A/N: This story was written for Melpomenethemis in the leverage gift exchange community. Thanks to fleurlb for beta this story.
Hope you enjoy it! :)
Everyone deserves a happy ending.
Sterling sat on the living room couch nursing a glass of scotch in his hands. He casually picked up the newspaper that was laying on the coffee table.
CEO Latimer arrested for fraud
He smirked at the front page title. "That bastard has done it again," he mumbled, thinking about his former IYS colleague. He knew Nathan Ford was behind the businessman's fall, he gave Nate some information himself. A small price to pay for having his daughter back. He suddenly heard rushed footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Hey sweetie," he called after his daughter. Not receiving an answer, he got up just in time to see the young woman leaving the house. "Where are you going?"
"To a friend's house," she replied urgently. They heard a car horn coming from outside. "Dad, I have to go"
"Just wait a second young lady." He stopped her with a stern voice. "Isn't it a bit late to go out. Plus, who is this friend?"
She sighed. "She's a girl from school. She's throwing a party."
"And will there be an adult supervision at this party?"
Olivia rolled her eyes. "Her older brother will be there"
"Oh, that makes it all better!" James Sterling replied sarcastically.
Again a car horn. Sterling peeked outside and saw a girl dressed in black with blue hair and too much black makeup for his taste. "Who's she?"
"That's Jane, my best friend! It shows that you know nothing about me."
"I don't think you should go," he finally said.
"That's great; I left one prison to come to another one," she shouted.
Feeling guilty, Sterling reluctantly agreed to let her go. "Okay, but you must be back before 11"
"Dad, it's a Saturday night, at least 1 o'clock."
"Midnight and that's final"
"Pff… okay." And she left without saying goodbye.
Sterling stared at the closed front door, wondering where had his sweet little angel girl gone. He had chased and arrested criminals all over the world but nothing prepared him for raising a teenager. He wished his ex-wife were still alive, she would know what to do. Actually he wished he hadn't screw things up many years ago. Things would have certainly been different.
For a moment, he thought about following his daughter to wherever she was going, but he quickly decided that was a bad idea. He needed to trust her and give her some space. But the idea of spending his Saturday evening at home alone wasn't appealing, so he decided to go out and maybe stop at a bar.
After a half an hour drive, he reached a local pub that he'd heard about. It was supposed to be very good so he left the car to the valet and went inside the luxurious place. There were some people, but it wasn't overly crowded. He soon found out an empty chair by the bar counter and placed his order with the barman.
"Well, fancy meeting you here" he heard a voice behind him. He quickly turned around and found himself in front of a familiar blonde.
"Maggie Collins" he smirked. "I didn't know you were still living in L.A."
She shrugged. "I've found a stable job and I don't really want to move"
"Well, I haven't see you since that incident in Kiev" he took a sip of his drink.
"Please, don't remind me. The worst experience of my life"
"Are you here alone?" he suddenly asked.
"No, I'm with a group of colleagues. But let's just say the evening is getting boring." She flipped her hair back. Was she flirting with him?
"Would you like to sit?" He indicated the free chair next to him.
"Sure" As she crossed her legs, her short dress inched further up , giving him a nice view of her beautiful legs.
He ordered a refill of her drink.
"How come you're here all alone?" She took a sip of her drink.
"Trying not to think what Olivia is doing," he mumbled.
She raised her eyebrow in question.
"My daughter."
"Ah yes, Nate told me about her. It is strange to think you had all this personal life back then and no one knew about it. Always so private."
"Yeah well, like I told Nate, it's not something I like to talk about."
She nodded in understanding.
"You saw Nate?"
"Yes, they needed help for their last con"
"The Latimer job."
"And a guy named Dubenich. They killed his father. I've never seen him so lost or angry. Sophie called me asking for help and I couldn't refuse."
"Ah, Miss Devereaux," he smirked.
"I know about them." She waved him off. "It doesn't bother me. But let's not talk about my ex-husband. Tell me, how is it going with Olivia?"
And so they talked about everything and nothing, enjoying each other's company until Sterling looked at his watch.
"I have to go. I told Olivia she had to be back before midnight and I have to make sure she is back."
They both got up and neither of them knew how to finish the evening.
"I had a nice time," Maggie finally said with a smile.
"Me too." He smiled back.
Maggie took her business card out of her purse and wrote something on it. "We should do it again sometime." She gave him the card, leaned over and placed a small kiss on his cheek. "Call me," she whispered seductively in his ear.
Jim Sterling watched her walked out of the bar with a little swing of her hips. He looked down at the card and smirked while putting it away.
Nearly an hour later, he was sitting in the dark waiting for his daughter to return. He finally heard the front door slowly close.
"You're late," he told her.
Olivia jumped at the sudden noise. "Dad, you made me jump." "It's 12.45, way pass your curfew." He stood still.
"I know but I had to wait for Jane to take me back." She tried to sneak upstairs so she could avoid the confrontation.
"You could have called me."
"Because everyone wants their father to pick them up from a party."
"Better than leaving me here worried sick." His voice wasn't calm any more.
"I'm sorry, okay. Next time I'll call."
"Do you want to know what I was thinking? I was thinking that you had had a car accident because your friend had too much to drink at the party. I was expecting a call from the hospital. Or maybe from the police. What if Livingstone decides to get you back and sends one of his men? They could kidnap you and have you halfway across the world before I even realized it." He was shouting.
"Okay, I get it!" Olivia shouted back, tears falling from her eyes.
Sterling realized he had scared her. "I'm sorry honey, just... call next time, okay?"
She slowly nodded and made her way up the stairs.
"By the way, you're grounded."
"What?" she asked incredibly. "For how long?"
"Until I say so!"
In the next few days their relationship was more and more tense. Olivia was still angry at him for grounding her and Sterling didn't know how to behave around her, so he said nothing.
That morning she stormed off to school still without saying goodbye. Sterling sighed. He really wished he had a job abroad chasing someone, but those days were gone for now. He was stuck on desk duty until he could find some sort of balance with Olivia. He sat at the kitchen table looking at the phone number Maggie had left. Should he call her? He had to admit he had always been attracted to his former friend's wife. He had always wondered why Nate wasted time chasing Devereaux across Europe when he had a beautiful wife waiting for him at home. But what would getting involved with her mean? For once, he didn't think about consequences and dialed the number on his phone.
"Yes?" she answered on the third ring.
"Maggie? It's Jim," he replied nervously.
"Jim? I was starting to think that you weren't going to call." Her voice was teasing and he could hear a slightly happy intonation.
"Well, let's say I had some troubles." He paused. "Are you free for lunch?"
"I could be"
"How about I pick you up and we can go out somewhere? How does Thai sound?"
"Sounds perfect!"
He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding "Okay, 12 o'clock?"
"I'll be waiting"
"See you later" he was about to put down the phonewhen her voice stopped him.
"Jim?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad you've called," and she hanged up.
Sterling looked at the phone smiling. Yes, he did the right thing!
"So you've told me you had troubles?" Maggie asked while picking some soy spaghetti with her chopsticks.
"Yeah, I'm having troubles with Olivia. In the last weeks, she's been like a different person."
Maggie chuckled. "That's teenagers!"
Sterling shook his head. "It's more than that. That night she came home nearly an hour late. I had to ground her and now she won't talk to me." He sighed. "I don't know what to do. She used to be nice, more mature."
"Maybe that's the problem. Didn't you tell me that she was the one giving you information about her stepfather? And he was treating her like a prize to show off in all those chess competitions. She had to grow up too fast, maybe now she needs to rebel a bit."
"I think maybe you're right. I wasn't around much in the last years and after her mother died… She needs to live like a teenager for a bit."
She smiled. "So be careful, it could get worst" then she looked down with a nostalgic look. "Sam would have been 13 this year, just becoming a teenager."
Jim suddenly felt bad. Here he was complaining about his daughter, when Maggie had suffered her loss. It was easy to forget that not just Nate had been inflicted with that pain. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't…."
"No, it's okay. You have your worries and I'm glad that you can confide in me." She sighed "It's getting easier, talking about him" She gives a small sad chuckle. "Sometimes I wonder how things would be now if he hadn't got sick. I miss him, a lot, but life goes on and I'm glad that Nate has finally figure it out too."
Their conversation was flowing like that night at the club and soon enough it was time to leave.
"I'm sorry," Maggie apologized, "but I need to get back to the office."
"That's okay." He paid the bill and helped her out of the chair.
"I've had a nice time," she told him.
"You sound surprised?"
"No," she said uncomfortably. "It's just that…"
"I bet Nate and his team have said colourful and nice things about me," he finished for her sarcastically.
"Yeah," she looked down embarrassed.
"Well, I'm glad that you've found out that I'm not so bad," he smirked trying to put her at ease again.
"And I would like to discover more. How about dinner? On Friday?"
"Sure, where to?"
"My place at 7pm."
He looked at her, shocked. "Okay, see you then"
Sterling found that Friday couldn't come sooner enough. His relationship with Olivia had slightly improved thanks to Maggie's advice and now the temperature at home went from freezing to chilly. He approved for her to go to a pyjama party after he had at least double checked that her friend's mother was going to be there.
And so he was standing outside Maggie's house with a bunch of flowers in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. He felt like a teenager picking up his girlfriend on prom night. When did dating a woman become so complicated? He rang the bell and waited.
"Hi, Jim" she opened the door. "Please, come in!"
"Thanks." He stepped in slowly. He was so glad she no longer lived in the house that she and Nate had shared. "These are for you." He handed her the flowers. "And I brought a bottle of red wine. I hope it's okay"
"It will be perfect with the lasagne I've made." She took the bottle and put it on the set table, then she got a vase for the flowers. "They're lovely, thank you. You go sit on the couch, I'll see how the food is doing"
"You're sure I can't help you with something"
She gently pushed him towards the living room. "I can take care of things, don't worry"
Sterling started looking around. The house decoration reminded him of the woman. No traces of Nate except for an old family photo that sat on the fireplace. On the walls there were many paintings or pieces of art. Nothing famous, just young, still unknown artists.
"It's read,y" she called out for him, putting the full plates on the table.
He quickly turned around. "This looks delicious." He waited for her to take a seat before taking his. He opened the wine bottle and filled the glasses. "So, what should we toast?"
She leaned over. "To the basis of a new relationship."
He nodded. "To us."
They started eating. "It's delicious too. You're an amazing cook, Maggie."
She blushed. "Thanks. It hasn't always been like this. I've only started taking an interest in cooking a few years ago. Which is strange since I'm cooking for one. The change was nice though."
"Well, you can cook for me any time you want," he joked.
"I'm planning to." She wasn't shy, she knew what she wanted, and right now it was building this relationship with Sterling.
After they finished dinner, which included a chocolate mousse as dessert, they decided to have one last drink and move their evening to the couch. They sat in silence enjoying each other company.
Maggie laid her head on his shoulder. "This is nice"
"Mmmm," he agreed.
She turned her head to look at him. "Are you ever going to kiss me?"
He didn't have to be told twice. He slowly lowered his head and captured her lips with his. Her taste was sweet and inviting. The kiss got heated and he could feel her moving towards his lap.
"Maggie," he tried to stop her, not wanted her to doing something that she could regret later.
"Shush… it's okay." She looked him in the eyes. "I want this"
In her eyes he could only see reassurance, so with a quick move, he picked her up and carried her toward the bedroom.
They continued to date for weeks and, occasionally, he would stay at her house, only to sneak into his home before Olivia got up. Since their first night, they knew that something important was growing between them and the time came to talk about the consequences.
Sterling had yet to tell Olivia about him dating and Maggie felt she had to tell Nate. The occasion arrived with her e-mails that morning. She soon recognized one of Nate's username and opened the message. It was an invitation for her to come to Portland. The message was cryptic, but then she noticed that Sophie had sent her an e-mail too. She quietly read the message and smiled.
"Well, that explains Nate's message," she whispered. She wondered if her ex-husband knew that Sophie had beaten him to it.
The invitation was for a week from then and that gave her plenty of time to convince Jim to come with her. Maybe it would give him the push he needed to finally talk to Olivia about her.
She picked up her mobile phone and dialed his number.
"Hey," he answered only after the first ring.
"Hello, how are you this morning?" She smiled.
"Missing spending breakfast with you."
She grinned "Well, I'll make it up to you." Then she sighed. "Would you like to come to Portland with me next week?"
"Portland? What is there in Portland?" he asked curiously.
"Like you don't know that Nate's team has moved there," she pointed out.
"I was hoping it had nothing to do with them. Why do they need you in Portland?"
"Let's say I have been invited to something and I would like you to come with me." She forwarded him the e-mail. "Check your e-mails"
After a moment of silent she heard him gasp in surprise. "Really? Well, I never..."
"So?"
"You know Eliot will try to kill me, right? We didn't really leave on the best of terms."
She chuckled. "Yes, drugging someone could do that." She paused. "Jim, you agree that this thing between us is going somewhere, don't you?"
"Yes," he told her without hesitating.
"Well, I don't want us to hide. I need to come clean with Nate and you have to tell Olivia."
Sterling sighed. "Do we have to tell Nate? He will punch me on the spot!"
"He's getting married to someone else!" she replied back.
"Believe me, that won't stop him!"
Now she was getting frustrated. "Jim, we're going to Portland next week and I'm coming to your house tonight so we can all have dinner together"
He laughed. "Yes, Madam," he teased.
"Okay, that's settled! I'll see you tonight. 7 o'clock sharp."
"Yes, Madam"
She might have been confident that morning, but standing outside the Sterlingresidence now made her nervous.
"Hi, Maggie." Jim Sterling opened the door. "Please, come in"
Maggie stepped inside and looked around. Her small condo was nothing compared to the luxurious house. She knew INTERPOL paid well, but she wasn't expecting this.
"You have a beautiful home!"
"Thanks." He took her jacket and led her to the sitting room. Already sitting on the sofa was Olivia, dressed in a long black skirt and a red and white shirt. She was reading a book, but she quickly closed it and stood up when she noticed her father and Maggie come inside.
"Hi" she smiled while holding out her hand. "I'm Olivia."
Maggie shook her hand "Maggie Collins. It's nice to finally meet you," she playfully eyed Sterling.
"Well, I didn't know Dad was dating until a couple of hours ago," she took smirked at her father. Sterling just looked down, embarrassed. He knew the two women were already ganging up on him. This had been a bad idea.
Dinner went without trouble. Maggie and Olivia chatted about everything from art to fashion. Sterling didn't say much, but he was happy to see them getting along.
"So, let me get this straight. You two are going to your," Olivia pointed at Maggie "ex-husband wedding this week-end?"
"You have met him." Jim pointed out. "The guy who helped me free you in Dubai"
"The thief?"
"Well, he wasn't always a thief," Maggie tried to defend her ex-husband. "Let's say strange circumstances have brought him to this path."
"Hff…" Sterling puffed.
Maggie eyed him, annoyed, and he put his hands up in surrender.
"Wouldn't it be awkward, with him being your ex?" Olivia asked.
"A bit" she shrugged. "But I know Sophie. We often talk at the phone. She's a nice woman and actually waited a long time for Nate to finally get his act together." She turned to Sterling. "She actually knows about us."
"She what?" Jim exclaimed surprise. "How?"
"Can't con a grifter." Maggie smiled. "She quickly figure out I was dating and after that I just couldn't hide it from her. Don't worry, she hasn't told Nate."
"Why? What's the deal with you and him? He said you used to be friends." Olivia was interested to find out more about her father's history.
"We used to work together at IYS a long time ago." He eyed Maggie to see if she was okay to talk about it.
"Nate and I had a son, Sam. He got sick when he was eight. IYS didn't want to pay for an experimental treatment and soon after that he died." Maggie looked down, troubled. Jim put his hand on hers and held it tight. "Nate has always blamed them and himself. He started drinking and practically lost control. We got divorced and went our separate ways until a couple of years ago."
Olivia was shocked. "I'm sorry. I didn't know about it. Now I feel bad for I said to him that day."
"Don't," Sterling reassured his daughter. "Nate's strong"
Olivia looked at the time. "Well, I need to go. I've still an essay to finish." She got up. "It was nice meeting you, Maggie. It's good to see Dad happy. If he causes you trouble, just tell me. I'll make sure he gets it right."
"I've had a nice time. I'm sorry you won't be able to join us this weekend."
"Yeah, I have to work on that school project. I'll be staying at my friend's. But we're still on for shopping for a dress on Friday, right?"
"You can count on it."
Olivia left the room and the couple was alone.
"Well, she didn't seem like the monster you described."
Sterling was surprise too. "Believe me, I don't know what happened. She seemed like the old Olivia I used to know."
"Maybe it was just a phase."
"I hope so. I'm glad you two get along, even if I think it will mean trouble for me."
"She a nice young woman. You should be proud."
"Her mother did most of the job. I was there just with letters and e-mails."
"Well, I should be going too."
"Stay the night."
"I don't think that will make a good first impression," she scolded him.
"Who cares?"
She patted his chest lovingly. "We'll have our alone time, I promise."
"Okay," he gave up, but inside he was sulking. He leaned over to kiss her. "Be careful on your way home and call me when you get there."
"I will." She kissed him back.
Nate's new house was different from his old apartment in Boston. She could definitely see Sophie's work on it. It was a big villa with a large garden at the back. One of the bottom floor rooms was used as an office for the team. She could see all the changes Hardison had certainly made to the office, but the rest of the house was homey and comfortable.
"Hi, Maggie," Sophie greeted her, coming down the stairs.
"Sorry, I just let myself in."
"Well, I told you to do so." Sophie hugged her. "So, where is he? Did he bail out at the last minute?"
"No, he's hiding outside. Is Nate around?"
"Nate's here," the mastermind called from the back. He slowly approached the two women. His ex-wife and future wife: a deadly combination. "Hi Maggie, thank you for coming."
The blonde just hugged him. "I wouldn't have missed, it was long overdue. Hasn't this woman suffered enough?"
"Wait! So you know about the wedding?" he asked confused. "How…? He noticed Sophie smiling. "Sophie?"
"Nate?" The grifter raised her eyebrows in challenge.
"It's fine, Nate. I'm happy for you." Maggie sighed, knowing that the time had come. "Listen Nate, I need to tell you something too"
Suddenly the front door opened violently with a bang and they saw a suited figure flying through it.
"You were warned to stay away, Sterling!" Eliot shouted from the doorway.
Sterling got up from where he had been thrown. Eliot quickly approached, ready to punch him.
"Eliot, no" Maggie stopped him by putting herself in between them.
Eliot looked at her in confusion, his face still angry. "What?"
"He's with me," she explained, looking at Nate out of the corner of her eye and the mastermind soon understood.
"You brought him here?" Eliot blinded from rage hadn't put two and two together yet.
Sophie looked down, hoping that the situation would work out differently.
"You knew about this!" Nate told his soon to be wife. "How…?"
Sterling was standing at the corner, but he couldn't hide his smug grin. That's all it took for Nate. Maggie was busy trying to stop Eliot, that she didn't see Nate approach the agent. The punch was fast and strong.
"Nate!" Maggie shouted.
"Did you get that out of your system?" Sterling asked, head down. That had hurt, he'd probably end up with a bruise.
Nate let out a big breath then he pointed at Maggie. "You and me, out. Now!" he stormed outs the backdoor.
Maggie was uncertain. Eliot looked like he was moments away from killing Sterling. The fact that his boss punched the man gave him the consent to do the same.
"Don't worry," Sophie reassured her. "I'll keep an eye on Eliot. Eliot please, if you damage any of the furniture, I'll make your life hell."
Eliot put his guard down, knowing she meant business.
Maggie smiled in thanks and then followed Nate outside.
The man was angrily pacing. "Are you out of your mind?" Nate shouted.
"I didn't tolerate this tone when we were married, what makes you think I will now?" she shouted back.
He stopped and tried to get his control back. "Sorry, but what were you thinking bringing him here? No, let me rephrase that, what were you thinking get involved with him?"
"Nate, Jim is a good man. He's still the friend you had at IYS."
"He's an arrogant jerk."
"Well, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" she retorted. "Nate, it just happened. We met one evening in a club and have been going out ever since. That was over a month ago."
"I…" he shook his head.
"I love him," she finally said.
Nate quickly looked up, shocked. He could see in her eyes that she meant it. He sighed, resigned. "Well, you came here to see me marry another woman. I guess I can keep my mind open and try to tolerate him."
Maggie smiled. "Thank you"
"But if he tries something, I will let Eliot loose," he warned, smirking.
"He'll behave. He cares too much for me."
He gave her a small hug and together they walked back inside.
"It's okay Eliot, he can stay" Nate told his hitter.
"You what? I didn't even get to punch him!" Eliot protested.
"You know I'm still here, right?" Sterling tried to get some dignity back.
"Don't remind me" Nate stood next to him. "If you ever hurt her, I will have Eliot punch you so bad that you won't be able to recognise yourself in the mirror and I will finish the job" he whispered threateningly.
"Got it," Jim nodded back.
"And for you, " Nate turned towards Sophie. " You and I will have a discussion about not keeping secrets from spouses."
Sophie rolled her eyes. "Yes, keep dreaming Nate. There are a lot of things that you don't know and more that you will never know." She patted his cheek with affection.
"What did I get myself into?" he murmured.
"Well, Maggie" she called. "Let's get Tara and Parker. We girls are spending the rest of the day and the evening at a spa to get pampered. You boys, have fun together. Try not to kill each other and you," she pressed a finger against Nate's chest. "I want you punctual at the altar tomorrow morning."
"Yes Madame." He kissed her.
Sterling wanted to say good-bye to Maggie too, but he thought he'd better not, yet. The men eyed each other, forming a triangle in the middle of the room.
"Well, this is going to be fun!" Sterling exclaimed.
They boys' night went as well as could be expected. Fortunately it didn't end up like the Hangover film. Hardison brought some take away food and they all watched a football game on TV. Eliot and Sterling started bickering about the teams and that nearly ended in a physical fight. The second time Eliot had to restrain himself from punching the agent was during the poker game they played afterwards. Eliot accused Sterling of cheating.
"It's not my fault you're dumb and can't play," Jim retorted back.
Both Hardison and Nate had to keep Eliot from jumping him. The alcohol started flowing and, as a consequence, the mood got lighter. Nate tried to limit is intake, knowing that if he showed up at his wedding with an hangover, Sophie would certainly kill him.
The next morning, the mastermind was waiting patiently for Sophie to walk towards the white wooden altar placed in their back garden. Of course she'd said he had to be punctual, she never mentioned anything about her. Finally he saw Parker in her lavender dress making her way up to the altar, soon followed by Tara in a light green dress and Maggie in a pale yellow one. Then he saw her. She was beautiful. She didn't want a white dress because, quoting "It's ridiculous Nate. There's no way I'm wearing white at my wedding". At the end she chose a light blue dress. It may not have been traditional, but on her it didn't matter, she could easily steal the crowd. Sophie stopped next to him smiling.
"Hey, I was beginning to get worried," he commented, smirking.
" I have to keep you on your toes." She grinned back.
Hardison officiated the ceremony. He had easily been ordained on the internet and made sure that the wedding was registered in the proper office.
They kept the vows simple, not wanting to bother the guests with long speeches about how much they loved each other. They knew they did and that was all that mattered. Much to Nate's disappointment, the bride used the name Sophie. He was finally hoping to learn her real name. But Sophie said that he knew her with that name and it didn't seem right to use any other name. In the end, he had agreed, and Hardison officially presented Mr. and Mrs. Ford.
"Only for today" she whispered to him. "I'll be going as Sophie Devereaux most of the time."
"I wouldn't want it any other way," he said and he kissed her passionately.
After the ceremony, Eliot started serving at the buffet table. He prepared everything personally, not trusting anybody else. Hardison was in charge on the music and soon the made up stage was filled with different couples dancing. starting with the newlyweds. Hardison and Parker got up to dance too, soon followed by Peggy and Hurley (they were a last minute surprise from Parker). Even Tara managed to steal a dance from Eliot.
"So," Maggie whispered to Jim, "Are you going to dance with me?"
"Are you sure it's safe?"
"Oh, come on!" She dragged him on the stage.
The swayed slowly to the music. "This is nice," he whispered in her ear.
"Yes, it is" she smiled at him.
He could feel Eliot sending daggers his way with his eyes, but that didn't stop him from gently bending his head and lightly brushing her lips with his. "I'm glad youbrought me here. Even if I did end up getting punched"
He felt his phone vibrate in his jacket pocket and took a small step back from Maggie so he could answer it.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Sterling" he heard a young girl's voice at the other end. "We were at the mall and some men just dragged her and took her away. I called the police, my parents, but…" she rambled.
"Wait, slow down." He started panicking. "Jane? Where's Olivia?"
"They took her away! Kidnapped her!" she shouted.
Sterling started panicking, his mind already coming up with different scenarios. "I'll be right there!" He closed the phone and started walking away.
"Jim, what's going on?" Maggie asked, worried. The other had stopped too.
"He took her! That bastard took her!" He shouted. "I need to find her"
"Sterling!" Nate's firm voice shook him out of his panic attack.
"Livingstone kidnapped Olivia, Nate," he whispered. "I know it was him"
Nate looked at Sophie and she slowly nodded in understanding; their celebration could wait.
"You can't do this alone," the mastermind told him. "We'll help"
"I can't…"
"Jim," Maggie encouraged him. "Let them help you"
He slowly nodded, knowing that they were right; he couldn't do it alone.
"Hardison," Nate ordered. "Can you hack into the mall's security cameras?"
"From here?" Hardison started working on his computer. "I can try man, but it will be easier in L.A."
"Okay," Nate sighed. "First priority is to arrange a private flight to L.A. It will be quicker. Eliot-"
"Start packing the essential,s" the hitter interrupted him. "I'm on it"
"I want us away from Portland in half an hour."
"It will be hours before we reach L.A., by then they would have taken her God know where," Sterling exclaimed.
"We've got nothing to work with until with get there." Nate tried to reason with him. "Having you been keeping track of Livingstone?"
"He's been staying under the radar since Dubai. After the reactor incident, he escaped. He knows there's an arrest warrant for him. He managed to slip away in Germany." Sterling was angry with himself. If only he had put Livingstone behind bars.
"Jim," Maggie laid a hand on his back. "It's not your fault."
"She must be so scared. I predicted this once. I was trying to scare her, make sure she didn't stay out past her curfew. How could I have been so stupid?"
"Jim, it's going to be okay." She took his hand in hers.
But he didn't look convinced.
Three hours later, they finally arrived in L.A. Sterling had been agitated all through the flight. He wouldn't rest until Olivia was safe.
"Jane, tell me what happened?" asked Sterling
They arrived at the girl's house in a hurry. Eliot and Hardison went to the mall to get the video footage while the other tried to get more information.
Jane was still shocked, but she managed to give a description of the two men to Parker, who made sketches.
"I'll send them to Hardison so he can start doing a video comparison," Parker took a photo of the sketches with her phone and sent them to the hacker.
"I've got them." Hardison confirmed through coms. "With the video feed and the IK, I'll soon have a reconstruction."
"Shouldn't we tell the police?" Jane asked uncertainly.
"Ah!" Parker laughed.
"You're adorable!" commented Tara.
"Guys, I've got something," Hardison interrupted. "I've got them on video. They used a black van parked outside the mall. I'm scanning for the license plates. They stopped at the airport"
"Now, it's going to be impossible to find them." Sterling ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
"Have a bit of faith." Hardison replied.
"Hardison, now it's not the time for your babbling," Jim Sterling shouted.
"I'm doing a facial scanner. I've found them! They are still at the airport! Their flight for Amsterdam was delayed, but they are starting to board now!"
"Hardison, stop that flight!" Nate shouted.
"I'm trying Nate, but I can give you 20 minutes, 30 tops"
Parker took the driver seat. "We'll be there in 10," she said, grinning. The others held on to their seat,s scared.
After they arrived at airport, Sterling stormed out, followed by Nate and Eliot.
"Which gate?" he asked running.
"31," Hardison promptly replied.
They reached the gate where the passengers had been evacuated thanks to Hardison. Sterling spotted Olivia who was being held by two men and Livingstone.
"Ol…" he started shouting, but Nate stopped him.
"Not like this. We need to do this carefully."
By now, the girls had reached them.
"Tara," Nate said while studying the situation. Livingstone was impatiently looking at his watch. They needed to act fast. "You're the only one Livingstone doesn't know. I need you to distract him."
Tara smiled. "No problem."
"Parker, you get close to Olivia and Eliot, you've got the two men"
Tara slowly made her away towards Livingstone. "Excuse me, do you know how long before we can get on the plane?"
Livingstone was soon charmed by the grifter. "I don't know, but I'm sure it won't be long."
Parker approached Olivia. "Sally," she shouted "I can't believe it! It's really you" she hugged her.
"Miss. Step away please." One of the thugs said, touching her arm.
"Leave the woman alone." Eliot had the two men down with a few punches and kicks.
Livingstone started to realize what was happening. "Olivia"
"You stay away from my daughter." Sterling punched Livingstone.
"Dad!" Olivia shouted running into his father's arms.
"Olivia, thank God you're okay." He held her tight. Maggie soon joined them and the three shared a big hug.
"Oh," Sophie sighed. "I love happy endings." She put an arm around Nate's waist, holding him tight.
Later that day, they all gathered at Sterling's house. Livingstone was finally arrested and in his prison; he couldn't harm Olivia.
"How can you afford a place like this?" Eliot commented.
Sterling just smirked. "Thank you Nate, for everything." He shook the man's hand.
Nate simply nodded. "Okay, guys. We need to go."
"Well, we can't say that our wedding day was boring." Sophie exclaimed. Knowing that that was life with Nathan Ford.
"About that," Sterling got an envelope from his jacket. "Let's call it a payment" He handle d it to Nate.
The mastermind opened it and found two airline tickets and an hotel reservation. "Hawaii?"
"Oh, honeymoon." Sophie was excited.
"Hey, what about us?" Hardison protested.
"You didn't have your wedding cut short," Tara reminded him.
Parker and Olivia were sitting on the sofa. "So remember," the thief explained. "you always keep this with you." She showed her the taser. "And you just press the button and boom, they fall down"
"Parker!" Sterling shouted.
"What?" she asked innocently. "She needs to know this stuff"
"And after this, we're off." Nate turned to Maggie. "You take care of yourself"
"I will."
And the band of thieves left the house.
"I thought they were never going to leave." Jim commented.
"James" "Dad" Bth women scolded him at the same time.
"It was a nice gesture, what you did for them"
He shrugged "I thought a happy Nate would be less of a pain-in-the-ass Nate"
"Well, I'm exhausted. I'm off to bed. Goodnight."
"'Night, sweetie"
"Goodnight Olivia."
They watched her go up the stairs. "It's good to have a happy ending for a change. I think I should be going too."
"Stay," Sterling insisted.
"Jim, we've talked about this…"
"I'm not just saying for tonight. Move in with us"
She looked at him surprised." Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure in all my life."
She smiled and together they made their way up to the bedroom.