The team just made it to Nate's apartment. They half carried half dragged their hitter after a job that had gone south.
Parker had been stuck in an elevator shaft of the offices they were infuriating and both Hardison and Sophie were running the con when the bad guy of the week had caught on and had been moving towards the pair with his goons when Eliot had come in with all guns blazing as the saying went, all fist and kicks.
The fight that had followed was the bloodiest any of them had ever seen and Eliot had gotten enough hits to his head to be bleeding as he had taken a shower with blood however after about ten minutes the only moving body was Eliot's. After they had gotten out they had taken Eliot to the hospital where he had threatened most of the staff and driven one particular nurse to tears.
He had been given enough stitches to last him several life times. The doctor had wanted to keep him over night for he was definite that Eliot had a concussion however the look on Eliot's face and the pure terror on the nursing staffs faces, for they had to wake him every hour to check on him, was enough for the young ER doctor to give instructions of what to watch out for before sending them home.
They maneuvered the hitter to the couch in the living room and let him down gently. Eliot had his eyes pinched shut and was breathing rapidly which worried the team greatly. Eliot never showed weakness for him to be breathless and not resisting them, he must be in real serious pain.
"Just relax Eliot," said Sophie quietly running her hands over the his face and hair careful of the new bumps and scars.
"Yeah," joined in Parker, "just go to sleep, we will be here," she said uncharacteristically kind and quiet as she put a blanket over him.
Nate joined in the reassurances, "you are safe, just let go," he told the man he considered… he stopped there, was the hitter teammate? colleague? best friend? son? He decided to dwell on this question after they were sure Eliot was fine.
As a team they watched as the hitter drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep on his back. They settled down around the apartment to wait out the night. Nate didn't have the heart to tell anyone to go home or to sleep, all of them were feeling responsible for what had happened.
Hardison brought his laptop over so he was closer to Eliot and for the next hour rattled of what to watch out for and what could be wrong with the hitter. After a while Parker moved over to pick her locks, something she only did when she was nervous. Sophie picked up a book and looked at the same pages for minutes at a time before shaking her head and trying once again to concentrate.
Nate held off drinking as he tried to be as clear headed as possible just in case Eliot got worse during the night and he would have to think about what to do. He just sat in a chair and watched Eliot's unmoving form.
After the first hour Hardison's computer gave a quiet beep as well as Parkers phone and Sophie's phone as well. Nate had been a bit back in times as the clock he had put on the middle table gave a quiet ring. Everyone looked up and Nate moved over to sit by the hitter.
Eliot had been sleeping on his back and hadn't yet moved from the position. He called softly to wake him and reached over to touch him on the opposite shoulder as he knew if Eliot woke up violent the chances of stopping him were near to the null however by touching him on the opposite shoulder Nate might take the least damage should the hitter move his arms.
Nate watched as Eliot opened his eyes and blinked at his surroundings.
"Eliot, can you tell me where you are?" asked Nate. Over the last hour he had categorized the questions he was going to ask and he had decided that establishing where the former retrieval specialist was the most important aspect. As Eliot realized where he was he should also realize that he was safe.
He waited a moment for the hitter's eyes to adjust on him and saw Eliot lick his lips and look around and Parker moved over with a glass of water and Nate held out a hand to stop her. They needed to establish that Eliot was fine before giving him something to drink.
After a minute with all of them holding their breath Eliot's eyes found Nate's once again and he answered, "Your house?" Nate wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement.
"Which city?" he asked to see if he was aware.
"Boston," came the answer more sure however there was still a question in the answer.
He moved on to the next question, "who am I?"
This time the answer was quicker in coming, "Nathan Ford, ex-insurance investigator, thief and mastermind," he said with such clarity that Nate's mouth turned up in a smile and he heard a giggle he was sure from Parker.
"What day is it?"
"Sunday, October 10, 2010," it was now Monday but Nate let that pass as it was close enough.
"Do you remember what happened tonight?" he asked.
He watched as Eliot blinked as he was fighting of sleep, "come on Eliot try to stay awake," he encouraged the hitter. "Just two more questions and you can go back to sleep," the hitter opened his eyes to look at him and Nate repeated the question.
"Do you remember what happened tonight?"
After a moment of looking at Nate, "Hardison was stupid?" guessed Eliot. This time he was sure the giggle belonged to Sophie. Nate let that question pass as the doctor had told them that tonight's events might be a bit hazy.
"What were we working on?" he asked instead.
Eliot frowned and Nate actually saw the relief on his face as he came up with the answer, "the Orchid Scam on the guy who had cheated not one but three women out of their inheritance."
Nate saw that Eliot was burrowing down into the couch to go back to sleep. "uh…no," said Nate, "one more question."
"you said two more," replied Eliot without opening his eyes.
"You couldn't answer the previous one so that one doesn't count," answered Nate and he saw Eliot open his eyes and give him the patterned Eliot glare.
"Your name?" asked Nate.
"Eliot Spencer," bit out Eliot and was looking at him.
"Ok Eliot, you can go back to sleep," he said gently and saw once again Parker move in front of him to offer the hitter some water. Eliot pulled himself up a bit and they all saw him flinch and ignored it as he sipped the water that Parker was still holding onto as she had seen his hand shake and no one mentioned it as the hitter laid back on the couch and literally passed out.
The next hour passed easier as they knew at least Eliot was fine for the moment. The next round of questions were answered more confidently then the previous.
"Where are you?"
"Your house, our office," came the quick answer.
"Which city?"
"Boston Massachusetts."
"Who am I?"
"Nathan Ford," after that answer Nate waited a moment to see if Eliot would add the extra descriptions that he had to his name as he had the previous time and when after a brief second when no more answers were forthcoming he went on.
"What day is it?" they actually saw Eliot rotate his head to look out the window and Nate wondered what he was looking for but after a moment he answered.
"Monday, October 10, 2010?" he answered with a question and Nate deducted that he was looking to see if it was the next day. He nodded his head to show the hitter that he had deducted right and moved on.
"Do you remember what happened tonight?"
He saw Eliot frown and actually bit his lower lip before he answered, "Not sure…" he trailed off and Nate let it pass.
"It's ok don't push yourself to remember. What were we working on?"
"The orchid scam," answered Eliot once again leaving out extra details. Nate for a second wondered if there was something wrong and then smiled when he got what was happening. On the first wake Eliot had been confused enough to answer the questions fully, now that he was more aware he was withholding the extra information.
"Your name?"
"Eliot Spencer," said the hitter and closed his eyes before waiting for Nate's permission to go back to sleep.
For the next hour the rest of them played a several rounds of poker to pass the time and when Eliot woke next he was able to answer the questions straight forward plus was able to recall what had happened the previous night.
"Where are you?"
"Your house," and they were sure they could hear an underlying annoyance at having to answer the same questions.
"Which city?"
"Boston,"
"Who am I?"
"Nathan Ford,"
"What day is it?"
"Monday, October 10, 2010,"
"Do you remember what happened tonight?"
"The scam went wrong and I had to retrieve the team from the targets office, there were six of them and we fought, I won," he said and Nate swore that he could hear that Eliot was proud that he had actually taken on six guys and won.
"What were we working on?"
"The orchid scam,"
"Your name?"
"Eliot Spencer," said the hitter and once again closed his eyes and Nate was sure that it took him several minutes to fall asleep but no one said anything until the hitter was once again breathing deeply in sleep.
It took a while to wake Eliot on the fourth and Eliot made like he wanted to move off the couch before he fully became aware of his surroundings. He looked over Nate before rattling of all the answers in the correct order.
"Your house, Boston, Nathan Ford, Monday, October 10, 2010, a scam that went wrong, the orchid, Eliot Spencer," then he laid back onto the couch with difficulty and instantly went back to sleep.
After that episode the rest of the team had smiles on their faces sure that Eliot was on the mend. However it was five o'clock in the morning when they thought everything was going fine when they were faced with a shock.
The first time that something was not quite right happened when Nate moved over to wake Eliot. He had been sure that Eliot was once again going to wake up violent however when he touched him on the shoulder he got a shock when the hitter actually whined.
"Go away," he said trying to swat him away. "Trying to sleep," and he rolled over trying to go back to sleep.
Nate shook him again, this time sure that he was going to get physical retribution however he was wrong "dreaming of a beautiful girl I met in India, go away," came the answer, Eliot didn't even open his eyes.
This went on for about another five minutes before Nate was able to drag him awake by pulling him to a sitting position. And when he looked at Eliot he was not sure if he was actually awake or still sleeping. He remembered the ninety minutes of sleep comment and for a second wondered if they had intruded upon that sleep cycle of Eliot's.
He could feel all the team members move towards the couch and worry was evident in all their faces.
"Come on Eliot, try to stay awake," said Nate as he saw the hitters eyes begin to close. He decided to get the questions out as fast as he could.
"Where are you?"
"home," came the sure answer that surprised Nate and he felt everyone freeze at the answer as well.
"Which city?"
"your city, now my city,"
"Who am I?"
"Nate-Dad," came the answer with a silly smile so sure that Nate had to blink several times and swallow before going on.
"What day is it?"
"Monday morning,"
"Do you remember what happened tonight?"
At that he saw Eliot open his eyes look down and take stock of his body, "looks like I lost a fight with a truck," he smiled at his own joke and looked up at Nate with serious eyes, "I hope I kicked it's ass, if not you have for me?" he asked and looked so serious that Nate found himself nodding his head.
"Good," said Eliot before lying back down, now sure that since the threat had passed he could go back to sleep.
"What were we working on?"
"A scam," came the answer from the man who was almost asleep.
"Your name?" asked Nate and had to ask it again, "Eliot, what is your name?"
Nate saw him frown and mumble something and Nate had to shake his shoulder and ask louder as he was not sure with all the other answers Eliot had given if everything was fine or if they should take Eliot back to the hospital.
"What is your name?" he demanded louder and froze as this time he actually heard the mumbled answer.
"Conner," and then the hitter seemed to awake a bit more before answering the question a bit fuller without ever opening his eyes.
"Lt. Michael Conner," he said before taking a deep breath and letting sleep take him under.
After that answer the team was completely quiet not sure what to make of the answer that Eliot had given. They looked over at Nate for answers. Nate looked over the sleeping man before coming to a decision.
"He seemed confused," he stopped the comment that Hardison was going to make with an upraised hand.
"All of you have lived many lives with many names," he said and wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or the others. "Eliot might not be sure which persona he was supposed to wake up with, so we are going to let this one pass and if he is still confused on the next waking we will take him back to the hospital," he said and moved over to take the same chair he had taken on his first watch and proceeded to watch Eliot like a hawk.
The rest of the team moved closer to the couch as well and joined in the silent watch.
This time they did not have to wait the full hour. After about forty-five minutes they saw Eliot moving as he was to wake and after about another five minutes he was awake, sitting up and looking around. When he saw Nate, he gave a little smile and stood up and stretched. As he stretched he gave all of them the same answers once again.
"Your house, Boston, Nathan Ford, Monday, October 10, 2010, the scam went wrong, the orchid, Eliot Spencer, and good morning."
When no one was answering him he gave them all a weird look, "if you do not mind I am going to take a shower," he said as he started to move towards the bathroom.
"Do you remember the last time you woke up?" asked Nate as casual as possible. Eliot froze and looked around and smiled once again.
"Not really?" his smile vanished as he saw their looks of unease, "what did I proclaim my un dying love for Hardison or something?" he said and that seemed to bring Parker at least out of her stupor as she laughed too loud and too long.
It was Sophie who got up and reassured everyone, "you were just very cutely confused that had us worried for a moment and it has been a long night without any sleep but you seem to be fine right now. Go take your shower I will get breakfast started," she said as she moved over to the kitchen.
Eliot gave them one more look of something between doubt, and confusion before moving into the downstairs bathroom to take a much needed shower.
"All right," said Nate when he heard the shower start. "We don't know why Eliot gave us that name however he doesn't seem to remember it so we are just going to forget about it, clear?" he asked the rest of the room.
The rest of the group nodded their heads after all they all had other alias that they juggled around. When Eliot was out of the bathroom he found Nate nursing a coffee and Hardison and Parker fighting over the cereal. The team/family had a rather quiet breakfast as there wasn't much banter from most of them, Eliot was recovering from a concussion and everyone else was exhausted from no sleep and a con gone wrong.
After breakfast Nate told Eliot that he was not going anywhere for the rest of the day as he was not yet ready to let the hitter out of his side. The rest of the team just crushed wherever they found a place to sleep as the hitter settled into an armchair to read a book.
It was later in the day when Nate was sure everyone was going to be ok that he allowed Eliot to go home and everyone else followed suit. He was wondering around the apartment when his computer gave a beep saying that he had an e-mail from the hacker. He moved over to his computer reluctantly and clicked on the attachment.
His eyes scanned over the army personal file that was obviously sealed as it had 'confidential' stamped all over it. The personal file was for one Lieutenant Michael Connor who seemed to be fourth generation army kid. His father was a colonel and his grandfather a general. His great-grandfather had fought in World War 2 and was a highly decorated soldier however never came home.
Michael himself had graduated from West Point just like his dad and was part of the Special Forces, he was one of the youngest graduates that West Point had ever given entering a year younger and exiting a year early making him twenty when he went to train with Special Forces.
He read that the Lieutenant was a field medic as well as a hand to hand expert on combat. He had even represented America in a few martial art competitions when he was younger. Looking over the file Nate's eyes got bigger and his eyebrows went up as he noticed the amount of missions the young soldier had joined even at such a young age. He had enough medals to decorate his shoulder with it tipping to the side. From the Silver Spar to the Medal of Honor this boy had it.
However his military career was short. His team had fallen in ambush on a mission when Michael was just twenty-four, it did not say where and Nate was sure that even breaking into some records where even beyond Hardison's abilities. There were twelve members to a Special Forces team and eleven members of the team where reported to be killed in action and a Lieutenant Michael Connors to be still missing in action.
Nate did a little bit of calculation in his head. He knew that papers they had said that Eliot Spencer was thirty-four years old and he had just appeared in their world eight years ago. That left two years accounted for and although Nate hated mysteries he knew that this was going to be a mystery that he was not going to pursue.
Even if Nate had any doubts they vanished as he clicked on the picture attached to the file and found himself looking at a much younger Eliot with short lighter hair. Nate smiled as he noted that even in the picture Eliot's hair, he was sure, was longer than regulations and he had that same glaring look however there seemed to a spark in his eyes that told the person that only he knew a secret and they were laughing at the world.
If Eliot did not want them to know than Nate was going to respect that choice. Perhaps when Eliot was more ready?
Nate also did not want to know what made an honorable soldier with laughing eyes into an angry killing machine that he himself had meet just six short years ago.
However he was sure that in the last year and a half they had done good work. He had gotten to know Eliot like a son, knew that he was an honorable man who cared about their well being and without a thought would lay his life down on the line for them. He looked at the file, a Colonel Edward Connor had retried shortly after his son had gone missing and had moved back to Texas where the family was from perhaps a weekend trip was in order?
He shut the computer down and moved to get a drink as he heard noises, he turned around to watch the younger members of his team once again invade his house with shopping bags just after leaving it a few short hours ago and they were bricking among themselves like four year olds.
"Hey!" shouted Nate, drawing their attention and shook his head as various, he started its came his way. He shook his head again, at least for the time being things where back to normal and if he watched Eliot a bit more closely during dinner he was sure the ex-soldier put it off as Nate checking up on him, after all he had suffered a serious head injury the day before.