Chapter 2- Alan Tracy's worst Day of School

The following takes place approximately 2 years after Lucy's death

A.N Sorry this chapter is so long, it took ages for me to get it the way I wanted it.

Alan quietly knocked on his brother, Scott's, blue bedroom door. He knew his oldest brother was busy, but she really needed to talk to him. Alan winced as he heard stomping on his way to his bedroom door and as he threw it open, glaring down at his youngest brother.

"What do you want?" Scott snapped, cranky from the endless hours of study he had to endure. Alan nervously cleared his throat

"Um, I'm supposed to get this stuff singed for school" Alan began, but Scott cut him off.

"Alan, you know I'm not allowed to sign stuff for school. Give it to Grandma, or put it on the desk outside dad's office, where we put the rest of the school stuff" Scott groaned.

"But Scott"

"No, Alan, I have to do this. You and Gordon have to wait until after my Exams are finished before we can play games" Scott yelled, slamming his door. Alan sniffed and headed towards the kitchen, looking for his Grandma. He passed Virgil's room, and the green door was ajar. Alan poked his head in. Virgil sat at his keyboard, playing a piece of music Alan didn't recognise. Alan swallowed.

"Virgil, do you know where Grandma is?" Alan asked. Virgil jumped and spun around, glairing at Alan. Alan stepped backwards, frightened by how much Virgil looked like his father.

"Jesus Christ Alan, can't you see I'm busy. Don't you know you're supposed to knock when you come in here? No, I don't know where grandma is, but she'll be busy with John's birthday coming up, so she won't be able to play games with you."

Alan opened his mouth, but Virgil cut him off

"And I won't, either. Go away, Alan, I have to keep practicing." Vigil turned his back on his baby brother and restarted playing his song, muttering obscenities. Alan backed out of the room and closed the door behind him. He hurried to the kitchen, hoping that Virgil was wrong about Grandma being busy

Unfortunately for Alan, Virgil was right. Alan crept into the kitchen to find Grandma pouring over her cake recipe books. Alan politely tapped on the wooden door frame, causing his Grandma to look up.

"Alan dear, what are you doing up still. Have you packed your raincoat? Their will be storms tomorrow, and I don't want you to catch cold"

"I, um, need to get this stuff for school signed" Alan sighed, holding out the papers.

"Oh, I'm sorry ear, I'm too busy to do those now, I'll do them in the morning, I'll remember." The elderly woman looked at the clock and gasped. It was 8:00.

"Good heavens, Alan, its past you're bedtime. Go and say goodnight to your father, then get ready for bed, understand" Alan nodded and gloomily left the kitchen, his head bowed. He made his way to his father's study and, timidly knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" answered his father's voice

"It's Alan, I've come to say goodnight" Alan called. There were a couple muffled footsteps, and the door opened. Jeff Tracy towered over his youngest son, and looked down. Alan looked up at his father, and there eyes met, causing Jeff to look away. Alan looked identical to Lucy, from his blond curls, to his blue eyes, down to the cheeky smile and the way Alan was ticklish at the base of his left big toe. Alan looked down, feeling his father's pain, but not understanding the cause.

"Grandma wanted me to tell you goodnight" Alan whimpered. Jeff sighed. He hated how his mother made the boys come up to his office to say trivial things such as goodnight. Didn't she know he was working?

"Goodnight, Alan." Jeff sighed. Alan remembered the papers he had to get signed.

'Daddy, wait, can you sign me some stuff for school?" Alan asked

Jeff groaned. "No, Alan, you know that Grandma handles that sort of stuff, besides, you left it this late, and it's past your bedtime, Alan. You'll have to wait until tomorrow"

Alan sobbed as he looked at his father, then turned around and ran back to his room, slammed his door and hurled himself onto his bed, crying.

Alan slowly walked into his classroom, dreading seeing his teacher, Mrs. Eden. He had failed in getting his note signed, and he knew that he was already in trouble. Today was parents' day for his class. He was supposed to show the note for it to his father or grandmother, but they had both been far too busy the previous night, and he only gotten a new form yesterday, having lost the first one. Alan spotted his teacher, who was talking to one of the parents', and began shuffling over to them. To make things worse, this teacher was new, and he didn't know wether or not she knew about his mother's death, or his father's breakdown. His other teacher, Mrs Stevenson, had always known about his mother, having taught John the year that it had happened. She had known that if Alan got upset, all he needed was a little bit of comforting, and a discreet phone call home to tell Alan's grandma what had happened, but then she had left four days ago to be with her sick mother, and the children had got Mrs. Eden. Alan stood beside Mrs. Eden and patiently waited for her to finish her conversation. When she finally did finish, almost everyone had arrived, with the parent trying to squeeze next to the children at the tiny desks. Alan mentally laughed at the thought of Billionaire Jeff Tracy trying to do something like that. Mrs. Eden addressed the parents, and then led Alan up to her desk at the front of the room.

"Well, Alan, what is it you want?" The teacher asked, scowling. She had disliked the young blond boy ever since her first day in this class, and was privately glad that Mrs Stevenson would be returning at the end of the week.

'Um, My form isn't signed, and my dad isn't coming" Alan muttered, aware of his classmate eyes on the back of his neck.

"Alan, I told you this yesterday. You must be more organised. You are responsible for what you give your mother and father. I'm sure your mother would be very upset". Alan sniffed, but didn't say anything.

"And you're father, he's a military man. He must value organisation in people. This show's that you're unorganised. He must be so disappointed."

Alan sobbed, "But Daddy's to busy, he wouldn't have come anyway, he hates me, and He won't even look at me"

"Nonsense, Alan, your exaggerating. No parent hates their children, they may be disappointed, but they don't hate"

"But" Alan began

"No buts, Alan, this was your last chance, you haven't got your reader signed the whole time I've been here. You're in big trouble. You are not allowed to participate in any of today's activities, and you will stay inside at recess time, and I will be making a phone call to your parents."

Alan sobbed at the unfairness of it all, and at the memory of his mother. He still had vivid nightmares about his mother, and of her death, but he disguised it from his family. He slowly walked to his desk and sat down, earning sympathetic glances from several parents, those of whom knew about Alan's difficult family situation.

That day seemed to go on forever for Alan. Mrs. Eden had made him sit facing a wall, with a sheet of hard math problems. By the time recess had come, Alan had withdrawn into himself, just doing the work that he had been set. He felt his classmate's eyes on the back of his neck, but he didn't care. He didn't have any close friends in his class, preferring to wander around by himself, or mingle with a large group of his classmates, but none of them Alan considered his friends.

When all the other children had gone out for recess, Mrs. Eden approached Alan's desk.

"How are you going on those questions, Alan?" she asked. Alan raised his head to look at his teacher, his blue eyes shining with tears.

"Okay, Mrs. Eden, I've done about six of them" Alan whimpered. Mrs. Eden seemed to tower over him, and Alan trembled, and hastily let his gaze drop back to his desk. Mrs Eden sighed dramatically.

"That's very good, Alan. It's time for the next piece of your punishment" Alan followed the older woman into his class's storeroom. Mrs. Eden closed the door behind them, and the room was plunged into darkness. Alan whimpered, but Mrs. Eden switched on the light, illuminated the haggardness of her face. Alan gazed fearfully at the teacher as she pulled a long, thin box off one of the shelves. Mrs. Eden opened the box, and Alan shuddered when he saw its contents. Two long canes lay there. Mrs. Eden carefully removed the shorter one and instructed Alan to hold out his left hand. Sobbing, Alan obeyed. Mrs. Eden let the cane fall twice on the back of Alan's hand, before letting him out of the storeroom. Alan fled back to his desk, nursing his injured hand and crying furiously. Ms. Eden watched his sob as she put the canes away.

"You will get your forms signed from now on, won't you, Alan?" She quietly asked. The only response she got was Alan's sobs.

Alan watched his classmates eagerly lead there parents around the playground during lunchtime. For the last session, while the others had been playing games and participating with activities with their parents, Alan had stayed in his corner and had completed spelling and handwriting sheets. Now he was sitting by himself, watching with tears pouring down his face. He looked up, going at the stormy clouds overhead. Scott had told him, about a month ago, that when clouds looked like that, there were going o be storms. Alan inwardly groaned. Could this day get any worse? He was in big trouble at school, he had forgotten to pack his raincoat, his hand was extremely sore from the caning he had received at recess and he was scared of thunder, although Scott had told him that there was nothing to be scared of.. Alan sobbed, tears pouring down his face. He hated school. He hated his life. No-one cared about him. Alan raised his head as it began to rain. Something within Alan's mind clicked, and Alan got up, dusting the crumbs from his sandwich off his school uniform. Alan glanced around him, but he was alone. Carefully he crept away from the school buildings until he reached one of the gates that lined the front of the school. Checking once again that he was alone, Alan slipped through the gate, and, blinking back tears, sprinted down the street, running far, far away from his school.

Mrs. Eden was only mildly concerned when Alan failed to file in with his classmates and the parents, but when he had failed to arrive 10 minutes into the session, she began to worry. Clearing her throat, she eyed Alan's desk.

"Has anyone seen Alan?" she asked her class, and the parents. Several people shook there heads, and four of the children chimed up.

"Why would we want to see Alan, he's a wimp" One boy yelled, but was instantly told off by his mother

"I think I saw him at the other side of the playground, but then he walked of, I think he was going to the seniors area," One small girl admitted.

"I thought I saw him hanging around near the gates" A red haired boy called from his seat, next to his father

"I heard that he got belted up by some seniors" One boy yelled, seeming happy sat Alan's assumed discomfort. Mrs. Eden sighed. It made since for Alan's to of headed to the senior area, he did have older brothers there, and so she shrugged and continued on with the lesson. By the halfway point of that session, however, she was getting worried. Upon scanning the room, and seeing her aid wasn't needed, she slipped out of the room, and headed into her office. She was followed by e of the mothers.

"Mrs. Eden?" the mother asked

"Is there anything I can help you with, Mrs. Jones?" Mrs. Eden. Said, forcing calmness she didn't feel into her voice.

"I think I can help you, Mrs. Eden. I was Alan's father's secretary for almost four years. I know Alan's family quiet well. Were you aware that Alan's mother died two years ago in a tragic accident?"

Mrs. Eden gasped, remembering her scathing words from that morning. "Oh my god, I didn't. What happened?"

"The family was on a skiing holiday in the Swiss Alps, and there was an Avalanche. Alan, one of his brothers, and their mother were trapped in the cabin they were staying in. Alan was found in the same air chamber as his mother, who by that stage had fallen into a coma. She died about five hours later. Privately, Jeff blamed himself, and broke down. He hasn't stayed in the same room as any of his son's for over two hours since then. The boys basically lost both their parents that day. The oldest suddenly became like a mother and father to his younger brothers. Thankfully, Jeff's parents came to live with them just after Lucy's funeral, but Jeff's father passed away six months ago." Mrs Eden leaned against her office wall.

"I made the biggest mistake. What if Alan has gone and done something silly" she gazed out of the window, watching the torrents of rain fall down. She shuddered at the thought of Alan, wandering out there, lost, wet and confused. Mrs. Eden made a decision and sat down in the chair. She flicked through her files, until she reaches\d Alan's. She opened it, and flicked through until she reached his personal information. She dialled his home phone number into her telecommunicater, and hit the dial button

Jeff Tracy had just finished eating lunch with his mother when they heard the familiar buzz of the telecommunications machine. Jeff went to answer it while his mother cleared the table.

"Hello, Tracy residence, Jeff Tracy speaking" Jeff answered the communicator. The person on the other end, and lady in her mid 50's with grey hair, and a slightly upset look on her face came into view on the screen.

"Mr. Tracy. My name is Mrs. Eden; I'm Alan's substitute teacher at school." Jeff closed his eyes, cursing under his breath

"What's he done this time?" Jeff gruffly asked, knowing what a call home to school usually meant. Mrs. Eden hastily shook her head.

"Oh no, sir, Alan hasn't done anything bad, well, technically he has, but" Mrs. Eden failed into mumbling

"Well" Jeff snapped, causing Mrs. Eden to jump.

"I'm sorry sir, but I've never had to do one of these calls. Does Alan know his was around the city?" she asked. Jeff raised his eyebrows

"No, why should he, he's only seven years old." Jeff scoffed as his mother returned

"Mr. Tracy, Alan is missing. He might have run away, he was last seen either going up to the school gates, or going up to the senior end of the school." Mrs. Eden paused, looking at Jeff's face, trying to read him. Jeff swore under his breath, but still loud enough to let his mother hear.

"Jefferson Tracy, if I hear you say that word again, I will wash you mouth out with soap" she chided, shaking her head.

"How long ago was that?" Jeff asked, ignoring his mother

"About an hour ago, maybe more. We thought he was just with one of his brothers."

Jeff shook his head again. Alan never went to see his brothers at school, even when he was upset, knowing that he would probably be told to go away.

"I doubt it, the only brother Alan would go to see is Gordon, and he's at home today. I'll have to go and find him." Jeff inwardly groaned at the thought. There was so much work he had to do today, and now this had happened. 'Alan, what were you thinking' Jeff thought as he hung up. Grandma, feeling her son's worry approached her son.

"Jeff is something wrong?" she asked.

"It looks like Alan's run away from school. Can you get Gordon for me; I have to speak to him?" Jeff asked, dreading his mother's response

"What. Alan's run away. Why on earth would he do something like that?" Grandma gasped, blinking back tears.

"I don't know, get Gordon please grandma"

"Oh, Alright, Jeff" the old woman said, hurrying up the stairs to Gordon's room. She returned moments later followed by Gordon, his red her slightly tousled from his sleep. Gordon sneezed as he approached his father.

"Did you want to see me, father?" the small eight year old asked, blowing his nose"

"Yes Gordon, would Alan got to you or John at school if he was upset about something"

Gordon thought about it, "No, he might go to me, but that would only be if he was really upset, and he wouldn't go to John because John told Alan if he ever went near John while John was with his 'spacey' friends he wouldn't play tag with him anymore."

Jeff groaned and walked to the door, grabbing his raincoat from the rack near the door. Jeff noticed with a pang that Alan's red raincoat still was on its hook. He hadn't taken it with him to school. Unbidden thought of his youngest son lying in a gutter somewhere, freezing to death just like his mother had, came into Jeff's mind, and he tried to brush them away, but they still lingered. Jeff turned to his mother as he picked up the car keys.

"Don't worry, I'll bring him home" he reassured her. His mother smiled, seeing the worry lines on her son's face.

"He'll be fine, he's sensible, he'll stay out of trouble' she reassured, gently pushing Jeff out the door. Jeff hurried down the front path of his home and let himself into the car, starting the motor, he leant forward, quietly sobbing.

"Lucy" he pleaded to thin air, "please looks after him, make sure nothing happens to Alan." Jeff brushed away his tears. He had to look for his son. Carefully he backed out of his driveway and headed off down the street.

Alan walked down the dark street. He had lost track of the time, and had wandered through the city, gazing at the serious faced people that hurried on their way to whatever business that put food on their table. He hurried on, trying to keep himself moving to keep warm. The relentless rain had soaked his uniform through. His blond hair had plastered itself to his head. Alan shivered and pulled his school blazer closer to his body.

He was regretting running away now. He was freezing cold, he was hungry, and the back of his hand throbbed with every step he took. As he looked up at an old clock tower, he tried to read the clock. It was almost 6:00. All of his brother's would be home by now, and Alan knew his Grandmother would be frantic. Alan sobbed and let his tears mingle with the raindrops on his face. Alan kept walking, hoping to find a familiar landmark. As the sun set, Alan burst into tears, crying fiercely. No-one paid any attention to him; most people would be home by now. Alan sat down on the gutter, getting more and wet. Alan buried his face in his knees, sobbing. A car drove past and went through a puddle, effectively drenching Alan even more.

Alan looked up, his blue eyes trying to rid themselves of water, and sneezed. Alan whimpered. Could this get any worse? Now he was getting a cold. Alan longed for his nice and warm bed, and a mug of hot chocolate, and his Grandma to tuck him in so he felt nice and warm. Above everything else, Alan wanted his mother. He remembered when she would hold him when he was upset, holding him close and gently rocking him. He remembered how, before his mother's death, his father would hug him and ruffle his hair, making Alan feel older. Alan smiled at the memory as he got up and turned down a side street. Alan immediately shuddered as the memory's vanished. There were less street lights here, and the street had an aurora of foreboding. Deep inside his head, a little voice called for him to get out of there, that it was dangerous. Alan hesitated, before continuing on down the street, aware of every little noise. He vaguely heard a car in the distance as he walked down the dark street, prepared to bolt if he had to. Alan's thought unconsciously went to his family as he listened, fear written across his face.

Jeff drove down street after street, fearful for his son's safety. It had been 5 hours since Alan had been last seen, and the sun had set. Jeff turned down another street, scanning the sidewalks for a small, blond boy that looked lost. Jeff frowned, hoping that Alan wasn't in this area, as it was notoriously rough. As Jeff passed a darkened side street, a small voice inside his head, which sounded uncannily sounded like Lucy screamed out.

"He's down there, Jeff, he's in trouble, help him." Jeff needed no further encouragement. He pulled his car over and wrenched open the door. He jumped out into the rain and bolted down the street.

Alan heard the car as it screeched down the street. He turned around and saw an old convertible, with its windows covered in stickers. Alan spun back around and started running, his legs moving faster than they ever had before. The car raced Alan down the street and cut in front of him. Alan skidded and turned around, running back the other way, but a thug climbed out of the car and begun chasing him. Alan saw a lone figure approaching him from ahead and, distracted, failed to see a second thug car begin to back out of an alleyway. Alan collided with the car and fell to the ground, hard. Alan flung out his arm to break his fall and avoided banging his head, but he felt the skin on his hand and knees rip as he rolled to avoid a kick from one of the thugs. Alan was dimly aware that there were two of them. Alan felt his mind begin to slip and the day's events caught up on him. Alan weakly cried out as he heard a third set of footsteps racing to the scene. Alan was winded when one of the thugs kicked him in the stomach and the other one grabbed Alan by his jumper. Alan struggled as he was dragged towards the car, not knowing how much trouble he was in. The sound of a sickening crunch heralded the arrival of the third person

"Get away from my son" the man yelled, and Alan was hastily dropped. Alan struggled to focus on his rescuer, but he sneezed and shivered, Alan felt his strength ebbing and fought to keep his eyes open. Above him, the third man had felled one of the thugs, and the other had raced to his car, before hooning off down the street. It was then that the third person turned to face Alan and Alan recognised him.

"Dad?' Alan whimpered, before darkness overcame him and he fainted

Jeff almost broke down when Alan had collapsed. He bent down and felt Alan's neck for a pulse, praying to Lucy when he found one. Jeff gently shook Alan's shoulder.

"Alan, come on, wake up, dad's here, it's all right." Alan coughed and weakly opened his eyes again, wincing as his whole body ached. Jeff smiled and hugged his son, sobbing onto Alan's small shoulder. Alan sobbed and broke down, his head buried into Jeff's chest. The rain continued to pour, and Jeff realised Alan was shivering. Jeff carefully picked up Alan and began carrying him back towards the car.

Jeff was glad when he turned up his family's driveway. Alan was still weak and shivering, but Jeff had turned the car heater's up as high as he could to keep Alan warm. Jeff smiled when he saw the light on downstairs and looked at the time. It was approaching 7:00, dinner time. He turned to Alan, who sat beside him.

"Are you hungry, Alan?" he asked. Alan looked at him and nodded weakly, tears still sliding down his cheeks.

"I thought you would be" Jeff smiled. He got out and went to Alan's door, opening it so Alan could slide out. Jeff noticed that Alan's knees and hands were bleeding, and there were red marks on the back of Alan's left hand. Bending his knees, Jeff picked Alan up and carried him to the front door, which was opened before he even got there by Scott and Grandma. Grandma gave a sob when he saw Alan in Jeff's arms and rushed out to meet them.

"He'll be fine, mother, just a couple of cuts and bruises, and he's a bit cold" Jeff reassured as he walked past her. Grandma nodded

"I'll run him a got bath with disinfectant" she dabbed at her eyes and hurried of to the bathroom. Scott held the door open as Jeff walked through the door. Virgil, John and Gordon were all sitting in the lounge, looking at him. Jeff could tell John and Gordon had been crying. Virgil gave a small sob when he saw Alan. Jeff gently stood Alan on the landing next to Scott. Alan's knees buckled under the weight, but he stayed standing. Scott wrapped his baby brother in his arms as the others hurried towards their father and youngest brother. Virgil, John and Gordon embraced Scott and Alan. Jeff heard Alan sob from with the mass, and received a pointed look from Scott. Jeff removed his coat and, shrugging, joined the group hug, much to all of his sons delight.

Next Chapter to be released soon: The recovery of Jeff Tracy