A/N: thank you for reading and reviewing! I adore you a lot.

Chapter II

When Eliot said he had doubts,Hardison never thought it would come to this; tracking down a woman who he didn't know and had barely heard from. But his friend seemed worried and desperate and ready to punch him in the face if he dared to say 'I won't do that'. What surprised him the most was the results, though. Results, as in more than one, as in that woman was hiding more things than they thought.

Eliot was right and he was damn proud of it. And also a bit angry. Well, no, scratch that, he was furious.

"What do you mean three?" Eliot asked Hardison. Hardison turned around to face him, arms across his chest defensively, annoyed expression on his face.

"I mean three names, same face," Hardison explained."Either you got the name wrong or this woman has some explaining to do."

Eliot looked at the screen before him and read the names one, two, three times. The face was the same: long brown hair, hazel eyes, freckles. It was her, Jasmine Morelli, though she also went by other names she had apparently failed to mention. Nor did she mention the long record she had with the FBI and the CIA, to name a few, or that she was wanted in almost every single country in North America.

She had some interesting things to say and Eliot couldn't wait to speak to her.

"Don't tell Nate about this" Eliot commanded, Hardison frowned, he thought about complaining. "I'm gonna speak with her first and then we tell Nate."

"You're not gonna, you know? Hurt her, are you?" Hardison asked.

"No," Eliot replied quickly. "Not until I figure out what she wants."


Jasmine looked at her surroundings was hundred percent sure she had a goofy smile too, but she didn't care. An hour ago she had received a phone call from Nate Ford's associate telling her they had accepted her case. She was more than grateful.

She had run an investigation on her own too, about Nate and his associate, who to her surprise had more story that she could imagine. He looked tough and strong, the first time they met, but she never pictured him as the type of guy who would do all the things he did. But she was now more than certain she had come to the right people.

Now the man, currently identified as Eliot Spencer, former retrieval specialist (or was he still?), approached her and she was sure he didn't look exactly pleased to see her.

"Mr. Spencer." Jasmine said, greeting him. Eliot glared at her, taking a seat in front of her. "I'm so glad you agreed to help me. You have no idea how much it means to me."

"How do you know my name?" Eliot questioned her, a frown adorning his handsome face. She had spoken too much. Sitting upright on her chair, she grinned innocently.

"Your friend told me. Mr Ford? Yes. He told me your name when we met." Jasmine lied, but he obviously didn't buy it, not even for a second. Not even with the smile she was still giving him.

"How about you cut the crap and tell me the truth, Jasmine," he demanded. "Or should I call you Malory? Or Rosie? Which one do you like best?"

She was taken aback by all the information he had on her. Revealing her real name was another rookie mistake. No one even called her Malory anymore, that much was true. Now there was no way to take that back,not unless she killed him. But not now, she could do it when she got what she needed.

"Alright, you got me," Jasmine replied. Her innocent, scared demeanor vanished completely and was quickly replaced by a confident one. She pushed her long brown hair over her shoulder and pulled her chair a little bit closer to the table, leaning in to speak softly so no one around could hear her. "You know? I carry a gun with me everywhere I go and I can shoot you right here, right now. No one would notice."

"Of course, because it wouldn't be messy, bloody, and loud, right?" Eliot spoke ironically. "Unless you want all that attention drawn to you. And since you apparently have done your research on me, you will know that I have more than one way to disarm you. One a little bit more painful than the other"

Mr. Spencer knew what he was doing for was somehow a worthy opponent, someone whom, in another time and place, Jasmine would have happily fought with.

"Fair enough, Eliot" Jasmine said. "I can call you Eliot, right?"

"You can call me whatever you want, as long as you tell me the truth about who you are and what you want," Eliot said. "Because if you don't, I'll walk away with everything I've got, which is a lot. Violet."

She sighed heavily. That was something she definitely didn't want to share, nor did she think anyone outside of her small circle of acquaintances knew. Mr. Ford's team were certainly good at what they did. Violet was a part of her she tried to hide from the rest of the world, for several good reasons, not that she was ashamed of her. No. Being Violet made her feel strong, confident. It had saved her from the men's world she had gotten herself into. The fact was, being her wasn't something easy to explain.

"I'm not saying anything here." Jasmine spoke, glancing briefly behind her at the two tall, muscular men sitting in the corner. "Because if you haven't noticed, I have a tail."

Eliot imitated her movements, following her line of sight. The two guys looked away quickly, noticing how they had been discovered, but Eliot had enough time to memorize their faces in case they met again. One of them had a nasty scar across his left cheek, probably made with a knife or a broken bottle, and looked about 6 feet tall, with arms as big as tree trunks. Both were also wearing black combat boots, dark blue suits and black ties. With their rigid stance, short hair and dark look on their faces Eliot could tell they most likely worked for a cartel, or a gang. That was the only thing Eliot needed to know they weren't exactly friendly.

"Let's go to Nate's apartment," Eliot told her, both getting up from their chairs and starting to walk out of the bar.

Before they made another move, she stopped on her tracks, grabbing his arms and forcing him to turn around.

"Do you have a back door we could use?" She asked.

"A back door?"

"For our little friends here. Unless you want us to be followed and be dead by morning?" Jasmine asked. If they were going to help her, the least she could do was provide a little security, at least as much as she could. It was more than enough that her shadows already knew their faces.

The men were up when they were, ready to move and walk along with them, but just when the men were about to reached them, they were stopped by the growing crowd,and Eliot and Jasmine were able to lose them quickly, much to Jasmine's relief.

TBC