Chapter 1

"Morning…" Nate said leaning in and kissing his wife of two years. He had been up a while already but had not woken her.

"Mmmmm Morning…" Sophie said sleepily.

"Come on Soph you have to get up, you have a big day today." Nate smiled at her. He knew she hated rising before at least ten in the morning. She was not at all a morning person.

"Ok…I'm awake…" She muttered wrapping her arms around him and pulling him closer as she snuggled into him.

"Soph…" Nate said squeezing her tight and then pulling away again. "Time to get up…" He said kissing her on the forehead.

"Ok Ok…I'm up…" She said sitting up in the bed and accepting the cup of steaming coffee Nate held out to her.

"This is good…thanks darling…" She said smiling at him as she took a sip of the brew. "What are you going to do today?"

"I've got a few errands to run and then I'll meet you at the theatre."

"Did you hear from them…are they coming?" Soph asked.

"Yeah…they wouldn't miss this for the world."

"Oh good…"

"You know you are going to be great, the show is going to be a great success and we can all go out and celebrate afterwards." Nate said sensing his wife's nervousness. This was her first production, her first show at the theatre they had bought after they had left Leverage Inc. and Portland behind them. They had spent a good part of the first year of their marriage just traveling around the world, on an extended honeymoon. When they had returned and decided to settle in Boston, she had found a little theatre and bought it. Now she was directing her first play and today was opening day.

Sophie stretched and pulled him down onto her kissing him passionately. "Have I told you that I love you lately?" She whispered softly.

"Soph…" Nate said between kisses. "You are going to be late for your rehearsal…" He said pulling her closer.

"They won't start without me." Soph smiled at him. "But you are right of course…as always…." She said pulling away from him and climbing out of the bed. Nate fell forward and then turned and lay on his side propping his head up with his hand as he watched her move smoothly into the bathroom.

"So what errands do you have to run?" She called out to him.

"Oh just a few things…" He said not really wanting to answer the question.

"What are you planning Nate…?" Sophie asked popping her head out of the bathroom.

"Nothing…really…" He said.

"Nate…?"

"Sophie…" Nate said holding his hand up and tapping on his watch. She smiled at him then, she knew he was up to something, probably some surprise for her, and she decided she was not going to push any harder for an answer.

Within an hour Sophie was ready to leave. Nate drove her to the theatre and then left to organize his surprise for her. After making all of his stops he checked his watch and noticed that the time had just flown by. It was only a few hours before curtains and he still had to go home and change, not to mention pick up the other three members of his family that were flying in for the production. After making a stop at home to change and get ready for the evenings events he drove to the airport. There he met Eliot, Parker and Hardison. Then the four of them drove to the theatre to meet Sophie. They arrived at the theatre two hours before curtain call. Nate left the three of them in the foyer and went in search of his wife. He found her backstage making sure everything was in place and ready.

"Hey there Madam Director…" He said coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her.

"Nate…" She said happily turning around and hugging him tightly. "Are they here?"

"In the foyer…" Nate replied.

"Oh I'm so nervous…" Sophie admitted softly.

"Nothing to be nervous about Soph…this is you, you are very good at this and you are going to be great." Nate smiled lovingly at her. This time he was not just saying it. Sophie was good at being a director, an actress, no. Directing, that was her niche and she was damn good at it.

"Thank you…" Sophie smiled kissing him on the cheek.

"Now madam I'm going to leave you to your craft…" He said then suddenly pulled her in for a deep kiss. "For luck..." He said as he backed away. "Break a leg…"

"Ok now scoot mister…I have work to do." She smiled giving him a last kiss and then turning to get on with getting everything ready for the opening.

Nate smiled at her and turned leaving her to her business he made his way back to the foyer meeting up with the others again. The play started precisely on time. At the end the audience gave them a standing ovation led by the four people sitting in the front row seats. Nate excused himself and told the others that he would meet them at McRory's where he had arranged the after party for Sophie and her cast.

They had been at the pub for a few hours celebrating when Sophie noticed Nate's absence. After searching the pub she could not find him and started to get a little worried. She found Eliot at the bar with her leading lady but he had also not seen Nate in a while. Hardison and Parker had not seen him either and Sophie really started to get worried.

"I can't find him anywhere." Parker said as they gathered in the back room of the pub, a place they had once used to run their operations out of.

"Where the hell could he be?" Eliot growled.

"I don't…" Sophie started to say but was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She looked down at the device and saw the caller ID was the very man they were looking for. "Nate…where did you disappear to?"

"Mrs Ford, I have your husband. If you wish to see him alive again you will have Mr Spencer, Mr Hardison and Miss Parker with you in one hour. I will call again then with instructions." An ominous voice said and then the line went dead.

Ok well that is the start of my new story…starting off early with a cliff hanger, sorry about that. I hope you are all going to enjoy it. Please don't forget to let me know what you think, and what you think about the premise…all feedback is most gratefully accepted and eagerly anticipated.