Disclaimer: I don't own Leverage, and personally, I'm happy for that. I really wouldn't want to screw it up!
A/N: So, after my screaming was over, and my tears had stopped falling, I sat down and started writing this reaction piece to the Maltese Falcon Job. It's like, everyone's perspective from the last five minutes. I hope you enjoy. This one goes out to my cousin who listened to my screaming and crying as we watched it together over the phone. Pup, this is for you! I hope you all enjoy and please, review!
The Hard Way
Chapter 1: Nate
He didn't think that she had heard his message. He didn't think she knew just how much she meant to him, how much he needed her. Nathan Ford knew however that if this was the last time he was going to see her for who knew how long, he needed to tell her. There just wasn't enough time for him to tell her in words, to express all the nights he had spent awake over a glass of scotch thinking of nothing but her…
How much he missed her…
How much he worried he had lost her for good this time…
How afraid he was that he had missed out on the last chance he had to tell her his feelings…
How much he loved her…
So he expressed it in a kiss, the kiss that he had been waiting to give her for years. And he knew that she knew everything he wanted her to know from that kiss.
As he walked her walk away, as he watched Sophie Devereaux walk out of his life for the umpteenth time, this only the third time that really mattered, Nate knew this would not be the last time he saw the grifter who had stolen the most important possession he had left…his heart.
And as he sank to the cold metal, lightheaded from blood loss, Nathan Ford watched the helicopter fly away with his team…no..his family, and in that moment he knew that while Sophie had stolen his heat, as long as it was with her, it was safe.
"My name is Nate Ford…and I am a thief…" he said before laughing. The old Nate was dead. Who knew what Fate had in store for this reborn man? He didn't know, but he sure as heck couldn't wait to find out.