Woof, woof! The evening sky was starting to lose the last of its light, which made it difficult to see too far up the street but the enthusiastic bark and the impatient tug on the lead led Eric to deduce that his canine companion had spotted a familiar figure off in the distance. Elizabeth. No great surprise there. Eric imagined the woman had gone ballistic once she discovered her precious bundle missing and no doubt pulled the house apart first looking for them before scanning the yard and the street and was probably ready to call in every law enforcement team on the Eastern Seaboard so it was probably a good call that they hadn't lingered any longer to peruse the toy trinket shelves like Scottie had requested.

Eric brushed off an inkling of concern that he was about to be chewed out big time and instead relished in the fact that he'd been smart enough to make it to the Seven Eleven, get what they wanted and were making their way home long before Elizabeth even got close to catching up with the escapees. He also gave himself a well-deserved pat on the back for thinking ahead and having Satchmo ready as their defence. The youngster reached down, unleashed the eager puppy from his lead and sent him happily ahead by way of preparing the set-up for the story he was about to spin. Eric glanced down at his other faithful companion and checked, "Now you remember what I told you back at the Seven Eleven? What you are going to say to Elizabeth when she asks where we've been?"

Scottie nodded with a huge smile, " We twased abter Sasho an we bwinging hims home."

"Exactly, my young padawan. Now the secret of a good lie is to believe it…so let's go." Eric gave the younger boy a nudge in the direction of the house before starting in on a medium paced jog. Scottie's little legs could barely keep up, which was in keeping with the plan – the squirt would be too out of breath when they finally reached Elizabeth to respond to her interrogation.

An interrogation that was well under way before the boys were barely within earshot. "I was worried out of my mind!" Elizabeth scolded as she confronted the wayward pair. "Where on earth have you been? I've been frantically searching everywhere, naturally thinking the worse…"

Eric noted for the first time that Elizabeth had veins in her temples that pulsated when she worked herself up, just like Peters. Perhaps that's what had attracted her to the guy in the first place, because it was a mystery to Eric what they could possibly have found appealing about each other.

"…Here I was thinking you two were safely out the back, playing…"

Elizabeth was as ticked off and flustered as Eric had ever seen her. He figured she'd be pissed, but certainly not to this extent. "Hey chill, Elizabeth," Eric started with both hands held up in surrender, one of which was holding a dog leash, "me and the kid wer-"

"Don't you dare tell me to chill, mister," Elizabeth chided before the kid could get started. "How do you think any of this," she waved her arm up and down the street for emphasis, "lends itself to me being chilled!"

"Look, before you go and get yourself all Burked up," Eric shot back in his own challenging tone, "we were playing ball, the ball went out, I went out to get it and Satch followed me out and then he saw that dog from three doors down and he chased after it, I chased after him, Pip-Squeak here," he nodded down at the little guy who appeared to be frozen in time, "chased after me and well, there you go. No big deal. Certainly not the crime of the century but I'm sure by the time you dob on us to Peter, it's gonna sound like the worse thing a kid has ever done when all we were trying to do was the right thing. We were just bringing Satch back home."

"Nonsense!" Elizabeth snapped with such fury that now both boys froze all movements, and in Scottie's case that included his breathing. "I'm not even going to bother humouring you by listening through your lies," Elizabeth pointed her finger almost touching the end of Eric's nose. "You left the house without permission, and you allowed my five year old son to go with you!" Elizabeth swiped away some remnants of icing sugar off the smaller boy's jacket collar to emphasise her point. "And you've been down to the Seven Eleven filling up on junk food! Not that I had the pleasure of believing that the worst that was happening was you spoiling your dinner when I was completely consumed by the worry that some unscrupulous passerby had snatched one or both of you off the street and dragged you into a car! What you did is never acceptable!" This time she pierced both boys with a glare that would have made Peter proud. "Either of you!" And with that she reached down and snagged Scottie's upper arm, sending him in the direction of the side gate with a stinging swat. "In the house!" Scott-Allen grabbed at his backside as he let out a wallowing sob. Elizabeth snagged the older boy in the same manner and delivered an equally walloping sting although all this elicited was a grumble of curses that Elizabeth was in no state to deal with.

o0o

Eric sat on the old swivel arm chair plucking at the threads in the fabric that were worn enough to be pulled free. Once back in the house, Elizabeth had banished both boys to the living room while she 'sorted out the dinner mess that had been so hastily abandoned' and had made a very strong declaration with her finger when Eric had gone to switch the television on that it wasn't going to happen. Eric plucked at yet another loose thread since it was better than letting his eyes gaze around the room at all the sickly sweet Burke family photos that appeared to be laughing at him from every angle. He had tried catching Scottie's eye to check-in with the kid that he was still good to go with the story but the squirt was balled up on the couch whimpering like his sentence of execution was imminent. Eric didn't hold much hope of support from that corner, not that he cared anyways. He was satisfied that he'd been successful in giving Elizabeth a taste of what it was like to experience not having everything go perfectly to plan. And as an added bonus, he wasn't starving with hunger like he'd normally feel right around the time just before dinner. In fact, he felt positively bloated from the bucket-sized soda, hot dog, candy bar and iced donuts he'd shared with Scottie, all compliments of the well-dressed young man whom he'd 'accidently' bumped into on the way into the store.

Swat! "Ow!" Eric let out a sharp squeak before he could stop himself as he rubbed at the top of his hand where Elizabeth had just smacked sharply. "What the?"

"I've told you before," there was that finger again, "don't pluck at the threads."

"Whatever," Eric mumbled as his eyes followed his guardian while she took up a spot on the couch next to Scottie. The time for the execution was upon them.

"Scott-Allen," Elizabeth started as she pulled the younger boy first to a sitting up position and then manoeuvred him onto his feet to stand before her. "Tell me what you did that you know you are not supposed to do."

"Eyes had," he paused to sniff away and swipe at the tears running down his cheeks, "Eyes had donuts before dinner. Eyes sowwy, Momma."

Oh, man! Eric groaned to himself. The kid took pathetically hopeless to a whole new level.

"Scott-Allen," Elizabeth placed her hand under the boy's chin and tilted it up. "What was the dangerous thing that you did? What did you do that meant you were no longer safe and had Mommy so worried I wanted to cry?"

"Eyes, eyes, eyes leb…" Scott-Allen broke down as a flood of tears engulfed his little frame.

"You left the house and walked up the street," Elizabeth finished for the boy when she accepted it was going to be a struggle to get the words out. "Without Mommy or Daddy and without even telling me where you were going."

"Eyes…eyes…sowwy," Scottie sobbed between hitched breaths.

"I know you are," Elizabeth attempted to clear away some of the tears from the youngster's face but it was a lost cause. "But you know what happens when you do something very naughty and very dangerous?"

"Noes…Momma…I donts wan a…a panking," Scottie tried to pull away as his mother shrugged down his pants."

"Well," Elizabeth successfully finished the job and easily pulled the little boy over her knee before tugging down his underpants, "if you don't want a spanking, make a better choice next time."

"Eyes wills, Momma," Scottie squealed as he tried desperately to squirm free before the first smack but it was to no avail. Swat! "Ooooowww…noooooo!" Swat! "Nooooo, Momma"…Swat! ... "Pweese!" ... Swat! ... "Ooooooowwww!" ...

As much satisfaction as he'd got from riling Elizabeth and getting the golden haired boy into trouble, Eric began to feel sick in his stomach as he watched the painful punishment being doled out. Scottie didn't deserve the bare-bottom whipping he was receiving over Elizabeth's lap. Sure, a swat or two didn't hurt the little guy and was just what he needed at times to stop him from being so fricken irritating, but he hadn't earned the price he was paying for their little jaunt down the street. He hadn't even given it a second thought as he'd skipped happily beside his 'big bro' to get something nice to eat for a change.

Eric shut his eyes to block out the vision of the little guy's creamy white butt turning a cherry red but he was unsuccessful in tuning out his pleading cries for his mommy to stop.

Swat! … "Oooooww!"

Eric was unable to take it any longer. "Elizabeth! Stop!" he demanded as he sprung to his feet and out of surprise, Elizabeth froze her smacking hand in mid-air.

"Mmmm?" Elizabeth prompted as she turned her attention to the older boy.

"Don't you…" Eric paused to swallow down his anger to mix with the bile churning in his stomach.

"Don't I…?"

"Don't you think that's enough already! Scottie didn't do nothing wrong and you're beating him like he-"

"Eric!" Elizabeth cut into the rant, fully aware that the she needed to finish up punishing the little boy over her knee least he think it was already over. "Scottie did do something wrong, very wrong-"

"No, he didn't!" it was Eric's turn to cut in. "He was just following me. He didn't even know it was wrong. It was my idea and you shouldn't be punishing him for something I was to blame for!"

"Scott-Allen did know it was wrong and he chose to make a very poor choice," she raised her hand and brought it down with a sharp smack. Swat!

"Ooooowwww," Scottie's cry pierced through his sobbing.

"But rest assured, young man," Elizabeth paused to fix the older boy with a pointed glare, "we will be discussing how your choice of actions directly affects others." Swat!

Eric balled his fists and pressed his lips together tightly before snapping, "What would you know about that! You're just a witch like all the others and I hate you!" he screamed as he bolted up the stairs into the sanctuary of his room where he didn't have to watch or listen to the slaying of the innocent any longer.

o0o

Eric paced around his room trying to formulate a plan of action. It had been more than an hour since he'd heard the last pitiful cry waffle up the stairs and through the crack between the bedroom door and the floor and ever since, he'd been expecting Elizabeth to fly up on her broomstick and begin beating his ass with it. But so far, nothing. Not a footstep on the stairs, not a warning bellowed up to get his butt downstairs, not an excruciating lecture to be seen or heard anywhere. Eric was beginning to feel that Elizabeth had finally decided that enough was enough and she no longer wanted to deal with their delinquent boarder. Which shouldn't come as any surprise, after all, he had taken their treasured little bundle of everything that is good in the world and put him in harms way by escorting him to the 'nonut shop.'

Eric kicked at the leg of the bed. These people really made him sick to the stomach, and no doubt he had the same affect on them. His vacation at the Blessed Burke Lodge had well and truly reached its expiry date. It was time to move on and with his mom now factored out of the equation through her own stupidity, he was on his own. Which when he thought about it, felt pretty fricken fantastic. No one to have to explain anything to, no one to have to compromise with, no one to have to humour even when he knew he was right. It all seemed so clear now. All this time he'd been thinking he was unable to go it alone when really, it was something he was more than capable of. He'd learnt enough through his own experiences how to handle any thing that came his way.

Eric knelt on the bed and brushed an errant clump of dark hair away from his eyes before pressing his forehead against the window and gazing out. Where would he go? Many places instantly sprang to mind but mostly they were places he'd been with his mom and if he was going to go it alone, he didn't want to feel like he was reliving her dreams by retracing her footsteps. But having said that, he had lots of good contacts in many of the places they'd spent time and it would be advantageous to start somewhere familiar while he got his shit sorted out. Venezuela would be an obvious choice. He could hang out with Luisana and Manuel and have a chance to play with Yessi and her puppies. But that was just one of many viable options. There were more than enough possibilities and he guessed in the end, what did it matter? Anywhere that wasn't Brooklyn was worth considering. But first he'd have to mentally sort out a thoughtful and workable strategy. He wasn't about to fall into the same trap his mom always did and go off all half-cocked. No. He was smarter than that. Smarter than all of them. When he moved on, no one was ever going to catch up with him. Ever. Except maybe Carl. The last time he'd left town, he'd done it without saying goodbye to the only actual friend he'd ever had. He wouldn't let that happen twice. Since returning home, Carl and him had spoken on the phone just about every afternoon. Carl was genuinely interested to hear all about his escape with his fugitive mom and the confrontation with the 'bad guys' and also kept asking when he'd be returning to school so he had someone to have fun with in the lunch room. Carl had stated that school life was never so risqué and entertaining as it was when Eric Hunter was around, a comment that made Eric feel pretty damn good about himself.

No, this time when he cleared out for good, he'd be letting Carl in on the plan and keeping in contact with the one guy in his life he could trust for real. Maybe Carl would want to come too? But then again, the kid was a novice and Eric would have to take up a heap of slack, a role he wasn't quite ready for…although when he considered, it's what he'd been doing with his mom for as long as he could recall.

Eric banged his forehead gently against the windowpane as he considered his mother sitting in some cell, watching the seconds on her watch tick away while awaiting a date with the judge. He'd overheard Peter chatting with Elizabeth about the prosecution looking into securing some kind of probation, but what did it matter to him anyways. He'd heard the bullshit all before and he was over it. They could let his mom out, they could keep her locked up, Neal and her could share a cell for all he gave a damn. It no longer mattered. It was time for a fresh start.

"Air-wick!"

Eric hadn't heard the little whipper-snapper enter the room or bound up on to the bed. He really was starting to lose the knack in this soul supressing establishment. "What?"

"Dinna's weady."

"I'm not hungry…and neither are you," Eric added for good measure.

"Dadda saib to come dow nowd."

"Peter's home?" Eric raised his brows.

"Yep…an Momma tolb him bout tha donuts."

"Of course she did," Eric sneered as he climbed off the bed and followed the youngster to the door. It was surprising that his jailor hadn't immediately come bounding up once the 'incident' had been reported, with a belt in one hand and an eviction card in the other, but then again, the old man was probably too famished to pass over the food since all Elizabeth had given him for lunch was a measly salad sandwich. Nothing got between Peter and his pasta.

Eric crept down the stairs with some hesitancy and jitters in his stomach. He had called the man's wife a witch and there was that one other little thing about taking his son on a jaunt to the corner store. The bravado he'd felt up in the room was diminishing rapidly. Peter's punishments were painful and for the first time, he was starting to think that it might have been a little bit unwise on his part thinking he could get out of it with just a swat or two from Elizabeth. Who knew she'd have a cow when she discovered her first born was missing?

"Eric."

Eric's brain snapped into alert mode upon hearing a male voice that clearly wasn't Peter's.

"Neal?" Eric shook his head, not sure if he was seeing correctly. "What are you doing here?"