A/N: Wow, I really hadn't thought that you'd like this story so much, but I'm really, really happy that you do *does a little happy dance*

And I'm also glad that many of you seem to like the Eliot-pairing in this story *grin* That makes me happy too, because I quite like it in this story and would have been really sad if you didn't *smiles sheepishly* But since you seem to like it, it's all good *grin*

Now have fun reading the new chapter and comments would of course be most appreciated *puppy dog eyes*

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Thank you of course to CoffeeAndCigarette, Jesco123, Mori Lina, Hitter, TheNaggingCube, patty cake rocks, SivanShemesh, Quiet Ryter, lmiller19, Huntress79, TheCritter92 and fro-chan for all your wonderful reviews *hugs you*

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Warnings: SLASH, a few swear words and probably a little OOCness in this and future chapters...

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Disclaimer: None of the Leverage characters belong to me and I just borrowed them for this little story... this story doesn't mean to offend anybody… this is just for fun… and not for money either...

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Chapter 2

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It didn't take long after they had exited the stable and followed Quinn until Eliot came in sight, but the picture that greeted them, was one they hadn't really expected to see and it made them stop dead in their tracks.

Eliot sat on a low wooden bench, a comfortable looking woolen blanket over his legs, but that wasn't what had made the team stop. No, it was the sleeping toddler in Eliot's arms and the fact that Quinn just walked over to him, sat down on the bench, nudging Eliot's shoulder with his own and then the Hitter gave Eliot a small smile, which Eliot returned without hesitation, before he shifted the sleeping child a little, so that he was more comfortable.

Nate and the rest of the team were still rooted to the spot, but they all drank in the sight of Eliot, happy to finally see the Hitter in person after two long years, taking in every detail of their long lost friend.

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Eliot's face looked almost the same as they remembered, the same startling blue eyes, the same easy smile, his hair a little longer than the last time they had seen him, tied in a neat ponytail with only a few stubborn strands escaping. A new, angry looking scar marred the left cheek, but it seemed to have healed pretty good so it couldn't be too recent. All in all Eliot didn't look much different, at least not more than they had expected.

But then their eyes traveled from his face downwards to the little boy, that was sleeping peacefully in Eliot's arms and then to Quinn, who sat very close to Eliot, watching them intently and Nate knew that, if they made one wrong move, they would be in a lot of trouble with the Hitter.

.There were so many questions the team wanted to ask, but seeing Eliot so comfortable, happy and almost like he had a real family with Quinn sitting so close, one hand resting comfortable on one of Eliot's legs, made it impossible to ask all the things they had wanted to ask. All the questions seemed a little inappropriate right now, so a tense silence hung in the air for a moment.

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"Hey Eliot," Sophie finally managed to get out, waving a little awkwardly at their former team-member, not sure what else to do. Instead of a greeting, Eliot only raised an eyebrow.

"So you finally found me," he stated, his voice friendly enough, just like they remembered, but also colder than they imagined and a little guarded. It was more than obvious that a lot had happened in the two years and the Hitter still seemed to be on his guard with them.

"You were really good at hiding," Hardison answered and he had to admit that he was a little impressed with Eliot that he had managed to avoid his snooping around and whoever he had worked with had to be pretty good with the hacking thing.

"I had help," was the other man's simple answer. Then there was that awkward silence again, a silence that had never been there between them, not even during that painful goodbye-speech two years ago.

"Oh for god's sake," Parker finally explained, before, with a few quick strides, she was over by Eliot's side and hugged the Hitter tightly, mindful of the toddler in his arms.

"We missed you, Sparky," she whispered into his ear, but loud enough for all present to hear it and for the first time since Nate, Sophie, Hardison and Parker had come face to face with their Hitter again, he gave them all a small, but genuine smile. But other than that he didn't say anything to them.

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Instead he turned to Quinn, who had just been sitting there, watching the whole exchange in silence.

"Can you put Sammy down?" I don't want his nap interrupted," he asked and Quinn raised an eyebrow in question and silent communication and Eliot smiled reassuringly.

"I'll be okay and able to hold my own until you're back. Bring the babyphone please," he said and then handed the sleeping boy, who only fussed a little, over to Quinn after kissing the dark curls on the kid's head.

Quinn bent down to take the toddler and, after a slight hesitation, he placed a quick kiss on Eliot's lips, only confirming what had been obvious anyway, at least to Nate and probably to Sophie too. Parker and Hardison gaped a little, but they wisely didn't say anything.

"I'll be back before you know it," he said and even though the words were meant for Eliot, Nate detected the hidden warning directed at them anyway. It said as much as "don't try to start anything stupid or I'll be here to kick your ass". Then Quinn left without another word.

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Once again a silence settled over all of them, until Nate finally figured out which question he wanted to ask first and which had been nagging him ever since he'd heard the name "Sammy" and had seen Eliot with the toddler.

"Is Sammy yours?", he wanted to know, even though such a question definitely hadn't been on the list of "things to ask Eliot when we finally see him again".

Nate could see the Hitter stiffen a little and for a moment he thought that he might not get an answer, but then Eliot straightened his shoulders.

"Not by blood, but yes, he is my son in about everything else," he said curtly and Nate nodded.

"How?" he asked, tilting his head a little to the side, this time not sure if he even wanted an answer to this question. And Eliot's body language confirmed his worries. The former member of team Leverage was tense and felt a little uncomfortable.

"I rescued him on one of my missions. His mother was killed by terrorists right in front of my eyes and I couldn't do a fucking thing about it. And with her dying breath she pleaded for me to take care of her son, because she didn't have anyone else. And that's what I'm doing and I love Sammy with all that I am. So you better not question my decision or you can go now and never come back," Eliot explained and there was an edge to his voice that he'd never used with them before and Sophie quickly held her hand up in a pacifying gesture.

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Sure, she was still a little shocked at that new piece of information, but she really didn't want to alienate Eliot further and she also thought it was really admirable with the Hitter was doing.

"We weren't about to do that, Eliot," she assured and Eliot relaxed visibly.

"Good," he said and then he once again gave them a small smile.

"Now that this is out of the way, I guess you can start with the questions you wanted to ask before you came here to see me. You spent two days in the hotel for it, after all."

The team once again gaped at Eliot. But then again, they shouldn't be too surprised that Eliot had been aware that they were in town. And yes, they had had so many questions, but now that they were actually face to face with their long missing friend, they didn't really know where to start with the questions. It was once again Parker, who finally had enough of that awkwardness between them, or she simply wasn't aware enough that there was actually some tension between them. She looked at the man, who had become a big brother to her and questioned: "Are you going to come back now and be our Eliot again?"

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The question had been the most important to ask, but Nate had actually told all of them not to ask it first. It probably was for the best, however, that Parker had asked and that she had asked it first thing. If they wanted an honest answer about this, then Parker was the most likely person to get it. And now that the question had finally been asked, they all waited with baited breath for an answer, anxious to hear what the other man had to tell them.

And they had expected a lot of things from Eliot, but not the clear and quick answer that Eliot gave them.

"No!" It was said with so much vehemence that Parker took a step away from the sitting man, looking a little like she had been slapped. And Hardison clenched his fists, hating that Eliot had once again put that look on his girlfriend's face. The Hacker, however, forced himself to stay calm, because getting mad would only complicate things further. Instead he concentrated on the main goal... getting Eliot back onto the team.

"But," he started, ready to launch into a little speech about all the reasons why Eliot had to come back, why he couldn't keep running from them, why they needed him, why he needed them. He had made a list, after all and had memorized it.

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Eliot didn't let him continue and his voice was hard, when he told him: "No buts, Hardison, me coming back to the team isn't an option anymore."

Nate immediately noticed that there wasn't just anger in his voice, but also bitterness and... if Nate wasn't completely wrong, regret. He took a step closer to the Hitter and questioned: "Why don't you want to come back? Tell us why and we will try our best to fix it. We provide leverage after all."

The last part was meant as a joke to lighten the mood a little, but Eliot only fixed him with a glare that made the Mastermind feel about two foot small.

"There are some things that just can't be fixed, Nate," he told him, voice flat and emotionless.

"But..." Hardison started again, but then he fell silent in shock and only stared at Eliot, just like the rest of the team did when they finally found out what Eliot meant by "some things just can't be fixed", because with one quick motion Eliot had pulled the blanket away from his legs... and it was painfully obvious why he wouldn't come back and be their Hitter again...

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to be continued...

Yeah, I know that chapter is a lot shorter than the first one, but when I typed it down, I thought this was a good place to stop to keep up the suspense *evil grin*

And I fear the story will be a little longer than three chapters, because while I'm typing it down, I'm adding little things and a few new twists, and I hope you don't mind... it's still finished, it just will take a little longer until I get to that finish *grins sheepishly*

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and comments would of course be appreciated *puppy dog eyes*