Chapter 1

Two years three months and fifteen days after she had said yes to Nate's marriage proposal and they had walked away from Leverage Inc. she was sitting in a church in the front pew watching and listening as Father Paul laid Nathan Ford to rest. Eliot, Parker and Hardison sat beside her. Her eyes were red rimmed from the many tears she had shed since Eliot had informed her of Nate's death. She closed her eyes and remembered that fateful morning that had set everything in motion and had led to this.

"Oh…" Nate said looking at his phone as it rang incessantly.

"Who is it?" Sophie asked looking up at him as she lay beside him in bed.

"Eliot…" Nate said accepting the call.

"Nate." Eliot responded and in that one word Nate knew there was trouble. He knew Eliot, he knew that tone in his voice meant something had gone wrong. "Remember you said to call if I needed you…" Eliot inhaled deeply before continuing. "I need you."

"Where are you?" Nate asked not bothering to ask why he was needed. It must be bad if Eliot had made this call, everything considered.

"Moscow."

"Parker and Hardison?"

"Hardison is with me but Parker….they have Parker." Eliot said which explained his call to Nate.

"Tell Hardison to get me on the next flight out."

"Sophie…"

"Is staying right where she is…" Nate said a tone of finality in his voice. His seven month pregnant wife was not going to go traipsing off to Moscow and into whatever trouble their three young friends had gotten themselves into.

"Right…Hardison said he would text you the details of the flight, it leaves in about three hours." Eliot said relaying Hardison's message to Nate. He was always amazed at how fast Hardison could work, even after seven years of working with the man.

"Good. I'll see you at the airport then." Nate said and hung up. He turned to look at his wife and knew he was heading for trouble.

"And where exactly are you going?" Sophie said softly. She knew something was wrong and that Eliot had not simply called to enquire as to her and the babies' health.

"Moscow…" Nate held up his hand to stop her from saying anything. "You are not going with Sophie…you have our son to think of."

"What happened?" Sophie asked not arguing with her husband.

"I don't know. They are in trouble. Whoever it is they went up against, he apparently has Parker." He leaned in and kissed her on her forehead. "I have to go…" He whispered into her hair. He hated to leave her. Especially now, she was in her final stage of the pregnancy and he knew she was nervous. But he could not ignore Eliot's call for help. Those three were as much his family as Sophie and his unborn son.

"I know…just promise me you will be careful and that you will be home before he makes an appearance." She said emphasizing the 'he' by placing Nate's hand on her belly.

"I promise." He said kissing her again. He pulled out his case and started to pack what he would need. If the plane left in three hours he had to hurry.

Sophie was pulled out of her memories by Father Paul's voice.

"Sophie…" The Father said looking at her. "You wanted to say something."

For a moment Sophie just stared at the Priest and then she closed her eyes and nodded. Yes she wanted to say something. She wanted to tell the world what a wonderful man Nathan Ford had been. What a wonderful husband, friend, father…She wanted to shout out how unfair it was that he had been taken away from her and their unborn son. That their son would never know him, never know the love of his father. She rose, helped by Eliot who had appeared at her side. She smiled at him in thanks and then made her way up to the Dias.

Standing there before large crowd of people who had come to pay their last respects to Nate. She swept her eyes across the room. There were old clients, old friends, Sterling was there with his daughter, Amy and her father, Archie and even Quinn had made an appearance. Tears stung at her eyes as she looked over the people crowded into the church. She wondered if Nate really, truly knew how much he was loved and respected.

"Nathan Ford was not a saint. He was a man. A man who had suffered more than most, life had not been kind to him. He had lost everything. But he managed to rebuild himself. Not into what he once was but into someone better, someone who made a difference in people's lives. He gave me a family." She held her hand to her stomach and then looked at the three members of their little family. "He gave us a family. One thing Nathan Ford would always do was protect his family. And that is what he did. He died saving his family, saving the people he loved most in this world. His son will never know him, never know what a kind, generous and loving man his father was." She said then stopped to regain her composure before continuing. "I know that he is still here with us, with me. He will always be with us in everything we do. Goodbye my love…" Sophie said staring at the picture of Nate that was on display in the front of the church. There was no coffin. There was no coffin because there was no body. His body, along with the rest of the people on the ship had never been recovered. The explosion had obliterated everything. "I promise you that David will know you, through me, through your family, he will know what a brave, honorable man you were. Rest now my love…until we meet again." Sophie said tears falling from her eyes and her voice breaking as she felt her emotions envelope her. Eliot immediately stood and helped her back to her seat. Parker took her hand and squeezed it gently lending her support, words were not needed, no words could take away the pain of the loss they all felt, but Parker wanted Sophie to know that she was there, that they were there, for her, for David, Nate's unborn son, and for each other.

Then each of them took their turn to speak of Nate and what he had meant to them. Of what he had given them, of how he had changed their lives forever, giving their lives purpose and meaning. Sterling also spoke as did Archie. Parker cried as Archie spoke of Nate and of his dedication to her, of his love of her. Then it was over. The people filed out of the church. There would be no burial and they had held a traditional wake for Nate the previous day, so there would be no reception. Eventually it was only the four of them left in the church.

"We should…I should never have called." Eliot said as he stared at the image of Nate.

"No Eliot…you should have, you had too. You are his family and if you had not called and something had happened to Parker, Nate would never have forgiven you and you know it." Sophie said trying to be strong for him, for Nate, for all of them.

She knew that each of the three blamed themselves for Nate's death. He had trusted them to be able to take care of themselves. He had taken Sophie out of harm's way and he had built a new life with her, including a new family. But Sophie knew that whatever anybody said. They had still remained as much part of his family as ever and he would have, no he did, give his life to ensure their safety. She could not blame them for that, although in the beginning she had, she had blamed them and cursed them. Now she had made peace with what had happened. She knew that Nate would not have wanted it any other way. Now she had to make sure that his sacrifice was not in vain. That their family would stay as strong as it was with no blame and no recriminations. Nate was gone, but as long as they remembered him and honored him, he would never truly be gone.

"What now…?" Parker said looking at Nate's picture. "What do we do now?"

"Now Parker, we go home." Sophie said softly. Home, home to an empty house and memories of a man she loved and had lost. "Then we figure out how to make that bastard pay." She finished looking at Eliot.

"No you don't Sophie. Nate wanted you safe. You and your son, his son, and I am not going to allow you to do anything that could hurt either one of you."

"I didn't say that I was going to do anything Eliot. No, I will not do anything to jeopardize my son, but I will make sure that the person or persons who took his father away from him pays the price for it." Sophie said adamantly.

"I thought that might be your plan…" A voice said causing all of them to turn and stare at the man who approached them. "I know…I am not Nate, but…" He stopped and looked at Sophie. "I offer my services as…well whatever you need me to be."

"Sterling we don't need you for anything." Eliot said he still had no liking for the man, and he didn't trust him.

"Why would you want to anyway?" Hardison asked confused by Sterling's offer. Sterling had always at best used Nate and the team or at worst, tried to get them arrested.

"Sophie…?" James Sterling said looking directly at her and ignoring the rest.

"You need a Mastermind Sophie and you need a Grifter…" Another voice interjected before she could answer.

"Tara…" Sophie said as her best friend joined the group.

"Whatever Nate was, and he was many things…" Sterling said softly. "He was my friend and he deserves justice."

"And we are going to make sure he gets it." Maggie Collins said as she too joined the group.

Sophie looked around the group. Yes, they would get justice for Nate. These people would make sure of that. She smiled to herself then as she thought of how Nate would have reacted to this. Then she looked at each one of them standing in a circle around her.

"Yes we will…" She said softly. She looked over again at the image of her husband and smiled at him. "Yes we will." She repeated then led the six of them out of the church. They would make sure Nate was avenged, that the person who had caused so much sorrow and hurt to her family was punished and she had no doubt now that they would be able to do exactly that. With Sterling to plan and the rest to execute, the man who had done this would regret it and then she could really let Nate rest in peace.

OK so this is the start of my new story. I hope you are all going to enjoy it. As usual I would like to ask that you review and let me know what you think of the start. I look forward to reading all of your comments.