A/N: - Thanks for all the reviews folks keep them coming. Thunder Moon I agree whatever her name turns out to be Sophie will always be Sophie to me too but I like the idea of her being Natalie or Natasha and nicknamed Nate. I reckon there is bound to be some sort of twist/sting in the tail to this whole name thing it couldn't be something simple like Jane or Emma (no offence intended to any Janes or Emmas out there) not the Leverage we all know and love. My own pet theory is that the joke is on us (Nate included) and she really is called Sophie Devereux and therefore we and Nate have known her name all along we just didn't know we knew if that makes sense. Admittedly Sophie did say she's never heard Nate say her real name in the Two Live Crew Job but it's not like she's never lied to him before is it.

Paris the past...

Nate Ford strolled into IYS's Paris HQ quickly doing up the top button of his shirt and straightening his tie while he walked, he'd jumped into a cab the moment he landed at Charles De Gaulle but annoyingly he was still ten minutes late for the meeting which meant that they would have started without him. This was his first time assigned to an international investigation like this and he wanted everything to go to plan, he did not like being unable to control the situation he was in it left too much to chance, meant far too much could go wrong. Already deemed to be IYS's shining star stateside despite being still only 24 this was his chance to show his bosses exactly what he could do. Nate had ambitions he wanted to be the very best of the best since his work was more than simply a job to him it was his personal crusade to rid the world of as many thieves, grifters and conmen he possibly could, to rid the world of as many Jimmy Fords as he could. He'd grown up seeing the damage men like his father caused to innocent people and so Nate had sworn to himself to be in charge of the whole damn investigation department in record time.

After negotiating his way through security and reception he finally reached his destination a small meeting room on the fourth floor, politely he knocked on the door to announce his arrival.

"Enter" A man with an American accent called out gruffly.

Opening the door Nate recognized IYS's Director of European Operations Theodore 'Ted' Harper instantly and three people he didn't know two men and a woman sitting around a conference table surrounded by a mountain of buff case files "I'm sorry sir the flight was delayed..." he tried to explain.

"Stop apologizing and sit down...you are Nathan Ford I take it" Harper practically growled.

"Yes sir" Nate nodded obediently and claimed the first vacant seat he could find.

"I believe congratulations are in order I hear you just got married" Harper eyed him thoughtfully.

"Um...yes sir" Nate nodded in surprise as he settled down seems like he was making a bigger impression on the powers that be then he'd actually realized he only hoped that was a good thing.

"Mike Reynolds head investigator Paris office" The older of the other two men introduced himself, he was a short, stout man who looked to be about fifty with a thinning crown of grey hair and a middle age spread.

"Marie La Beau Interpol" The woman said with a soft French accent, she looked fairly young late twenties no older. Marie had blue eyes and light brown hair which she wore in a braid, the famous French profile was very much in evidence and she was small barely five foot.

"James Sterling your new partner" The final occupant of the room addressed Nate dryly with an odd accent somewhere between British and American. He was roughly the same age as Nate and about the same height but of a stockier build and with dark hair and brown eyes. For some reason he didn't fully understand there was something about Sterling Nate decided on sight that he didn't much like and he had the sneaking suspicion the feeling was mutual.

"Mike perhaps you would like to bring Nate up to speed" Harper suggested.

"Yes sir, say hello to Alexander Wade art thief, grifter, gigolo and all round con-man" Mike passed Nate a file that made war and peace look like light reading "And those are his finer qualities, he is linked to several violent assaults and suspicious deaths but nothing sticks to him he's the original Teflon man."

"Alexander Wade is the youngest son of the late 8th Earl of Fairfield, Eton educated then Oxford well till he was expelled for almost beating to death a fellow student over a card game" Sterling added "Of course daddy dearest managed to make that mess disappear easily enough however the family all except his mother disowned and disinherited him about ten years ago just after his fourteen year old sister Sarah was killed in a car accident, a car Alexander was driving at the time. His father never got over the shock of losing Sarah and died eighteen months later, his Mother left him a small fortune and a rather impressive property portfolio when she passed away five years ago."

"Drunk driver" Nate enquired flicking through the file.

"Probably but his breath test and blood samples mysteriously disappeared so no charges were ever brought" Mike replied.

"We think he and his associate are responsible for a string of robberies over the past few years" Marie nodded "A Monet here in Paris, a Van Gogh in Berlin another Monet in Anderlecht the list goes on."

"Our Intel indicates that he is providing a tailor made service, his clients order a Picasso for instance and then he provides it for them charging an extremely large finder's fee for the service" Mike continued.

"We have someone on the inside" Nate raised an eyebrow.

"Let's say we have eyes and ears where we need them to be" Harper replied tersely.

"You said he had an associate" Nate asked.

"Ah yes her" Harper grimaced "The mystery girl."

"Mystery girl" Nate was a little bemused.

"Meet Miss X" Sterling tossed him another file only this one was wafer thin.

Opening the file Nate stared at several surveillance photos taken of a striking young woman with midnight black hair and even darker eyes "She's beautiful" Nate murmured without thinking then squirmed realising what he'd said "I...well..."

"Yes she is quite a looker" Harper nodded "Trouble is despite the best or so I'm assured efforts of Interpol, our entire European investigations department and several major police forces no-one has a clue who she is or where she came from."

"She must have a name" Nate pointed out, his gaze firmly fixed upon the pictures in front of him didn't seem to matter how hard he tried he couldn't quite bring himself to look away.

"She does Olivia Benson, Stella Bonasera, Jane Tennyson, Emma Peel the list is endless" Mike rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"There is simply no record of her anywhere" Marie explained "No birth certificate, no school records or passport we can find, judging by her accent we think that like Alexander Wade she could be British but other than that your guess is as good as ours."

"We have nothing on her at all" Nate was truly amazed.

"We know she and Wade live together but other than that we can't connect her to any criminal activity " Sterling put in "It's not a criminal offence in itself to use different names if you wish or to live with Wade either."

"Wade knows who she is" Nate suggested "He must call her something."

"Angel he only ever calls her Angel" Harper stated wearily "So boy wonder what's your plan of action? How are you going to bring Wade and Miss X to justice?"

"Simple we go through Miss X, Wade is not in this for the money that's just an added bonus to him, he craves the excitement and he craves her. She's his Achilles heel, Wade's Angel is the key" Nate told them bluntly "The key to everything."

Impatiently Rachel paced up and down her room, she'd eaten breakfast even though she hadn't felt particularly hungry but Alexander had insisted that she eat saying he knew what was best for her and that he wanted her at her sharpest for the Prague job. Later she'd dressed unusually casually in a pair of fade blue jeans and a forest green shirt; she'd tied her hair in a simple pony tail and had slipped on a pair of beat up old trainers. Rachel had whole wardrobes full of designer clothes to choose from and enough shoes to open her own extremely expensive not to mention exclusive shoe shop. Alexander often joked that shoes any shoes were her obsession but today for no real reason she felt the need for comfort rather than high fashion, today she supposed she just wanted to be Rachel not Sarah or Katherine or Charlotte or whoever just plain Rachel. She needed something, anything to occupy her mind she'd been planning her outing to the left bank for weeks it had been her only lifeline till Alexander had vetoed it and now she felt completely at a loss if she didn't get out of this house soon, if she didn't get away from him she'd go insane she was already climbing the walls. Reluctantly Rachel decided to go down stairs maybe she could find a book to read in the library or play billiards with Tyler anything was better than staying here brooding. Opening her bedroom door Rachel wandered onto the landing below her she could hear Alexander speaking and he sounded angry.

"Yes...I understand...leave it to me" He was talking to someone on the phone Rachel realized.

"I said I'd take care of Ford..." Alexander sounded even angrier now "You worry about your side of the business I'll take care of mine" He snarled slamming the phone down.

Rachel knew what to expect next she'd seen him in this kind of mood before, knew exactly what would happen if he knew she'd overheard him and it terrified her. So tiptoeing back into her room Rachel closed her door as softly as she could then grabbing a magazine she belly flopped onto her bed sure enough a few minutes later Alexander appeared.

"Hello Angel" He grinned coming to sit on the bed besides her "What are you reading."

"Just one of those silly celeb magazines you don't like" She smiled sweetly up at him.

"Shoes again" Alexander sighed and began to play with a loose strand of her hair "This is a new look for you."

"I...um well I thought since I wasn't allowed out to play that I'd have a dress down day" She said by way of explanation.

"Well if you want to play Angel..." Alexander's hands slid down her body and underneath her shirt where he began to unhook her bra.

Rachel tried her hardest not to flinch but the sensation of his skin next to hers made her skin crawl and her stomach heave but she had to do this didn't she? Had to play his game to get what she wanted but perhaps not today "I thought you wanted me to be at my best in Prague not exhausted" She dodged him as he tried to kiss her.

"Point taken" Alexander stood up "Anyway I've decide I was wrong you may go out if you wish but be back in time for our flight" with that he strolled away.

Twenty minutes later Alexander watched as Rachel strolled out of their house and wandered off towards the left bank "5, 4, 3..." He counted and "We have lift off" He grinned slyly to himself as unbeknown to Rachel a young man followed a few paces behind her "Nathan Ford I presume right on cue" Alexander grinned to himself this was going to be easier than he'd first thought.

Rachel didn't know what had necessitated Alexander's sudden change of mind but she wasn't about to argue and so she headed off to her favourite cafe Monique's of Paree down by the Seine's edge, settling down in a sunny spot with a cup of lemon tea (Monique called it her usual) she allowed herself to relax just for a little while. Watching the boat loads of tourists passing by and a group of children playing Boule with their grandparents she almost felt like part of the human race once again, something she hadn't felt for some time. That's when she sensed rather than noticed his presence, something made her turn around and stare across the busy square and there he was just standing there staring back at her a skinny young man with unkempt dark curly hair and the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. He didn't have Alexander's movie star looks or his well toned athletic build, he was more what you would call ruggedly handsome she supposed but that didn't stop the corners of her lips curling into a grin no matter how hard she tried to stop them.

"Busted dammit all to hell" Nate cursed under his breath, she'd caught him staring at her and it had all gone so well till now too. Having changed in to jeans, his beat up old black jacket and a t-shirt to blend in with the tourist crowd Nate had hung around Wade's house for nearly two hours hoping to spot her, to learn more about this mysterious Miss X and he had struck pay dirt around 1.30 when she'd left the house to come here to this little cafe. Angel was even lovelier than he'd first thought something about those big dark eyes of hers had Nate hook line and several sinkers he could quite happily stand here all day just staring at her and never get bored. He could usually predict a person's actions with eerie accuracy so much so that Maggie his fiancée had given up trying to keep birthday gifts a secret she just gave him gift certificates now yet he couldn't get a beat on Angel she remained a complete mystery to him. Firstly he'd been surprised at just how young and vulnerable she was in the flesh, she couldn't be any older than eighteen or nineteen he was sure of it. Then there was how she was dressed in old jeans and sneakers not what he'd expected at all. In all the surveillance photograph's he'd seen Miss X looked like she'd just stepped off a Milan Catwalk or out of a New York Fashion show but here she simply looked like any other tourist even so Nate thought her even more beautiful this way without her mask. If there was one thing he and IYS could be sure of though Miss X was definitely British only the British would drink tea in the middle of Paris on a sunny summer afternoon. Finally there was the incident if that was the right word for it, as they had made their way here Miss X had come across a group of Nuns collecting for a local Hospice he'd fully expected her to cross to the other side of the road or at least walk past with her nose in the air and ignore them completely but not Miss X. No she'd stopped and produced a wad of high denomination notes from her purse which she had then stuffed into the nearest collection box much to the bemusement of the Nuns and one Nathan Ford esquire then she'd walked away. Who ever heard of a philanthropic thief? It made absolutely no sense whatsoever, these people were only ever interested in themselves and what they could get didn't matter who got hurt in the process. They had zero honour or integrity which nicely summed up just how a dumbstruck Nate Ford ended up staring across a Parisian Square grinning back at her like the world's dopiest Cheshire cat trying to figure out what the hell made this darn woman...no girl tick.

Back across the square Rachel's gaze locked with his and she felt herself turning bright red under his scrutiny. Bloody hell she was blushing actually blushing! She hadn't done that in years and for the life of her she couldn't understand why he should have this affect on her after all she didn't even know this man. It wasn't that she felt uncomfortable quite the opposite, she felt oddly safe here with him, if eyes really were the windows to the soul then his said warm and kind something Alexander's had never been and just for a moment Rachel struggled to remember how to breathe. Inadvertently one of the Boule playing children came between them breaking the spell and Rachel decide that it was definitely time to leave, getting up she ran as fast as she could out of the square crossing the first bridge she came to she ran towards Montmartre.

"Hey wait" Nate called out ignoring just about every written not to mention unwritten rule of undercover work and gave chase to Angel. Why the heck was he chasing her? Eventually she'd have to return to Wade's place anyway this was the most ludicrous thing he'd ever done it made absolutely no sense what so ever. So why then couldn't he just turn tail, return to his hotel or better still IYS HQ and wait her out? Those damn big black eyes of hers that's why and the fact that he was having the time of his life, he'd never felt so exhilarated, so alive as he did at this precise moment in time, as he did since he'd almost met Miss X.

Fortunately... a more than a little winded Nate decided dashing by the Moulin Rouge... since they were running upwards she would have to slow down sooner or later preferably sooner, she reached a flight of steep, stone steps and he almost cheered out loud. If he could just pick up the speed a little he could catch her up, Nate was sure of it but then what? Of that he was less sure only that he wanted...no needed to catch her so badly it hurt. He continued charging up the steps till he could almost reach out and touch her hair; almost he missed his footing and slipped back bashing his left knee against hard, cold stone.

"Ouch!" He yelled out involuntarily as he crashed to the floor.

Now at the top of the stairs Rachel hearing him cry out in pain stopped running and turned around "Are you alright" She asked softly, genuinely concerned after all she didn't want to leave him lying there was a broken leg or something "Are you hurt?"

"Yes and yes on both counts" He groaned and got to his feet rubbing his throbbing knee "My name's Nate...Nate Ford" He introduced himself hopping about "I don't suppose you are going to tell me who you are...are you?"

"You suppose right Nate it's no fun having a secret if you tell is it" She laughed waggling a finger at him, and then she was off again running like an Olympic Champion.

"Crap" Nate groaned again and hobbled after her trying his best to ignore the burning pain in his poor knee.

Reaching the top of the stairs he found her gone not a trace of the dark haired woman remained anywhere; five extremely painful minutes of searching later he finally admitted defeat. Sitting down on a small bench Nate massaged his knee and tried to work out what to do next, he was still deliberating when the cab passed by him. In fact he was still sitting there when she knocked on the cab window and blew a kiss at him. Watching the cab disappear over the horizon Nate burst out laughing despite the pain in his knee and being completely outplayed by Miss X he'd enjoyed every minute of their little escapade if nothing else catching Miss X should never be dull. One day he swore to himself he would know her name, he didn't care how long it took even if they were side by side in the Old Folk's Home. Nate was determined to learn everything there was to know about this Miss X somehow, someway he knew something extraordinary had happened to him today he just didn't know quite what.

Well that certainly explained Alexander's sudden change of heart earlier Rachel mused turning away from the window as Nate Ford disappeared from view. Not that she was in the least bit surprised that Alexander would use her like that, no nothing Alexander ever did surprised her anymore his was a brutal world and Rachel was under no illusions she too was expendable under the right set of circumstances. That said in a perverse sort of way she'd actually enjoyed her first encounter with the infamous Nate Ford, if she was being truthful Rachel had liked him even though they had barely exchanged a full sentence. Something about the blue eyed, skinny bloke with the unruly hair had struck home somewhere deep inside of her, she felt different that was the only way to describe it. She wasn't exactly sure how different but it was definitely a good different, thinking about Nate Ford made her blush again ok this was ever so slightly insane.

"Pull yourself together, remember your British and your letting the side down" She ordered herself, still didn't stop her feeling excited at the thought of seeing Nate Ford again, yes playing with him was going to be so much fun!

Portland the present...

"So this Wade guy he and Sophie they were like partners" Parker tried to make sense of the story Nate had just told her and the boys whilst Sophie rested upstairs on Nate's orders "He trained her like Archie did me?"

"Nothing at all like you and Archie" Nate shook his head sadly "I don't know all the details but I do know Wade never cared for anything or anyone but himself and that Sophie ...Well let's just say she doesn't have happy memories of him."

"She was just a kid wasn't she when she met him" Eliot asked, he'd seen the look on Sophie's face when she'd opened that card it had been one of pure terror anyone who could do that to the great Sophie Devereux meant trouble and plenty of it.

"She was fourteen" Nate replied.

"Alexander Wade suspected of all kinds of stuff in the 80's and 90's from stealing half of the Louvre to...he shot and killed an Interpol officer a dirty Interpol officer apparently she was feeding him inside information but something went wrong and he decided to clean house so to speak" Hardison stared at his Lap top in horror "Dude anyone who would kill a cop any cop that's not so much badass as bonkers."

"Firstly her name was Marie LeBeau and secondly she was not dirty" Nate said defensively as they all watched the huge screen Hardison had set up "She was set up we could just never prove it."

"We" Hardison asked "You knew her."

"Sterling and I worked with her on the original Wade case" Nate explained.

"So basically what your telling us is that now he's out and about you, Sophie and Sterling are top of his get even to do list" Eliot summed up.

"Pretty much" Nate agreed "With Sophie being number one priority on that list."

"If he killed a cop, any cop how come he's running around Portland sending Sophie flowers shouldn't they have thrown away the key" Parker pointed out the obvious.

Hardison tapped a few more keys "The case was thrown out on appeal he's a free man."

"On what grounds" Nate asked "He's appealed many time before but never been successful."

"DNA ... apparently the case was reviewed and they found a minute trace of DNA collected at the crime scene from an unknown female donor around the time of murder Wade was always believed to have been working with a female accomplice but she was never caught and since no weapon was ever found it was impossible to prove who fired it" Shocked Hardison shut his laptop up and the team all stared at Nate in complete silence.

"Reasonable doubt can be a real pain in the ass sometimes" Nate concluded with a heartfelt groan.

"She was only young man anyone can make a mistake right" Eliot argued "It had to have been an accident right?"

"I don't believe it Sophie would never hurt anyone deliberately or accidently" Parker shook her head defiantly.

"She didn't Sophie had nothing to do with any murder is that understood" Nate was adamant.

"We are supposed to believe that just because you say so" Hardison rebutted.

"Yes because I said so and because this is Sophie my...our Sophie we are talking about here and that should be good enough for us all" Nate almost hissed "Anyone who doesn't trust Sophie is welcome to leave and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence Nate but you don't know anything for sure" Sophie spoke quietly causing the entire team to turn around since no-one had realised she'd entered the room, Nate didn't think he'd ever seen her look so pale, so haunted.

"I know you Soph" Nate stated simply "You say you had nothing to do with Marie Le Beau's death then that's good enough for me."

"Me too" Eliot agreed without hesitation.

"Me three" Parker glared at Hardison.

"Ditto" Hardison surrendered.

"I swear I had nothing to do with that poor woman's death" Sophie told the team "If you never believe another word I say then please believe that."

"I do Sophie" Nate re-assured her.

"We all do" Parker added.

"I need you to do something for me Hardison if Alexander paid for those roses by credit card could you trace the payment back to his location" Sophie wondered.

"Consider it done" Hardison smiled and began pressing buttons.

"What are you thinking Sophie" Nate prodded gently.

"I don't think he's in Portland, I don't think he's in America at all" She replied her voice trembling slightly "And I think he wants me to know that."

"I only hope to god your wrong Soph" Nate shook his head realising exactly what she meant.

Hardison finished what he was doing and a copy of the credit card receipt flashed up on the screen "She's not the order was placed over the internet from London" He read out.

"I don't get it what's in London" Parker puzzled "Did they open a Revenge are us or something."

"Lucie...Nate he's going after Lucie" Sophie visibly shook with fear.

"Ok the suspense is killing me who's Lucie" Eliot quizzed Nate and Sophie but didn't get a reply.

"Have you tried calling her" Nate took hold of Sophie and sat her down.

"Yes of course I have..." Sophie mumbled through her tears "She's not answering her phone; I tried texting to warn her..."

"Who is this Lucie" Hardison tried and was also ignored.

"Maybe she lost her phone or she forgot to charge it there could be another innocent explanation" Nate crouched down and stroked Sophie's cheek trying to comfort her, the two of them lost in their own world "She could just be massively pissed at you."

"Wouldn't be the first time" Sophie agreed.

Parker bellowed at the top of her lungs "Will somebody please tell us who the hell Lucie is?"

"Alright guys Lucie is Sophie's younger sister" Nate told them finally coming out of his and Sophie's reverie.

"You have a sister" Hardison and Eliot chorused in surprise.

"Does she know your real name" Parker asked.

"This is the lets go steal a sister part aint it" Hardison did a fairly reasonable Nate impression "I'll get us on the first flight to London I can find."

"Am I really getting that predictable?" Nate complained as he stood.

"That's where Sophie's sister lives so we go help her that's what we do" Hardison shrugged.

"Is Lucie a grifter too" Parker continued questioning Sophie "Is Lucie her real name?"

"Yes she's really called Lucie and no she's a nurse" Sophie shrugged regaining her composure.

"A nurse? Sorry I haven't heard that one before" Eliot was confused.

"Me either" Parker agreed.

"No Lucie's really is a nurse" Nate confirmed.

"She works in the A & E of St Helena's Hospital in London" Sophie continued.

"This woman uses her real name and actually works for a living are you sure she's not adopted guys" Hardison teased.

"Ladies and Gentlemen we should be arriving at London Heathrow in approximately forty five minutes" The Captain of their flight announced.

To his right Nate watched Sophie sleeping peacefully smiling to himself he tenderly placed a soft kiss on her forehead then he made his way out of first class and towards the back of the plane were Eliot and the others were sitting. He noticed Hardison and Parker were also sleeping as he passed by and heaved a sigh of relief all the 'kids' wanted to know more about Lucie but Parker was absolutely relentless asking question after question to the point where Sophie had finally snapped and said "You will have to bloody well ask Lucie when you meet her." Another round of the life and times of Lucie Devereux and Nate was sure they would both be on a murder charge never mind Alexander Wade seeing Sophie in such a bad way he could easily have strangled Parker right there and then. Eliot of course had done the Eliot thing and had a row of seats to himself at the very rear of the plane and was keeping his usual watchful eye on everything and everyone.

"What" He asked as Nate sat down beside him.

"We need to talk" Nate stated grimly.

"About Wade" Eliot guessed correctly.

"He doesn't get near Sophie" Nate said "I don't care how you do it particularly but he so much as breathes in Sophie's direction and it stops are we clear."

"Crystal" Eliot confirmed as Nate stood.

"Whatever it takes to keep Sophie safe" Nate nodded as he shoved his hands in his pants pockets and began to make his way back to his own seat in first class.

"Whatever it takes" Eliot muttered to himself, for the first time he could remember Nate was scared too and that set every alarm bell Eliot ever had off. They had dealt with the big boys before Damian Moreau for instance but something about this Wade guy had both Sophie and Nate seriously spooked and that in turn scared Eliot more than anything ever had before. It had been obvious from the moment Nate had introduced them to Sophie that he was head over heels in love with the British grifter and she was just as in love with him up until now though Eliot hadn't realized how dangerous a thing that kind of all encompassing love could be. Eliot had to wonder just how far Nate would go to protect Sophie. What would he be willing to sacrifice?

Their plane landed safely and on schedule at Heathrow and the team made their way to customs Sophie separating from the other four since she could use the channel reserved for British citizens to enter the country since for all intents and purpose she had dual nationality. Dutifully Sophie handed her passport to the customs officer and he began to inspect it then he pressed a few buttons on his computer key board. Nate and the others passed safely through into the arrivals area but still Sophie was not allowed to pass then they watched on in horror as the custom's man beckoned over two uniformed police men who then bundled Sophie away all the while her eyes stayed locked with Nate's.

"What the hell is going on" Eliot blurted out as the team watched on.

"I coming for you Soph" Nate called out desperately trying to get to her as she disappeared from sight "Just Hold on I'm coming."

"They can't just do that can they Nate" Parker wailed.

"As a matter of fact I can" Someone chuckled from behind them.

"Sterling" Nate turned on his heels angrily as Eliot's fist made contact with Sterling's abdomen.

"Welcome to London folks" Sterling continued to gloat even doubled over "Welcome to London."

Next up introducing Lucie Devereux! All reviews welcome.