Balthazar trusted Dave. He knew that he wouldn't get into trouble intentionally. That was, of course, the problem. His apprentice was a trouble magnet. If anything could possibly go wrong then it would. Knowing him he'd probably get discovered by Horvath and Morgana the second he stepped out without Balthazar there. It was just the way things were.
So as soon as he tucked away his remembrances of Veronica he set out. It was sad how predictable Dave was. He was simply mooning around Becky, unable to leave her side for the simplest of things. Every now and then he noticed that Dave would reach out to touch her hair ro something. So they were in a relationship now were they? Things moved fast.
To anyone else it would have looked like a normal scene. To Balthazar it seemed like a volcano of potential trouble. Dave was walking around in the open practically screaming out his location. He might as well have painted a target on both his back and Becky's. He would have to have a talk with him.
Despite his worry he also tried to keep his distance from him. What was happening with Becky was private. Balthazar felt wrong to be tailing him at all. It put him in mind of the way Horvath had followed him and Veronica. Not that he was tailing the two lovers for the same reason, but it still felt wrong to him.
That was why he kept too much of a distance and lost him on the corner of fifth. Inwardly he cursed himself, even though he knew he couldn't have done a better job without being intrusive. After a few minutes of wandering blindly he saw a nearby NYU building. Seeing it as his best shot he'd gone in, knowing deep in the pit of his stomach that something had gone wrong.
So he'd been unsurprised to find a goth reject in front of the bathroom door. Everyone else had gone into class and the hall was empty, all except him. Although he didn't know who the man was he did know one thing about him; he sure wasn't good at looking nonchalant. He had been posted there to keep anyone from being nosy.
He was figuring out the best way to take him out when there was a flash of blue light under the door. Electricity sparked inside, crackling loudly. The man turned to look at it and Balthazar took him out with a plasma bolt. He stepped on him in his hurry to get to the door. Balthazar made an effort to put all of his weight on that foot; he had never had much regard for the rights of Morganians.
Shoving the door open his stomach churned. Horvath had been thrown into the wall and lay slumped on the ground. There were cracks in the tiles behind him where his impact had shattered them. Morgana was still very much conscious though, and she was fighting. He momentarily felt repulsed by seeing her in the men's restroom, but he decided to keep a lid on it. More important things were happening.
Dave was trying to keep up with her, but Balthazar could see that his shields were weakening. He should never have tried to go up against Morgana alone. He wasn't ready yet, although Balthazar noted that he was doing a better job than he himself would have been able to. Now if he could just become powerful enough to use some offensive magic while keeping up his shields.
"Dave!" he yelled out over the noise, "You should run!"
Both Morgana and Dave turned. In that second he realized just how exposed he'd made himself. However, thirteen hundred years of conditioning weren't for nothing. He'd had experiences where he'd done stupid things and then had to compensate for them seconds afterwards. He threw up a shield just before Morgana threw a fire bolt at him.
That was just the first step though. His ring glowed and he dropped his shield. Then he released a thick cloud of smoke into the room. Immediately both Morgana and Dave started to cough. Balthazar covered his mouth with his sleeve and stumbled through. He couldn't see anything but he was used to trusting other senses. Within a few minutes of fumbling he had Dave by the sleeve and had pulled him out the door.
Dave began to cough, but Balthazar kept pulling him towards a spare room. He magically unlocked the door just as the bathroom door was flung open. Balthazar managed to shove Dave and himself inside just before Morgana came out. They stayed low until Morgana's clacking heels faded into the distance. Only then did he allow himself to breathe easy.
"You got a shot at Horvath," Balthazar said, trying to keep his voice from sounding raspy, "Nice one."
"Couldn't get Morgana," said Dave.
"Don't think…you're quite ready for her yet," gasped Balthazar.
They took another few minutes to take some more oxygen in.
"Pretty powerful spell, crack the tiles like that," he said.
"He threatened Becky," Dave said.
His eyebrows shot up. He knew that something was going to go wrong with her.
"He knows who she is?" he asked, "Damn it Dave, you shouldn't have been walking out in the open with her."
Dave rolled his eyes.
"No, he doesn't know who she was. I don't think they were following me exactly."
"If he doesn't know who she is then how do you know she was threatened?" demanded Balthazar.
"He was using hypotheticals, alright?" said Dave, his voice terse, "Asked me what I'd do if I lost someone I loved. That sort of thing."
That was something else then. He felt himself relax.
"Well, Horvath's moral compass doesn't exactly point north."
Dave turned his head and glared at him.
"Well what about yours?"
"Excuse me?" asked Balthazar.
"You heard me," he said, "This guy in there called me the Prime Merlinian. What's that?"
All of the tension returned. He cursed Horvath, Morgana, and just about anything else he could think of.
"Start being straight with me why don't you?" said Dave.
Balthazar swallowed. The dread that had been building up for ten years came to him in a rush as Dave looked at him with cold eyes. It reminded him of when he'd explained his age to him, who he was. The only difference was that Dave had been confused. This time a spark of anger was reflected in his eyes.
"Alright…alright," he said, "Just...let's get home. And when we do…just listen alright?"
Although his glare didn't lessen, Dave nodded.