A/N: This is apparently my brain saying that I needed to know about the night before "Flee."
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it.
Eliot entered the apartment with surprise on his features. The mastermind was sitting at his kitchen counter with a bottle of bourbon in his hands. The grifter was nowhere in sight and the mastermind was taking his time. There was something highly off about that. Nate never drank slowly unless Sophie was nearby and even then it wasn't always true. In fact, the mastermind only ever slowed down his drinking long enough to look at the grifter and then he would pick up pace again. It was kind of disturbing knowledge.
Nate taking his time with a bottle was bad news. That was all the hitter needed to know. So he slammed the door closed to announce his presence. Nate didn't even flinch so he knew he was there. That was good, maybe. Eliot just shrugged and promptly went to work putting the groceries for tomorrow's lunch away. He finished up and swiftly put the plastic bags in their respective containers. Nobody knew how much of a conniption the grifter would have if paper and plastic bags were not taken care of properly. Who knew the woman was an environmentalist? So Eliot turned towards his boss and crossed his arms.
"What's the special occasion?" He asked, tilting his head towards the bottle to get his point across.
Nate finally looked away from the bottle with red-rimmed eyes. He looked back at the bottle a bit guiltily and then smiled a tiny grimace of pain.
"Sophie's pregnant," he said. Then he proceeded to glare at the bottle of bourbon as if it was its fault for the whole mess. For all intents and purposes it couldn't exactly be ruled out.
Eliot leaned against the counter and thought about how he was going to approach this. He took a deep, hesitant breath and said, "I know."
Nate just laughed a heartbreaking sob of a laugh and nodded his head. "I should have known," he said, "You probably dated a pregnant woman before right. Or at the very least an obstetrician."
Eliot laughed at that and nodded his head. He did have a tendency to date a lot of women in a wide variety of fields. "I remember the symptoms from when my siblings and nephew were born," he replied.
Nate nodded his head at the play. "That too," he said.
"Still doesn't explain your drinking habit," Eliot shrugged at the statement.
"She's going to leave me," Nate responded in kind. He even accented his statement with a big gulp from his bottle and a sour look on his face.
Eliot felt himself falter at that. "Why do you think Sophie's going to leave you?"
"She doesn't know she's pregnant yet," Nate shrugged, the bottle dangerously slopping all over the place. "And she cuts me off before we can even begin to discuss the possibility of kids. I think I scared her out of wanting those."
"Are you sure it was you?" Eliot asked before he could even think better of it. True, the mastermind did tend to freak out whenever children were involved in a con but he had a very good reason. Sam's death destroyed the man he used to be and Sophie worked ten times as hard as the rest of them to bring Nate back to some form of steady ground. But it was the small knowledge of the grifter's past that had the hitter thinking the opposite was true. There were too many variables left on the field when it came to her past. She never spoke of it but it was obvious the scars were pretty deep.
"She's in denial about the pregnancy, Eliot," Nate swallowed thickly and took another swig from the bottle just to make certain he got it down. "I know she's in denial because she figured out Maggie was pregnant with Sam just by listening in our conversation. I didn't even know who she was at the time. She should recognize the symptoms in her own body."
"Wow," Eliot breathed deeply at the statement, "It's sad when Parker and Hardison are more aware of her pregnancy than she is."
"They know?" Nate demanded in surprise. There seemed to be a hint of amusement there. It was hidden under the dark red rings of despair within his blue eyes but it was there, miniscule and trying to reach the light.
"When is the appointment?" Eliot asked because realization was dawning and it was absolutely painful.
"Tomorrow at noon," Nate swallowed a quick gulp of bourbon and tried to refrain from crying in front of his friend, "She'll plan to leave as soon as she finds out the truth."
Eliot nodded. He was suddenly feeling sick to his stomach for a reason he didn't even want to know about. Sophie was going to leave them all for a stupid reason nobody wanted to touch. Her past was finally going to be the thing to end them all.
"What are we going to do?" The hitter demanded with a suddenly dry mouth. He reached for the mastermind's bottle and quickly poured himself a glass of the stuff.
"Now?" Nate watched the hitter pour himself a drink and take a huge gulp to steady himself. He was very interested in the motions. An idea was clearly forming in his mind. Then the tiny glint of amusement changed and grew unbelievably large. The glint sparkled and shined and transformed itself into something more, something greater, something better. The amusement was now hope and it had taken shape within the mastermind's eyes.
"Now we're going to stop her from leaving," he said.
He rose from his chair and quickly moved towards his phone. He had a thief and a hacker to call. He had a plan for keeping his grifter.
Eliot smiled at the play and immediately put away the offending alcohol. Apparently the pity party wasn't a pity party after all. It was a thinking party and the hitter was the only person needed to get the cogs back in working order. This was going to be fun.
"What's the plan, boss?"