This one is for Zee-Zee Magee. I thought I would have a crack at writing a Moreau revenge fiction. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

It had been three months since Nate had completely disappeared out of their lives. Three months of pure agony for all of them. Even with all of Hardison's skills and abilities he had not been able to track him. None of their contacts had been able to help, and between them all they had many. His disappearance was a mystery. They were beginning to fear the worst. That Nate was out there somewhere dead. They had tried all the morgues and hospitals, not just in Portland but the state and Boston and LA and anywhere else they thought he might have gone. They had recovered his car at the airport a week after he had gone, but there was nothing in the car to indicate where he had gone to. One thing they all knew for sure. Nate would not have left of his own volition. He would not leave them, and especially not Sophie, not without some explanation. He had taken nothing with him, and in his car they had found his wallet, his cell phone and his watch. Hardison had placed tracking devices in his shoes before, but he had not worn any of his normal ones. He had literally vanished without a trace, without a reason and without warning.

There had been no sign of a struggle at his place to indicate he had been taken from there by force. There had been no ransom note so that ruled out kidnapping. Hardison had run a check on all of his old enemies, and the teams, and come up empty handed. He had tapped into every law enforcement agency but come up with nothing there either. He had also tapped into all flights into and out of Portland. Nate had not left the country, not under his own name anyway. Even if he had left under an alias, Hardison had run facial recognition on all airport surveillance, after hacking into it. He had done this at Portland, Boson and LA, the three cities where Nate would most likely be in. Despite having found his car at Portland airport there was no indication that Nate had taken a flight, neither domestic nor international.

One morning exactly three months to the day that Nate had gone missing, they were all sitting around the breakfast table in the microbrewery when Eliot's phone rang.

"Eliot Spencer…how nice to hear your voice again..."

Eliot's blood ran cold at the words. His hair stood up and he was immediately on high alert. He forced himself to be calm as he replied.

"Moreau…" As the word left his mouth three pairs of eyes turned to stare at him with alarm.

"I have had the pleasure of the company of Nathan Ford these three months…an interesting man." Moreau said softly with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"If you've done anything to him Moreau I swear…" Eliot hissed into the phone.

"Oh I have done plenty to him Eliot. You know me…I can be a very giving host." Moreau said with an evil laugh. Eliot knew exactly what the man meant and his heart sank as he realized that Nate was either dead or as close to it as was possible to be and probably wishing he was dead. Moreau had had him for three months. Eliot shivered slightly at the thought and closed his eyes trying to block out the images that sprang to his mind.

"What do you want Moreau." He asked the man, knowing Moreau had a reason for calling.

"Well now that you ask Eliot. I want the year and a half Nathan Ford and the rest of his team, including you, took away from me. But I can't get that can I? So I will settle for the next best thing. I want you to suffer for what you did. I know that pain will not do that to you, I know that death will not do that to you. Nathan Ford has paid the price for his part. You failed him, now I will make the rest pay too. Maybe it will be Sophie Devereaux next or maybe Parker or the Hacker Hardison. You cannot protect them, just like you failed to protect him. I made him pay for every last minute I spent in that hell hole. Now that I am done with him it is time to settle the score with the rest. He trusted you, relied on you and you failed him. When I am through, you will have failed all of them, just like you failed him. That is your punishment." Moreau said his voice smooth and calm. He knew that Eliot would never forgive himself for Nate; and that if anything happened to any of the others, it would destroy the Hitter.

Eliot's face darkened as he listened. Fear gripped him tightly. Fear and sadness at the thought of what Nate must have gone through. Well he would not allow Moreau to get to the others he vowed to himself. He knew that Moreau had called because he was sure of himself and besides, he needed Eliot to know he had failed in order to punish him. He looked over at the three who watched him with intense stares. He would protect them, and he would kill Damien Moreau, if it was the last thing he ever did.

"You should not have showed your hand Damien, this was a mistake." His voice ice cold and filled with venom. "If you come near them, I will kill you."

"Ah Eliot, you forget who I am."

"On the contrary, I know exactly who you are and what you are capable of. You however forget who I am. What you made me. Well let me tell you something Damien, the only reason you were not dead a year and a half ago was Nathan Ford, now nothing will stop me." Eliot said acidly. He was beyond angry, beyond fearful, he was moving into the twilight, the place he lived, into the darkness of his old life. He would revenge his friend, and he would protect their family and if he had to kill every man in Moreau's employ to do that he would.

"We shall see Eliot…" Damien Moreau said quietly then the line went dead.

"Eliot…?" Sophie asked as he turned back to face the three of them.

"Damien Moreau has Nate…" He stopped and drew a deep breath. "Had Nate…" He whispered softly.

"Oh God NO!" Sophie sobbed the meaning of the last two words not being lost on her.

Parker and Hardison said nothing but the expressions on their faces indicated that they too understood the meaning of Eliot's words. Nate was dead. Damien Moreau had killed him.

"Not possible…he is still in jail…he is still in jail." Hardison mumbled. One of the first people he had checked out at the start was the whereabouts of one Damien Moreau. "I swear to you Eliot…" Hardison said looking up at the Hitter with pleading eyes. "I checked, he…I checked." Hardison said. How could he have missed it? If he had not missed it they could have been onto Moreau and Nate…

"I know Hardison…" Eliot said his eyes softening sensing the desperation of the Hacker and knowing what he was thinking. "I don't know how this happened. I don't know who is all involved. I do know that this is not your fault." Eliot said softly. Hardison looked at the Hitter devastation plain to see in his eyes. "What we have to do now is concentrate on staying alive and getting Moreau. He is coming for us, for all of you. Nate would want us to make sure he does not succeed, nothing else matters. We will sort all of the rest out later, after." Eliot said. He needed Hardison and the rest of them to be on their games. Moreau was coming for them and when he did, they could not be distracted by anything, Moreau knew that. That was why he had called, to put them off their game, to make them easier targets. "We can mourn Nate after we get his killer."

"This time he will NOT GO TO JAIL." Sophie said her voice just as cold and deadly as Eliot's had been when he spoke to Moreau. The emphasis she put on the last three words were plain in their meaning. Moreau would not go to jail because he would be dead.

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my new story. As always I look forward to reading all of your reviews. Please let me know your thoughts and have your comments. Do you think Moreau really killed Nate or is he still alive? How do you think Moreau will make his move against the rest? Who do you think he will target first? So many questions… I will try to update as soon as possible, but I probably will not be able to update as regularly as my other stories as I have just started a new job and it is quite hectic at the moment.