"Eri?" Alex rested the paper bag she'd been holding in the sink and attempted to help her son out from behind the door but the boy's legs buckled from under him and before she could stop it from happening, Eric was lying in a pool of limbs on the cold tiled floor. "Eric…hey…" Alex brushed the hair out of her son's eyes and went about rubbing soothing circles on his back. "It's okay, my darling Prince Erician, everything is fine. Ma'ma is here and nothing bad is going to happen."

Eric's lips quivered as he struggled to formulate, "Mom?"

"Yes, I'm here, it's okay."

"I…thought…"

"You thought it wasn't me?"

Eric nodded his head slightly.

Alex smiled, "Well, no such luck. It's me. Now, let's get you off this…" she looked at the micro filth embedded in the grout between the tiles and thought better of saying the adjectives that were ready to roll off her tongue, "…hard floor." Wrapping her arms under the boy's upper arms, she managed to bring him to his feet then manoeuvred him from behind the door and across to the bed.

"No," Eric pulled back.

Alex chuckled, "Even in your depleted state you won't lie on the bed? You really are one stubborn little creature."

"Like you can talk," Eric declared as his mom helped him into the chair.

Alex rustled the boy's hair while giving him the once over. "You okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm good," he nodded. "It was nothing."

"Nothing?" Alex ducked back into the bathroom for the paper bag, "You want to tell me what this particular nothing was all about?"

Eric shrugged. "I heard jiggling of the lock and I thought they had caught up with us."

Alex didn't ask who 'they' were. It could only have been one of two parties and neither of them would have made for a pleasant visit. "I was having difficulty unlocking the door cause I was trying to juggle your chocolate shake and my coffee while holding the food bag between my teeth. You should try it sometime and see if you can do any better. Now," she tore open the bag and proceeded to place one of the wrapped sandwiches in front of her son, "I got us bacon and egg, I hope it's okay-"

"I'm not hungry." Eric pushed it away and grabbed for his drink.

"Don't be stupid, of course you are hungry," Alex pushed it back. "And particularly seeing as how you just about passed out a few seconds ago, you need something substantial in your system to get your strength back."

"No. I already told you I'm fine and all I want is this," Eric flatly stated as he held up the chocolate shake.

"Okay, if you don't fell like it…" Alex shrugged as she picked up the sandwich and tossed it into the small trash basket next to the door… "There. Problem solved."

Eric watched the sandwich land in the waste basket and silently followed his mom with his eyes as she sat on the edge of the bed and unwrapped her own bacon and egg sandwich. As far as take-out food went, it appeared to look reasonable enough and it certainly smelt inviting. His tummy grumbled as he swallowed down the last of his chocolate shake and he couldn't help the pout that appeared on his face as he conceded that maybe he did feel like the sandwich after all. But of course it was too late so he simply sat back in the chair and folded his arms while thinking that Elizabeth would never have tossed away perfectly good food into the garbage – she would have insisted he eat it, or at the very least, try it to see if he liked it or not.

"What's troubling you, kiddo?" Alex asked after swallowing down a mouthful.

"Nothin."

"There's something. I can always tell when your head is overthinking something. What is it this time?"

Eric pushed up from his chair and put some distance between them. "I…I'm just thinking, that maybe this is all going to go bad."

"What? The charter I've arranged? Getting away without being boarded by the coast guard? Meeting up with Sir Marc?"

Eric spun back to face his mom, "And the rest. Mom, I've got a terrible feeling about all this. We got away from that maniac once, I don't-"

"Hey…" Alex stood and stepped over to her son, "…you're getting yourself all worked up again over nothing. "It's going to be okay. I've been very careful about everything, and Marc and I have been in constant communication – he's handling everything on his end, all we need to worry about is getting out of the country with…" she turned and pointed to the overnight bag, "…these."

"But," Eric stepped away and ran frustrated fingers through his hair, "can't we just hand them over to the authorities here? I know Peter will help, and we can tell them everything that happened in Dubrovnik and why you needed to get the Gorilla from the Village and they'll probably let you off because of everything that's happened."

"They're not going to just let me off," Alex scoffed. "Surely you know that? Is that what Peter told you?"

Eric shook his head, "No. He told me you'd have to go to prison."

"And is that what you want? Me behind bars, like Neal?"

"Of course I don't!" Eric defended. "It's just…"

"Just what?"

"Just…" he lowered his voice to a near whisper, "I don't want anything bad happening to you, Mom."

"And it won't," Alex reassured as she came and wrapped her boy up in her arms. "Everything is going to be fine. Okay?"

Eric remained silent in her arms.

"I said…okay?"

This time he nodded even though he was far from convinced, "Okay."

Alex pulled back and ruffled his hair, "You worry too much, you know that?"

Eric shrugged and walked across to the window. He pulled back the shades slightly so he could glance out. "When do you think it'll be safe to come back here again?"

"What? To this motel that you despise so vehemently?"

Eric turned back with a repulsed look, "No! Here – never again! I was meaning the States…and mostly, New York."

Alex smiled, "I knew what you were asking."

"So…" Eric held out his hands, palms up. "How long?"

Alex dropped her smile, "And you also know the answer to that."

# # #

"How much longer?" Eric groaned as he paced back and forth across what little area the small motel room allowed.

"Look at your watch," Alex suggested without looking up from whatever it was she was deeply involved in doing on her tablet.

Eric pressed his lips together and glared at the top of his mom's head. "You know, if you hadn't come and got me last night, I'd be sitting in Mr Tomlinson's health ed class right about now, and I can safely say, as excruciating as it is listening to Tommo rave on about knowing the difference between 'safe drugs' that your mommy and daddy give you when you slam your hand in the car door and the 'not so safe variety,' waiting around in this little pox box makes me realise health ed class wasn't too bad a gig after all."

Alex lifted her eyes and stared at her son, "Are you done?"

"Done what?"

"Done with the ranting cause if you're not, I'm going to need some of those, what does your teacher call it, 'safe drugs?'"

"Whatever," Eric huffed as he turned away from his mom and started pacing once more.

"Why don't you go for a walk?" Alex suggested. "There's a small mall about three blocks north. You can get us some snacks to take on the boat."

"Yeah?" Eric's expression brightened instantly. "You think it'll be okay? You don't think someone will wonder why I'm not at school?"

Alex laughed, "Now whose forgetting how things used to work? Remember, if anyone asks you say-"

"I'm home-schooled…No, I didn't forget, Mom," Eric tried to justify his slip-up. "I was just...being careful."

"Of course you were," Alex went along with it for the sake of everyone's sanity as she foraged through her handbag for some money. "Here, take this."

Eric made no attempt to take the twenty dollar bill out of his mom's hand. "Since when do I need money?"

"Since…" Alex laid on a tone that reminded Eric of Peter when he was stating a direction that he expected to be followed, "…we don't need you being detained for knocking off a fifty cent candy bar five minutes before we have to hightail it out of the country carrying nine million dollars worth of art."

"Fine." Eric snatched the bill out of his mom's hand and wrenched open the door. He was pretty sure he heard his mom recommend he come back with an improved attitude, or something to that affect, but he'd stopped listening even before the door had swung closed behind him.

Eric looked up and down the road and for a moment, considered heading south just to piss his mom off, but it wasn't worth walking all that way, only to come back empty handed so he kicked at a few loose stones and headed north. Having an opportunity to stretch his legs had been a good suggestion on his mom's part, not only because he was starting to lose his mind thinking he was back at the Burke's, confined to his room after yet another grounding, but also because his mom was starting to get on his nerves. Not that it wasn't fantastic being back together again, but…somehow, it didn't feel as good as it should have. His mom seemed less easy going and more self-absorbed than he was used to and he couldn't help wondering if she was coming across that way because she hadn't had to care about an 'extra' tagging along for such a long time.

Also bothering him was the fact that his mom hadn't been able to offer up any satisfactory explanation as to why she'd been more than willing to abandon him with the Burke's as easily as one would dump an unwanted puppy at the doorstep of an animal pound. Her justification, or lack thereof, was eating away at him. In the back of his mind, he'd told himself that the reason she hadn't come to get him earlier was because she'd been too ill to make the trip back or locked away in some Mexican jail looking for the an opportunity to escape so she could make a frantic dash into NYC to rescue her son from the evil order of FBI operatives that were holding him prisoner… but sadly, it wasn't anything more than her needing time to track down the stupid, friggen jades.

For some dumb reason, during his time with the Burkes, Eric had hoped there may have been a small miracle of sorts that his mom had finally given up on her all-consuming obsession with the jade collection. But now, after seeing her eyes glisten with delight as she talked about them, he couldn't help speculating if it came down to the line, would his mom have trouble deciding between him and the trio of green creations in her little blue box? It was an unpleasant home truth that made Eric feel more bitter than sad and as he entered the shopping complex, he even entertained the idea of finding a public phone and dialling Peter's mobile. But, he wouldn't do that to his mom. It wasn't her fault that the crazed Croatian had set her up and pushed her to the point that she didn't have any other choice and even though Peter would say he could help her, he couldn't. Peter didn't have a clue what the man was capable of and as much as he wouldn't admit it, if Scott-Allen had been the one held for ransom, Peter wouldn't hesitate to steal the FBI director's Louis Moinet Meteoris watch off his arm, if that's what it took to get his own flesh and blood back.

Eric stopped thinking about his mom's motives, what Peter would and wouldn't do, and the deranged drug lord while he scanned the center for the shop most likely to supply his favourite candy – spearmint leaves. His mom was addicted to them too, so when he happily discovered them in the first store he tried, he got three packets. He also got two large bags of caramelized popcorn and a couple of packets of Pez, then took great delight in covertly stuffing several packs of bubble gum and four tins of sugar fruit drops into his jacket and pants pockets. He didn't have to worry about getting his ass whacked anymore if he got caught so as far as he was concerned, it was open season on shoplifting and just for good measure, he nicked a led light key ring from next to the register on his way out the store. Peter may not be proud, but his mom certainly would.

As he exited the mall, Eric considered stopping at the ice-cream counter to treat himself to a lime-splice spider for old time sakes, but recalling how disastrously his last attempt to purchase one had ended, he decided to give it a miss. He had to chuckle though. At the time, getting caught out and being brought before Mack Q had seemed like a big deal to everyone but that was nothing compared to what would happen if the deal his mom and Sir Marc had brokered, went sour.

Because he was busying checking the time on his watch as he made his way around a small group of people waiting for the bus, he almost walked into the side of phone both. He stopped and stared at it, thinking – was it a sign? Was he meant to phone Peter and ask him to help, ask him to stop his mom before she went and got herself…got herself…he didn't want to even think the thought in his head. Then, as if being on some type of auto-pilot, he picked up the hand set, reached into his pocket and found a coin wedged between the gum packets, and dropped it into the money slot. But his index finger paused on the button for the first number and after a moment's deliberation, he hung up the phone and collected his coin from the dispenser. It had been a stupid idea, a dumb, careless, stupid idea and he mentally kicked himself for even contemplating it for a second. But then again, would it really be such a stupid idea if he phoned the house instead? Certainly it would be much easier making the call from here than from Luisana and Manny's, and with a bit of luck the squirt would answer. Eric reinserted the coin and pressed the numbers for the house. He had no doubt that Peter had a tracer on the home line but he had no intention of staying on long enough for a trace to be made. He punched in the numbers and waited.

Briiiiiiiing…Briiiiiiing…Briiiiiiing…Briiiiing…Briiiiiiing… "Hello."

It was Elizabeth. Eric's initial instinct was to hang up but he changed his mind and returned the phone to his ear.

Elizabeth tried again, "Hello?"

Eric cupped his hand over the handset so no clues from the immediate environment could be used if it turned out the phone call was being recorded. He'd watched too many TV shows and movies where the bad guys had been caught out because of a ridiculously coincidently announcement over a nearby loud speaker.

"Hello…?" Elizabeth asked patiently and Eric was surprised she hadn't simply hung up the phone herself. "Anyone there?"

Eric wanted to say, 'Yes, it's me…Mom came and got me just like I said she would,' but instead he remained silent, even stilling his breathing in case it gave away his identity.

"Is that you, Eric?"

Eric cringed – so much for subterfuge.

"Listen sweetheart, if you can hear me, I hope you are okay…" she paused, listening for any sign of a response, "…and…I just want you to remember two things, Eri – no matter what happens, no matter what you do, Peter, Scott-Allen and I will always, unconditionally, love you and also, whenever you want, you can come back. There'll always be a place for you here…Eric…? I-"

Eric swiftly placed the handset back onto its cradle and stepped away from the phone. He'd been expecting Elizabeth to start in on a lecture about doing the right thing and turning his mom in so everything could be sorted out through the correct legal channels, but she hadn't.

As he dragged his feet back towards the motel with his head swirling with confusing and conflicting emotions, decisions that seemed above and beyond his control, and worries about what his mom was getting them into, he felt himself doing something that a week ago he never would have believed – wishing he was back in Brooklyn, sitting in the school cafeteria with Carl, deciding if they should use the NaNOT3 to eavesdrop on Rose Adintay and her girly group or just send her an anonymous email. Life seemed so much easier back when that was the extent of his troubles.

# # #

"Watcha doing?" Eric called over to his mom as he approached their little white car. He hadn't bothered questioning his mom about the particulars of the vehicle, he just assumed it was a necessary acquisition that would be abandoned as soon as its usefulness expired.

Alex looked up from where she was sitting in the back passenger seat, wiping at the door fixtures with a cloth, "You should know – I'm removing any and all evidence that we were here."

"But what does it matter? As soon as we get away, who cares if they know we were here or not?"

"Have I taught you nothing, my young naïve partner? The longer it takes to track down the location of where we departed the country, the better head start we'll have. We don't want some rookie patrol officer getting a print off this obviously abandoned vehicle and sending up a red flag on Peter Burke's desk before the wake from our charter boat has even hit the sand…do we?"

"No," Eric shrugged, "but there's only a miniscule chance of that happening."

"A chance still the same. One we don't need to take if we don't have to." Alex indicated the plastic bag of candy looped over her son's arm. "Why don't you go and pack that in my overnight bag and while you're at it, make sure the jades are carefully secured. We didn't come all this way just to have them drop out a side pocket on our way to board the boat."

"Don't you also want me to get my belongings together?" Eric questioned before turning on his heals and making his way over to the door, while grumbling loud enough to be heard, "Oh, that's right. I don't have any!" He kicked aside the shoe his mom had obviously wedged in the door jam to keep it open and allowed it to slam shut behind him before she had the satisfaction of response.

He couldn't help or understand, for that matter, the anger that continued to fester under the surface as he made his way over to the desk and dumped his bag of sweets down beside the overnight bag…but he knew it was linked to the jades. For as long as he could remember, the little green jewels held some type of veiled control over his and his mother's destinies and at times it was as though the objects had a sentience of their own that made them capable of manipulating the actions of all those connected so they could be brought back together at any cost.

Eric took the padded blue case out and unlatched the lid, thinking how much delight he'd take in carrying the jades up to the roof top of a very tall building and watching them drop down and smash into a zillion pieces all over the pavement below. Of course he couldn't, wouldn't do that to something that meant so much to his mom but it didn't stop him considering any and all sinister possibilities, which soon had him grinning and bringing a renewed spark to his eyes.

'Hows about you make your papa proud?' Eric chuckled evilly to himself as he went about executing a gag that he only wished Carl could be a part of.

Less than ten minutes later, Eric heard the tell-tale jiggling of the door lock so he swiftly put the blue box back into the bag, piled the sweets on top and dashed across to the door so he could pull it open for his mom. "What'd you b-" is all he got out before his jaw locked in the open position and any sound that was formulating on his lips, froze with fear as his eyes set upon his mom being shoved into the side door of a black delivery van and a behemoth of a man lunging forward to whisk him off the ground. As he was unceremoniously dumped into the van, he mentally questioned his own pathetic lack of resistance, not understanding that it was all he could do to simply draw air into his lungs.