"Someone wanna tell me why I have to play Sophie's husband again?" Eliot demanded as he sank into the armchair in Nate's living room, pausing to glare at Parker as she perched on the arm beside him. Parker just glared back, until Eliot gave up and turned his attention back to the group. "So?" he demanded. "The mark is interested in fellow cougars. I'm not that much younger than Sophie! Hardison is the better bet here."
Hardison's eyes went wide as he raised his hands and backed up several feet from his position near Sophie, "No way, man. No way in hell." At Sophie's offended look, he quickly added, "Not that you're… not like I wouldn't… damn it, I just mean… how am I supposed to protect you if something goes wrong? I am a hacker. Hack-er. As in--not a head bashing cowboy with impeccable hair."
Parker snorted in delight at Hardison's comment, ignoring yet another glare from Eliot.
Hardison sputtered, "What? Not like you all don't know the man has great hair. Shut up."
Nate sighed loudly, bringing the group's focus to him once again, "Hardison, stop talking. Please. Parker, never mind. Eliot, yes, you have pretty hair, and yes, you're playing Sophie's husband." He too was unfazed by Eliot's glare and moved on. "Okay, folks… let's go steal us a cougar."
He spun dramatically and headed for the door. Parker whispered to Eliot, "I hope she doesn't bite!"
Eliot couldn't help but laugh before replying, "She's not a real cougar, Parker." Parker just grinned and took off after Nate. Hardison, apparently magnetically tethered to the blonde, took off after her, leaving the still standing Sophie and the still sitting Eliot alone in the suddenly far too quiet living room.
Sophie sauntered over to stand in front of him, in a way that could be called timid if he didn't know her so well. But he did, and combined with his excellent intuition, Eliot knew he was in trouble.
"Why exactly are you so against playing my husband, Eliot?" Sophie's voice was soft and inquisitive, holding no trace of anger; but Eliot knew better. He knew he'd hurt her feelings.
He stood, needing to regain some control, before answering. "I just know that at some point, I'm gonna have to kiss you." Sophie's eyes narrowed; there was no mistaking her anger now. Before she could go off, Eliot continued.
"Not that I'd mind," he smirked at her, "I ain't no fool." For just a moment he let his gaze rake down Sophie's body, leaving her no doubt that he surely wouldn't mind kissing her at all. "But," he amended softly, pulling his eyes back to her face, "When I do kiss you, it's gonna look real, and I'm gonna have to deal with Nate's passive aggressive revenge for at least a week. And damn it, but I really am not in the mood for that."
Sophie laughed outright at Eliot's little speech, unable to resist. "It's just a job, Eliot. Nate knows that. And if he has a problem with us kissing… well, he'll have to do something about it, won't he?"
Eliot sighed as he followed Sophie out the door, "That's… no help at all."
"A key party!" Nate's voiced boomed out over the comms, and only Eliot and Sophie's years of practice kept them from wincing.
"Dammit, Nate," Eliot growled quietly, "Not like we knew this was gonna happen! That's Hardison's job."
"Hey now, this is not my fault," Hardison's voice echoed from wherever the van was, "This was supposed to be an 'investment opportunity' seminar. Okay, sure, we suspected she was running some sort of scam on these people, like Ms. Reynolds told us… but she did not mention any kinky sex stuff!"
"It's not always kinky," Parker sounded bored as she talked from her position on the roof, "It's more about having sex with different people, not having kinky sex."
"How do you…" Eliot began, "Never mind." Parker giggled, which disturbed him more than her kinky sexcapapdes. "What do we do, Nate? We're running out of time. Any minute now… keys are going in that bowl… and we're gonna have to pick. And I'm not letting Sophie go off with some punk."
"I can take care of myself, Eliot," Sophie sniffed, "They're hardly more than boys. The question is, can you keep one of these ladies entertained long enough for me to plant Hardison's bug and steal all the records?" She paused to smile winningly at a blonde woman who was looking at them, and moved to wrap her arms around Eliot's waist, causing Eliot to cough and twitch slightly. Sophie just pressed closer to him, daring him, "So, can you?"
Eliot looked around the room, noticing more and more eyes on them, before smiling sinfully at Sophie. "You do your job, and I'll do mine, sweetheart." He closed the distance between them before she could protest; drawing hums of approval from the people around them as they kissed.
Parker's squeal of delight faintly registered in their ears, as well as her immediate refusal to tell Nate and Hardison what she had seen. Eliot was at once grateful she hadn't told, and curious as to how she could see them from the roof. But that was the mystery that they called Parker. Sophie's own thoughts were dimmed as Eliot pulled her closer, and she knew they were moments from taking the whole thing too far. She raised her hand to push him away, but was interrupted.
A perky redhead broke the spell by ringing a small bell to call their attention. "Ok guys, you know how this works. Men, put your keys in the bowl. Women, you'll pick a set of keys and find your man. After that… well that's up to you. So let's get going!" She grinned as she placed the empty bowl on the table, beckoning to men to drop their keys in all at once. Sophie pulled away as discreetly as she could, glaring at Eliot. She may not have feelings for him, but the man knew how to kiss.
Nate's voiced sounded strained over the comm., "Just… get out of there before anything happens, okay?" Eliot just chuckled. "Okay?" Nate repeated, "Sophie?"
Sophie looked at Eliot in surprise. Nate usually didn't sound so worried when it came to her acting. Eliot just rolled his eyes in a way that clearly said, told you so.
"It'll be fine, Nate," she reassured him, "We'll be out of here in no time."
"Just be careful, Soph," Nate said as he joined Hardison in the van. Sophie nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her. It was all she could say.
Sophie picked the keys of a green eyed man who couldn't be any older than twenty one, but who had a beautiful smile and a stunning body. She had no problem seeing how he attracted his much older wife to begin with.
"So, what should we do?" The young man asked her, and he looked at her with such earnestness that Sophie couldn't help but stroke his face soothingly.
"Is this your first key party?" she asked quietly, so the others wouldn't hear.
The boy turned bright red as he nodded and responded, "I… I love my wife. And she wanted to do this, so I agreed. But I think I'm out of my league here."
Sophie smiled kindly, "You're adorable. Come on, let's go upstairs. We can just talk…if it makes you feel better."
He beamed at her, "Thanks. I'm Eric, by the way."
"With a C or a K?" Sophie asked before she could stop herself. When he just looked at her in confusion, she quickly amended, "I mean… I'm Bridgette."
"Nice to meet you," Eric said as Sophie took his hand, leading up the stairs.
"Damn… I hit the jackpot tonight," The blonde from earlier sighed happily as she eyed Eliot. "You're a little older than most of the men," she said, mostly to herself.
Eliot just gave her his sexiest smirk as he moved to greet her, bringing her hand up to kiss it softly. "No offense, miss, but they're just… kids. Something tells me you want something with a little more… experienced."
She couldn't help but nod dumbly as his voiced washed over her, "I'm Kaitlin."
"Wes," Eliot replied, pulling her in for a short kiss.
"My favorite room is upstairs," Kaitlin confessed, "Its right across from the main bedroom, it has a great balcony."
"You do this a lot?" Eliot asked, running his hand down her back achingly slow.
"Do you care?" she retorted defiantly.
Eliot laughed, "Not even a little."
"Then let's get a move on," Kaitlin said, pulling Eliot along to the stairs.
An hour later, Sophie was back in the van, grinning at Nate and Hardison as she handed over the evidence and Hardison pulled up the surveillance.
"You're awfully happy," Nate commented, trying very hard not to sound jealous and suspicious. He failed.
Sophie rolled her eyes, "I didn't sleep with the boy, for heaven's sake. We talked… and I excused myself to the bathroom. And just didn't come back."
Hardison looked confused, "How did you plant the camera if the main room was taken by the mark?"
"Planted it on the door across the hall," Sophie grinned devilishly, "The room where Eliot and his new friends are…"
"We really don't need to hear the rest," Nate stopped her, "Please."
"How did you get the files then?" Hardison asked, still looking confused.
Sophie just grinned again, "What Eliot doesn't realize is that his new friend owns the house. Our mark is just using it for her parties. And I got the files when she and her boytoy headed for the shower. I'm very good, you know."
"I…" Hardison sighed, "I do not understand women."
"And you never will," Nate said.
"Hey, where's Parker?" Hardison asked suddenly. She hadn't been needed in this con at all, yet had insisted on being there.
"Shhh!" came Parker's voice in their ears. "She's got Eliot tied to the bed! This is getting good!"
"Parker!" three voices called out together, but she just laughed and shushed them again.
They got back to the office late, after Eliot had finally rejoined them in the van. The younger members of the team quickly went off to their own homes, leaving Sophie and Nate alone in his apartment. Sophie went to stand by the window, looking out but saying nothing. She felt more than heard Nate come up beside her, standing close enough that they were almost touching, but not quite.
"You did well tonight," he offered, avoiding her eyes, choosing instead to stare out the window as well.
"I…" Sophie began before she let out a squeal of joy, startling Nate. "It's snowing!" she exclaimed. "The first snow of the year!"
Nate couldn't help but smile. For all the money and possessions she had, snow made Sophie happy. He felt like he should have known that.
"Well, look at that." He replied, watching as the snow thickened and filled the air with white.
"It's beautiful," Sophie said softly, as the city below was blanketed.
"Yeah," Nate agreed, staring at Sophie's reflection in the glass.
"I'll go make us some tea," Nate said, starting to move away, but Sophie stopped him, grabbing his hand in her own.
"Let's just watch for a few minutes, okay?" she asked, squeezing his hand gently.
Nate just nodded; unable to speak and unwilling to break the moment. He ran his thumb soothingly over Sophie's hand, trying to say all he could, all he felt.
They stared out at the snow as the busy city streets were transformed into something sweeter, something new and unmarked. Sophie turned to look at him with bright eyes, "It makes you feel like there's always hope, you know?" she gestured out the window.
Nate smiled back softly as he finally recognized the feeling in his chest. So long buried under pain, but still there, beating; it was hope.
The End