"I have no clue what a 7 year old boy requires for back to school supplies or school clothes!"

"Don't look at me, I was never 7."

"Jason, you are not being helpful. Help or go away."

He looked her over carefully and realized Caroline was more than serious at that point and he was dangerously close to physical harm. Jason involuntarily took two steps back and Letisha lowered her head slightly after meeting Johnny's eye. No way was she going to risk it. She'd hold it in or die trying. Salvation came in another form. Emily bounced down the stairs, took in the room and shrugged.

"Update from Bobbie. She sent a list of all the back to school supplies and clothes Lucas will need this year. Plus a bunch of other stuff and instructions about sizes and the right kind of gloves. She's got everything here, even various kinds of socks and a couple of warnings about the different cons Lucas will try to run. It's a yearly ritual. And Luke says if he finds out Lucas is wearing khaki slacks, loafers and a blue blazer with any kind of crest on it, he's coming to get the kid then he's coming after both of you for fucking him up."

Caroline looked up at Emily with mixed emotion. She wanted to hug her for coming in with the news. She wanted to strangle her for coming in so late with the news. She ignored that comment from Luke for several reasons but mostly because she knew it was the truth. She narrowed her eyes briefly then held up her hand for the list. Jason intervened.

"I can do it."

Everybody just stared at him.

"You can do what?"

"Take Lucas shopping for his school stuff."

"Jason, you don't shop for yourself. How are you going to manage a 7 year old? There's probably stuff on that list you've never heard of. Stuff I've never heard of. And you've never been to a shopping mall before."

Jason shook his head in mock sadness and resignation.

"I don't shop for myself because you do it and you do it well. Besides adults are more difficult to shop for. This is different. He's a kid and Bobbie's already made a list. How hard can it possibly be? And a mall is just a bunch of stores close together."

Caroline wants it done but doesn't have the time to do it. She and Johnny need to leave as soon as possible and this latest twist is holding up the program. She looks him over carefully, then shifts her gaze to the others around the room.

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

Jason rolls his eyes and smirks. He doesn't see what the big deal is.

"Of course. Piece of cake."

"Works for me. Get the stuff on the list. Do not let him con you into any ice hockey equipment because he is not signing up for that blood sport. I already said no."

Jason is still not seeing the problem or the big deal in this but knows she's stressed and has a lot of work to do so he let's it slide.

"Everything is fine. No ice hockey, I got it. Letisha and I have things covered with the kids. Its just an quick overnight trip. You'll be back long before school starts. Faith and Em are going shopping for her stuff. Which is a good thing since Faith is the only one around her who knows what 18 year old girls need for college and I'm handling the rest."

Then he sits back in that natural Jason Morgan smug sort of way and nods. Caroline looks around the room one more time. Johnny still hasn't said a word because half this stuff he has no clue about. The other half he's pretty sure will be a disaster but keeps that to himself. Letisha is not getting involved.

"Fine. I'm going to change and pack. Johnny, I'll be ready in an hour."

"No problem, I've got a couple of things to go over with Francis and Tony. I'll meet you in the car."

With that he hops up and leaves. Caroline rises from her seat at the table and heads upstairs. Emily shrugs and heads across the hall. Letisha shakes her head because she's still staying out of it and goes to the kitchen to get something to eat. Jason looks around the empty room then decides to hang out with Caroline while she packs so they can go over any last minute details.

Jason walked into Caroline's room while she was in the shower so he sprawled across the bed to get comfortable while he waited. Once she stepped out to get ready he didn't give her much time before starting in.

"Is Terrence up for this?"

She knew what he meant. That was always the problem when moving this kind of merchandise. No matter how much they got paid, somebody always got greedy and wanted more.

"You asking me to vouch for him?"

"Hell no."

"Good, because I can't do that. But he knows the game, he understands the business, he's been taking care of business and he know how you run the business. So far, there hasn't been a problem."

Then she looked at him sideways before speaking.

"Are you expecting a problem?"

Jason has a lot on his mind and a lot of different concerns. Plus, he's constantly running through various dangers and they're still in the first quarter of this. He's got his own concerns at the moment but nothing concrete to go with.

"Not expecting problems in this business can get you killed."

That was true so she accepted it with a nod. Caroline had her own concerns to work through and that was making sure the technical day to day operation was secure. When things were allowed to slide that's what caused major fuck ups later on.

"Any word on Soleto?"

Jason exhaled. That was another problem he didn't want to deal with.

"No. If I didn't know he was coming that would be one thing. But since I do, its another. So far nothing that remotely looks like a move."

"You think he's backing off?"

Jason just gave her the 'are you stupid' look without comment. She just shrugged.

"Hey, somebody was bound to ask the question."

He laughed and nodded.

"True, and if she hadn't already started coming for Ned, I might consider that a possibility."

Someone snatched a lunch box right out of Lucas' hands and took off running. It was apparently the last of the special edition X-Men series. Having Lucas with him was the only thing that kept Jason from losing it through most of the day but that lunch box swiping was definitely the last straw. Never had Jason seen anything as crazy as a shopping mall the week before school started. The crowds were enormous, it was a madhouse. People pushing, shoving, grabbing up supplies and hogging dressing rooms. Loui was in shock and couldn't figure out what was the greatest security risk at the moment. He made eye contact with Jason and it screamed they were in over their heads. Marco attended one too many sales with Emily not to have an understanding of what to do because this was worse than anything they'd been through. He made a quick decision then turned to the others.

"We're out of here."

Jason scooped up Lucas and threw him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. A little ticked that he wasn't going to get to run his con at Sports Authority since it was next door to the Nike store that they had to visit, Lucas just rolled with it. There really was no other way. As short as he was, the guards almost lost him three times in the crowd and he actually got caught inside a circular clothes rack twice. Once they were back in the limo and able to recover slightly, Jason turned to Loui,

"What the hell was that?"

"I have no clue. Nor do I understand how women survive that on a weekly basis."

Jason said he'd get the shopping done before Caroline got back. The kid needed clothes and all the other stuff on the list. She was right, there were things on the list he'd never heard of. Getting someone's attention long enough for them to either point it out or tell him what it was hadn't worked. So far, they hadn't gotten him a thing yet and Jason still had no idea what a Crayola Caddie was. Jason looked over at Lucas for some kind of advice or counsel on the matter.

"What does your mom do?"

"Get there real early and start pushing first."

That obviously wasn't an option anymore. Jason whipped out his cell phone and made two calls. Problem solved he turned back to Lucas.

"Wanna hang out for awhile?"

"Sure."

Two hours later they returned to the mall to find an empty parking lot so the driver pulled right in front of the entrance. Feeling more relaxed and confident, Jason, Lucas and their four guards entered the mall and got all the personalized service and attention necessary. It didn't take long and they loaded up the limo and left. On the way back to the penthouse Jason turned to Lucas for assistance again.

"Let's consider this part guy stuff. No need to let your sister know what happened today."

Lucas was going to get something out of it.

"Maybe new ice skates?"

Jason saw where that was going. The kid was definitely a Spencer because he didn't even pretend it wasn't blackmail. Jason couldn't help but appreciate that. And, skates weren't technically ice hockey equipment, just a part of it. Caroline didn't say anything about ice skating. Luke and Lulu went ice skating all the time.

"Deal."

Lucas smiled brightly and nodded.

"I don't know anything."

Marco cracked up laughing. Lucas was most definitely a Spencer.