Action/Adventure: Mostly Action

"I can't believe you."

Sophie Devereaux was not a happy camper. First, she was told she was going to have the most romantic dinner of her life. Then she was given a very expensive pair of earrings she had her eyes on for a solid six months. And what happened just when the man of her deepest desires decided to start a very important conversation?

They bloody well get kidnapped!

This day was not at all going the way she planned. Make that night because it was well past midnight. She was hoping to be locked away in bed, exerting some well invested energy in nighttime entertainment. She wanted breakfast in bed fed to her by Nate. Instead she gets his bleeding head in her lap and there's no hope of the team finding them anywhere.

"Some bloody holiday this turned out to be," she grumbled.

A soft chuckle made her skin crawl. She thought they were alone. But no, the big guy from before picked that moment to make himself known. His eyes were trained solidly on her and the one dress strap that didn't quite make it through the fray.

"You're very pretty," he said.

If Sophie didn't know any better she would have called him slow. But she was a grifter, some say the best in the world. She knew when an act was just an act. And this was most certainly an act. His cold, grey eyes were hovering over her every curve and it nearly brought bile past her lips. She knew what he wanted. She even knew why he was there. She just didn't know why he was waiting.

"Are you hungry?" He asked, as innocently as possible. He even held up a sandwich to show his intensions were pure. She probably would have believed him if his left hand wasn't still in his pocket.

"I've already eaten," she replied.

It was a risky move, talking to the kidnapper. He was obviously the stooge meant to keep her in line. He wasn't meant to talk to her. But she had a feeling she could break him. At the very least she could have fun toying with his mind.

"Have you had dessert?" He asked, "That's always been my favorite."

"Mind dropping the act?" She smiled despite herself, "I'm a little tied up at the moment. I don't feel like dealing with your atrocious acting on top of it."

That one hurt.

"Listen, bitch," he said, "Boss is paying me to keep you in line. You don't really want to know how I keep women with your figure in line. Do me a favor and stop while you're ahead."

"My mother never taught me to just lay there and take it when someone is being ungentlemanly."

She shouldn't have said that. A blazing fire was already igniting in her cheek. She didn't even see him move. He was a lot faster than she would have pegged a man of his stature. He was practically round his belly was so big. But those tiny fat fingers of his were made for pain. There was no doubt in her mind she would have a mark soon.

The man seemed quite pleased with his action. He even smiled like it was the greatest thing in the world. Then a light glistened in his eyes, a light that said far too much about his true intensions. He stepped towards her again and grabbed onto her neck.

"You behave yourself, my dear," he said, "or you'll see just how ungentlemanly I can be."

She wanted to comment at the threat. She really wanted to get under the guy's nerves. But Nate was in her lap and fear for his well-being stemmed any reply. She just nodded her head and continued stroking the mastermind's head. She had to be on her best behavior.

He let her go and silence lapsed between them. Sophie continued to stroke the mastermind's hair and tried to ignore the burning sensation of the ropes around her. Why they decided to tie her wrists loosely was beyond her but she would take advantage of their mistake. First thing was first. She needed information.

"Who do you work for?" She asked.

The man chuckled and shook his head. He placed a finger to his lips and shushed her. Then he leaned back as if she never spoke to begin with. Oh well, she knew how to be persistent.

"Okay," she said, "Well, I feel it is my responsibility to inform you that you are not a very good host. As a hostage I am supposed to get food and he is supposed to get medical supplies. Some water would be lovely as well."

Her right cheek erupted into fire. She received her reply.

"Do me a favor and stop talking," the man said, "I was told not to damage the merchandise."

Merchandise, that was a very important clue. She was going to be sold to some organization when this was all over. That could mean many things. The drug cartels used pretty women to move merchandise as a pack mule. The most likely outcome for her would be as a slave in some prostitution ring somewhere. Well, that would be an easy fix.

"Are you certain your boss didn't order you to not touch me because he wanted me?"

Another slap and a harshly yelled quiet were her reply. Yep, definitely meant for the boss. At last she took care of that order of business. Now what were their plans as far as Nate was concerned?

She looked down at the mastermind and started fussing with him. Being quiet and complacent seemed to be her best bet under the current circumstances. Besides, she could make a better observation of Nate's condition by taking care of him. The goon would give her everything she wanted while she went.

She started messing with his shirt and taking inventory of his injuries. He had a few broken ribs. His left eye was starting to swell shut. Sweat covered his brow so pin was definitely on the menu. There was light bruising on his knuckles. He was fighting off an attacker. He was awake when they were stolen.

She was drugged and he was awake. They used her as leverage against him. There was no doubt about that. His lip was bleeding and he had a pretty impressive bump on his head. Her wrists were sore but no other damage seemed to have come to her. Somebody had to have been injured in order for the mastermind to be in such bad shape. His shoulder wasn't even in the socket. He was decorated in bruises. They might as well have killed him with the amount of damage done.

"Don't worry about your boyfriend," the man growled, "He'll get what's owed soon."

So that was the reason behind Nate being alive. The boss was looking for revenge on him. She was just collateral. But she was taken too. The others were nowhere to be found. Their coms were taken so the perpetrator knew about their team. This was a personal attack on Nate. But this personal attack had a plan where she was safely tucked away. This was not a good plan.

"You said you're being paid to keep me in line," she said, "Why?"

The man glowered at her but refused to answer. She thought about pushing the subject but Nate groaned. He was waking. That usually meant he was waking. Their captor reported that to somebody. Great, they were using coms just like they did. Mimicking, they were mimicking Hardison's coms. They knew enough to mimic. This was more than personal. This was strategic.

"Nate, wake up." Sophie pushed against his uninjured shoulder with new urgency. She had a feeling she knew exactly where this was going. They had to get out of there soon. By the time they discovered who the boss was it would be too late. His plan would go into perfect action.

"Oops," the man said.

He was suddenly beside her in minutes. Her wrists were being plucked away from the unconscious mastermind and her body was tugged with them. The man had his hands on her and evil in his eyes.

"Time for your punishment," he winked.

His hand was on her shirt in an instant. She felt a scream pull at her lungs in response but she squashed that impulse down. Instead she shoved her knee up and fell to the ground with a smack. The wind was taken right out of her lungs and there was no way she could get it back. She groaned when the man came on top of her. Then she pulled her head forward and knocked him square in the forehead.

The pain was blinding but it was worth it. Blood was gushing from his eyes and nose. His hands were covering his face and he was writhing in pain. She kicked up her legs and pushed him off of her. Then she started to work on releasing her hands from the ropes. His boss would be there soon. He wouldn't have gone after her if he wasn't on the way.

Please don't be Moreau, she begged.

She was almost free of her bindings when disaster struck. The man howled in pain and came at her again. This time he didn't try for the usual. Instead he just grabbed onto her throat and squeezed tightly. She kicked, aiming for his face. He dodged and kicked as well. He kicked right above her knee until he broke her leg. Then there was nothing but pain and fear.

"Try breaking free now, missy," he said.

He was pulling on her wrists to the point where her shoulders hurt. She could feel tears sting her eyes as the pain became too much. His hands were wandering and there was nothing she could do about it. She only had one leg to work with and it was already too tired to carry on. She was finished. He had one.

The man yelped in pain again. His arms flew away from her wrists and throat. A figure appeared out of nowhere and yanked him away. The two scuffled, fists hitting fists. There was nothing but blows being traded every which way. The bodies were so immersed with each other that it wasn't until a very distinctive mop of curly hair appeared that the grifter realized what was happening.

"Nate!" She gasped, though it sounded more as a croak than anything else.

The mastermind refused to stop. He just kept slamming his fists into the other man. Even bruised, bloodied and as damaged as he was; he was still beating another man. Their captor, whoever he was, stopped moving. His struggling gasps for mercy were no more. He just laid limp while the mastermind continued to hit him.

The grifter struggled to free herself from her bindings. The lack of oxygen to her brain and the damage done made it far more difficult than it should have been. Her voice stopped working ages ago. The mastermind was too far away to hear. He was in his own little world, completely oblivious to the impending danger coming from the other side of the door.

It quaked a few times, the door to the outside. Then it gave a simple shutter and grew limp. It blasted away seconds later to reveal a very friendly face. Eliot Spencer ran into the room with both barrels blazing. Parker and Hardison were only millimeters behind.

Eliot noticed her first. A scowl appeared on his features, making his smile turn deadly. His hands shook with unsuppressed anger. He was looking for a reason to punch someone. Sophie shook her head to get his attention. Her eyes darted towards the mastermind with a simple message, stop him. The hitter did as he commanded but even he was too slow.

Parker raced towards the mastermind at full speed. She latched onto his hand and spoke.

"It's over," she said. Her tone was calm and commanding. She didn't even move to do anything else. She just used her voice and trusted him to listen.

He did. He released the man immediately. Then he pushed Eliot aside and rushed towards the grifter. His arms wrapped around her instantly and his grip; he wouldn't let her go.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered tears streaming down his face, "Sophie, I'm so sorry."

She didn't know what happened next. Couldn't remember. She did try to tell him it wasn't his fault. That it was their past that led to this. She blacked out before she could say it though. All she could remember was up to that moment and everything else was blank. She must have passed out. That was the only reasonable explanation for her being in a hospital. Nate hated hospitals.

"Hey, you're awake." Nate was staring at her with a very bruised face. He moved like his ribs were hurting and everything else wasn't feeling much better. How he didn't have any broken bones, she'd never know.

"What happened?" She asked.

Nate smiled at her, tears flickering in his eyes. His hand shook as it wiped hair away from her face. He looked as though he hadn't slept in weeks. His hair was disheveled, his face unshaven. She recognized that darkness in his eyes. It was the same darkness that resided there when his father died.

"You killed him, didn't you?"

She hated the way he flinched at it. Her tone sounded harsher than originally meant. She sounded as though she was rebuking him for this. She wasn't. She was just sad it went that far.

"He hurt you," he explained, "I just couldn't stop."

She nodded her head and grimaced. There was pain everywhere. Maybe that was why she was in a hospital bed. Her leg wasn't burning as much as it was before. Her shoulders still ached and her wrists were on fire. But she felt whole, that was good enough for right now.

"You saved me," she said. She placed her hand on his cheek and made eye contact. She rubbed her thumb on his forehead as if in absolution of his sins. Then she said the only thing left she could.

"What else would you do?"