Sophie sighed happily as she leaned against Nate. It was rare that they had a moment to themselves. The team had just finished a job the previous day and as was custom, they were taking the next two days off. Nate had taken her out to dinner and it was so nice to sit down and just talk. Talk about something other than clients. Of course, in the back of Sophie's mind, she knew this was the best opportunity she would get to tell him. It still amazed her that she hadn't noticed earlier. The job was stressful enough that a missed period didn't have her panicking. She hadn't really been throwing up, and fatigue had long ago been part and parcel to working with Nate. It was shaming that she was three months pregnant before she noticed just how long she'd been missing her period. Peeing on a stick had just been confirmation. She was pregnant, it was Nate's, and she had to tell him.
Of course, that didn't mean that she was exactly in a hurry about it. She knew when she told him, he'd pull her from working until she had the baby and Sophie didn't know what she'd do if she had to go six months without working a mark. Besides, it wasn't like Sophie planned on working right up until she gave birth or anything. Just until it became too much to hide from the mark. Which, if the mirror had been correct that morning, would be sooner than she'd like. Part of her was surprised that Nate hadn't realized it yet; he was intimately familiar with her body, he should have noticed a few changes.
Later, Sophie would be kicking herself for being so distracted that she didn't notice the man tailing them until he had pushed them into the alley and had a gun to her temple,
"Empty your pockets! Now! You, take off your jewelry!" he said. Sophie, thinking fast, grabbed the earbud in her pocket and slipped it into her ear as she took of her earring. She thought she saw Nate do the same when he pushed some hair behind his ear. Either way, their robber looked too panicked to really be paying attention. In fact, Sophie was certain that he wouldn't even be a real threat if it weren't for the gun pointed at her.
"Why are you robbing us?" asked Sophie, praying that someone had their earbud in. She had to fight a laugh of relief when she heard Hardison in her ear,
"The hell!"
"Why are you mugging us in the alley behind Giocomo's?" asked Nate.
"Alright, that's good. I'll get Eliot down there. Just, stall." said Hardison. Sophie reached behind her neck to take off her necklace, a Christmas gift from Parker that Eliot had added a tracking beacon to. Sophie turned the beacon on as she took the necklace off.
"Good thinking, Sophie. I have the beacon location and Eliot, I'm sending it to you. Sophie, Nate, stall. Just, just stall." said Hardison. As soon as Sophie had taken off her watch and rings, the robber grabbed her around the torso and pulled her tight to him, her back to his front with the gun mashing uncomfortably against her head. Nate held up his hands,
"Now, I'm sure this isn't necessary."
"Shut up!" shouted the man. He readjusted his grip on Sophie's torso. His hand grazed her barely-bigger-than-normal belly and he paused. Sophie felt her heart stop and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop a tear. The man experimentally pushed harder and the belly was firm beneath his hand. In that moment, Sophie felt the panic peak. Please let him be quiet, let him shut up—
"Give me all your money or she and the baby get it!" Bugger. For a split second, she was glad that the man wasn't on the same side as her earbud, or else she'd have three more panicky people in her ear. She opened her eyes to see Nate staring at her,
"What? She, she isn't—"
"My mom had six kids after me. I know what it feels like." said the man, though he sounded significantly more panicky now that he knew he had a gun to a pregnant lady. She heard Eliot in her hear, growling,
"I'm thirty seconds out. Stall." Sophie felt her knees go weak at that. Thank God for Eliot's ability to damn near teleport. Sophie shoved the panic to the back of her mind,
"What's your name?" she asked quietly.
"What?" asked the man. Nate was still staring at her, shell-shocked. Sophie took a deep breath,
"What's your name?"
"Carl." said the man. Sophie nodded and used the voice that usually worked on unsure marks,
"Carl, my name is Noel. I promise we can help you. Helping people is what we do. Our group is called Leverage, have you heard of us?"
"No." said the man. Nate was still rifling through all his pockets, though he must have checked them all at least three times. Stalling, this was something they were good at.
"Well, our job is to help people that major corporations have hurt. Why do you need the money, Carl?"
"My mom, she got sick." She felt the press of the gun lessen at her temple.
"Ten seconds." said Eliot.
"Okay, we can help you. Hospital bills are piling up, I understand. But Carl, this isn't how to go about it. Put the gun down, and we can help you." Carl hesitated,
"Sophie, move away on three. One, two," Sophie stepped to the side just as Eliot slammed into Carl from behind, pushing the gunman to the street. Nate walked toward Sophie, who stood still and watched his approach. Nate stopped about three feet away, ignoring Eliot as he beat Carl to a pulp,
"You didn't tell me." he said. Sophie shrugged just a bit,
"I didn't know, for a long time."
"When did you know?"
"Three days ago." she said. Nate nodded, with the smile he reserved only for the worst kind of scum they encountered,
"You went into that job, dealing with a very dangerous man who has a happy trigger finger, knowing full well that you were pregnant?" The last word he shouted. She heard Hardison and Parker babbling something in the comms, but she didn't have time to deal with them right now. Sophie rolled her eyes,
"Oh for God's sake, I wasn't in any real danger there and you know it."
"But it could have gone bad, Sophie!" said Nate, stepping forward and grabbing her elbows. Sophie glared at him and snarled,
"Let go of me." He whipped his hands away at the look on her face. Sophie sighed, "It didn't go badly, Nate. As you can see, I'm in more danger when we go out to dinner than when we rip off a millionaire." she nudged at the now-unconscious Carl at her feet. Eliot stood and pushed the hair out of his face. He pointed at Sophie,
"You don't pull jobs when you're compromised. Never." he said. Sophie threw her hands up,
"I wasn't compromised!"
"Pregnant, Sophie! That makes you compromised." he said.
"How?"
"If it was Parker, would you let her go in?" asked Nate.
"Of course not, but Parker's job is significantly more dangerous than mine!"
"How?" asked Nate, "She hacks safes, you hack people. Yours are significantly more likely to point a gun on you."
"Actually, there was this one safe—" said Parker on the comms.
"Not now, Parker!" said Eliot.
"Sophie, you know what happens when we lie to each other. Bad things happen." said Nate. Sophie sighed and was annoyed to find tears budding in her eyes,
"I was going to tell you. It isn't like I could hide it forever."
"Uh-huh. And, just when were you going to tell me? When you went into labor? When the team gets a call that you have to sit a job out, my kid just started walking?" said Nate. Eliot sighed, grabbed Carl's unconscious form, dragged it to the corner of the alley, and walked out. This was not something he needed to see. Meanwhile, Sophie was still explaining,
"Nate, I didn't know until a couple days ago. Even I needed a second to understand what this meant."
"And what, Sophie? What does it mean? That we're in a real relationship now? That you needed to get your assets in order so you could leave the country? What?" asked Nate. He leaned against a wall, running a hand down his face. Sophie stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder,
"It means that I need to rethink how this team can work. I know that I can't be grifting once I start showing. Most of our marks would never go for a pregnant lady. But for us, that's what's important. Work."
"And what about family?" asked Nate, turning around and ripping out his earbud as he did, "Is family not important? You and Eliot and Hardison and Parker, you're my family. Pretty much all the family I have. Are you saying that that isn't important?" Sophie also pulled out her earbud; the rest of the team didn't need to hear this,
"Yes, of course they're important, but our work is also important. In case you haven't noticed, we're working with a couple people who dance close to the edge. When things get bad, their work is all they have. So, we need to make sure that they have work." she said. Nate shook his head,
"But they also need to have family. I-I know the work is important; I understand that completely. But family is the reason this team has stayed together so long."
"Do you think that a baby is going to change our family?" asked Sophie. Nate nodded,
"Yeah, I think it's going to change our family. How could it not?"
"But change is natural. It's a part of everything. Do you think it will change our family for the worse?"
"I, I don't know." said Nate. Sophie leaned against his back and slowly folded her arms around him. His posture softened,
"We're having a baby, Nate. Do me a favor and react to that." He turned to face her,
"I'm happy. Nervous. Excited. Slightly panicked. Good enough for you?" he said. Sophie sighed and stepped away,
"Not really." Nate grabbed her hand,
"Hey," Sophie turned to face him and he smiled, "I really am, you know. Happy." Sophie smiled and let him pull her back to him. They hugged tightly. Nate sighed, "God, we're going to be old parents." Sophie punched his side,
"You might be. I'm just over twenty-eight." They smiled as they put their arms around each other's waists and walked out of the alley. Eliot stood just outside the alley,
"Are you guys done fighting now? Because if I'm escorting you back to Nate's you can't fight and you can't get…gushy. Just, be quiet and don't get mugged. Again." he said. Sophie smiled,
"We're done. And I promise, no fighting." she kissed Nate's cheek. Eliot rolled his eyes,
"Damn hormones."