I spent the rest of the day learning all about Leverage and how it worked. The team seemed a little wary of me for the most part. I could only assume it was from the fact that I wasn't a criminal before. I was determined to prove myself though, to earn their trust. They showed me some of the jobs they'd done before, including Steranko ones. They were incredibly intricate, but brilliantly thought out. They told me that Nate used to be what they called the mastermind. It must have been hard losing their boss and leader on their crusade against the corporations. Parker warmed up to me more and more and by the afternoon, we were upside down high up near the ceiling together. She seemed really enthusiastic on training me and I was an eager student, much to Elliot's displeasure.

"What's Elliot's problem?" I asked Parker as she was teaching me a new manoeuvre she'd invented.

"Oh, he's always a grouchy face," she replied dismissively, "Now just tuck your legs in and you'll feel yourself roll back, but that's meant to happen."

As I rolled back, I caught a glimpse of Hardison trying to beat the score I'd gotten on his new pinball machine. Suddenly my chest felt tight. I gasped and let go of the rope I was holding. Falling from great heights is not fun when you can't breathe, let me tell you that. I thought I was going to hit the ground but Parker caught me mid fall, returning me back to earth quickly.

"What's wrong with her?" she panicked.

I grasped at my chest, needing air to come. I reached behind me to motion to rub my back. I was leaned forward and Parker started rubbing quickly. Elliot joined in and in a few minutes my breathing normalized.

"What the hell was that?" Elliot half yelled in worry.

"I have a heart defect," I panted softly, "I completely forgot about it; I was having so much fun."

"You scared us half to death," he scowled.

"And I was the one close to it," I retorted.

He went silent and helped me to my feet.

"I need to rest," I told them. "Which room am I staying in?"

Hardison groaned softly and we all turned to look at him.

"Well," he started, sheepish, "When Nate and Sophie left, I sort of took over their rooms, see. So we don't have a spare room."

"You what?" Elliot snarled.

"Hey!" Hardison yelled defensively, "I didn't think we would have a new teammate for a while yet."

Elliot groaned. "I'll sleep on the couch."

"You don't have to," I told him, "I can sleep there; I'm a lot smaller."

He looked at me and rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine," I insisted, "I just need a little rest."

I moved slowly to the couch and lay down. Hardison turned the main lights off and murmured about closing up. Parker got me a blanket I thanked her. The day had gone by so fast, but the heart episode had taken the most out of me. I closed my eyes waited for sleep to come. Everyone had wandered off in to different rooms so I was confused when I felt a strong arm under my legs and neck.

"What are you doing?" I groaned, not opening my eyes.

"A hard bed isn't the best for sleeping after that," Elliot's voice came from above me.

"Well I don't care so put me back,," I whined.

He set me back down, but it was softer than before.

"I said I'd be fine on the couch," I murmured, drifting now.

Next thing I knew, it was morning. I got up and left the room to find everyone awake before me. I took my medicine for my heart and went back to bed. I had this habit of getting drowsy and saying anything on my mind when they took effect, but I never remembered anything and ended up knocked out for an hour. I told everyone I was heading back to bed and told Elliot he was an idiot and that I should beat him up. Everyone laughed at that. Considering his arms were like tree trunks, I understood completely and even laughed at myself. I lay back down to rest and I heard someone enter. I panicked internally but lay still.

"Arianna?" Elliot's voice questioned.

I stayed still and he sighed in relief. He moved around a bit before leaving. Just as he went to leave, my meds kicked in. Crap, was the last thing I remember thinking before waking up in the empty room. I got up and found I was alone. Wondering vaguely where everyone went, I wandered out and further down the hall. I felt a thumping as music kicked in up ahead of me and followed it to a door labelled gym. Opening the door I saw Elliot, shirtless and covered head to toe in sweat. His back bore so many scars, it was hard to count and I gasped as I saw one that looked fresh. He didn't notice me creep inside and close the door. He was practicing boxing with a punching bag. His arms moved so quickly, his mock dodging precisely timed, it was fascinating. I wished I could be as physically fit as him. Damn heart condition. He took his gloves off then and went for his water bottle when he noticed me.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked between pants.

"I couldn't find anyone but you," I admitted sheepishly as the music disappeared.

"Well there's more to America than just this little place," he offered.

"But you guys are my only friends," I said quietly, looking away from his stare.

He wandered over to me and slid down the wall to sit. He must have been in here the whole hour I was out. We sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes before he spoke up.

"So I have beautiful eyes, do I?" he asked, scoffing a laugh.

I looked up at him and groaned, "Damn meds."

"So loopy drugs help the heart," he chuckled.

I laughed too. "I guess so."

"Well. I'll know to look out for them again," he added, still laughing.

I looked at the crinkles in his eyes and smiled. He was having too much fun with this.

"What happened to Mr Grouchy?" I teased, "You're being way too happy to be the same person."

He just laughed harder at that. He seemed to be releasing a lot of stress, at my cost.

"At least that's not the worst I've heard," I sighed.

"Oh?" he said questioningly.

I nodded. "I had this boyfriend in high school. He didn't know about my medication and let's just say I insulted a friend of his that may or may not have been rather small. I guess I didn't have a boyfriend after that incident. He wouldn't believe that I was drugged when I said it."

He laughed harder at that and I did too. It was nice to just have someone to talk with.

"Wow, you really have to be careful," he panted between laughing fits, "It's not just your heart but the stuff that helps you that causes harm."

"Yeah," I agreed and stood.

"That's too bad," he sighed. "Would you like me to make some lunch? I'm starving."

I nodded and we headed down the hall. He led me out into the kitchen behind the bar and Elliot started grabbing ingredients left right and centre. The chef in the kitchen didn't seem to mind as he heated up a frying pan. As he cooked, his finesse dumbfounded me. The attention to small detail, making sure that everything was ready at the exact time and how much effort he put in just for a lunch. We ended up eating the most beautiful meal that looked five star restaurant quality and the taste was amazing.

"How did you learn to do that?" I asked after swallowing a bite.

"What? Cook?" he asked. "Well that's a long story, I guess I just really enjoy the art of it. Cooking is like art. You try to convey your feelings through your work."

"Wow," was all I could say.

I'd never thought of food that way. It always just seemed a necessity to live and you just chose what you liked. This was something way more to him. This was the fanciest meal I'd ever had though, and it did taste different.

"Good?" he questioned as I just stared at my plate.

I blushed. "Yes, it's amazing."

"This is my favourite dish to cook for the others," he told me. "It's intricate, delicate and packs a punch all in one. I like to think of it as our team's signature dish."

I saw the resemblance. Intricacy was Hardison's hacking skills, delicacy would be Parker's skills at theft and the punch was, well, obviously Elliot.

"Hey, you made us," Hardison's voice came from behind Elliot.

"Aww, did we get some?" Parker joined him.

I smiled and looked towards the kitchen. Taking my hint, they left to go get the two extra plates that had been left out back.

"You think of everyone," I murmured.

"Yeah," he smiled, "I would have never heard the end of it if I hadn't. It's their favourite dish too."

Hardison and Parker re-joined us then. Elliot groaned as Hardison insisted that he "sit next to his girl," therefore ending up with Elliot beside me in the booth rather than across.

"Hey Elliot," said Parker, "this seems different than usual."

"How so?" Elliot questioned, a smile on his face.

"Well there's an extra quirk to it," she explained, "Like a zesty flavour that surprises you. And you've changed the way it looks too. It's neater. It gives it a sharper look. It make me feel…"

She trailed off. Elliot smiled and Hardison and I looked at each other confusedly.

"Happy and at home, but with a feeling of new and fresh," she finished.

She beautifully described the dish.

"Good work Parker," Elliot complimented.

She smiled and continued eating.

"I have no idea what just happened," Hardison mumbled, "but y'all are right; this is good food."

He began shovelling it into his mouth and Elliot groaned.

"You just don't get it Hardison."

It was going to take me a while to understand these kinds of conversations. We finished lunch, Elliot explaining that Parker had learnt a bit about expression through art forms from him, Hardison complaining that it was just food and not such a big deal and then the boys getting into a fight over the food. We all headed out back where Elliot left for his room to cool off and Hardison played on a pinball machine in his private arcade. I ended up spending time with Parker again.

"I think Elliot needs to calm down a little about his food," I admitted, "I know it's important to him, but you have to expect people not to understand as much."

"Hardison can be a little insensitive too," Parker added, "He's kind, but he can be very blunt. I guess it's just them together that gets them fighting. They've never really gotten along that well on the surface."

"Yeah," I agreed, "History and opposing personalities."

"It's not my fault he can be pig-headed," Elliot said as he entered.

"And you can be grumpy and too serious," I added, poking my tongue out at him.

"We have a client coming in tomorrow so I need everyone ready," he told us, ignoring me.

"Who is it?" Parker asked.

"Man by the name of Daniel Mortague," Elliot replied, "He works in construction."

"I wonder what his problem is," I sighed.

This was all new to me. I knew we'd be breaking laws from tomorrow onward and my morals were starting to battle inside me. How would I handle it when it was actually happening now I was spazzing out just thinking about it. I know I told them I'd be okay, but that night I couldn't sleep at all. My head just wouldn't shut up about how wrong it was to break the law. I tried hard to fight back, but both sides seemed equally matched and the battle just kept raging. When I awoke, I found the team gathered at the desk, scanning over documents that Hardison had on-screen and I yawned loudly as i joined them. He was going through all the information on what they called the 'mark'. Eli Markus was the target of our operation. He was 52 years of age and still head of his own company, Fun in Life, which made kids playgrounds. Apparently, one shipment had been made structurally unsound; a super frame that had been built inside a shopping mall. The client was both a builder who took part in the construction of the colossal playground, but also a father of one of the children who had been seriously hurt in the collapse. He claimed that he had helped build more than one of these structures and that every single one had been the same structurally. During the first build he'd taken part in, he'd noticed that some of the materials were at odd lengths and seemed to be made of flimsy and degraded materials. Tests were always carried out on the materials to make sure they were durable, and all of them checked out, but after the collapse, the debris was carried away and destroyed before retesting. The overlooking of such procedures incurred a large fine on the company's part which was payed easily. The company never took responsibility for harming at least 20 children in the collapse because they were never directly linked. It passed off as a fault during construction, not the structure itself.

"Those poor kids," I murmured.

"Now, from what the client tells us, the materials are being bought cheap and aren't meant for large structures," Hardison continued, "What we need to do is scare them into going straight. There's no use bringing it down when they are the largest, and basically only, supplier of all sizes of children's playgrounds. They also donate to schools and charity auctions every year. This makes me believe that Eli isn't aware of what's going on with his company. Either that, or he's just playing nice."

"So we check him out, see what kind of person he is, and then work from there," Parker summarised.

"Exactly," Hardison agreed.

"What about all those playgrounds that could collapse at any moment?" Elliot asked.

"We'll be handling that too," Hardison smiled, "I have here-" he clicked his remote, "A warrant that I just wrote up myself stating that all these playgrounds need to be closed due to investigation into the suspicious collapse and to be evaluated by an inspector. Parker will be Eli's new personal assistant with his old one receiving an all expenses payed trip to Hawaii. I will be the investigator delivering the notice and Elliot will be the inspector for the playgrounds."

"What if they have their own, 'dependable' inspector?" Elliot questioned again.

"That's easy," Hardison shrugged in reply, "The documents state that an inspector has been assigned already and that use of any other would be a violation that could see his company shut down."

I smiled. This was amazing, illegal, but amazing. It was obvious that the cases they took were not going to be won by any legal means, though.

"What about me?" I asked

"You will be here with me monitoring everyone's activities," Hardison said, "We're bugging Eli's office and I might need to have a second role at any point in time. You're new to this so we need to teach you the easy stuff first, plus with your keen eye, you'll be able to detect anything that goes miss quicker than any of us."

I frowned but sighed. Of course it would be a newbie start for me, but I did expect something a little more exciting. I realized then that the noisy morals that had kept me up all night had finally shut up. Hearing how much suffering had been caused and how much this was going to save innocent people from terrible tragedies and set my mind at ease. I smiled at the team.

"It's go time!" I shouted in excitement.