She knew there was something wrong. Whenever she spotted him his eyes were dull and he didn't have the same spring in his step.
She didn't particularly even like the sculpture that she stole, but she knew it was insured by IYS and she had been bored, but this particular game of cat and mouse lacked his usual cunning and grace. She finally just walked into his hotel and sat down at the bar next to him. "Nate, what's wrong?"
He downed the amber liquid in his glass and signalled for another, barely able to look at her out of the corner of his eyes.
"Nate," she tried again, this time reaching onto the bar and grabbing his hand with hers.
He sighed, and she felt him relax an infinitesimal amount, but then he reluctantly took his hand away from hers to cradle his drink instead. He downed the liquid again, and the bartender was ready with the bottle and a raised eyebrow.
She ordered a glass of wine and waited for the bartender to leave before trying again. "Nate..."
He cast his eyes downwards and pulled a worn piece of paper filled with numbers and complicated chemical and biological formulas. She scanned them quickly, but nothing jumped out at her. "I don't..."
"Sam's sick."
It needed no more explanation than that, not with the worn look on his face and the lack of bounce in his step. She nodded and took a sip of her wine, buying herself some time. "You should be home with him, not here," she finally managed.
"But it was you," he answered back with half a smirk and she could see the double meaning: Blackpoole would never send anyone else when she was involved, and he simply wanted to see her.
He finally looked at her then, and she could see the pain in his eyes. She stared at him and finally, she sighed. "Go home, Nate. I'll return the sculpture. You'll be on your way back home by tomorrow."
He nodded, his attention back on his drink, but she heard him whisper thank you before she disappeared once more.
A few months later she stole an IYS insured bracelet just to see if he would come. She found out from the investigator that did come that Sam had gotten worse.
She left London. Where she had once seen opportunity behind every door, it was now too easy.
She went to Paris to steal a painting, but when she found out that it was insured by IYS, she turned around.
She found out that Sam had died, and she sent him a sculpture she stole years ago. It was an invitation, an apology, and she thought he'd appreciate it a lot more than flowers.
She stole a necklace in New York. He didn't come for her. She tried again in LA.
Suddenly conning and stealing wasn't any fun.
She found she was lonely without him chasing her.
Nate was the only one who had ever appreciated the brilliance of some of her plans. Without him, the payoff didn't ever seem like enough.
In the middle of a small con she caught the eye of a director in Chicago, who cast her in a show. He said she was a natural. Over time, the applause started to be the only constant in her life.
She became a citizen, honest. Aside from using her grifting skills to get the leading roles, she left that world behind her.
She didn't want to be a part of it without him to balance her.
He came back. Broken and different, but he was there with her.
Now, she was balancing him.
Written for LJ's Leverageland, Prompt: Sophie. Won first place in that challenge for best overall, and second place for most-in-character.