[A/N:So this story was given to me to try out by my best friend so,here goes nothing and I hope you all enjoy this one :D]

Everyone has their own inner secrets. Sometimes she feels guilty for keeping this secret from him but back then it was the only way she knew everything would be okay,for all of them. They were both young and she never regretted any thing about it,her only regret was not telling him. The many times she wanted to tell him she couldn't besides by the time she found him again he had become some blue eyed stranger that she didn't recognize anymore. He seemed driven by everything but life. Maybe,just maybe if she had said something back then things would be different for him. Then again he seemed happy,he looked happy,he had a little boy and was married. A few months after that everything had changed,he seemed to be slipping into his own darkness. There would have been no way she could throw something like that at him knowing how much the death of Sam destroyed him,and now here there were,in Boston in his apartment going over the latest information they had found about Damian Moreau,however the cases switched over when Nate mentioned their newest case putting Moreau on the back burner for now.

"These people came to me this morning,frantic. They have no one else to turn to and there was no way i could say no,Hardison,run it." Nate sat on a stool next to Sophie as they exchanged smiles with one another.

"Alright,what we have here is your typical run of the mill,earned all of Daddy's money with a trust fund rich people." Pressing on a remote the screen flooded with images of two people,a married couple. Nate stood moving closer to the screens.

"Moving on Hardison." Nate spoke with a slight hurry in his voice.

"Well,Darlene and Maxwell,married ten years,one daughter Claire schools and limos the typical thing,Nate man why are we looking into this?" The hacker asked with a questioning look.

"Because that little girl right there is missing,she was kidnapped over two days ago. They are to afraid to involve the police and we are the next best thing." Sophie sits up straight her eyes wide as she eyes the picture of the little girl on the screen.

"It can't be right." She says as all eyes were on her.

"What are you talking about Sophie?" Nate asked not happy that the briefing had gotten interrupted.

"Nothing,it's nothing,do we know where she is right now?" She asked now more full of curiosity then ever.

"They got a call to drop off some sort of cash payout at an abandoned warehouse downtown,they will be here any minute to go over the details on this.I've already told Ken that it wasn't going to happen." In the middle of their briefing there is a knock on the door. Eliot gets up to answer it as Ken and his wife make their way inside with a bag full of money.

"Everything is here mister Ford,please tell me you are going to get our baby back." Pressing his lips together,Nate knew he couldn't just make a promise of a safe return for Claire.

"We can only try our best,we are not the police,we don't have the means they do. Ken listen to me as much as this is going to hurt to hear,you can not make that drop. Let us to it for you." The man shook his head.

"With all do respect,we are doing this,if you had children then you would understand." Closing his eyes that last part hit him pretty hard. Simply nodding Nate knew there would be no way of talking them out of this.

"Hardison you three are in Lucille,Eliot I want you behind the building but within reach. I'll go with you two." As he gave the instructions they were already on their way out the door.

Down at the warehouse everyone had been in place. Nate drove up to the front entrance as Eliot made his way through the back of the warehouse. It felt like a set up and that didn't fair well with Nate or Eliot. As Ken knocked on the door Hardison came over the coms.

"Eliot man,according to my heat scope there is only one man inside. Do your thing man,get that girl out of there,looks like she's close to a back exit." Eliot had made his way inside and found the twelve year old hidden inside a small room,after untying her he picked her up,the guy had given her something to make her sleep so it was easy getting her out quietly.

"Alright Nate,we got her. Now get the hell out of there." Eliot sounded as Nate nodded to the parents to let them know she was safe. As they turned to leave a familiar sound filled the masterminds ears as his eyes widened.

"Get down!" He yelled but he was to late,a round of semi automatic fire came over the coms.

"Nate! Are you okay?!" Sophie's voice was full of panic as she held on to the little girl while Eliot ran in the direction of the warehouse giving chase to the man but lost him in the maze of boxes and crates,he didn't want to give up the search but Nate needed him. Coming to the front of the warehouse he looked on to see three bodies laying on the ground and blood every where.

"Nate man,tell me you are okay." He rolled the master on to his back to see he took a graze to the left side of his forehead.

"Eliot what's going on?" He could hear the fear in Sophie's voice as he went to check the other two. Hanging his head low he went back to Nate.

"Nate is going to be fine,he took a graze,but Ken and Darlene,they took the brunt of the bullets. four in her and six in him,they never stood a chance." Groaning Nate slowly came to. Looking over the scene he sighed deeply hearing the sirens in the distance.

"We need to get Claire to the hospital,let the police deal with the bodies." Eliot nodded helping Nate to his feet as they joined the others in Lucille. Looking over to Sophie he immediately felt bad,she had just lost her parents and she had no clue but watching Sophie,something was different.

At the hospital they discussed their plan of action.

"What do we do with her? Can we keep her?" Parker asked staring at the sleeping twelve year old through the glass on the door."

"There's something wrong with you,she's not an animal you can just keep Parker." Eliot growled at her. Nate's eyes were on Sophie as she stared at the girl.

"Eliot's right,she needs to go to CPS and let them take care of her." At that Parker's eyes widened.

"Nate we can't just give her to the system,foster care isn't nice at all."
Pinching the bridge of his nose he groaned,there was no way he was keeping a kid around them with what the did.

"I think she needs to stay with us. We are all she has now." Nate's blue eyes fell on the grifter as she turned to look at him.

"Sophie,I'm sure there is some family members out there wanting to take care of her,it's not our place." The way she had been looking at him was confusing him,it was like she was holding back.

"There isn't anyone,Nate she needs us."

"Sophie look,I know you think she needs us but she needs her family,and that's not us." Sighing she shook her head.

"No,she has no family." getting frustrated the mastermind decided it was time to put his foot down.

"I said no,that's it. No more on the subject."As he turned to walk away he heard he say the words he never had expected her to say.

"That's not the end of it Nate,because..Claire is our daughter." The halls of a hospital have never been so quiet before. Turning back to her he didn't know what to say,it couldn't be true,that was nearly twelve years ago. Then the math clicked in his head. The other three stood and looked on not sure what to say or think,what could be said. The tension in the hallway was rising as the mastermind and grifter stared at each other,neither saying a word.

[A/N2: I suck at introduction chapters but I hoped you enjoyed this and yes,it's a cliff hangers so let me know what you guys thought. :D ]