Alan finally managed to snag some lunch, with Onaha, the family's housekeeper, agreeing to let him eat in his room. She had smiled at him sympathetically, and tried to ask what was wrong, but he'd just shrugged her off. He couldn't help it. She couldn't know that he was the family mistake, because then he'd be treated differently by her, too.

He was the family mistake…

… that was why Jeff couldn't look at him… … why Scott had practically raised him those years after his mother died…

Alan had to actively swallow the lump in his throat before he could move.

A long afternoon of thinking had made Alan determined on the "right" approach to take. If his family didn't want him, he would just be absent from their lives. Well, as much as he physically could. What with attending Wharton's full time, it wouldn't be difficult.

That was another scenario that Alan didn't want to discuss.

It was late afternoon when he was finally called into his father's study. "Hi, sir," Alan said anxiously as he bowed his head. He swallowed hard as he placed the report card in front of Jeff.

Jeff waved a dismissive hand. "I've already seen it," he said with a tired sigh. Well, he'd barely glanced at it, but that didn't matter. "Really, Alan, you just had to start trouble this term!"

"Trouble?" Alan asked as his jaw dropped. What was his father talking about? For once, he hadn't done anything wrong. Or so he thought, clearly his father had thought otherwise. What had he done wrong? Alan scratched his head, trying to think about what on earth he could have done wrong. Maybe he's telling me finally that it's my existence that is the problem, Alan thought, swallowing visibly.

"Yes. I can't believe that you got into an argument with the principal. I thought you'd left this immaturity behind you!" Jeff said. He placed his hands on the brown desk, trying to calm his temper before he looked at his son. He couldn't explain this sudden burst of anger that he was feeling towards his youngest.

"But dad-," Alan started to say, but was abruptly cut off. He tried not to look too put-off by his father's comments.

"No buts, Alan. Look, just go to your room. You've got a month here for Christmas break, and then another week home because the school is undergoing some renovations. I hope you use that time to take your studies seriously," Jeff said. He hadn't glanced at his son's report card, but he hadn't needed too; it was probably the same grades as usual.

"Will you listen to me?" Alan asked, his mouth agape. "Dad, the argument with the principal – it wasn't an argument! Didn't he tell you what it was about? We were just joking…," he said, hanging his head as he realized that it was probably no use talking to his father about it. Apparently his father had his mind made up. Alan closed his eyes, wondering where he would be

"I doubt very much the principal would be joking with one of his students in that manner," Jeff responded. He sighed as he checked his watch. The dismissive motion made Alan feel unwanted all over again. It took all of Alan's control not to let tears drip down his face. It was true! It was!

Flashback

"Now, Alan, I just wanted to say that I'm very impressed with your grades this term, son. I wanted to let you know that you've qualified for both the swim team and the track team," the principal said. He had a smile on his face that showed off his white teeth. For some reason, for a second all Alan could think about was that he should've been on a television commercial for the toothbrush factory, or something.

Alan smiled back at his principal after finally realizing what the principal had said. The fact that the man spent one on one time with the kids in his school had really helped Alan the previous term. He'd listened to Alan's complaints and gotten Alan the help that he needed; far more so than what his father had done. "That being said, if you want to try for either one, you might consider spending a little less time at the snack bar," the principal added with a teasing smile. To anyone else, it might have come across as a reprimand, but Alan knew the principal better.

"Aw, come on, coach. You know half the time half of us don't buy anything anyway," Alan said. Despite being some of the sons of the richest men on the planet, Alan and his friends tried to be money-conscious. Well, the key phrase was "tried."

"Really?" the principal said, smiling at Alan, even though he knew full well. "Well, congratulations. You've made both of the teams. Well done."

"Thank you, Sir," Alan said as he shook the man's hand. He was grateful that the man had went to such an extent to help him.

"You're welcome," the principal responded, waiting until Alan was almost out the door for his final comment. "Oh, and Alan?"

"Yes, sir?" Alan asked, turning around.

"Thank you for not blowing up my school."

Alan's laughter could be heard throughout the hallway.

## end flashback ##

That was so not an argument! For his father to constitute it at that made Alan's blood boil. Alan sighed as he bowed his head to the floor, waiting for his father to speak. "John said he would be happy to tutor you in any area that you needed assistance. When you get back to school, I want you to stay out of trouble. Are we clear?" Jeff said. He scratched his head. Man, maybe he shouldn't have had that extra cup of coffee; his head felt like it hurt a ton.

"Yes sir, but I think –," Alan said. He stopped and swallowed hard, trying to keep from crying. The last thing he wanted to do was look like even more of a mistake in front of his father.

His father cut him off. Jeff had dealt with a very pressing migraine all week and was sick to his stomach. He was tired of the thoughts that had been constantly running through his head. He sighed as he sunk down to his chair. "Okay, Alan," he said tiredly, "go ahead."

"Sir… the principal and I, it was a joking argument. I don't know what you heard… but it wasn't anything bad. He was j-just telling me to s-stay out of the snack shop, since I made both swim team and track team."

Jeff sighed as he thought about it. He guessed it would make sense. One of the reasons he'd sent Alan to Wharton's, after all, was because he liked the comfort and security that he could provide for Alan there, and that the principal really took pride in caring for the teenagers as if they were his own.

He sighed as he opened Alan's report card and really looked at it. All A's. A shining mirror of perfection. Even an "A" in math. He smiled, looking at his youngest son. "Good job, son." He sighed. "I'm sorry for not listening to you before. It's just been a very stressful day, and a stressful week. But I do owe you for not picking you up from school before. You decide what you want to do, and we'll do it."

Alan thought about this. "What if it's a trip with you to Disney World?"

"I was actually thinking about taking up stock in that. It would be a great way to get to see what I'd be buying," Jeff said as he rumpled his youngest boy's hair. "Is there something that's bothering you, son?" he asked.

You mean about how Gordon wants to kill me?Alan thought with a tired sigh. "No, sir," he said.

Jeff knew his youngest son was lying, or at least felt like he was, but he didn't want to push the envelope. "Alright, Alan, but if you need anything, you talk to me. And if you can't talk to me, talk to Scott or John, okay?"

Alan just nodded and numbly steered himself from the room.

Scott sighed as he sat on the deck with John. Although he was closer to Virgil, the painter and musician had made him very angry today with some of his statements about Alan. "Tell me what's upsetting you, Scott," John said as he shifted his position to avoid knocking his Coke can off of the banister. He hit it anyway and grabbed it, his hand catching.

"You and your caffeine," Scott responded with a shake of his head. "Virgil, and Gordon. Did you notice how they're treating Alan lately?"

"How can you not notice?" John said through clenched teeth. "As if the kid wasn't hurt enough over Spring Break with the Hood. Now, it's this all over again. And what the hell did Gordon say at dinner?" he demanded.

Scott just shook his head in grim response. He couldn't believe the nerve of his younger brother. Gordon had been a handful to help raise, but even when they were younger, the redhead had never said anything so intentionally cruel to Alan. "I can't believe he said that. I don't care how moody he is, it's not like Gordon. 'Alan should do all the housework for free…'I'm not even going to repeat what he said after that. Where did that come from? That's not even like Gordon!"

John nodded before changing the subject slightly. "Speaking of Spring Break, loss of life and unusual behavior, Lady P. called me this afternoon. She said she wanted us to know that the Hood was still locked up, but that he was scheduled to be moved prison facilities soon to somewhere with a stronger guard… So I guess that's good news; hopefully we can expect no more loss of life on his end."

"I'll give him loss of life," Scott muttered. "Well, we need to have a talk with Gordon. He had Alan almost ready to run from the table in tears."

"Iwould have run from the table in tears," John muttered. He pushed himself up. "I'm going to go talk to Sprout. It's nice for Brains and Fermat to take a rotation on five so that I can be here with you guys."

Scott nodded, relieved. "I have the feeling that we're going to need you now, more than ever."

"Yeah," John responded. He sighed. "I was hoping things would get better after Spring Break, but now I'm just not sure."

The brothers froze when they suddenly heard a scream. Alan!

"Don't touch me!" Alan said, fighting back against Gordon even as the older teenager made a motion to throw him into the pool again. Alan had been dressed in his American Eagle outfit, ready to go to bed for the evening, when Gordon had thrown him into the pool in an attempt to "play" with him. He wasn't sure Gordon's attempt was actually friendly, and had climbed right out.

"Come on, Alan," Gordon responded with a grin. It was not a happy grin, it was more like a sinister grin. Scott ignored it. "I just want to play in the pool with someone."

"Hey!" Scott said, seeing Gordon tugging on Alan's arm. "What's going on here?" he demanded.

"I just wanted Alan to go swimming!" Gordon said with a pouty face. "I thought he wanted to play with me," he added at the look on Scott's face.

"I didn't want to go swimming!" Alan responded as he tugged against Gordon. Scott grabbed Gordon's arm and separated the two of them quickly.

Gordon scowled. "I thought restraints were only supposed to be done after all other interventions had failed," he said.

It was then when John looked at Gordon. Gordon looked absolutely exhausted, and his eyes sagged. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't tell what. "Okay, Gordon," he said, putting his arm on his second-youngest brother, "Scott, why don't you and Alan go do something constructive, and Gordon and I will chat."

Scott, catching the meaning behind John's words, just nodded and left the room, his youngest brother in tow.

"What's wrong, Gordon?" John asked. They were making their way to the infirmary, where he planned on having Virgil giving Gordon a through look-over later.

"I don't feel so good," Gordon responded. He swallowed hard. "I'm sorry for being mean to Alan, John, really! I just… I just feel like I can't control anything I say or do, and I don't feel good, and…"

"It's okay," John responded, growing concerned. Out of all of the brothers, Gordon was the least likely to be emotional.

Well, unless the "emotion" was laughter after one of his pranks. But still…

"I really just feel like I'm going to be sick," Gordon responded. It was when he got to the infirmary and leaned over the waste bucket that John knew something was behind the picture, other than just Gordon teasing Alan excessively.

There was just one pressing question that remained: What?