Challenge

Bickering

After the tea party dissolved, some of the kids chose to color while others chose their own pursuits of entertainment around the table. They had spent most of the day running and playing with only a few brief snack breaks to tide them through until the evening. Feeling a need for a rest, none of them were too eager to begin running around again.

Stuck in a space close together and starting to get tired as the evening was coming on, Morgan and Bryce started bickering.

Morgan started up his favorite argument that he was Chuck's 'bestest friend' and tried to make Bryce appear as insignificant as he could.

Starting into a list, Morgan had a long history with Chuck to recount. "He was my friend first because I have lived down the street from Chuck for as long as I can remember, you only moved here almost four years ago."

"So, we go to class together, have our lesson on Saturday, and also have play time where we go to each other's houses or meet at the park. I see him more than you do and we are both interested in the same computer skills and games." Bryce returned his defense for why he wasn't to be overlooked.

"When has he protected you after a girl depantsed you in school? How many times has he rescued you from the bullies? Exactly, he doesn't care about you as much as he does me!" Morgan had a point that Chuck came to his defense often, but a skewed belief in the reasoning.

"I don't get into trouble with bullies or girls to need rescued. That doesn't mean he is closer to one of us or the other. Just that you get into more trouble than I do." Bryce was correct in his defense, but antagonistic in his delivery.

Morgan thought he was making a good argument. "I'm the better friend, and there is nothing you can say to change that."

Rearing back mentally to strike, Bryce was stopped in his tracks by Peter's rumbling behind him.

"Boys…" Peter's authoritative voice caused all of them to straighten up, but the ones that particularly reacted were the fighting duo. "No fighting. You are both his best friends, but so is Sarah. Remember that."

Not happy to be reminded that he not only had one, but two, competitors for Chuck's attention, Morgan crossed his arms in a pout.

Bryce knew Sarah was also in the group, and although he didn't understand Chuck's interest in her, he also knew that she was his girlfriend and ran in a different line than best male friend.

"Why don't you all go back out and play? We'll be having the cake here in a little bit before it's time to go home for the night." Elizabeth encouraged them because they were less likely to fight if they spread out or had something else to distract them.

Fort

Retreating back out onto the lawns, the kids went to their fort, a large pine tree with branches draping down until they swept the ground. Dodging in through a gap, the kids were able to sit with the branches forming a ceiling and walls around while the needles formed a rough floor beneath them. Elizabeth had given them a cloth to sit on for a cushion against the pine needles and to help avoid getting their clothes covered in sap.

The twins had wanted to take Satchmo out with them, but he had spent most of his afternoon remaining close to the adults on his leash and under supervision so that he didn't get into trouble. With so many games and going in so many directions, the kids hadn't paid enough attention to be allowed to take him out.

Away from adult supervision, Morgan poked Bryce with a last means of attack. "My focus in on supporting Chuck, not on spending so much time with other people."

"Neal is my brother, I'm supposed to spend time with him." Bryce didn't like the attack on his family.

Having had more than enough, Chuck stepped in. "Come on you guys. Like Peter said, you're both my best friends. Stop trying to one up each other, and that goes for you too Morgan." He made sure to specify Morgan as his older friend was acting like he was just reprimanding Bryce. "I don't like it when our group fights amongst ourselves."

Forced to give way to his friend, Morgan wanted to whine at Chuck, but could see that he wasn't in the mood. Changing the direction of his whining, he instead started talking about how he wanted more Cheese Balls.

Still in a sour mood from the attack on his family, Bryce wanted some of the snack, but wasn't sure if he wanted to associate with Morgan to get it.

Dare

As the numbers in favor of eating more Cheese Balls grew, they faced the challenge of how to get them.

Normally, Elizabeth kept them on top of the fridge so it wasn't hard to access them when she wasn't looking. It just took a chair, standing on the counter, and then a careful climb onto her step stool to reach. A feat that would earn major discipline if caught, but no one had been seen at it yet.

Occasionally, Mozzie would sneak them the treat, but he wasn't around… was he?

Looking around the park, Bryce knew that the babysitter was expected to arrive in time for the cake and ice cream so that he could be present for their party. June would have brought her granddaughter, but they were on a prearranged family trip and unable to attend.

Seeing his taxi pull up, Bryce knew that they would have an ally, it was just the matter of coming up with a plan.

Conspiring with Chuck, and therefore Morgan, they produced the best plan that they could come up with. Then turning to the rest of the group, they revealed their master piece.

Laughing, Neal wasn't impressed. "I can do better than that with my hand tied behind my back."

"Alright then, I dare you to not only come up with a better plan, but to execute it with one hand tied behind your back." Morgan challenged.

"Why would I risk getting into trouble for those disgusting things? They coat my fingers in orange fuzz and aren't made with real cheese." Neal scrunched up in distaste.

"Because, I dared you. Are you a chicken, Neal?" Morgan taunted.

Torn, Bryce wanted his snack, but he didn't like Morgan being mean to his brother.

Making the decision for them, Neal chose to answer the dare. "Fine, I'll get your stupid snack. I don't even need your help to do it either." Neal got up and walked out of the fort.

Behind him, both Bryce and Sara glared at Morgan in Neal's defense.

"What? He's getting the food for us isn't he?" Morgan defended himself.

Scheme

Running to catch Mozzie, Neal waved to him so Mozzie paused to see what he wanted. Conversing, they tweaked his plan and Mozzie was eager to help.

Heading back out into the park, Neal pretended to have finished his business and gone back to the other kids.

Although he did revisit the fort for the other boys to tie his hand behind his back, he was soon back out and up to his ploy.

Sneaking back to the group of trees nearest to the tables, Neal knew exactly where the 'contraband' was located as he had managed to hide beneath the table next to it earlier.

When Mozzie approached Peter and Elizabeth to keep them distracted while being funny enough with his stories to engage most of the other parents, Neal had a clear path.

Unable to army crawl, he had to crouch and walk quickly to avoid anyone seeing him in the open space between the trees and the table. Then he slipped under the table and retrieved the container. Pausing, he waited a moment while he heard the laughter to ensure that he hadn't been noticed.

With his prize tucked under his free arm, he crouched down and hurried back to the trees.

Taking another pause, he looked back through the branches to see that no adult was looking in his direction. Satchmo had probably seen him from his perch, but he had been played with enough that he was yawning lazily and couldn't talk anyway.

Relieved, Neal flashed a light at Mozzie and ran back to the fort.

Booty

Those who were interested in the Cheese Balls divided the spoils and enjoyed eating them.

Neal told them the story of how he had managed to pull his caper off, and the others were interested in how successful it had been.

"It wasn't hard. All I had to do was have Mozzie distract the adults with comical stories from his taxi driving and then sneak under the table and back." Neal shrugged.

"And it worked?" Was the resounding reaction.

Grinning deviously, Neal explained. "Simple plans are often the best. If you want to create a plan, come up with plan G, the messiest, simplest, and guaranteed to succeed plan. Then dress it up in various ways to create plans A through F."

After a while though, the rebels who had eaten found themselves with a new problem… they were coated with orange fuzz.

Popping in, Mozzie scared them. "I think some kids need some water and a rag to remove all of the orange fuzz from your hands and faces. Otherwise, you'll be easy to catch for your mom… not to mention the suit."

"Suit?" Morgan asked.

"He means Peter, because he is Fed and wears a suit." Bryce explained. "Spies are spooks, FBI are suits, and police have several varied nicknames."

"Oh." Morgan understood that, but still questioned why Mozzie was helping them. "Why is helping us though, won't he turn us in to our moms?"

"No, Mozzie isn't like that. If we did something bad, then he would consider it, but something like this, he finds it fun to try and succeed at the challenge." Neal explained. He was the closest to Mozzie and understood his love of the challenge best.

"Exactly, besides, I'm not a snitch. Here, take the bottles and wash off over there." He pointed to the other side of the tree area. It was still sheltered from the rest of the adults seeing, and it kept the cloth cleaner.

When they had cleaned up, Mozzie stuck the empty bottles into the tub and set it aside. "Alright, now turn around Bryce." Declaring him clean, he sent him out to play. Moving through each kid, he declared each one clean of orange and set them out. Once they were all clean and sent away, he made sure there was no remaining residue left on the cloth and slipped away to dispose of the trash.

Meeting on the playground while their fort was occupied, the kids talked.

"Mozzie is my hero! He not only helped, but he is cleaning up so that we don't have to worry about it." Morgan decided that he really liked Mozzie.

Ending

Collecting the kids together for the last part of the evening, Peter lit the candles while Elizabeth made sure everything was just right.

Blowing out their candles, the twins made their wishes before they all settled down to eat for the last time of the evening.

As the group finished, various parents began to collect their children and their things to get home in time for bed.

With the group generally gone, Peter and Mozzie helped to pack things up into the car. Then Mozzie offered to help unload on the other end, but Elizabeth figured that she and Peter could handle it easily enough.

Bidding them goodnight, Mozzie headed home.

Driving the two cars, Peter and Elizabeth met at the apartment building before working to unload the twins. They were practically asleep so the adults each carried one.

As they headed up, Elizabeth commented that she had been certain there were left over Cheese Balls.

"It wasn't a full tub to begin with, none of them were allowed to indulge in them, and I was certain that nearly a quarter of it had still been full. That's bothering me, because the tub wasn't under the table when we loaded up."

Thinking for a moment, Peter ran through the day and the evidence that he had seen. "I think I can explain an idea of what happened."

At Elizabeth's instruction to share, Peter outlined his theory. "I'm thinking Morgan, Bryce, and Chuck decided they wanted to eat more of them. Neal enjoys a good challenge, and he had hid beneath the table for at least one round of the games so he knew how to sneak in unnoticed to retrieve them. Mozzie was particularly talkative when he arrived, even to me, and he engaged everyone with his stories. I saw him with Neal prior to that conversation, and a light shined in our direction before he finished talking. Finally, Bryce, Chuck and Morgan weren't as hungry so they didn't eat as much cake as the rest of the kids."

"You're so smart." Elizabeth kissed him. "That may not be exactly what happened, but I think you have the right idea. The boys have a tendency for sneaking extra portions when Chuck and Morgan are over. I don't know how they get them down from above the fridge, because I haven't caught them yet, but I've learned to keep a better eye on the levels. Which reminds me, Mozzie also sneaks it to them when he babysits."

"I think the twins learned their smarts from their mom." Peter kissed her before they reached the apartment.

Tucking the boys in, they worked to haul the things up before Peter headed home for the night as well.

Thank you all for reading, reviewing, and leaving kudos :D

For fans of Leverage, you might recognize Nate's planning technique with the plan G stuff. (Neal should stay away from plan M though, because that doesn't seem to bode well for the geeks based on Hardison's example ;)