazier," Dave pointed out, but before Balthazar could try to kill him Becky stepped in between the two.

"That's the point Balthazar. She was locked up for all that time, doesn't that mean that the two of you have a lot of catching up to do? And I know that it hasn't been long enough for you to have told her everything that happened and to help her through what she went through, so go. Go catch up, go help her, just go," Becky said, shooing him out the door before closing it behind him. The two listened closely until they heard retreating footsteps up the stairwell and then they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Remind me to get you next time I need to convince him I need out of training early," Dave said as they walked down to the main floor and sat down on the couch. "Although that shouldn't be too much longer."

"We're almost set?" she asked, leaning against him and his arm wrapped around her shoulders to pull her a little closer.

"Yeah, I'm thinking another week or two and we should be able to move. And so far it doesn't look like Balthazar is suspecting anything, which is a good thing."

"Did you talk to Veronica?"

"Yeah, she's going to keep him busy as much as she can so I can have a little more time to work. I just hope that we get it before someone else does."

A couple weeks later Dave and Becky decided that they wanted to take Balthazar and Veronica out to dinner, and so they walked the few blocks from Dave and Bennet's apartment to the restaurant. But before they got there, the two younger people stopped in front of an abandoned storefront. "This place looks familiar," Dave said, grinning.

"Yeah it does," Becky added. "Eerily familiar."

Frowning Balthazar looked up and saw that there was a new sign above the door. "Arcana Cabana." He looked down at Dave sharply, but his apprentice just shrugged.

"Yeah, I know it's not in your normal dark and secluded alley, but you're not looking for the Prime Merlinian anymore, why not actually make some money," he said before tossing a key to his master. "Go on, check it out."

Not believing what was happening; Balthazar walked up to the door and unlocked it, pushing the door open. It looked almost exactly like his old store. "A little magic here and there can do wonders," Veronica murmured as she stepped up beside him.

"Why?" Balthazar asked, turning to look at Dave who was ushering Becky in and closing the door behind them.

"Well, it is kind of my fault that you lost the store in the first place. And, no offense, but I really don't want you hanging around the lab all the time when you're not with Veronica. I figured you needed…a hobby."

"So you bought a store?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but I didn't do it myself. All of us did. This is our gift to you."

"For a job well done," Becky said, smiling. "You did find the Prime Merlinian after all."

"And you did free me from the Grimhold," Veronica added, smiling softly.

"But the job isn't done yet. Getting the store was easy, finding all the stuff that you lost is going to be a bit harder. Hopefully there are records somewhere."

"I'm sure there are," Balthazar said. "I can't believe you've been hiding this from me. And here I thought you were a bad liar. Thank you."

"Hey, we have to look out for each other, right?" Dave asked, grinning. "And I promise not to touch anything this time."

"Yeah, you'd better not," the sorcerer said, face serious, but there was the slightest hint of a grin on his lips.

Looking around he could see where everything had been before, just as though it had only been yesterday when he was last standing in his store. "The Arcana Cabana. It's good to be back," he said and pulled all three of his companions into a hug. A caring apprentice, the love of his life, and all the time in the world. Maybe this new found freedom wouldn't be so bad after all.