A/N Hi, since this fic is mostly done, I've decided to start publishing it. It's for my leverage_bingo card and prompt is The Beantown Bailout Job. I haven't forgot about the surprise Job, it's nearly finished and I'll be soon posting all the remaining chapters.

Part of the dialogue it's from the episode, so little disclaimer here remanding people that I don't own Leverage even if I wish I did.

Curveball.

Sophie took a deep breath, closed her eyes and then opened them suddenly letting out the air. She stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"You can do this" she said to herself quietly.

That was it. Her big opening night. Sound of music wasn't really her first choice for her official debut, but she couldn't be picky, really. She hoped the other had made it. She had sent the invitation two weeks earlier knowing that they would certainly come. Six months. Six months have passed since all of them said goodbye at the plane hangar. She had been surprise when she received Nate's phone call confirming her he was going to be there. He asked her out for a coffee too, but she politely declined, not ready to see him again. She knew he had been in Boston for months now, but she never tried to make contact with him, giving the space they both still needed. Plus she had a lot on her plate too. Her return to London had certainly been eventful. But that night was the night. She was going to see everybody again. Other than Parker she hadn't kept in touch with the other boys. Guess they all needed the break.

She was making her away out of the dressing room ready to meet her old friends when her phone in her bag suddenly rang. She rushed to answer it.

"Hello?" she smiled when she recognized the voice at the other side.

"Hi, baby. How are you doing?" She smiled hearing the small rambling.

"Really? Are you being a good boy?"

"I'll see later. Love you"

She closed her phone thoughtfully. Was she going to tell Nate or not?

She sighed and finally made her way outside, time to face her past. She turned the corner and that's when she saw them. There were standing in the lobby in a circle making small talk clearly awkward with the situation. They had created a tight group back in L.A. and to all go their separate ways so suddenly. Her eyes lingered on Nate, her heart skipped a beat and she took a quick breath. How come he still had this effect on her? He looked good, too good. He was wearing one of his famous fedora that actually started to grown on her. He seemed better, more alert… younger? She wonder if he had stopped drinking. She was considering how to approach the group and in the end she opted for the direct way.

"Oh, you all made it!" She ran towards them.

"I didn't know you could sing" Hardison said next to her.

"You know. Not as well as I act, but, yeah." She answered truthfully.

She looked at Nate. How to greet him? She tried to kiss his cheek but he pulled back suddenly.

"I don't won't to wrinkle your…"

"Oh, right. We'll all meet up afterwards." She promised ignoring the others protests.

An assistant at the back give her a sign that it was all ready for her. "Okay, they are waiting for me. We'll see each other later. Nate," she looked down unsure. "I need to speak to you"

Nate raised an eyebrow inquiringly "Okay, I'll see you later. Break a leg" he smiled.

The play had been a total disaster, she knew it the moment she made the mistake of looking at the public during the second act. Most of them had left, some were sleeping and others were just yawning. She searched her friends in the crown. Parker was looking at the play eagerly eating some pop-corn . She only saw her that interesting during a horror movie. Well, at least she was following the story. Eliot tried to hide is boredom, but he wasn't very good at it. Hardison definitely wasn't trying as he was typing furiously on his mobile phone. The only one who was complete enthralled with her was Nate. He was smiling at her every move and word, even her out of tune notes. He really was her only true fan. His encouraging smile kept her going through the rest of the play until it finally ended.

After changing quickly in the dressing room she met the other outside the theatre.

"You don't need to lie" she put her hands up. "I know perfectly how it went. Don't want to talk about it. I just need a drink."

Nate smiled. "I know exactly where to go"

So maybe he hadn't stopped drinking. He took them to a local pub, McRory's, a nice quiet and typical Irish pub. They ordered their drinks and she was relieved that Nate actually quit drinking and there was only coffee in his cup. A message arrived on Sophie's phone and she quickly looked at it. The show had been cancelled after the horrible reviews they got.

"Ughh…." She hid her head on the counter.

"Yeah, I'm sure the reviews will be…" Hardison tried to comfort her. She lifted her phone for him to look at. "…on the web news already."

Parker snitched the phone and read them "Never before has a production of the Sound of Music made me root for the Nazis"

"Thanks Parker" she sighed.

"I know what will make you feel better!" She exclaimed enthusiastically " We should steal something."

She lifted her head up. "Now that's sounds like an interesting idea."

"No, no" Nate protested.

"Nate," she whined. "I need it. It's been too long."

Hardison shivered. "Now that's sounded very wrong"

Sophie glared at him.

"I like the idea too." Eliot added. "We need to get back up on the bike."

"Yes, the bike of crime" Parker was already getting mentally ready for a heist.

"I'm not listening." Nate got up. "Look, I don't know what you have all been up to in these months. That's not my job anymore…"

"You were the best" Parker said.

"We were the best" Hardison nodded.

"We helped a lot of people. That's the thing about being the good guy. It gets under your skin"

Nate sighed. "I can't deny that I'm proud of what we did. I am. But we agreed to move on. I finally have my life back together and I intend to keep it that way. I'm sober and I would like to stay that way and to find an honest job. Plus I'm not a thief"

Nobody commented. "It was great to see you all. Good night." And he left the pub.

Everybody else stayed in silence.

"You didn't even get the chance to talk to him" Parker commented to Sophie.

Sophie groaned. "I know"

"What did you need to tell him?"

Sophie quickly finished her drink and got up. "Do you know where he lives? I might catch him"

"Yeah, he said he rents a condo upstairs." Eliot looked at her curiously.

"Thanks" and she went for the door.

"Apartment 2A" shouted Hardison before the door closed behind her.

Locating apartment 2A had been easy, making contact with Nate on the other hand not so much. Of course the man couldn't keep out of trouble. She was going to enter the condo when she heard noises of a fight coming from inside. A big thug was trying to stab Nate with a knife. She came behind him.

"Oi, does your mother sew?" She head-butted him "Stitch that!"

The criminal ran out of the apartment and Nate went after him. She picked up a tray from the kitchen counter and waited. She heard someone approaching the door and without hesitation she hit the intruder. It was too late when she realized that it was Nate.

"Ah, bugger!"

She kneeled next to the unconscious friend. "Nate" she lightly slapped him on the face. "Nate, please, wake up" Still nothing "Oh, God."

She got her phone and quickly dialed Eliot's number.

"Eliot, we've got a problem. Someone was here trying to kill Nate then I accidentally hit him with a backing tray and now he's unconscious on the floor" she quickly rambled pacing in front of Nate's body.

"Sophie, calm down! We are coming up"

As soon as she put the phone down the rest of the team was already outside the door.

Hardison whistled. "Wow, he went down good!"

Eliot tried again to revive him. "Nate! Nate!" Nothing the man was out. "How hard did you hit him?" he grumbled.

"I didn't mean to. I thought it was that bad guy coming back" She protested not happy about the accusations. She really felt bad about it. Not really the reunion she had imagined.

"Who was trying to kill Nate by the way?" Parker got herself comfortable at the table with a bowl full of cereals.

"I don't know, some guy!" She watched Eliot and Hardison lift Nate from the floor. "You can't take him upstairs. Lay him here on the couch."

The boys did as they were told and once Nate was secured on the couch she covered him with a blanket she found on it. She delicately ran her hand through his curly hair. He looked quite peaceful for someone with a head concussion.

"Will he be okay? Do we need to take him to a hospital?" she asked Eliot. He was the expert on these things.

"Nah, let him sleep it off. If he doesn't wake up tomorrow morning then we can start worrying"

Hardison got out of his laptop from a rucksack and placed it on the kitchen table. "Nice place!" He started working his magic on the computer. "Okay, let's see what's Nate been up to? Wow, really?"

"What?" the other three looked at him eagerly.

"Well, apparently our Nate is a local hero. He saved a man and his daughter from an exploding car this morning. I'll ran more details later, but Nate saves two people this morning and then someone tries to kill him in the evening? That can't be a coincident."

"No, it's not." Eliot agreed.

"Sophie, if you can give me a description of the guy that attacked Nate I can start running it through the criminal database, check if he's on."

"Sure Hardison, I just need to make a phone call first."

Sophie disappeared upstairs taking her bag with her.

Parker continued munching on her cereals.

"You know something, don't you?" Eliot pointed out the thief.

"My lips are sealed"

"Oh, come on, girl!"

"Sorry guys, I promised!"

Upstairs Sophie was looking around the mastermind's bedroom. The décor wasn't much, plain white everywhere. There was nothing that scream Nate to her. She sat on bed and made the phone call.

"Hello, Sandra? Is he already asleep?"

"Yes, he fell asleep about 30 minutes ago Do you want me to wake him up?" the woman at the other side answered.

" No, don't wake him up. I need a big favor. An old friend of mine just got hit on the head and I would like to stay here to check on him, would you mind staying the night? You can use the guest room."

"Sure, no problem"

" Thank you so much. I'll be there first thing in the morning."

"You take your time. Everything is under control."

"Okay, good night!"

She sighed sadly. She hated spending the night away from her home, but Nate needed her and she was kind of responsible for it. Might as well get comfortable. She went through his clothes in the wardrobe and then in his drawers. A lot of things to choose from… then she notices a shirt laying on the chair next to the window.

"Hmm…" she picked it up and bought it to her face. She inhaled the scent of his aftershave that still lingered on it and something that was just Nate. That was it! She took her top off and put Nate's shirt on. "Perfect!" she smiled.

She went back down to joined the others who were still trying to figure out what was going on with their boss. Nate might have told them that he was out of the team, but they all clearly had different ideas. After working out a sketch with Hardison, Sophie decided it was better if they took turns into checking on Nate. She volunteered for the first shift while the other three could go to their places to sleep and change. And so there she was, sitting on an armchair gong through a book she found on the bookcase but not really interested in it. She occasionally looked up towards the man hoping for a sign of movement. Nothing, the bastard was stubborn. She bet he was doing it on purpose just to make her feel more guilty. It was working. But the guilty came from somewhere else too, how was she going to tell him? How was he going to react? She heard the front door open and quickly turned around on her seat.

"Hey, it's just me. Don't you go all Kung Fu baking tray on me!" Eliot joked.

"Very funny!" clearly not impressed.

"Thought you could use a break." He sat on the other armchair "Did he wake up?"

"No, not yet" she really starting to get worried

"Sophie, don't you worry. He's …."

They heard a groan from the couch.

"Nate!" she rushed to him. The man just rolled to his side and went back to sleep.

"Well, at least he's still alive." Eliot commented. "he's going to be fine. Why don't you go upstairs and sleep a few hours? I will wake you up if something happens."

She reluctantly nodded. "Thanks. See you in the morning" And went upstairs to steal a few hours of sleep.

At the end everything work out for the best. The bad guys went down, Sophie even got to play one of her favorite alias: Annie Kroy, they staged a fake death. Yes, they were definitely back in business.

Matt and Zoe had just left and there was only the team left.

"Still your last job?" Sophie teased Nate.

He looked unsure. "Well, maybe…"

"Yeah," they have him hooked.

"I mean, you know, until I find a job I like enough, you know, to stay out of the bars. And then I'm out. I'm done"

"Yeah, because you're not a thief" Eliot teased him too.

The three younger member of the team walked away while Sophie and Nate stayed behind. Sophie tried to gain the courage to finally talk to him when a message came on her phone.

"Hey, let's go get some dinner!" he suggested.

That was probably going to be the perfect opportunity for her but for some strange reason she backed away. "Oh, um, I…. I can't. I have to meet someone"

"Bring them along"

Of course he wasn't going to make it easier for her. "Ah, boyfriend!"

Now that was awkward. Nate didn't know really what to say. "Ah!"

"Yeah, he's really…"

"Yeah, I get it"

"You will meet him. I have to go now"

"Sure"

And she could feel his eyes on her as she left the bar.

"Boyfriend, really?" Parker came out of nowhere.

Sophie jumped and held a hand to her chest trying to get her heart beat under control "Parker, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"You told him you have a boyfriend. You lied to him!" She accused her.

Sophie looked down embarrassed. "It was the first thing that came to my mind!"

"He was very hurt by it. He looked like his puppy just died."

Sophie looked away guiltily and she could feel her throat closing up. "It's for the best. I still need time."

Parker just shrugged. "It's your life. Are you going back home?"

"Yeah, with everything going on I haven't been there much. You want to come?"

Parker nodded. "Yeah, I miss him!"