Chapter One

"This is great isn't it?" Eliot said taking a sip of his beer as they stood around the large fire. They had just finished their supper after a long drive up to his cabin.

"Yeah sure…" Hardison said his tone belying his words.

"Oh come on Hardison…" Parker said plopping herself down beside him and smiling broadly. "It's not so bad…" She said hugging herself to him.

"Besides Hardison, it's good for you to get out a bit, you know get away from it all." Nate said as he leaned forward and added another log to the fire.

"You ain't kidding man…there's no signal, no…no…no anything out here man." Hardison moaned. He had spent his time looking for a spot that he could pick up some signal. They had driven out to Eliot's cabin leaving early in the morning. Hardison had imagined a fully equipped cabin in the mountains, only to find a simple rustic place with no TV, no computer and worst of all no signal for any of his gadgets to work.

"Stop complaining Hardison…" Eliot growled at the Hacker. "I went to that…that…whatever it was you insisted we go to last year, now it's my turn."

Hardison threw a look at the Hitter and shook his head. He had had the choice of where they would spend their holiday the previous year and he had taken them all to the 71st World Science Fiction Convention or LoneStarCon 3 in Texas. Hardison smiled as he remembered the trip.

"Well at least we had basic amenities …" Hardison said in a disgusted voice.

"It's worse than having kids…" Sophie whispered to Nate as she snuggled closer to him.

Nate nodded and smiled hugging her tightly. Since they had officially retired from the game, they had made it a priority that once a year they all got together for a holiday. Since nobody could agree on where they would go and what they would do, it was agreed that each one would get a chance to select what they wanted to do. After much quibbling it was decided Hardison could get first choice. Next was Eliot and Parker would decide on their next holiday, Nate smiled ruefully as he thought about that one, he had a feeling their next holiday would not be as restful as this one and would probably involve some kind of crime. Parker had fun stealing, that had not changed in the many years they had known each other.

"So what are we going to do tomorrow?" Parker asked looking at Eliot expectantly.

"Well I thought we could take a short hike up to the top of the ridge over there. It's a nice walk and the view from the top is exceptional…" Eliot said throwing a glare at Hardison when he heard the Hacker groan softly at the thought of having to hike through the bush.

"Maybe there will be signal from up top there…" Parker said slyly and smiled as she saw Hardison's expression brighten at the prospect.

"You think…?" Hardison said looking at her. Parker shrugged and smiled at him. "Well I think we should go to bed then so that we can get going early tomorrow." Parker laughed loudly and pulled him into a hug.

"Yeah I think that is a good idea, Sophie and I are going to call it a night." Nate said standing up and pulling Sophie up with him. "See you all in the morning."

"Good night…" Eliot and the other two called and watched them walk into the cabin.

"I'm also going to turn in…" Hardison said looking expectantly at Parker. She shook her head.

"I'll join you later, I think I'm going to stay here by the fire a while." Parker said. Hardison looked disappointed but smiled anyway, gave her quick kiss and then headed into the cabin. "Night Eliot…" He said as he walked away.

Eliot moved closer to the fire and sat down, pulling out another beer from the cooler had next to him. Parker and he sat for a while silently both just enjoying the quite of the night and the sound of the crackling fire.

"They look good…" Parker said softly. They had not seen Sophie or Nate for a while and she had missed them. The two older members of the group had been on a world tour, visiting places all over Europe and Africa. They had taken the trip at Sophie's insistence after Nate had helped them out on a job nine months ago and had gotten hurt.

"Yeah they do. He doesn't seem to have any lasting problems from the injury." Eliot agreed. He had been worried about Nate, for the first time he had really worried they could lose him, but he had pulled through and it looked like the trip had done him good, he seemed to have no permanent damage from the injury he had sustained.

"She was so angry with us…" Parker said thinking back to that day Sophie had walked into the hospital.

"She was scared Parker…" Eliot said softly. "We had all been scared."

"I thought…I was afraid that…"

"That we would never see them again, that Sophie would not let Nate near us again…?" Eliot finished for her.

Parker smiled at him and nodded.

"Never happen girl, we're family and even though Sophie was mad as all hell with us and with Nate…we're family and we will be together always." Eliot assured her. "Anyway…I think we should get some sleep too." Eliot said getting up and pulling Parker up after him.

"Thanks Eliot…" Parker said suddenly flinging her arms around him and hugging him tightly.

Eliot smiled as he hugged her back. Then she pulled away and turned towards the cabin.

"You coming…?" She asked as Eliot did not follow her.

"In a minute, just have to put the fire out." He told her. "You go ahead…"

Parker nodded and quickly made her way into the cabin to join Hardison in their room. Eliot watched her go and then turned his attention to putting out the fire and cleaning up. He was glad they had come up here. They needed some time to get away from the city, they needed some time together. Parker was right, Sophie was angry with them, very angry, and they had not had any contact with either of the two during the months they had been away, which had worried Eliot, it was not normal for them not to be in touch intermittently. He had picked this vacation for a reason. No distractions, they could spend some time with each other and renew the bond of family that had almost been broken with Nate's near death injury. Quickly he finished up checked around the cabin that all was well and quiet and then entered the cabin closing and locking the door behind him. Turning around after making sure that the door was secure Eliot found Nate sitting at the dining table with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses.

"Expecting trouble…?" The older man said as he poured himself a drink.

"No…" Eliot said as he walked to the table and took a seat accepting Nate's offer of a shot of whiskey.

"She was really pissed." Eliot said taking a sip of the amber liquid.

"Worried, scared…" Nate said softly.

"Yeah…"

"It wasn't your fault Eliot, it wasn't anybody's fault, it just happened." Nate said locking eyes with the Hitter. He knew that Eliot blamed himself for what had happened on that last job. "Besides she's over it now."

"When we didn't hear from you…"

"Eliot. Whatever happens, we are a family…you are my family." Nate said softly. "You are her family."

The two men sat silently drinking their whiskey. This was the first time the five of them had been together since that job and the drive up to the cabin had been slightly tense, well at least Eliot had felt a tension.

"Well if you are going to insist on a hike tomorrow I suppose I should get some sleep." Nate smiled at him. "This was a good idea."

Eliot smiled at him and drank the last of his whiskey and stood up too.

"Good night Eliot."

"Night Nate…" Eliot said and watched the Mastermind walk into his and Sophie's room closing the door behind him.

"Nate…" Sophie's soft voice called out as he closed the door. "Is everything all right?"

"Fine…" Nate said climbing into the bed and wrapping his arm around her as she snuggled close to him placing her head on his chest.

"Love you darling…" She said softly. Nate smiled and kissed her head as he settled down and within a few minutes the two of them were fast asleep.

Eliot checked the cabin again making sure everything was secure. He was not expecting trouble but he was also not taking any chances of anything going wrong this holiday. When he was sure everything was in order he too retired to his bed, complete silence fell over the cabin and Eliot drifted off to sleep.

I know it has been a while since my last story, but I am back now and that is the start of my new story. I hope you are all going to enjoy it. I look forward to getting your feedback on each chapter as the story progresses, I really do love to know what you guys think, good or bad. Enjoy…