The Road to Damascus

.:In Like Flynn:.

"Everyone in position?" Nate's voice rang through the earpiece that each member of his team had in their ear. He walked through the front entrance of the building wearing his sleek white tux and slicked back hair.

"All set outside." Hardison replied from where he sat in his van, parked outside the skyscraper. He looked out the window at the building and gave a smirk. "He has no idea what's comin'."

"All ready to go." I piped up with a smile on my lips and hands clutching my handbag. I showed my invitation to one of the doormen and walked inside the banquet hall. "Wow. We so have to throw one of these someday."

"Eh, no. Too many people." Parker whispered as she picked up a tray filled with champagne.

"In position." Eliot replied as he shoved his hands into his suit jacket pockets and walked further into the room.

"We're all good, Nate." Sophie was the last to reply as she stepped into the party. She wore a dress of shimmering gold that swayed as she went.

"Then let's do this." Nate smiled and walked towards the bar at the back of the room. He leaned on the counter of the bar and looked around the room from over his shoulders. "Someone get eyes on our gracious host."

Tonight was the Sixth Annual Banquet Ball of Clark Enterprises. The company was a very important and very wealthy enterprise that not only embezzled money, but also sold weapons and security under the table to foreign countries. Very hostile and very angry foreign countries.

"I spy with my little eye something corrupt and utterly clueless." I said with my smile turning into a grin as I caught a glimpse of the mark; Alan Clark, CEO and founder of Clark Enterprises. "He has absolutely no idea what's about to happen."

I passed him and picked his wallet from his back pocket with ease. I opened it and looked through it. After finishing with his credit cards I flipped through the photos he had; his kids, his wife, parents and siblings. My walking slowed a bit as I looked over the family photo.

"Leona." Nate drew out my name slowly. I looked up from the wallet and looked around to find where he was. There was no way he could have seen me pick up Clark's wallet or could see me now looking through it. "Put it back, Leona."

"Such a party pooper..." I sighed and headed back to Clark. I passed behind him again and slid his wallet back into his pocket.

"Good girl." Nate replied as he waved the barkeeper down. "Now, keep an eye on him, but don't get too close. I don't want him to recognize you."

"Aye, aye o'capitan." I replied, giving him a mock salute before following Mr. Clark around the party. I took notice to all the people around. They were moguls, most of them, but you couldn't tell which was which just by looking. They were all dressed up; men in tuxes and the women in fancy ball gowns. I liked it. All of it. Not just the ball or the fancy dress and heels I wore, but the work we were doing.

I looked around the room and caught the position of the other members of the team. Nate at the bar in his white tux. Sophie talking to a group of young men who were all but drooling over her. Parker walking around with a tray of drinks and dressed up as a waitress. Eliot keeping an old, promiscuous widow entertained while looking around the room in search of an escape. I couldn't help but give a small laugh and shake my head.

Despite what it may have looked like on the surface, we were helping people. The little guys, the innocent people who had been wronged or taken advantage of. We were criminals, all of us, even Nathan Ford, but we were the only ones who were able to work the system in a way no one else could. It was something that felt familiar, the work, but then again it felt different. It felt good doing the right thing for once. I wanted to help people. I had always wanted to help, but that hadn't been a choice for me in the beginning. I had been forced into the life of a criminal and I didn't want to go back. I would do anything to not have to go back.

"Leona, do you have eyes on Clark?" Nate's voice broke me from my thoughts. I looked around myself and found Clark talking with some of his investors.

"Yeah. He's by the east wall talking with his investors." I replied and sat down at a table near him. I looked around the room for a waitresses to grab a drink, but none were around. I looked at the glasses on the table and then reached for a glass that sat half empty. I looked it over and then raised it to my nose, sniffing it to identify what it was.

Blush Pink Champagne...

I took a sip of the room temperature drink and had to force myself to swallow. I pulled the glass from my lips and scowled at it before setting it down on the table. I picked up a spoon and turned it over to the rounded back. I titled it some and watched Clark's reflection on it.

"He's alone." I spoke as I stood up from the table. I picked up my clutch and walked away.

"Sophie, you're on." Nate spoke as he picked up his glass of scotch. Sophie made her way through the mass of people and to Alan Clark, who stood alone with a glass of bourbon in his hand. There she began her grift. She laughed at something he said, playfully slapped his shoulder and plucked his id badge. She then passed it along to Parker and Parker then handed it off to me. I headed towards the door of the banquet hall with the id in hand.

"You know what to do, Leona." Nate turned around and leaned his back against the bar. I gave a small laugh and walked off with the id badge in hand. I walked towards Eliot and passed him, but not before sneaking in a comment.

"You always look so adorable in your glasses." I gave him a wink and walked on, missing the smile that crossed his lips. I walked out the doors of the banquet hall and quickly hid in a corner. I pulled my phone from my clutch and scanned the id badge with my phone.

"Got it." Hardison assured me, pulling up the id on his computer screen. I placed my phone back into my clutch and headed back towards the party.

"Hiding are we?" A voice caught my ears and made me look up from nearly tripping over the bottom of my dress. A man with dark brown hair and green eyes stood before me with his hands behind his back. He looked familiar, but I couldn't place where or why.

"Uh, yeah. I just needed a break." I laughed and looked down at the ground, playing the coy girl out of her element. "It can be... a little much in large doses I'm finding."

"I know how you feel. It's my first ball too." The man laughed warmly and then outstretched his hand to me. "Walt Collins. I'm a software developer."

"Ah, one of Clark's backroom boys. Glad to see he's giving you some fresh air." I took his hand and shook. I smiled as genuinely as I could and took my hand back. "I'm Nora Flynn."

"Care for a drink, Mrs. Flynn?" He asked and held out his arm to me. I gave a small laugh and raised my left hand, showing off my ring finger. He gave a mischievous smile. "My mistake. Care for a drink, Miss Flynn?"

"I may need more than one if I plan to make it through the rest of the night." I replied and took his arm. "Especially if it's free."

If I hadn't been so close I never would have heard it. I picked my head up, eyes coming to rest on his face and knitted my eyebrows together while smiling.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, it's just something someone I knew used to say; in like Flynn." He replied and smiled back down at me.

"I used to know someone who would say that too." I laughed wholeheartedly. It was a strange coincidence, but it made me feel more comfortable. I had heard the phrase for the first time a long while back when I was a child. It brought back memories both happy and painful.

I allowed this man to walk me through groups of people and managed to hand off the id badge to Parker, who then took it back to Sophie. The plan was going as smoothly as we had hoped despite the mysterious hiccup named Walt.

"Uh, Leona you're fine where you are. Parker, get out of peoples' pockets." Nate commanded as he looked around the room. I normally would have growled internally at him, but this Walt was a real charmer and he was so familiar. "Hardison start on changing the guards' shifts around."

"You're drink." Walt handed me a glass of champagne; my least favorite drink. I smiled graciously and took it from him.

"Why thank you." I took a sip, holding back my want to gag. It seemed like champagne and cheap wine were the only drinks I would be having tonight.

"I was able to hold off the rounds for fifteen minutes." Hardison spoke up, his fingers clicking away on his keyboard.

"Parker, Eliot; get to Clark's office." Nate set his glass down on the bar and waved the barkeeper down once more.

"You guys are gonna have to use the stairs till you get to the tenth floor. Then you can use the associate elevator." Hardison's fingers ceased their ministrations. "Alright. You guys are in the clear. I got the guards to check out a 'disturbance' a few floors below."

"Right. On it." Eliot replied and passed by me. I quickly passed him my phone with Clark's id scanned into it. Parker met him at the door to the stairwell and soon they were running up the stairs towards the tenth floor where they could safely use the id badge for the elevator.

"So, are you from Chicago or just visiting?" Walt asked before he took a sip of his drink. I gave a smile.

"Just visiting. Flew in from Raleigh this morning." I replied and took a large gulp of her champagne. I tuned the man out for the moment and looked around the room, spotting Sophie with Clark and Nate at the bar.

"Nora?" Walt asked, but I didn't respond. "Nora?"

"Uh, Nora. I think you're boyfriend's calling you." Nate did all he could not to laugh as he watched I looked back at the man.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" I smiled as sweetly as she could, gently touching his arm for a brief moment.

"I asked what you did for a living." Walt replied giving me a small smile.

"We're at the elevator." Eliot's voice came through the earpiece.

"Hurry up so we can get out of here." I whispered, turning my head away from Walt, who had begun giving me his life story.

"Easy for you to say. You don't have to run up ten flights of stairs." Eliot growled at me, breath heavy. "Get back to your boy-toy."

"Shut up, man-whore." I scoffed playfully.

"What?" I froze and looked back at Walt

"Huh?" Iasked, hoping he hadn't heard what I had said.

"Did you... did you call me a 'man-whore'?" Walt asked with a smile on his lips and a laugh threatening to spill from his throat.

"What? No. Of course not. I said," I fell short a moment. My eyes darted behind Walt at the wall where a painting sat. There I found my save. "I said... manticore. You know, like the mythical creature? Body of a lion, head of a man with the tail of a scorpion?"

"Oh! I was so sure you had called me a man-whore." Walt laughed along with me.

"Nice save." Hardison commented as he watched the security cameras pulled up on his screen.

"So is that what you do? " Walt asked, the conversation returning to a comfortable place. "Mythology I mean. Are you a historian or something?"

"Not exactly. Mythology is more of a," I paused with a near grin on my face, "more like a hobby of mine."

"Well done, young grasshopper." Hardison laughed as he watched the party from his van. When Walt turned his attention to the food on the table I took my chance and looked at the nearest security camera and gave Hardison a thumbs up.

"Parker and I are at the tenth floor now." Eliot whispered as he peeked out from the door into the darkened hall. He quickly retracted himself back into the stairwell when he saw a light coming from around the corner. "Hardison...! I thought you said you cleared the floor...!"

"I did! I-I set off a silent alarm to a lab three floors below!" Hardison yelled back, typing away on his keyboard. I tilted my head slightly to the left, eardrum pounding from Hardison's outburst. I gently touched the earpiece and gave a laugh, trying to keep up my visage with Walt.

"None of the guards are on that floor!" Hardison yelled again as he watched the grid that showed where each security guard was at the moment. None were on the tenth floor. "There shouldn't be anyone there!"

"Well someone is sneaking around up here." Eliot whispered back as he peered through the small window on the door. Once the light had disappeared Eliot and Parker snuck out from the stairwell and made it to the associate elevator. From there it was a piece of cake. Eliot and Parker rode the elevator to the top floor. Eliot swiped Clark's badge to unlock his office door. Parker picked the lock on the safe and took the external hard drive with records of every transaction of illegal selling of firearms and security to foreign countries. That would bring down Clark and everyone involved in his arms deals with him.

"Alright. Pack it up." Nate ordered, down the last of his drink. He looked around the banquet hall. "Meet in the back parking lot in ten minutes."

"Got it." I replied and downed the last of my drink. I got sight of a waiter carrying drinks and swapped my empty glass for a new one. I quickly downed the glass, cheeks full with the bitter liquid.

"Wow, you were serious when you said more than one." Walt gave a small laugh and took a sip of his half full glass of bourbon. I smiled at him and nodded my head, tipping my empty glass at him.

"Yeah. Uh, I'm gonna go use the little girl's room. I'll," I faltered a short moment. My head felt funny; hazy almost. I placed my empty glass on the food table and gave him a small smile, "I'll be back. Don't you go anywhere."

I smiled at him and then took off towards the doors of the banquet hall. I took a deep breath and shook my head as I headed for the bathroom. Something was wrong. I didn't feel right. My stomach hurt and I was beginning to get a cold sweat. I walked into the bathroom and went to the first open door I saw, which was the last in the row of stalls. I closed the door, locked it and slipped to my knees. I leaned my head against the wooden door and placed a finger on my earpiece, turning it off. The last thing I wanted was for the others to hear me throw up.

I pulled a hairband from my clutch and tied my hair back. I placed my clutch on the floor and moved closer to the toilet, accidentally kicking my clutch beneath the tiled wall into another stall. It wasn't long before I felt the tingles in my hands begin and after another moment I was leaning over the toilet. I didn't throw up. At least not because my stomach wanted me to.

"When did someone drug me...?"


Sophie finished up with Clark, rolling her eyes at what he had said to her and slipped away. She made her way to the stairwell and took a deep breath, shaking her head. She made her way down the stairs with her heels clicking as she went. She stepped outside with Eliot and Parker appearing a moment after her. Hardison drove up and parked the van, opening the back doors and jumping down onto the pavement. They all circled around and looked to each other.

"Here's the drive." Eliot handed Nate the drive and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Can't we just-"

"No." Each one of them cut Parker off, knowing what she wanted to do. She gave a small pout and looked to the ground, shoving her hands into her pockets

"We came for the hard drive and only the hard drive." Nate responded as he looked over the drive. Eliot flipped his hair out of his face and looked around at the others. He looked behind him as Nate went on. "Now all we have to do is-"

"Anyone seen Leo?" Eliot asked as he turned back from staring at the door he and Parker had come out of. Nate fell short as he lifted his gaze. His eyes went from one member of his team to the next as though counting.

"Last I saw her she was talking to that handsome fellow by the buffet." Sophie commented and looked around the group. "And drinking some bad champagne."

"I didn't see her in the stairwell." Parker offered, looking around the group. Nate raised a hand to his ear and touched the earpiece.

"Leona, where are you?" Nate looked at the ground and waited a moment, but nothing came back. He looked up and stared at Sophie who stood across from him in the circle. "Leona? Can you hear me?"

Hardison walked away from the group and climbed into the van. He pulled up the security feed and looked to see where Leona was. Then he looked to see if her earpiece was still on.

"I can't get a location on her. Her earpiece is off." Hardison spoke up as the others moved to the back of the van.

"No one saw her leave the banquet hall?" Nate asked and climbed into the van, looking at the screen over Hardison's shoulder. "Hardison?"

"I didn't see her leave. Then again I wasn't really watching her." Hardison replied and watched for the bleep that would blink blue with her name over it, but it never showed. "She's not coming up on the grid."

"Uh, alright. Pull up the video feed." Nate leaned a hand on the small metal desk attached to the side of the van. Hardison typed something into his computer and soon the video feed of the party was up on the screen. Hardison switched back and forth from one security camera to the next, but there was no sign of Leona.

"Why don't we just call her?" Parker piped up, looking from one person to the next. Eliot's face contorted and he angrily shoved a hand into his pants pocket and pulled forth a phone.

"Because I have her phone Parker." Eliot growled, annoyed with her. "We needed it to get into the elevator, remember?"

"Oh..." Parker sighed and looked away from him. Eliot shook his head and shoved the phone back into his pocket.

"Something's not right." Nate mumbled to himself and ran a hand over his mouth. He moved to the open back of the van and hopped down. "Eliot, Parker;, Sophie you're with me."

"What are we doing?" Parker asked as she, Eliot and Sophie looked at each other. They followed after Nate as he walked to the back door of the building.

"We're going to split up." Nate replied and opened the door. "Find her."


Thank you for the reviews! They were very helpful. Unfortunetly though there aren't any beta's that speak English who will do a Leverage story. If anyone is up to the task, then please send me a message or write it in a review.

By the way, the phrase "The Road to Damascus" means the occasion or circumstance of changing one's allegiance or belief and "In Like Flynn" means taking instant advantage of any chance opprotunityor gaining access to something as desired.